Sunday, February 10, 2019

The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot

 
Film Review by Kam Williams


WWII Vet Plays Hero Again in Campy Action Adventure

Every now and then, a film turns history on its head. For example, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter made over $100 million dollars at the box office by suggesting that the 16th President of the United States was also a legendary stalker of the undead. And Quentin Tarantino's Inglourious Basterds, which had Hitler dying in a movie theater fire rather than by committing suicide, made three times as much money. 
 
Playing fast and loose with the truth can be pretty profitable in other arenas as well. Donald Trump sealed the Republican presidential nomination by parroting the National Enquirer's patently ridiculous assertion that JFK assassin Lee Harvey Oswald hadn't acted alone but with the help of Senator Ted Cruz's father, Rafael.

Well, in The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot we have a film that contradicts conventional wisdom not once, but twice. The picture stars Sam Elliott as Calvin Barr, the World War II vet who supposedly successfully assassinated the Fuhrer on a top secret mission.

This picture unfolds decades later when an aging Calvin is coaxed out of retirement by an FBI agent (Ron Livingston) to track down the legendary Bigfoot (Mark Steger) that is rumored to be living deep in the Canadian forest. It seems that the mythical beast is responsible for a deadly plague that is threatening to decimate the population. 
 
Turning down an array of 007-level, state of the arts gadgets, Calvin stoically sets out with just a rifle, a scope and a Bowie knife. He doesn't even don goggles, gas mask and a protective suit to prevent his prey from infecting him. Sam Elliott plays it straight, here, but you can't help but wonder whether the veteran thespian's embarrassed by the fact that this campy B-flick has been released right when he's been nominated for an Oscar for the first time in his career. 
 
An amusing mix of fantasy and revisionist history bordering on cheesy that's strictly for the very gullible!


Good (2 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 98 minutes
Production Companies: Epic Pictures Releasing / Title Media
Distributor: RLJE FILMS

To see a trailer for The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UkP4bZKCHE8

Posted by Kam at 5:41 PM 0 comments

Black


Film Review by Kam Williams


Traffic Stop Death Triggers Revolt in Black Lives Matter Drama

Joseph Grant (Toussaint Morrison) was riding in a car with his brother Cole (Malick Ceesay) and BFF Derek (Geoff Briley) one afternoon when they suddenly found themselves being tailed by a police cruiser. Although they hadn't violated any rules of the road, they were inexplicably pulled over by a couple of overly zealous cops (Addison Pennington and Matt Cedarberg), ostensibly for merely “driving while black.” 
 
Sitting in the back seat, Cole asked the officers for an explanation for the stop, if they weren't being profiled. Their response was that he matched the description of a suspect they were looking for. 
 
After being asked for his ID and ordered him out of the car, Cole lost his temper. The next thing you know, he wound up on the ground with a pistol to his head. And the bigot with a badge in control of whether he lived or died yelled, “What you looking at boy?” before callously pulling the trigger.

Witnessing the senseless shooting of his only brother leaves Joe traumatized and Derek is understandably shaken, too. But the two have distinctly different feelings about what to do next. 
 
The former has no faith in the criminal justice system, given the long history of police being found not guilty for the deaths of unarmed African-Americans. So, he would just like to get some guns, recruit an army, and lead a violent revolution against the U.S. 
 
By contrast, Derek is interested in mounting a traditional protest, like a Black Lives Matter march. After all, he has no confidence Joe will be able to find any followers, especially since blacks are so brainwashed they mostly kill only other blacks, not whites. The ensuing debate of how to respond to Cole's untimely demise sits at the center of Black, a thought-provoking morality play written and directed by David J. Buchanan. 
 
Besides the badinage between the buddies, the film intermittently takes a break from the drama for brief, revealing tete-a-tetes with real-life black folks about their first encounters in life with the cops. The heartfelt recollections shared in these mini-documentaries combine to paint a widespread pattern of discrimination and abuse on the part of the police.

A compelling polemic revolving around a grief-stricken sibling's relentlessly making his case, like a latter-day Nat Turner, for armed insurrection!

 
Excellent (4 stars)
Unrated
Running time: 80 minutes
Production Studio: BLACK Productions
Studio: We-Co Films

To see a trailer for Black, visit: https://vimeo.com/281669294

Posted by Kam at 10:21 AM 0 comments

Wednesday, February 6, 2019

Cold Pursuit

Film Review by Kam Williams


Grieving Dad Goes Vigilante in Remake of Gruesome, Norwegian Crime Thriller

Nels Coxman (Liam Neeson) is Kehoe, Colorado's most reliable snowplow driver. He was recently named the popular ski resort area's “Citizen of the Year” for keeping its treacherous mountain roads clear during the blizzards which routinely threaten to disrupt the town's tourist season. 
 
Not used to making public appearances before an audience, the shy civil servant needs some help from his wife (Laura Dern) dressing and preparing an acceptance speech. Unfortunately, tragedy strikes the night of the awards dinner when their son (Micheál Richardson) dies of a drug overdose in nearby Denver.

After identifying the body at the morgue, Grace (“We didn't know our own son.”) is inclined to accept the police explanation that Kyle had been a heroin addict. But hubby Nels (“Kyle wasn't a druggie!”) is very skeptical, since the kid had no history of drug use and had been gainfully employed as a baggage handler at Kehoe's airport at the time of his demise. 
 
So, the grieving dad decides to do a little digging on his own and soon discovers that Dante (Wesley MacInnes), a co-worker of Kyle's, had stolen a kilo of cocaine from a drug cartel. As it turns out, Kyle was ostensibly murdered in a case of mistaken identity on orders from a kingpin known as Viking (Tom Bateman).

That's little consolation to Nels who suddenly becomes blinded by rage. The mild-mannered pillar of the community morphs into a sadistic spree killer determined to track down the powerful mobster who ordered the hit on his boy. However, Viking has an army of minions running interference, which means Nels must negotiate a perilous gauntlet en route to his well-protected target.

Thus unfolds Cold Pursuit, a riveting vigilante thriller directed by Hans Petter Moland. The movie is a faithful, English-language adaptation of In Order of Disappearance, a gratuitous gorefest which Moland made in his native Norway in 2014. This equally-gruesome remake similarly veers back and forth between slaughter and slapstick, never fully committing to comedy or drama. 
 
Whether we're supposed to laugh at or recoil from the escalating body count, Cold Pursuit, at heart, is a wanton splatterflick certain to satiate the bloodlust of fans of the genre.


Very Good (3 stars)
Rated R for profanity, drug use, sexual references and graphic violence
Running time: 118 minutes
Production Company: Paradox Films / StudioCanal
Distributor: Lionsgate / Summit Entertainment

To see a trailer for Cold Pursuit, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0phuNQQ_gHI




Posted by Kam at 10:08 PM 0 comments

Monday, February 4, 2019

Kam's Kapsules for movies opening February 8, 2019

 
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun  
by Kam Williams


OPENING THIS WEEK

WIDE RELEASES


Cold Pursuit (R for profanity, drug use, sexual references and graphic violence) English language adaptation of In Order of Disappearance, the 2014 Norwegian crime thriller about a snow plow driver-turned-vigilante's (Liam Neeson) hunt for the cocaine kingpin (Tom Bateman) responsible for his son's (Micheál Richardson) murder. With Emmy Rossum, Laura Dern and William Forsythe.



The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (PG for rude humor) Animated musical adventure finds the citizens of Bricksburg facing a new threat, namely, invaders from outer space. Voice cast includes Will Arnett, Tiffany Haddish, Alison Brie, Chris Pratt and Elizabeth Banks.



The Prodigy (R for violence, disturbing images, a sexual reference and brief graphic nudity) Jackson Robert Scott stars as the title character in this horror flick about a young genius whose mother (Taylor Schilling) takes him to a therapist (Paula Boudreau) when she suspects he's become possessed by a demonic supernatural force. With Colm Feore, Brittany Allen and Peter Mooney.



What Men Want (R for drug use and pervasive profanity and sexuality) Romantic comedy about a female sports agent (Taraji P. Henson) who gains a competitive edge over her male colleagues when she develops the ability to hear men's thoughts. Ensemble cast includes Tracy Morgan, Wendi McClendon-Covey, Shaquille O'Neal, Erykah Badu, Kellan Lutz, Aldis Hodge and Mark Cuban.




INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS


Chokehold (Unrated) Action thriller about an MMA fighter (Melissa Croden) who stops training for a title fight to avenge the murder of her father by Russian mobsters. With Casper Van Dien, Lochlyn Munro and Kip Pardue.


Everybody Knows (R for profanity) Introspective drama about a married woman (Penelope Cruz) who rendezvous with an ex-boyfriend (Javier Bardem) to reminisce about what might have been when she returns to her tiny hometown without her husband (Ricardo Darin) for her younger sister's (Inma Cuesta) wedding. With Eduard Fernandez, Barbara Lennie and Elvira Minguez. (In Spanish, English and Catalan with subtitles)


Jimi Hendrix: Electric Church (Unrated) Reverential rockumentary featuring concert footage of Hendrix's historic performance in front of 300,000 fans at the Atlanta Pop Festival staged on July 4, 1970 at the Middle Georgia Raceway. Includes commentary by Paul McCartney, Billy Cox and Steve Winwood.


The Man Who Killed Hitler and Then The Bigfoot (Unrated) Sam Elliott plays the title character in this action adventure as Hitler's assassin who finds himself recruited by the U.S. government decades later to track down the legendary Bigfoot deep in the Canadian wilderness. Supporting cast includes Larry Miller, Aidan Turner and Ron Livingston.


St. Agatha (Unrated) Horror flick, set in Georgia in 1957, about a pregnant con artist (Sabrina Kern) who takes refuge at a convent only to learn that its Mother Superior (Carolyn Hennesy) has a twisted agenda. Featuring Courtney Halverson, Seth Michaels and Trin Miller.


Under the Eiffel Tower (Unrated) Midlife crisis comedy about a 50 year-old guy (Matt Walsh) who proposes to his BFF's daughter (Dylan Gelula) half his age after tagging along on their family's Paris vacation. With Reid Scott, David Wan and Gary Cole.


Posted by Kam at 7:58 PM 1 comments

Top Ten DVD List for February 5, 2019

by Kam Williams


This Week's DVD Releases 

The Girl in the Spider's Web

A Private War

800 Words: Season 3, Part 2

Charly [Special Edition]

Kotch

Paw Patrol: Pawsome Collection

The Grinch

Blaze and the Monster Machines: Robot Riders

Grand-Daddy Day Care

Peter Rabbit: Springtime Collection


Honorable Mention

Electric Love

The Golem





Posted by Kam at 4:33 PM 0 comments

Thursday, January 31, 2019

 
Film Review by Kam Williams


Gina Rodriguez Plays Kidnap Victim in Tijuana Action Thriller

Gloria (Gina Rodriguez) is a Hollywood makeup artist sorely in need of a break from her abusive boss. The straw that broke the camel's back came the day he condescendingly responded to her resourcefulness with the insulting, “Honey, we're not paying you to think.”
 
So, on her way out the door, Gloria stole a couple of bags of cosmetics for her lifelong friend, Suzu (Cristina Rodlo), who is about to enter the Miss Baja beauty contest. Suzu still lives south of the border in their hometown of Tijuana with her little brother, Chava (Sebastian Cano).

Not long after arriving, the BFFs head out to a disco to attend a party sponsored by the pageant. But the two are soon separated when a gunfight breaks out between the police and La Estrella, a drug cartel led by the bloodthirsty Lino Esperanza (Ismael Cruz Cordova).

Gloria ends up in the maniacal mobster's clutches, and is unwittingly duped into blowing up a DEA safe house with three agents inside. She's subsequently apprehended by Agent Brian Reich (Matt Lauria) who doesn't believe a word of her improbable alibi.

He forces Gloria to prove her innocence by infiltrating Lino's gang in order to help the U.S. government bring down the vicious crime syndicate. Of course, that's easier said than done since she's a beautician unschooled in undercover detective work.

That's the captivating premise established at the outset of Miss Bala, a frenetically-paced remake of the 2011 Mexican action thriller of the same name. The film was directed by Catherine Hardwicke whose adaptation of Stephenie Meyer's vampire romance novel Twilight netted around $400 million at the box office.

Here, Hardwicke has crafted a compelling cross of Taken (2008) and Miss Congeniality (2000). The movie's relentless sense of urgency is reminiscent of the former, while the protagonist's grudging participation in a beauty pageant is similar to Sandra Bullock's fish-out-of-water performance in the latter.

A two-fisted tale of female empowerment featuring a riveting roller coaster ride you'll never forget!


Excellent (4 stars)
Rated PG-13 for violence, profanity, sexuality, drug use and mature themes
In English and Spanish with subtitles
Running time: 104 minutes
Production Companies: Sony Pictures Entertainment / Canana Films / Misher Films
Distributor: Columbia Pictures

To see a trailer for Miss Bala, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MaI-4NepPfU

Posted by Kam at 4:08 PM 0 comments

Wednesday, January 30, 2019

Kam's Kapsules for movies opening February 1, 2019

 
Weekly Previews That Make Choosing a Film Fun  
by Kam Williams


OPENING THIS WEEK

WIDE RELEASES

Miss Bala (PG-13 for violence, profanity, sexuality, drug use and mature themes) English language remake of the 2011 Mexican action thriller about a makeup artist from L.A. (Gina Rodriguez) forced to survive by her wits south of the border after being kidnapped by a drug cartel while visiting her BFF (Cristina Rodlo) in Tijuana. With Anthony Mackie, Ismael Cruz Cordova and Thomas Dekker.




INDEPENDENT & FOREIGN FILMS



Arctic (PG-13 for profanity and bloody images) Tale of survival about a man (Mads Mikkelsen) stranded near the North Pole who must decide between remaining with the helicopter wreckage and embarking on a perilous trek back to civilization across the frozen tundra. With Maria Thelma Smaradottir.



The Least of These: The Graham Staines Story (PG-13 for mature themes and disturbing images) Stephen Baldwin plays the title character in this fact-based drama, set in rural India in the late Nineties, about an Australian missionary burned alive while caring for and converting lepers to Christianity. Featuring Sharman Joshi, Shari Rigby and Manoj Mishra.



Piercing (R for profanity, nudity, bizarre violence and deviant sexuality) Horror comedy, adapted from Ryu Murakami's novel of the same name about a family man (Christopher Abbott) who decides to indulge a dark impulse while on a business trip by murdering a call girl (Mia Wasikowska) in his hotel room. Cast includes Laia Costa, Wendell Pierce and Marin Ireland.



Velvet Buzzsaw (R for profanity, sexuality, nudity, violence and drug use) Suspense thriller, set in L.A., about a supernatural force that exacts revenge on the greedy purchasers of high-priced paintings by a mysterious, unknown artist. Ensemble includes Jake Gyllenhaal, John Malkovich, Toni Collette, Rene Russo, Daveed Diggs and Billy Magnussen.



The Wild Pear Tree (Unrated) Dysfunctional family drama about an aspiring writer (Dogu Demirkol) who returns home to his tiny village from Istanbul after graduating from college only to find himself forced to deal with his father's (Murat Cemcir) gambling debts. With Hazar Erguclu, Serkan Keskin and Bennu Yildirimlar. (In Turkish with subtitles)

Posted by Kam at 5:44 PM 0 comments

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