“iZombie”: The Complete Second Season continues and expands on the first season’s fun take on the zombie craze. The performances from this ensemble are fantastic led by Rose McIver who continues to play some fun off-beat characters. New this season, although introduced last year, is Steven Weber portraying a great new nemesis.
Term Life for sure is not a good movie but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was at least moderately entertained. At only 90-minutes long, it’s a decent enough time-waster but that’s about the extent of it for a movie that will easily be lost in the shuffle of the numerous STV releases.
“iZombie”: The Complete First Season is an incredibly fun series that takes more than a few cues from the likes of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer,” and “Veronica Mars” just taking advantage of the zombie craze. Still, this primarily unknown cast works so well together and Rose McIver is a star in the making.
Allegiant is the latest mundane entry in the Divergent Series and while I didn’t think it was classically bad and not an original moment from the production to the visual effects, heavily borrowing from other dystopian-set movies, I can’t say was bored and I at least did care about the Tris character.
LEGO DC Comics Super Heroes: Justice League: Gotham City Breakout is pretty much in line with their other entries: the storytelling isn’t great, animation standard and the focus is primarily geared towards kids though adults will find it semi-entertaining.
Anesthesia is a bit uneven in its storytelling with some elements not quite coming together as others, but the performances by Sam Waterston and Kristen Stewart, with honorable mention to Gretchen Mol, makes for a more than watchable drama particularly for those who enjoy ensemble pictures.
Search Party may not be awful of epic proportions but it does come across as bottom of the drawer from writer/director Scot Armstrong, recycling much of his material from Road Trip and The Hangover Part II. Problem is, there’s not many, or at least consistent, laughs and is utterly forgettable.
Kung Fu Panda is perhaps one of the better franchises outside of the Pixar/Disney brand and certainly well above the likes of Madagascar and Ice Age. Still, as family friendly as this third entry is, to go along with a positive message, I wasn’t nearly as entertained though admittedly I found the first two to be merely above average fare anyway.
All I can say is Precious Cargo isn’t nearly as bad as some of the other gems from Grindstone Entertainment yet by the same token, it pretty much met my already low standards. On the plus side, some of the action sequences were finely directed and I at least never found myself bored.
Cabin Fever, even setting aside being a pointless script-for-script remake, just is a bad movie filled with annoying and/or unlikeable characters and shoddy make-up effects work. The only positive thing I can say is at least the cinematography was nice to look at but that’s about it. In the end, this is the poster child on how creatively bankrupt the studios are.
Code of Honor is one of the worst movies I’ve come across this year and easily the worst of Seagal’s now free-falling career. The acting was at best average from a supporting cast that at least were trying while Seagal was sleepwalking, action scenes that were poorly shot and laughable post-production work with bad CGI.
The Martian: Extended Edition is a well made sci-fi thriller but admittedly, I think the theatrical version is tighter though there are a couple nice additions to the Extended Cut while other scenes weren’t necessary. As for this Blu-ray release, which should’ve been the initial release anyway, it offers up amazing video/audio transfers and some extensive bonus material.
My Big Fat Greek Wedding 2 wasn’t a necessary sequel, at least 14 years after the original, but there were some amusing moments and although I never laughed out loud, I never found myself bored and I suspect fans, and those with large, tight-knit, families will appreciate it far more.
Inserts is an oddball of a film with Richard Dreyfuss turning in a typical Dreyfuss type of performance from the 1970s. The character drama-centric story works well enough and the inclusion of Bob Hoskins as the main antagonist is always a plus.
Not sure how this version compares to the others, even the 1939 one which I saw several years ago, but Hammer Films’ 1959 The Hound of the Baskervilles is still an entertaining Sherlock Holmes mystery featuring a solid performance from Peter Cushing as the great detective.