RIDE ALONG [2014]

Fuck Tha Police co-writer Ice Cube & uber-zippy pint-sized comedian Kevin Hart play a cop & a cop-to-be in director Tim Story's bickering buddy action/comedy Ride Along.
Atlanta Police Academy newbie Hart rides along with gruff detective Cube in order to prove that he is worthy of marrying the hard-assed cop's younger sister.  Wacky hijinks ensue and everything falls in place in the end.
Based on the late-night talk show interviews I saw with these guys I loved their comedic chemistry so I figured this flick would be good for a few laughs.  Technically it offers a few mild belly laughs but nothing worth noting.  In fact, it's kind of a major disappointment, especially when you weren't asking for much in the first place.

2 Black Hammers out of 5

AMSAL [2015]

aka

Assassination

Hit & miss South Korean director Dong-Hoon Choi's espionage action film Amsal is so damned thrilling it's easy to forgive it's heavy missteps.  

During the 1930's in South Korea while under still under the Japanese occupation, a rag-tag team of Independence fighters are hired to assassinate the Japanese commander.

It's sort of flamboyantly stylish ride that it immediately made me think it's like something Sergio Leone and John Woo would make together if they just wanted to have mindless fun.  The catch is that the film isn't entirely mindless, in fact it's packed with enough characters and plot twists it's almost hard to keep up with.  The biggest flaw is it's lack of fleshed out characters, especially considering there's so damned many of them.
However with some brilliantly executed action sequences and all around awesome aesthetics it manages to be an insanely fun but bumpy ride.

3½ good shots in the dark out of 5

Attack of the Super Monsters (1982)

The dinosaurs didn't really die out. Instead, they hid underground, growing more intelligent, biding their time for a return. They've now surfaced to shoot fire from their mouths and take over the world. The Gemini Force Defence Squad, a team of four brave heroes who can do some pretty amazing things, fight the good fight against the evil Emperor Tyrannus (a talking T-Rex).
AotSM is the first four episodes of a thirty-nine episode Japanese TV show titled Dinosaur War Izenborg (1978-79) joined together, dubbed into English and released as a feature. Even in its bastardised form it's as mad as a hatter. It's a tokusatsu/kaijū/superhero show that mixes various kinds of live action footage with cel animation, sometimes in the same scene; think Gamera + Thunderbirds + Gatchaman and you'll be on the right track.

3 bionic transfers out of 5

GOING CLEAR: SCIENTOLOGY & THE PRISON OF BELIEF [2015]

As if we didn't already need anymore reasons to call the corporate religion of Scientology of load of bat-shit crazy mumbo jumbo, director Alex Gibney's documentary, Going Clear, offers us even more ammo to fire away with.
At first, it wisely offers us a lengthy history of the religion, giving the viewer insight as to why it might have seemed so appealing in the first place.  However as the church grows, we see greed, shadiness and danger become more deeply involved.  It's odd when many of the people speaking strongly against it sound just as nutty as their foes and some even appear to feeding us a load of bullshit as well.  Only when it all comes down to it, who are you going to believe: the people willing to testify or the ones too scared to even show up to defend themselves?
It's an interesting watch, for the most part, but a bit pointless when one really doesn't need anymore convincing that these folks are as nutty as a fruitcake.

3 celebrity Dwarfs out of 5

THE NIGHT BEFORE [2015]

Director Jonathan Levine brings the Christmas cheer and beers with the bawdy holiday bromance comedy The Night Before.
Three friends decide to end their longtime holiday tradition of hitting the town on Christmas Eve as they all find their getting too old to take part in such vulgar activities but not without going out with an unforgettable bang.
There's plenty of gags that fall flat on their face but with that comes some insanely funny moments that should allow it stick around for at least one annual yuletide viewing with the buddies.  The film has a tough time balancing it's heart with it's dick but manages to bring in some pretty touching moments (both ways).  It packs in just enough spirit to make an enjoyably crass joyride for those who know exactly what they're getting into.

3 not-so wise men out of 5

I SMILE BACK [2015]

Adam Salky directs comedian Sarah Silverman in a fearless and emotionally demanding performance in the simple, yet challenging drama, I Smile Back.
Silverman does an incredible job at portraying a stay-at-home mom who appears to be living the happy life, but while the husband & kids are gone for the day, she deals with her bi-polar depression with some unforgivably self-destructive behavior.
Salky's direction is pretty confident and never strays away from it's purpose but it's the story that seems to lack much purpose other than showcasing what it's like to live with or love someone suffering from mental illness.  We've all seen this before and this film gives us no reason to see it again other than Silverman's multi-layered performance that deserves more recognition than it's received.

2½ violated teddy bears out of 5

The HAMMER Mummy Collection

There have been a number of Mummy franchises over the years but, like the title says, this one is for HAMMER Studios only, of which they made four (1959–1971). The bandages aren't really that frightening, but what they represent is. While they keep the walking corpse from falling to pieces, they also serve as a constant reminder that it's possible to become trapped in an eternal prison/punishment, cursed and unable to progress to the afterlife. The horror the Mummy experiences is equal or greater than what they make us feel. The mixture of mortal fear and sympathy is an odd one that none of the films make the best use of, but that doesn't stop them being entertaining in other ways.

Films on In a Nutshell:
01. The Mummy (1959)
02. The Curse of the Mummy's Tomb (1964)
03. The Mummy's Shroud (1967)
04. Blood from the Mummy's Tomb (1971)

Dead Ringers (1988)

When Cronenberg helms a story about identical twin gynaecologists who share their patients and their lovers then you expect to find an uncomfortable mixture of sexual practices with clinical ones, but Ringers goes to even deeper levels of unease. The pair live an ordered lifestyle, are outwardly confident, professional and well-respected by their peers, but it's the shadow cast by the privacy of their complex relationship that the viewer needs pay close attention to. Like in a single body or organism, when an interdependent part falls out of sync with its connecting organs malady occurs.
Jeremy Irons is amazing in a dual role, feeding himself emotional triggers and responding to the same situation, sometimes in two very different ways.

4 character distortions out of 5

Scanners III: The Takeover (1992)

aka Scanner Force

If good intentions were enough to make a film good, then part three would be better than it is thanks to leading actress Liliana Komorowska giving it her all.
Elsewhere, it has a few interesting ideas and developments, such as offering up a scenario in which Scanner self-indulgence could go head-to-head with Scanner self-control, and it has a number of enjoyable kills.
It's a shame, then, that it's so badly constructed. The enthusiasm of Liliana frequently meets its opposite in her male counterpart, sometimes dialogue was recorded too close to the mic, and there seems to have been no effort made to hide the wires (or the cameraman on at least one occasion).

1½ pigeon pieces out of 5

Scanners II: The New Order (1991)

There's no Cronenberg, Howard Shore, or any returning cast members, but overall part two isn't a bad film, even if the telepathy does occasionally overstep its boundaries, borrowing principles from the telekinesis camp without explanation. You thought we wouldn't notice, Mr Writer?
The Scanners being used by a power-hungry group is once again an issue, but beyond that it actually tries to do something different with the component parts. It has some neat ideas of its own, meaning it's not just a retread of the first film's plot. Don't worry, it does still pop a few heads...

2½ nose bleeds out of 5

Scanners (1981)

The eponymous individuals are able to kill with just a thought. When a corporation that wishes to control the Scanners no longer can, they need the help of a Scanner to stop the others. Yay for dramatic irony!
Patrick McGoohan is excellent as the fatherly psychopharmacist; Michael Ironside is unquestionably good as a menace; but, I'm sorry to say, while Stephen Lack did okay as a lost soul, he didn't have the experience at the time to make the internal conflict of the lead role hit as hard as it should have.
If you're familiar with Cronenberg's early works, such as Stereo (1969) and Crimes of the Future (1970), you'll recognise trace elements of their structure beneath the action, mostly within the film's settings and concerns.

3½ head pressures out of 5

God's Left Hand, Devil's Right Hand (2006)

A young boy named Sou dreams of nasty things that eventually come to pass, but quite often to people he's never met. The premonitions take their toll, requiring the boy's sister to step in and help out.
The questions that arise during the first half hour lure us into the bloody strangeness, while the mystery drives the sister onward, but it doesn't last. It doesn't explain many of the important things, which is something I was hoping for and may be the reason I didn't like it as much as I otherwise could've. Plus, the film's best scene is also its worst scene, which was very annoying.
Ultimately, it's an interesting horror oddity from Japan that goes to some very dark places, yet fails to shed light where it was needed.

2½ coloured clues out of 5

Sucker Punch (2011)

Is it a movie or a very long, boring music video?
No, wait, it's a movie, right? No, no, it's definitely a music video...
Now it's a video game without any gameplay. It's a fighting game that's now a WW shooter that's now in a LoTR fantasy setting and... where's Nathan Drake?
The cinematography is like Jean-Pierre Jeunet with clinical depression.

TL:DR - Zack Snyder. Shite.

1½ parameters out of 5

Rica 3: Juvenile’s Lullaby (1973)

The killjoy authority figures drag Rica in for another (temporary) stay in reform school, one that very much resembles a women in prison movie, but she soon escapes. Once outside, the part of the story that I thought was going to develop further, about a black woman and her half-Asian daughter being harassed by a racist gang leader, was overshadowed by the expected delinquency, itself watered down with too much camp comedy shenanigans. But it remains stylish throughout, even when it turns into little more than a female motorbike gang flick with some chase chic sequences.
Interestingly, the screenplay for all three Rica films was handled by Kaneto Shindô, which seems like an odd pairing when you consider his own films.

2½ sex headaches out of 5

The King of Pigs (2011)

A South Korean animation that's as brutal and uncompromising as a lot of the country's live action output. It examines the hierarchy of violence that exists in the home of adults and in the classroom of children (middle school). The reasons for the behaviour are explored, such as fear, inadequacy, humiliation, etc, but it's up to the viewer to decide if any of them can be considered as justification. There's a class divide, too, that's relevant to some.
The story occasionally drags its heels and the animation quality dips from time to time, especially during scenes of characters walking, but there are enough powerful emotions and dramatic contrasts to make King of Pigs a worthwhile purchase for fans of Asian cinema. Just don't let the kiddies see it.

3½ real monsters out of 5