August 24, 2016 “Beyond The Call Of Duty” (*1/2 out of four) was a chintzy, by-the-numbers action melodrama about five special ops soldiers who probably wouldn’t be picked for bunk duty but are somehow selected for a Recon Mission which turns deadly when they discover various experiments (yawn) with the undead that threaten worldwide destruction. Allegedly inspired by the video game “Call Of Duty” but should inspire viewers instead to watch “Full Metal Jacket”, “American Sniper”, or any episode of “The Walking Dead.” Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “The American Side” (** out of four) was a wearying detective melodrama about a low-rent gumshoe (Greg Stuhr) who is called to investigate a suicide at Niagara Falls but stumbles onto a murder conspiracy involving a plot to build an invention built by famed scientist Nikola Tesla! Stuhr is solid and compelling in the lead but this story is stretched well beyond its interest and limits at nearly two hours. Throwback to the detective and gumshoe melodramas of the 1970’s feels like warmed-over reheatings of Coppola and Michael Mann. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “Ticket Out” (** out of four) was a muddled Redbox melodrama about a single parent (Alexandra Breckinridge) who assaults her children’s abusive father (Billy Burke) in self-defense but is forced to take it on the run and seek refuge with an underground adversary (Ray Liotta) who offers her help. Passable beginning soon subsides as plot twists become ridiculous and Liotta’s character motivations remain murky. Final showdown is especially dumb. Good performances all around but perhaps they should have found their own “ticket out” to a better screenplay. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “Sundown” (*1/2 out of four) was a tiresome teen comedy about two partying high-schoolers (Devon Werkheiser and Sean Marquette) who go on Spring Break to Mexico in search of girls and good times but become embroiled with an underworld gangster after one of them sleeps with a girl at a club (and don’t ask) she steals his family heirloom. Lame rip-off of “The Hangover” is as dumb as it is contrived and goes on forever at nearly two hours. A few fun party scenes liven things up once in a while but duds like this are enough to make you want to join A.A. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “The Model” (** out of four) was a torpid melodramatic noir set in France about a young fledgling fashion model (Maria Palm) trying to establish her career and begins a dangerous relationship with an erratic high-profile photographer (Ed Skrein). Handsomely mounted and shot but story and characters are cold and uninvolving and subsequently the movie is hard to get involved in or care about. Holds your interest for a while with explicit sex scenes but you soon realize it’s going nowhere slowly. Director Mads Matthiesen shows a flair for mood in his feature-length debut but could use a shot of adrenaline and caffeine. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “Range 15” (*1/2 out of four) was an unbearably stupid horror comedy about a group of veterans who wake up after a night of partying and hangovers to find out that the zombie apocalypse is now and has spread across the United States and they must find a cure and try to stay alive before it’s too late. Brain-dead movie offers viewers an unholy cross between “The Hangover” and “28 Days Later” although that probably makes it sound more fun than it really is. Danny Trejo, Sean Astin, and William Shatner all pick up a couple of extra bucks in supporting roles but they would have been better going on unemployment. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “The Whole Truth” (*1/2 out of four) was a predictable and ordinary courtroom drama about a defense attorney (Keanu Reeves) trying to get his teenage client (Michael Basso) acquitted of murdering his wealthy slimeball father (James Belushi) and begins to suspect the involvement of the father’s long-abused wife (Renee Zellwegger). Despite the good cast, this mostly plays out as t.v. movie with a story that pretty much leads where you expect it to go….until a ludicrous and laughable twist ending. Belushi is good as the boy’s loutish father but Reeves is about as convincing playing a lawyer here as he was in “The Devil’s Advocate”. Continue reading →
August 24, 2016 “Bastille Day” (*** out of four) was an edge-of-your-seat thriller about a former C.I.A. agent (Idris Elba) who is forced to team up with a young con artist (Richard Madden) to prevent terrorist attacks in France. Explosive action movie offers plenty of hand-to-hand combat and international intrigue. Elba is terrific as usual and commands the screen, and him and Madden make a solid team as they race the clock to save the world. This controversial movie was delayed multiple times and barely released because of its unfortunate similarities to the recent attacks in France but deserves to be seen and find an audience. Continue reading →
August 17, 2016 “Bachelors” (*** out of four) was an entertaining comedy about a hedonistic young advertising executive (Colin Egglesfield) who throws a wild party to remind his best friend (David Faustino) whose about to be married of the joys of bachelorhood but he soon begins to question his own direction in life and his commitment to being single. Sharp, often very funny script combines with Egglesfield’s likable performance to make this fun for 20 and 30 somethings although it starts to get excessively silly in its second half, especially when some annoying supporting characters are introduced. A funny and perceptive ending brings things back on course. Continue reading →
August 17, 2016 “Let’s Be Evil” (** out of four) was a visually hypnotic but murky and aloof sci/fi mind-bender about a young social worker (Elizabeth Morris) who begins working at a learning center for gifted students but becomes unwittingly involved in a disturbing virtual reality game involving students whose minds are being altered and taken over. So visually stylish and trippy it’s almost worth watching for a little while but the story is a mess and is difficult to care about. Director Martin Owen is a stylist to watch out for although he evidently watched “Village Of The Damned” and “2001: A Space Odyssey” several times before this. Striking music score by Julian Scherle is another asset. Continue reading →
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