Saturday, May 8, 2021
Clown (2019)
A group of teens fights for their lives as they find themselves trapped in a fun-house, stalked by a killer clown who won't rest until every last one of them is dead.
Lackadaisical standard horror flick presents a haphazard plot, bad acting and some gore, obviously aimed for a teenage audience at the drive-in.
Fantastic Mr. Fox (2009)
An urbane fox cannot resist returning to his farm raiding ways and then must help his community survive the farmers' retaliation.
Wonderfully quirky adult animation feature with colorful characters and lots of amusing details, all lovingly staged in old-fashioned stop-motion.
Maltin***: "Amusing fable...brought to life through appealingly old-fashioned stop-motion. Fine voice-work and a buoyant score by Alexandre Desplat complete the package."
Friday, May 7, 2021
First Lines: Charlie Jane Anders - All the Birds in the Sky
When Patricia was six years old, she found a wounded bird.
Thursday, May 6, 2021
Airplane II: The Sequel (1982)
A faulty computer causes a passenger space shuttle to head straight for the Sun. Can Ted Striker save the day and get the shuttle back on track - again?
Lacklustre attempt to rehash the success of the original comedy, full of warmed-up jokes and hit-and-miss humor.
Halliwell (no star): "Palsied sequel to a funny film, with some of the same cast and some of the same jokes."
Maltin**1/2: "Mildly funny rehash of AIRPLANE..., but can't match the quantity, or quality, of laughs in the original."
The Secret Life of Pets (2016)
The quiet life of a terrier named Max is upended when his owner takes in Duke, a stray whom Max instantly dislikes.
Fast-paced, hilariously funny and entertaining animal animation comedy; good family fare.
On rewatching: Admittedly, a guilty pleasure, lots of fun to be had.
Wednesday, May 5, 2021
Bombshell (2019)
A group of women take on Fox News head Roger Alies and the toxic atmosphere he presided over at the network.
A top cast drama based on the actual events and depicting an important topic gives its stars lots of room to display their talent, but the events are unnecessarily toned down, probably to avoid legal liability, so that its message doesn't have the full impact it deserves.
Tuesday, May 4, 2021
Relic (2020)
A daughter, mother and grandmother are haunted by a manifestation of dementia that consumes their family's home.
Above-average horror tale prefers creepy atmosphere over shock effects, but does deliver the goods slowly with tension, suspense and a revealing ending.
Monday, May 3, 2021
Sunday, May 2, 2021
First Lines: Becky Chambers - A Closed and Common Orbit
Lovelace had been in a body for twenty-eight minutes, and it still felt every bit as wrong as it had the second she woke up inside it.