Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
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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The Fortune might be considered a lost gem lost in the sea of the greatness that was 1970s cinema, not to mention The Sting which was released only two years prior, but it’s a weak flick with the occasional funny moments and at the very least might be worth it to see Jack Nicholson cut loose, all before he was a caricature of himself…
This is Where I Leave You is a bit uneven where the comedy seemed to work far better than the overindulgent dramatic areas. Jason Bateman and Tina Fey are both great but by far Adam Driver steals the show to the point I kind of wish his character got his own movie, a dark comedy in the vein of Bad Santa perhaps.
Although this Funny Girl sequel doesn’t possess the magic of its predecessor, the performances are all well done headlined once again by Barbra Streisand as well as then newcomer James Caan with catchy music and a well written story.
“Ghost in the Shell: Arise” albeit not as strong as “Stand Alone Complex,” still have its moments and for the most part, the designs aren’t bad, though it does take some time to get used to. The two stories featured in these two seasons (or Borders) are decent and give some good background of these characters
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Reach Me is a mess of a film that began with the screenplay and continued on with some poor performances by a mostly respectable cast. This is something not even worth a rental and will no doubt be in the bargain bin in no time.
No Good Deed is the prototypical paint-by-numbers thriller destined to air as a Lifetime Movie of the Week feature. The plot is thin and relatively predictable, though the one minor “twist” does help explain one important element, but what saves it from turkey status is the screen presence of the woefully underrated Idris Elba who is far too good for this material.
The Good Lie is perhaps one of the more overlooked films of 2014 and unfortunately the studio for whatever reason dumped it for a limited release in less than 500 screens in early October.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is an inoffensively bad movie made for an entirely different audience than those who grew up with the reptiles in the 1980s and 1990s. But taking that aside, it’s a thin story, poor writing and chaotic direction that makes it really hard to watch culminating with a lame and underwhelming finale.
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