November 16, 2018 “Death Of A Nation” (** out of four) was a scattershot documentary from right-wing filmmaker Dinesh D’Sousza focusing on Trump’s presidential win and how he claims it was set in motion by the idealism of liberals going back to Lincoln’s presidency which had oppressed freedom and truth (or something or other). Attempt to link Trump’s current presidency and events to Lincoln’s office term and even Hitler and Stalin’s regime (!) doesn’t work although he does present some thought-provoking and interesting ideas as usual. Whether you like D’Sousza (or Trump) will surely affect your enjoyment of the film. An interesting companion piece to D’Sousza’s own “2016: Obama’s America.” Continue reading →
November 16, 2018 “No Good Deed” (*1/2 out of four) was no good movie about a successful businesswoman (Haley Webb) who meets a young girl (Haley Pullos) who is from her same sorority and they spark an unlikely (read: contrived) friendship and the woman is painfully unaware of the girl’s suspicious and psychotic behavior even as she begins to take over her life. Apparently, this woman never watched “Fatal Attraction” or “The Crush” or “Single White Female” or the hundreds of other movies this liberally rips off. Thoroughly predictable and by-the-numbers although Webb is decent in the lead. Continue reading →
November 16, 2018 “Lasso” (*1/2 out of four) was a clunky horror comedy about a tour group (led by Lindsey Morgan and Andrew Jacobs) who go to a rodeo where the nutty local cowboys start abducting and killing them one at a time. “Scream” made fun of horror movies like this and turned them inside out over 20 years ago. Inauspicious directorial debut for visual effects specialist Evan Cecil. Sean Patrick Flannery has a minor role as (what else?) one of the local rednecks but he should finally start trying to lasso himself some better parts. Continue reading →
November 15, 2018 “Nazi Overlord” (** out of four) was a wholly derivative but entertaining horror thriller in which a D-Day invasion becomes ugly when a determined group of American soldiers (Anthony Jensen, Matthew Amerman, Greg Furman) become trapped behind enemy lines and find that the Nazis are performing numerous experiments on soldiers and they struggle to escape. The kind of B-movie that is bankrolled to capitalize on the success of a much larger-scale one (in this case “Overlord” if you hadn’t guessed) but the story, title, and even characters are so copied it’s almost plagiarism. Having said that, it’s fast-paced and features plenty of action and cheeky humor. Dominique Swain shows up and adds some style as a Nazi doctor and Tom Sizemore as a cameo as the boy’s sergeant. Continue reading →
November 14, 2018 “Alpha Wolf” (*1/2 out of four) an utterly stupid horror thriller about a couple (Casper Van Dien and Jennifer Wenger) who go for a vacation in the countryside and are attacked by a mysterious wolf that leads to him transforming into one himself who preys the countryside after hours for innocent victims. Badly acted and directed and doesn’t even feature much werewolf action or horror. Sci/fi fans will note that this reunites Van Dien with Patrick Muldoon from “Starship Troopers” but other fans will note how much this rips off “The Howling.” Continue reading →
November 13, 2018 “The Girl In The Spider’s Web” (*** out of four) was a wicked second chapter in the “Millenium” film series starring Claire Foy in the title role as a young computer hacker who represses a lifetime of severe emotional and sexual trauma and teams up with a journalist (Sverrir Gudnason) to uncover a dark web of spies and cyberhackers which leads to a multitude of corruption within the government. Director Fede Alvarez ably duplicates David Fincher’s fever-dream intensity from the last entry and intoxicates you with dazzling imagery and nerve-wracking action scenes even though the underlying story is pretty thin. Foy is strong in the lead role, taking over from Rooney Mara. Continue reading →
November 12, 2018 “Prescription For Danger” (** out of four) was a hollow medical melodrama about a young successful business owner (Joanne Kelly) who is suddenly diagnosed with a brain tumor and begins seeing a shady doctor (Shaun Benson) who supplies her with illegal but effective prescription drugs and they soon become romantically involved but she (finally) begins to realize that there may be more to this guy than meets the eye. Intriguing initially and conveys some palpable terrors of a sudden life-threatening diagnosis but plot twists are obvious and predictable and story becomes pretty ridiculous in the second half. Thriller fans would best seek a prescription for something else instead. Continue reading →
November 11, 2018 “Tiger” (** out of four) was a middling sports melodrama about a Sikh boxer (Prem Singh) who tries to fight his way up through the ranks but finds that he has a terrifying showdown with an obnoxious boxing champion (Michael Pugliese) and an even more personal showdown in court to stand up for his religious beliefs when he is banned by the boxing commission. Yet another “Rocky” wannabe that can’t come close to the passion and grit of the original (or its sequels) although Mickey Rourke adds some flavor as Singh’s hard-edged trainer. Pertinent themes of religion and racism are handled with kid gloves and boxing scenes are perfunctory. Continue reading →
November 11, 2018 “Assassins Revenge” (* out of four) was an abysmal potboiler about an NYPD cop (Michael Madsen) who becomes tired of the injustice and corruption on the streets of NYC and becomes a vigilante intent on taking down the evil mayor (Patrick Bergin) and restoring order to society. Completely inept mess rips off both “Max Payne” and “The Spirit” in equal measure right down to incoherent comic-book chapter interludes which add nothing. It’s depressing to see one-time great character actors Madsen and Bergin stuck in this schlock. Continue reading →
November 11, 2018 “Backfire” (** out of four) was a murky ghetto underworld action melodrama about a Philadelphia gun-runner (Black Deniro who also co-wrote the script) who has to outsmart both the mob, the police, and his underworld rivals to stay alive after a botched robbery escalates to murder. Neither the best nor worst of its kind, and features enough firepower and action to remain watchable, but you’ve seen it all before and done better so many times before. Too many characters and subplots to keep track of although at least it moves fast. Continue reading →
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