November 26, 2020 “Hillbilly Elegy” (** out of four) was an overall detached adaptation of J.D. Vance’s autobiographical novel about his (Gabriel Basso) upbringing in Kentucky with an abusive and drug-addled mom (Amy Adams) and how he later grows up to be a successful student who enrolled in Yale in love with a successful girlfriend (Freida Pinto) but still can’t escape the ties that bind at home. Adequate drama holds your attention without ever sufficiently engaging your emotions. For the first time, Adams is good without being fully convincing but Glenn Close is terrific (and almost unrecognizable) as the family grandmother. One of director Ron Howard’s more unusual films and one of his more disappointing. Continue reading →
November 26, 2020 “The Christmas House” (** out of four) was a synthetic Hallmark holiday concoction about two parents (Treat Williams and Sharon Lawrence) who have their two now-grown children (Robert Buckley and Jonathan Bennett) home for Christmas and they all divulge various personal and financial secrets that all result in them growing stronger as a family unit. Typical Hallmark production is harmless but bland with endless holiday cliches and plot points. This made history as the first Hallmark film to feature a gay couple but it has little distinction beyond that. Continue reading →
November 26, 2020 “Sky Sharks” (*1/2 out of four) was a ludicrous action horror mishmash about a team of geologists (Naomi Grossman, Lar-Park Lincoln, and others) who embark on a search deep in the heart of the antarctic and uncover an old Nazi laboratory which created genetically altered sharks that could fly; a subsequent military task force of reanimated U.S. soldiers (led by Tony Todd) who died in Vietnam are put together to prevent the sharks from dominating the world. Insane storyline starts out fun but then becomes monotonous and dumb as it turns into a repetitive video game. It would be pretty offensive also, if it wasn’t so stupid and one were to take its plot seriously. Perhaps it’s best if the whole shark genre were put to rest by now because by this point it’s really toothless. Continue reading →
November 25, 2020 “Christmas On The Square” (** out of four) was a mawkish musical adaptation of Dolly Parton’s stage play about an embittered and dying female scrooge (Christine Baranski) who plans to sell her small town but is subsequently helped to realize by an angel (Parton) of this mistake and its effects on the various town residents (Jennifer Lewis, Josh Segarra, Treat Williams, and others). Baranski plays her umpteenth role as a vindictive bitch and Parton yet again plays a good-hearted redneck; the rest is all pleasant but trivial fluff. Inevitable happy ending rings especially false. Continue reading →
November 24, 2020 “Pretty Cheaters, Deadly Lies” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty bland thriller about a high-school senior (Keara Graves) who thinks she can stop her cousin’s (Sydney Meyer) vindictive blackmail by taking her college exams for her but soon finds out that her cousin has even darker and deadlier plans for her and she has to play psychological warfare with her to the death in which only one of them will come out on top. Routine story of doublecrossings and deceptions seems prefabricated and spit out of a computer. Sorely lacking in any scares or thrills. Continue reading →
November 23, 2020 “Lowdown Dirty Criminals” (*1/2 out of four) was a terminally arch story set in England of two moronic criminals (Samuel Austin and James Rolleston) who try to make some extra cash by working for an underworld figure (Scott Wills) and end up getting mired up with an even more dangerous criminal (Rebecca Gibney) and all their lives soon are caught in the crossfire. Plays like a Guy Ritchie crime comedy without its bounce or fizz but with lots of noise and ugliness in-your-face instead. One autopsy scene is particularly gruesome and hard to take and rest of film is disposable. Continue reading →
November 23, 2020 “The Artist’s Wife” (*1/2 out of four) was a rambling and ineffectual melodrama about the wife (Lena Olin) of a renowned artist (Bruce Dern) whose lives are thrown into disarray when he begins showing sudden and escalating signs of Altzheimer’s disease and may not be able to complete his paintings for his final show which the family is dependent on. Self-indulgent and self-important story never connects emotionally, despite the two talented stars. “Still Alice” was a far more passionate and moving look at the same subject matter. Continue reading →
November 23, 2020 “Buddy Games” (*1/2 out of four) was a witless comedy about a group of moronic middle-aged friends (Josh Duhammel, Dax Shepard, Jensen Ackles, Kevin Dillon, and others) who reunite to play the title buddy games which are an assortment of mental and physical challenges that help them forget about their problems and focus on the importance of having fun even as they get older. Pretty lame and stupid attempt at “The Hangover” and “Grown Ups” comedy but lacks the heart and humor of both. Despite the solid comic cast, only Dillon gets any (mild) laughs. Inauspicious directing debut for Duhammel. Continue reading →
November 23, 2020 “Blindfire” (**1/2 out of four) was a relatively compelling melodrama about a cop (Brian Geraghty) who responds to a hostage call and kills a suspect (Chike Okonkwo) in self-defense; in the face of a citywide uproar and his job and safety in jeopardy, he begins to mentally and physically fall apart until he realizes he may have been set up and sets out to find the ones responsible and at the same time examine and accept his own accountability. Timely and engrossing storyline benefits from strong performances and gritty direction but starts to lose its way especially in its final third and film’s ending is pat and unconvincing. Still worthy of some recognition and worth checking out. Continue reading →
November 22, 2020 “A Deadly Place” (*1/2 out of four) was a deadly dull thriller about a woman (Cassandra Ebner) who returns to her remote home after her father’s death and is reunited with a few of his former friends (Douglas Chapman and Iain Belcher) who dredge up secrets about her and her father’s past that question her reality. Practically suspenseless story plods instead of builds and bogs down in its own tedium. Atmospheric lensing from Robert Riendeau is one of film’s few assets. Continue reading →
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