January 1, 2022

The Lost Daughter

Rating: 1 of 5 Depressing flashbacks Well acted, good cinematography. Many people loved this film. I found it endlessly depressing, not a story I needed to see. If we weren’t watching it with friends who really wanted to see it (and they liked it), I wouldn’t have made it to the end.

October 24, 2021

Angel (1983)

Rating: 4 out of 5 walk of fame stars
What appears at first glance to be an 80’s exploitation flick is actually a pretty good horror/serial killer film with interesting characters. What sets it apart is actual drama and character development, and some really good acting. Dick Shawn (brilliantly) plays a cross dressing prostitute, Rory Calhoun plays a Hollywood Boulevard hawker posing as Kit Carson, and John Diehl (Cruiser from Stripes) plays the serial killer. Ostensibly about a teenager (Donna Wilkes) who is a high school honor student by day, and a Hollywood Boulevard hooker by night.

October 22, 2021

Dune (2021)

Rating: 3 out of 5 Sandworms
Watched “Dune” last night. Have to preface this by saying I couldn’t slog my way through the book when I tried 30+ years ago. Bore-ing. Watched other adaptations, didn’t grok them either. So, I expected great visuals, but a confusing storyline. Well, it didn’t disappoint. But, since I didn’t expect to follow the story, it made a little more sense than expected, although I really need to read a cliff note version of who the factions are, and why their fighting.

September 11, 2021

Malignant

Rating: 3 out of 4 mysteriously abandoned hospitals Directed by James Wan (Saw, the Conjuring movies, Aquaman). Loved the set design and photography, some good scares. Plot was thin, broadcast the whole plot pretty early, but the inevitable horror plot twist was fun (surprised me, Syd saw it coming a mile away). And, per my horror movie annoyances, some people turned on the lights when wandering to find the source of the strange noises, some didn’t.

August 21, 2021

Reminiscence

Rating: 2 of 4 isolation tanks Very pretty. Not sure how much was CGI, but it looked great. It’s a “paced” flick, so don’t expect things to speed up or get more exciting. Plot was OK, felt derivative of other “we can read your memories” plots. No surprises, and I found it a bit boring, all in all. Still, worth a watch.

July 26, 2021

Jolt

Rating: 4 out of 4 electric shocks I loved the writing and fairly unique plot. Acting with a great balance of campy/serious/humor. A few parts didn’t mesh, but this is an action flick.

July 17, 2021

Let Him Go

Rating: 3 of 5 Frozen song titles Kevin Costner and Diane Lane (who we’ve met in person!). For a while, thought it might be a Rob Zombie movie. Excellent acting from everyone, disturbing plot that gets a little nuts. One of those movies I can’t say I enjoyed, although I appreciated the effort and talent it took to make it.

July 14, 2021

Evil Dead (remake)

Rating: 1/2 of 5 necronomicons This is the remake with Rami/Tapert/Campbell not involved in writing/directing/acting, just producing. You know the plot, I had no idea why they made this. Still don’t. Not as scary as either the original or first remake. No humor, which even for the less-funny/more scary Rami version was a keystone.No reason to watch it, really. Only gets a 1/2 because it was slightly interesting to see Jane Levy in another roll after liking her a lot in “Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist”.

July 4, 2021

The Tomorrow War

Rating: 4 of 5 unstoppable alien hordes WAY better than I expected. Good concept, good acting, good action. Somewhat original ideas (but a reminder that Alien was the progenitor of all decent alien movies). Exploding aliens, totally mismatched weaponry, impossible odds. What’s not to like?

June 13, 2021

In The Heights

Rating: 3 out of 4 bodegas Fun music, great ensemble dances, liked the sets a lot. Camera work was a bit frantic at times, and on the big screen, sometimes hard to watch. Plot was simple, nothing that’ll require a deep attention span.