“The Card Counter” is a movie about a man with a unique skill, and you can guess that skill. During a spell in the slammer, he learned that he was good at counting cards, meaning the cards used in gambling. He is a low-profile expert at winning. He keeps a low profile due to his criminal record, and because casinos discourage ‘card counter’ players. But when his past catches up to him, he goes all in. He does not count on what happens next.
“Candyman” is movie based a previous movie version of the urban legend about an evil spirit of a man with a hook for a hand who would pass out sweet treats to get new victims. This older movie was a minor cult classic, and of course it is now time to bring it up to date with more socially relevant topics. Read more
“The Protégé” believes that old movie plot ideas can be done with a new twist and with new characters and still be a rip-roaring experience. They would be correct in that thinking, because this movie finds a unique place to become a globe-trotting revenge fight-fest and shoot-out that makes the best use of the excellent cast.
“The Night House” is a spooky drama with few real scares, but a slow burn of a thriller to see if ghosts exist in the main character’s mind — or in real life. Due to her husband’s recent suicide, a woman deals with supernatural troubles in her house, where things tend to go bump (or worse) in the night. Rather than do the normal thing, and LEAVE, she sticks around to unfold the mystery.
Opens in theaters on August 5
Also available for streaming on HBO/Max
“The Suicide Squad” is the full-barreled, R-rated, no-holds-barred Love Child resulting from the combination of Writer/Director James Gunn and D.C. Comics. The D.C. Extended Universe of comic-based movies just got a kick-start with a cattle prod to the nether regions. But rather than resulting in a painful experience, this ‘Squad’ takes off at sixty-miles-an-hour into a Gunn-designed world of magnificent mayhem. The gore and violence comes with equal measures of hilarity and movie magic.
“Annette” is perhaps the first ‘art-house/art-pop operatic musical’ type movie. But this might be the final one ever made, too. The idea to make this unusual style of film was a creative leap of faith. However, this leap might be going into the ‘abyss’. The story is portrayed as combination of normal dialog along with singing vocal dialog. Much like in the tradition of many operas, it tells a story of a tragic cycle of fame and failure. The talent to make this movie is quite abundant. The results are sparse. Read more
Snake Eyes: G.I. Joe Origins” is based on the HCU (Hasbro Cinematic Universe – if there is such a thing) and is vaguely connected to the other G.I. Joe movies. But this movie is all about the ‘origins’ of the one named “Snake Eyes”. He is an expert in martial arts and now you get to learn his background. They say “Never bring a knife to a gun fight”. This movie goes further — “Never bring an Uzi to a Katana showdown”. Read more
“Roadrunner: A Film About Anthony Bourdain” is a documentary movie about — well, Anthony Bourdain. In case you don’t know, he was famous chef, who became an author, who then turned into globe-trotting celebrity TV personality. He was a man who took no halfway measures. He was on board and full-speed ahead for any obsessive adventure. That is until he ended his own story, and his own life, in unclear circumstances. Read more
“The Tomorrow War” is an action-packed ride into a battle of humanity against alien creatures. But it does not happen now, instead it is in the future, as in “Tomorrow’. But for all familiar ideas that pop up, they are scrubbed and polished with a great group of actors who can take some retread plot lines and make everything seem fresh and new. The action is almost non-stop, and it is presented in an exciting manner. The stakes are raised high, and the cast delivers on the goods. Read more
“Zola” is based on the “Grand Literature” of these Modern Times. In other words, the movie is based on a Tweet. More like a Tweet avalanche of story beats posted over an epic weekend. It told of a “girl’s trip for fun and sun” to Tampa. Except that the fun and sun turned into debasement and debauchery. It went from Pole Dancing to Prostitution. This is based on true events, as they say. But then again — so was the Coen brother’s movie “Fargo”…
