The pre-release reactions haven’t been kind to “Mercy”, the latest film from screenlife innovator Timur Bekmambetov. The critical shalacking it’s getting is especially surprising considering the star power of the movie’s two leads, Chris Pratt and Rebecca Ferguson. Both are talented and charismatic performers who almost always make whatever movie they are in better. The … Continue reading
My earliest encounters with He-Man and the Masters of the Universe came in my brother’s bedroom where he and I fought countless action figure battles against Skeletor and his evil forces. That was followed by a popular animated series and eventually a corny 1987 live-action feature film starring Dolph Lundgren. Who knew that decades later, … Continue reading
The last stop on the lengthy awards season grind is the Academy Awards. It’s an event that I once adored. Yet in recent years I’ve slowly but steadily been losing interest. Awards season has gotten so homogenized with the same tiny group of nominees appearing everywhere. That’s made it extremely predictable, and never has that … Continue reading
Dennis Gansel combines shrewd direction with impressive technical savvy in “The Tank”, a gripping German war thriller that carves out its own World War II story while calling back to such classics as “Sahara”, “Das Boot”, and even “Apocalypse Now”. It’s a movie that repeatedly steers you towards believing it’s one thing, only to surprise … Continue reading
Netflix had a tremendous year last, specifically when it comes to original movies. They delivered the best movie of 2025 with “Train Dreams”. But right behind it were several other outstanding features including three that also made my Top 10, “Nouvelle Vague”, “Frankenstein”, and “Jay Kelly”. Not to mention Kathryn Bigelow’s “A House of Dynamite” … Continue reading
In “Killer Whale”, director Jo-Anne Brechin attempts to add a slightly new spin to the sharksploitation genre by making an orca the chief antagonist. Unfortunately that’s not enough to save the movie from the sea of well-worn tropes and its obvious budget constraints. The latter issue grows especially burdensome, specifically in the second half where … Continue reading
