December 4, 2020 “Intersection” (**1/2 out of four) was a jagged thriller about wealthy business owner conman (Matt Doran) who receives a frantic call while on the road that his son has been abducted and he is forced to drive through the midnight hours of Sydney and complete an escalating series of tasks to appease the unseen kidnapper and save his son’s (and his own) life. Tense story is stylishly shot and directed but begins to lose its grip in its final third as story becomes frustratingly pretentious and surreal; still worthwhile overall. No relation to the 1994 Richard Gere/Sharon Stone thriller of the same name but bears some resemblance to the 2002 thriller “Phone Booth” with Colin Farrell/Kiefer Sutherland. Continue reading →
December 3, 2020 “Dune Drifter” (**1/2 out of four) was a moderately engaging sci/fi action thriller about the survivor (Phoebe Sparrow) of a devastating orbital space battle who crashlands on a desolate planet and must survive against otherworldly creatures and fend for herself before her life support expires. Well-produced and overall well-done on a slender budget, with some stylish visual effects and cinematography, but hampered by its overall derivation of other sci/fi classics such as “Dune” (if you couldn’t guess from its title”) and also “Alien” and “Stargate.” Still, though, better than most direct-to-DVD trifle. Continue reading →
December 3, 2020 “The Quick And Dirty” (** out of four) was a slick and routine crime melodrama set in the deep South in which a career criminal (Sean C. Dwyer) is lured into taking one final job that may prove to be his big score or may be his undoing. Co-directors Jordan Krug and Nicholas Shields show their obvious homages to Sam Peckinpah, Michael Mann, and early Quentin Tarantino but it’s enervatingly routine and you’ll likely forget it as “quickly” as you watch it. For no particular reason, this is set in the 1970’s. For no particular reason should you waste your time on this anyway. Continue reading →
December 2, 2020 “Break Even” (** out of four) was a lukewarm action thriller about four friends (Tasya Telles, Brent Bailey, and others) on vacation on a remote island who discover $50 million in cash that was left there by corrupt D.E.A. agents (led by Joanna Pacula) on an underground drug deal and they will stop at nothing to make sure this is retrieved and their score is settled. Not bad by the standards of these things with an overall brisk pace, but you’ve seen this roughly 50 million times before, done better and done much worse. Pacula is ferocious in her best role in years and to make this a long-lost ’80’s party Steve Guttenberg pops up also in a supporting role. Continue reading →
December 2, 2020 “Complete Strangers” (** out of four) was a lurid love melodrama about a recovering alcoholic (Pau Maso) who returns to his hometown after several years and falls in love with a man (Matthew Crawley) which soon turns into a wild obsession that affects both their lives and threatens their sanity. Intensely acted and stylishly made and directed but eventually wears out and gets bogged down in overall unpleasantness. Even still, this has won substantial and significant critical praise. Maso also wrote and directed Continue reading →
December 1, 2020 “The Loss Adjuster” (** out of four) was an unsatisfying melodrama comedy about an insurance claims adjuster (Luke Goss) whose life starts to go into freefall when his wife announces she’s leaving him for somebody else but soon finds that this may be the catalyst towards getting his life back on track as he goes through an odyssey of self-assessment and re-discovery. Sporadically interesting and moving story is too slack and thus fails to cohere or congeal into a solid whole. A game attempt by Goss at changing his action-hero/martial-arts image but he’s unfortunately going to have to chalk this up as a “loss.” Continue reading →
December 1, 2020 “The Croods: A New Age” (** out of four) was an unnecessary sequel to the 2013 hit about the prehistoric family The Croods (voiced by Nicholas Cage, Emma Stone, Ryan Reynolds, and others) who soon become challenged by a rival family The Bettermans (voiced by Leslie Mann, Peter Dinklage, and Kelly Marie Tran) which leads to a rivalry and showdown. Pretty animation and some mildly cute touches are undone by thin storyline and film’s overall lack of point and purpose. Fans of the original and kids may like it anyway but they’d really best re-watch the original. This film marks the longest gap for Dreamworks between sequels. Continue reading →
November 30, 2020 “Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey” (**1/2 out of four) was a relatively entertaining holiday adventure musical about the granddaughter (Madelin Mills) of an eccentric toymaker (Forrest Whitaker) who discovers his world of magic and invention and one particular discovery he is working on that could save Christmas and change the world forever. Vibrantly photographed by Remi Adefarasin with eye-popping sets and production design and good musical numbers but story is lumpy and starts to get a little repetitive as it goes on over two hours. Still overall worth watching and kids should love it. Continue reading →
November 29, 2020 “The Comeback Trail” (*1/2 out of four) was a misfired Hollywood comedy about an over-the-hill director and his partner (Robert De Niro and Zach Braff) who owe money to the mob (led by Morris Dingman) and decide to hire a washed-up older actor (Tommy Lee Jones) to have him die as part of an insurance scam so they can recoup their money and pay back their debt but naturally things don’t go as planned. First-rate cast struggles to enliven this flimsy material; some scattershot chuckles but no big laughs. A real disappointment from writer/director George Gallo who in better days wrote the script for “Midnight Run” a much funnier action comedy that also starred De Niro. At this point, both of them could use a “comeback” of their own. Continue reading →
November 29, 2020 “Blithe Spirit” (** out of four) was a strained adaptation of Noël Coward’s famous play about a writer (Dan Stevens) struggling with writer’s block who hires a psychic (Judy Dench) to help him unlock his block but ends up summoning the spirit of his deceased wife (Leslie Mann) and havoc ensues. High-energy cast tries to inject as much as enthusiasm and vigor as they can but what worked on the stage simply doesn’t translate to film. Stevens’ unlikeable character is a significant mitigation against any potential fun. Coward fans would best be brave and re-watch the play instead. Continue reading →
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