Movie Review: Blindspotting (2018)

The first time I saw the trailer for Blindspotting, I was a little confused as to what it was. The trailer begins by making you think it is some sort of comedy and ends looking more like a drama on race relations and perceptions. As it turns out, the movie is both. We follow a young man whose parol is nearly up, navigating the complicated relations and his own changing perceptions in the wake of witnessing a police shooting. Now, I do not have the words for a full review, but I at least wanted to share some of my immediate reaction in the wake of seeing it.

Movie Review: The Teacher

There was probably a time when a teacher seducing a student was considered taboo and was an act that was completely unheard of. It must have been a long time ago. It seems like we can not go all that long without story of some young teacher seducing a student for illicit sexual escapades. Just the other day I saw a news story about a guy who took off with a female student on the sports team he was coaching, only to get caught trying to get a job to make some money to get across the border. It all makes the plot of The Teacher seem all that more mundane when all you need to do is turn on the news for something more scandalous. Still, I found the movie to be pretty watchable, although not terribly good.

Movie Review: Pick-Up

There are some movies that you pick up to watch that you have absolutely no idea what to expect. Pick-Up is one of those movies. It is a movie that defies logic, sense, and in some cases attention span. I found, while being somewhat intrigued by the happenings in the movie, I had to stop and back it up a few times as I found myself dozing off. It is the first movie in a 32 movie box set of Drive-In Classics that I have watched since getting the set a long time ago. It was also released in a Grindhouse Classics branded double feature some years ago.

Critical Capsule: Best Friends

If you want to remain best friends with someone, do not watch the movie Best Friends with them, no matter how much they tell you they love Richard Hatch. Also, no matter how many times marketing folks call a movie a Grindhouse or Drive-in cult classic, chances are if you've never heard mere mention of it before, there is probably a reason. Best Friends follows two buds and their respective lady friends, reunited and heading out on cross-country trek in an RV. It has some gratuitous nudity, but for the most part, this is Lifetime theater circa 1974. Bad acting and a story that goes nowhere and ends when it should be interesting. This is what happens when you make a coming of age movie and neglect to give it a point. Boredom ensues.

Movie Review: The Disaster Artist

The Room is, hands down, one of the worst movies ever made. The funny thing is that we are here talking about it years after its release, which was really no more than a blip. Why? Why are we still talking about this awful movie? Let’s take that a step further, why are theaters having midnight screenings? Why do these screenings sell out? Why? Why? Why? The only thing that I can surmise is that we, as a collective, are attracted to crap. Seriously. I admit it, I have seen The Room and would likely watch it again. I must be some sort of masochist. Now, we have reached the ultimate in our collective love for bad filmmaking, a movie made by bi Hollywood names attempting to find the source of enjoyment of this terrible movie and deeper than that, an understanding the enigmatic figure at the center of it all.

Movie Review: Hana-Bi (aka Fireworks)

Hana-Bi, or HANA-BI, or Fireworks, if you prefer, was a fascinating viewing experience. I am not saying it was great, although it was certainly very good, it was just something that that I was completely not expecting. It is not so much a movie as it is an existential bi-polar examination of a man who seems to be so disconnected as to not care anymore, although if there is one thing that he does, it is care. It might help that I am not that familiar with the films of Takeshi Kitano, and what I do know makes it a complete surprise to know that he is famous as a comedian. I didn't see that one coming.

Movie Review: Blade of the Immortal (2017)

There are some movies that don’t grab me on the surface. There are times that I see a title and it just doesn’t sound like it would be that interesting to me. This is generally very early on, usually before I know who made it, starred in it, and even before I see a trailer. I doesn’t mean I won’t see it or won’t like it, just that i am not sure I would go out of my way to find out anything about it. Of course, some movies do not like being ignored like that, as it turns out, Blade of the Immortal is one those that refuses to be ignored. I was at the theater to see a 35mm screening of the crazy Hausu and one of the pre show trailers was, you guessed it, Blade of the Immortal. The trailer told me everything I needed to know and it was now on my must see list.

Movie Review: Runaway Nightmare

So, as I was looking for something to watch, my gaze turned to my collection of Vinegar Syndrome releases. In the past couple of days, I watched a pair of their releases and figures I might as well keep it going. As I scanned the spines looking for an appropriate title, I settled on Runaway Nightmare. An oddity released way back in 1982 and one I was pretty sure I had never seen before, that’s always a plus. Anyway, as I started to watch the movie, something seemed vaguely familiar. As it turns out, I have seen Runaway Nightmare before, but I’ll be damned if I could remember any specifics about the plot. The deeper into the movie I got, I realized why I couldn’t remember the details.

Movie Review: Besetment

When I first approached watching Besetment, I had a question, probably one that I shouldn’t have before watching a movie. I guess, more than that, I probably should have had the answer before even getting this far. I blame the educational system. Anyway, I did not know what the title meant. What is besetment? Well, it is defined as to attack on all sides; assail; harass. With that cleared up, we can move onto the movie itself. It is another in a long line of direct to video, low budget outings that seek to execute an involving story made with very little money. It can be done, but it just seems to be be out of reach of so many. So far as this one is concerned, it has a lot going for it, but it just doesn’t quite take it all the way.

Trailer Park: Death Wish (2017) - Trailer 1

So, it has finally arrived. The first trailer for the Death Wish remake has arrived. When I first heard about it I thought, like I do about a lot of projects, I’ll believe it when I see it. It had been announced that Eli Roth would be directing and that Bruce Willis would be stepping into Charles Bronson’s legendary shoes. These announcements only enhanced the I’ll believe it when I see it feeling. Of course, there are those who decried the idea of a remake and others who seemed more than willing to give it a shot. Well, it is real, it is coming. What do you think?

Movie Review: The Final Master

When I approached watching The Final Master, I was unsure of what to expect. Based on the trailer I saw the action was going to feature weapons and be primarily based on Wing Chun. It also boasted being from the writer of The Grandmaster. The film also appeared to be set in a similar time frame of The Grandmaster and the Ip Man films. It is true, The Final Master is set in the 1930’s, just prior to the start of World War II. I was excited to see the action, however, that was tempered by my expectation of period based drama. You see, those are not particular favorites of mine, period dramas. I have found the martial arts ones, in particular, tend to lose me along the way as I wait for the next fight.

Movie Review: The Ice Cream Truck

When I first started watching The Ice Cream Truck, I was not sure what to expect. The trailer seemed to indicate a strange Stepford Wives-esque town with a serial killer ice cream truck driver problem. Now, that seems interesting enough. It looked like it was on the edge of some sort of Twilight Zone-ish feel, but now that it is over I am not quite sure what to think. It is a bit more serious in tone and slightly more languidly paced than I was expecting. The movie simultaneously satisfies and disappoints and seems to be somewhat lacking in actual horror, despite having the obvious potential.

Retro-view: Natural Born Killers

One of the advantages of living within a reasonable driving distance of an Alamo Drafthouse theater is that it gives me access to seeing older films in a theater on a big screen. In many cases this also means being able to see a 35mm print, which is becoming harder and harder to do. For a movie lover, such as myself, the big screen is the best way to see a movie, even if it is one you’ve seen many times over. The latest example of this is Natural Born Killers, a movie I originally saw in theaters as a homework assignment way back in 1994. Let me say that it was a great seeing it in a theater again.

Blu-ray Review: The Lobster

The Lobster is the sort of movie that defies explanation, a nebulous slice of bizarro cinema that begs to be seen if not understood. Well, that may not exactly be true, on some levels it is perfectly understandable, perhaps even relatable, but the execution takes it to another level of odd. It is a film that challenges expectations, makes you laugh at the absurdity, cringe at some of what it shows, and in some ways touch you on an emotional level. Of course, this is not a movie for everyone, and while I would recommend it to everyone, I cannot guarantee your enjoyment.

Movie Review: Train to Busan

A couple of weeks back I started seeing a movie title pop up in my social media feeds that I had not heard of before. All of the buzz surrounding it seemed to be pretty popular, but figuring I would never get a chance to see, I did not pay it any mind. Things have a way of changing situations pretty quickly and I did find myself with an opportunity to go see it. The movie is called Train to Busan and it hails from South Korea. Another factor that played into my not really looking into it more quickly is the title, it is not really an attention grabbing title, you know what I mean? Well, then I discovered it was a zombie film and I got a little more interested.

Movie Review: Money Monster

I have to admit, Money Monster is not a movie that really made sit up say “Wow! I really need to see that!” It didn’t look all that bad, but hardly a must see in this day of flashy blockbusters and trendy indie offerings. It is a movie being marketed on old school star power, a method that doesn’t seem to hold the cache that it once did. There was a time when you could sell a movie based on the names Clooney, Roberts, and Foster, but I think that time is gone. It is not that they are not talented performers that deserve at least some attention, it is just that the movie does not really have a strong hook outside the stars’ names.

Movie Review: Demolition (2016)

Demolition is one of those movies that I was interested in but cannot say I had terribly high expectations for it. There was something about it that just seemed different. It was something about how the trailer transitioned from a tragedy to a comedy with a death followed by an annoyance over Peanut M&Ms. There there was the introduction of another woman, via response over said candy annoyance that indicated a potential new romance on the heels of a dead wife. Beyond that, the central character seemed somewhat off. It was interesting enough to draw me in.

Movie Review: The Bronze

So, did anyone else see The Bronze? I know there are some of you out there, it has made $.5 million as of this writing. The next question would be how many of you would admit to it if you did. It is not a good movie, although, to be fair, I have seen worse this year. On some level I think you could say I enjoyed it. Still, this is not a movie that much effort was made in terms of marketing it. One of my first thoughts as I walked out of the theater was wondering just who this movie was made for. It was an entity without a purpose. A comedy without the drive, a drama without the heart. Why was this made?

Movie Review: The Witch (2016)

In this young year, The Witch was one of my most anticipated films. I had friends who had seen it on the festival circuit and were raving about it. On top of that, the trailer looked utterly fascinating. So, as soon as the movie opened, I was there, sitting front and center, looking forward to what I was hoping would be greatness. Yes, there is always a gnawing feeling at the back of my mind that I am going to be let down, it has happened before and I am sure it is going to happen again. Fortunately, now is not that time. I found The Witch to be utterly engrossing, unnerving, and fascinating. I also recognized it as a movie that is sure to have as much hate tossed at it as love.

Movie Review: Jane Got a Gun

Jane Got a Gun has finally arrived in theaters, some three years after it was shot. The movie has a production history that is the thing of legends. Unfortunately, the product that ends up on the screen is less than legendary. In fact, the movie is downright forgettable. It is a shame, too, as the cast is actually a good one, and a lot of the shots look fantastic. It really had all the parts needed to make a good movie, everything just conspired to ensure that this movie ended up not being good. Beyond that, the studio just snuck it into theaters, even upping the theater count from 400 to over 1200, but with no ad campaign, it was almost assured to fail.