Crime

Rope (1948) Review

Time: 81 Minutes Cast: James Stewart as Rupert Cadell John Dall as Brandon Shaw Joan Chandler as Janet Walker Cedric Hardwicke as Mr. Henry Kentley Farley Granger as Phillip Morgan Constance Collier as Mrs. Anita Atwater Douglas Dick as Kenneth Lawrence Edith Evanson as Mrs. Wilson Director: Alfred Hitchcock Two young men, Brandon Shaw (John Dall) and Phillip Morgan […]

Rope (1948) Review

Adventure

John’s Horror Corner: The Ruins (2008)

MY CALL:  I love this flick! There’s nothing groundbreaking here, but it’s still a solid movie. We have an awesome cast giving good performances in a well-directed, deliciously gory killer plant movie. What more did you want?  MORE MOVIES LIKE The Ruins:  Well, for more killer plant movies I’d aim for Splinter (2008), Invasion of […]

John’s Horror Corner: The Ruins (2008), this “botanical horror” is a fun, gory, infection-based killer plant movie worth your time.

Crime

Dark Woods (Das Geheimnis des Totenwaldes) 2020

“Dark Woods” is a German police procedural that is less about tracking down a serial killer than about the ripple effects of random, senseless violence and the pain of not-knowing what’s happened to a loved one who simply vanishes. There’s mystery in this account of a 30 year-long German case that only dogged persistence by […]

Series Review: German cops hunt a serial killer, and a kidnap victim, in the “Dark Forest (Das Geheimnis des Totenwaldes)”

Drama

Movie Review: Divorce, as personal as it gets — “The Killing of Two Lovers”

“The Killing of Two Lovers” is a break-up story as stark as its Utah-in-winter setting, as brutal as its title. The debut feature of writer-director Robert Machoian throws us into the seemingly quiet aftermath of a split, the calm after what appears to have been a just-as-calm “we need to work through some things” parting. […]

Movie Review: Divorce, as personal as it gets — “The Killing of Two Lovers”

Action

First Glance: “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”

Several months ago we got an incredible cool teaser for “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”, the follow-up to 2018’s critically panned but big box office success “Venom”. The film is part of the strange symbiotic (see what I did there) relationship between Sony Pictures and Marvel Studios. The Venom movies are not part of the […]

First Glance: “Venom: Let There Be Carnage”

Action

Jupiter’s Legacy: Season 1

Jupiter’s Legacy premieres May 7 on Netflix. By Chris Flanagan Superheroes and comic book adaptations are everywhere. And Netflix is no stranger to greenlighting known properties that have a proven track record with literary fans into marquee tent poles that are required bingeing from the streaming giant. The Umbrella Academy, The Old Guard, Lucifer, and […]

Jupiter’s Legacy: Season 1 – Review

Action

Movie Review: EveryDaddy was “Kung Fu Fighting” — “The Paper Tigers”

Well, isn’t this just adorable? “The Paper Tigers” is a martial arts action comedy filled with punch-ups, knock-outs, insults and one-liners. Well-acted, with actors who know how to throw a kick and land a punch — and a punchline — stuntman and editor turned writer-director Quoc Bao Tran has made a debut feature that tells […]

Movie Review: EveryDaddy was “Kung Fu Fighting” — “The Paper Tigers”

Crime

Saw V (2008) Review

Time: 92 minutes Age Rating: Torture & Sadistic Violence Cast: Tobin Bell as John Kramer Costas Mandylor as Detective Mark Hoffman Scott Patterson as Agent Peter Strahm Betsy Russell as Jill Tuck Julie Benz as Brit Meagan Good as Luba Gibbs Mark Rolston as Agent Dan Erickson Carlo Rota as Charles Director: David Hackl Although Jigsaw […]

Saw V (2008) Review

Action

Movie Review: Danish, Dark, Bloody and…Sweet? “Riders of Justice”

Imagine the nerds from “The Big Bang Theory” stumbling into the plot of “Taken,” or pretty much any Liam Neeson out-for-revenge thriller. Now imagine them Danish. That’s “Riders of Justice,” the dark, bloody, sweet and sometimes hilarious comic thriller from Anders Thomas Jensen. He scripted the Oscar-winning “In a Better World,” which had similar messaging […]

Movie Review: Danish, Dark, Bloody and…Sweet? “Riders of Justice”