Baltasar Kormakur’s man-against-nature thriller, Everest, tells the harrowing true story of the greatest disaster to have ever hit the region at that time.
When one thinks of disaster films you can either have the “popcorn” spectacle, such as San Andreas or Armageddon; the all-star melodrama, such as The Towering Inferno or Airport; or the more compelling variety, which would be the docudrama, based on actual events. Everest is certainly the latter.
Given the current circumstances of the turmoil in Syria, Bell’s tender portraiture is as timely as they come. Although, he refrains from overloading the film with political viewpoints choosing instead to, merely, present a man looking for work. The cinematic equivalent of walking a mile in another man’s shoes, The Winds That Scatter is, unfortunately in this day and age, a necessity.
Given its salacious true life subject matter and a talented cast doing fine work, Black Mass doesn’t feel nearly as weighty as it should. The matter-of-fact approach of director Scott Cooper doesn’t exploit or glorify the terrifying acts of notorious criminal James “Whitey” Bulger, but the flat telling of his story zaps much of the impact. As presented, the gangster tale feels like Scorsese-lite.
With a movie like Monkey Kingdom, you hope for just as much juicy extras on its take-home edition as Disneynature films typically offer in the theater. Monkey Kingdom’s compelling tale about the lives of a family of toque macaque monkeys leaves you wanting more, and the Blu-ray, DVD and Digital HD release, now available, satisfies.
There were two things that gave me pause prior to seeing director M. Night Shyamalan’s latest film, The Visit. First, it’s apparent from the trailer that it is a found-footage horror film, a style that wore out its welcome well over a year ago, and, second, Shyamalan’s filmography has been fairly dismal for the last decade or so. Fans of the director will be pleased to know that this is indeed his best work since Signs, but really that’s not saying much.
Exquisitely paced, wonderfully framed and intensely unnerving, Goodnight Mommy is a highly effective genre-bending paranoid thriller that will satisfy even those who guess the twist early on.
Written and directed by Severin Fiala and Veronika Franz, the film tells the story of two nine-year-old twin boys greeting their mother, who just came home from the hospital after a bad car accident. Her face is bandaged and, at first, everything seems normal, however after a short amount of time, she begins acting peculiarly.
In this day and age, with every bit of our personal lives tied to our social media accounts and the widespread fear of our own government spying on us, there are very few places we can truly feel completely free. What if one of the most sacred places – a place where no one else could enter…our mind – was being threatened? This is the question director Khalil Sullins’ indie sci-fi film Listening proposes.
Coming out today on VOD is the Icelandic crime thriller Brave Men’s Blood, directed by Olaf de Fleur Johannesson. This lean cop drama, a sequel to 2011’s City State, has all the makings of a compelling story of corruption, tragedy and, ultimately, justice but just barely sticks the landing. Still, those looking for a solid crime thriller should give this a look.
Dragon Blade’s opening narration sets the stage for what’s to come. In 50 B.C., the Silk Road was a trade route that touched nearly 40 nations and was often deemed a place where trading could be done peacefully, however we are told that the remains of a Roman legion were discovered there and that this story is based on true events.
The setup for Juanra Fernández’s feature debut, Para Elisa, is interesting enough – a college student needs some extra money for a trip, so she decides to take a babysitting job at a creepy house, only to find it’s much more than she bargained for. Unfortunately, where the film begins with slight intrigue, it slowly derails until its bitter non-ending occurs, leaving most viewers questioning if the DVD they’re watching is somehow unfinished.
What happens when two co-workers get stuck in Albuquerque after a flight to Dallas gets cancelled? Not a whole hell of a lot if director Neil LaBute’s Dirty Weekend is any indication.
The film stars Matthew Broderick and Alice Eve as Les and Natalie, two people who know each other in a professional capacity but know little of each other on a personal level. This layover in New Mexico gives them the chance to divulge some secrets about themselves, causing each to confront some nagging sexual issues.
Comedies poking fun at the drudgery that is an office job are always ones that have tickled my fancy since I first saw Office Space back in 1999. Since then, we’ve seen shows like The Office and Workaholics pop up, each brandishing their own spin on the monotony that is cubicle life. Brian James O'Connell’s Bloodsucking Bastards takes this formula and adds in vampires to mix things up a bit, resulting in a slightly enjoyable, but fleeting, endeavor.
Three years in the making, Matthew Wade’s How the Sky Will Melt has the distinction of being an extremely rare piece of cinema for its time. A feature-length filmed on Super 8mm released into a cinematic landscape overcrowded with digital films upon digital films. Wade’s debut definitely possesses a hook intriguing enough (Super 8!) to a garner a certain amount of curiosity. Although, the question of, does the film and its narrative contain enough substance to warrant a feature-length? or, are we merely working with nothing more than an overdrawn novelty?
There’s a scene in Turbo Kid where a man gets kicked in the balls followed by having his jaw ripped off and shoved back into his own face. That should give you a decent idea of what you’re in for in this over the top throwback ‘80s gorefest that can only be described as radical - or maybe radical to the max.
Much like the Electronic Dance Music at the core of its story, We Are Your Friends samples beats from several other sources. While the film doesn’t reinvent the dramatic story of an aspiring artist who dreams of making it big, it arranges the raw materials in an exuberant, stylish way – kind of like a good EDM song – even if some plot mechanics drain a bit of the verve from the melody.
In mashing together Pineapple Express and The Bourne Identity (among several other better movies), American Ultra never settles on which film to borrow from most heavily. The premise is filled with potential and the very nature of the film gives it an offbeat wit in the first act, but the stoner comedy and uber-stylized violence don’t come together to sustain the drollness. What could be chaotic fun is instead a disjointed mix of farce and bloody combat that’s occasionally interesting as an oddity, but is tonally strange and often obnoxious.
6.5
