July 31, 2019 “Clown Motel” (*1/2 out of four) was a sleazy, stupid horror show about a group of ghost hunters (Tony Moran, Julie Anne Prescott, and others) returning from a hunting trip and bachelorette party who stumble onto the title motel which is haunted by the ghosts of (you guessed it) killer clowns. Can we please now have a eulogy on horror movies about clowns? Fun fact: one of the ghost hunters (Moran) played Michael Meyers in the original “Halloween” which had more scares (and laughs) in its opening than this has in its entirety. Continue reading →
July 29, 2019 “London Rampage” (** out of four) was a stylized but empty melodrama shot in B & W that plays like low-budget Guy Ritchie; in East London, a young man (Greg Burridge) returns home after 10 years and finds the city in disarray from drugs, gangs, and illegal underground fighting and finds he must journey through the city’s dangerous underbelly in order to protect his younger brother and help the rest of his family. Lots of violence and hand-to-hand action in the vein of “Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels”; just don’t look for much in the way of character development or subtext. Burridge also wrote, directed, edited, co-created the music, and executive produced. Continue reading →
July 29, 2019 “Share” (**1/2 out of four) was a perceptive melodrama about a 16-year old (Rhianne Barreto) who discovers a disturbing video from a night at a party she doesn’t remember in which she was possibly sexually assaulted and has to gradually piece together what actually happened and navigate the emotional fallout from this and pick up the pieces and move on with her life. Moody story offers some insightful fragments about sexual trauma and PTSD but story starts to lag after a while and gradually grows repetitive. Barreto’s strong lead performance makes this uneven film worthwhile. Director Pippa Bianco remade her own 2015 film of the same name. Continue reading →
July 28, 2019 “Girls With Balls” (*1/2 out of four) was a lame Netflix horror comedy about an all-girls volleyball team (Tiphaine Devot, Camille Razat, Anne-Solenne Hatte, and others) who go on a road trip and are stranded in the middle of nowhere where they are stalked and mauled by (who else) a group of hillbilly rednecks who apparently watched “Mother’s Day” and “Wrong Turn” too many times. Desperate movie full of annoying characters and irritating and dumb dialogue. Clever title provides the only laugh here. Continue reading →
July 28, 2019 “Robocall” (*** out of four) was an affecting drama about a lonely widower and former Vietnam vet (Gary Sturm who also wrote and directed) who is going through the tedium and realization that he is at the end of his life and doesn’t have much left and is beset by a series of increasingly aggressive robocalls and telemarketers that begin to rattle his nerves and drive him further into madness. Not much in the way of plot per se but Sturm does a very impressive job on both sides of the camera and makes this story alternately moving, intriguing, and funny. Only the ending is a bit abrupt and a bit of a letdown. Continue reading →
July 27, 2019 “Killers Anonymous” (*1/2 out of four) was a disjointed and dull melodrama about a support group of killers (Tommy Flanagan, Rhyon Nicole Brown, Tim McInnerny, and others) who meet regularly in a self-help counseling meeting and discuss their difficulties in life but a growing sense of distrust exists which threatens to boil to the surface. Interesting idea goes nowhere, as film changes style and tone with each scene and gradually slows to a halt even as it goes on too long. Gary Oldman and Jessica Alba are wasted in throwaway roles. Go to A.A. instead. Continue reading →
July 27, 2019 “Dead Water” (*1/2 out of four) was a slipshod thriller which rips off the similar (and similarly titled) “Dead Calm” in which a couple (Griff Furst and Brianne Davis) go out to sea with their best friend (Casper Van Dien) and they all find themselves under siege from a vicious pirate (Judd Nelson) but all may not be what it appears. Good actors are literally left high and dry by weak filmmaking and an even weaker script. For better recent movies about terror at sea, watch “Captain Phillips” or “All Is Lost” instead. Continue reading →
July 27, 2019 “Bill Tilghman And The Outlaws” (*1/2 out of four) was a hollow Western about a movie-production company (Raw Leiba, Christine Nelson, and others) that comes to Oklahoma and convinces lawman Bill Tilghman (Ken Arnold) to star in a bank robbery film involving real outlaws in the West but he doesn’t realize that locals and other outlaws don’t realize that they’re making a movie and think it’s the real thing and havoc subsequently ensues. Just as you would expect- there are plenty of saloons, gun drawings, and horse-and-carriages but almost nothing in the way of originality or true grit. Robert Carradine pops up as outlaw Frank James but he may want to soon check on making a “Revenge Of The Nerds” remake next instead. Continue reading →
July 26, 2019 “2:Hrs” (*1/2 out of four) was a scattershot, silly teen adventure comedy set in Britain about a young mischief-maker (Harry Jarvis) and his friends (Ellla-Rae Smith and Alhaji Fofana) who stumble onto the invention of a mad scientist (Siobhan Redmond) and discovers he only has 2 hours left to live and tries to cram as much fun and adventure as possible in the next few hours. Likeable cast and energetic direction by D. James Newton can’t enliven a movie that’s pretty much dead to begin with. Young kids may like it but it’s hardly worth anyone else’s 2 hours. Continue reading →
July 26, 2019 “Awake” (*** out of four) was an unnerving thriller about a man (Jonathan Rhys-Myers) who wakes up in a hospital with no memories and finds himself accused of a series of gruesome murders and a female (Francesca Eastwood) and a burned-out sheriff (William Forsythe) try to put the pieces together. Director Aleksander Chernyaev infuses his story with some genuine Hitchcock twists and an atmosphere of dread and melancholy that holds you through its pretzel-like structure and uneasy climax. Forsythe is strong in one of his best roles in years. Continue reading →
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