I’ve been holding onto this for the last few days, but I’m excited to share that I’ll be joining the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette newspaper as a contributing film critic with my first review printing as early as next Friday. As a result, any review of mine that publishes in the paper won’t be visible on this site until the day of printing. So a handful of potentially early reviews may get pushed back a couple of days to meet my exclusivity agreement with the paper. And look for me to share links to each of my published reviews (hope you’ll check them out).
I’m really excited as this is a step I’ve often thought about but never really pursued. I’m grateful for the opportunity and thrilled to join such a talented group of critics. See you in the papers…..(and on here, but you know what I mean).
A hotheaded dad loses his cool on the interstate and ends up tailgating the wrong fellow. That’s what kickstarts the fittingly titled “Tailgate”, a new horror thriller from the Netherlands that begins similar to the 2020 Russell Crowe thriller “Unhinged”. But road-rage is about all the two films have in common. “Tailgate” spirals into a perplexing stew with more logic-defying moments than actual thrills.
The story revolves around a family of four who are unfortunately led by their inane patriarch Hans (Jeroen Spitzenberger). We first meet them as the short-tempered grump is chewing out his wife Diana (Anniek Pheifer) and their two daughters for being late. They’re supposed to be going to his parents house for dinner but his oldest daughter won’t get off her pogo stick and Diana forgot her sunglasses – just normal family stuff. But not for the irritable Hans.
When they finally get on the road Hans drives like a maniac while still fussing at his family (what a guy). As he weaves through interstate traffic he gets stuck behind a white van poking along in the passing lane. Unable to get around, the incensed Hans lays on his horn and starts riding the van driver’s bumper. He finally gets by and speeds down the highway only to notice the van following him. Behind the wheel is a tall older man (Willem de Wolf) who wants an apology and will do anything to get it including terrorizing this family for the next 80 minutes.
While “Tailgate” builds itself around an unsettling premise, all-in-all it’s nothing we haven’t seen before. There is a little nuance to its psycho – an everyday man in his early sixties armed with toxic herbicide rather than a gun or a knife. There are also some clever visual touches and snappy pacing which keeps things moving forward. But the story doesn’t do enough to distinguish itself from countless other thrillers and the head-scratching choices it makes defies any hint of logic.
Which gets back to Hans who is not only one of the most unlikable people, but he’s quite possibly the dumbest single character I’ve seen in a movie. I wish I could say that’s just hyperbole, but I genuinely mean it. The things this guy does throughout the film goes beyond simply bad decision-making. It’s aggressively stupid and often throws common sense out the window. With that guy calling the shots it’s no wonder the family is in constant danger.
To make matters worse, the version I watched was dubbed with truly awful voiceovers rather than the original language which became somewhat of an endurance test. But even looking past the horrid voice work, “Tailgate” is a movie that latches onto some pretty familiar material but does nothing new with it. It’s made worse by chaining us to an asinine lead character who is as witless as he is insufferable. “Tailgate” is now available on VOD.
The sheer number of movies that Nicolas Cage churns out has made him a cultural sensation of sorts. But as a friend of this site recently pointed out to me, even though Cage puts out a load of forgettable straight-to-VOD fodder, he still surprises with the occasional unexpected gem (look no further than this summer’s “Pig”). His latest is the Sundance hit “Prisoners of the Ghostland”. And if you thought some of Cage’s past work has been bonkers, wait till you see the first trailer for this one.
“Ghostland” is a gonzo samurai neo-western from director Sion Sono. In it Cage plays a bank robber who is let out of prison to rescue the daughter of a wacky character called the Governor (Bill Moseley). The problem is the granddaughter is trapped in a mystical and violent wasteland known as Ghostland. Much bloodshed and hilarious Nic Cage hijinks ensue. The trailer looks absolutely gonzo which is probably the only way to handle material like this. Either way it’s crazy enough to grab my interest.
“Prisoners of the Ghostland” will release in theaters and on VOD September 17th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
There are a couple of early moments in “Midnight in the Switchgrass” that tease a gritty and multi-layered crime thriller. But that potential is all but squashed in the first twenty minutes or so. Instead of something fresh and engaging, we end up with a glaringly inert and poorly acted potboiler that treads way too much familiar ground. Strangely enough, it manages to be watchable despite never being anything more than aggressively average.
Directed by Randall Emmett working from a script by Alan Horsnail, “Midnight in the Switchgrass” begins the same way many of these stories do – with the body of a young woman found under a bridge. Turns out she’s one of several female victims reported missing and later found dead in the Pensacola area. It has all the markings and fits the profile of a serial killer. Florida State Police officer Byron Crawford (Emile Hirsch) knows it and immediately connects it to the other killings.
Yet for some inexplicable reason Crawford’s chief refuses to pursue it and wants Crawford to just drop the case. Seriously! There’s never a reason given and no logical answer why. And when Crawford ignores the orders and investigates anyway, his insubordination is never met with an ounce of department pushback. There are no warnings, no repercussions. Nothing! It ends up being one of several meaningless details that are only in the movie because they’re written on the page.
Image Courtesy of Lionsgate
Elsewhere Megan Fox and Bruce Willis play a couple of FBI agents running stings in the area to catch sex traffickers. Fox’s Agent Lombardo works as the undercover bait luring the pervs into their trap while her partner Agent Helter (Willis) listens in helplessly from the car. Helter has lost the stomach for their work and is ready to pack up for an easier assignment in Seattle. But when their operation crosses paths with Crawford’s investigation, Lombardo insists on sticking around and seeing it through.
Amid the sea of crime movie cliches and bland dialogue are a number of performances that are as unconvincing as the story itself. Hirsch gets third billing but he’s really the star of the movie, showing some nice restraint while sporting a truly awful and exaggerated Deep South accent. Willis continues his run of sleepwalking performances, completely detached and only there to add some name recognition. To Fox’s credit, she puts all she can into her role but finds herself chained (both literally and figuratively) to a script that puts her into some unwinnable positions. Cringy dialogue and some bad character beats (especially with her beau Machine Gun Kelly) are too much for her to overcome.
My favorite performance comes from Lukas Haas who plays the killer, a normal middle-America truck driver with a wife and young daughter. Haas is convincing both as a loving husband and father and as a creepy sociopath and killer. He provides a startling reminder that even the most normal exteriors can hide unspeakable evil. But Haas can only do so much, and soon even his storyline runs face-first into bad writing. It’s a recurring issue that handcuffs the movie from the very start. “Midnight in the Switchgrass” is now available on VOD”.
“Dear Jordan, just take one look at your mother. That will tell you what I think beautiful is.” That’s a line from the upcoming movie “A Journal for Jordan”. Based on a true story, the film is an adaptation of Dana Canedy’s memoir “A Journal for Jordan: A Story of Love and Honor”. The story has an interesting hook, but the biggest draw may be the names attached to the film. It’s directed by Denzel Washington and stars Michael B. Jordan. And they’re joined by an intriguing new face Chanté Adams.
The new trailer gives us a brief glimpse of what Washington is going for. The story (written by Virgil Williams) follows 1st Sgt. Charles Monroe King (Jordan) who pens a journal for his newborn son telling him how to live and love the right way. The movie looks sweet, heartwarming, and poignant with Jordan and Adams showing off some sparkling chemistry. I’m in.
“A Journal for Jordan” opens December 10th. Check out the trailer below and let me know if you’ll be seeing it or taking a pass.
It’s funny, we talk a lot about Nicolas Cage and the sheer volume of mostly straight-to-video movies he puts out. In fact, you could say Cage has earned a certain reputation for it. You may not realize it, but Bruce Willis isn’t far behind him. Here in the twilight of his movie career, the 66-year-old Willis has found a home popping out VOD action thrillers by the gross. He’s set to appear in SIX movies in 2021 alone. He already has four set for next year with several others in post-production.
His latest, the oddly titled “Out of Death”, fits the model of many of these Willis movies – meager budget, middling-to-bad material, and a quick paycheck for a couple days work. But the ever-likable Willis still brings a good presence to the screen and the sentimental side of me still enjoys seeing him, even when he’s sleepwalking through a role like he is in “Out of Death”. From his very first scene Willis looks tired and detached, a clear sign for how audiences can expect to feel.
Image Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment
The film begins with Shannon (Jaime King) arriving in the mountains to spread the ashes of her recently deceased father. While hiking to her dad’s favorite spot she inadvertently walks up on a drug transaction between an astonishingly dumb dope dealer named Jimmy (Oliver Trevena) and a crooked sheriff’s deputy named Billie (Lala Kent). The swap quickly sours ending with Billie gunning down Jimmy as he’s running away. Shannon witnesses it all and even takes a few shots with her camera before being noticed.
Shannon takes off running while the potty-mouthed Billie radios her equally corrupt boss, Sheriff Hank Rivers (Michael Sirow). In addition to running cocaine through the area, Rivers is also running for mayor of some town we never see. The last thing he needs is to get his hands dirty so close to election day. So he sends his chain-smoking older brother Tommy (Tyler Jon Olson) to help Billie clean up the mess.
Elsewhere in the woods, Jack Harris (Willis), a retired cop from Philly, just lost his wife of 32 years to cancer. He’s come to the mountains to stay a week at his niece’s lake house hoping that some quiet time alone will help him cope with his loss. While out for a stroll he stumbles upon a captured Shannon as she’s about to be executed by Billie and Tommy. Thankfully for our protagonists the two deputies are utterly incompetent leading to Jack rescuing Shannon and kicking off a slow and mostly uneventful game of cat-and-mouse.
Image Courtesy of Vertical Entertainment
First time director Mike Burns works from a script from first time screenwriter Bill Lawrence and both give an admirable effort. But the movie has too much working against it from the start. The budget constraints are pretty obvious although the movie works around it the best it can. Far more noticeable is the acting which, outside of King, is pretty bad. Even the usually reliable Willis struggles. Some of its due to the script which is plagued by some dopey dialogue that the performances can’t overcome. The story also puts its characters in some ludicrous positions and no level of acting talent can make these scenes anything but laughable.
Burns tries to add a few flourishes to his movie such as breaking the story up into chapters for no real reason whatsoever. And there’s a weird ‘25 minutes earlier’ clip near the end that is completely unnecessary. But those are small issues next to the film’s bigger problems. “Out of Death” is ultimately held down by its story that fizzles out before the halfway mark and several bland to bad performances that are too distracting to get past. And it doesn’t help that the film’s marquee name seems totally uninterested. Kinda like us for most of the 93-minute runtime. “Out of Death” is now streaming on VOD.
