Brent Lorentson

It comes as no surprise that even in 2016 we continue to have issues with how we handle and discipline criminals while they are incarcerated.  We have a system that pulls in troubled youths that seem to come and go through the judicial system and seem to spend a majority of their lives behind bars.  Hollywood has seemed have an eye on this problem and has churned out many films about misunderstood inmates that are incarcerated and are unfairly treated by the system and those who are in control of the inmates.  Cool Hand Luke, Sleepers, and The Shawshank Redemption are a couple films that jump out at me, and today it’s Stealing Cars that dares to explore this problem.
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Any time I would catch the show Storage Wars, I always would watch with this morbid curiosity with the hopes that one day they’d open a storage unit and discover something more than a few lost boxes.  With the millions of storage units that are spread throughout the country, you’d have to imagine that hidden away in a couple of these units are some pretty awful things that would turn the stomachs of most.  Is this simply a thought I have from watching too many horror films? Most likely, but I can’t be the only one out there; after all it would seem this line of thinking is what brought The Hoarder to the screen.  In the new horror release we get to discover there is more to fear than a few old dust bunnies when venturing out to the local storage unit; in fact it can possibly turn into a trip you may never return from.
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Here we go, yet another killer crocodile film to whet your appetites for fun, cheesy gore and perhaps a late-night scare or two.  Sure, the thought of another killer crocodile film may cause some (OK, many) to roll their eyes, but in the killer-animal genre, it’s the crocs and gators that still manage to get my attention.  Perhaps it’s because I’m a Florida boy, born and raised, and around these parts it’s not much of a surprise to hear about gators being found in the strangest places.  With The Hatching bringing us some cold-blooded horror out of the UK, I figure I’ll test the waters with this film from across the pond and see what it has to offer.
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Maybe it’s simply just a part of growing up, but when I listen to the radio and I hear what is topping the charts I just roll my eyes and wonder, “What is this crap I’m listening to?”  We’ve all experienced this at some point, I’d imagine, and as I’ve gotten older my music tastes have seemed to move to before my time, as I’ve moved past my days of listening to strictly metal and rock that ruled the 90’s to now embracing the music of the 60’s and 70’s.  I listen to the pop music that floods the airwaves now and hear “music” that lacks substance and meaning, as it is just noise to play on the dance floors of clubs.  It’s here where I feel the series of documentaries Penelope Spheeris should conclude her saga of music over the decades.
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Despite how the History Channel continues to churn out more reality shows, the upside of this is that the shows they put out happen to be pretty entertaining.  When I first heard about Mountain Men, the first thing that came to mind was how dangerous was this show really going to get?  Sure, you can have people hunting in the snow, but would the producers of the show really allow their crew to sit back and record the “cast” as they continue to face dangerous and deadly situations over and over?  Well, the answer is yes, and the danger comes in various forms as the men of the show face off against Mother Nature in a blistering struggle for survival.
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Here is an instance where there was so much promise going into this film, but because of its lack of restraint, it blew an opportunity to be a good film.  The Midnight Man offers up a fun premise, a good cast, and high production values, but what plagues this film is a script that is filled with so much bad dialog you’ll wish you were watching a silent film.  Quick lesson in screenwriting: don’t try to be Shane Black or Quentin Tarantino; they are a class of their own, and to try to copy them only shines a light on how bad your dialog really is.  I’m being hard on this film, because had this film shown some restraint and kept the dialog simple, this could have been a really cool film.
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When it comes to horror films about relationships, we’ve all gotten used to the same old story where a jilted ex-lover isn’t ready to let things go and violence and mayhem ensues. What is actually refreshing about Sociopathia is that we get a love story mixed with some graphic horror while seeing the story unfold through the eyes of a mentally unhinged young woman.  While Sociopathia may not be in the same league as Fatal Attraction, it is still a film worth watching for those who are fans of trashy, exploitive horror films.  And with Valentine’s Day right around the corner, this maybe the feel-good flick you single folks may be looking for to validate your single life.
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When it comes to British gangster films (or just about any gangster film), you pretty much know what you are getting into: a lot of tough-guy moments filled with violence and characters living their life of excess.  To be honest, going into the film all I knew about the Kray brothers is that they were gangsters in the UK back in the 60’s, and I was pretty sure there was a Charlie Sheen film at one point about them.  With a big-budget American release Legendary, which is also about the Kray brothers, you would hope that the UK version would be able to hold its own and knock this one out of the park. 
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Tragedy has a way of taking a toll on us in a way that is far more devastating than a physical injury.  Some tragedies occur, and they go on to haunt us till we have passed on from this mortal realm.  Meadowland is a small film that dares to take a peek at the dangerous repercussions that can follow depression when not properly treated.  Sure, we’ve seen films before that show the aftermath of a family who has tragically lost a child, but Meadowland is a film that isn’t afraid to show us the ugliness of depression and the things people are willing to do in an attempt to be who they were once again before the tragedy ever took hold.
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Following the Lifetime original movie Lizzie Borden Took an Axe, The Lizzie Borden Chronicles is a continuation of the tale about the young woman accused of killing her stepmother and father with an axe.  It’s tricky enough to do a feature length film about real people involved in real events; liberties seem to be taken for the sake of telling a good story.  It’s one of those things that when you see “Based on true events” or “Inspired by true events”; is there a difference, and does it even matter?  Well, if you are watching The Lizzie Borden Chronicles, accept the fact that though the character and her sister are very real, this is hardly biographical, but instead a fun game of “what if” that the creators have done with Lizzie Borden.  And it’s a wild eight-episode ride that they have set the viewers on.
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Have you ever had a dream that you wake up from and as your head spins from the snippets of the dream you can remember it takes you a few moments to clear your head and remember where you are?  Usually this is a result from a hard night of drinking, but for Major John Cafferty (Tahmoh Penikett) it is a battle he is waking up from, and it is not a dream.  With no memory of what happened, Major Cafferty wakes up in a special military hospital with several members from his platoon, only some of his soldiers are dead, and no one has a clue as to how they found themselves in the medical facility.
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