James Berardinelli

2 weeks ago | reelviews.net | James Berardinelli

Drop starts out with Hitchcockian flair and rides a dizzying wave of anxiety-based mystery until, like far too many underwritten thrillers, it falls apart with the arrival of an ending that is laughably absurd in concept and execution. What starts out as a devilishly clever exercise in evasion and detection turns into a self-parody that climaxes with several eye-rolling whoppers. Well, at least it’s never boring.

2 weeks ago | reelviews.net | James Berardinelli

If you’re looking for a fun, revenge-oriented thriller, The Amateur doesn’t deliver. (Go check out John Wick instead.) If the goal is to find a modern-day spy story, you won’t find that here, either. (Consider streaming the vastly superior Slow Horses instead). So what does this movie offer? Enough good scenes to construct a compelling trailer, perhaps, but not a lot more. It’s essentially Jason Bourne on Vicodin with a little Death Wish sprinkled on top.

3 weeks ago | reelviews.net | James Berardinelli

Going into A Minecraft Movie, I was hoping for something that might emulate the cheeky fun of The LEGO Movie or the re-imagined Jumanji. Those at least seemed to be reasonable comps. Alas, Jared Hess’ translation of the popular computer game proves to be little more than a less-inspired The Super Mario Brothers Movie.

4 weeks ago | reelviews.net | James Berardinelli

If John Wick or Payback is a gourmet burger, A Working Man is a Big Mac. A little tacky and neither nutritious nor memorable, the fast food staple nevertheless satisfies a craving while offering a helping of ephemeral, guilty pleasure. This film delivers what it promises – full stop. It features Jason Statham at his stoic best, mowing his way through an array of low-level bad guys as he gradually moves his way up the food chain.

4 weeks ago | reelviews.net | James Berardinelli

With a title like Death of a Unicorn, it’s perhaps unsurprising that Alex Scharfman’s film has a distinct Yorgos Lanthimos vibe (keeping in mind that Lanthimos made something called The Killing of a Sacred Deer). Although Scharfman doesn’t embrace the absurd qualities to the degree that Lanthimos often does, there’s still a fair bit of that going on this film, which takes a fairly standard horror plot and tweaks it by adding elements of mythology, parody, and deliciously over-the-top gore.