The horror of Islamic honor killings is the central point of Shan Khan’s impressive directorial debut, Honour, but the film resembles more of a low-budget Jason Bourne flick rather than a cultural investigation. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, however. The luminous performance of Aiysha Hart and Khan’s slick style make the film more than…
The plot summary provided for Darkness Descends by writer / actor Frank Krueger seems determined to leave audiences underwhelmed. The summary talks of wars declared and the possibility of New York City itself being torn apart, and yet the film never quite lives up to these expectations. Rather — even if we ignore the ambitions…
“We’re in the business of transformation,” says Colonel Frank Reichert shortly before proving to instead be in the business of humiliation, degradation and manipulation. Reichert is the camp director at Coldwater, a privately run juvenile reform facility (much like many institutions that exist in real life) to which parents send their children in an attempt…
As head ape Caesar stands atop the rubble of a symbolic tower toppled moments before in a last ditch attempt by fearful humans to wipe out his kind, human benefactor Malcolm (Jason Clarke) confronts him in a fruitless bid to stop further fighting saying, “War isn’t what [he] want[s].” Mournfully, Caesar looks upon him and…
A movie musical based on a stage musical built on pre-existing music certainly has some of its work done for it right from the point of cinematic conception, but even with such a head start, Clint Eastwood still applies enough tender, heartfelt identity to his adaptation, Jersey Boys, to make the screen version a touching…
The feature directorial debut of Dan Beers, Premature, doesn’t capture the complete or debaucherous high school experience like most of its raunch-fest predecessors (“American Pie,” “Superbad”) do, but the comedy is smart and in tune with a new generation of frustrated hornballs. At its heart is high school senior Rob (John Karna) and his world…
Tammy Banks (Melissa McCarthy, “The Heat”) is having the bad day to end all bad days. Thanks to a deer with a death wish she has managed to crash her poor excuse for a car and then get fired from her dead end job at the depressing burger joint Topper Jacks. To top it all…
