M. Night Shyamalan sets the stage for a thriller that surprisingly is about as straight forward as you can imagine. He hooks audiences in mainly for the concept of “Trap” where a serial killer has been snagged in his most vulnerable spot and has to look for a way out. Any other time, a movie like “Trap” could not have worked too well, but Shyamalan pulls it off well thanks to the leading performance from Josh Hartnett. Star Hartnett as Cooper Adams is the primary reason to see “Trap” as he not only creates this conniving, clever, and vindictive villain, but he seems to have a lot of fun portraying him.
Tag Archives: Mystery
In Our Blood (2024) [Fantasia Film Festival 2024]
A documentary filmmaker and her cinematographer go visit her mother who she hasn’t seen in a very long time. Following an uneventful dinner, the mother disappears, leading the duo to look for her and find things they were not prepared for.
Demons (1985)/Demons 2 (1986): Remastered [4K UHD Blu-ray]
Available August 13th from Synapse Films.
For folks that missed the deluxe editions of “Demons” and “Demons 2” back in 2021, Synapse Films re-releases the set but on standard Blu-Ray and 4K UHD. The pair of horror classics are back on the format and still in considerable high demand. That’s not too much of a bad thing as they play very well as party movies. The 1985 Lamberto Bava horror gem finds a group of movie goers trapped in a movie theater besieged by an endless army of demons. When they realize that the theater is literally a virtual death trap, they have to find their way out alive or risk becoming one of the hordes.
The Fall Guy (2024): Extended Edition [4K UHD/Blu-Ray/Digital]
Now Available from Universal Pictures.
If you told me that they were going to turn a somewhat memorable 1981 action series starring Lee Majors in to a big budget action comedy, I would have been very skeptical. Lo and behold there should have been a market for it, because “The Fall Guy” is all kinds of good Hollywood shenanigans. It’s loud, funny, and action packed, and stacks a respectable cast of big stars. This includes Ryan Gosling and Emily Blunt, both of whom are still riding the success of their huge movies from 2023. Sadly, that didn’t carry in to big numbers; that’s a shame since “The Fall Guy” has some big franchise potential.
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.
Jaws (1975)
I can’t imagine saying anything about “Jaws” that hasn’t already been said by hundreds of movie buffs all around the world. It’s all at once a movie about fear of the unknown, the trauma of being controlled by our fear, and man vs nature. “Jaws” is absolutely flawless gem that worked on little resources and so many accidents that director Steven Spielberg had to literally take bruised, busted, lemons to make lemonade. “Jaws” had every potential to fail and be an infamous box office flop, but its measured tension, deliberate pacing, and ability to establish our heroes before their fateful battle on the ocean with the shark.
Beverly Hills Cop (1984)
Now Available to Stream and on Physical Home Media.
Director Martin Brest’s film came at just the right time at just the right period of the 1980’s. This was a time where Eddie Murphy was writing his own ticket in Hollywood and could do whatever he wanted, and with “Beverly Hills Cop,” he managed to carve out a pretty underrated action hero. In spite of the film’s massive success and cultural influence Axel Foley is often ignored in the annals of movie heroes alongside John McLane or Dutch. It’s probably because Eddie Murphy plays Axel more in the arena of comedy than he does as a straight forward police officer.