May 15, 2016 “Man Up” (*** out of four) was a snappy, breezy romantic comedy starring Simon Pegg and Lake Bell as two London singles who mistakenly meet for a blind date that goes from bad to worse but eventually end up falling for one another. Both Bell and especially Pegg are at the top of their game and their funny chemistry helps you overlook the script’s many improbabilities. Very similar to the 2010 Tina Fey-Steve Carrell comedy “Date Night” but much funnier and less ridiculous than that misfire. Continue reading →
May 15, 2016 “Sharkansas Women’s Prison Massacre” (*1/2 out of four) was a toothless horror thriller about a group of sexy and promiscuous female prisoners (Dominique Swain and Traci Lords among others) who are assigned to prison field work and are then besieged by a giant blood-thirsty shark. Not as awful as the hilarious title implies but not funny enough, sexy enough, scary enough, or – frankly- bad enough to make it entertaining. Not the cult horror movie one would like it to be. Watch “Jaws” again instead. Continue reading →
May 15, 2016 “The Horde” (*1/2 out of four) was a bloody, derivative Redbox horror thriller about a group of young folks and bad actors who go on a trip to the woods and are menaced by hillbilly mutants. Costas Mandylor from “Saw” and Bill Moseley from “The Devil’s Rejects” are onhand as the main villains but this movie liberally rips off both “The Hills Have Eyes” and “Wrong Turn”. Watch either one of those again instead of this by-the-numbers dreck. Continue reading →
May 15, 2016 “Bite” (** out of four) was a creepy Redbox horror thriller about a young girl (Elma Begovic) on her bachelorette party in Costa Rica and gets bit by an insect and gradually begins to turn into an insect herself! Too gross and unpleasant and hard-to-take after a while yet seedy production design and stylish cinematography are impressive. Begovic’s fierce and committed performance makes this worth watching for a little while but that still doesn’t mean you shouldn’t watch “The Fly” again instead. Continue reading →
May 15, 2016 “Chasing Waterfalls” (*1/2 out of four) was synthetic tripe about a young fashion designer (Drew Sidora) who gets a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to work with a fashion icon and then must rise to the challenge to save the company from a competing former co-worker. Don’t go “Chasing Waterfalls” as TLC once sang. TLC song titles like “This Is It How It Should Be Done”, “Unpretty”, and “So So Dumb” are more apt song titles to describe the movie. For young impressionable teenage girls only. Continue reading →
May 7, 2016 “Mother’s Day” (** out of four) was a tiresome, contrived Garry Marshall confection about three generations of mothers (Jennifer Aniston, Julia Roberts, Kate Hudson, Britt Robertson) and their assorted problems intersecting in the week leading up to Mother’s Day. Despite the A-list of actresses, the script never rises above sitcom level. With that cast, it’s easy to watch……but just as easy to forget. About on par with Marshall’s previous “Valentines Day” and “New Years Day”. It’s about time he took a holiday from romantic comedies. Continue reading →
May 7, 2016 “Code Of Honor” (**1/2 out of four) was a better-than-average Redbox thriller starring a bloated Steven Seagal as a one-man vigilante team trying to eradicate crime from his ravaged city; his young protégé (Craig Sheffer) now a cop is assigned to stop him which leads to a clash. Packed with violent action and lots of familiar faces we haven’t seen in a while but it’s let down by a ludicrous “twist” ending and subsequent lack of logic. Still, overall a much better pic than many of Seagal’s direct-to-DVD fodder over the last two decades. Continue reading →
May 7, 2016 “Kindergarten Cop 2” (*** out of four) was a cute direct-to-DVD sequel to the Arnold Schwarzenegger 1990 favorite about a gruff FBI agent (Dolph Lundgren) assigned to go undercover as a kindergarten teacher in order to retrieve some stolen data and stop a threat to their town. Lundgren has never been more likable and winning, and he carries this very unnecessary but entertaining sequel. Not quite as intricate or funny as the first but better than most other sequels made 26 years after the original. Continue reading →
May 7, 2016 “Captain America: Civil War” (**1/2 out of four) was an overlong, overstuffed third entry in the comic-book series about how various personal and political interferences lead to a feud and battle between Captain America (Chris Evans) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) which threatens to divide and destroy The Avengers. More akin to “The Avengers 3” than “Captain America 3” but not that that’s a bad thing; some good action scenes and effects as you would expect but almost fatally overlong and has some real lulls in the middle. Battle between The Avengers at an airport is movie’s highlight. Worth watching for Marvel hard-core fans but a disappointment when compared to the previous “Captain America” and “Avengers” entries. Continue reading →
May 7, 2016 “Confirmation” (***1/2 out of four) was a riveting melodrama about the notorious sexual harassment case of the early 1990’s in which Judge Clarence Thomas (Wendell Pierce) was nominated for the Supreme Court which was derailed by the accusations of his former colleague Anita Hill (Kerry Washington). A fascinating, multifaceted look at a powerful case whose aftereffects are still reverberating and the multiple political machinations that were involved in this scandal. Extremely well-directed by Rick Famuyiwa and anchored by strong performances from Pierce, Washington, and also Greg Kinnear as Senator Joe Biden. Continue reading →
