Director-Writer Brian Metcalf brings with him a strong crime drama that he hands over to a wonderfully seasoned cast of character actors. While a movie like “Adverse” could have stumbled right out of the gate, it manages to only improve by the time the movie has closed and ends as a sharp crime thriller. It’s a bold mix of “Taxi Driver,” and “Drive,” with a nigh unrecognizable Thomas Ian Nicholas staring.
Category Archives: Movie Reviews
Shoplifters of the World (2021)
The day The Smiths separate, a group of teens find themselves lost, more than usual, in this mystery called life. In a misguided attempt at showing the world what he believes in and what has saved him, one of them takes a heavy metal station DJ hostage.
Zack Snyder’s Justice League (2021)
After relentless caterwauling from fans for four years, director Zack Snyder is allowed to return to the DCEU once again to offer his original vision (or a very close facsimile) of what he had planned for the “Justice League” and the DCEU. While I don’t miss Snyder and his involvement with the DC movies (the man loves his slow motion), his “Justice League” is, shocking enough, an infinitely superior adaptation than the 2017 Joss Whedon lemon. I wouldn’t call it a masterpiece, but if pushed in to a corner, I’d happily rewatch the “Snyder Cut” again, with warts and all.
Swan Song (2021) [SXSW 2021]
An aging hairdresser is called back into action for one last hurrah. As he crosses his small town on foot, the viewer (and himself) find out who he is and what he is meant to do.
Echoes of Violence (2021) [CineQuest 2021]
A real estate agent meets a woman in the worst circumstances she could possibly be in. With some coaxing, they both travel to Los Angeles so that she can take revenge on those who have put here where she was when he found her.
Dolphin Island (2021)
10 years after a girl lost her parents and became the charge of her paternal grandfather, her maternal grandparents show up and demand to get custody of her as she lives on an island with her grandfather and her dolphin, something they consider to be less-than and want to fix asap, no matter what it takes.
Vigilante (1982): Limited Edition [4K UHD/Blu-Ray]
Director William Lustig’s “Vigilante” is a lot like “Death Wish” on steroids. It’s a bonafide mix of a prison movie, it’s a drama about PTSD, a parable about political corruption, and a surefire revenge thriller to the very end. While the aforementioned ends on a twisted note, “Vigilante” is something of a contradiction. It seems to celebrate the idea of vigilante justice and revenge, but it ends on such a low, bleak note where our hero gets his vindication but literally has nothing left in his life.
Kid 90 (2021)
With the advent of technology and the destruction of the concept of celebrity, there are many movies like “Kid 90” coming to theaters and VOD. It’s an important trend of movies that discuss the pitfalls, perils, and hazards of being a child movie or TV star in any decade. Soleil Moon Frye allows a somewhat unfiltered look in to her not so happy childhood that involved a lot of pressure, a business that seemingly abandoned her, and being sexualized at the age of thirteen.