Brent Lorentson

When it comes to movies that come from the The Asylum film company, you need to go into the film with the bar set pretty low. When I say low, a Troma film is nearly high art by comparison.  By some miracle their film Sharknado has found an audience, but for all the wrong reasons.  I can appreciate a cheesy B monster film; even a no-budget horror or action film can hold my interest. All I ask for is a decent story and I can forgive a film’s low budget or amateurish quality. But sometimes a movie comes along that is so bad it’s hard to find its redeeming qualities. D-Day: Battle of Omaha Beach is that film, and I can say with certainty that this is the worst film that I’ve seen this year.  It’s one thing to be a bad film, but what bothered me most about this film is how shameless it is about simply making a buck off of the lives of soldiers who actually fought in WWII.  You don’t need the budget of Saving Private Ryan to tell a good story about the war; all you need is a good story, a decent script, and some creativity, and you can make a good film.
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Blumhouse Productions has been the go-to company when it comes to horror and suspense films being marketed for the more mainstream audiences. The Purge films, Happy Death Day, and most recently Halloween (2018) have been some of their successful releases, though they’ve had several other films that didn’t fare so well that you can catch on Netflix. Now there is Prey. I knew going in this would be a Blumhouse film; I just wasn’t sure if I’d be watching a potential genre gem, or if it would be a dud.  As it turns out, it’s somewhere in between, and I’m a little surprised that there seems to be little to no marketing campaign for this one. The film starts off innocently enough with Toby (Logan Miller) at home and on his cell phone. While Toby is immersed in his social media, outside his father is being attacked by a couple of robbers and is killed. This sequence is a bit of a bummer; it’s lacking anything that resembles tension, and while it’s attempting to insert this message about today’s youth being disconnected from the real world, it just falls flat. We don’t get to see Toby deal with loss or guilt, instead the film has us follow Toby as he in enrolled in a “Lost and Found” program that has people spending three days and three nights alone on a tropical island. It seems like it would almost be paradise, but all they are left with is a backpack filled with some supplies, and in case of emergency, you get a flare.  OK, I was in scouts for 12 years, and there was never a time where they would just abandon us for three days. On our own and with our troop we had extensive wilderness survival training, so to see this was not only reckless but unbelievable.
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The folks over at Shout have done it again, finding a forgotten title and polishing it up for a nice Blu-ray under their Scream Factory release.  This time they have pulled out the 1998 western/horror mash-up that is John Carpenter’s Vampires.  It only seems fitting that a John Carpenter film gets covered for the 31 Nights of Terror, though this is definitely a title not many would expect to hear about.  When I say this film wouldn’t even crack my top five Carpenter films, it may at first seem like a jab, but you’ve got to remember John Carpenter has one of the most impressive bodies of work, not just for a horror director, but for a director, period.  Big Trouble in Little China, The Fog, The Thing,  They Live, The Assault on Precinct 13, In The Mouth of Madness, oh, and then there was that little film everyone forgets about, Halloween…and seriously, there are numerous other films I didn’t even mention.  I love the filmography Carpenter has given us, but I’m still hoping he’ll release at least one more classic before he hangs up his directing duties for good.
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When it comes to shows that simply sneak up on you and manage to suck you in, This Is Us would be a show I never saw coming nor expected to simply fall in love with.  As a show that is on network television it stands toe to toe with the best that cable has to offer. But what is most surprising is that what sets this show apart from the rest of the pack isn’t a complex antihero or dragons; instead, it is as simple as being a show that feels as real as anything I’ve seen on television in some time.  As the title would suggest This Is Us is simply about a family and the struggles and successes that come day to day, though as many of you can understand and relate, there is nothing simple about life and the constant hurdles that are thrown at us on a day-to-day basis.  I was hesitant when I first began the series, but I was quickly moved by its characters and their stories.  I was impressed by the first two seasons, and I’ve wondered if it can maintain its level of quality moving into a third season level.  After another 18 episodes and plenty of tears, I was a little let down by the first part of the season, but it came together in the end, delivering some of the best moments in the shows run to date.
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Last month it was officially 50 years since the Manson Family brought chaos into the world with the massacre at Ciello Drive that left a pregnant Sharon Tate brutally murdered along with her friends.  Since then the name Charles Manson has become a symbol of pop culture despite not ever being a part of the actual murders.  Even after all these years, there are so many myths about Manson and his followers, it’s doubtful we’ll ever really know the truth.  Over the period of 50 years there have been countless films about the murders and the Manson family. Most recently Quentin Tarantino put out Once Upon a Time in Hollywood that gave audiences a fantasy perspective of the events of that night and came out to be a successful film over the summer and a contender for numerous awards.  With that being said, there are also films like Manson Family Movies that came out in 1984 and was nowhere near the commercial success.  Manson Family Movies is impressive where it dabbles in the found-footage genre as a recreation of the events that led up to the murders while also recreating the violent crimes.  Unfortunately, despite how ambitious it may be, this looks like it was made with no budget and at times is painful to watch.
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Here we go again, another revenge film. Despite my love for the “revenge” sub-genre, it is getting to the point where there just seem to be too many uninspired films flooding the market.  Blue Ruin is perhaps the best revenge film I’ve seen in the past ten years, and it seems several other filmmakers feel the same way because of the amount of films that have been churned out, all attempting to emulate its gritty realistic style, but just fail in the process.  Into the Ashes could have been something different; we get some glimpses at what could have steered this film into some interesting territory, but before it gets to take any chances, the film is quickly reeled back to the overbeaten path so many have tread upon before. In a small Alabama town, Nick (Luke Grimes) is trying his best to live a quiet, peaceful life.  He’s married to the sheriff’s daughter and has a decent job that pays the bills; the trouble is he has a violent past, and it’s catching up with him in the form of Sloan (Frank Grillo), who has just been released from prison.  Before Nick was living the quiet life, he used to run with a violent crew, and Nick took off with their money after things went bad.  Nick’s used the money to start a new life, but as you would expect, his former criminal partners don’t care that Nick has started a new life, and they are out for some payback.
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In case you missed it, ever since Disney acquired the Star Wars property they have been milking it for all it is worth.  For kids (and some adults), this has been something to be excited about.  I’ve seen some pros as well as cons since the acquisition took place, and really, I don’t know if I’ll fully make up my mind any time soon considering we still have another Star Wars film coming out in December as well as the live action series The Mandalorian coming to the Disney streaming service soon.  I want to be excited, but after seeing The Last Jedi, I’m a bit nervous.  It was a film I was excited about, one helmed by a writer and director I have a lot of respect for, but I hated that film, something I never thought I’d feel towards a franchise that is near and dear to my heart.  I bring all this up because the first season of Star Wars: Resistance is geared towards kids but also takes place during the events of The Last Jedi.  What I can happily say is that despite a shaky start, the first season of Star Wars: Resistance tickled the kid inside me who first fell in love with the series so many years ago.
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