Category: Review

Reviews from all of the movies we have seen lately, including everything in theaters and on DVD.

PILLION – Review

A pillion is the seat behind the driver on a motorcycle, or it can mean the passenger who sits there. The movie PILLION is a gay romance between a rather innocent young gay man (Harry Melling) who is introduced to the world of bondage-dominance/sadomasochism by a handsome motorcyclist (Alexander Skarsgard). Although the film is a well-acted, well-made romantic drama about a star-crossed relationship, the subject matter and it’s frank, even graphic, depiction means this is not a film that will appeal to everyone, or even most.

That said, Harry Melling and Alexander Skarsgard turn in strong, even tender performances as this pair, whose ideas of what their relationship should be doesn’t match up. First-time director Harry Lighton leans into the romantic for this tale of star-crossed love set in a rarely-seen world, and Lighton also wrote the screenplay, based on Adam Mars-Jones’ novel “Box Hill.”

Young Colin (Harry Melling) spots handsome biker Ray (Alexander Skarsgard) at a pub, where Colin is singing as part of a barbershop quartet, when Ray arrives as part of a biker gang. You can sense the thrill from Melling’s Colin from the moment he spots the handsome biker.

Colin is not only a singer in the barbershop quartet (Melling does his own singing and has a lovely voice), but the quartet is a kind of family thing, with his father singing as well. Colin lives in the suburbs with his parents, and seems to be recently out as gay. While his doting parents are very supportive, and his mother has even arranged a date for her son, back at the same pub. They are more wary when Colin goes out to meet up with Ray, fearing that the meeting is a prelude to a beating rather than a date.

However, the encounter introduces the innocent but willing Colin to what nearly-silent enigmatic Ray wants. Repeatedly, as the relations develops, people comment on the difference in physical beauty between homely Colin and handsome Ray, which helps pushed Colin further into the relationship.

The film follows their relationship, where it evolves or doesn’t, with Melling’s character wanting it to be love and Skarsgard’s stoic one basically trying to keep a lid on that idea. It turns out the whole motorcycle gang is part of this SM world, that Colin now joins as well.

How authentic the depiction of that world may be, I couldn’t say, but the scenes are explicit enough to mean this film will mostly appeal to a select audience. Director Harry Lighton frames this in as romantic a way possible but this is a world of bondage and SM, and there are plenty of graphic scenes in this film. The scenes are more graphic rather than pornographic, and there is less full nudity than one might expect, but the scenes make clear what is happening in each.

Skarsgard and Melling give what could be termed brave performances here, with the subject and the graphic scenes, although there is less full nudity than you might expect. There are plenty of sex scenes, often involving SM costumes and bondage, so you have no doubt what kind of biker gang this is.

Colin and Ray couldn’t seem more mismatched but it is more complicated than that. There is yearning and openness on the side of Melling’s character that runs up against Ray’s secrecy and emotional closedness. Skarsgard’s Ray seems to be protecting the other part of his life from this secret one. Still, occasionally there are moments when stoic Ray reveals feeling for his partner. It is this tension between what Ray wants and what Colin wants that the film spends most of its time exploring, along with these SM bikers’ lifestyle, was they go on outings and camping trips, and we get to know the other couples as well.

We get a glimpse of other relationships in this gay SM biker gang, which contrast to our central pair’s arrangement. Some are also chilly and functional, others are emotionally warm, but none seem as mismatched as Colin and Ray, with one member longing for something more.

Again, not a film for everyone, despite being a very well-made movie, with strong performances from a pair of gifted actors.

PILLION opens in theaters on Friday, Feb. 27, 2026.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

RESCUE AT DONGJI – Review

I’m surprised that the fascinating historical event from WW II providing the basis for RESCUE AT DONGJI hasn’t been dramatized before. In 1942 a Japanese ship named the Lisbon Maru was carrying 1800 captured British soldiers to POW camps in Japan. An American submarine sank the ship near a Japanese-occupied Chinese island inhabited by a few hundred fishermen. The Yanks didn’t know who was in the cargo hold, or they wouldn’t have fired those torpedoes. Embarrassed by the loss of a vessel, the captors intended to let all the prisoners drown, or be shot if they tried to swim away. The islanders bravely rescued many of them. 

In this film, a fictional pair of brothers, Bi (Yilong Zhu) and Dang (Lei Wu) and the former’s girlfriend Hua (Ni Ni) spearhead the uprising and rescue, with varying degrees of reluctance, and over opposition from the intimidated village elders. As usual for Chinese productions depicting ANY era of Japanese occupation, the invaders are portrayed as sadistic oppressors, with no regard for the lives they control or callously end. I’ll leave it for others to advise how accurate this is, but it certainly makes a compelling good vs. evil drama here.

I recently reviewed another film set in the same period and vicinity, MONSTER ISLAND, in which a condemned Japanese sailor and American captive wash ashore in the eponymous location, and must overcome mutual distrust and a language barrier to bond for survival against the huge reptilian beast that calls it home, and Japanese military pursuers who want both of them dead. The Japanese navy there is presented as even more beastly than the creature.

I call this an epic endeavor with a caveat. For most of its running time, directors Zhenxiang Fei and Guan Hu build a rather intimate character drama centered around British soldier Thomas Newman (William Frankllin-Miller) who the brothers saved after he was blown off the ship in the original attack. Bonds formed awkwardly due to total lack of a common language. Disputes among several leaders over the risks and rewards of defying the invaders also run at some length, as we witness numerous acts of excessive cruelty along the way. The villagers are simple folk, isolated from news and understanding of the rest of the world. They didn’t need to know anything beyond their waters until the war came to them.

Finally, we get to the climactic rescue, and it’s well worth the build-up time.  The ship has been sinking so gradually that there was ample opportunity for their navy to transfer all captives to other vessels and continue home, as planned. But NO WAY, JOSE They chose to bury any record of  the incident and everyone who witnessed it, leading to the massive sea rescue by the entire fishing fleet, while under heavy fire from their enemy.  That long, riveting sequence reminded me of the stunning D-Day landing at the beginning of SAVING PRIVATE RYAN for its scope and detail. Soldiers desperately swimming to the humble native boats as bullets flew copiously among them, while the sinking ship created an eddy that added another layer of threat – pulling many among them down with it. Heavy casualties are inflicted upon the locals and the Brits before the massive effort ended. The underlying historical facts are provided in print and pix just before the closing credits.

The film runs 133 minutes, which may feel long as it plays out, but that finale delivers a memorable reward for one’s patience. It’s not quite as large-scale as that D-Day landing, but it’s just about as intense. Performances from the leads are solid, but the most award-worthy contributions here are for directing, editing and cinematography in the last act. 

RESCUE AT DONGJI, mostly in Mandarin and Japanese, with subtitles, debuts on Digital formats from Well Go USA on February 24.

2 stars out of 4

https://wellgousa.com/films/rescue-dongji

HOW TO MAKE A KILLING – Review

Charming Glen Powell goes after what should have been his, in the dark comedy crime tale HOW TO MAKE A KILLING, in which the son of a disowned daughter sets out to eliminate the seven other relatives standing between him and a 28 billion dollar fortune. Classic movie buffs will recognize this plot as a retelling of Alec Guinness dark comedy KIND HEARTS AND CORONETS, in which Guinness plays all the relatives. Glen Powell doesn’t try anything so ambitious in acting here – he just plays the lead character – but writer/director John Patton Ford (who also directed the top-notch EMILY THE CRIMINAL) adds a new layer that makes his murderous campaign more personal.

The central character of Alec Guinness’s original just accidentally discovers he was in line for a fortune, and sets out to kill relatives he doesn’t know and has nothing against, other than that they are in his way. HOW TO MAKE A KILLING is different. Even though he also has never met any of them, Glen Powell’s Becket Redfellow has a personal history, and potential proverbial ax to grind, on behalf of a mother who was disowned by her father, the patriarch of the family. Revenge, for himself but also his mother, as well as greed, drives this version. There weren’t any moral gray areas in the Alec Guinness film but the personal history of being wronged changes that for this one.

Glen Powell’s natural charm and charisma does much to sell this story, where the audience finds itself hoping a character gets away with murder. But that doesn’t look likely since the film starts with Glen Powell’s Becket Redfellow on Death Row telling his tale to a priest (Adrian Lukis).

In HOW TO MAKE A KILLING, writer-director John Patton Ford puts nepotism, the idle rich, unearned wealth and privilege, and income inequality on full display here. The Redfellows have money and largely have no intention to do anything good or constructive with it.

It isn’t just the injustice done to Becket’s mother, it is the character of those Redfellow relatives who are in line to inherit, a string of useless “trust fund baby” types – yacht owing party boy Taylor Redfellow (Raff Law), egotistical wannabee artist Noah Redfellow (Zach Woods), self-centered would-be philanthropist Cassandra Redfellow (Bianca Amato), showboating explorer and thrill seeker (think Howard Hughes crossed with Richard Branson) Mcarthur Redfellow (Alexander Hanson) and, weirdest of all, the shady rock star pastor of a mega-church Stephen Redfellow (Topher Grace). At the very top is the ruthless grandfather who disowned his daughter, Whitelaw Redfellow (Ed Harris). This family is knee-deep in entitlement, self-absorption and arrogance, with cold-hearted ruthlessness at the top.

Becket’s mother Mary Redfellow (Nell Williams) was stubborn and proud, and despite living in a humble home in New Jersey, worked to give him a proper, cultured education while raising him with a sense of upper-crust values and as much cultural refinement as she could. Becket has archery lessons, piano lessons, and learned how to dress properly and have aristocratic manners, and rubbed some elbows with his mother’s upper class.

Although the Redfellows are mostly stinkers, Becket does find decent people in the family tree, an uncle, Warren Redfellow (Bill Camp), who does something to right his father’s wrong, but that kind gesture of taking Becket under his wing also showcases the power of nepotism (he is literally a nephew) in corporate success.

Two love interests both complicate and sometimes drive the plot, The first is Julia (Margaret Qualley) whom Becket meets as a child and becomes enamored with immediately. She becomes enamored with him when he tells her about the fortune he’s in line to inherit – maybe. The other is Ruth (Jessica Henwick), the girlfriend of one of those relatives standing in Becket’s way. Sparks fly between them when they meet, as her relationship is fizzling.

HOW TO MAKE A KILLING’s greatest strength is Glen Powell, who makes his character sympathetic and likable despite what the character is doing. Powell’s Becket is complicated but Glen Powell makes him also so charming and such a sweet, decent guy that it is easy to forget his mission, which is partly driven by his mother’s last words, to “get what is his,” as well as his own ambitions. Even Becket at times wavers in his aim but the basic unpleasantness of his relatives often helps him along.

As Becket goes about his bloody business. HOW TO MAKE A KILLING offers some damning social commentary as it showcases a rogues’ gallery of individuals bent by unearned wealth and privilege. Still, this film story is comedy, satiric dark crime comedy, like the film that inspired it. Since it is comedy, this one doesn’t have the bite of the director’s crime drama EMILY THE CRIMINAL, where a conviction, for assaulting an abusive partner, is a black mark that hangs unfairly over an ambitious businesswoman. HOW TO MAKE A KILLING is lighter, more fun, despite the murderous plot and an ironic ending, but it does still have some punch with its look at entitled people with more inherited wealth than sense and little in the way of decency or humanity.

HOW TO MAKE A KILLING opens in theaters on Friday, Feb. 20, 2026.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars

EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT – Review

You’d think that Aussie director Baz Luhrmann would’ve had his fill of “the King” after making his big-budget Oscar-nominated biopic of ELVIS nearly four years ago. And you would be so wrong. And Presley fans (and scores of fanatics), along with general movielovers are all the richer for it. Turns out that Baz wanted access to all the footage from the two Elvis concert films from the early 70s, and was probably gobsmacked by the 68 boxes of 35mm (and some 8mm) film delivered from deep within the vaults of Warner Brothers. We do get an overview of the man’s life and career, but the main focus is on the legendary performing tenure begun in 1969 at the International Hotel in Las Vegas. All the hi-tech cleaning and polishing only add to the legend, and truly earn the main title of EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT. Lace up those blue suede shoes…

The taut ninety-minute documentary/concert deftly combines both cinema elements. Baz assembles little “sidebars” that pop up almost like chapter bookends here. There’s a section devoted to his adored “Mama”, initial cultural impact (an explosion almost) with a TV preacher’s warning of the “beat” that summons Satan, his Army stint, the “Colonel”, his romances (yes, Priscella’s there), and many other milestones. Plus, there’s a montage of his often silly (“See Elvis karate chop a tiger!”) later movies that prompted the big 1968 “comeback” TV special. But the real “meat” is the preparations for the big Vegas concert with several unlikely tunes that were considered. It’s interesting to hear the King’s take on a couple of Beatles tunes, along with a Simon and Garfunkel classic. And yes, he’s in excellent “voice”, this being some of his most polished vocal stylings. The rehearsals and preparation scenes build to the big Vegas opening, in which Elvis almost “reinvented” himself and began his new era of live-performance spectacles.

For some viewers, this new reworking of long-thought lost footage will reinforce their perception of this icon, while for the unfamilar much of this may be a revelation or a discovery. We see long hours in minimal facilities to tweak the sound, in order to go beyond the “flash and glitter”. Oh, but there is plenty of that, though. His gaudy, often loud fashion ensembles are on full display, making us think of how it’s the male peacock who attempts to dazzle the ladies. Dazzle is a restrained turn for Elvis’ magnetic appeal to the hordes of enraptured women fans of every age. He is their idealized lover, even if there’s a hint of danger. One great bit has Elvis zeroing in on one of his most prominent female backup singers, which inspires both fear and quivering desire. That’s just one of the scenes of his “clownin””, as we witness him cracking up over his persona. There’s a darkness to one of the “jokes” as Elvis inserts some drug references to one of his tunes, strange since he’d get a “drug buster badge” from then President Nixon less that a decade before he was felled by his addiction. Ah, but that feels like the distant future as we see the celeb-packed audience at that first Vegas concert. Why, he’s visited in his dressing room after the show by Sammy Davis, Jr. and Cary Grant! Oh, to be a fly on the wall to hear what they discussed, or at least to have better microphones trained on them. This is also an incredible time capsule of that time when beehive hairdos (or don’ts) ruled the skies, probably blocking a lot of the audience, who “dressed to impress”, perhaps to garner a glance or a quick smooch from their idol (he does love to wander through the smothering crowds). Yes, these are fun, happy snippets of kitsch, but there’s still some tragedy as Elvis mentions his interest in touring the world, though he would never venture beyond North America. My only complaint about Baz’s passion project is that some songs are cut short in order to avoid a long running time for the IMAX venues. Yes, I wanted more, but what’s there is really great. Oh, and don’t leave when the end credits begin. There’s a brief shot of E flanked by his “Memphis Mafia” as he briskly strolls down the hotel staff corridor past their cafeteria. In his bright blue jumpsuit, he looks like he popped in from Mount Olympus, making us wonder how this rock and roll deity existed on this planet with us. Sure, the music is still wonderful, but the whole mystique is what makes this time-traveling trip so memorable in the truly EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT. And yes, sadly, Elvis has left the building…

3.5 Out of 4

EPiC: ELVIS PRESLEY IN CONCERT is now playing exclusively on IMAX screens. It expands to theatres everywhere on Friday, February 27, 2026

FRONTIER CRUCIBLE – Review

FRONTIER CRUCIBLE is an odd throwback to the Spaghetti and other Westerns of the late 1960s-70s. It opens in 1872, with three faceless thugs killing a seemingly random stranger they stumble across in the desert. Fast-forward two years. The US Cavalry must get a wagon of medicine through hostile Apache territory to a plague-infested town. Since a uniformed patrol would just piss off the natives, they delegate the task to a civilian who knows the human and geographic terrain, Beckford (Myles Clohessy), to drive it through the desert alone. We can see at a glance that he’s the sort of honorable, laconic frontiersman who can calmy handle any situation.

Enroute, he finds a seriously wounded man and his wife, Jeff and Mary Butler  (Eli Brown, Mary Stickley), who have just been joined by a sketchy trio (an unrecognizably grizzled Thomas Jane, Armie Hammer and Ryan Masson). All their horses were stolen by the Apaches, and they know another attack is inevitable. Beckford reluctantly agrees to take them along, leery of some of the characters and worried about Jeff’s condition. He imposes strict rules on his charges to minimize delays of his urgent mission. Many conflicts arise among them. Beckford maintains the stoic integrity and focus of a Gary Cooper or Clint Eastwood character in the face of assorted menacing elements. He may remind some of a slimmer Cheyenne Bode.

The film unfolds slowly, gradually revealing more of their backstories, providing context for how they all wound up there, and what their motivations were. There’s not a lot of surprise in what happens, but there are a satisfying handful in HOW they happen. Director Travis Mills could have cut about 20 of its 124 minutes without sacrificing plot or character development. He does make good use of the distinctive Monument Valley rock formations that every Western fan has enjoyed dozens of times. They tacitly provide a Seal of Approval for any oater filmed before their looming heights.

The script fleshes out enough diverse personalities among the players for dramatic tension. When the action scenes come, they’re well done. Enjoy seeing William H. Macy in the second scene. Though the biggest name in the cast, that’s all he stuck around for.  When you’ve run out of vintage late 1800s frontier fare, this one just might fill the niche for you.

FRONTIER CRUCIBLE is available on Digital, 4K Ultra HD, Blu-ray & DVD from Well Go USA on February 17.

Rated R for strong/bloody violence and grisly images.

RATING: 2 1/2 out of 4 stars

BLOOD BARN – Review

In BLOOD BARN, the latest entry into the Cabin-in-the-Woods aisle of the glutted horror supermarket we begin with seven college-age camp counselors celebrating the end of their season by spending a weekend at the rambling isolated former home of the ingenue’s grandparents. That’s Josie (Lena Redford – no relation to you-know-who), who is as wholesomely naïve as they come. The other two gals are Amanda (Andrea Bambina), sporting the look and edginess of a Krysten Ritter; and Rachel (Chloe Cherry), a leggy blonde whose sense of adventure is halfway between that of her gal pals. The four guys are such generic frat bros, I’m not sure who was which… and it really didn’t matter much.

The requisite menace is some mostly-unseen entity that lurks at this long-neglected (though the electricity is somehow still working when they arrive) house and barn for reasons having to do with some sort of evil stuff that happened in the past. Standard set-up. Clothes shed for swimming in the pond are sucked into the ground; things go bump in the night; people start disappearing; some resurface as if possessed; not everyone will survive to leave the property.

The monster doing the damage is mostly on screen as a malevolent vine that grabs folks and kills or changes them in a variety of gruesome ways. Besides fake blood and zombie-esque makeup, the vine that resembles spider legs more than anything botanical, and eerie red lighting fill the bill for most of the mood-setting special effects.  

This formulaic exercise is missing a few easy add-ons that could have made it a whole bunch better. Such flicks typically thrive on more titillation than this one serves. A sprinkling of naughty bits and boinking would have been easy to fit in, so to speak. Some of the encounters with the whatever-it-is were soft-pedaled, as if trying to keep it PG-13 for marketing. Even worse, co-writer and director Gabriel Bernini didn’t bother to let us know just what that thing was, or why it was there. Backstories are essential for such productions to seem grounded in the supernatural peril its characters are confronting. We’re not expecting realism, but we do expect an underlying reason for what we’re witnessing. 

Having a low budget justifies flicks making the best of inexpensive fx elements. They did have enough money to hire competent actors, and chose them well. But it don’t cost no more dough to flesh out a script with the whys and hows of its alternate realm – especially since one of the writers is on set doing the directing. A near miss from what it could have been.

BLOOD BARN streams exclusively on Screambox on February 17.

RATING: 1 1/2 out of 4 stars

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE – Review

Director Gore Verbinski (PIRATES OF THE CARRIBEAN) teams up with the great Sam Rockwell for a sci-fi action/comedy with something to say, where a man from the future, who is trying to save humanity from an all-powerful Artificial Intelligence creation, travels back in time to try to stop it at a critical moment. He’s already done this 116 times, but why not try a 117th.

On a dark night in L.A., one man enters a diner full of people, while holding a detonator button and wearing a strange outfit covered in wires and tactical gear. He says he’s not there to rob the place but he does have a bomb, so they better sit still and listen up. Then he tells them he is from the future and he’s there to recruit people to help him save humanity from an coming A.I. apocalypse, something he has already tried unsuccessfully 116 times before.

In a world-weary, slightly sarcastic tone, he tells his captive audience about his mission to save the world. Most people in the diner assume he’s a crazy homeless person but this joker is deadly serious, although you’d never guess that from his crazy get-up. Others barely look up from their cell phones – until he snatches their phones and tosses them away. He strides about the room, jumping on tables, calling out people by name to convince them this is real, and gradually, they start to listen to this character who seems to know things about the people there, who they are, what they are about to do next. He tells them that somewhere in this group of 47 people in this diner is a magic combination to save the world. Then he asks for volunteers to help him in his quest.

This is crazy, funny opening scene kicks things off in goofy, high-energy high-gear, as an unrecognizable Sam Rockwell, his face obscured by full beard, smeared dirt and a ski cap pulled low, brilliantly delivers his speech, about cell phone addiction leading to societal collapse and AI domination, while in constant kinetic motion. Rockwell goose-steps across tables, snatches handfuls of fries off plates, and slips into booths with lightning speed, to call them by name and share personal details about them – and pausing to yell at the waitress just before she picks up the phone to call the police.

Rockwell’s wild guy from the future does get a few volunteers (plus a few hands also go up from diners he refuses to take, due to poor performance on past runs). But he needs a few more, so he “drafts” some into coming along, based on either good past results or just because he hasn’t tried that combination before. One of the people who does volunteer is a young woman in a bedraggled princess costume, named Ingrid (Haley Lu Richardson). At first, he refuses to take her, but then he relents – because he’s never pick her before. She might be the magic addition to this combination that makes his mission work this time.

The crew he assembles also includes a couple who are teachers, Mark (Michael Pena) and Janet (Zazie Beetz), and a grieving mom named Susan (Juno Temple), and blustery guy named Scott (Asim Chaudhry) plus a few more. Their mission is to install a bit of software that was developed in the future, which installs controls on an A.I. creation built by a 9-year-old boy (Artie Wilkinson-Hunt), before it can achieve singularity and surpass human intelligence. They have to reach the home of that boy before that happens, and time is short. The man from the future wears a timer counting down the minutes and knows where the boy is, and it isn’t even far, but that doesn’t mean it is easy to get there. Many have died trying over those 116 attempts.

This is director/producer Gore Verbinski’s comeback film after nearly a decade away from film making. GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE (a phrase that is supposedly something virtual-reality gamers in this film say to each other) was independently made, maybe because no studio would touch a film that has A.I. as the villain. Nonetheless, Verbinski turns in an high-energy, entertaining film, with a good cast, while he and scriptwriter Matthew Robinson have their say about dangers of cell phone addiction and A.I. generally.

The ticking clock helps drive this energetic, entertaining gonzo comedy/adventure/action tale. which delivers with action and physical comedy but also delves into dark comedy (sometimes very dark, even unsettling), satire and social commentary, particularly in some flashbacks sequences. As the quest unfolds, we get flashbacks to some characters’ personal stories, specifically Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid, Michael Pena’s and Zazie Beetz’s and Juno Temple’s mom, as well as Sam Rockwell’s character’s tale. In flashbacks, we learn more about their alternate or near-future world, where school shootings are so common that schools come equipped safe rooms, disconnected teens are constantly on their phones or threatening if not, people are cloned in secret but come back with ads, and virtual reality goggles are so good, that people sign up to live in that alternate reality full time, permanently. All the flashbacks give us insight on how screwed up their world already is and, in the case of Rockwell’s character, part of how it got there.

Verbinski picked the perfect actor for the lead role but we know it is Sam Rockwell giving this speech largely because his name is in the credits. His face is well hidden, although why isn’t clear. His costume, however, is a perfect comic mishmash of electronics, wires, tactical gear and topped by a clear raincoat, making him look like a homeless person in a homemade time-traveler/bomber outfit.

As the story progresses, the lead shifts a bit toward Haley Lu Richardson’s Ingrid, as it hurtles towards it’s wild end with not just practical effects but also vibrant, even eye-popping visual effects.

I love the concept for this satiric dark comedy film, and it is a lot of fun, as well as having something to say, and Sam Rockwell is the perfect choice for the lead. While not everything is perfect, GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE still is an entertaining quirky, fun and involving film, with something important to say. The film deserves credit for being a unique concept on a timely topic, instead of a timid retread, and it deserves credit for its snappy pace, good storytelling, its band of misfits characters, its determined use of practical effects and nicely-done visual effects. Sam Rockwell deserves credit for a winning and determined high-energy performance under all that makeup and forty pounds of costume. We should reward all that by seeing this film, in a theater, and if you do, you will be rewarded with an entertaining and thought-provoking experience.

GOOD LUCK, HAVE FUN, DON’T DIE opens in theaters on Friday, Feb. 13, 2026.

RATING: 3 out of 4 stars

CRIME 101 – Review

Though it may seem that way, Spring and Summer aren’t the only release seasons for “high octane” action-packed crime thrillers. And this new mid-February release proves it. It’s packed with cops, gun-wielding “robbers”, and roaring car chases through congested Los Angeles. Yes, it’s very “street-level,” which is a big “change of venue” since the three main leads are multi-film Marvel Cinematic Universe vets, so no powers, just keen skills. And, no, it’s not about them passing on their talents to eager college students in big lecture halls. The triple numbers in the title refer to a very busy California freeway, which is the “route” favored by the main criminal, hence its moniker, CRIME 101.


The story starts in the pre-dawn hours as the three principals begin their “prep” for the day. Sharon Combs (Halle Berry) applies her make-up (almost like “war paint”) to charm another rich jerk into signing an insurance contract with her prestigious “protection” firm. Groggy police detective Lou (Mark Ruffalo) stumbles about in the dark until he begins his bathroom “constitutional” while scrolling the online news concerning another jewelry courier hijacking. And finally, there’s Mike (Chris Hemsworth), who scrubs every loose bit of skin and hair off his body before donning his work attire: crisp white shirt, black suit with tie, and a gun. Using some spiffy high-tech gizmos, he intercepts a big diamond transfer from a grungy downtown shop to swanky Beverly Hills. Mike always displays his weapon, but never fires, as he tries to grab the goods without gunplay. But this morning is different when he nearly takes a bullet. It’s his “come to Jesus” moment, contemplating his future while making an almost clean getaway. Soon, Lou is called in with his partner Tllman (Corey Hawkins) to comb the crime scene. Later, Lou will present his theory on a lone hijacker making hits along the 101 freeway to an uninterested squadroom (and a “by-the-books” captain). As for Sharon, she almost “seals the deal” with the wealthy client, then heads to the office for a staff meeting where she’s assigned that same robbery, while her morning “gig” is handed off to the newly-hired, much younger saleslady. Oh, and the higher-ups tell Sharon that they need to table her promotion request (“Let’s put a pin in it”). As the “heat” starts to die down, Mike makes the “ice” tranfer to his long-time connection/ fence Money (Nick Nolte). They discuss the unplanned gunplay during the last job, with Mike stating that he wants “out” after the next score. Money then meets with another “staffer”, Ormon (Barry Keoghan), a violent biker with a hair-trigger. Money thinks Mike has lost his “nerve” and assigns that next job to him. Plus Money thinks that Mike is planning his own “big score” and orders Ormon to tail him and scoop up the “spoils”. He’s right, as Mike’s “side project” before he “gets out of the game” will involve Sharon, and eventually Lou and the deranged Omron. Could this truly be Mike’s “last score”, in more ways than one?

Well, this is quite a dramatic turn from the main trio’s heroic roles in the MCU. The story’s real center is the mysterious Mike (if that is his real name) played with heavy gravitas by Hemsworth. There’s nothing of the affable “thunder god” to be found in the somber, stoic “soldier thief” as his pre-job ritual is almost like donning a uniform before battle. With his clipped delivery and downturned eyes. Hemsworth conveys that Mike is not only on the run from the law, but he’s trying to escape his troubled past. We do get a glimpse of his vulnerability and his yearning for human connection through his blossoming romance with Maya, played by the talented Monica Barbaro (superb as Joan Baez in A COMPLETE UNKNOWN). She’s trying to pierce his protective hide, but Mike can’t doff his emotional armor. His “Javert”, Lou has his own internal conflicts. Ruffalo tones down his usual superior intellectual persona to convey the “working stiff” quality of this beaten-down “seen it all” cop, who, like Mike, also has a yearning to break free of his dodrums that have inspired too many bad habits (smoking, boozing, being out of shape), and feeling the need to start anew after an unexpected end to his marriage. Unfortunately, we only see his wife in a diner break-up scene, so the talented Jennifer Jason-Leigh is woefully underutilized (maybe much of her work is on the cutting-room floor). What a pleasure to see Ms. Berry again, here using her acting skills to give us a seasoned professional (her maturity factors in quite a lot) who is a cog caught in the gears of a greedy, chauvinistic machine that seems to delight in squandering her spirit until she’s pushed aside for a shiny, new model. Berry shows the sparkle in her eyes when a chance to break out of the “boys club” appears as a way to end her frustration. The film’s real “wild card” is Keoghan, who makes Ormon an unpredictable demon of destruction, a devil in punk-ish bleached-blonde hair. Nolte is settling into these veteran character roles well, as he croaks out sinister threats and orders. Hawkins is very good as Lou’s cynical buddy partner, who wants to avoid his career path. And this serious tone is lightened a touch by the comedic performance of Tate Donovan as the “too much dough for his own good” millionaire “mark”.

They’re all directed by Bart Layton, who also adapted the Don Winslow novella, though it feels like this is from a weightier tome. Maybe that’s due to the pacing problems, which contribute to it needing a good twenty-minute trim. There are too many little subplots that don’t really contribute much, especially as Lou deals with lots of either disinterested or downright dirty cops right out of SERPICO-style flicks. And the whole crumbling-marriage asides feel distracting from the cat-and-mouse action sequences. And they are pretty solid as Mike zips his sleek cars (especially a cherry green classic Mustang) all around day and night LA (the latter is a great backdrop for a pursuit of cycle-soaring Ormon). Luckily, this superb trio of actors keeps our interest high even as the end results fail to emulate (and it really tries) the cool caper crime flicks like THIEF, HEAT, and DRIVE (and maybe BABY DRIVER, too). So, all the fans of furious, fast auto exploits will get their adrenaline fix before the big Summer action blockbusters, but their patience and endurance will be sorely tested by the fuzzy, meandering of the many detours of the slickly made (the familiar LA locations are given a high-gloss sheen) CRIME 101.


2.5 Out of 4


CRIME 101 is now playing in theatres everywhere

MISDIRECTION – Review

In the crime drama MISDIRECTION, a couple of burglars/lovers (Olga Kurylenko, Oliver Trevana) use high-tech equipment and a meticulous plan to rob a rich guy’s (Frank Grillo) large modern home while he’s supposed to be at a banquet for the whole evening. This is meant to be their last big score before retiring to a life of leisure. The soon-to-be-victim departs on schedule; they bypass his security, empty a big stash of cash from his safe and continue looking for more valuables.

Uh oh! The dude comes home much earlier than expected! He can tell there’s been a breach and grabs his gun. The rest plays out just about in real time, as the confrontation gets more and more complicated. The thriller focuses more on the characters than the actual crime.

We soon learn that Olga had another agenda in picking this house besides the booty. That leads to an ongoing argument about what to do with Grillo. They aren’t really killers, but he’s seen their faces.  There’s a lot of movement in physical, logistic and emotional terms as Olga’s underlying motivation gradually unfolds. That includes doubts about whether her anger is justified, or if she’s just nuts.

The house’s rather Spartan décor and dim lighting leave everyone in shades of gray, providing a noirish backdrop that complements the moral ambiguity and the suspense. Lacy McClory’s script keeps us guessing about what may or should happen to whom. The lot of the trio is further complicated by some unexpected visitors. Although everything after a couple of brief early scenes occurs in Grillo’s house, director Kevin Lewis (Willy’s Wonderland) keeps it from feeling claustrophobic, moving them among several rooms in various combinations, incorporating enough action to keep it from being too talky, and sustaining the intensity with a brisk pace.

This drama’s setup could have also worked well as a farce, with things going wrong and the players variably arguing and coaxing each other – especially with the arrival of the others upsetting the apple cart. That’s the direction an Elmore Leonard or Donald Westlake would have taken it, and probably to great advantage, based on their many successful novels turned into comedic caper flicks. But that’s not a complaint. The thriller option works out pretty well, too, with the trio of leads delivering fine performances.

MISDIRECTION is available on Digital formats from Cineverse on February 10, 2026.

RATING: 2 1/2 out of 4 stars

DRACULA – Review

French director Luc Besson’s English-language DRACULA transforms Bram Stoker’s gothic horror novel into a sort of fairy tale-like gothic romantic fantasy, about a 15th century prince cursed by God for renouncing him after the death of his beloved wife, who is doomed to an eternal life searching for his lost love. Besson, know for LA FEMME NIKITA and THE FIFTH ELEMENT, also wrote the screenplay for DRACULA and certainly knows how to create thriller entertainment. With a score by Danny Elfman and Christoph Waltz in a supporting role, the film is silly fun, although it has some unevenness in tone.

However, this Dracula tale is not for everyone, certainly not purists, and so some people are likely to hate it while others find it amusing. The original title, apparently, was DRACULA A LOVE STORY, so that’s a tip off. It mixes brooding gothic romance with action sequences and some bloody, while sprinkling in dark humor and references to other Dracula movies. It’s not particularly horror and, reportedly, it was created by Besson less out of a fascination with the Dracula novel and more out of a wish to work again with Caleb Landry Jones, with whom the director/writer worked in his 2023 film DOGMAN.

In 15th century Wallachia, in the Carpathian Mountains, Prince Vlad II (Caleb Landry Jones), also known as Count Dracula, is madly in love with his princess Elisabeta (Zoe Bleu), but is pulled away from their bedroom romps by the arrival of the Ottoman Turks on the border. Worried for the princess, he sends her off to another castle for safety but just to be sure, he threatens his bishop, to extract a guarantee: Since the prince is going to be God’s defender of the faith, then bishop must make God promise that his princess will not be killed.

The princess never makes it to the other castle and, heartbroken and enraged, denounces God. As a punishment, God condemns Vlad to eternal life, as a vampire. The rest of the film follows the grieving immortal prince across the centuries, as he searches for the reincarnation of his lost princess. His search takes him across centuries and to the royal courts of Europe (in a series of visually lush scenes) until he decides to send out minion vampires instead to search for this princess.

Besson does get around to including part of Bram Stoker’s novel, although things are turned on their head in this version. Four hundred years later after the death of Princess Elisabeta, Jonathan Harker (Ewens Abid), a Parisian lawyer in this version, comes to visit Count Dracula in his decaying Romanian castle, with an offer to buy one of the Count’s real estate holdings. That visit is how Vlad spots a photo in a locket, of Harker’s fiancee Mina, who looks exactly like the princess. Locking up Harker, Vlad sets off for Victorian-era Paris.

This Dracula’s quest is for the lost Elisabeta rather than fresh victims, but still, a vampire’s gotta eat. He has to fuel up and restore his good looks before he meets her, but Vlad has found a clever way to ensure an endless supply of fresh blood, by creating an irresistible perfume that draws women to him. Silly stuff, of course, but delivered with a winking sense of fun.

In Paris, things get lively, with Matilda De Angelis chewing up some scenery among other things as Vlad’s servant vampire Maria. Maria is lock up in an asylum after attacking a priest, where she is tended by Dr. Dumont (Guillaume de Tonquedec) who calls in a specialist, a priest/detective (Christoph Waltz) from the Vatican, to solve the case. We also meet Maria’s unsuspecting nobleman fiance Henry Spencer (David Shields) and, of course, Mina (Zoe Bleu again).

Plenty of other vampire movies get referenced along the way, with a good measure of tongue in cheek. This certainly isn’t the first Dracula comedy, or even the first Dracula romance. Christoph Waltz is a standout, in a kind of van Helsing role as the droll, clever, unconventional priest/detective, who is called in to treat Maria, played by a very entertaining Matilda De Angelis.

Waltz gets plenty of scenes and provides a lot of the fun in this film, and gets the best lines, but Caleb Landry Jones as Prince Vlad is the star. This Dracula is less a figure of pure evil than a cursed, violent man filled with regrets and grief. Jones varies between grieving widower and a coolly clever vampire with penchant for swiftly violence. There are plenty of fight scenes, both sword battles and martial arts fights, as many as there are blood-sucking ones. There is some blood but less gore than you might expect.

Again, all pretty silly but entertaining, and Landry Jones often plays it with a winking smugness. His looks vary too, going from handsome medieval prince or Victorian hand-kisser to a crumbling pale thing in an enormous white wig. Caleb Landry Jones is a good choice for this part, as his looks are unconventional enough that he can play romantically handsome in some scenes or just weird-looking in others.

Although the film is in English, everyone sports some kind of accent, which often makes the dialog difficult to discern. Danny Elfman’s score adds a bit of fun, and reminds us not to get to serious here. While the film has nice costumes and sets, scenery is more variable, from some well-done, even beautiful CGI scenes but others using cheesy low-budget backdrops.

Luc Besson’s DRACULA is no Dracula classic. But, despite it’s flaws and silliness, it is kind of fun to watch, if you don’t take it seriously and can get past the violence it does to Bram Stoker’s novel.

DRACULA opens in theaters on Friday, Feb. 6, 2026.

RATING: 2.5 out of 4 stars