Movieman's Guide to the Movies
The Final Word on Physical Media
The Twilight Zone: The Complete Series is a fantastic, if not bulky, set that for anyone who hadn’t picked up the individual sets when they were released by Image Entertainment, might be worth the cost in having in one case.
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The Boston Strangler is a well done, if not methodical, crime-suspense-drama featuring a plethora of fine performances from the likes of Henry Fonda and George Kennedy, but the standout is Tony Curtis playing against type as the murderous Albert DeSalvo.
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When the Bough Breaks is a laughably bad and overly clichéd thriller with a story that has been done numerous times, especially on the Lifetime Movie Channel and if not for Morris Chestnut who tried so hard to rise above the awful screenplay, this would be an absolute chore to sit through, and even so, it was still rough sledding.
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Blair Witch wasn’t a complete misfire of a horror film and as found footage movies go, it’s at least tolerable and features an amiable young cast, however thanks to an overabundant usage of sound design and clichéd jump scares, this doesn’t live up to the potential. Good news is, it is better than Book of Shadows so… it has that going for it.
Florence Foster Jenkins on the whole isn’t exactly a memorable film in of itself but with yet another great performance by Meryl Streep, with honorable mentions to Hugh Grant and Simon Helberg, makes it at least a worthwhile watch if only to see the acting tour-de-force.
Creepshow 2 certainly isn’t as good as its predecessor (which had a fantastic line-up of actors) but this sequel is still a lot of fun with one memorable line (“Thanks for the ride, lady!”). While I wasn’t a fan of ‘Old Chief Wood’nhead’, the other two stories weren’t bad at all.
This adaptation of Ben-Hur wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be but that doesn’t mean it should’ve been made. However, at least Jack Huston gives an earnest and heartfelt performance while Morgan Freeman basically phoned in his performance and the visual effects were mostly impressive.
The Driller Killer is certainly an odd little horror-thriller that isn’t technically good per se but fascinating nevertheless with a darkly fun performance from star and director Abel Ferrara (credited as Jimmy Laine).
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Downton Abbey is one of more compelling television shows on and between the excellent performances and amazing production and costume designs, it’s easy to see why it has captured audience’s attention on both sides of the pond.
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The Devil’s Dolls is a standard but effective enough horror flick with some OK performances and nice atmosphere. It doesn’t break new ground in the genre, both in terms of story and direction, but fans of the genre might get something out of it.
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Dark Water is a creepy as all hell J-horror flick and probably my second favorite in the genre behind Ringu, though this one has some scary scenes no less than the final one. Director Hideo Nakata, along with the creepy factor, provides a thoughtful, character-centric, exercise.
31 is another below average horror movie from Rob Zombie though the opening sequence with a creepy ass performance from Robert Brake at least was memorable, shame the movie wasn’t about his psychotic clown character.
The Hollars is a well made family drama-comedy with several great performances but none better than Margo Martindale who is a true delight and should get an Oscar nomination out of this role. John Krasinski is a fine actor and is in his element with this material and as a director, isn’t flashy and lets the acting do the talking.
Pretty Poison is a surprisingly well done romantic-drama with crime thrown into the mixture and features great performances from Anthony Perkins, unsurprisingly, as well as what should’ve been a star-making role by Tuesday Weld.
Pete’s Dragon is a fun flick for the entire family with respectable visual effects work on the dragon and some fine performances from the human cast with the kids coming across well and avoiding the pratfalls of child actors in these types of movies.