April 7, 2017April 7, 2017 “Diamond Cartel” (*1/2 out of four) was an incoherent underworld melodrama about a ruthless mob boss (Armand Assante) who makes a deal to buy a diamond from a Hong Kong triad crime boss but is set up and robbed by one of his own which leads to a multitude of double-crossings and shootouts. Everyone has to pay the bills but what a waste of Assante, Michael Madsen (who is only in one scene), and Peter O’Toole of which this was sadly his final film. What a bloody mess. Continue reading →
April 4, 2017 “Ghost In The Shell” (**1/2 out of four) was an elegant but empty adaptation of the Japanese manga series set in the future in which the line between robots and humans has become blurred and one woman (Scarlett Johannson) has become cybernetically enhanced to become a perfect soldier but years to learn of her past and how she became this way. Spectacular-looking film has stunning cinematography and usual plethora of futuristic “Blade Runner” like sets but the story isn’t very compelling or original. By now, we’ve seen too many movies about artificial intelligence and robots (“A.I.”, “Minority Report”, “The Matrix”) for this to have the impact it did when it was first released as a manga series. Johannson is good but her character too is familiar and is virtually the same as Black Widow. Continue reading →
April 1, 2017 “The Last Scout” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary, derivative sci/fi thriller that makes you hope this is the last time “Alien” is ripped off about a team of astronauts (Blaine Gray, Simon Phillips, Rebecca Ferdinando) who search for an inhabitable place and new environment to save the human race after Earth is destroyed by war but things naturally don’t go as planned. You would hope filmmakers would search for new ideas and new storylines instead of re-churning out junk like this. Film also liberally rips off “Forbidden Planet” and “Event Horizon” and probably many others as well. Paul Salmons’ striking cinematography is film’s one asset. Continue reading →
April 1, 2017 “Live Cargo” (* out of four) was a lifeless timewaster about a grieving couple (Dree Hemingway, Lakeith Stanfield) who vacation in the Bahamas and become entangled in a political and personal battle between the mayor and a sex-trafficking ring. The seriousness of the issue of sex-trafficking completely eludes the makers of this mess. Even at 88 minutes, it’s molasses-moving and too long. For a non-exploitive look at the same subject, watch “The Whistleblower” or even “Taken”. Continue reading →
March 31, 2017 “Peelers” (*1/2 out of four) was a repellent vampire horror show about a nowheresville strip-club owner (Wren Walker) who is forced to defend her establishment and her strippers when the patrons begin behaving strangely one night and she subsequently finds out they have become supernatural killers! Not for the squeamish and not for too many others either. Someone at the controls evidently watched “From Dusk Till Dawn” several times before making this but there’s no George Clooney, Quentin Tarantino, or (worse) Salma Hayek here. Continue reading →
March 31, 2017 “King Arthur: Excalibur Rising” (*1/2 out of four) was a less-than-exceptional retelling of the Arthurian legend about Arthur’s illegitimate son Owain (Adam Byard) who must realize his destiny and take up his mantle as King. Reasonably compelling at first but it soon sputters to a halt and becomes talky and sluggish. Muddy cinematography and cheap-looking sets aren’t much help. Yet another film obviously inspired by “Braveheart” and also “Robin Hood” but fails to match the sparks of either. Continue reading →
March 30, 2017 “Smoking Guns” (*1/2 out of four) was a murky underworld drama set in London among various gangsters and thieves who double-cross and shoot one another; one gangster assailant (Tommy O’Neill) attempts to bet it all on a horse race which he sees as a way out for him and his friends to win a fortune and leave the underworld behind. Thick English accents are tough to decipher at times but it’s unlikely that you’ll care and often not even worth the bother. Director Savvas Michael attempts to jack up the energy with flashy cutting and great soundtrack songs but story and characters are dead in the water. Watch “Trainspotting” or “Snatch” again instead. Continue reading →
March 29, 2017 “Atomica” (*1/2 out of four) was a drab futuristic melodrama without much action or thrills about a young safety inspector (Sarah Habel) who has to fly to a remote nuclear power plant in an isolated desert when communications go offline; once there, she begins to suspect that two of the employees (Tom Sizemore and Dominic Monaghan) aren’t exactly who they say and there may be larger issues at play. Yet another futuristic action picture in which the future simply isn’t what it used to be. Monaghan is one-note and annoying; Sizemore is hardly in it and looks hungover or exhausted or both. Continue reading →
March 29, 2017 “The Marine 5: Battleground” (*1/2 out of four) was a numbskull fifth entry in this ongoing series about a former marine turned EMT worker (Mike “The Miz” Mizanin) who responds to a distress call and finds himself protecting a gang-banger who is being hunted by a ruthless redneck biker gang. Even the action scenes are pretty lackluster and routine. Mizanin in the lead role makes one nostalgic for the brilliant dramatics and interpretations of original “Marine” John Cena, who wisely sat out the rest of this series after the original came out all the way back in 2006. Continue reading →
March 28, 2017 “Forced To Kill” (*1/2 out of four) was a confusing, tedious action melodrama that no one should be forced to watch about a widow (Jessica Kemejuk) who is forced to enter the criminal underworld and commit murder to settle her husbands gambling debts and get her daughter back alive. Kemejuk isn’t bad in the lead role but the writing, direction, and filmmaking certainly are. Standard-issue underworld thriller might play better on cable at 2:00 in the morning. Continue reading →
