The Lodge
When horror movies are bad, they are intolerable. For me, that includes slasher flicks that solely exist to show blood and guts. On the other hand, when they appeal to our psychological fears, they can be fascinating. The Lodge comes from directors Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala. They seem to specialize in what aficionados call […]
Bad Education
You wouldn’t think a movie whose plot could easily be summarized as “The Bad Superintendent” would be a compelling saga but it is. Based on the 2004 New York magazine article by Robert Kolker with the aforementioned title, Bad Education is a true-life tale about one Frank Tassone. This release may have debuted April 25 […]
Disappearance at Clifton Hill
After her mother’s death, a troubled young woman named Abby (Tuppence Middleton) returns to the Canadian side of Niagara Falls. She has recently inherited the Rainbow Inn, a family-owned motel in the city’s tourist trap town of Clifton Hill. While there, the experience dredges up some long-suppressed memories from when she was 7-years-old and witnessed […]
True History of the Kelly Gang
True History of the Kelly Gang begins with some text that reads: “Nothing you’re about to see is true.” Yeah, so the title is made irrelevant within the first minute. This western is based upon Peter Carey’s critically acclaimed 2000 novel about the very real Ned Kelly and his band of followers. The admittedly honest […]
Extraction
A very wise person once said, “It’s not what you know. It’s who you know.” Extraction proves the adage still holds. Director Sam Hargrave has been an enduring presence in Hollywood ever since 2005 when he did stunts for the WB TV series Supernatural. However, I suspect it was his connections as a stunt coordinator […]
Abe
Abe is a strange little movie. On the surface, it presents a feel-good premise about a boy who simply wants to be a chef. The title role is played by Noah Schnapp (Will Byers on TV’s Stranger Things) and in his hands, the character is sincere and likable. Unfortunately, he must deal with some nasty […]
The Willoughbys
“If you love stories about families that stick together and love each other through thick and thin and it all ends happily ever after…this isn’t the film for you, okay?” That’s how The Willoughbys (available on Netflix) begins. A narrator introduces this witty riff on classic children tales by authors like Charles Dickens and P. […]
Les Misérables
I know what you’re thinking. Another adaptation of the Victor Hugo novel?! No this is a modern drama based on an incident of police brutality and the subsequent riot that followed. There is a connection to the 19th-century classic, however. It’s set in Montfermeil — an eastern suburb of Paris — where some of Victor […]
Uncorked
The coolest thing about Uncorked is that it doesn’t cater to the viewer’s expectations. It’s hard to explain what I mean by that without revealing important details. Let’s just say for most of its runtime, this appeared to be a very predictable drama about family discord. And then suddenly it wasn’t. Oh but it’s also […]
Trolls World Tour
Ok, I’ll admit I saw Trolls in 2016 — at the theater no less — but I wasn’t a huge fan. Oh don’t get me wrong, it was a lively diversion but it evaporated from memory soon after I saw it. The prospect of watching a sequel didn’t excite me. In the original plan Trolls […]