January 18, 2017 “Tresspass Against Us” (*** out of four) was an affecting melodrama about a family man (Michael Fassbender) who struggles to escape the clutches and criminal ways of his outlaw family (led by Brendan Gleeson) and the multitude of problems this leads to for him and others around him. Low-key and takes time to get going but first-rate acting all around helps this grow more powerful and involving as it goes along. Fassbender is rock-solid as always and has good chemistry with Gleeson and his wife (Lyndsey Marshall). Stirring music score by The Chemical Brothers. Continue reading →
January 18, 2017 “48 Hours To Live” (** out of four) was a senseless but stylish underworld melodrama about a loner (James Maslow) out of rehab who returns home to solve the murder of his sister and finds himself in a crossfire between the mob, the police, and various other factions of the L.A. underworld club world. Lots of visual and audio energy provided by high-energy director Benny Boom but story is all over the place and its unpleasantness starts to wear out at nearly two hours. Director Boom obviously cut his teeth on music videos and his nonstop visuals may give you a rush but he needs to work more on improving story cohesion and coherence. Continue reading →
January 18, 2017 “Collateral Beauty” (*1/2 out of four) was a collateral mess starring Will Smith as a successful NYC advertising executive who retreats from life after suffering the tragic loss of his daughter and then seeks answers from the universe by writing letters to Love, Time, and Death, while his concerned friends and co-workers (Edward Norton, Kate Winslet, and Keira Knightley) try to re-connect and reach him. Unbearably hokey and contrived movie is full of good intentions but laughable at times; first-rate cast and some nice directorial touches by director David Frankel are wasted. A bizarre starring vehicle for Smith, which recalls his 2008 misfire “Seven Pounds” at times. Continue reading →
January 16, 2017 “The Barn” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster horror thriller set on Halloween 1989 when two best friends (MItchell Musolino and Will Stout) are on their way to a rock concert but are beset by a detour when they find an old abandoned barn and awaken the evil inside and are soon on the run for their lives. Laughably cheesy and dumb homage to ’80’s splatter movies is more like a bad movie from the ’80’s instead. One-time ’80’s horror scream queen Linnea Quigley has a minor role but she would have been better off re-watching “Return Of The Living Dead” instead. Continue reading →
January 12, 2017 “The Sector” (*1/2 out of four) was a cheapjack mishmash of “The Book Of Eli”, “The Road Warrior”, and “The Bourne Identity” set in another post-apocalyptic society wasteland (or basically a lot of arid deserts with dust flying around) about a bounty hunter (Richard Tyson) who sets out to capture a ruthless band of outlaws but another more sinister adversary (Lance Henriksen) has plans of his own. Just another series of ideas borrowed from other, better movies although it’s cool to see cult ’80’s actors Tyson and Henriksen still plugging away at it. Film doesn’t so much end as stop. Continue reading →
January 12, 2017 “The Autopsy Of Jane Doe” (*1/2 out of four) was an oppressively unpleasant thriller about a father and son coroner team (Brian Cox and Emile Hirsh) who attempt to unravel the mystery of an unnamed young woman who has died and was harboring various secrets. Virtually the entire movie takes place in the mortuary so this could only be of interest to those going to coroner school or those who thought “Saw” was robbed at Oscar time. The movie could use an autopsy of its own. Continue reading →
January 11, 2017 “The Legacy Of Barack Obama” (***1/2 out of four) was a riveting documentary looking at Obama’s 8-year run as president focusing on a wide array of areas including Obamacare, immigration, gay marriage, terrorism, and gun violence and their affects on the country- and where the country is going now in the wake of the Trump administration. Excellently researched film features plenty of interesting interviews and viewpoints. Fascinating film whether you are a fan of Obama or not. Continue reading →
January 11, 2017 “Valley Of The Sasquatch” (* out of four) was a practically worthless horror thriller about a family who go to an isolated cabin for a weekend of hunting and are besieged and stalked by a family of hostile sasquatches. Dreadful special effects are matched by awful script and acting. You will find a lot more scares and laughs re-watching “Harry And The Hendersons” instead. Even the scenery looks pretty drab and plain. A real snooze. Continue reading →
January 11, 2017 “Lost In The Pacific” (** out of four) was a junky but watchable sci/fi thriller about a group of passengers (Brandon Routh, Russell Wong, Yuqi Zhang) aboard a transatlantic flight that is in danger of crashing and not reaching its destination when a snarling pack of wolves are aboard and start taking over. Reminiscent in some ways of “Snakes On A Plane” but isn’t nearly as stylish or original but it moves fast and is enthusiastically acted. Special effects are sometimes subpar but there’s enough action and scares to make this reasonably entertaining. Continue reading →
January 8, 2017 “Pitchfork” (*1/2 out of four) was a routine gorefest about a group of friends who return home and try to help a friend share a life-changing secret but this leads to multiple other problems and they are soon all being brutally murdered. Some interesting touches from director Glenn Douglas Packard (that opening shot is amazing) are bungled as film devolves into standard stalk-and-slash fare. It’s movies like these that really make you appreciate the original “Friday The 13th” movies that much more. Continue reading →
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