May 30, 2016 “Never Back Down: No Surrender” (*** out of four) was the third entry in the MMA series about former champion Case Walker (Michael Jai White who also directed) who travels to Thailand to train his buddy for a championship fight but is forced to step in the ring himself facing a monstrous opponent and an evil millionaire promoter (Esai Morales). Packed with the requisite amount of hand-to-hand fights and action scenes to satisfy fans. Jai White does a good job on both sides of the camera. In the meantime, bring on “Spawn 2”! Continue reading →
May 29, 2016 “Never Back Down: No Surrender” (*** out of four) was the third entry in the MMA series about former champion Case Walker (Michael Jai White who also directed) who travels to Thailand to train his buddy for a championship fight but is forced to step in the ring himself facing a monstrous opponent and an evil millionaire promoter (Esai Morales). Packed with the requisite amount of hand-to-hand fights and action scenes to satisfy fans. Jai White does a good job on both sides of the camera. In the meantime, bring on “Spawn 2”! Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “The Do-Over” (*** out of four) was a pretty funny comedy starring Adam Sandler and David Spade as two down-on-their-luck losers who decide to fake their own deaths and start over with new identities but soon find out the people they’re pretending to be are even deeper trouble. And that’s just the beginning of the story! Off-the-wall story is ridiculous and contrived but throws in everything but the kitchen sink and never stops moving. Sandler and Spade have great chemistry and play off each other well and there are some real laughs along the way. Not a bad do-over for either one of them, considering the amount of terrible movies they’ve made over the last 5 years Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “Manhattan Night” (** out of four) was a tepid NYC noir drama about an opportunistic journalist (Adrian Brody) drawn into a criminal and sexual underworld of the city when he meets a seductive stranger (Yvonne Strahovski) who asks him to investigate the mysterious murder of her filmmaker husband (Campbell Scott). Brody is strong as always but story gets lurid and sleazy and never shifts into high gear. Strahovski is good as the femme Fatale but Scott is miscast and unconvincing as a sleaze. You can only imagine what Hitchcock or Robert Altman could have done with juicy material like this. Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “The Ones Below” (*1/2 out of four) was a dull melodrama set in England about a couple expecting their first child who discover an unnerving similarity between them and the couple who live downstairs in their flat. Endless talk and bland and aloof characters turn this into much ado about nothing. Put this “one” below on your list. Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “Blood Orange” (*1/2 out of four) was a terminally weird melodrama about an aging rock star (Iggy Pop- well cast at nearly 70) who lives in an enclosed estate with his promiscuous wife but trouble arrives when her former lover shows up and is seeking revenge. Heavy-handed and bizarre; even Pop can’t even breathe much life into this one. At nearly 70, he should start to have a lust for better scripts. Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “Cash Only” (** out of four) was a murky underworld melodrama about a Detroit landlord (Nickola Shreli who looks like a Jewish Vin Diesel) in severe financial problems and about to be foreclosed on by the bank who finds some money in an evicted tenant’s apartment but this leads to further problems and complications with the Detroit underworld and mob when they want their money back. Violent, ugly thriller isn’t bad but is let down by a meandering and weak screenplay. Shreli’s empathic performance helps keep this watchable but this still isn’t worth spending your “cash” on. Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “Gearheads” (*1/2 out of four) was a forgettable Redbox drama for lunkheads about a conflicted teen (Massimo Lista) who is trained by a grizzled mechanic (Jeffrey Carpenter) to overcome his fear of driving and compete to win a race in his hometown. Standard small-town drama involving sports underdogs, bullies, and a beautiful girl from the wrong side of the tracks won’t make anyone forget “The Dirt Bike Kid”, “Hoosiers”, or “Rudy” anytime soon. Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “Dusk” (** out of four) was a confusing horror thriller about a husband (Josh McGlothlin) who awakens to find his wife disappeared and a ransom demand that takes him through various entwinings of the Southern underworld. Not all that different from “Two Wrongs” which I reviewed yesterday and not bad but could have used more conviction and clarity in its storytelling. Good cinematography from Ryan Lewis is a definite plus. Continue reading →
May 28, 2016 “Money Monster” (*** out of four) was an edge-of-your-seat melodrama about a television Wall Street advisor (George Clooney) taken hostage on air by a depraved gunman (John O’Connell) who wants answers for his recent stock crash which resulted in millions in losses for him and others. A perfect role for Clooney and Julia Roberts has one of her best roles in years as his director who tries to keep her cool while trying to frantically keep them alive. Unfortunately, the story starts to get ridiculous towards the end as it bogs down in sanctimonious moralizing involving Dominic West as a corrupt C.E.O. Still, it’s tense and always keeps you watching. Directed by Jodie Foster and this has obvious inspiration from “Inside Man” which she also starred in. Continue reading →
