DEATH MAKES A KILLER COMEBACK. Tree (Jessica Rothe) realizes that Carter’s (Israel Broussard) roommate (Phi Vu) is suddenly stuck in the same time loop that she was… but with crucial differences. The first movie was fun and clever. The sequel brings us more of the same, but it’s also severely overbaked and wants to be … Continue reading Happy Death Day 2U
An expert on wolf behavior, Russell Core (Jeffrey Wright), is hired by a woman (Riley Keough) in a small Alaska village to hunt the wolf who likely killed her young son. On paper this may look like another The Grey (2012), but even though wolves may play a huge part (not least philosophically), this is … Continue reading Hold the Dark
MEET YOUR MAKERS. In 19th-century London, medical student Victor Frankenstein (James McAvoy) helps a hunchback (Daniel Radcliffe), who has great knowledge of human anatomy, escape from a circus. We’ve seen the Mary Shelley story on the silver screen many times before, but this one chooses a different perspective – Igor’s. Much more is made of … Continue reading Victor Frankenstein
MEET NELS COXMAN, CITIZEN OF THE YEAR. When a snowplow driver (Liam Neeson) working somewhere in the Rocky Mountains finds out that his son is dead, he goes after those who killed him… On paper this may look like another one of Neeson’s ”old-man-with-special-skills” revenge movies, but the remake of the Norwegian thriller-comedy In Order … Continue reading Cold Pursuit
When his son is found dead due to an apparent heroin overdose, snow-plow driver Nils Dickman (Stellan Skarsgård) realizes that he’s actually been killed and exacts revenge. Another darkly comical collaboration between the director and Skarsgård, this one taking excellent advantage of snowy locations in northern Norway. Pretty much a spoof of western movies, featuring … Continue reading In Order of Disappearance
TRAINED TO PROTECT. BORN TO SURVIVE. Sam Carlson (Noomi Rapace) is hired as bodyguard to the young heiress (Sophie Nélisse) to a dead business tycoon… and they immediately find themselves in danger. We haven’t seen many movies about female bodyguards. We have definitely seen everything else here. There’s a terrific, explosive introduction of Rapace and … Continue reading Close
THERE IS NO EQUAL. When Robert McCall’s (Denzel Washington) closest friend and former colleague (Melissa Leo) is targeted in Brussels, he contacts DIA operative Dave York (Pedro Pascal) to help with the investigation… Washington and Antoine Fuqua deliver exactly what fans of the first movie should expect. A fairly ludicrous story that gets a shot … Continue reading The Equalizer 2
YOU’RE INVITED TO PLAY FOR YOUR LIFE. Six people who don’t know each other participate in a game where they can win $10,000 if they break out of an escape room. The escape room trend gets its own movie adaptation and obviously this game turns out to be an actual life-or-death challenge, elaborately orchestrated by … Continue reading Escape Room
When director Gustav Möller met the press at the Sundance film festival in January 2018, he recalled where the inspiration for his sensational feature debut came from. He was listening to an actual 911 call on YouTube and was intrigued by how one’s attention could be captured by the drama of that one, simple phone … Continue reading The Guilty: Finding Iben
NEVER LOSE SIGHT OF SURVIVAL. When a strange epidemic hits and thousands of people commit suicide, society is thrown into chaos; a pregnant Malorie Hayes (Sandra Bullock) holes up with strangers in a house. In A Quiet Place (2018), you died if you made a noise; here you die if you look at the invisible … Continue reading Bird Box
THE SKIES WILL NEVER BE THE SAME! L.A. cop and helicopter pilot Frank Murphy (Roy Scheider) is ordered to attend a demonstration of a new advanced helicopter called ”Blue Thunder”; he’s impressed, but also wary of what it can do… A thriller with a serious theme under the hood – where are the limits to … Continue reading Blue Thunder
When Mandy (Andrea Riseborough) is murdered by a hippie cult on drugs, her boyfriend (Nicolas Cage) exacts revenge. A cult item inspired by countless revenge movies, looking like Straw Dogs or Mad Max on acid, with animated segments, blood, crazed bikers and colorful hallucinations. This might also feature the most Nicolas Cage performance of them … Continue reading Mandy
A TRUE STORY. THE REAL HEROES. After making Sully (2016), Clint Eastwood turned to another dramatic story based on real events – the 2015 terror attack on a French train where three Americans helped subdue the perpetrator with no lives lost. Unfortunately, the decision to cast the actual heroes from the attack in the leads … Continue reading The 15:17 to Paris
