cult film freak: August 2015

Written by James M. Tate / 8/31/2015 / No comments / horror , lee purcell , linda blair , made-for-TV , michael ontkean , orson welles , seventies , wes craven

LINDA BLAIR VS LEE PURCELL IN WES CRAVEN'S SUMMER OF FEAR AKA STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IdPr1VJ8RBQ/T-wCu3vqR6I/AAAAAAAAINU/nqilh3i_Ohg/s1600/2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="493" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IdPr1VJ8RBQ/T-wCu3vqR6I/AAAAAAAAINU/nqilh3i_Ohg/s640/2.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1978 cast: Lee Purcell, Linda Blair, Fran Drescher, Jeremy Slate rating: ***</td></tr>
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<b><i><span style="background-color: white;"></span></i></b>Poor Linda Blair – she just can’t seem to beat the devil... Here the iconic EXORCIST starlet plays the
 daughter of a wealthy couple. Her father’s a stockbroker and freelance photographer mom just lost her sister in a tragic car accident
 (that opens the movie). Dead Aunt left a daughter that needs a place to 
stay – and that’s the set up.<br>

horror, lee purcell, linda blair, made-for-TV, michael ontkean, orson welles, seventies, wes craven

LINDA BLAIR VS LEE PURCELL IN WES CRAVEN'S SUMMER OF FEAR AKA STRANGER IN OUR HOUSE

year: 1978 cast: Lee Purcell, Linda Blair, Fran Drescher, Jeremy Slate rating: *** Poor Linda Blair – she just can’t seem to beat th...

WES CRAVEN'S INVITATION TO HELL

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qV8uvMS3QEo/UPw3AhqWXwI/AAAAAAAAVSQ/ZaqhJueHbE8/s1600/invitationtohell5-1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="466" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-qV8uvMS3QEo/UPw3AhqWXwI/AAAAAAAAVSQ/ZaqhJueHbE8/s640/invitationtohell5-1.jpg" width="640"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1984 cast: Robert Urich, Joanna Cassidy, Susan Lucci, Soleil Moon Frye rating: ***1/2</td></tr>
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Being hassled to join the local gym can be downright annoying. They’ll say you need exercise, or that you should get out of your comfortable routine to meet people. Or both. But you want nothing to do with exercising or socializing or, in this particular case, climbing the corporate ladder. <br>
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eighties, horror, joanna cassidy, robert urich, soleil moon frye, susan lucci, wes craven

WES CRAVEN'S INVITATION TO HELL

year: 1984 cast: Robert Urich, Joanna Cassidy, Susan Lucci, Soleil Moon Frye rating: ***1/2 Being hassled to join the local gym can be d...

KRISTY SWANSON IN WES CRAVEN'S DEADLY FRIEND

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VOD0ZG9zim4/UQGuHjc9oVI/AAAAAAAAVeo/U6rtiLP7O48/s1600/kristy+swanson+deadly+friend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VOD0ZG9zim4/UQGuHjc9oVI/AAAAAAAAVeo/U6rtiLP7O48/s1600/kristy+swanson+deadly+friend.jpg"></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><u>Long Gone are the days of this particular Photobucket frame... But here's a writeup of DEADLY FRIEND that came out in 1986</u></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">DEADLY FRIEND is like two movies in one, and both are completely entertaining. Directed by Wes Craven after NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET bombed in theaters and then became a sleeper hit on video...</span><br>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Craven's FRIEND involves a brainy teenager, Paul Conway, played by Matthew Labyorteaux, famous as the street urchin turned bad luck charm Albert Ingalls on LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRAIRIE.</span><br>

eighties, horror, kristy swanson, matthew labyorteaux, suspense, wes craven

KRISTY SWANSON IN WES CRAVEN'S DEADLY FRIEND

Long Gone are the days of this particular Photobucket frame... But here's a writeup of DEADLY FRIEND that came out in 1986 DEADLY FR...

PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bH-1bg5F6cA/VeKzOBg2U0I/AAAAAAAAo0c/gxTbS0bvfmA/s1600/Planes_trains_and_automobiles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bH-1bg5F6cA/VeKzOBg2U0I/AAAAAAAAo0c/gxTbS0bvfmA/s200/Planes_trains_and_automobiles.jpg" width="118" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 1987</td></tr>
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Those in the know, know already, that John Hughes wrote the original VACATION. Based on his childhood, the story, originally published in National Lampoon magazine... hence NATIONAL LAMPOON'S VACATION... is a pure road movie. So perhaps, as John became the king of high school teen flicks, catapulting the Brat Pack phenomenon, he decided to write and direct his very own road picture... but the family stays at home.<br />
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Steve Martin goes outside his usual likable funny guy box and plays the uptight victim of a journey through hell, trying to make it from a business trip meeting to the outer Chicago suburbs in time for Thanksgiving, caught within the unpredictable constraints of all the titular vessels with the kind of boob you never want to be stuck with...<br />
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But no surprise that John Candy plays the part of the nightmare bad luck charm with such cuddly perfection, Martin winds up seeming like... a <i>real</i> jerk. Thus the only drawbacks occur when suddenly, intruding upon the hilarious team-up, Hughes provides unnecessary PRETTY IN PINK style synthesizers, giving Candy too much pathos for his own good and slowing down the hilarious, and nearly perfect, double whammy comedic rhythm you won't be able to experience just once.<br />
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RATING: ****

comedy, eighties, john candy, john hughes, road movie, steve martin, team-up

PLANES, TRAINS & AUTOMOBILES

year: 1987 Those in the know, know already, that John Hughes wrote the original VACATION. Based on his childhood, the story, originally ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/25/2015 / No comments / 2015 , action

REVIEW OF HITMAN: AGENT 47

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zlmoVpIu2aY/VdlnzWL6EII/AAAAAAAAoTg/Kyel_LC1gJE/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-22%2Bat%2B11.21.49%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zlmoVpIu2aY/VdlnzWL6EII/AAAAAAAAoTg/Kyel_LC1gJE/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-22%2Bat%2B11.21.49%2BPM.png" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: ***</td></tr>
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Cinematic Déjà Vu, in reverse... Because right now, playing in a theater near you, is a film called AMERICAN ULTRA, involving an oblivious guy who's a Secret Agent with hidden powers and, during and after quick flashes of what remains a convoluted mystery, he kicks some ass... And now we're dealing with an English woman who goes through the same turnaround, initially part of a somewhat complicated plot explained thoroughly within the first minute of screen time... so don't be late to this non-stop rollercoaster ride that is the 47th film in the AGENT series...<br />
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Seriously, 47 is his name and he's a HITMAN first and foremost, but may not be all that bad... A predictable element since he's our leading man, and yet the first half plays out like another film in theaters, the TERMINATOR reboot (and especially the original): a hired protector is helping a vulnerable woman survive this inhuman assassin...<br />
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Then, during part two, as the tables turn with frantic shootouts and creative car chases, it's pretty much an action-packed wallop (all based on a video game) with a few loose ends explained that weren't covered earlier: Not slowing the pace but after a while you can only handle so much bloodshed. For once 47 gets started there's just no stopping him, again and again and again... And the movie could have ended a lot sooner for to be that much more satisfying.

2015, action

REVIEW OF HITMAN: AGENT 47

2015 rating: *** Cinematic Déjà Vu, in reverse... Because right now, playing in a theater near you, is a film called AMERICAN ULTRA, inv...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/24/2015 / No comments / 2015 , cable , horror

QUICK PILOT GLANCE INTO FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wYkfGgkoXRY/VdrSfiBGWrI/AAAAAAAAoT4/qpZcUTY_s3c/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-24%2Bat%2B1.08.17%2BAM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wYkfGgkoXRY/VdrSfiBGWrI/AAAAAAAAoT4/qpZcUTY_s3c/s320/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-24%2Bat%2B1.08.17%2BAM.png" width="161" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 grade: B</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There's one point when FEAR THE WALKING DEAD finally comes alive, having to do with the prologue that improves when brought back up through dialogue, way more spooky than the catapulting bloodshed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Kind of like watching the first, and original, PLANET OF THE APES. You know what the movie is about directly from the title: Yet there's a good twenty-five minutes before the characters know anything, and that's where the important stuff lies.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">This highly anticipated pilot attempts a crime series vibe combined with a teenage/dysfunctional family melodrama and of course... zombies. The biggest drawback is the fact we learn too many things at the final stretch. A possible drug-fueled hallucination (which is anything but) holds more implied interest than the ultra violent news footage viewed by High Schoolers later on. It's like going from Hitchcock to You Tube. But hey, nothing's perfect. And for imperfection, this left a decent (if subtle and fitfully underwhelming) impression overall... So far, so pretty good.</span>

2015, cable, horror

QUICK PILOT GLANCE INTO FEAR THE WALKING DEAD

2015 grade: B There's one point when FEAR THE WALKING DEAD finally comes alive, having to do with the prologue that improves when br...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/23/2015 / No comments / 2015 , horror , sequel

SUNDAY REVIEW OF THE HORROR SEQUEL SINISTER 2

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5-V0cRjRaMA/Vdkeg2VuBAI/AAAAAAAAoTQ/3eH6CgyWUEY/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-22%2Bat%2B6.10.49%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5-V0cRjRaMA/Vdkeg2VuBAI/AAAAAAAAoTQ/3eH6CgyWUEY/s400/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-22%2Bat%2B6.10.49%2BPM.png" width="193" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: *1/2</td></tr>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Right off the bat we learn that THE EXORCIST is fiction when a priest tells our clumsy ex-cop hero... continuing what Ethan Hawke investigated in the original... that a more realistic clergyman doesn't go around saying: "The power of Christ compels you."</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">But the opening imagery suggests more CHILDREN OF THE CORN as our setting is a rural one, with a cornfield. Too bad the lead wraith (resembling a Gothic clown if hybrid with a demented jaguar) is so over the top that he's more banal than scary. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">While some modern horror sequels may or may not keep a few of the same characters while venturing into a brand new realm (like the PARANORMAL ACTIVITY franchise), the second SINISTER relies too much on the audience completely remembering the original. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">This story involves two young brothers, a handful of ghost kids and a put-upon mother just begging for the kind of punishment that never really happens except a few quick jolts with an overall plot reminiscent of Stephen King's THE SHINING: a murderous task given by the dead to the living, to turn the living into the dead. But the errand and execution simply doesn't pay off... ever. </span>

2015, horror, sequel

SUNDAY REVIEW OF THE HORROR SEQUEL SINISTER 2

2015 rating: *1/2 Right off the bat we learn that THE EXORCIST is fiction when a priest tells our clumsy ex-cop hero... continuing what ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/20/2015 / No comments / 2015 , action , jesse eisenberg , kristen stewart , spy , stoner

THURSDAY REVIEW OF AMERICAN ULTRA

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r6xWt6KNSpI/VdasX2FjM1I/AAAAAAAAoS4/zWbfZgFNO-E/s1600/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-20%2Bat%2B9.39.28%2BPM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r6xWt6KNSpI/VdasX2FjM1I/AAAAAAAAoS4/zWbfZgFNO-E/s200/Screen%2Bshot%2B2015-08-20%2Bat%2B9.39.28%2BPM.png" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: *</td></tr>
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Combine marijuana with a reluctant action hero who has a super cool, understanding girlfriend and you get one very realistic scene where Jesse Eisenberg's small town convenience store clerk Mike Howell actually sounds like someone under the influence i.e. stoned silly. No he's not eating or drunkenly laughing like most pot-driven vehicles. But as he contemplates the meaning of a tree and a car in a pretentiously deep fashion, it's right on the mark...<br />
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Alas, nothing else works in AMERICAN ULTRA, a motion picture with a budget resembling a straight-to-video flick striving for greatness... And with such a plot-shifting twist (on top of a twist that's already established), it might be difficult to explain what does and doesn't work herein. Other than our two young leads, also including Kristen Stewart, having zero chemistry with each other, the CIA adults are so cliche and uninteresting, nothing matters when both worlds connect and collide and thus, the potential buzz is killed altogether... and then some.

2015, action, jesse eisenberg, kristen stewart, spy, stoner

THURSDAY REVIEW OF AMERICAN ULTRA

2015 rating: * Combine marijuana with a reluctant action hero who has a super cool, understanding girlfriend and you get one very realis...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/16/2015 / No comments / 2015 , creature , ian ziering , judd hirsch , rifftraxx , sequel , tara reid

SWIMMING THROUGH SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0u7qrlXzTAw/VdDABEfvuSI/AAAAAAAAoSE/sUESgqEfrK4/s1600/3.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-0u7qrlXzTAw/VdDABEfvuSI/AAAAAAAAoSE/sUESgqEfrK4/s1600/3.png" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2014</td></tr>
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First off, before belatedly delving into SHARKNADO: THE SECOND ONE, let's give some nostalgic credit to actor Ian Ziering. His Steve Sanders from the iconic TV series BEVERLY HILLS 90210 was a real character. As the former bad boy and most popular guy in school, Steve was, as the show began, kicked aside by Brandon Walsh and Dylan McKay, played by Jason Priestly and Luke Perry. One could only imagine West Beverly High when the tricky, dishonest Sanders reigned...<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AnrfT1E2cRc/VdDAA3aIv1I/AAAAAAAAoSc/qSDuIafK2mI/s1600/2.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-AnrfT1E2cRc/VdDAA3aIv1I/AAAAAAAAoSc/qSDuIafK2mI/s200/2.png" width="93" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">BH 90210</td></tr>
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And now Ian's got what any former has-been television star would die for... with a cost. For the SHARKNADO films are considered really terrible. Then again, with so much corny dialogue, cheap CGI and last but not least, flying sharks living up to their own title, the mindless dreck had to be intentional, and has completely paid off (for the SyFy Channel, anyhow).<br />
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Beginning with a cross between AIRPORT and mostly AIRPLANE, with a familiar pilot in the form of Robert Hays and the famous William Shatner TWILIGHT ZONE episode NIGHTMARE AT 20,000 FEET being intentionally mirrored, Ziering's Fin Shepard, a former surf champ turned grungy bartender turned accidental hero, has his hands full once again: going from paranoid passenger to reluctant pilot ala Karen Black in AIRPORT 1975 (or Hays in AIRPLANE). <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN1LwPwZU-s/VdDABIqUZJI/AAAAAAAAoSU/il99jQ-Z6xg/s1600/1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-SN1LwPwZU-s/VdDABIqUZJI/AAAAAAAAoSU/il99jQ-Z6xg/s320/1.jpg" width="208" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="font-size: 12.8000001907349px; text-align: center;">The Movie Poster</td></tr>
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From here we venture to a baseball game where more characters, other than the returning Tara Reid, climb aboard: including a lackluster "why on Earth was <i>he</i> cast?" Mark McGrath from the band Sugar Ray and former REMOTE CONTROL hottie Kari Wuhr as well as KILL BILL assassin Vivica A. Fox; the latter having absolutely no chemistry with Ziering's Fin, whom she supposedly shared a past flame.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sRi7sgSbn4s/VdDABUUcIPI/AAAAAAAAoSg/pm2zHjaSwSE/s1600/4.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-sRi7sgSbn4s/VdDABUUcIPI/AAAAAAAAoSg/pm2zHjaSwSE/s320/4.png" width="132" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ziering rocks</td></tr>
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Meanwhile, in the John Heard old-timer role is Judd Hirsch playing a TAXI cab driver. The in-transit scenes are what made up most of the somewhat meandering original: driving around flooded streets while sharks dog the vehicle. Thankfully there's a lot more happening this time around, at all times. SECOND plays cheesy to the hilt, going overboard for the sake of rabid fans who already know the score and want to be tickled silly and vapidly entertained: more NADO than SHARKS while the sky is completely (and literally) limitless.<br />
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In that, the masters of movie baggers, RiffTrax, were good and funny but not as perfect as their roast of the original. Perhaps the film itself is so dang loud and busy, any input would be like a garden hose spraying the middle of the ocean. Basically, in a technical sense, the boys needed to be much louder over the constant pandemonium Which doesn't really matter. The movie itself has enough camp value to basically make fun of itself. Maybe that was the intention all along... to make this sequel sublimely self-contained.<br />
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<u>CAMP VALUE: </u>***1/2<br />
<u>TRIVIA</u>: Mark McGrath's name in the movie is Martin Brody, which was Roy Scheider name in the CITIZEN KANE of shark movies, JAWS.

2015, creature, ian ziering, judd hirsch, rifftraxx, sequel, tara reid

SWIMMING THROUGH SHARKNADO 2: THE SECOND ONE

year: 2014 First off, before belatedly delving into SHARKNADO: THE SECOND ONE, let's give some nostalgic credit to actor Ian Ziering...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/15/2015 / No comments / 2015 , biopic , music , paul giamatti

REVIEW OF STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HzWHECvNxFM/Vc92_CNNSiI/AAAAAAAAoR0/4XFb1vpedrM/s1600/3047304-inline-i-1-poster-captures-the-strength-of-street-knowledge-in-black-and-white.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-HzWHECvNxFM/Vc92_CNNSiI/AAAAAAAAoR0/4XFb1vpedrM/s400/3047304-inline-i-1-poster-captures-the-strength-of-street-knowledge-in-black-and-white.jpg" width="192" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **1/2</td></tr>
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Paul Giamatti is no stranger to playing sly manipulators of naïve yet successful musicians... Not after his venomous turn as Brian Wilson's con artist doctor in LOVE & MERCY and now, as "Gangsta Rap" pioneer Eazy-E's mentor/manager Jerry Heller, he's gone full throttle into jerk-off stratosphere yet he starts out nice and helpful: It's the overlong process of everyone else... from Ice Cube to Dr. Dre... figuring out the man that turns what could have been an edgy urban biopic into a music biz SOCIAL NETWORK given the distracting bias of the two surviving members (also the producers) of groundbreaking rap unit NWA, derived from the city we hardly see enough of...<br />
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Beyond a rushed ghetto backstory, a few neat glimpses into the studio recording process and THE DOORS style "Say that and be sorry" problems on stage, much of the film takes place in either stuffy backroom meetings or rip roaring mansion parties where <i>all</i> conversations center on bitterness and business. Meanwhile, despite the restricted access into genuine "character" development, the three lead actors do a pretty decent job: Ice Cube's real life son, O'Shea Jackson Jr., has his old man's scowl and voice down pat; Corey Hawkins as Dr. Dre wields effective vulnerability despite being ultimately lost in the shuffle; while Jason Mitchell's Eazy-E turns in the best performance simply because he's loved, then hated, then loved again: providing the actor plenty to react to and against, stretching beyond limited propaganda centering more on post-fame financial struggles than the struggles that catapulted the music. Perhaps their controversial song should have been titled F**K THE ACCOUNTANTS!

2015, biopic, music, paul giamatti

REVIEW OF STRAIGHT OUTTA COMPTON

2015 rating: **1/2 Paul Giamatti is no stranger to playing sly manipulators of naïve yet successful musicians... Not after his venomous ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/14/2015 / No comments / 2015 , alicia vikander , armie hammer , guy ritchie , henry cavill , jared harris , spy , TV adaptation

HENRY CAVILL & ARMIE HAMMER IN THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: ***</td></tr>
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Unlike another spy franchise derived from the Cold War 1960's, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. television series is mostly regarded by those "in the know" as CIA agent Napoleon Solo and KGB operative Illya Kuryakin, played by Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, know what's needed for each and every semi-complicated scene, headlined by an ingenue who stretches beyond the love interest role: Everything is pretty much about Alicia Vikander's Gaby while the boys are along for the ride...<br />
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Actually, it <i>is </i>their vehicle... Especially Hammer's Illya, who gets his very own suspenseful closeup whenever on the verge of losing his cool. In fact, by the second half, much like The Avenger's Hulk, we're overly anticipating his crazy tantrums; wherein the MAN himself is more in the dark. Other than a Robert Vaughn cleft chin, what exactly does the American bring to the table to match his temperamental scene-stealing Russian sidekick? <br />
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Well he's perfectly suited, genuinely dapper, beds chicks like James Bond, and can speak all the dialogue, extra clearly. For even when a nuclear bomb plot goes occasionally haywire, and the characters are playfully treated as if we knew them much better (director Guy Ritchie in SHERLOCK HOLMES mode), Solo's there to guide us along the clever espionage/action despite being second... no, make that third... fiddle throughout.

2015, alicia vikander, armie hammer, guy ritchie, henry cavill, jared harris, spy, TV adaptation

HENRY CAVILL & ARMIE HAMMER IN THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E.

2015 rating: *** Unlike another spy franchise derived from the Cold War 1960's, THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. television series is mostly ...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/12/2015 / No comments / 2015 , ian mckellen , laura linney , mystery

MR. HOLMES STARRING IAN MCKELLEN

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: ***</td></tr>
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Well it's not like God's name is used in vain here; SHERLOCK HOLMES creator/author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle isn't mentioned once in MR. HOLMES... For we're to believe that Watson actually <i>did</i> write all those books in his first-person perspective, and now the real guy... not Peter Cushing nor Robert Downey Jr... needs to get some things clear.<br />
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With the exception that he didn't wear that signature hat or smoke a pipe, the mystique of the crime-solving genius fully exists within an aged Ian McKellen who, despite a good performance, often seems too old for even the various flashbacks occurring before the mainline/present time: Holmes bonding with a serious little boy, the son of Laura Linney's put-upon maid who should really be a nurse given the her boss's waning health, retired at a rural farm with a penchant for beekeeping. And he's still got some fire in him. The last case involving a missing wife years earlier combines with a closer-to-the-present backstory about a trip to Japan, which is the least centered-on and not very interesting. At times you'll want to stick around longer with the slightly younger-older Holmes as he solves the dark, Noirish case on Baker Street but scenes with the boy trump everything. Meanwhile, despite the talent of Laura Linney to transform into her workaday English character, she remains peripheral throughout.<br />
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But it's how the movie is constructed that really works. Directed by Bill Condon, the scenes flow together in an arthouse, non-linear daydream as the talented actors glide along within the mellow cadence.

2015, ian mckellen, laura linney, mystery

MR. HOLMES STARRING IAN MCKELLEN

2015 rating: *** Well it's not like God's name is used in vain here; SHERLOCK HOLMES creator/author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle isn&#...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/10/2015 / No comments / 2015 , diablo cody , drama , jonathan demme , kevin kline , meryl streep , music

MERYL STREEP IN RICKI AND THE FLASH

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **</td></tr>
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Family squabbles can be a nerve-wracking chore, for everyone involved. And that's the word of the day here... involved. Just imagine you hardly know the bickering clan, and are stuck, right off the bat, inside arguments that have more weight than can be lifted by the one person you're supposed to center on, feel for or side with. In this case it's a wannabe has-been rock n' roll singer... that is, she wants to be a has-been but actually, never-was...<br />
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And in the title role, Meryl Streep is given potential to not only cross the line, but to move it along to fit her unpredictable rhythm: to hell with everyone else. She's even a staunch Right Winger, which holds (ultimately wasted) potential for arguments and opinions ala Archie Bunker that can give her a limitless rein of blunt terror. But Ricki's really just a singer in a mediocre bar band, still being judged for, years earlier, taking off on the family; and she refuses to dress normally, not even during a big finale wedding.<br />
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Streep's real life daughter Mamie Gummer as Julie, recently dumped and suffering depression, is so high-strung and opinionated her wild mother fails to be as unpredictable as intended, visually contrasting with ex-husband Kevin Kline's mansion and hardly lifting us above the vapid drama. Meanwhile, 1980's rocker <a href="http://www.cultfilmfreaks.com/2014/11/thanks-mr-larson.html">Rick Springfield</a> (who was an actor before coveting "Jessie's Girl") plays the super nice guy musician in Ricki's corner. And that's part of the problem...<br />
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Our heroine has very few enemies or obstacles within her "uphill climb" as a stranger in a strange land. By the end, this FLASH seems more like a reason for Streep to rock out in-between Lifetime Channel style melodrama, failing to connect with the viewing audience the way like she does that rowdy barroom crowd: they truly adore a woman that we hardly get to know.

2015, diablo cody, drama, jonathan demme, kevin kline, meryl streep, music

MERYL STREEP IN RICKI AND THE FLASH

2015 rating: ** Family squabbles can be a nerve-wracking chore, for everyone involved. And that's the word of the day here... involv...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/09/2015 / No comments / 2015 , emma watson , joaquin phoenix , neo noir , perfect murder , woody allen

WOODY ALLEN DIRECTS JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN IRRATIONAL MAN

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **</td></tr>
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Taking THE out of IRRATIONAL MAN is perhaps Woody Allen's way of saying all men are this way. If so, he's created plenty of them. From the thoroughly classic CRIMES AND MISDEMEANORS to the popular MATCH POINT to the obscure CASSANDRA'S DREAM, the "Perfect Murder" sub-genre has been used, again and again and again...<br />
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But this MAN begins as a character-study on Joaquin Phoenix's troubled college professor, Abe. His trade is existential philosophy and, with a weight jarring his already tortured soul, one might feel like having walked into a movie halfway through. Despite the dream of an Allen/Phoenix collaborative, the offbeat actor is so beyond subdued, even the pontificating advances from pretty young student Emma Stone, as Jill, means very little. So during their perpetual near-romance, the story trudges along without purpose until our flawed hero finds an agenda in... that dark subject Woody Allen adores. And in just about every venture of the past decade, it feels like he's been adapting clever-twisty short stories into films rather than letting his tales pan out naturally...<br />
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In this particular case, more shapes are carved into the dull bookends than the one (and only) thing that matters. But by the conclusion, like Allen's own core philosophy, everything turns out pretty much meaningless... and unlike his older stuff, not very satisfying.

2015, emma watson, joaquin phoenix, neo noir, perfect murder, woody allen

WOODY ALLEN DIRECTS JOAQUIN PHOENIX IN IRRATIONAL MAN

2015 rating: ** Taking THE out of IRRATIONAL MAN is perhaps Woody Allen's way of saying all men are this way. If so, he's create...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/08/2015 / No comments / 2015 , jason bateman , joel edgerton , rebecca hall , thriller

JASON BATEMAN & REBECCA HALL & JOEL EDGERTON IN THE GIFT

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">year: 2015 rating: ***</td></tr>
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THE GIFT is both exactly what it seems and nothing like it's supposed to be. Well that's the eventual turnout, which shouldn't be spoiled. Only to say that Jason Bateman takes a passive passenger seat until really coming alive. Those who grew up watching him as a snarky child and teenager can probably imagine the unseen yet very mentioned, extremely manipulative popular kid from former school days. One that rears up as a stalking reminder in the form of a once-bullied menace played by writer/director Joel Edgerton, who gives a sort of voyeuresque pulse ala FATAL ATTRACTION combined with the basic plot of a lesser known vehicle putting the indecisive wife up front, UNLAWFUL ENTRY...<br />
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Bateman and Edgerton aside, the central character is Rebecca Hall's Robyn. She not only plays the most vulnerable in a movie built on edgy suspense and sudden jolts to scare the audience, but she holds the big questions to this particular style of thriller. "How much will she let this noticeably freakish person get away with, and for how long?" And the sole answer relies on Bateman...<br />
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As Simon, a seemingly cookie-cutter "yuppie" husband, he holds the truly intense cards provided by Edgerton, the writer. For the character-actor turned filmmaker, in a role that could have been his very own scene-stealing Glenn Close bunny boiler meets Norman Bates PSYCHO, Joel lets the moody tension rely elsewhere. And for the most part, with the exception of a few overlong scenes concerning husband and wife during a claustrophobic first act, it's an entertaining two-hours of intentionally awkward silence... that knows when and when not to make a lot of noise.

2015, jason bateman, joel edgerton, rebecca hall, thriller

JASON BATEMAN & REBECCA HALL & JOEL EDGERTON IN THE GIFT

year: 2015 rating: *** THE GIFT is both exactly what it seems and nothing like it's supposed to be. Well that's the eventual tur...

Written by James M. Tate / 8/06/2015 / No comments / 2015 , comic book , marvel

WEEKEND REVIEW OF THE FANTASTIC FOUR REBOOT

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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">2015 rating: **</td></tr>
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There's a term in golf where, after screwing up your first shot i.e. the drive, you get to throw down another ball for another try. So what we have here is a FANTASTIC FOUR "Mulligan", and yet the first attempt, co-starring the now CAPTAIN AMERICA Chris Evans, wasn't too shabby with an engaging origin story: taking the group from a million dollar lab into space and back to Earth, where, with a superhero collective that can stretch, vanish, flame, and destroy, the sky was the limit...<br />
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Well this sky is beyond limited. In fact, after a fairly interesting childhood glance into Reed Richard's dream of teleportation and his down-home friend Ben Grimm, we only experience what happens in the lab and then in an eerie inner-space realm where the gang accidentally goes from human to freaks. Meanwhile, hardly any time is spent dealing with the pros and cons of having such eclectic powers amongst mortals... In fact, right as things get rolling, we skip to ONE YEAR LATER as the group is already working for the military, going through the motions and having no fun at all. </div>
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There's a ray of dark hope in Von Doom's nefarious changeling, taking over with heated vengeance and putting the good guys in check... But he too, like everyone and everything else, remains so contained and constricted, hardly anything actually happens at all.  </div>
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2015, comic book, marvel