January 25, 2020 “Color Out Of Space” (*1/2 out of four) was an outlandish sci/fi saga about a meteorite which catastrophically strikes a small-town and wreaks havoc amongst a farmland family (Nicolas Cage, Joely Richardson, and others) and soon threatens to (yawn) destroy mankind. Absurd adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft’s story actually owes a lot more to the 1987 long-forgotten horror thriller “The Curse” and also “Invasion Of The Body Snatchers.” Some impressive special effects in film’s finale are film’s only real asset. Director Richard Stanley tries for some grandeur at film’s ending but the preceding two hours simply don’t merit it. Continue reading →
January 21, 2020 “Seberg” (**1/2 out of four) was an intermittently intriguing melodrama set in the late 1960’s based on the true story of French new wave icon Jean Seberg (Kristin Stewart) and her politcal/romantic/personal relationship with civil rights activist Hakim Jamal (Anthony Mackie) and the firestorm of consequences this led to for all involved. Strong performances from Mackie and Stewart and good storytelling keep you involved for a while but after a while- there’s a certain fire and passion that’s missing which makes the end result respectable but yet aloof. Continue reading →
January 21, 2020 “Bad Boys For Life” (*** out of four) was a slickly done third entry in the action series about the two cops (Will Smith and Martin Lawrence) who are contemplating retirement when two ruthless villains (Jacob Scipio and Kate del Castillo) with ties to Smith’s past emerge and threaten to kill them both. Directors Adil Arbi and Billal Fallah take over the reins from Michael Bay but give fans pretty much everything they expect from the series with lots of action and some funny dialogue. Most importantly, Smith and Lawrence still have good chemistry and make a fun team so maybe it’s not quite time for retirement yet. Continue reading →
January 21, 2020 “Sorry We Missed You” (**1/2 out of four) was an earnest but meandering story set in England in which a UK delivery driver (Kris Hitchen) and his wife (Debby Honeywood) struggle to raise a family and survive but end up overwhelmed by the various struggles of labor exploitation and raising a delinquent son (Rhys Stone) and trying to stay afloat through it all. Director Ken Loach employs his usual working-class and humanistic touch to characters who are simply trying to survive and no know other way of life but story wanders too much and film doesn’t so much end as stop. Naturalistic and powerful acting from all (especially Honeywood) makes this worthwhile. Continue reading →
January 13, 2020 “Dolittle” (*** out of four) was a likeable reboot of the “Doctor Dolittle” franchise this time with Robert Downey, Jr. in the title role who has turned into a hermit after the death of his wife in England but when Queen Victoria (Jessie Buckley) falls ill- he must re-discover his sense of adventure and love of animals to set sail and find a cure to save her. Not a total success but still breezy and engaging and full of cute animals and their wisecracks. Downey is a little miscast but does what he can with his role and his English accent. Emma Thompson, Rami Malek, Octavia Spencer, Tom Holland, and others provide the entertaining voices of the animals. Continue reading →
January 9, 2020 “Stalked” (** out of four) was a tiresome horror thriller about a young woman (Nathalie Buscombe) who wakes up in a deserted factory where she realizes she is being terrorized by an invisible force which she has to out-think and out-smart if she wants to stay alive. Buscombe does what she can with her role and there are some good moments but a little of this goes a long way, as film starts to wear out and become unpleasant. Actually rips off “Saw” in a few scenes among a few others. Continue reading →
January 8, 2020 “Grand Isle” (*1/2 out of four) was a leaden Southern Gothic melodrama about a handyman (Luke Benward) who is arrested for murder and has to prove his innocence by recounting what happened the night of his arrest involving a bizarre family (Nicholas Cage and Kadee Strickland) who he was working for. Director Stephen Campanelli infuses this with a heavy atmosphere but everything else about it is heavy as well, including Cage who more-or-less is playing the same character he did in “Con Air.” For a richer and more striking look at similar characters, watch 1987’s “Angel Heart” instead. Continue reading →
January 8, 2020 “Shattered Memories” (*1/2 out of four) was a ludicrous melodrama about a young woman (Helena Mattsson) who is severely disfigured and injured after a car crash and wakes up in a hospital with a fragmented memory but begins to piece together pieces of her past involving her husband (Dan Sevier) and realizes that things weren’t quite right even before the crash. Rips off Wolfgang Petersen’s similarly titled “Shattered” right down to its title and film poster and even the husband’s name being Dan but aside from that- it bears none of that film’s hypnotic style or twists and films’ ending is laughable. Continue reading →
January 8, 2020 “The Tombs” (*1/2 out of four) was a thoroughly by-the-numbers horror show about a live-streamed publicity stunt filmed inside the terrifying underground of London’s tombs in which a group of reality show performers (Ria Fend, Jessica Cameron, Jess Impiazzi, and others) are in fear for their lives when an evil spirit is awakened from one of the tombs and they realize they all might be in jeopardy. It’s movies like these that effectively buried the horror genre in the ’80’s before “Scream” brought it back with a vengeance. This one deserves to be buried beneath the tombs. Continue reading →
January 8, 2020 “Mr. Happy” (0 stars out of four) was a worthless horror story that looks like someone’s bad home movies about a family (Chase Spears, Lucas Spears, Mark Spears) who are besieged by the title character who wants to terrorize them and drive them crazy. Viewers who last to the end of this will likely no exactly how they feel, if they’re not already driven crazy by the amateurish handheld camerawork and patchwork editing. This was apparently a family affair since Mark Spears was the writer-director and co-star but the results aren’t likely to make him (or audiences) happy. Continue reading →
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