Avengers: Endgame

Starring: Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Josh Brolin, & Brie Larson

Director: Anthony & Joe Russo - Rating: PG-13 - Score: 4 1/2 Stars

Avengers: Endgame is now officially the highest grossing movie of all-time, but does it live up to they hype? The film does have everything you'd expect from a Marvel film, including a great cast, amazing special effects, shocking moments, incredible action, and of course humor. To the lay person, I supposed it could be considered a perfect film, but to me, a person who has dedicated themselves to Science Fiction, I saw some pretty big plots holes, (I won't discuss them here as I don't give spoilers in my reviews, but we can talk about them at length in the comments section). In order to counteract the actions of Thanos (Josh Brolin) in the previous film, the remaining Avengers need to try all kinds of things, and they try a literal smorgasbord of Science Fiction classics from time travel to alternate universes. While these make for great story telling, there is a format to them and universal rules but this film ignores all of those. I wouldn't say that takes much away from a truly fantastic story, but it's something that bothered me. What I have always loved about the Avengers is the ability to take all these huge stars and larger than live characters and put them into one film, without overdoing it. Everyone has their place and it's always a perfect fit. No one is the star of the film, but no one is ignored either, it's just something that is so rarely done and almost never works out quite this well. As for the nearly three hour running time, the film is so well paced that you don't even notice it. The Bottom Line is that a lot of series try to overdo it for the big finally and end up falling flat (shout out to Game of Thrones). This is not the case with the Avengers as they really did save the best for last. 

I Am Not A Serial Killer

Starring: Max Records, Christopher Lloyd, & Laura Fraser

Director: Billy O'Brien - Rating: NR - Score: 1 Stars

John Wayne Cleaver (Max Records) has some pretty dark thoughts, he even works at a funeral home. When a serial killer becomes active is his town, people are sure it's John, and he is certainly fascinated. John decides to track the killer himself, but even he's not sure if he's going to turn him in or turn him into a mentor. This film got rave reviews, proving once again that in order to be successful in this business, you need to promote what they tell you to and completely talk out of your ass. There wasn't anything good about this film, I knew that as soon as I realized Christopher Lloyd was the man John was looking for. At this point, Lloyd is so old that he can barely walk, much less be believable as a killer! Not to mention that his mumbling has gotten so bad, it's to the point where I needed to turn on the subtitles to figure out what the hell he was saying. As for his counterpart, Max Records, is just a dull kid, and serious John Wayne Cleaver? He wasn't anything special in the Sitter or Where The Wild Things Are and things haven't changed. In my wildest dreams I wouldn't have imagined that a film with Serial Killer in the title would be as boring as this film was. Not only are the actors a joke, but there is a distinct lack of blood in this movie. All these guys seem to do is talk until the shocking ending. I'll admit they got that part right, when the filmmakers said that you'd never see it coming. That's because it really comes out of nowhere and is so beyond stupid, that you won't be able to believe that anyone would actually allow it to be put on film. I've seen some bad movies, they miss the mark for all sorts of reasons, but I Am Not A Serial Killer is just terrible in every single way possible. This isn't even the type of film that's so bad that it's funny. It's so bad, that I can't believe someone actually made this or that anyone of name would agree to star in it bad.

Excision (2012)

Starring: AnnaLynn McCord, Jeremy Sumpter, Matthew Gray Gubler, & Traci Lords

Director: Richard Bates Jr. - Rating: NR - Score: 2 1/2 Stars

I have seen some strange movies in my time, but Excision has got to be near the top. This is the story of Pauline (AnnaLynn McCord), a dark outcast who likes dead things. She likes to play with them and dissect them. Her naive parents think that she's going to be a doctor, but the truth is she's closer to a psychopath than anyone realizes. The dark humor in the film was pretty great, as was Jeremy Sumpter, who has always been a favorite of mine, but that's about it. Excision is a film that's supposed to be disturbing, but the truth is it's just disgusting. Straight blood and guts for the sake of blood and guts. There is no rhyme or reason to the story and that's the most disturbing part. We just see a lot of Pauline, by herself, with her thoughts, doing the things she does that make her "that weird girl." Aside from being dark and disturbing, the filmmakers really push a shocking ending, but again, be ready for disappointment. The bottom line, these are the kind of films that turn people off to horror and just how great some of the films can be. If you wanna see some good looking people, some off color humor, and a lot of road kill, this might be the film for you, but my advice would be to take a pass on this one.

Scrooged

Starring: Bill Murray, Karen Allen, John Forsythe, & Carol Kane

Director: Richard Donner - Rating: PG-13 - Score: 2 Stars

A Christmas Carol has been done to death on both television and the big screen. Back in the 80s, Bill Murray teamed up with Richard Donner to make this wildly successful version of the tale. The films these two were a part of, defined the 1980s, so I was expecting magic. instead I got something that was the definition of overrated. Frank Cross (Bill Murray) is a television executive, one that's known for never being happy and quick to the pull the trigger on his employees. While planning a big Christmas spectacle, things aren't going his way and he is on the war path, until he fall asleep in his office and those three ghosts pay him a visit. This film begs to be raunchy, the whole story is designed around this outrageous man, but Scrooged never seems to pull that trigger. The story we know, it's easy to predict what is going to happen, but when you add an uneven performance by Murray, infantile jokes, and a cast that doesn't quite fit their roles, the result is a film that's just lame. Was this supposed to be for adults or children? That question is never answered and we end up with a film that really isn't suitable for either. I like Bill Murray, I love Richard Donner, but the film Scrooged, simply misses the mark on so many different levels.

The Good Neighbor (2016)

Starring: James Caan, Logan Miller, Keir Gilchrist, and Laura Innes

Director: Kasra Farahani - Rating: NR - Score: 4 Stars

Ethan (Logan Miller) and Sean (Keir Gilchrist) are best friends, friends who know that Ethan's neighbor, Harold Grainey (James Caan) is not a very nice person. One night the boys are up late playing video games, when they come up with the idea to screw with the evil old man across the street. They decide to trick the old man into believing that his house is haunted, but they have no idea the kind of person they are messing with. The Good Neighbor has so much going for it, especially when it comes to suspense. A lot of films claim that they will keep you on the edge of your seat, but this one really will. I'm not a jumpy, edge of your seat type person, but this film got me. Another thing I really enjoyed was not only the dynamic between the veteran actor and the two newcomers, but how different their characters were. First, we're following this miserable angry old man, then we're seeing kids in the prime of their life, screwing around, and having fun. It's the kind of thing a lot of people don't recognize, but it is extremely hard to pull off a two parted story, when the sides are so drastically different. James Caan was of course terrific as he is always is, but so was Keir Gilchrist. This kid continues to give these tremendous performances in these little known independent films. I think he is going to be a huge star at some point, but at the age of 27, he's really beyond films like this. The Good Neighbor is a rare treat, because it has two stars that are arguably too good to be in such a small independent movie. Paired with a terrific story, thrilling action, and a unique dynamic. This is one of those rate film we're proud to label as a must see movie!

The Loved Ones

Starring: Xavier Samuel, Robin McLeavy, John Brumpton, & Jessica McNamee

Director: Sean Byrne - Rating: R - Score: 2 Stars

I love Independent films, especially in the genre of horror. A good independent horror film is better than anything you will ever see in theaters. Unfortunately, in order to find the good ones, you need to weed through a lot of strange and terrible movies first. The Loved Ones is an Australian film that had an interesting premise. Lola (Robin McLeavy) is far from the popular girl in school, and she knows that he crush on the most popular kid in school, Brent (Xavier Samuel), likely won't go anywhere. With prom coming up, Lola only has eyes for Brent, who is planning to attend with his girlfriend, but before that happens, Lola and her father kidnap Brent and bring him to their homemade version of the prom. I loved how twisted this film was, from the corny jokes to the extreme gore, but The Loved Ones was extremely predictable and really doesn't go far beyond the description. The film moves at a snails pace and is an absolute cliche. There is a formula that you always find in horror film like this one, they include, a lack of character development, insanely good looking people who manage to find their way out of their cloths, and a lot of blood. This film has all that and it's a good story, but about twenty minutes in, Brent is kidnapped and the film just stalls. I had high hopes for this film, but ultimately it's just another boring film that tries to use shock and sex in order to sell itself.

Zoo

Starring: Billy Burke, James Wolk, Kristen Connolly, Nonso Anozie, & Nora Arnezeder

Seasons: 3 (2015-2017) - Network: CBS - Score: 3 1/2 Stars

Imagine a virus that effects the entire animal kingdom. One that makes all the animals, from the biggest mammal to the smallest insect self aware, so aware in fact that they realize that we are in fact the enemy. This was the premise behind the show Zoo, based on the novel by James Patterson. Zoo focuses on a secret team of animal experts, lead by Jackson Oz (James Wolk), assigned to research and discover the cause of the illness and try to find a way to cure it, but of course they face obstacles along the way, the least of which is the animals themselves. 

Mad Men's James Wolk stars, along side veteran TV actor Billy Burke and together they had terrific chemistry. Paired with a diverse cast, who at first were just trying to survive, made for an amazing first season. The side stories, character development, and special effects were all there at first. This was largely based on the fact that the show followed the book and any time you have something based on novel by an award winning writer, it's the way to go. After that, they strayed in their own direction and Zoo go heavily science based, something which tends to turn general audiences away, leading to it barely making it to a third season, one which was an epic disaster.

Zoo had two strikes against it from the beginning, one being that it was very expensive to produce, and when a show costs a lot, it better be in the top ten in ratings or it doesn't stand a chance. Second it was a summer pick up and those shows just don't get the ratings that networks are looking for. The first season was terrific, it was something new, different, and people loved it. After that, the show spiraled into all these strange tangents, the action declined, the government was more involved, and it just wasn't the same show anymore.

Audiences crave something different and if the show were going into season four or five, why not try something different? When a show is new however, why try to fix something that isn't broken? People loved the first season, it was highly acclaimed, and the ratings were terrific for a summer show, and being that it was a summer show, there were eight months in between seasons. No one was tired of Zoo and there wasn't a rating issue, there was no reason to change it so drastically. They tried tinkering too much and ultimately it lead to the shows demise. As the old saying goes, too many chefs ruin the pie.