Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
By the Gun is a well intentioned but ultimately lifeless and clichéd crime-drama. Ben Barnes turns in a fine performance and anytime we see Harvey Keitel is a treat but otherwise the writing isn’t up to snuff and the direction is relatively standard.
Jimi: All is By My Side might’ve had the best of intentions and despite an admirable performance from Andre Benjamin, who was clearly 10 years too old to play Hendrix, this was a misfire that began when the Hendrix estate wouldn’t allow the use of his music which right there should’ve cancelled the project.
A Walk Among the Tombstones is an uneven crime-drama but its saving grace is with Liam Neeson who continues his success after his career resurgence following Taken. The story itself doesn’t quite work and the third act is a bit on the clichéd side, however, this might be worth a rental especially if you don’t mind a throwback thriller to the 1970s and 80s (think Charles Bronson).
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One knows what they’re getting with a movie called Gnome Alone: a lot of bad puns, hamfest acting and so-so (at best) make-up effects. While I didn’t care very much for the movie, it does deserve the “MST3K” treatment and the lead actress Kerry Knuppe wasn’t bad considering the material she was given.
Jessabelle is plain and simply an unintentionally funny flick propped up primarily thanks to its star, Sarah Snoot who hopefully can find some better material as she wasn’t that bad making the film at least tolerable.
Supernova is somewhat of a controversial sci-fi thriller, some who stand by it while others trash it; for myself, there is some good to the film yet it never quite hits its stride and kind of loses its way by the final act. That said, it’s worth a watch if only for curiosity’s sake (plus Tunney looks mighty good).
88 is a different breed of the revenge plot with a lead actress who is great in a dual role, one squeaky clean, the other bad ass criminal, while it’s fun seeing Christopher Lloyd getting work again making a quasi resurgence appearing in Sin City: A Dame to Kill For and a variety of DTV flicks. Outside of the acting, though, this is one of the more insane, and inane (with much love), films I’ve seen in some time and its one hell of a way to start 2015.
The Two Faces of January has its moments between the performances by its three leads (highlighted by Oscar Isaac), beautiful cinematography taking full advantage of its on-location shoot and a genuine Hitchcock-esque vibe. However, the pacing is a bit off and the story could’ve used some more work, but all in all, I found it to be an enjoyable little film worth a rental fee.
Cam2Cam is yet another movie which had potential but it’s squandered with a half-baked screenplay and poor pacing from an ineffectual director in spite of the exotic Bangkok locale. The DVD released by MPI Media Group has subpar video and (at best) average audio.
In spite of my criticisms of The Guest, there are some things to admire from the performances by its two leads (Dan Stevens, Maika Monroe) and some very dark humor with one scene standing out (at the restaurant for those who have seen it), but for all I liked, this was just a shift in tone which really took this from being ridiculously awesome to ridiculously stupid.
Candyman: Farewell to the Flesh is certainly a weak sequel especially compared with the original; however, it’s still a functional entry into the series (not saying much considering the third is a wreck).
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Planes: Fire and Rescue err Wings: Sky Force One, like its predecessor, is a knockoff of Disney’s Planes which in itself sad, though even worse, we get this one which copies its sequel. The animation is dodgy, the voice acting is OK while the story is only suitable for very young audiences while adults may find it to be tedious.
Honeymoon, while hardly perfect with some questionable plot details, is a good little indie horror-science fiction flick well worth at least a rental as it features two fine performances and direction by a new filmmaker who hopefully gets the chance in the future.
This is a trashy movie with terrible acting and an all around bad and disgusting screenplay… even by Lifetime Channel standards which are already pretty low. Beyond that, it’s a horrible cash grab and is nothing more than tabloid dribble offering innuendos and unsubstantiated stories which should place this squarely into fictional territory.
Zodiac: Signs of the Apocalypse is yet another forgettable SyFy Original Movie that is more filler for that station than anything. Its uber-cheap production budget is evident with utterly laughable visual effects, subpar acting and a paint-by-numbers script that utilizes the same formula of other TV movies used in the past 10+ years. The DVD released by Anchor Bay is really basic with no bonus material and average/adequate audio/video transfers.
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