Everly (2015)

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Director Joe Lynch is a true indie auteur. He’s a man who knows how to get around obstacles, and uses his limited budget to bring audiences the entertainment that he wants, and never has it been so well realized than in “Everly.” One of the best action movies all year, “Everly” is a film set in one location with limited scenery, and yet it thrives as a grindhouse, slapstick, chopsocky bonanza that I adored. It’s filled with every single trope that Lynch is seemingly fond of, featuring kung fu, British gangsters, killer dogs, vicious sadists, and the like, all of whom paint the walls red with their own blood at one point or another.

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Sin City: A Dame to Kill For (2014)

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It must either be really wise decision making, or a really weird coincidence that Eva Green stars in two Frank Miller based projects in 2014, both of which are pretty much just god awful cash grabs of their former films, and she ends up being about the best aspect of both films. Green really stole “Rise of an Empire” from everyone, and here she seems to embrace the absurdity in the incredibly rancid “A Dame to Kill For.” I’m not going to say I’m disappointed that “A Dame to Kill For” is awful, mainly because I didn’t ask for a sequel and I didn’t want one. I likened “Sin City” to Robert Rodriguez’s own wonky version of “Pulp Fiction.”

Do we need a sequel to “Pulp Fiction”? Hell no.

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Heatstroke (2013)

It’s unusual that Stephen Dorff gets top billing in “Heatstroke” when his character is really only there to supply exposition and die. He’s really only a minor plot device meant to emphasize the attitude and anger of Maisie Williams’ character Josie and how she hates her divorced dad’s new girlfriend. Dorff gives a solid performance all things considered, but “Heatstroke” mainly belongs to stars Maisie Williams and Svetlana Metkina. I’d only suggest watching “Heatstroke” if you’re a big “Game of Thrones” fan and want to see Williams out of her medieval element and in to something more contemporary. I say that since “Heatstroke” is only a mediocre thriller with barely anything above middling basic stalk and chase fodder to really keep audiences invested.

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Jersey Boys (2014) [Blu-ray/DVD/Digital]

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Director Clint Eastwood has to work with one of the most popular stage musicals in a long time and really has no vision for bringing it to the big screen. I love Frank Valli and his music, and on film his work is still stunning. But “Jersey Boys” is only a mediocre adaptation of the stage musical. Eastwood doesn’t seem to want to give the movie a wider scale at any point, and then in the closing credits just tacks on a final number that recreates the musical. For all intents and purposes, “Jersey Boys” gives Frankie Valli a much deserved nod to his fans and legendary music, but director Clint Eastwood simply has no idea how to work it in to a dynamic biographical drama with its own unique flavor.

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WolfCop (2014)

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Director Lowell Dean’s indie horror actioner “Wolfcop” is probably one of my favorite superhero movies of the year. While it’s a loving tribute to horror schlock, it’s also an unabashed superhero movie filled with mythos, a bonafide origin, and even a customized vehicle that our titular wolf cop travels around to maul bad guys in. You’d think wolf puns and a Dirty Harry-esque vigilante with claws would be a complete and utter misfire, but director Dean embraces his premise and offers up a great horror action comedy.

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Strippers vs. Werewolves (2011)

I appreciated “Strippers vs. Werewolves” for being just a good enough movie with a lot of fun moments. Surely, it’s not a flawless film, as it aims mainly for cult appeal with goofy comedy, and a meta-format that breaks the fourth wall on occasion. You have to appreciate how writer Phillip Barron tries to inject an interesting story in a movie where you expect nothing but strippers fighting werewolves. To be honest, the fact that there’s an actual story with twists makes up for the fact that a movie with strippers doesn’t actually feature any bare skin at any point.

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Hold That Ghost (1941)

holdthatghost“Hold That Ghost” is one of the best horror comedy romps featuring Abbott and Costello and a very close second to their more well known outing involving famous Universal monsters. And while it’s not the masterpiece that their outing with Frankenstein and Dracula is, it’s a damn respectable horror comedy with a great tribute to “The Cat and the Canary.” If that’s not enough, Lou Costello is given a great female foil in the form of Joan Davis, who is a blast playing off of Costello’s ace physical comedy with her own double takes and unabashed slapstick.

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