God's Not Dead: We the People (2021)

'God's Not Dead: We the People' is the 4th film in this series dedicated to Christian persecution-splotaion. Reverend David A.R. White heads to Washington with a group of home school parents to defend their rights against elitist, anti-God, strawman who somehow manage to get elected in the most religious democracy in the first world. This movie ends with an angry speech it feels like White has been waiting to give for some time.

 The film marks the return of Muslim convert Hadeel Sittu from the first film, and offers something of a redemption arc for her abusive father, one which falls short of his conversion to Christianity, so impressive for this franchise. Fox News personality Judge Jeanine Pirro has a part as a secularist judge, and from this performance I suspect she makes a better actress then almost anyone else on her network, though I'd love to see Hannity try some acting, it would probably be very (unintentionally) funny. They actually went to Washington to do some filming for this movie, yet none of the interiors are credible as the halls of congress. This film is so all over the place and half-assed with its subplots that I liked it more then it's predisascors, but that still translates to *1/2.

Late Night with the Devil (2024)

 'Late Night with the Devil' is a variation on the "found footage" school of horror movies, one that might be dubbed "archival horror" or "docu-horror". The film begins with brief documentary style context setting, then purports to show the master tape, along with behind the scenes footage, of an infamous live television event, the October 31st, 1977 episode of 'Night Owls with Jack Delroy'.

Delory is played by David Dastmalchin, a name you probably don't recognize but a face you probably do, he was part of Micheal Pena's crew in the 'Antman' movies, his is also probably the only face you'd recognize in this film. Delory is a late night talk show host seemingly modeled after Dick Cavett, as evidenced by the side burns, the set and the stage actress wife. Perpetually in second place to Johnny Carson, and with his contract soon to be up for uncertain renewal, Delory and his producer are planning a big, live Halloween show for the first night of sweeps.

In addition to a genericy musical guest, they have scheduled a gaudy psychic, a magican turned professional skeptic (ala James Randi), and a doctor and patient duo, a parapsycholist with a book to sell and her ward, a 13 year old girl with a history of demonic possession. From an awkward opening the show consistently goes wrong, the sense of foreboding and chaos build to what, had it really happened, would surely have been the most infamous night in television history.

The film really looks its part, it feels like a 1970's TV talk show, period appropriate down to the 4:3 framing. Dastmalchin is perfectly cast, he's really selling it, while the supporting cast, all playing types, do admirable work. The background provided in the films docu style preamble provides use some subtexts to watch out for, including Delroy's involvement in a Bohemian Grove style group of power elites as well as the passing from cancer of his beloved wife the previous year. One can quibble with the ending, though I will tell you the film left me feeling a little unsettled, which in a movie like this is success. ***

The Place Promised in Our Early Days (2004)

 'The Place Promised in Our Early Days' is an anime concerning a love triangle, two boys and a girl who meet in middle school. The story is set in an alternate timeline in which the Soviet Union invaded Hokkaido, the northern most of Japan's four major islands, at the end of World War II and set up a puppet state there. While the film dosen't say when exactly it is set, it appears to be roughly contemporary to when the film was made. Our protagonists live in the non communist part of Japan, which seems healthy economicly, but war scares with the north are fairly common. In addition the "Union" state on Hokkaido has constructed a massive tower which looks like it reaches into the stratosphere and in which they are conducting experiments into parallel universes. Side effects from the work going on in the tower, as well as joint US/Japanese efforts to learn more about what is going on there play into the plot. These are some interesting ideas but the execution is far too slow and understated, I got bored. This was dull and should not have been. **

Notting Hill (1999)

 'Notting Hill' is a romantic comedy in which the awkward owner of a travel bookshop in the Notting Hill section of London (Hugh Grant) has a chance encounter with an American super star actress (Julia Roberts) and they fall in love. Written by the master of the Brit rom-com Richard Curtis, this is a charming film, the leads have surprisingly good chemistry, but its Grant's group of friends (including Hugh Bonneville and Gina McKee) which really made the movie for me, I want those friends. ***

Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire (2024)

 'Ghostbusters: Frozen Empire' is the 5th theatrical Ghostbusters movie and the 4th in its continuity. That's not an enviable place to be, especially given how beloved the first film is. Even taking into account the unenviable task, creatively and expectations wise of making yet another Ghostbusters film, the final product, and I emphasize the word "product" because that's what this is more then it's a movie, well its both too much and not enough. 

Take a look at that poster, there are 11 lead characters there, original cast, carry overs from the 2021 film and new additions. This is an overcrowded film, even when they don't give many of these characters much of anything to do. The plot feels like a bad guy of the week story from the old Ghostbusters cartoon series, with too much of the plot conventions of the original film grafted on. This whole franchise has had a real problem in coming up with new ideas since the original film 40 years ago, it all feels rather tired. 

New addition Kumail Ali Naniiani and to a lesser extent Patton Oswalt are the only ones displaying old school Ghostbusters energy here. The plot, which concerns a malevolent ancient god with freezing powers and the ability to mind control other ghosts, is well enough put together if kind of blah. The most inventive new angle is the relationship between Phobe Spanger (McKenna Grace) and a ghost girl played by Emily Alyn Lind, which has a carefully constructed ambiguity to it, it can be read as mere friendship or as would be romance depending on the needs of the viewer. All in all competent, but depressingly mediocre. **

Love Lies Bleeding (2024)

 New Mexico, 1989

Kristine Stewart runs a small gym where she meets Katy O'Brian, a drifter and aspiring body builder. The lesbian Stewart and bisexual O'Brian start a relationship, despite Katy working for Kristine's estranged father Ed Harris, who runs a gun club and is involved in various illegal activities for which the FBI is investigating him. Kristine also has a sister, Jena Malone, a mother of three boys who is in an abusive relationships with husband Dave Franco, who also works for Harris. Anna Baryshinko is a local lesbian with a major crush on Stewart, which makes her suspicious of new arrival O'Brian. The whole situation is a powder keg and at lest one of these people is going to lie bleeding by the end of the movie.

This is rather different, it's a Neo-noir, a melodramatic love story, there is some magical realism. Very strong on sense of time and place, solid tension, good performances all around. Those last 15 minutes or so are designed to be debated, I'm still not quite sure what to make of them. This film is obviously not for everybody, but was a cinematic experience that kept shocking and surprising me, I'm a fan of that. ***1/2

Mavrick (1994)

 'Mavrick' proved a wonderful flashback, though not as much to the old west as to the days when Mel Gibson was widely considered likable. An action comedy by a master of such, Richard Donner, who had helmed Gibson in the 'Leathel Weapon' franchise. The film is inspired by the 1950's TV western of the same name that started James Garner, who also has a leading role here. Notable cast members include Alfred Molinia, Graham Green and James Coburne. Jodi Foster is the female lead, apparently this is the film that started her unlikely friendship with Gibson. The story is low key and episodic with a winking sense of humor, enjoyable and undemanding, big tent entertainment confidently done. ***

Man on a Ledge (2012)

 There is a man on a ledge of New York's Roosevelt Hotel (Sam Worthington), he's threatening to jump, but its really an attempt at distraction for a dimond robbery across the street. There are a lot of attempts at distraction in this movie, Elizabeth Banks, Genesis Rodriguez in a cat suit, Ed Harris as an amoral New York real estate developer, but none of them can conceal that this movie is really just blah studio product. An assembledge of types and clichés signifying a nothing movie. *1/2

Buffaloed (2019)

Blue collar girl and small time hustler Zoey Deutch, decides to get into the telephone debt collecting buisness in her native Buffalo, only to butt heads with less scrupulous debt collectors. While the story is not drawn from an actual incident, it is reminiscent of stylized, Exposé-ish films that are, like 'The Informant' or 'The Big Short'. Solid ensamble cast includes Judy Greer and Jai Courtney, but it's Deutch's energetic  performance that sells and impells this thing. Occasional unevenness is made up for by elements of charm, amongst which is the films continual ribbing of the city of Buffalo, New York. I started this one thinking I might not finish it, but it won me over. ***

Pumpkin (2002)

 Pumpkin Romanoff (Hank Harris) is a mostly wheelchair bound, mentally challenged teenaged boy. He is to be paired with a sorority volunteer from the local college to coach him for a regional equivalent of the Special Olympics. When Pumpkin first sees his mentor Carolyn McDuffy (a blonde, 21 year old Christina Ricci) he is gobsmacked by love for the first time.

Pumpkin stretches himself as he has never stretched himself before, all to please Carolyn. He wills improvement of his hand eye coordination, starts to stand and even walk more, starts to talk more, its miracle level improvement. Carolyn is deeply moved and effected by the time she spends with Pumpkin, so much so that this beautiful girl who has lived a mostly surifacey life enters a state of existential crises and finds herself, much against her will, falling in love with a mentally retarded man.

I've been using the word audacity a lot lately, but really who decides to make a movie like this? A strange mixture of turn of the Milleniaum raunch comedy and Hallmarkian message film, becomes black comedy gold. The movie delights in messing with expectations, a prime example is Samuel Ball as Kent Woodlands, Carolyn's fraternity royalty, tennis star boyfriend. On the surface Kent seems to embody every jock stereotype in a college movie, yet he is a reasonable person, cares about other people's feelings and sincerely loves his girlfriend, who he might even be (at least at first) a better person then. This makes it all the more tragicly humorous when Carolyn leaves Kent for Pumpkin. 

Starting fairly grounded the film reachs heights of absurdist bliss, it has seemingly all the ingredients of a cult classic yet sadly never achieved that status. Cast includes pre star Amy Adams and Melissa McCarthy in bit roles, as well as Nina Foch in one of her later screen appearances, I was shocked when I saw the name of this 1950's Oscar nominee in the opening credits. I found 'Pumpkin' to be enderingly odd, a bitting but strangly sweet piece of self mockering satire. It's a shame that this film has been forgotten, but its also something of a joy to stumble across it.***

What if I Defect?: Directors Cut (2020)

I had heard that Shelise Ann Sola, the rather attractive host of the 'Cults to Consciousness' YouTube series and podcast was an actress. Curious to see her in something, the only movie of hers I could find was the directors cut of 'What if I Defect?', as a two dollar rental on Amazon, so I thought I'd give it a watch.

A low budget indie film featuring many of the minuses of low budget independent film making. There is some bad sound mixing, especially early on. A very limited number of locations, principly in some ones house and apperent gurilla film making at a mall, hotel, book store, restaurants. The camera quality varies, cheap visual effects are used, the acting quality genrally poor to blah. Shelise is good in this, nobody else is.

This is kind of a Christian movie, though it's pretty sensual for one of those. Filmed in the Anchorage area 'What if I Defect?' is a vanity project for director/writer/star Robby Monroe. Robby plays Daniel, a Christian man whose fiancé has just broke up with him. Daniel is apparently in college, though he looks around 30. He plays video games, Magic, has nerd culture conversations with his friend. He sells shirts at the mall but indicates he has other sources of income. He whines alot, is annoying, kind of self righteous, not much to look at, but Shelise falls for him.

They meet at the mall, she's sad, he's nice to her, tries to cheer her up, listens, they start hanging out. In time we learn that Shelise's character, whose name is Olivia, has been subject to the sexual advances of men since the age of 14, she's been in bad and abusive relationships. Olivia and Daniel are not evenly yoked looks wise, I guess we are suppose to buy her falling for him because he's nice to her, though he's not always nice to her. Again, vanity project, I can buy this story as Robby Monroe's fantasy, but as a movie its clunky. The Iong car drive/ conversation scene near the end of the movie was probably my favorite part, though that felt more like a memory or dream then a fully functional movie scene. 

This was an odd one, also a way too long one, alot of cutting would have really helped, especially in the first half of the film. This 141 minute cut, should have been closer to 110. I kind of admire its strange audacity, but this is one of the worst movies I've ever seen. I do not hold Shelise responsible however. Still *

Interestingly, I could not find a single other review of this online.

The Well (1951)

 In 'The Well' a small Midwestern town's racial divisons are laid open, when a five year old black girl disappeares shortly after being seen in the company of a white stranger (Colonel Potter himself Henry Morgan). Tensions quickly rise and before long there is race rioting and the national guard is called in. Then the young girl is found having fallen down a well, the town awkwardly comes together to try and rescue her. A bold movie to make in 1951. I wish it had been tighter. **1/2

Actor Richard Rober, who played the towns level headed sheriff, died the following year in a car accident at the age of 42. The car he was in plummeted over an embankment in a heavy fog. Three years earlier in the movie 'The File on Thelma Jordan' Rober played a character who also died in a car the plummeted over an embankment.

Bring It On: Fight to the Finish (2009)

 Another 'Bring It On' movie. 'Fight to the Finish' is basically 'All or Nothing' in reverse. Christina Milian is captian of her east L.A. high-school cheer squad, but shortly into her senior year changing economic circumstances (her mother marries a rich white widower) relocate her to a posh Malibue high school with a faltering cheer team, one she is determined to re-energize. I guess if you've got a money making formula you don't mess with it. I'm a bit surprised how central race is to these movies. **

Bring it On: All or Nothing (2006)

 'Bring It On: All or Nothing' is the 3rd film in the 'Bring It On' film series, I skipped the second one because it is not currently free on Prime. The franchise is seemingly all variations on a theme, no recurring characters or schools. Number 3 is very on par with number one, maybe even slightly better. The first film wanted to be two kinds of movies at the same time, this is also true of number 3, wanting to be both naughty and wholesome, however this central contradiction is seemingly more at home in a smaller, non theatrical budget.

Hayden Panettiere, still a minor at the time of filming, is cheer captain at her upscale California high school. Shortly into her senior year her family is forced by economic circumstances to move, relocating her to a very working class and ethic high school. Hayden slowly accustomes herself to a new environment and friends, overcomes personal prejudices and realizes how shelterd she was and how shallow some of her old friends were. In the end her new squad must compete against her old squad to land positions as back up dancers in a Rhianna (yes she is actually in the film) music video and get new computers for their school. Turns out as you'd expect. **

Bring It On (2000)

 The original 'Bring it On', the theatrical movie which launched a direct to video franchise. Hot young Millennial actresses compete in cheering competitions, love triangles and internecine power struggles. Containing a number of period cultural elements that wouldn't fly today, it as Roger Ebert described it, what should have been a R rated comedy squeezed into PG 13 Nickelodeon form. A very mediocre movie. **

Dune: Part II (2024)

 'Dune: Part II' aka 'Dune 2: More Dune', like it's predisascor is a visual triumph. The cast of characters here expands, people change and get more complex as do their relationships. In the first film I wasn't yet invested in these characters, I feel invested now.

The 'Dune' franchise continues to be perhaps  the most anthropological of science fantasies; at times it seems almost documentary. It has a great story canvas as well as a visual one. Such themes, political intrigue, an insurgency  against an imperial occupier, the manufacture and fulfillment of prophecy. It's all very deep for a blockbuster. Plus that cast. Better then 'Dune:Part I'. See it on as big a screne as possible. ****

The Babysitters (2007)

 In 'The Babysitters' high school student Katherine Waterson runs a suburban prostitution ring out of a babysitters club. She's a smart girl and had been good up till then, it just sort of happened. I really liked Waterson's performance in this, she's playing about a decade younger then she was at the time and really sells it; her gradual transformation until discovering she has become kind of a monster, well its impressive. A cross between comic caper film, character driven drama and a prurient explotation film, it gets dark and that is what redeems it from being merely naughty. John Leguizamo is good as the inital client. **1/2

The Humanity Bureau (2018)

 Set in a mid apocalyptic near future, 'The Humanity Bureau' is a clichéd dystopian thriller overlayed with Trumpian/ vaugly Q-Anon adjacent conspiracism (death panels, positive reference to a late president Trump). Nic Cage is an agent of "The Humanity Bureau", an Orwellian US Government agency tasked with relocating "un productive" citizens to a new life in "New Edan". Now "New Edan" is pretty clearly a euphonium for killing government designated undesirables, but it takes about 27 of this movies 95 minutes for Cage to figure this out.

Armed with this new information Cage procedes to go on the run to Canadia with an attractive single mom and son who he was supposed to relocate. Cage is persued by an obsessive friend and coworker who feels betrayed by Nic's defection. So the basic story is barrowed from 'Logan's Run'. This is pretty bottom of the barrel stuff, almost like the script was written by an AI that was feed clichés. Cage's presence and antagonist Hugh Dillion's hammyess makes this almost watchable. *

Mandinga (1976)

 From the Tarantino Grindhouse DVD Box Set. 'Mandinga' is a work of low budget Italin made explotation trash whose name is meant to sound like 'Mandango', the name of a similar work of moderately budgeted American made explotation trash that came out the previous year. Now I have not seen 'Mandango', but I know it was a box office failure, so trying to capitalize off the name is a pretty exquisitely Grindhouse thing to do.

This whole movie is pretty exquisitely Grindhouse. Set in Antebellum Louisiana over the course of around 20 years, though the movie does a pisspoor job of communicating the passage of time. The sexual explotation of slaves, by both men and women, is depicted multiple times then we skip forward a couple of decades for more of the same as well as our main plot, which is a kind of love quadrangle. The big reveal at the end is a case of accidental incest and two generations of plantation owners realizing slavery is wrong when they end up with a mixed race heir. A mostly unpleasant first half followed by an also unpleasant but watchable second half. I kind of admire the audiciousness of this movie, but I don't think I can even call the film fair, so I'm giving it *1/2