Posts by Jeremy Butler

Justin Long chose an interesting film for his directorial debut. Lady of the Manor is Casper meets For a Good Time Call ..., which is not a dig, as I found both those films enjoyable. The best way to categorize the movie is as a raunchy ghost story, which is an interesting combination. My skepticism was high going into the film, and while I did enjoy the film, I will say that it ran a little long. There are several scenes that could have been cut out, and I feel like for the most part it wouldn’t have sacrificed quality. Melanie Lynskey of Two And A Half Men fame played to her niche, embodying another quirky character, but this time a rated-R version. Rounding out the cast, Judy Greer as the aforementioned lady of the manor, Ryan Phillippe, Luis Guzman, Patrick Duffy (Dallas), and of course, the director himself, Justin Long. Interesting tidbit I learned: principal photography and filming for the movie took place in the Tampa and Saint Petersburg area. I thought certain areas looked familiar.

The film centers around Lynskey’s Hannah Kolinsky, a lazy and directionless stoner who manages to get herself in trouble with the law when she somehow ends up at the wrong address for her weed delivery and ends up ensnared in a To Catch a Predator-esque sting. I will say that this was something I did not expect. Based on the preview, I foresaw the trouble with the cops, but the circumstance really was funny, especially the reverse sexual harassment from the paid actor who ensnares her. Even the cops had to shake their heads about it.

For a movie with a main character who has professed such a love for the man upstairs, this may very well be the most blasphemous movie I’ve ever seen. I mean, talk about being led astray. That said, Habit is not without its entertainment, as long as you are able to not take what you are observing too seriously. I don’t imagine that the film is going to sit well with the devout, but those able to see this film just as it was intended (as a film) may find something to enjoy. Bella Thorne leads a cast that includes Gavin Rossdale, Paris Jackson, and even the co-writer of the film, Libby Mintz has a starring role. As a bit of a disclaimer, I should mentioned that the film is very sexually charged, though I wouldn’t call it explicit. The film relies more on the innuendo of sex and other depravities more than anything else. However, even then I wouldn’t recommend it for family movie night.

The film follows Mads (Thorne), who in a nutshell is a bit of a rudderless ship. It’s evident that she’s led a hard life and that not many breaks have come her way, but she does stay devout in one thing: she has an unwavering love for Jesus Christ. The manner in which she expresses this love is what tends to get her into trouble. I’m sure I don’t need to spell it out. As a result of this expression of love, she finds herself jobless in Los Angeles. With little in the way of skills, she ends up assisting her childhood friends Addy (Andeja Peijic) and Evie (Mintz) in their drug-dealing endeavors for small-time dealer Eric (Gavin Rossdale). What could possibly go wrong, right?

No good deed goes unpunished, I suppose, especially when it comes to great white sharks. In Great White, an unsuspecting group on a blissful tourist trip find themselves at the mercy of a bloodthirsty shark as it stalks them on the open seas. The film delivers some decent scenes of suspense, but for the most part, the action is a bit on the predictable side as it follows the blueprint for a movie of this genre: there is going to be one character who is completely unlikeable, several members of the cast are fated to fall victim to the sharks, and out of the original group only maybe one or two will survive to tell the tale. While there are several moments of predictability, that isn’t to say that the film does not have its areas of excitement.. I’m not sure it is a movie that I would feel compelled to see again, but not bad for a one-time watch.

Kaz and her boyfriend, former marine biologist Charlie, operate a seaplane tourist business. While business is not exactly flourishing, they get by. Eventually, an opportunity for a big payday presents itself in the form of Joji and his wife, Michelle, who are hoping to book the couple’s plane for a day trip. Kaz and Charlie along with their cook, Benny, take the couple to the picturesque Hell’s Reef (I know, the name gives a heavy dose of foreshadowing). Their nice opening is ruined by the discovery of a corpse of a man that shows all the telltale signs of a shark attack.

Have you ever wondered what the Jurassic Park franchise would have looked like if instead of a amusement park, it was a hunting preserve? Yeah, me either, but someone must have, because that is essentially the embodiment of the film Jurassic Hunt. After watching the film, I’ve come to the conclusion that some films just don’t need to be made. Especially if they are going to be done with cheesy special effects and sub-par storytelling. To put it mildly, this was not a movie for me, and if you are a fan of high-quality content, I’m pretty sure you will feel the same. I suppose the film reaches the level of a sci-fi made-for-TV movie, but other than that, I can see no higher aspirations for it. The film kind of puts you right into the thick of things; no real back story or anything like that. We are just kind of launched right into the hunt. On this type of film, I would have expected background information to be paramount. It would have been nice if they had at the very least an opening sequence that showed our protagonist’s motivation for coming to the park. Maybe add in some details that she lost someone close to her who was determined to expose the wrong dealings at the park, and now their mission has become her own. It’s a little cliché, but I could have gotten behind that. It certainly would have helped develop the character a little bit. At first glance, there isn’t really much to root for with her. She is clearly acting tougher than she is, and her attitude is very soon exposed to be all sizzle and no steak. If it wasn’t for the fact that she attempting to do something noble at the risk of her own life, she would be a throwaway character.

Speaking of her mission, the conspiracy that she seems hell-bent on exposing needed to be fleshed out too. On paper, there is nothing really inherently evil about them. Granted, their representative is a sociopath and all, but we never really get a real look behind the curtain and what it is that our protagonist is so determined to expose. I suppose using dinosaurs as hunting prey rises to the level of animal cruelty, but I don’t believe that is the platform that she is crusading for. Then let’s talk about the company that she is keeping. She is surrounded by killers, one of whom seems to have some pretty despicable things planned for her, and she is against killing or even carrying a gun. OK, she might as well be wearing a sign that says “sacrificial lamb” on it.

“By 2014, hundreds of young women had left Europe to join ISIS. Their journeys began on social media platforms where they found new friends and chose new names.”

Based on the non-fiction novel, In The Skin of a Jihadist, this film tells the story about one reporters journey to create a groundbreaking story and how she nearly lost herself in the process. Valene Kane (The Fall) plays Amy Whittaker, a freelance reporter struggling to make ends meet when she decides to investigate the recruitment of young European women by ISIS. As part of her investigation, Amy creates a fake Facebook profile of a young woman who has recently converted to Islam. Before long, she is contacted by Bilel (Shazad Latif, Star Trek: Discovery), an ISIS fighter from Syria. On the surface, he is charming and he speaks of his chosen cause with great passion and conviction. Amy’s editor is ecstatic about the potential story, and before long, Amy finds herself disguising herself in the garb of a respectable Muslim so that she can engagement in Skype sessions with Bilel. This was a very unique and compelling story that was full of intense and suspenseful moments from the opening scenes. The most unique element of the story was that the entire film is told from the perspective of a computer screen.

Not bad for a B-movie alien invasion dystopian film. That was a nice surprise, as I was all prepared to endure a bunch of cliches and basic character archetypes. However Occupation: Rainfall delivers a moderately decent movie experience. There were some obvious timing issues towards the film’s conclusion, but we’ll get into that later. Speaking of surprises, I was surprised to discover that this film is actually a direct sequel of a film that was released in 2018. Granted, there were some changes, such as Jet Tranter replacing Stephanie Jacobson as Amelia Chambers, or Amelia the human as she is referred to more frequently than by her real name. The film also features the addition of The Originals’ Daniel Gilles and Jason Isaac as a hilarious character. All in all, minus that timing issue I mentioned earlier, Occupation Rainfall delivered a surprising and overall enjoyable experience.

Given that I did not see the original film, I am at a bit of a disadvantage as to background information regarding the story, but fortunately for me, the film served pretty much as a standalone movie. Obviously there are a few callbacks to the original film in reference to the characters’ personal history, but other than that, it is pretty self-explanatory. The film also starts off with a narration that gives some background information, which ensures that you won’t be completely lost in the sauce. In a nutshell, aliens have landed on earth with the intent of invading. Naturally, the human race has risen to defend their home, and despite being outnumbered and technologically inferior, the human race has managed to hold their own for nearly two years. However, billions have died on both sides of the struggle, and the weight of the war is felt on both sides as well.

“The time for apologies is behind us.”

While the dubbing of this film leaves something to be desired at times, all in all I’d categorize this as a moderately entertaining thriller. Tailgate can serve as a cautionary tale for us all regarding being careful who you cut off in traffic. You never know; that person could very well be a homicidal maniac with a penchant for using pesticide on his victims. Or at least that is what the killer in this film was all about. Granted, this antagonist doesn’t quite rise to the level of Michael Myers or say Candyman (you got me, I chose those two characters because they both have movies due out in the immediate future), there is something to be said for a killer who believes that he has the moral high ground. And to think all of this could have been resolved with a simple and well-timed apology.