A movie like A House of Dynamite feels like the first part of a two-part miniseries that would’ve aired during the Cold War era. And that might find so many people frustrated by what all happens. Or shall I say what doesn’t happen. The events take place over many hours on what starts out as just another normal Friday. One thing people haveContinue reading “‘A House Of Dynamite’ Has Some Great Sparks Despite Too Many Duds”
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
‘Return Of The Living Dead Part II’ Never Does Work As Well
By the winter of 1988, zombie movies were dead…for lack of a better word. Horror movies in general were in rare supply by then. Parental groups and an almost universal distaste for the genre by the most famous and professional critics meant most of the horror flicks were the bottom of the barrel, about a small rung upContinue reading “‘Return Of The Living Dead Part II’ Never Does Work As Well”
‘Spinal Tap II’ Feels Like A Tribute Band That Can’t Hit The Same Notes
When This is Spinal Tap opened in 1984, it had such a tongue-in-cheek feel mixed with a fly on the wall observation to it that a lot of people believed it was about a real band. Rob Reiner said he was approached by people who told him he should’ve focused on a more well-known band. It was the first movie to be directed by Reiner. I wasContinue reading “‘Spinal Tap II’ Feels Like A Tribute Band That Can’t Hit The Same Notes”
‘Life Of Chuck’ Is Amazing Despite Some Problematic Scenes
I wanted to like The Life of Chuck a lot more than I did. Flannagan has emerged as one of the most impressive horror/thriller filmmakers and quite possibly one of the rarest to make a good adaptation of a Stephen King story. That’s what makes Chuck so odd because it works on one level and it fails on another. The story, which could be considered a novella was included inContinue reading “‘Life Of Chuck’ Is Amazing Despite Some Problematic Scenes”
A 2nd Look At ‘The 6th Day’
Some of the biggest criticisms of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s movies is that they’re mindless action. Granted by the 1980s, most filmmakers of action movies realized they didn’t need a complex story to go along with the action. People would watch it mostly anyway. Yet, by the time the 1990s came on, Schwarzenegger had two of his best movies Total Recall and Terminator 2: Judgment Day. They were very well made moviesContinue reading “A 2nd Look At ‘The 6th Day’”
‘Americana’ Feels More Like A Collection Of Better Crime Movies
It’s been almost three years since Americana premiered at the 2023 South by Southwest Film and TV Festival in March of that year. Since then, three of the main cast members have had their careers explode. I had never seen Euphoria and didn’t recognize Sydney Sweeney from Sharp Objects when I saw her in Reality. One thing I will say is that she has been impressive asContinue reading “‘Americana’ Feels More Like A Collection Of Better Crime Movies”
‘Toxic Avenger’ Remake Sizzles In Absurd, Gross-Out Goofiness
Trying to critique a Troma movie is like trying to describe a Jackson Pollock to Helen Keller. It’s an exercise in futility because you have to see a Jackson Pollock to understand his use of colors. And I’m sure Keller never really could distinguish between red and blue. When the movie studio was established in the early 1970s, it was supposed to be different from anything else. And consideringContinue reading “‘Toxic Avenger’ Remake Sizzles In Absurd, Gross-Out Goofiness”
‘Holidays’ A Potluck That Offers Few Goodies And The Rest Can Be Avoided
A movie like Holidays is like a potluck dinner at a family get-together. You don’t really know what you should eat but you’re sure you’re not going to like most of what you choose. Anthologies are like that. They usually have a few good segments, a few not so good and a few you can totally avoid. I wouldn’t say they’re bad, but the filmmakers are usually restrained by a time frame that hurts the story telling. It’s no surprise that theContinue reading “‘Holidays’ A Potluck That Offers Few Goodies And The Rest Can Be Avoided”
You May Not Want To Watch ‘Together’ While You’re Alone
Body horror is not one of my favorite subgenres of horror. Mainly it’s because too many filmmakers get caught up more in the style than the substance. And sometimes body horror switches to a creature feature so the emphasis is more on special effects than story. But the greatest like David Cronenberg realized you can do more with less. The beauty ofContinue reading “You May Not Want To Watch ‘Together’ While You’re Alone”
‘Misery’ Showed That Rob Reiner Could Still Scare Us Silly 35 Years Later
I was watching the sequel to This is Spinal Tap when I read the news that Rob Reiner and his wife, Michelle Singer, were fatally stabbed allegedly by their son, Nick. It’s horrible and Reiner was a major pioneer in both TV and movies, making mockumentaries so popular that they’re everywhere now. He had been mostly known for comedies. But in 1990,Continue reading “‘Misery’ Showed That Rob Reiner Could Still Scare Us Silly 35 Years Later”
Zane Says 