The Night Clerk from director Michael Cristofer (whose last film was 2001’s Original Sin) is a mystery-thriller starring Tye Sheridan, Ana de Armas, John Leguizamo, Helen Hunt and Johnathon Schaech and is available on DVD April 7th.
The Contractor/The Fan double feature Blu-ray release isn’t anything remarkable as these aren’t high-quality movies to begin with, however both films do have their moments and Wesley Snipes at least never felt like he was phoning it in.
Playing with Fire is strictly made for kids, and perfectly fine to be watched with the parents, and even though some of the jokes don’t land, I at least felt it was a tolerable viewing experience.
No real surprise that I never heard of the novel it’s based upon, The Sun is Also a Star is a fine romance-drama that never manages to impress beyond a scene or two with leads, yet fans of the genre might get more enjoyment out of it.
Doubtful many remember either one of these movies which were released in the mid-90s and probably for good reason. Despite respectable casts, Body Count especially, the stories were generally messy and worse yet, not very memorable.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of Land of the Dead when I saw it many years ago, but seeing it again now, I really enjoyed this entry within the Romero canon as the social commentary, albeit in your face, is present and there are characters one can actually care for.
The Lincoln Lawyer isn’t breaking any new ground in the legal thriller genre. The plot itself is less mystery and more character so those expecting some twist might be disappointed. That being said, as somebody who has never been enamored with Matthew McConaughey, here he’s near pitch perfect for the part.
John Wick is one of the surprise hits of 2014 and even though Keanu Reeves might not be a great actor, this role was tailor made for his skill sets in fighting and stunt work. Add to that, the story, albeit thin, is good enough to carry the 100-minute running time.
Ice Age: Collision Course is one of the worst animated movies, professionally done anyway, I’ve ever come across. The animation itself was fine but the jokes were terrible and rarely landed and the story is haphazard and lazily done.
Despite an interesting story, The Infiltrator is only propelled thanks to its charismatic cast, especially Bryan Cranston who once again turns in a great performance, it’s just a shame the script wasn’t equally great.
Sisters had plenty of potential given the cast, writer and director all with impressive resumes. Tina Fey and Amy Poehler, who don’t have a whole lot to work with and seemed to rely on improvising than anything from the script, do at least share nice comedic chemistry; outside of those two, though, there weren’t a whole lot of genuinely funny scenes.
Meadowland is a respectable enough debut from Reed Marano to the point that although it misfires on an emotional level, not to mention the screenplay could’ve used a re-write, it does excel with a stellar performance by Olivia Wilde.
What started off as an interesting story about the Milgram Experiment turned into a bit of a bore of film in the second half, though Peter Sarsgaard does give a fine performance and director Michael Almereyda certainly didn’t go the conventional route in the story and filmmaking style, so Experimenter does at least stand out in that regard.
American Ultra has some things going for it from an interesting story that combines Bourne with Pineapple Express to fun performances by Jesse Eisenberg and Kristen Stewart who shows some actual charisma utterly lacking in many of her other movies; yet at the same time, and as outlandish and fun as the story is, it’s not terribly memorable.
John Wick is one of the surprise hits of 2014 and even though Keanu Reeves might not be a great actor, this role was tailor made for his skill sets in fighting and stunt work. Add to that, the story, albeit thin, is good enough to carry the 100-minute running time. The Blu-ray released by Lionsgate has great video/audio transfers and OK selection of bonus material.