Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar (2021)

Like an episode of SNL, it has its moments, but a lot falls flat. 

Rating: C-

Willy’s Wonderland (2021)

A muted Cage appears to feel right at home inside an evil Chuck-E-Cheese knockoff where he battles possessed animatronic characters. The humans are one dimensional at best. Their actions make little sense in the context of the film. There’s very little in the way of scares. The dark humor element was missing. The script needed a complete rewrite. 

Rating: D-

The White Tiger (2021)

A deep dive into the everyday struggles, politics, and culture of India. A strong reminder that life is hard and unfair. It’s an eye opening film with a morally suspect story. 

Rating: C+

Adverse (2020)

The acting is not good. It’s a literal who's who of--Who? The corpse of Mickey Rourke stumbles and mutters its way through a film that clearly should have been called Tire Iron. A real missed opportunity there. 

Rating: F+

The Informer (2019)

Undercover informant gets burned and has to take matters into his own hands. Uneven, but watchable. 

Rating: C

Psycho Goreman (2020)

An entertaining B-movie in the vein of The Dirtbike Kid and TV series Future Man. If you recognize those titles and enjoyed them, as I did, you will like this film. It’s ridiculous, crazy, fun, and violent. A lot of deadpan humor. 

Rating: B-

Human Nature (2019)

A documentary on human genome manipulation, CRISPR technology, and the debate over the current and future science in this field. Despite their efforts to jazz up the production, it’s still rather dry and clinical. Something this data heavy is bound to be. It’s more about informing and less about entertaining, which may be what you're looking for. 

Rating: C

The Trial Of The Chicago 7 (2020)

It’s all just history repeating itself. The fight continues. Sorkin Sorkins. 

Rating: C+

Minari (2020)

A Korean American family moves to Arkansas in hopes of a better life, but per usual, one set of hardships are traded for a new set. Quite heavy and depressing with bits of humor to keep things from becoming too dreary. Wish they could have traded in more of the depressing for fun. 

Rating: C

Bacurau (2019)

What a strange Brazilian film. A mishmash of genres and plotlines that keep you wondering just where things are going. On one hand it’s a snapshot of rural life in Brazil. On the other it’s a bloodbath between sport killers and local townsfolk. 

Rating: C+

Nomadland (2020)

A very lonely film that will have you thinking about your life decisions and in what manner you want to live the rest of it. 

Rating: C

Gifted (2017)

A feel good film about trying to do what's best for a gifted little girl. There’s no perfect answer except to maybe find the right balance, which is ultimately where things land. A talented young actress. 

Rating: B-

Synchronic (2019)

I wish I could pop some Synchronic right now so I could go back in time to tell myself not to watch this movie. 

Rating: F

Run Hide Fight (2020)

Blonde hottie fights the bad teens in a school shooter situation. The film foolishly attempts to explain their ridiculous motivations. It’s watchable, but the ending was dumb. 

Rating: C-

Tigertail (2020)

A slow moving drama revolving around the history of a Taiwanese family and their regretful decisions. Grab the popcorn!! 

Rating: C

His House (2020)

I like my horror to be centered in reality, or at least this dimension. The plot didn’t make a whole lot of sense and wasn’t very scary. Mostly bored. 

Rating: D

One Child Nation (2019)

Documentary on China’s One Child Policy and its devastating effects on their citizens. One of the most depressing things you’ll ever watch, yet still important to be seen. 

Rating: C

News Of The World (2020)

Living in the Old West sucked. Traveling in the Old West really sucked. It’s like a 50/50 chance you’ll get killed or raped each trip; at least according to all the Westerns I've seen. 

Cable newsman of his times, Tom Hanks, travels from town to town reading old newspapers for dimes. It’s a living. Along the way he picks up an orphan German-Squaw girl. It’s a road trip movie, but with a terrible soundtrack. Hanks sports a really sweet jacket. The girl eats chili with her hands. It’s gross. 

Rating: C

Thoroughbreds (2017)

I felt engaged the entire film, yet unsatisfied and a bit annoyed at the end. A horse ride to nowhere. 

Rating: C-

Promising Young Woman (2020)

Angry woman takes things to the extreme to reinforce the message that no means no. The dark humor and writing was more fun in the first half than the second. 

Rating: C