Marginally engaging thriller from director Tobe Hooper. Chad Lowe plays a psychology student who leaves school for a steady job managing an old apartment complex in Hollywood. Are there any other kind? What starts off as a promising new career turns into a nightmare as strange events begin to plague his days. His suspicions are raised when the corpse of the former manager is discovered, leading him to believe that something evil is at work. He’s right, but director Hooper fails to connect all of the dots. There are some moments that generate genuine chills, but overall the film is sluggish and predictable. Read the rest of this entry »

Hot on the tail of “Blade,” “John Carpenter’s Vampire” comes at the perfect time of year, Halloween. Unfortunately, this anemic horror-thriller is less than perfect, a vampire film that suffers from iron poor blood. Read the rest of this entry »

As a former video retailer, I was fortunate enough to attend a local Video Software Dealer’s Association event in Malibu, California. It was a regional event, where members and their families enjoyed an afternoon of food and fun, courtesy of several studios and the VSDA. These events are always a lot of fun, and beneficial. You learn a little about the industry, you mingle with people in the same boat as you, and you get to take home some neat promotional items from the studios. Read the rest of this entry »

When we first meet screenwriter Steven Phillips (Albert Brooks), he’s on top of the world. He’s just received a humanitarian award for his body of work, which includes seventeen films, an Oscar nomination, a beautiful wife and family, and a comfortable home with a guest cottage. He also a three-picture deal with Paramount, and is anxiously awaiting word on his latest project. Read the rest of this entry »

CROW, THE: SALVATION (R)

“The Crow” franchise continues with this third entry starring Eric Mabius (“Cruel Intentions”) as a man wrongly accused of his girlfriend’s death. After his execution, Alex Corvis (Mabius) is resurrected by a mysterious crow. Read the rest of this entry »

Martin Scorsese is such an important director that with each new film comes a certain amount of expectation. That is why his latest film, “Bringing Out The Dead,” is such a major disappointment. Read the rest of this entry »

Riding high in the saddle, Viggo Mortensen leaps from one epic adventure (The Lord of the Rings) to another, and while there may be initial interest in this larger-than-life tale of heroism and survival, most audience members will experience a case of Deja Vu. That’s because “Hidalgo” borrows more than it births, creating an exciting yet extremely familiar film. Read the rest of this entry »

As a film, “The General’s Daughter” is as conflicted as its characters.
At first glance, the film looks like another one of those John Grisham Southern thrillers. It’s images are soaked in a golden honey hue, and you can literally feel the humidity and smell the sweat that permeates each and every scene. Read the rest of this entry »

“The Exorcist” is my favorite film of all time, a jarring, seamless exercise in horror that still works its voodoo 27 years after its original release. Currently haunting theater screens is a new edition of the film, an expanded version championed by writer William Peter Blatty. Read the rest of this entry »

When Lawrence Kasdan made the leap from screenwriter (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”) to writer-director (“Body Heat,” “The Big Chill”), Hollywood gained a double-hyphenate that would entertain us for years to come. Little did we know that waiting in the wings was a second-generation Kasdan, son Jake. Read the rest of this entry »