November 11, 2017 “November Criminals” (*1/2 out of four) was a turgid story about two teenagers (Ansel Elgort and Chloe Grace Moretz) in Washington D.C. who are deeply shaken upon learning about the death of a schoolmate and set out to solve his murder. Illogical story never makes you really understand or care why the two teenagers are so determined to find his killer in the first place. What’s really criminal is wasting the terrific Moretz in more direct-to-Redbox drivel like this. Both her and Elgort previously starred in the remake of “Carrie.” Continue reading →
November 11, 2017 “Patti Cakes” (*1/2 out of four) was a sour melodrama about an aspiring rapper named Patti Cakes (Danielle Macdonald) who struggles to achieve her quest for glory and stardom in her rundown home in New Jersey but finds that her continued family problems and ties in her community keep holding her down. Unfortunately, the character Patti Cakes isn’t really that special a rapper and Macdonald isn’t all that great of a lead actress which makes this a lumpy mix at best. Works best in the scenes between her and her mom but many supporting characters are unpleasant and film bogs down at nearly 2 hours. Continue reading →
November 8, 2017 “Flint” (*** out of four) was a searing true story about the Flint water crisis in 2014 and how numerous townspeople (Queen Latifah, Betsy Brandt, Jill Scott) had to band together to persuade the city’s big business and political administrations to finally recognize the effects of the city’s toxic water and how it was gradually poisoning and killing thousands. A disturbing look at political and business coverups and the numerous hurdles a town had to go through to get their voices heard. Director Bruce Beresford tells his story simply and eloquently in one of his best dramas in a while. Continue reading →
November 3, 2017 “Sex Guaranteed” (*1/2 out of four) was a terrible movie, guaranteed, about a loser named Kevin (Grey Damon) who swears off sex to win back his fiancee but happens to meet a beautiful escort (Bella Dayne) at the party of an eccentric millionaire (Stephen Dorff) and realizes she may have the spark he needs to turn his life around. Dorff’s amusing performance is the only salvation for this moronic and contrived story. Won’t someone please rescue him from this direct-to-DVD junk? Continue reading →
November 2, 2017 “A Bad Moms Christmas” (**1/2 out of four) was an occasionally funny comedy sequel to the 2016 original about the same three under-appreciated and overworked moms (Mila Kunis, Kristen Bell, and Kathryn Hahn) who band together to rebel against all their chores for Christmas especially when their derisive families come to visit. Enough laughs for fans of the original but feels overstretched, and tacked-on happy ending rings false. Kunis’ usual engaging performance helps a lot. Christine Baranski is well-cast as (what else) a bitch and Kenny G. has an amusing cameo towards the end. Continue reading →
November 2, 2017 “Only The Brave” (**1/2 out of four) was a sincere but hollow drama based on the true story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots (Josh Brolin, Miles Teller, and others) who were a group of elite firefighters who risked everything to protect their North Carolina town from deadly wildfires. Both respectful and respectable but film is less about the risks and dangers the men took on their jobs than their personal camaraderie and problems at home which are predictable and overly familiar. Final half-hour is harrowing and nail-biting but rest of film could have used some significant editing and paring down at almost two-and-a-half hours. Continue reading →
October 30, 2017 “All I See Is You” (** out of four) was a curiously detached and unmoving story about a blind woman (Blake Lively) who regains her sight after an operation but this gradually changes her relationship with her husband (Jason Clarke) as she begins to regain control of her life after years of darkness. Director Marc Forster melds some striking and hallucinogenic imagery with a woman’s painful story of struggle and survival but story is plodding and muted, and film’s ending is pointlessly obscure. Lively is good as always but is unable to enliven the material. Continue reading →
October 30, 2017 “Suburbicon” (** out of four) was a muddled story set in 1959 about a home invasion that rattles the lives of a seemingly mild-mannered insurance executive (Matt Damon), his sister (Julianne Moore), and his young son but it turns out there is more to this crime than initially meets the eye and it rattles their community. Pointless mix of 1950’s social satire, racial commentary, and murder mystery; particularly disappointing because it’s script was co-written by The Coen Bros. who recycle many plot elements from their own far superior “Fargo” and “Blood Simple”. Oscar Isaacs fares best as a suspicious insurance investigator when the story gradually takes off in its final third. Continue reading →
October 30, 2017October 30, 2017 “Jigsaw” (** out of four). Now hear this! Jigsaw (Tobin Bell), the senior sicko from the “Saw” entries, really didn’t die in part IV! Apparently he’s been living peacefully and only resurfaces because the producers decided they needed to continue this once exhausted series which enables him to re-enact his gruesome and over-elaborate traps and torture numerous others with skeletons of personal guilt. Really just more of the same but good-looking and features the requisite amount of gore and scares for those who still care. Better than most “Saw” entries but undermined by terrible ending. Bell makes an obligatory appearance towards the end but he is mostly heard and not saw. Continue reading →
October 28, 2017 “Acts Of Vengeance” (** out of four) was a fizzled action melodrama about a slick lawyer (Antonio Banderas) who makes his living exonoreating murderers and other criminals but becomes deranged and hellbent on revenge when his wife and daughter are both murdered and turns him into a vigilante on the streets against the same people he used to defend! Potentially juicy story of a defense attorney who becomes a vigilante avenger is bungled, as story loses its way and is underdone. Banderas is solid as usual. Terrific story makes you only wonder what Martin Scorcese or David Fincher could have done with this. Continue reading →
dlepikcom 