April 9, 2018 “10 X 10” (** out of four) was an ungainly story of a guy (Luke Evans) who seems ordinary on the surface but harbors an obsessive revenge against a woman (Kelly Reilly) and eventually kidnaps her and holds her hostage until he can extract a dark secret from her past. Well-acted story about obsession and the past coming back to haunt us is too strange and too aloof to hold your involvement. By the end, it’s really hard to care about anything or anyone in the story. Continue reading →
April 8, 2018 “Deep Blue Sea 2” (*1/2 out of four) was a fairly awful sequel to the original which came out nearly 20 years ago about a group of scientists (Danielle Savre, Rob Mayes, and others) who are led by an unscrupulous billionaire (Michael Beach) to his private resort where he is doing experiments on bull sharks but they soon realize they’re all on the menu. More-or-less a remake, rather than a sequel, to a movie that was pretty weak to begin with but at least the original had some thrills and unintentional laughs. Thomas Callaway’s striking cinematography provides only highlights but otherwise this is a real bore. Continue reading →
April 7, 2018 “You Were Never Really Here” (** out of four) was a blah melodrama about a traumatized war veteran (Joaquin Phoenix) who tracks down missing girls for a living but when a new job becomes more complex than he anticipated- he uncovers a gradual conspiracy that could be the signifier of either his death or his spiritual awakening in life. Phoenix’ aloof and one-note performance is the emblem of this bizarre and pretentious story. Has some moments of undeniable grim power but you’ll eventually feel lost in the haze and wish you never really were here. Continue reading →
April 7, 2018 “Assassin’s Code” (**1/2 out of four) was an absorbing underworld thriller about a rookie detective (Justin Chatwin), son of a disgraced former cop, who works to solve his first major murder case all the while being trailed by a ruthless assassin (Peter Stormare) and trying to sort out the mobsters and cops he can trust. Story of corrupt cops and mafia ties is familiar and predictable but Chatwin is strong in navigating the lead role and the writing and filmmaking are better-than-average. Ironically, film only slows down during scenes with veteran actor Stormare. Continue reading →
April 7, 2018 “Acrimony” (** out of four) was a predictable thriller about a devoted wife (Taraji Henson) who becomes enraged and eventually unhinged when she is betrayed by her lying and manipulative husband (Lyriq Bent). Director Tyler Perry’s gloss on “Fatal Attraction” is tepid at best but Henson gives this a boost as usual. Final third (source of the film’s title) is especially screwy and hard to believe. Continue reading →
April 7, 2018 “A Quiet Place” (*1/2 out of four) was a lifeless thriller about a family (Emily Blunt, John Krasinski, Millicent Simmonds) who live in the woods in silence and hiding from mysterious creatures who hunt by sound. No one could accuse the filmmakers of deception in advertising because my God this movie is quiet (the entire film has virtually no dialogue) and, as a result, also forgettable and boring. A particular waste of Blunt who is given nothing to do. Some striking shots of upstate NY (it was filmed mostly in Herkimer and Ulster County) are film’s only virtues. Continue reading →
April 6, 2018 “American Bred” (** out of four) was a stale underworld melodrama set in Detroit in which one crime-syndicate family (Michael Lerner, Eva Tamargo, Andy Martin, Jesse Staccato) becomes unraveled by greed, jealousy, lust, and betrayal and they realize they have to set aside their differences and band together if they want to survive. Sleek cinematography and lots of violent action do their best to enliven tired and familiar storyline. This is the kind of movie Martin Scorcese and Brian De Palma could easily have made in their sleep. Continue reading →
April 5, 2018 “Toy Gun” (**1/2 out of four) was a scattershot but entertaining black comedy about a down-on-his-luck loser (Luke Allen Gale) who robs a bank with the title toy gun and seeks refuge and advice from his wisened neighbor (Anthony LaPaglia) while a burned-out police detective (Julian Sands) and the weaselly bank manager (John Hannah) are on his trail. Good cast and storytelling keep you watching as film bounces between dark comedy and an underworld melodrama but it never quite takes flight. Similar in style and story elements to Guy Ritchie’s “Lock, Stock, and 2 Smoking Barrels” and “Snatch”. Continue reading →
April 4, 2018 “Relentless” (** out of four) was an earnest but empty melodrama about an American mother (Lauren Shaw) who searches for her daughter who was kidnapped by sex traffickers in Central America and turns to a local bounty hunter (David Castro) for help. Well-made and well-intentioned but covers awfully familiar ground about the sex-trafficking industry and never becomes fully gripping. For a more searing and powerful look at the same subject, watch last year’s “Trafficked” instead. Continue reading →
April 4, 2018 “Killing Joan” (* out of four) was a grindingly inept death-wish revenge thriller that does nothing but kill your time about a mob enforcer (Jamie Bernadette) who is double-crossed and left for dead and then enacts her revenge against the mob and those who betrayed her. Slapdash filmmaking and awful acting make this a chore to sit through and it goes on forever at nearly two hours. Strictly recommended for anyone who thought the recent “Death Wish” remake with Bruce Willis was not well-done. Continue reading →
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