★★★ Netflix’s action shoot-em-up, Kate, comes on the heels of several excellent movies from the streamer. While it may not reach the high highs of last month’s Gunpowder Milkshake, Kate will thrill fans craving John Wick-style visceral combat and choreography. Mary Elizabeth Winstead is firmly channeling Jason Statham in Crank, and every second of her … Continue reading Film Review: Kate
Film Review: Yakuza Princess
★★★ About twenty minutes or so into action/thriller Yakuza Princess, I became convinced that it had to be based on a graphic novel. The primary reason for this assumption is the complex lore and bloody, visceral action-violence. It turns out the film is, indeed, based upon Danilo Beyruth’s Samurai Shiro—if any recent film has felt … Continue reading Film Review: Yakuza Princess
Film Review: Sweet Girl
★★★ Sweet Girl, Netflix’s newest, is little more than a generic on-the-run thriller that lacks the tension and stakes to truly go the distance. It does, however, give the audience well-choreographed action, and the muscles of Jason Momoa in an attempt to get on your good graces. Everything about Sweet Girl is too average to … Continue reading Film Review: Sweet Girl
Film Review: The Protégé
★★★ Maggie Q is back in badass mode for 2021’s action/revenge thriller, The Protégé. Q is no stranger to the genre, especially considering her tenure through four seasons of CW’s Nikita. An impressive ensemble cast rounded out by Samuel L. Jackson as legendary assassin Moody (a trained killer who “only kills bad people”) and heavyweight … Continue reading Film Review: The Protégé
Film Review: Habit
★★ Have you ever wanted to see Bella Thorne as a junkie thief masquerading as a nun on the run from thugs? I love Bella as well as road trip cinema quite a bit more than most, so it seemed like I would be the target audience for this action comedy. However, the execution is … Continue reading Film Review: Habit
Locarno 2021: Beckett
★★★★ Netflix films have been knocking it out of the park this year, between The Woman in the Window, the Fear Street trilogy, and A Classic Horror Story. Next on their roster is politically-charged thriller, Beckett. Starring John David Washington (Tenet, Malcolm & Marie) as the titular lead character, director Ferdinando Cito Filomarino wrings maximum … Continue reading Locarno 2021: Beckett
Film Review: Free Guy
★★★★ (Written by Allison Brown) Free Guy is a movie I have been anticipating for quite some time, as the release date has moved from July 2020 to December 2020, and now it is finally here! The long lapse of time due to the pandemic has even led to personal confusion with the plot, associating … Continue reading Film Review: Free Guy
Film Review: Notorious Nick
★★★ For better or worse, Notorious Nick is an entirely straightforward inspirational sports drama. Bolstered by the natural charisma of gorgeous leading man, Cody Christian, real-life one-armed MMA fighter Nick Newell gets the Hollywood treatment. Filmmaker Aaron Leong, whose sole other directing gig was 2016 comedy Mamaboy, does a terrific job staging enthralling combat scenes. … Continue reading Film Review: Notorious Nick
Film Review: Jolt
★★★★ Kate Beckinsale is no stranger to stunt-driven, heavily punctuated action sequences. Her work in the Underworld series remains a career high-point, and it is one I find myself revisiting time and time again. Her newest is Amazon Prime’s Jolt, which allows Beckinsale free reign John Wick-style, as well as the use of her natural … Continue reading Film Review: Jolt
Film Review: Escape Room: Tournament of Champions
★★★★ The first Escape Room, released in 2019, was basically a PG-13 version of Saw, with themed rooms and non-stop thrills. As much as I loved it, Escape Room: Tournament of Champions is bigger and better than the original in just about every way you can imagine. It manages to remain faithful to the two … Continue reading Film Review: Escape Room: Tournament of Champions