Double Team is a poorly made, half-baked action-thriller though the biggest sin was how some producer or studio head thought it was a good idea to pair up an action falling star with a rainbow colored ex-NBA player.
Berlin, I Love You is hardly the worst interconnected ensemble dramas and at least one out of the ten vignettes was somewhat entertaining, one was peculiarly creepy and the other eight on the forgettable side.
Animal Factory is probably more noteworthy for the performances by Edward Furlong and Willem Dafoe than offering anything new in terms of story, and commentary, about prison life. Still worth watching, however.
I give a brief breakdown on Mill Creek’s June 7th multi-movie pack releases, specifically Streets of Fear and Midnight Movie Madness. None of these movies are of high-quality and are mainly remembered for the stars sometimes in smaller roles. At basement bargain prices, these might be worthy for collector’s of these cheap sets.
Eureka is a bit of a forgotten film from the 1980s, one that is doubtful to be mentioned amongst Gene Hackman’s greats with an uneven story that goes from an adventurous first half, the best part, to a Citizen Kane-like story for the second and a third act playing out like a bad episode of “Law & Order”.
A Prayer for the Dying could’ve been a great movie and instead, thanks to studio interference, we get something that’s merely ‘good’. The acting from Rourke and Hoskins was probably the saving grace, not to mention Liam Neeson’s brief role, and in the end, I was fairly entertained.
I will give Mill Creek some credit for churning out these catalogue titles, especially ones, such as Double Team, Sony wouldn’t even think of releasing on Blu-ray, and with a bargain basement price of $15, and cheaper buying on Amazon, it’s not a bad deal at $2-3/movie.
Weaponized is the latest gem from filmmaker Timothy Woodward Jr. who seems to churn out 2-3 movies a year with the usual suspects, with return appearances of Tom Sizemore, Johnny Messner, Danny Trejo and Michael Paré. I guess technically it’s “better” than his previous movies but that really isn’t saying a whole lot.
War Pigs actually isn’t as terrible of movie as some make it out to be… but the acting is subpar and the story itself is limited but clocking in at just over 80-minutes it at least makes for a quick watch that ultimately isn’t satisfying yet I can’t say I’m overly disappointed considering this is a DTV flick.
Sin City: A Dame to Kill For not only is a movie a few years too late, the narrative isn’t quite as strong as the first and the acting, save for a few of the key players, isn’t all that memorable, though Rourke, under seemingly heavier does of make-up, is the biggest highlight with Eva Green taking a close second for her performance and… ahem… assets.
Get Carter might’ve been yet another unnecessary remake and although hardly perfect is at least passable entertainment, though there’s nothing about it particularly memorable despite decent performances from Stallone and Cook.
Dead in Tombstone is the usual Danny Trejo action vehicle with a supernatural/western twist but everything else is standard quo. The acting is average although Anthony Michael Hall and Mickey Rourke seem to have a hell of a time (pardon the pun) and there isn’t enough of the revenge plot to keep the energy going until the end. I guess if you’re a fan of Danny Trejo, this might be the movie for you, otherwise you can outright skip it.
The Expendables: Extended Director’s Cut isn’t great but still a functional action-thriller bringing together manly men on the same screen together. On that front, the film succeeds and is at least a fun way to spend 110-minutes.