Thriller

London Fields

/ / Home Video
  • Title: London Fields
  • IMDb: link

London Fields DVD review

London Fields is a flawed but ambitious film that struggles mightily with adapting the 1989 novel of the same name for the big screen. The film’s biggest strength is Amber Heard, cast in the role femme fatale Nicola Six who toys with men’s affections for her own selfish gratification and amusement. Despite the film’s many failings, Heard’s performance isn’t one of them nor is the cinematography of Guillermo Navarro (Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy II: The Golden Army, and Pacific Rim) who so lovingly frames the beautiful star on-screen. Semi-clairvoyant, Nicola knows the time and place of her death (but not the identity of her killer).

Our other main character is American novelist Samson Young (Billy Bob Thornton) in London attempting to find inspiration for one more novel. Immediately buying into her tale, Samson convinces Nicola to let the author tell her story. Like with Heard, Thornton is put to relatively good use (although the scripting of the noir voiceover fails him at times – but also provides one of the film’s more clever moments as the film pauses to allow Samson to rewrite a scene).

…

London FieldsRead More »

London Fields Read More »

Bikini Chain Gang

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Bikini Chain Gang
  • IMDb: link

Bikini Chain Gang DVD review2004’s Bikini Chain Gang was a made-for-TV erotic thriller. It’s the kind of low-rent, poorly written and poorly acted, and highly sexualized movie you might find late night on Showtime or Cinemax. It appears this was made $12.50 on a lazy summer day by those with only a loose understanding of what a movie is.

We begin with a waitress (Beverly Lynne) unwilling to put out for her sleazy boss being framed as an accomplice to a robbery and sent to a Maximum Security Prison where she finds herself at the mercy of a sadistic prison guard (Nicole Sheridan).

…

Bikini Chain GangRead More »

Bikini Chain Gang Read More »

Red Sparrow

/ / Movie Reviews
  • Title: Red Sparrow
  • IMDb: link

Red Sparrow movie review

Adapted from Jason Matthews‘ 2013 novel of the same name (which apparently “borrowed” heavily from Black Widow‘s comic history), and starring Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence, Red Sparrow is a disappointment in every since of the word. This movie is B-A-D. A slow burn spy thriller, with jolts of quick-cut stylized action, plot holes big enough to drive the Death Star through, and sex scenes so laughable only Showgirls fans can truly appreciate them, the film is a complete waste of time for everyone involved. For the audience, it’s an excruciating, although sometimes laughably bad, experience.

We open with a career-ending injury for Russian prima ballerina Dominika Egorova (Lawrence) leading her uncle (Matthias Schoenaerts) to ship her off to become a spy trained trained not in espionage, weapons, or spycraft, but only seduction. After a relatively short stay, Dominika is thrown into the field to seduce an American agent (Joel Edgerton) in hopes that he might give up the name of a mole within the Russian government. Of course our girl, with no real training, will out-fox both American and Russian spies to further her own agenda.

…

Red SparrowRead More »

Red Sparrow Read More »

Split

/ / Home Video
  • Title: Split
  • IMDb: link

Split Blu-ray reviewWhen all is said and done I’m less interested in Split than the movie it may eventually lead to (a true sequel to the writer/director’s best film). That said, M. Night Shyamalan‘s film is easily the best thing he’s created in more than a decade (although given the level of crap he’s put out over that time period that’s hardly a high bar to clear).

Set in an universe Shyamalan once said he had no interest in returning to, James McAvoy stars as a schizophrenic with at least 24 distinct personalities who kidnaps three teenage girls (Anya Taylor-Joy, Haley Lu Richardson, and Jessica Sula) to feed the darkest of his personalities referred to only as “The Beast.” For at least three-fourths of its running time the movie lacks the tension it should, partially because we’re unsure how seriously to take McAvoy’s character, partially because Shyamalan wants to hide aspects of the man for as long as possible, and partially because the script jumps around a bit too much rather than staying focused on the girls’ dilemma.

…

SplitRead More »

Split Read More »

The Accountant

/ / Home Video
  • Title: The Accountant
  • IMDb: link

The Accountant Blu-ray review

The Accountant is your basic action-thriller with the twist being our main character is an autistic accountant who turns out o be a genius both with math and guns. Christian Wolff (Ben Affleck) is targeted not by any one of his any number of dangerous clients but by a robotics company for confirming embezzling found by one of the firm’s junior accountants (Anna Kendrick). The story also features a subplot involving a retiring agent (J.K. Simmons) of the Treasury Department and his protege of sorts (Cynthia Addai-Robinson) who are hunting the forensic accountant whose client list includes some of the world most dangerous criminal organizations.

The script by Bill Dubuque gets a little too cute for its own good tying in Christian’s past, but the movie works better than I expected. Affleck is put to good use here as the autistic character I wouldn’t mind seeing more of, and the pairing with Kendrick is refreshingly not by-the-book.

…

The AccountantRead More »

The Accountant Read More »