Death Race 2050 might not be very good but the filmmakers weren’t trying to make it very good and as a throwback to the 1975 original it certainly does the job well. That said, watching it solo, it wasn’t all that fun with the gimmick wearing thin early on but I suspect if you watched in a group, there might be some entertainment value.
In a Valley of Violence was somewhat of a surprise for a (basically) direct-to-video release mainly because, in spite of a familiar story and Western clichés, featured some solid performances by Ethan Hawke and Taissa Farmiga.
Middle School: The Worst Years of My Life is a safe and harmless film mainly for families however for anyone older, the jokes don’t quite land though I’d be lying if I didn’t say it was mildly entertaining.
Come and Find Me actually isn’t a bad movie by any stretch but with a predictable story from beginning to end in conjunction with the development of the two leads, in spite of fine performances by Paul and, for the most part, Wallis, there wasn’t much to enjoy. That being said, this at least might be worthy of a rental.
I.T. may not be a good movie and certainly the script could’ve gone through a few more re-writes, but thanks to Pierce Brosnan’s earnest performance, and a cameo from Michael Nyqvist, this is worthy of a rental but not much more than that.
Ultimately Oliver Stone actually does a disservice what Snowden did in revealing the illegal surveillance program by embellishing some aspects to the point that it calls into question some of the other actions taken, but to be clear, what was done I approve, just not a fan of the messenger
Deepwater Horizon is an intense action-disaster flick that takes the genre to the next level considering it’s based on actual events. The performances by Mark Wahlberg and Kurt Russell are top notch while John Malkovich was a bit distracting but still an effective antagonist.
Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children may not be classic Tim Burton but it is one of his more entertaining outings of late which, with the exception of Frankenweenie, haven’t been great. This might not quite be a film for the entire family as there are darker elements but for older kids, they might dig some of the visuals and characters they might relate with on some level.
Overlong and repetitious with its story, American Honey could’ve used a pass or two in the editing bay at which point it would’ve made for an interesting character, and country study, instead is more on the dull side by the two hour mark (if not sooner).
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.
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.
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.
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.