March 26, 2016 “Countdown” (** out of four) was a by-the-numbers action thriller starring WWE star Dolph Zieggler as Bruce Willis…..I mean as a renegade cop still reeling from the death of his young son, who tries to locate a bomb in the city and thwart the plans of a psychotic madman. Showcase for wrestling star Zieggler and also Kane isn’t bad but isn’t anything spectacular either. Neither Zieggler nor Kane should quit their day jobs anytime soon. One great breakout sequence in which Zieggler escapes from custody makes this worth watching on a very draggy night. Continue reading →
March 23, 2016 “Roboshark” (*1/2 out of four) was a toothless Redbox horror thriller about a great white in the Pacific who swallows a UFO aircraft and is turned into a deadly robot//shark hybrid and soon there’s blood in the waters. Potentially fun thriller is sunk by a silly plot that becomes increasingly cornball and dumb and some horrendous acting that really has to be seen to be believed. The shark does look cool though. Watch “Jaws” (or even “Jaws 4”) again instead. Continue reading →
March 20, 2016 “Trakked” (* out of four) was an awful thriller not worth tracking or watching except for those who will watch anything in the Redbox machine. When a scheming loser (Eric Annunziato) is found to be cheating on his girlfriend (Pamela Sutch), she then inserts a camera in his head to track his every move and plot revenge! Sutch also directed this mess so perhaps she should have learned more on how to use a film camera first before proceeding. Dreadful acting and writing stop this dead in its trakks. Continue reading →
March 20, 2016 “Pee Wee’s Big Holiday” (** out of four) was a tiresome return for Pee Wee Herman (Paul Reubens) who takes his first-ever holiday and decides to go on a cross-country trip with not-so-hilarious encounters. Nice to see that Reubens looks eerily the same almost 30 years later at 61 years old but lack of story and laughs make this one for his die-hard fans only. Not bad, especially since I was never a huge Pee Wee fan to begin with, but unlikely to win him any new converts. Continue reading →
March 20, 2016 “Zoombies” (*1/2 out of four) was a mindless, silly rip-off of “Jurassic Park” about a virus that spreads through a safari theme park and turns all the zoo animals undead as several park workers and attendants must stop them before they escape. Steven Spielberg should probably sue but even he probably can’t be bothered to watch this timewaster. Kim Nielsen is good as the doctor who runs the park but other actors are easily outacted by the zoo animals. Continue reading →
March 20, 2016 “The Throwaways” (** out of four) was a murky Redbox spy thriller about a computer hacker (Peter Brooke) who is captured by the C.I.A. (led by James Caan) and forced to work for them to combat international terrorism. Both predictable and confusing although it moves fairly fast and Caan adds some style as always as the tough C.I.A. boss. Still, throw this one away and watch “Three Days Of The Condors”, “Sneakers”, or “Hackers” instead. Continue reading →
March 18, 2016 “The Confirmation” (*1/2 out of four) was a boring melodrama about an 8 year-old (Jaeden Lieberher) who goes to stay with his alcoholic father (Clive Owen) for the weekend but plans go awry when his dad’s tools are stolen but this leads to the father and son becoming closer. Heavy-handed and never terribly moving. Maria Bello is wasted as the boy’s mother and Owen is unusually bland. Terrible script could have probably used more confirmation before filming began. Continue reading →
March 18, 2016 “The Divergent Series: Allegiant- Part 1” (** out of four) was an overblown, overlong third entry in this popular series with Tris (Shailene Woodley) and Four (Theo James) trying to escape the encircled wall of Chicago to seek out the truth outside. Much like the previous entries, this starts off exciting and then precedes to drag and never gets going again. Woodley’s terrific performance and beautiful eyes are virtually the only points of interest. Still, this is only really for fans of the series. Continue reading →
March 18, 2016 “Algorithm” (*1/2 out of four) was a miscalculated sci/fi thriller about a computer hacker (Raphael Barker) who finds out about a government conspiracy which could soon mean worldwide danger. Potentially intriguing story of cyberterrorism and online information is a yawner instead with too much talk and not enough action. A few clever ideas here and there but overall doesn’t add up to much. Watch “Hackers” or “The Net” instead Continue reading →
March 18, 2016 “10 Cloverfield Lane” (** out of four) was a dreary horror thriller about a woman (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) who is badly injured in a car accident and awakens in an imprisoned apartment with a stranger (John Goodman) who claims he is sheltering them from an alien invasion outside. Or so he says. Holds your attention at first but story soon sputters and becomes monotonous. After a while, you begin to realize that the movie has no point. Allegedly a sequel to “Cloverfield” but has virtually nothing to do with the original. Continue reading →
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