Dune wasn’t a movie that I found incredibly engaging or even entertaining from a story or character standpoint, however I can at least appreciate some of the more technical aspects with respectable effects work for its time, and some even stand out today.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League is an okay, if not exceptional lengthy, film and well worth checking out, especially if you’re a DC fan or just curious, plus splitting it into parts does help if you don’t want to watch in one sitting.
The Cat o’ Nine Tails arrives on 4K Ultra HD from Arrow Video on August 24th. This horror-mystery-thriller stars James Franciscus, Karl Malden and Catherine Spaak and ports over all the features from the 2018 Blu-ray release.
The Conjuring: The Devil Made Me Do It might break the formula a bit but I found myself a little disconnected and the primary saving grace is once again with Patrick Wilson and Vera Farmiga, both still great together and gives the film the necessary heart.
Hitman’s Wife’s Bodyguard is probably an unnecessary sequel and it does have its flaws from a flimsy plot and some of the humor doesn’t work, but for the most part I did like the core main characters and the addition of Salma Hayek was the highlight.
The Bird with the Crystal Plumage to me isn’t a great giallo movie but is notable being Dario Argento’s feature debut and has great style to it even when character actions aren’t entirely believable. Still, any Argento or giallo fans will get a kick out of this film.
A Quiet Place Part II might not be as good as its predecessor but I still would say it’s worth a watch as there are some moments of suspense even when characters make questionable decisions.
G.I. Joe: Retaliation actually isn’t a terrible movie, thanks in large part to Dwayne Johnson, and a fair step up from Rise of the Cobra but it’s still a relatively generic action movie with nothing discernibly memorable about the action set pieces or the standard plot itself.
G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra had some entertaining elements but between some sleepwalking performances and some shoddy visual effects, even by 2008/09 standards, this was a mess of a film.
Although I do appreciate trying to take the franchise is a new direction, Spiral: From the Book of Saw is a complete misfire with really poor acting, bad and predictable writing, pedestrian direction and nonsensical editing.
Mortal Kombat isn’t a terrible movie but kind of a typical one in the video game to film adaptation realm. I did appreciate the use of violence copying the video games but the story isn’t great and the acting to be average at best, however Josh Lawson does steal the show.
Almost Famous is a superbly made music-drama from Cameron Crowe, digging back to his days as a teenager writing for Rolling Stone. The movie features a fantastic cast with Kate Hudson and Billy Crudup being the highlights.
Space Jam wasn’t a movie I cared all that much for upon my initial watch many years ago and revisiting today… it’s okay but nothing I’d revisit yet again.
Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory is a delightful and light-hearted family-musical-comedy featuring a wonderful performance from Gene Wilder.
Dead & Buried is a fun little horror-mystery with a plot that would’ve fit in with an episode of Tales from the Crypt. The gore effects from Stan Winston were well done for its time and Jack Albertson was the standout amongst the cast.