King Jack

Starring: Charlie Plummer, Cory Nichols, & Christian Madsen

Director: Felix Thompson - Rating: NR - Score: 2 Stars

Following the unexpected success of Winter's Bone in 2010, these dark, modern, noirish type films have been all the rage in Hollywood. In fact, these types of films have come to define the 2010 generation of film. Mostly set in rural areas, focusing on the lives of less fortunate people, these films tend to focus on some life defining moment. King Jack certaintly fits this model, and much like Winter's Bone, it is also a coming of age story. Jack (Charlie Plummer) is an angry fifteen year old, who has been bullied his whole life and acts out by getting in trouble. After a family issue, his younger cousin Ben (Cory Nichols) is forced to stay with Jack and his family. At first Jack is upset to be saddled with his naive younger relative, until he comes to realize they're in the same boat, and in Ben he may have found a potential ally. I understand that the premise of the movie is that Jack is a bullied kid, befriends another bullied kid, and all of a sudden their lives don't suck as much anymore, except that they do. Just because they found each other doesn't mean the bullies have gone or that their family situations will necessarily be any better, so what was the point? Watching this film, was simply watching a couple of teenagers hang out in a bad neighborhood, waiting for something substantial to happen. A few events happen here and there, but nothing life altering, and certainly nothing to base a film off of. To be honest, the whole thing was kind of boring. In general, I love this new style of film making, but when it came to King Jack, there were a couple of crude jokes, some anti-climatic scenes, and just a whole lot of nothing going on.

Remakes & Sequels: 2018

Many moviegoers believe the sequels ruin the original film and that remakes don't do the original justice, however remakes and sequels are often times the highest money makes or the year. While most aren't recognized by the Academy, and are panned by the critics, people still flock to the theaters every year to see the characters they know and love.

The Ultimate Movie Review would like to give special thanks to our friends for helping us with this years list!

Movie Moron

Movie Insider

Internet Movie Database

Upcoming Sequels Expected In Theaters During 2018:

Ant-Man & The Wasp

Avengers: Infinity War

Cloverfield 2017

Creed 2

Deadpool 2

The Equalizer 2

The Expendables 4

Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald

Fifty Shades Freed

God's Not Dead: A Light In Darkness

Goosebumps: Horrorland

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation

The Incredibles 3 

Insidious: Chapter 4

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

A Madea Family Funeral

Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again!

Maze Runner: The Death Cure

Mission: Impossible 6

Pacific Rim: Uprising

Paddington 2

The Purge: The Island

Sherlock Gnomes

Sicairo 2: Soldado

Solo: A Star Wars Story

The Strangers: Prey At Night

Super Troopers 2

Wreck It Ralph 2: Ralph Breaks The Internet

X-Men: Dark Phoenix

Upcoming Remakes Expected In Theaters In 2018:

Death Wish

Dr. Seuss: How The Grinch Stole Christmas

Halloween

Labrynith

Mary Poppins

Ocean's Eight

Peter Rabbit

Predator

Robin Hood

Scarface

A Star Is Born

Suspiria

Tomb Raider

White Fang

A Wrinkle In Time 

House of Bodies

Starring: Terrance Howard, Queen Latifah, & Peter Fonda
Director: Alex Merkin - Rating: NR - Score: 1 1/2

First of all how does a movie like this manage to get a cast like this? It boggles the mind that these actors would actually be willing to take part in such a shit show, but they did, and it was an epic disaster. Inside a house once owned by a serial killer, college girls looking for money, live, on camera 24/7, in a place where anything can happen. Ya see, they are actually part of a fetish porn website, where they can become victims at anytime and people pay big money to see this. Unbeknownst to them, the serial killer isn't dead, and one night he returns to the house, where the killings become all too real and are streamed live on the web for the whole world to see. Plain and simple this is a mildly pornographic slasher film and a bad one at that. Some big names have some small roles that are honestly beneath them, and not at all worthy of their time. Not only is the story badly written, but the film is just frustrating to watch, as it keeps switching back between the actual house and the poor quality web feed people around the world are watching. The bottom line here, there is a great cast, a title and even a preview that will attract every horror fan that sees it, but if you get sucked in, you will be highly disappointed.

Bleed (2016)

Starring: Chelsey Crisp, Riley Smith, & Michael Steger

Director: Tripp Rhame - Rating: NR - Score: 2 1/2

With a baby on the way, Sarah (Chelsey Crisp) and Matt (Michael Steger) decide to have some friends over to celebrate their new home and new family. It should have been a quiet day, until Sarah's unique brother Eric (Riley Smith) shows up. Eric is a drifter and a ghost hunter, whose bad behavior and odd ball girlfriend threaten to ruin the whole event. Eventually Eric gets into a discussion about what he does, and wanting to silence the skeptics, suggests a ghost hunt at an abandoned nearby prison, that's supposedly haunted. Well how could a woman who is six months pregnant not agree to hike through the woods to a haunted abandon building in the middle of nowhere? That part was a little ridiculous, but the backstory of the prison and the family dynamic actually wasn't too bad, especially for a B-horror movie without any big names attached to it. However that is what also becomes it's downfall, as once the action begins, the lack of experience and money for special effects comes into play, and this film quickly turns more into what I expected it to be. At 40 years old, Riley Smith seems to have been around forever, with over 75 IMDB credits under his belt. He was a pretty interesting character, why there wasn't more of a focus on Eric in the second half of the film, I don't know. I'm just a critic, but I can tell you from my experience, when you lack funds for better special effects, focus on the story and the experienced cast. The filmmakers didn't do that, and the whole thing just kind of falls apart at the end. Bleed wasn't bad for what it was, the first half half was better than expected, the second half, where all the fun stuff happens, was pretty much a disappointment. 

St. Vincent

Starring: Bill Murray, Jaeden Lieberher, & Melissa McCarthy

Director: Theodore Melfi - Rating: PG-13 - Score: 4 stars

Chemistry can make all the difference in a film, even when the story has been done before. St. Vincent wasn't a great film because the story was out of this world. In fact, it wasn't even all that original, but rather the fantastic chemistry between veteran Bill Murray, and newcomer Jaeden Lieberher made all the difference. After a bitter divorce, Maggie & Oliver have been forced to move to a new neighborhood, where they find their new neighbor is a bitter old drunk named Vincent (Murray). Vincent wants nothing to do with anyone, until happenstance throws him together with Oliver, who he reluctantly agrees to watch in exchange for a paycheck, but what does he know about taking care of a kid? Even though this movie could have been more raunchy, Bill Murray is always funny and paired together with this scrawny, innocent, overprotected kid, made for some of the best interplay I've seen in a very long time. Murray was at the top of his game, but he almost had the show stolen right out from under him by young Jaeden Lieberher. Four years later, we know this kid is a star, and after seeing this performance, it's easy to see how he landing huge roles in the movies It and The Book of Henry. Finally the cast is rounded out by Melissa McCarthy who I honestly can not stand anymore, but believe it or not, she was very reserved and laid back. I didn't know she was actually capable of doing that. St. Vincent won't win any awards for originality, some parts could be a bit slow, although there were a few surprises. As for me, I love the chemistry, I always enjoy seeing how young actors and actresses got their start, and the film stars Bill freaking Murray, need I say more?

Thor: Ragnarok

Starring: Chris Hemsworth, Tom Hiddleston, Cate Blanchett, & Mark Ruffalo

Director: Taika Waititi - Rating: PG-13 - Rating: 4 Stars

One thing I love about the Marvel Universe is that it is always trying to evolve. No matter how big the last box office or how good the last movie, with each film it is is always trying to get bigger, better, and even re-invent itself. With that however there is always a danger of going too far, and when it comes to their latest film, Thor: Ragnarok they came close. In his third installment Thor learns he must face his greatest foe of all, his long lost sister, who had been locked away millennia ago. She is said to be stronger than even Odin himself and casts Thor and Loki out of Asgard, where they wind up on a strange world, where Thor is forced to compete in a battle royal against an old friend. Thor has always featured arguably the best special effects in the Marvel film franchise, and at least to me, has always been more Science Fiction and therefore the least realistic of any of their modern characters. In an attempt to humanize him more and make him a little more friendly to general audiences, Marvel added a ton of humor to the character in Ragnarok. While I agree, Thor was a little dry, he always had his own wit to him, and by adding all the humor to the character I felt as though it took away from his mystique. Marvel is also using a lot more crossover material in the individual films than they have before. While the followers of the universe love it and call for more, this tends to confuse general audiences, who don't necessarily go to see all the Marvel films. It's a fine line that has to be drawn between pleasing the fans of the universe and the general audience, in order to keep the enormous box office. This time, they managed to tow the line, but the direction suggests that next time they may not be so lucky. As for the cast, again Marvel proves that when it comes to casting for their characters, there is no one better in the business as even Jeff Goldblum fit his role like a glove. Their was a little too much humor for my taste, Thor isn't Deadpool or a Guardian of The Galaxy, but by and large it was still a very enjoyable film. Truth be told, I was far more interested in the after credits scene then I was by the collaboration of Hulk and Thor or the resurgence of Hera.

The Returned (U.S. Version)

Starring: India Ennenga, Mark Pellegrino, Tandi Wright, Sophie Lowe, Dylan Kingwell, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Mat Vairo, Kevin Alejandro, Sandrine Holt, Agnes Bruckner, Jeremy Sisto, Carl Lumbly, Leah Gibson, & Rhys Ward

Network: A&E - Seasons: 1 (2015) - Score: 2 Stars

Today there are more networks and streaming services offering original programming than ever before. It is an amazing time for TV lovers and it seems that anyone can get pretty much anything on the air. With all these new shows debuting all over the place, this does unfortunately leave the networks at somewhat of a disadvantage when it comes to original ideas. Out of desperation, many networks have turned to re-booting old shows, bringing back cancelled ideas that didin't work, and even Americanizing overseas television shows, The Returned is an example of the later.

I understand why A&E chose to take a show from overseas, Americanize it, and market it as their next big hit, but why the Returned? This idea has been done to death, both in movies and on TV, and while the show is critically acclaimed, the ratings for the overseas version were terrible, the show was cancelled after it's second season. If no one is watching it over there, why did they think anyone would watch it over here?

The returned takes place in a small Northwestern town, where one day, out of the blue, people who have been dead, some for decades, start showing up back at home with no memory of being gone at all. Each episode is broken up into sections that follow specific individuals and their interactions with their loved ones and society. There is also of course the police and investigative angle to the whole thing, and an unsolved crime thrown into the mix, in order to try and keep viewers coming back each week.

Funny thing is, I wasn't all that crazy about this episode of the Twilight Zone. It was a little better when The X-Files did it. The 4400 added beings from the future and turned it into a series that quickly ran out of storyline and fizzled out, and now we have The Returned. This isn't an original idea, far from it, and the fact that it takes place in the same location as the 4400 is completely laughable.

The cast has a few standouts that made the show a bit less tiresome, Mark Pellegrino is always fun to watch, as you never can figure out if he's a good guy or a bad one. We're also introduced to a new young actor in the form of Dylan Kingwell. He doesn't say much, but his character is honestly one of the most fascinating mysteries of the whole show.

The bottom line is that this show is a complete rip off of other ideas and there is really very little here to keep the viewers interested. The boys story turned out to be really cool, The murder investigation was interesting but under utilized, and there were a few cast members I enjoyed. Otherwise the writing was terrible and parts of this show were just painfully slow. There are some terrific overseas shows that no one has even mentioned bringing over here, why they chose this one, I'll never know.