Premiering at the LA International Short Film Festival, Tim Aslin and Shane Cibella’s short “5.7 Seconds” is a great idea, teeming with the feeling from a movie like “28 Weeks Later.” In an undisclosed location, in an unexplained calamity, a young woman rushes in to an abandoned car and locks herself inside from stalking individuals out in the middle of the day. Distraught and panicked, she locks the doors and is shocked to discover someone else has been hiding in the car, too.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Satu – The Year of the Rabbit (2024)
So much credit goes to Joshua Trigg, an ace filmmaker who has delivered one of the most affecting and engaging dramas of the year. “Satu – Year of the Rabbit” is a powerhouse drama packed to the brim with beauty, sadness, and grief, and pairs two people together, both of whom are in search of something. In the tradition of films like “Harry and Tonto,” Joshua Trigg’s film is about two wandering spirits that find a purpose in the middle of the amazing countryside of Laos. This is where “Satu” also acts as something of a travelogue akin to 1991’s “The Inland Sea,” acting as a means of conveying the richness, and vast scope of their home.
The Inheritance (2024)
A man believing he may be killed that day gathers his children to protect him or lose their inheritance.
Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024) [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
Now Available on Streaming and on Physical Media.
Gil Kenan’s “Frozen Empire” is a movie that, when all was said and done was fine. It was perfectly fine. The problem was that it was yet another of the just fine, perfectly okay movies for 2024, and that doesn’t sit well with me. There are so many places that they can go with “Ghostbusters” and they are still basically stuck in the shadows of the original film. Not only do they refuse to expand on the sceop of the firehouse but they still aim for big city bound showdowns that really don’t hit the mark too well.
I didn’t hate “Frozen Empire” like apparently many others did. I liked it. I just wish there was more thinking outside of the box.
MaXXXine (2024)
Now Exclusively in Theaters.
Director Ti West subverts so much of what his audience was waiting for with “MaXXXine” that he almost completely alienates the very people that were raring to go for the third installment in his “X” movie series. When we finally did get it, “MaXXXine” ends up being exactly what it wants to be. It’s not some gory horror movie like “Maniac” but a consciously dark and often over the top look at the terrifying battle that is fame. When we first saw Maxine Minx (the brilliant Mia Goth returns), she was a low budget porn star convinced she was going to be a star.
Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F (2024)
Now Streaming Exclusively on Netflix.
A lot of what counts for the success of “Axel F” is that it Keeps it all Simple. Axel Foley is no different the man he was when we first met him in 1984. That works for and against the character as while he’s still the huckster and con man that we love, it’s managed to make him someone who’s alienated a lot of the people in his life. But what makes Mark Molloy’s take on the character so very good is that it doesn’t aim for huge heights. It’s just another adventure with Axel Foley in Beverly Hills. Except this time he’s so much older and a wee bit slower.
Beverly Hills Cop III (1994)
Now Available to Stream and on Physical Home Media.
Remember in “Live Free or Die Hard” when it became apparent that the every man we knew we John McClane was gone? In the first movie he was frumpy and nearly bleeding to death being forced to walk on broken glass. In “Live Free” he’s leaping out of exploding cars, and taking huge dives. This is Axel Foley’s ultimate undoing from the every man cop to the action figure superhero. In the first movie he’s using his wits and clever use of improv to sneak in to corners of the underworld.