May 7, 2017 “Dark Silence” (*1/2 out of four) was a dark bore about a mentally unhinged adult (Parker Riggs) who returns home after 20 years in a mental asylum when he finds his family home has become a gathering for young kids on Halloween which he finds disfavor with. Horror fans will find disfavor with this by-the-numbers and dreary story. Umpteenth rip-off of “Poltergeist” and “The Shining” makes you wonder whether horror filmmakers ever intend on making original movies ever again. Some stylish touches from director Damon Catic can’t elevate this from being dead in the water. Continue reading →
May 6, 2017 “Born In China” (** out of four) was a pretty but pretty tedious Disneynature feature set in the wilds of China focusing on a panda raising her cub, a young golden monkey who begins to feel displaced by his sister, and a mother snow leopard trying to raise her two children. Some gorgeous shots as you might expect yet not as many as you may find on a Discovery Channel feature on the same subject. Young kids may like it but even they might get restless after a while. Even at less than 80 minutes, this still feels like it should have been an hour-long special on television. Continue reading →
May 6, 2017 “Gifted” (*** out of four) was an affecting and effective melodrama about a single blue-collar parent (Chris Evans) raising his child prodigy niece (McKenna Grace) but problems begin to develop when he is drawn into a wrenching custody battle with his mother (Lindsay Duncan). Evans, as the beleaguered and conflicted dad, has never been better and Grace matches him in a first-rate performance as a child genius who still has a lot of emotional development to make and they both have a lot of tearjerking moments in the second half. Only the mawkish ending doesn’t ring entirely true. Beautifully shot by Stuart Dryburgh. Continue reading →
May 5, 2017 “Western World” (* out of four) was an unbearable Western wannabe that just about cries out for the nimble touch of Sam Peckinpah, John Ford, or even Walter Hill. In a Wyoming nowhere town, a U.S. marshal (Christopher Rowley) is called into investigate deceit and murder involving a dead husband that has caused the whole town to unravel with greed and moral decay. Badly acted and directed, with wretched photography and cheap sets as icing on the moldy cake. Film doesn’t end so much as stop. It’s movies like these that fire blanks that killed the Western genre decades ago. Continue reading →
May 5, 2017 “Breaking Legs” (*1/2 out of four) was a plastic pastiche of “Mean Girls” and “Footloose” about a small-town high-school girl (Liv Southard) who finds nowhere to fit in except the school dance team where she proceeds to fall in love with the boyfriend of the main and mean vindictive cheerleader (Alexa Sutherland) and runs afoul of her clicky team of friends. Guess what happens next. Formulaic and predictable enough to insult anyone’s intelligence and missing the clever sting of the two aforementioned teen movies. John Hughes made movies like these in his sleep in the ’80’s. Continue reading →
May 5, 2017 “Monolith” (** out of four) was a monotonous action melodrama about a single mother (Katrina Bowden) who becomes stranded in the middle of the Las Vegas desert with her newborn child when she is en route to see his father which physically and mentally tests her will to survive. Bowden’s good performance can only carry this so far as the story starts to dawdle and run out of steam in the middle, and never fully regathers itself. Moody electronic score by Diego Buengorno. Continue reading →
May 3, 2017 “Abbey Grace” (*1/2 out of four) was a graceless horror thriller about a middle-aged woman (Debbie Sheridan) who returns to her childhood home after her mom dies to take care of her OCD and agoraphobic brother (Jacob Hobbs) but both soon find out that their childhood home is full of paranormal activity and disturbing secrets. Passable beginning turns into yet another boring horror story about a haunted house, exorcisms, and (of course) religious symbolism. One sequence of the family dog turning berserk is the only scary scene in the movie. Maybe “The Exorcist II” and “The Shining” remake weren’t as bad as they initially seemed. Continue reading →
May 2, 2017 “Survival Knife” (** out of four) was an unpleasant horror melodrama about the survivor (Tara Davis) of a brutal attack that left her seriously injured and her friends dead and finds that moving on from this ordeal is much more difficult than she imagined and awakens a dark side of her psyche that leads to her committing murder. Interesting look at the post-traumatic effects of assault is more of a psychological drama than a horror gorefest but is too cheesy and trashy to have much of an impact. Davis ranges from blank to effective in the lead role. Continue reading →
May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 “Attack Of The Killer Donuts” (** out of four) was a schlock throwback to ’70’s trash like “The Killer Tomatoes” about a chemical accident which results in donuts becoming blood-thirsty killers and how two young kids (Justin Ray and Kayla Compton) attempt to stop them and save their nowhere town from destruction. Not as hilarious or as hilariously bad as you might hope and lacks the cheeky edge it needs but having said that- it’s fast-moving and still watchable. Compton is definitely someone to keep an eye on. Continue reading →
May 1, 2017May 1, 2017 “Guardians Of The Galaxy vol. 2” (*** out of four) was a fun continuation of the original with the Guardians (Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Michael Rooker) unravelling the origins of the Starlord’s father (Kurt Russell) who is not all that he appears. Too long and starts to slow down in the middle but full of entertaining characters and wall-to-wall spectacular effects to give fans of the original their money’s worth. Russell not only plays Pratt’s father but through C.G.I. magic appears as his younger self in a few key opening scenes as well. Sylvester Stallone also has a minor role as high-ranking Ravager. Continue reading →
