Bait and Switch: a tactic used in movies when the trailer advertises one thing and the movie turns out to be something else. The Little Stranger is being sold as a sophisticated horror story surrounding a mysterious house (think The Others). Acclaimed director Lenny Abrahamson is back behind the camera for the first time since the Oscar-winning Room. Yet […]
Former Google employee Aneesh Chaganty’s first film Searching has an uphill battle thanks to disposable horror film “Unfriended”. The latest disposable feature film trend moves from i-Phone shot movies, to having everything displayed on a computer screen, webcam, facetime or security footage. Essentially, it’s the evolution of the “found footage” concept but Chaganty’s intelligence within
When I first heard the title for the sixth film in the Tom Cruise action franchise, I thought how ingenious that would be for a documentary about Cruise and Nicole Kidman’s marriage, his obsession with cult Scientology or even the bizarre antics surrounding Katie Holmes. Alas, it’s another sequel comprised of over two hours where
“This is stupid”, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson says before jumping out the window of the world’s tallest building. He isn’t kidding, the highest paid actors’ latest action flick is brainless, predictable and worse than it looks. Universal has embraced the comparisons between “Skyscraper” and “Die Hard” or classic disaster film “Towering Inferno”. Writer/director Rawson Marshall
This movie opens with stunning oceans views and beautiful scenery, but viewers will quickly sense the foreboding dread they likely paid for. This isn’t a beauty and the beast story. New filmmaker Michael Pearce explores romance, horror, manipulation and mental illness in a film that feels like Twilight’s cousin. The moody scenery of France’s Chanel
If you ever wanted to know what David Fincher’s Panic Room might look like as a made for television movie, look no further. From the director of bargain bin movies like The Raven (remake) and Ninja Assassin, James McTeigue brings his talent for bad cinema to the desperate-vengeful-black mom genre, which has until know, only
Oscar winning director Steven Soderberg delivers his first horror movie and his first film shot entirely with an iPhone. This isn’t the first film released to be shot entirely on the popular mobile device. “Tangerine” by Sean Baker (“The Florida Project”) was an award-winning iPhone-shot film. It was a distracting experiment in technology for “Tangerine”,
If a story about hostages living a horrific seven days under the control of terrorists who demand freedom for their persecuted brothers sounds familiar, it might be because this is the fourth film to detail the extraordinary events of Entebbe. What’s even worse for the filmmakers of this one is the striking resemblance to 6
Cory Finley’s directorial debut is a sleeper, without the word hit being attached to it. A sleeper in the sense, I couldn’t sustain my interested and barely kept my eyes open. That’s surprising for a film that deals with two disturbed teenage girls plotting to kill a stepdad. Finley’s original screenplay looks at the story
From the writers and directors of slapstick comedy “Vacation”, comes another ridiculous film in the vein of Steve Carell/Tina Fey’s “Date Night”. Misunderstanding is the backbone of modern day comedies. Jason Bateman himself, the king of that very concept. “Game Night” embraces its own ridiculousness by discussing Liam Neeson action films, calling out superhero movies,