July 5, 2019 “The Tracker” (** out of four) was an interchangeable action melodrama starring a more-wooden-than-ever Dolph Lundgren as the title tracker who returns to a remote village where both his wife and daughter were kidnapped 15 years earlier and seeks vengeance but finds treachery at every turn. Reasonably well-made movie has a few expected good scenes of hand-to-hand combat but nothing to distinguish it from millions of other similar movies. It’s mediocrities like these that led to Lundgren’s career falling off track, in the first place. Continue reading →
July 4, 2019 “Deadsight” (** out of four) was a fairly routine zombie horror thriller about a man with partial blindness (Adam Seybolt) and a young pregnant police officer (Liv Collins) who must work together to stay alive to combat a deadly virus that threatens worldwide eradication. Decent performances and Jeff Maher’s moody cinematography can’t save this from being yet another rip-off of both “Night Of The Living Dead” and “28 Days Later” and countless other zombie movies. By now, if you’ve seen one flesh-eating zombie, you’ve seen ‘en all. Continue reading →
July 3, 2019 “Robert Reborn” (** out of four) was a muddled horror story set in 1951 USSR as the title killer doll boards a weapons plane and does battle with Stalin’s henchmen. Fifth in the “Robert The Doll” series is well-made and features some unexpected elements of black comedy but is set against a bizarre and unpleasant backdrop. This is overall the best of the series so far but is strictly for series fans and not many others. What’s next? “Robert Helps Save The Titanic?” Continue reading →
July 1, 2019 “Yesterday” (**1/2 out of four) was a sweetly engaging pop fantasy about a young struggling songwriter (Himesh Patel) who is unable to achieve much success but is hit by a car one night and knocked unconscious and then awakens in an alternate universe in which he finds The Beatles never existed and he is able to use their songs to catapult him to success and stardom! Director Danny Boyle tells his story with a lot of affection and naturally infuses it with a lot of great Beatles music but story doesn’t take off as it should and doesn’t reach the magical highs it could have. Best of all are a few satirical music-industry scenes which question The Beatles’ relevance in current music business. Continue reading →
July 1, 2019 “Spider Man: Far From Home” (*** out of four) was an uneven but winning sequel in which Peter Parker (Tom Holland) is on a school trip in Europe and becomes embroiled in a battle against various elemental threats from another dimension which threaten his relationships and worldwide destruction. Great climax with lots of spectacular action and eye-popping special effects and the usual addition of Marvel characters and relationships (Samuel L. Jackson is terrific as usual as Nick Fury) help overcome some lulls especially in film’s midsection. Not as sweeping as the original but still overall entertaining for Marvel fans. Continue reading →
June 30, 2019 “Play Or Die” (*** out of four) was a stylish, suspenseful horror melodrama in the vein of “Saw” about two friends (Charley Palmer Rothwell and Roxanne Mesquida) who decide to take part in a life-or-death game called Paranoia in which they are put through a series of elaborate torture devices and riddles and have to psychologically- and physically- persevere in order to survive and win. Good-looking film wastes no time in putting the two leads into jeopardy and breathlessly moves after that although it goes a little too far and goes overboard with gore towards the end. Still, this is a far better film than many of the “Saw” entries and most others in the torture-porn genre. Continue reading →
June 29, 2019 “Staged Killer” (** out of four) was a fairly obvious and predictable thriller about an ambitious and wormy yuppie (Jason Dolley) who works his way into the career and life of a successful morning t.v. host (Chrishell Hartley) when bodies start suddenly piling up and many in her personal life start dying. Who could possibly be behind all this skullduggery? Attractively shot and competently acted but lacking in any surprises, especially when it’s pretty apparent who the “killer” is. Not the worst of its kind but not too memorable either. Continue reading →
June 29, 2019 “Tapestry” (** out of four) was a hokey melodrama about a middle-aged family man (Stephen Baldwin) who enters a personal/career/religious crossroads in life after he is demoted at his job, his mother is dying of cancer, and his relationship with his estranged father (Burt Young) comes to the forefront. Well-meaning story of religion and faith and introspection in life may mean more to Christian audiences and fundamentalists but it’s too maudlin and heavy-going for others. Baldwin is strong in the lead role. Continue reading →
June 29, 2019 “Mr. Cleaver” (* out of four) was a jarringly awful horror show about seven young punks (Dwight Baker, Danilo A. Daniel, Patrick Donahue, and others) who break into an abandoned warehouse and are subsequently terrorized by its nutjob owner who doesn’t take too kindly to their presence and uses (you guessed it) a cleaver as his weapon of choice. Throwback to ’80’s horror movies is something you’ll want to throw out instead. It’s schlock like these that killed the genre before “Scream” brought it back from the dead in the mid-90’s. Continue reading →
June 29, 2019 “No Man’s Land” (** out of four) was a pale Western melodrama about a family man (Kyle Jacob Henry) who goes on a road trip to meet his lover’s family but when she is kidnapped by a vicious gang- he must venture into the backwoods and to the heart of the West to find and save her. Henry tries in the lead role but he’s no Tommy Lee Jones or Robert Duvall and this is no “Lonesome Dove”, with a pretty basic and familiar story and characterizations. No relation to the 1987 cult classic with Charlie Sheen and D.B. Sweeney Continue reading →
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