The Last Black Man In San Francisco (2020) - Movie Review

Fucking hell, this is gorgeous. I know that I usually reserve that kind of nuanced, thought-provoking statement for later on in the review, saving this space for some long-winded wind-up to introduce the film, but there really is no other way to preface just how beautiful this thing looks. The feature debut of Joe Talbot, who has been brewing this film along with star Jimmie Fails for years now (dating back to before they even knew how to film shit in the first place), this is one of those Sex, Lies, And Videotape situations where, if not actively told this was a debut, you’d think it’s the work of someone with at least a decade of produced experience under his belt. But nope; Talbot is just that damn good.

Spenser Confidential (2020) - Movie Review

Marking the fifth collab between director Peter Berg and actor Mark Wahlberg, there’s something… different about their chemistry this time around. It’s yet another bit of Boston brawn, once again giving Wahlberg the kind of bedrock he needs to give a decent performance, but it’s also a lot looser than their previous work. I’ve seen this billed as an action-comedy, but I personally wouldn’t go that far. Apparently, Berg encouraged more improvisation on-set and playing around with the tone, which admittedly helps separate this from his more recent work, but as I’ll get into, that’s not always for the best reasons.

Don't Let Go (2020) - Movie Review

We’re once again dipping into the overstuffed bucket of Blumhouse Productions releases, and considering Jason has already shown a wide variance from decent (Black Christmas), excellent (The Invisible Man) to just plain terrible (Fantasy Island), all in just a few months’ time, I really don’t know what to expect from this one. Add onto that how this is written and directed by Jacob Aaron Estes, who we last checked in on with his writing contributions to the terminally pointless Rings, and how lead actors David Oyelowo and Storm Reid haven’t had the best of luck in their last handful of theatrical outings, and this could really go pear-shaped quickly. Well, much to my eternal surprise and gratitude, this turns out to be a saving throw for all three of them.

Go! (2020) - Movie Review

Well, this sounds familiar: An Aussie sporting movie designed for general audiences that not only focuses on a particularly niche sport, but is also drenched in classic sports movie clichés. Okay, it only sound familiar to me, as I covered a film like this years ago with Paper Planes (which, fittingly enough, has the same writer working on this one), and that film I wound up liking a lot more than I had any reason to on pure kitsch value. I’d like to say the same for this one, but for reasons both good and bad, this is a different beast than trying to make paper aeroplanes seem exciting.

Come To Daddy (2020) - Movie Review

Time for another ride on the Elijah Wood fucked-up indie train, although we’re not dealing with a Spectrevision production this time around. Instead, we’re looking at the feature-length directorial debut of Ant Timpson, a New Zealand film producer better known for spearheading the horror anthology series The ABCs Of Death, as well as his profoundly graphic production logo at the front of previous review subject The Greasy Strangler. And with the writer of Greasy Strangler, Toby Harvard, in tow, chances are this is going to be something uniquely bizarre.

Bad Samaritan (2020) - Movie Review

Remember Geostorm? Unless you’re an obsessive like myself who writes about nearly every new movie they watch, probably not. Well, get ready for the whiplash because this is what director Dean Devlin made after that infamous attempt to beat Roland Emmerich at his own game. And the result could not be more different from his previous. He’s gone from world-spanning disaster spectacle to an thriller with elements of home invasion cinema that has more in common with the works of Thomas Harris than anything to do with making us fear man-made climate change.

The Fanatic (2020) - Movie Review

Well, ain’t this a nice pick for April, otherwise known as Autism Acceptance Month? A film about an obsessed superfan that pretty much everyone who has seen and written about it has pinned down as being on the autism spectrum. And yeah, this technically came out last year, but it only made it over here fairly recently and, after the utter trainwreck of Gotti, I’ll admit that I’m aiming at low-hanging fruit with Travolta’s latest. I also definitely get the problems with Travolta passing like this, but quite frankly, that’s not even close to the worst of it.