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).
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.
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.
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 Unspoken could’ve been a fine, if not ho-hum, supernatural horror flick but all of that is undone by a heavy-handed score and far too many jump scares that were far more annoying than actually scary.
Elena of Avalor: Ready to Rule is a fun little show that younger viewers, or perhaps older ones who like these Disney cartoons, will enjoy and admittedly a few of the jokes made me chuckle. It is unfortunate that the channel continues to put out these volume-like sets instead of complete seasons.
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.
No Escape is an all around entertaining film perfect for a Saturday movie night. No, it doesn’t make you think or have any profound performances but the acting isn’t bad with Owen Wilson serving as a fine everyman type of character and Pierce Brosnan in his small part is a lot of fun. This is probably worthy of a rental.
The Town marks Ben Affleck’s sophomore effort following the excellent Gone Baby Gone and once again he makes a well crafted picture with some solid performances, an intense plotline and an all around finely paced movie that proves Affleck has talent in front and behind the camera
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.
Stagecoach: The Texas Jack Story is hardly a great western, in fact it’s a movie filled with a bunch of western clichés and some so-so acting by lead Trace Adkins. Still, there’s a moderate amount of entertainment if only to see Judd Nelson as an outlaw.
Suicide Squad clearly wasn’t the home-run the DCEU needed as demonstrated by both critics and some audiences but although it is very flawed, particularly with the screenplay, I still found it enjoyable if only to see some iconic characters sharing wonderful chemistry.