Brent Lorentson

From the moment I saw the trailer for Caught Stealing I immediately was taken back to the late 1990s, when so many films were trying to emulate the success Pulp Fiction had by mixing comedy and violence.  I mean, the kinetic energy of the trailer was giving me the same vibes I got when I first saw Lock Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and The Boondock Saints. This isn’t a bad thing at all; heck, I miss these kinds of films. Lately it seems all the action films now are bad John Wick knockoffs or the woke superhero films that lack anything resembling artistic merit. I had every intention on seeing Caught Stealing in theaters, because this just looked like the kind of film I’d have fun with, but unfortunately this had such a short window at the theaters that it was gone before it had a chance to even find an audience. The quick turnaround with these films moving from theaters to streaming is enough to make your head spin, and the film studios wonder why they are taking losses, and this isn’t even a big-budget film despite having a solid cast and a relatively well-known director at the helm.
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It is hard to believe it has been nearly a decade since Mel Gibson last directed a film. Hacksaw Ridge remains one of my favorite war films made in the 21^st century, and I thought for sure it signaled the return for Gibson, since he’s been in Hollywood jail since 2006. He’s managed to get some work in some bad direct-to-streaming films, though I feel the last great film we’ve gotten to see him on screen was 2018’s Dragged Across Concrete, which didn’t exactly set the box office ablaze. I’m bummed by this, because really he’s one of the few surviving icons from the 80s and 90s that I believe still has some talent and could give cinema a few more great films, that is if Hollywood could just give him that chance. He’s been attached for years to doing another Lethal Weapon, but I have a hard time believing that will happen, and then he’s been working on his sequel to The Passion of Christ, which in theory could give his career the boost he needs to go on to some bigger and better projects, bur unfortunately I’m just not too optimistic about that.
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“You should be so proud of her.”

Shelby Oaks is something special when you look at it objectively; it’s a film that was crowd funded by the YouTuber Chris Stuckmann, who wanted to take a shot at making a movie of his very own. The original goal was to raise $600,000, but by the time his Kickstarter was closed, he was able to raise over 1.4 million to make his film. Before he’d even begun filming, this is already an impressive achievement considering how many established filmmakers struggle to get funds together to make their own films. For Shelby Oaks, over 14,000 people contributed to funding the dream for this directorial debut, so again, in my book Chris Stuckmann already won for being able to pull this off. Now the film has a producing credit from Mike Flanagam attached as an executive producer and Neon in charge of the films distribution … so needless to say, there is a great deal of hype around this film.
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It’s hard to believe it has been nearly a decade since we last had a film directed by Kathryn Bigelow. I’ve been a fan of hers from her early years when she was doing films like Near Dark, Point Break, and Strange Days. I’ve always felt she’s never been given the credit she deserves, but when she finally got recognition for films like The Hurt Locker and Zero Dark Thirty, it just felt long overdue. Now that she has A House Full of Dynamite releasing on Netflix, I’ll be honest; I immediately expected this to be one of my top films of the year, and considering when it was being released, it seemed like a sure frontrunner as an awards contender. Sadly this film might be my first major disappointment of the year, and what’s frustrating is that it still might have one of the most riveting opening acts of the year. So where did it go so wrong? The film takes us on a journey in a “what if” scenario where the US has a nuclear weapon fired at it from an unknown origin
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Ever since I first heard about Good Boy earlier this year as it was making the rounds at film festivals, it instantly became one of my most anticipated films of the year. I was sold just on the idea of this being a supernatural film told through a dog’s perspective. Sure, it sounds like a gimmick, but I really liked the sound of this gimmick. I’ve always been a sucker for the paranormal, and I was always intrigued by the idea that animals could see things that we could not. So after months of waiting, I finally got the opportunity to watch Good Boy. Did it live up to my expectations, or did it turn out to be a dud? The film follows Indy, a Nova Scotia duck tolling retriever. He is extremely loyal to his owner, Todd (Shane Jensen), who we see from the opening scene is extremely ill
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It was only a matter of time before we would see those who found success on platforms like TikTok and YouTube try to make the transition to the big screen. Sam and Colby found moderate success with their fans, but really, to the rest of the world it was barely noticed. Now later this month we’ll get the highly anticipated Shelby Oaks from Chris Stuckmann, who got his start with movie reviews and creating content on his YouTube channel. But now we have House on Eden, a small-budget found-footage film from content creators Kris The Girl and Celina Spooky Boo. I’ll admit I’ve actually been following their content for a few years, and I was a little optimistic about what these two would come up with, but I have to admit this was disappointing and frankly just lazy. To be blunt, it is an insult to those out there who are grinding to create the best film they can on a shoestring budget. The film follows a trio of content creators (they are basically playing exaggerated versions of themselves, not even bothering to change their names) led by Kris Collins.
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Following the success of Only Murders in the Building, it was only a matter of time before we got more shows and films coming in to piggyback off the success. I’ll admit when I first saw an ad for The Thursday Murder Club on Netflix, I really didn’t think much of it, but I was glad to see the ensemble of actors continuing to get work as they age gracefully into their twilight years. With a film with a cast like Helen Mirren, Pierce Brosnan, Ben Kingsley, Celia Imrie, Jonathan Pryce and several more familiar faces I found myself compelled to give this film a chance. Oh, and how can I forget, though this came as a surprise to me as I watched the closing credits, to discover the film was directed by Chris Columbus? The man is a legend to me just for directing Adventures in Babysitting, a childhood favorite of mine, but he also directed Home Alone, Mrs. Doubtfire, Stepmom (in my opinion an underrated classic), oh, and the first two Harry Potter films
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Some people may think I’m crazy, but as a lifelong horror fan, I feel right now we are in the Golden Age of horror cinema. When you look at the box office this year and last, horror has simply been a dominate force, and I’m loving it. What’s even better is that it is new material that is raking in the money rather than seeing tired retreads of IPs that have been exhausted over and over again. Sinners, though it wasn’t my cup of tea, dominated the box office, and even though I’m not the film’s biggest fan, I still like seeing horror rake in the money. I’m loving that we’re getting all kinds of horror lately, where an indie slasher like Terrifier is going to be featured at Halloween Horror Nights, and we’re getting all sorts of experimental horror. For instance, later this year we’ll get Goodboy, a paranormal story told through the perspective of a dog. (Sure, it sounds silly, but I’m all for it.) This brings me to Barbarian. For me this has been my favorite horror film in the past five years, and that’s saying a lot, because there has been A LOT of good horror lately. From the moment I heard about Zach Cregger’s next film, Weapons, it immediately shot to the top of my list of most anticipated films.
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I have to admit it is hard to believe that Happy Gilmore came out nearly 30 yeas ago. It’s a hard pill to swallow, because I remember seeing it in the theater with my friends, and, well, that pretty much reminds me that I’m getting old. I’ve been a fan of Adam Sandler since his time on SNL, and it’s been interesting seeing how his career has grown. For me, I’ve remained a loyal fan not because I feel his films are great; honestly, he’s had quite a few duds along the way, but it’s because he seems to be one of the few guys in Hollywood who hasn’t changed with fame. You never hear about scandals. He just seems like a down-to-earth guy who really isn’t so different from his fans. When it comes to Happy Gilmore 2, this film has been something fans have been wanting for a while, though many of us just really didn’t think it was going to happen. After 30 years, was it worth the wait? Well, I’ll say this much: this film was certainly made for the fans.
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When it comes to video game adaptations, I learned a long time ago to not get my hopes up. Sure, there have been a few films that manage to do the source material justice, but for the most part the films tend to just fail in spectacular fashion. Until Dawn is honestly a game I never expected to see turn into a film or TV show, mostly because the game play is basically like a “choose your own adventure” style, and it just didn’t seem like something that could work. The approach the film takes  is something different and takes the story into a Groundhog Day direction, only every time the characters re-spawn  it becomes a different sub-genre of horror film. While I feel this is a terrible videogame adaptation, this actually turned out to be a fun premise for a film. So how does the film stand on its own? Well, a lot better than I had anticipated.
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I have to admit that when I heard about Heads of State being a buddy action film with John Cena as the President of the United States and Idris Elba as the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, I was totally on board. Then when I saw that this was heading directly to Amazon Prime, my excitement fizzled. When you have an action film with those two on the marquee, it just seems like the perfect summer film, and with the director of Nobody and Hardcore Henry at the helm, it just adds to the expectation of pure dumb popcorn bliss. Only Amazon Studios can find a way to mess this up. Still, I tried to go into this with an open mind, but the end result is an action comedy that underwhelmed in such spectacular fashion that I’m somewhat impressed at how mediocre this film turned out despite all its opportunities to impress.
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“I am large; I contain multitudes.” 

I know it may only be June, and it seems strange to be talking about awards season already, but if The Life of Chuck doesn’t take home an armful of awards this year, it will be a criminal shame. I first read the Stephen King novella when it was released in his collection If It Bleeds (2020), it was a story that you can tell King wrote during the COVID-19 panic. I remember liking the story, but it wasn’t one of my favorites in the collection. What stood out the most was the unique way he wrote the story about the end of the world. It didn’t really surprise me that the story was being adapted into a film considering just how many Stephen King stories are brought to the big screen and streaming every year. It was the fact that Mike Flanagan signed on to write and direct that got me excited about this project.
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It’s officially summer movie season, and what better time to release a film about a serial killer that feeds his victims to sharks and videotapes it so he can relive the moment over and over again on VHS? That is pretty much the hook for the new thriller being released by Shudder, and I’m all-in for it. I’m a sucker for shark films. Good or bad, I can’t help myself; I have to watch it. But Dangerous Animals is more than just a guilty pleasure; it’s the kind of summer fun I crave to see on the big screen, and this film didn’t disappoint, so grab your snorkel and let’s dive in and discuss the movie I feel audiences are going to sleep on simply because of a crowded box office. First off, the film has one of my favorite openings I’ve seen in a while. It opens up with a pair of friends who are traveling around Australia, and they’ve decided to charter a boat to go diving with sharks. The ship’s captain is Bruce Tucker (Jai Courtney), who is a bit rough around the edges but still manages to be a charming guy. Everything seems innocent enough as we see Bruce take these travelers on this dive of a lifetime
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It would seem that ever since Hereditary came out in 2018, it kind of paved the way for the new sub-genre of horror, “grief-horror”, basically horror films that delve into the emotional horror of losing loved ones and the reckless attempts people may make to reach out to them in the afterlife. This isn’t subject matter most horror fans enjoy; for me I find an odd sense of comfort with these films. When Talk to Me came out, that film especially struck a nerve with me, and I absolutely loved that film from the first-time Australian filmmakers and brothers Danny and Michael Philippou.  Talk To Me managed to bring something new to the supernatural genre, and the grief the main character was going through was very relatable for me, so of course I was going to be a little excited about what this duo would do next (at least before they tackled their sequel to Talk To Me). As it would turn out, I wouldn’t have to wait long for their next film, and Bring Her Back tackles the horror of grief in a manner that has stuck with me since exiting the theater.
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This Memorial Day weekend, Netflix dropped the new horror film Fear Street: Prom Queen. For those who may not be familiar with the Fear Street brand, it was a series of horror stories penned by RL Stine for his readers who were aging out of his Goosebumps series but were not quite ready for the heavy hitters of horror like Clive Barker and Stephen King. These stories were fantastic as a gateway to horror, typically filled with gruesome deaths, but still not crossing the line with too many adult themes. In 2021 Netflix first released a trilogy of Fear Street films. Personally, I only liked the first two, and the third was relatively forgettable. Now Netflix has released Prom Queen, and while my expectations weren’t exactly high, I still was hoping for something better than what we got.
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From the moment I saw the first trailer for Sinners, I was totally sold on this film, it looked like it was going to be From Dusk Till Dawn, only set in the Jim Crow era, and I was absolutely excited for it. As an added cherry on top, the film was shot on film and with large-format cameras. This was a film that easily was one of the films I was most looking forward to seeing this year, and it broke my heart having to miss out on seeing it opening weekend because I was sick. Now that I’ve finally seen it, did it live up to my expectations? The hype surrounding this film is insane, especially when you see the box office numbers this film is bringing in and people already wanting to call this the best horror film of the year, and despite it only being May, people are talking about this getting some awards nominations. It’s not surprising when you consider the writer and director is Ryan Coogler, who managed to get Black Panther an Oscar nomination.
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With the end of the year upon us, I felt this was the best time to talk about what I feel was the best film of 2024. First I want to start by saying that this hasn’t been my favorite year for cinema, especially when you look at the kind of films you see at award shows, mostly all those films were forgettable and not anything I feel will become cinematic classics. That being said, when it comes to the horror genre, this has been a pretty great year. For a while I would have said Late Night with the Devil was going to be my favorite horror film of the year, but then The Substance came out, and that just floored me, and I’ve kind of become a bit obsessed with the film. It’s the only film this year that has stuck with me for days and just had me wanting to watch it again so I could savor its visuals, whether they be beautiful or grotesque.
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For just about the past decade I feel Samara Weaving has earned the title of scream queen in the horror genre. She may not be a box office name like Jenna Ortega, but I feel Samara Weaving has a more impressive resume of cool and fun horror films, and she just consistently delivers. Ready or Not in a lot of ways is the film that best showcases her talents, and I thought for sure she’d level up to A-list status, but it seems the movie gods have other plans for her. Thankfully she is still cranking out some fun films for genre fans. Azrael is Weaving’s newest dip into the horror genre, a film that was written by Simon Barrett, who previously wrote the horror gems You’re Next and The Guest, and to sweeten this ghoulish cinematic pot, it is directed by E.L. Katz, who directed the 2013 dark comedy Cheap Thrills. Does this all add up to another genre hit, or is this a dud?
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There is something about how the French make their horror films that I find a bit hard to resist. Films like High Tension, Inside, and Martyrs are films I go back to time and time again and just have a blast with, and with the release of MadS I was a bit optimistic that this could also be a film to add to my rotation when I’m on a French horror film kick. What really gave me hope for this film is seeing that it was directed by David Moreau, who gave us the criminally underappreciated home invasion horror film Them (2006). If you are a fan of home invasion horror and you’ve missed on Them, I highly recommend checking it out. As for MadS, it seems Moreau was going for something a bit different, this time doing a one-shot horror film about a virus outbreak that causes those infected to go “mad” and violently attack people. Sure, we’ve seen it before, but is the one-shot approach a fresh enough take to make this an experience worth sitting through?
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It seems it would be easy to do a film about the urban legend where a driver picks up a woman in white who turns out to be a ghost. We are all familiar with this story, though the details of the urban tale can vary from one storyteller to the next, and it really seems like something so straightforward that it would be hard to make a mess of it. I at least thought so until I watched Black Cab. The film at first glance just seemed like something in my wheelhouse that couldn’t go wrong; it was a ghost story starring Nick Frost, whom I’ve been a fan of since first seeing him in Shaun of the Dead and Spaced, but despite how likeable he is, there is just nothing much that could have saved this movie, which was mostly dead on arrival. Anne (Synnove Karlsen) and Patrick (Luke Norris) are a recently engaged couple. After a night of celebration turns sour, they attempt to take a cab ride home, but instead their night is about to go from bad to worse as they discover their driver is a bit unhinged. As for their cab driver, Ian (Nick Frost), his plans for the couple remain ambiguous for a good portion of the film,
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