Thoroughbreds is one of the more unsettling movies I’ve seen in some time featuring two tremendous performances from what should be the next generation of talented actors in Olivia Cooke and Anya Taylor-Joy.
Acrimony is hardly terrible but it’s also par for the course of a Tyler Perry film. The talents of the lovely Taraji P. Henson are utterly wasted as she doesn’t get to show anything other than hostility considering any nice moments of the character went to the younger version.
The Midnight Man is just another in a long line of indie horror with a half-baked story, cardboard cutout characters and average performances even by the more experienced actors like Robert Englund and Lin Shaye. Skip this turkey.
Pacific Rim: Uprising is a visually impressive but vapidly empty sci-fi action-er with mostly paper-thin characters, though they try giving Boyega more to work with, but I’m kind of over destruction porn and the third act takes it up a notch and an ending that sequel-baits.
Tomb Raider might be the exception to the rule of an actually good video game adaptation, and not in a so bad it’s good like the Jolie version. I genuinely enjoyed the action sequences and Alicia Vikander really embodied Lara Croft in the character’s current form, quite well.
The Hurricane Heist could’ve been a great B-movie action-er but outside of some genuinely funny moments, this is the sort of plot I’ve seen many times over the years, most of them destined for the DTV market, where this one should have landed. As it is, this is not in the least terrible and probably passably entertaining at times.
This new incarnation of Death Wish actually wasn’t half bad and is in line with the 1974 original with Bruce Willis reminding you of his charisma when in a leading role (vs. slumming it with the several DTV crap) and as remakes go, was pretty entertaining if not tonally conflicting at times.
Unsane might not be the perfect or even greatest psychological thriller to come down the pike, it is a well made film, especially considering director Steven Soderbergh used an iPhone to shoot. Beyond the experimental aspect, the performance from Claire Foy was great.
Ninja III: The Domination is certainly a strange movie with a half-baked script for sure, with questionable character motivations nearly all around, but it’s hard not to be entertained by its silliness.
Geronimo: An American Legend is a excellently made historical drama from renowned filmmaker Walter Hill and with a great group of cast headlined by Gene Hackman, Wes Studi (as the title character), Jason Patric and Matt Damon in one of his early roles, this is a great film.
Annihilation is one of the better surprises of 2018 as going in my interest levels were mild at best after seeing the lackluster trailers. But afterwards, it is a movie that has been on my mind for all the good reasons and is a highlight performance from Natalie Portman.
Gringo isn’t exactly a memorable film, but as dark comedies go, a subgenre I generally don’t enjoy, did have its funny moments excelling with its darkly charismatic cast led by David Oyelowo and even a deliciously terrifying, but funny, performance by Charlize Theron.
The Strangers: Prey at Night is an uneven horror-thriller with certainly some positive things that worked, counteracted by neither a plot that really wasn’t all that interesting nor anything that was nearly that terrifying.
Red Sparrow is a mixed bag of a movie that excels on Jennifer Lawrence’s brave performance and some beautiful photography from both director Francis Lawrence and the cinematographer, but the film is bogged down by thinly written characters and a sometimes half-baked story and script.
I’m not giving the poor rating to the movie as it is a wonderful Eddie Murphy comedy vehicle, but instead it’s due to a lazy re-release.