Prime Time: The Escort (2016)

Michael Doneger plays Mitch, a young man who isn't where he wants to be in life, having just been fired from his job, as well as receiving constant criticism from his best friend, JP (Tommy Dewey), about his slight sex addiction issue. Tasked with presenting a worthwhile piece of journalism to secure a new job, Mitch ends up involved with Natalie, a high-class, well-educated escort who might actually cause Mitch to reflect on his own life as he finds out more and more about her.

What you get here isn’t new, and it is something we will see again and again. The Escort, despite trying to appear much more risqué than other films it could sit alongside, is a standard rom-com that had two seemingly incompatible characters realising just how well they can work together.

Director Will Slocombe tries his best, walking a fine line to portray some of the sexual encounters without it feeling gratuitous or too much like simple titillation, and he also seems to be working hard to make the best end product possible on a relatively low budget. There aren’t really any big names to help things along (although Bruce Campbell is very well used in his small supporting role, playing Mitch’s father) and the tone throughout is never radically altered in favour of an “easier sell”.

As admirable as not taking the easy option is, writer Brandon Cohen (fleshing out the story idea from Doneger) also does everyone a slight disservice by skirting around moments that could have easily increased the comedy quotient of the film. As already mentioned, Campbell is great, but he’s only onscreen for a few scenes. The same could be said for the character played by Dewey, someone who could have added some more friction and laughs, but is instead underused. And a cursing little sister (played by Rachel Resheff)? Yep, underused. The same goes for a landlord at the end of his patience (played by Juan Carlos Cantu). On the one hand, I get it. Keep the focus on Doneger and Fonseca. And try to stop this from feeling too close to a teen sex comedy. On the other hand, a rom-com really needs the rom and the com, and the latter could have really helped the former.

The leads are decent, but there’s a sad lack of chemistry between them. It is the supporting cast who have all the fun though, with everyone I just mentioned above doing generally great work. Dewey is probably the least effective of the main cast members, but that is the fault of a script that does even less with him than it does with the others. There are also a number of actors doing their best “major douchebag” turns while paying for the company of Fonseca’s character, which I guess helps to make her like our leading man more, by default.

Although I personally didn’t think the film needed to miss so many opportunities for laughs, I appreciate the attempt to present some young adults discussing various approaches to sex in a positive and open way. The Escort may not be a film to love, and I doubt I will ever rewatch it, but it certainly provides more talking points than your average rom-com. There just wasn’t quite enough honey coating the underbaked platter of genitalia-shaped cookies at the heart of it. And there’s another sentence I never thought I would write.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.

It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA

Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

Black Friday (2021)

If ever there was a time for zombie(ish) creatures to cause mayhem and clash with crowds of raging humans, it is Black Friday. That term already summons up images of mass hordes, zombiefied consumers, and violent tussles. So this movie, throwing the two elements together, should be an easy success. Sadly, that is not the case.

A group of unhappy staff members are not looking forward to their shift on what is usually the busiest retail sales day of the year. Things get a lot worse when people start being more violent and dangerous than usual.  

Let’s get straight to the point here. This feels very much like what it is, a horror comedy with a few decent gags couched in a solid premise that is never as good as it could be, potentially due to the relative inexperience of the writer and director. It also wastes some of the better cast members, something I will get back to soon enough.

Writer Andy Greskoviak must have been delighted to get his script turned into a feature, but he seems to be oblivious to the fact that he didn’t think things through thoroughly. Because if he had, he would make so much more of his main idea. The standard zombie movie threat occurring in the midst of Black Friday sales is a strong concept, and that is apparent from the first third of the movie, which builds the threat while clarifying how fed up many of the store staff are, but Greskoviak fumbles things when trying to strengthen the horror elements.

Director Casey Tebo cannot help to cover over the cracks. Despite this not being his first feature, most of his work being in music videos and non-fiction fare means that he doesn’t seem best suited to this. The script issues (gags falling flat after the decent opening, awkward character moments, inconsistent threat levels) feel worse when Tebo fails to find a way to keep the energy levels high and the presentation interesting enough.

And then we have the wasted cast. A couple of the younger cast members do okay, mainly Ivana Baquero and Ryan Lee, but Stephen Peck is made just a bit too annoying, Bruce Campbell doesn’t get enough great moments, Michael Jai White doesn’t get anywhere close to enough screentime, and Devon Sawa, a potential lead here, ends up sidelined in a plot thread that feels completely adrift from the rest of the film.

Put this on, enjoy the first 20-25 minutes, and then turn it off. That’s my recommendation. There’s a fantastic short film here, and it is spoiled by being stretched out to feature length. The longer it goes on, the less funny and enjoyable it gets. Much like footage of warring Black Friday crowds, ironically.

4/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews

One December Night (2021)

Steve Bedford (Bruce Campbell) and Mike Sullivan (Peter Gallagher) were once one of the biggest musical duos around, and "One December Night" was their biggest hit. But they eventually went their separate ways, breaking their relationship into smaller and smaller pieces with each little unresolvable issue. It's a surprise to everyone when they agree to a televised reunion show, but it turns out that Sullivan really needs the money. Does he need it enough to put up with his partner again though? Yes, but that won't stop him from potentially cancelling the whole show if he gets sick of everything, which is where his daughter (Quinn Allan, played by Eloise Mumford) and Bedford's son (Jason, played by Brett Dalton) come into the picture. They are hoping they can smooth things over enough for the show to go ahead, and that also involved getting the pair to agree to sing their biggest hit.

Written by Eric Brooks, One December Night is an enjoyable and easygoing Christmas TV movie that is elevated by the leads, but it’s a shame that the material wasn’t reworked to play to the strengths of what some might consider its most valuable asset, Bruce Campbell.

Director Clare Niederpruem keeps everything ticking along nicely, the generic music blends together to create the notion of a career with a few hits in it and the visuals are what you expect; snow, small town charm, and bland and appealing supporting characters.

Excelling in the moments that hint at his usual persona of cockiness and narcissism, Campbell is fun in his role, but is also allowed to settle into more straightforward drama in the third act. Fans may well want more from him though, and not without good reason (as letting him go even bigger could have provided an entertaining vein of comedy through something that feels more po-faced than it needs to be). Gallagher is a good choice alongside him, a decent actor who plays things with a more subtle approach. Mumford is cute and bubbly, as she has been in other movies for this season, and Dalton is fine, although the least of the four leads. The other person worth noting is Jasmine Forsberg, playing a lesser-known musical artist who may well get her big break supporting Bedford & Sullivan at their reunion show.

People after something typically full of the spirit of Christmas won’t be disappointed. This does the job. It’s just a shame that nobody decided to tap into the potential provided by the casting, which could have made this a genuinely amusing comedy drama. It almost succeeded anyway, especially when you see Campbell’s approach to fake guitar playing. 

Serviceable. I just wish this one had reached for more.

5/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

Serving Sara (2002)

There was a time when I thought that Matthew Perry should have done well in his film career. I always thought he was the funniest main member of the Friends cast (well . . . second to Lisa Kudrow) and he had a way of being cheeky while still remaining likeable. Sadly, you wouldn't know that from most of his film roles. It would be unfair to say that he kept picking duds. He obviously tried to stick with what was viewed as a winning formula, and I happen to like both Three To Tango and The Whole Nine Yards, but it soon became clear that his talent was best contained in episode form, as opposed to lead roles on the big screen.

Serving Sara, the tale of a process server (Perry) who tries to catch an elusive target (Sara, played by Elizabeth Hurley) until he is convinced by her that they should actually turn the tables on her scurrilous husband (Bruce Campbell), is far from the worst thing he has starred in. The plot is light enough to allow the leads space to have plenty of fun, there are some great line deliveries from Perry, and there's one sequence that seems specifically designed to get Elizabeth Hurley out of an everyday outfit and into something much more revealing (which is good news if you're a fan).

Director Reginald Hudlin does well enough, keeping things looking good enough to help viewers forget that most of the budget seems to have been spent on putting the cast together. There's nothing that stands out here, it's all just put together competently enough when it could have easily been a much lazier and sloppier film.

Writers Jay Scherick and David Ronn do a lot better here than they have done with many other entries in their filmography. Although weaker than many better comedies, I wouldn't have believed that this was from the same people who gave us National Security, Norbit, and Baywatch (although, in the interest of full disclosure, I actually rate that one about the same as this - and will always remind people of how easily pleased I can be).

But it's the cast who really help to keep this enjoyable throughout, even if Perry doesn't quite do enough to sell himself as a viable leading man. There may not be any chemistry between Perry and Hurley but they both always seem to be having fun, which helps a lot. Campbell is a lot of fun as the husband who wants to divorce his wife in a way that will leave him with all of his acquired wealth, and Cedric The Entertainer and Vincent Pastore are amusing as, respectively, the boss and competing colleague of Perry's character. Jerry Stiller pops up as a cop who is willing to offer helpful information for the right price, Terry Crews is the tough guy hired to ensure Campbell's character doesn't get served, and Amy Adams has a small amount of screentime as "the other woman".

Serving Sara is the kind of breezy comedy you may well find yourself catching on a TV channel one afternoon or evening. You then watch some of it, don't mind what you see, and watch some more, all the way to the end. Unless someone else picks up the remote control and presses the menu button to remind you of the better options playing on some of the other channels. It's inessential, it's forgettable, and it's perfectly passable comedy entertainment.

5/10

You can buy the movie here.
Americans can buy it here.

Terminal Invasion (2002)

Terminal Invasion is not the kind of movie that you'll be likely to hold in high regard. It's no great piece of film-making. Yet it's still an enjoyable enough slice of fun, thanks to the brisk pacing, a lack of pretension, and Bruce Campbell in the lead role.

Campbell plays Jack, a prisoner who ends up in a tiny airport with two officers guarding him closely. One trip to the gents later, everything gets a bit strange and dangerous. People are dead, and Jack is the one being blamed by the other people in the airport, including the security guard. It turns out that the killer was an alien, and it may not be the only one in the airport. Jack tries to convince others of the danger that they're in, but if they don't want to believe him then he'll do whatever it takes to break free and make sure that the one pilot in their midst (Chase Masterson) flies him all the way to another country.

Directed by Sean S. Cunninghman, the man perhaps best described as part horror maestro and part carnival barker, this is standard b-movie fun, trying to overcome its low budget with the charisma of Campbell and the potential fun of the premise. It's hard to believe that it took three people to write the script (Lewis Abernathy, John Jarrell and Robinson Young), but it's not as flat and lifeless as many other TV movies of this ilk.

A large part of that, however, is all down to Campbell, who has cornered the b-movie market in smartass, cool anti-heroes. Masterson makes for a decent partner, as the bizarre reality of the situation becomes clear, and Kedar Brown and Sarah Lafleur also do pretty good work. Jason Jones, one of the more recognisable faces in the supporting cast, is onscreen for a little while, and he's the only other one to make a decent impression. Andrew Tarbet, C. David Johnson, Marcia Bennett, and others populate the story without ever feeling like more than stock characters/fodder for the dangerous alien.

There are attempts made to keep viewers on their toes, each one being either too predictable or too laughably silly to work. Still, I appreciate the effort. It may be nothing more than an average film, when all of the pros and cons are weighed up, but it could have been much worse.

5/10

http://www.amazon.com/Terminal-Invasion-Bruce-Campbell/dp/B001KEGR5W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1405626342&sr=8-1&keywords=terminal+invasion

Escape From L.A. (1996)

People have been getting quite worked up over the past few days after hearing news that the mighty Escape From New York has been lined up for the remake treatment. I can see why that news would be upsetting, but I also think that most people seem to be forgetting that Escape From New York has already been remade on at least two occasions now. The first remake was set in L.A. and directed by John Carpenter. The second one, off the top of my head, was directed by Neil Marshall and called Doomsday.

I know, I know, Escape From L.A. isn't a remake, it's a sequel. Of course it is. It just happens to hit almost every beat from the original movie in exactly the same order. The opening, once again, tells viewers about the disintegration of America and how a certain area of land has been made into a point of no return for most citizens. The danger, once again, comes from the daughter of the POTUS and the one man who may be able to get the job done is, once again, the mighty Snake Plissken (Kurt Russell effortlessly reprising the role 15 years after the original film). Snake is, once again, given very little choice in the matter and ends up using a one-man vehicle to get into L.A. before wandering around and meeting a variety of oddballs as he tries to reach his goal.

The fact that everything is so familiar is both a big positive and BIG negative for the film. Russell is great, in one of his best roles, and the supporting players all bring some fun to the proceedings but the old familiarity breeding contempt adage starts to come true as each scene clearly plays out as a pale imitation of good stuff from the original movie. There are no surprises here for fans of Escape From New York.

There is, however, still plenty of fun. Carpenter, who wrote the script with Debra Hill and Kurt Russell, may not be at the top of his game when it comes to the visuals (a lot of these mid-1990s effects look worse than the stuff in the 1981 film, which at least has a certain retro charm to it nowadays) and makes one huge mis-step with a scene featuring some surfing that has to be seen to be disbelieved, but he throws enough good people onscreen to guarantee that movie fans will at least spend most of the movie with a smile on their face.

Cliff Robertson plays the president this time around, Stacy Keach and Michelle Forbes are the people who give Snake his instructions and try to keep tabs on him, Peter Fonda is a wise old dude, Steve Buscemi is slippery Eddie AKA Map To The Stars Eddie and Bruce Campbell is a creepy surgeon. Valeria Golino has a small role as a woman who enjoys the freedom that living in dangerous L.A. provides and Pam Grier is enjoyable as Hershe Las Palmas. A. J. Langer is the daughter of the president and Georges Corraface is the revolutionary type that she falls in with, but both are overshadowed by the supporting cast, which also includes the great Al Leong and Peter Jason in small roles.

While certainly not as bad as it was made out to be when initially released, Escape From L.A. just isn't a patch (pun possibly intended) on the first film, but it has plenty of enjoyable little moments throughout and shows some strong ideas at its core as it weaves the basic plotline through an America that Carpenter shows to be horribly restrictive and in need of adjustment. It's set in 2013, but it's a 2013 where personal freedoms are kept in check by the government, American citizens are treated like a foreign invader once a judgment has been made and people are controlled by a mixture of lies and misinformation. Thank goodness it's only a movie, eh.

6/10

If you have enjoyed this, or any other, review on the blog then do consider the following ways to show your appreciation. A subscription/follow costs nothing.
It also costs nothing to like/subscribe to the YouTube channel attached to the podcast I am part of - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCErkxBO0xds5qd_rhjFgDmA
Or you may have a couple of quid to throw at me, in Ko-fi form - https://ko-fi.com/kevinmatthews
Or Amazon is nice at this time of year - https://www.amazon.co.uk/hz/wishlist/ls/Y1ZUCB13HLJD?ref_=wl_share 

Bubba Ho-Tep (2002)

An elderly Elvis Presley, his real identity SO secret that he is the only one left who actually remembers it (or does he?), and an elderly, and coloured, JFK join forces against a soul-sucking mummy in one of the finest cult movies to attain major success (in rental/DVD purchase terms, at least) in recent years, thanks to word of mouth and unflagging fan support.

Is it cult? Is it any good? Many fans would give a resounding yes as an answer to one or both of those questions. I do too. It shows writer-director Don Coscarelli ( who wrote the script based on a short story by Joe R. Lansdale) as a man with more up his sleeve than deadly metal balls (re: Phantasm, for the uninitiated). Although I, like many other Phantasm fans, want another instalment in that franchise I will be more than happy if he keeps directing movies as good as this one and John Dies At The End.

A fantastic performance from Bruce Campbell, superbly supported by Ossie Davis (R.I.P.), holds this film together. The two men have fun with their characters, but also show a real warmth and vulnerability. Considering who they are supposed, or believe themselves, to be, that's no small feat. Ella Joyce deserves a mention as a nurse looking after the men while Bob Ivy has the thankless task of playing the titular villain.

A giant, flying scarab beetle, a mummy sucking souls from an orifice that you wouldn't think fit for that purpose, the King, a black JFK, it all sounds like kooky, camp fun but what really sets this film in your memories is the emotional core.

It's about taking one last stand, it's about the fleeting moments of happiness we look back on in our old age and either regret because we made mistakes afterwards or regret because we can't have them back, it's about finding strength when you've spent so long accepting your fragility and, in a way, it's about the endurance of legends (or heroes, if you prefer). I may be reading too much into it but I think this movie DOES have all that and more. I challenge you to watch it and tell me different.

Bubba Ho-Tep is showing at The Filmhouse today as part of the run up to the 20th Dead By Dawn so get your tickets here - http://www.filmhousecinema.com/showing/bubba-ho-tep/ - and enjoy it on the big screen.

9/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Bubba-Ho-Tep-Special-2-DVDs/dp/B000P5FDIY/ref=sr_1_5?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1359152307&sr=1-5

Intruder (1989)

A bunch of people are working in a store at night and someone starts to kill them off in a number of imaginative ways. That's the plot of Intruder. It's flimsy, it's simple and it's all that is needed to get from one gory death to the next.

Let me start by saying that I didn't LOVE Intruder. In fact, there were a few scenes that had me wondering if everyone who had ever recommended the movie to me had suffered from a temporary lapse in taste. The characters, for the most part, aren't all that appealing and the structure of the film sticks so rigidly to the slasher formula - people go their separate ways to be picked off without anyone noticing until the big reveal in the third act - that it borders on parody.

Then I started to get the vibe of the thing. It was a good time on a disc, nothing more and nothing less. There may be no standard logic to the whole thing but it's unnecessary. This is a movie all about providing viewers with the best in gory mayhem while also playing around with camera angles that show you the action from the inside of a telephone, for example. It's a lot of fun and that's all it aims to be.

Sadly, it still suffers from that bland cast. Dan Hicks is superb in his role, and it's always good to see both Ted and Sam Raimi popping up in horror movies (this was written and directed by Scott Spiegel, from the story idea by himself and Lawrence Bender, and that's why the a lot of the folks comes from the Evil Dead II talent pool) but Elizabeth Cox, sadly, doesn't give her character any warmth, which means that viewers don't really care all that much for her while she's in peril. Renee Estevez isn't much better. The rest of the cast are pretty much interchangeable, with the exception of David Byrnes who plays an ex-boyfriend who can't accept that things are over. The character played by Byrnes is also, of course, the main suspect but is he the killer?

But, oh boy, those death scenes. Never mind the mixed bag of actors onscreen, once the kills start up this is one slasher movie that may instantly barge its way into your Top 10. The 30-45 minute middle section is about as good as it gets when it comes to this kind of stuff. It's just a shame that the start isn't all that great and the final 20 minutes are pretty damn boring but this is still the best movie that Spiegel has directed and he can easily be proud of the final product.

Highly flawed but also highly entertaining.

7/10

This Bluray is suitable for all regions - http://www.amazon.com/Intruder-Directors-Cut-Blu-ray-Combo/dp/B005S2F8LQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1349684857&sr=8-1&keywords=intruder+blu+ray