Normal (2025)

 

I like a good town under siege movie as much as the next guy. Normal had some potential, even with the weird Yakuza angle. The barely there plot and characters made it hard to emotionally invest, and so the carnage didn’t carry much weight when bodies hit the floor. 

Rating: C-

The Brothers Grimm (2005)

 

A hodgepodge of mismatched ideas, baffling characters, and bizarre scenes that make zero sense. Terrible plot, bad acting, and artificial looking sets. What were they thinking?

Rating: F

Gunpowder MIlkshake (2021)

 

With a title like that, my expectations were already low, which turned out to be prophetic on my part. There are no genuine interactions in the film--just highly dramatized scenes straight from your least favorite movie clichés. 

Part of the problem is that the city appears to be solely populated by The Firm and other individuals tied to organized crime. Artificial characters inside an artificial city spewing artificial lines that will have you groaning repeatedly. 

Rating: F

The Purge (2013)

Decided to watch the four films in this series since I started watching the USA television show. As suspected, the TV show pulls directly from the films. Interesting premise, although they never really addressed a fundamental flaw in the purge system, which is what happens after purge day when the people who tried to kill you, or vice versa, didn’t succeed. Is there supposed to be no lingering resentment or grudge just because The Purge is over? Unrealistic.

Rating: C

Possession (2002)

What a great work of art. LaBute manages to blend two time periods and the world of poets into an interesting and moving story. Very different from his other films.

Rating: B-

300: Rise Of An Empire (2014)

Entertaining and bloody, but not bloody entertaining.

Rating: C

Dredd (2012)

Ten times better than the deplorable Sylvester Stallone Judge Dredd. The post-apocalyptic future cityscape looked adequately gritty and realistic. The setup up was tightly scripted and sufficient to engage the viewer in the bloody mayhem to come. We may have seen the main plot device—working one’s way to the top of a building of bad guys—many times, but it’s still entertaining when done right. This is no award winner, but it’s a killer action flick deserving of a sequel.

Rating: C+

300 (2006)

Visually stunning, violently satisfying, with stand-out characters to boot. This is what we hope for, but rarely receive, when going to see an action film.

Rating: B+