ONE HOUR PHOTO [2002]

Writer/director Mark Romanek's quiet psychological thriller One Hour Photo allows funnyman Robin Williams to really channel his inner creepiness.
Williams portrays a painfully lonely man, who works in a department store photo lab, where he becomes disturbingly obsessed with a family who regularly gets their pictures developed with him.
Romanek creates a colorless world violently lit by fluorescent lights allowing Williams' character to disappear within the walls with a wardrobe that camouflages itself against the backdrop.  While the premise is a little unique, the plotline itself isn't particularly uncommon therefore making Williams the main focus of the film and, boy, does he shine.  His subtly threatening performance elevates the generic thriller into something far more than better than it would have been without him.  

3½ snap-shots out of 5

THE RING TWO [2005]

Hideo Nakata, director of Japan's 1998 Ringu adaptation, makes his American debut with the sequel to the 2002 adaptation.
Telling an original story of it's own, Rachel & Aidan have moved states to escape the memories of their run in with the creepsome Samara only to find she and her wiggins videotape have found a way to follow them.
Being a huge fan of the first film I wanted so very badly to love this one too but ended up hating it when it first came out and vowed to never watch it again until now.  My dislike for it has simmered down a bit but it still doesn't change the fact that it's a crap film.  It spends a good hour filled with nothing but nonsensical "spookiness" until an actual plotline begins mildly materializing and by then anything worthwhile is long gone.

2 bucks stop here out of 5

Tammy (2014)

The husband & wife duo of Ben Falcone and Melissa McCarthy bring us the story of one Tammy, a deeply immature and uncultured woman. At the crossroads of her life, she makes a hard left turn into debauchery and degradation. Much like McCarthy's previous comedies, the humor is at times crass and the acting forced. Many scenes deserve trimming for the lingering improvisation. The characters are well fleshed out and quite specific. McCarthy is reminiscent of Chris Farley at his best in her role of the overzealous yet lovable Tammy. A surprisingly strong supporting cast (Susan Sarandon, Kathy Bates, Gary Cole, Allison Janney) slightly elevate the simple plot, but only enough for a handful of truly comedic moments.

2½ viking burials out of 5

THE TOWN THAT DREADED SUNDOWN [2014]

Director Alfonso Gomez-Rejon's The Town That Dreaded Sundown is simultaneously a remake of the 1976 grindhouse slasher of the same name and a bit of a meta-sequel.
Set in the same town, the story takes place in a world where the 1976 film is a cult classic and watched annually only to birth a copycat killer that follows the film's murders from beginning to end.  This grim and atmospheric little piece has some wonderful tracking shots and scene set-ups with some great performances to boot but in the end it just isn't all that scary.  Which is fine but it seems to take itself way too seriously, so the fun of cheap laughs are quickly tossed out the window as well.  It's nowhere near as shitty as any of the other slasher flick remakes as of lately but it doesn't quite succeed in standing aside any of the more recent originals either.

2½ trombones of death out of 5

PINEAPPLE EXPRESS [2008]

David Gordon Green steps further into the mainstream with his first, and so far only good comedy, the buddy action flick, Pineapple Express.
Inspired by the idea of taking Brad Pitt's stoner character from True Romance and seeing what he does when he gets his ass off the couch is pretty much what this film is.   Like most of these Rogen, Franco, McBride & co films, it's the ridiculous yet strangely realistic bickering dialogue that makes it funny and laughably stupid at the same time.  For some bizarre reason the film does get outrageously violent near the end, leaving a somewhat baffled feeling that's torn between laughter and disturbed.  There's shades of DGG's style of film-making here but beyond that it's hardly recognizable as one of his films, which would be all but gone with his next two shit-fests.

3 birthday cakes for a dead cat out of 5

OFFICE SPACE [1999]

Beavis & Butthead creator, Mike Judge's satirical comedy cult classic Office Space is a prime example of his various different types of comedic styles.
With it's wicked sense of humor, believable characters and a superb ensemble cast, Office Space is without a doubt one of the definitive workplace comedies ever produced. It speeds along with non-stop laughs until that final 15 minutes where it suddenly just falls apart. Almost as if Judge didn't know how to end it or had to do some sudden rewrites. No matter, the rest of the film more than makes up for it.
If you love laughing and hate your job then this one comes highly recommended from myself and legions and legions of other jaded folk with a chronic case of the Mondays.

4 Edward Scissorhands BBQs out of 5