August 26, 2019 “Woodstock Or Bust” (** out of four) was a pleasant but minor melodrama about two aspiring teenage songwriters (Willow Shields and Meg DeLacy) who go on a road trip and head East to debut their music at Woodstock which solidifies and strengthens their bond and friendship. Both girls are appealing but their music is mediocre and so is the movie on a whole. Watchable for young girls and die-hard Woodstock fanatics but one sexual attack scene is out of place and unnecessary. Continue reading →
August 25, 2019 “Night Hunter” (** out of four) was an unpleasant thriller about a lieutenant (Henry Cavill), his stern boss (Stanley Tucci), and a determined vigilante (Ben Kingsley) who all become embroiled in a web of deception when they apprehend a serial killer (Brendan Fletcher) who is linked to numerous child abductions and murders. Well-made film is made up of spare parts from “The Silence Of The Lambs” and “Seven” but still feels like a hollow retread although it is watchable overall. Kingsley is good as usual but Fletcher is over-the-top and annoying as the killer. Continue reading →
August 25, 2019 “Armed” (** out of four) was a flashy but empty melodrama about a former U.S. Marshal (Mario Van Peebles) struggling to put his life together and runs into a former colleague (William Fichtner) who tells him that all of the former members of his unit are suffering from similar problems and symptoms that he is and they have to get to the bottom of the large-scale conspiracy at hand. Lots of violence and action but little coherence or character development and its overlong at two hours. Disappointment from writer/director/star Peebles who may never top his directorial debut “New Jack City.” Continue reading →
August 25, 2019 “The Creatress” (*1/2 out of four) was an irritating comedy about a young best-selling author (Lindy Booth) who is thrown to the wolves by her publicist (Fran Drescher) and suddenly finds herself on the outs with critics and audiences and has to fight her way back to the top and restore and reclaim her reputation. Throwback to early-period Woody Allen is missing two crucial ingredients: charm and laughs and thus it rings false at almost every turn. Drescher’s whine and accent are kept to a minimum here. Director Peter Bogdanovich has a small but key role here as a book critic. Continue reading →
August 24, 2019 “Marked For Trade” (* out of four) was a trashy potboiler about a determined lawyer (Lauren Johnson) who begins to investigate the untimely death of a young girl and begins to uncover a sex-trafficking ring that she then tries to expose and bring down. Even at only an hour long, this is pretty brutal, with terrible acting and cheap production values. For a movie about the trafficking industry with more conviction and strength, watch 2017’s “Trafficked.” Tim Williams’ moody score is film’s only plus. Continue reading →
August 24, 2019 “Tone Deaf” (* out of four) was a blindingly awful horror thriller about a woman (Amanda Crew) who recently loses her job and her relationship and goes for a vacation in the countryside and rents her house from a lonely widower (Robert Patrick) who- to the surprise of no one- turns out to be a serious sicko and she realizes her life is in danger. Patrick is always an entertaining villain but film is laughably obvious and solemn and close to worthless. Unfortunately, it’s direct-to-DVD dreck like this that terminated his chances at stardom. Continue reading →
August 24, 2019 “Ode To Joy” (** out of four) was an artificial romantic comedy about a librarian (Martin Freeman) who is born with a rare neurological disorder in which strong emotions, particularly joy, make him faint. This becomes a problem when he meets a girl (Morena Baccarin) and falls in love and begins experiencing joy all the time. Viewers who make it to the end likely won’t be able to identify with him because there’s very little joy (and laughs) in this contrived comedy. Good performances (especially Freeman) keep this on track for a little while but are unable to enrich the screenplay and story. Continue reading →
August 24, 2019 “Defiant” (*1/2 out of four) was a pointless melodrama about an amnesiac soldier (Luke Krist) who is framed for the murder of the Sovereign Leader Of The New World and has to try and stay alive and re-connect with his family and try to unravel the conspiracy and find out who the real murderers are. Hokey rehash of “Bourne” themes and story elements but offensively (and exploitively) throws in elements of PTSD and mental health that it doesn’t have the conviction to explore. Krist is blank in the lead role and presumably only got the role because he’s related to the director of this trifle. Continue reading →
August 24, 2019 “Frat Pack” (*1/2 out of four) was a dismal comedy about a shy British graduate (Richard Alan Reid) who gets dragged on a road trip across America by his crazy stepbrothers into a wild night that none of them will forget. Director Michael Phillip obviously watched both “Animal House” and “The Hangover” several times but forgets that those movies were magical because of their strong scripts and characterizations instead of dumb dialogue and gross-out moments. Danny Trejo and Beveryly D’angelow must have been only cast for their name value because they appear in only a few scenes each Continue reading →
August 24, 2019 “Hot Air” (** out of four) was a tepid drama about a hot-shot radio broadcaster (Steve Coogan) whose life and his relationship with his girlfriend (Neve Campbell) is turned sideways by the arrival of his 16-year old niece (Taylor Russell) who challenges him, his show, and everything that he stands for. Nice attempt by director Frank Coraci to achieve a love story, a comedy, a reconciliation family drama, and a story about capitalism but its mild at best. Film never achieves the laughs or heart of his debut film “The Wedding Singer.” Continue reading →
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