You can describe “Communion” as a revenge movie. If you technically want to refer to it as such, it counts in some way. Our protagonist Joe is spending most of his time questioning his faith and belittling his own life, when he’s not mourning the death of his son with his wife, who seemingly spends her time in her son’s room weeping over his toys and cuddling with them.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Dragonworld (1994)
While Charles Band and Moonbeam films tend to be silly on occasion, they’re hardly ever bad. “Leapin Leprechauns” was goofy but fun and while “Dragon World” can be occasionally silly, it’s kind of a fun film in its own right. It’s a version of “King Kong” that doesn’t really opt for violence, so much as it tries to tell a story about friendship. Director Ted Nicolao obviously has little budget for the film, so when we see the film’s creature Yowler the Dragon, most times it’s only just his head and most of his neck. On long shots it’s claymation super imposed over live action footage.
Under the Bed (2013) (DVD)
Director Steven C. Miller offers horror fans something of an extension of “Little Monster” where he sets the entire film around two brothers battling the monster under their bed. When older brother Paulie’s brother is kidnapped by the monster, he takes on the beast and torn limbs begin to fall every which way. “Under the Bed” thankfully garners something of an interesting exploration of the monster under the bed, and how it’s not only alive thanks to the children, but because of the inherent anger from familial tensions.
Papercuts (2013)
When I finished “Paper Cuts” I was admittedly baffled. I stared at the screen and wondered what the hell I’d just seen and then wanted more. “Paper Cuts” is that very silly but fun horror short film that has great potential to be feature length, with enough resources, and I’d really like to see this be brought to Troma fame for its ability to just cleverly make a great horror villain out of office equipment.
Bullified (2013)
The short drama thriller “Bullified” as directed by Steve Sage Goldberg gets in to the inescapable pit of the question “Why?” I kept asking why through most of “Bullified” and when I was finished I wasn’t quite satisified. Surely “Bullified” has potential. With some nipping and tucking and tightening of logic, “Bullified” could be a very good thriller with a moral, but as it is, it’s neither here nor there in its intent.
Hick (2011)
If anything, “Hick” certainly is a movie. And it’s an adaptation of a book, so it’s a special kind of a movie. It has a beginning, a pretty good soundtrack, and some end credits. And our director pretty much loves to feature prepubescent actress Chloe Moretz barely naked for much of the film. But that’s okay, because her character Lulli is so lovable spending so much time drawing pictures, talking to herself, and acting out her favorite movies that we can forgive the fact that she walks around her house in frilly panties and a tank top, even when men she’s never met visit for the first time. Is she just naive or is she trying to seduce men? I never quite figured it out and neither did the writer, apparently.
Lulli is supposed to be this lovable little nymph who spends most of her days in her fantasy world, narrating her life story to herself (?) and then trying to figure out why her life sucks so much. She has her thirteenth birthday party in a bar where her parents get drunk and try to fight over her. She’s given a gun by her uncle and spends most of her time playing with it and imitating “Taxi Driver” in front of a mirror. Her parents let her keep the gun. Because they’re hicks. Get it? As for Lulli she goes on a coming of age journey that will change her life. Or alter it. In fact, let’s just be honest here. She learns nothing by the time the film ends. The basic bullet point of the movie is that Lulli ventures out to go to Las Vegas, meets an assortment of demented and violent characters along the way, figures out the world is one big scary place, and decides that maybe living life with two drunk dysfunctional parents using her in their ever lasting bitter battle isn’t so bad.
Hell in reality, Lulli would opt to swallow her gun. Or at least enter in to child services. But no, she goes home because, there’s no place like a broken home. The screenwriters can never seem to make up their minds about our protagonist Lulli. Sometimes she seems street smart, and then she seems too stupid to travel outside her door, let alone Las Vegas. Is she a Lolita or is she just naive? Does she know how good looking she is, or is she oblivious because her mom soaks up the attention from men? Is she more street smart than the audience is aware of or is she just a misguided dunce living by what she’s seen in the movies? Is she a tease or just someone who hasn’t yet realized the effect she has on men? Who does she spend her time talking to during the opening of the movie? “Hick” never seems to know thus the movie is painfully confused nine times out of ten. For all intents and purposes, the cast is pretty damn great with Moretz more than able to hold up the movie on her charisma and acting ability.
The most interesting sub-plot though belongs to Eddie Redmayne’s character Eddie Kreezer, a disabled cowboy with a penchant for violent outbursts who is constantly kicked around in his life and chooses to look after Lulli when the pair form an uneasy bond. Much of “Hick” is confusing and downright distracting as the writer can never decide on a tone to keep audiences invested. The story varies from drama to comedy to road film, and spends an enormous amount of time on broken characters to help emphasize how broken the whole world is. By the time Lulli awakens strapped to a bed, you’ll wonder if it’s leading to anything remotely meaningful. “Hick” has clear potential to be a compelling adult coming of age drama, but in the end it’s just a notch above dismal. Even with the star power.
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Vindicate (2012)
Director Patrick Rea’s latest short film for “Withered World” is a unique and interesting take on the revenge film and the consequences of the act that affect literally everyone. While most films would glorify the act of vengeance, “Vindicate” takes a step back and ponders on the ripple effect is for avenging one’s family.