48 Hrs is a great buddy-action flick but not because of the story but, like others in the genre, the dynamic between the two leads. Both Nick Nolte and Eddie Murphy do a great job bouncing off one another.
Tales from the Darkside: The Movie has two decent stories, one was dull and the other, the wrap-around, so-so. Still, it’s an anthology film worth checking out.
Speed Kills is another dud for the once great John Travolta but I do like the guy and hope he had one more resurgence in him otherwise he’ll likely be stuck in these terrible direct-to-video films.
The Blackcoat’s Daughter was a surprisingly effective horror-thriller, and one I felt was actually better than the much praised The Witch, from Oz Perkins and features some solid performances led way by Kiernan Shipka with honorable mention for Emma Roberts.
Well intentioned as it might have been, and telling a World War II story that’s probably not familiar to the average American, USS Indianapolis: Men of Courage features lazy performances, especially by Nicolas Cage though he does have a couple okay scenes, and some laughable visual effects.
Decommissioned is easily one of the worst movies I’ve seen and its amazing how respectable actors, well James Remar and Michael Paré at least, continue to appear in these types of films.
Fatal Instinct actually isn’t a half-bad spoof movie, probably along the lines of Top Secret. The jokes, while indeed stupid, are still laugh-out-loud funny and the performances from the core cast, especially Armand Assante, are played mostly straight that it makes the humor work. It’s also refreshing that the movie still holds up today unlike so many of the other spoof films…
Persecuted seems to try to be the religious version of an Oliver Stone film but fails at almost every turn. First, the actual plot is thin and seemingly inconsequential not to mention overly dramatic; second, the pacing and editing felt off making a 90-minute movie feel a lot longer; and third the acting is at best average although I’ll give some credit to James Remar for at least giving it a go.
Set Up wants to be some personal revenge/vendetta-centric crime drama but instead we get poor writing, even worse acting and uninspiring direction not to mention an odd portion where some dark comedy is thrown in at random.
Check out our reviews of the May 2011 Echo Bridge Home Entertainment Blu-ray catalouge titles. Movies include: The Crow: City of Angels, Equilibrium starring Christian Bale and Emily Watson; Halloween: The Curse of Michael Myers; Hellraiser: Bloodline; Texas Rangers with James Van Der Beek, Dylan McDermott and Ashton Kutcher; Duplex/My Boss’s Daughter Double Feature with Ben Stiller, Drew Barrymore, Kutcher and Tara Reid and The Yards/The Lookout Double Feature starring Mark Wahlberg, Joaquin Phoenix, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Jeff Daniels.