Posts by Jeremy Butler

Ammonite was a very hard movie to stay interested in. In its defense, I don’t believe that I was the target audience for the film; I’m not really interested in period dramas, and the only things I know about paleontology I learned from Ross on Friends. There is also the fact that as a film it is very slow and dry, and the most interesting angle was the relationship that developed between characters Mary Anning and Charlotte Murchison. Granted this was an intriguing development, but before we are treated to this, we have to survive an hour of poignant silences broken up with very little dialog. There is also the fact that my research has shown that their historical accuracy of the characters’ relationship in the film has been called into question. So now as a audience member I am forced to question the only truly interesting thing about the film. Kate Winslet and Saiorse Ronan are top-level talents, but I fear that even they weren’t enough to make the film worthwhile for me. Essentially, Ammonite is only for those who enjoy slow-building period dramas.

If there is one thing this movie taught me, it’s patience. Watching the film, I really struggle with my commitment to finish the film. It was just difficult to find anything to enjoy about it, because as I mentioned earlier, there wasn’t a lot of dialog, and for the first part of the film, there wasn’t really much going on. I will say that the one line I did enjoy was when Winslet’s Anning, whose demeanor shows that she only barely tolerates other people, gets a sort of revenge on an obnoxious character by telling him that a prized specimen he collected was nothing more than fossilized feces. I will confess that made me chuckle, but that one instance aside, this was a really boring film for me. I initially hoped to share the film with my wife, but circumstances didn’t allow that opportunity. Even so, I have my doubts that she would have been interested either; perhaps by the later relationship, but she would have likely stopped watching long before we got to that.

“You will survive Christmas in the mountains. I promise”

Someone should have told that character about making promises that you can’t keep. In this horror film, which felt more like a dark comedy if you ask me, a newly formed blended family and their au pair find themselves doing battle with a group of evil toys. That’s right, you read correctly, I said toys, and on Christmas no less. Now, the premise of evil toys is nothing new. I for one still can’t look at a Chucky doll without internal feelings of dread; however, where those films were able to instill fear, Toys of Terror just doesn’t do it, largely due to the film’s overall pacing. It just takes too long to get off the ground. Plenty of sizzle, but by the time we get to the steak, much of the runtime has been depleted and all the intrigue has bubbled out. While it is not the horror film that I expected, there were still some elements of the film that were worthwhile despite a bit of a lackluster conclusion.

I was very much impressed with the quality of this film. Of late the quality of horror films that I’ve reviewed have not been great, and this film helped to restore my faith in the genre. While I am past the era of these types of movies scaring the bejesus out of me, I still admire a creative story that isn’t completely predictable. There are some elements of the film that were somewhat predictable, but overall the premise and story quality kept the project from being stale. The film reminds me of what Terrence Howard said in Four Brothers: “Keep knocking on the Devil’s door long enough and sooner or later someone’s going to answer you.” Great line and sound advice, which this film appears to expand upon. While the film is probably still falls into the B- movie category, the production quality and diligent work of the cast ensures that it falls into the higher spectrum of the B-movie category. The film features Ryan Guzman (television series 9-1-1) as a priest specializing in exorcism for his many followers on social media. As you can probably guess, he is far from the real deal and looking to catapult his little production into a massive following and huge payday, when he comes face to face with a real deal demon and he has to actually practice what he’s been pretending to preach. Rounding out the cast is Kyle Gallner, another television fixture best known for his performances on Veronica Mars and Smallville.

The film opens up right in the action, as Father Max (Guzman) works tirelessly to free an innocent man possessed by a demon. After a momentous struggle, the man is freed in front of an audience of thousands on social media. Then it’s revealed that the entire ordeal was fake and that Max is not a real priest, but an actor hoping to tap into a niche market. The whole setup is the brainchild of Max and his childhood best friend Drew, in order to make a profit. Drew is hoping to expand their enterprise, while Max is merely hoping to grow his own hype. It is abundantly clear that Max is more self-serving than Drew, who has unwavering loyalty to Max for reasons that become clear later in the film.

Well despite being typecasted, Liam Neeson delivers an entertaining film with Honest Thief. The film depicts the story of a prolific bank robber who after falling in love, decides to turn himself in exchange for a reduced sentence. A caveat of this deal is that he must also return the money he stole; all nine million dollars of it. It isn’t hard to figure out where the story goes from here. Naturally, the FBI agents assigned to the case immediately get greedy upon seeing the money and make plans to keep it for themselves. Where the film deviates is when they agents try to kill him, they are caught by their boss and forced to kill him and frame Neeson for the crime. I was prepared for the greed, but not the murder of one of their own, so that provided a decent twist, or it would have had it not been one of the big selling twist featured in all the promotional trailers for the film. Sometimes Hollywood ruins a good twist by providing too much information in the trailer. Rounding out the cast is Kate Walsh, Jai Courtney, Robert Patrick, and one of my favorite actors, Jeffrey Donovan.

To briefly summarize again, the film follows former Marine and demolition expert Tom Dolan (Neeson), a master thief whose precision and dedication to his craft has earned him the moniker, the “In-and-Out Bandit.” For years, he has operated without detection and even the threat of being caught until he meets Annie (Walsh), a recently divorced grad student who he falls head over heels for. Wanting to spend the rest of his life with her without the risk of future imprisonment looming over his head; Dolan stops robbing banks and contacts the FBI to make a deal to turn himself in and the money in exchange for a reduced sentence.

As a directorial debut, I’d rate the film as average. There’s intrigue, but it is light on explanations. The film is also a bit of a slow burn, as I was a quarter through the film before anything of substance began to happen. When it comes to the horror genre, that is a bit long to wait. The film appeared to be focused on trying to get the audience to invest in the characters in the beginning more than moving the plot along. Once things began to happen, the intrigue began to build more, and the story was able to maintain my interest. That said, I’m still confused as to the overall setup for the film. Despite its 88-minute runtime, the film had more of an indie-student-film vibe to it. It has a talented cast that included Liana Liberato (Light as a Feather) and Jake Weber (Dawn of the Dead), but with the exception of Liberato’s character, the cast is a bit one-dimensional. All in all, while intriguing, the film felt a bit underdeveloped.

The story follows a young couple, Emily and Randall (Liberato and Noah Le Gros), as they arrive at Randall’s family beach house. There is tension between the couple due to a recent change in their circumstance; Randall has left college and is encouraging Emily to do the same. He even goes as far as to suggest the romantic notion of living at the beach house year-round. Adding to the tension, the young couple find that another couple is also staying at the house; Mitch and Jane Turner (Weber and Maryann Nagal), old friends of Randall’s parents. Ultimately the quartet decide that there is plenty of room for all of them to stay at the house.

If you were hoping to see if this film would get the Nalyce stamp of approval, I must apologize, because this was one that she just flat out did not want to watch. I mean, she didn’t even want to give it a chance. In her defense, I do believe that she has aged out of this type of content. Kids, they grow up so fast. So I’m afraid you will have to rely solely on my commentary about Thomas and the Magic Railroad. In all honesty, I think Nalyce made the right call by opting out of this movie. Not only is she likely no longer in the age bracket for this type of film; the plot is so all over the place that I had trouble following it. While the film does have some familiar faces that include Alec Baldwin and Peter Fonda, there is nothing about the story that really reaches out and grabs you. The location changes so much that after a while I started to feel like a ping pong ball being knocked back and forward. Also, given that the film is a re-release (having originally been released in theaters in 2000), the low quality of the special effects are not likely to captivate a younger audience that has been spoiled with the high-definition quality that they get today. In a nutshell, this is one is probably not worth your time.

When it comes to the story, I think this was a case of too many cooks in the kitchen. Between the storyline involving the conductors and their dwindling gold dust, the budding friendship between Lily and Patch, and the mystery of the Lady the lost engine, there isn’t enough runtime to adequately develop any of these storylines. While the plots are supposed to be interconnected, the constant shifting between these plots and subplots gives the film a choppy feel. That’s not even fully addressing the film’s namesake’s contributions. In this regard, it seems as though Thomas is more of a secondary character, with the focus seeming on the film’s live-action characters. I also disappointed to say that despite having veteran actors, their performances were one-dimensional at best. Alec Baldwin’s Mr. Conductor was a lifeless performance, while the more upbeat Mr. C. Junior (Michael E. Rodgers), which I imagine was meant to add comedic relief, does little to move the needle either.

Anyone wondering what exactly happened to Jesse Pinkman after the series finale of the AMC popular drama Breaking Bad? I mean, when we last saw him, he was fleeing captivity in a stolen El Camino for parts unknown as police began to surround the place that had been his prison for months. Anyone curious how that story concluded for the fan-favorite character? Well, you’re in luck, as Netflix has answered the request and produced a subsequent film in order to give Jesse Pinkman a more of satisfying ending to his story. Given that he spent a good chunk of his last season in captivity being forced to make meth, I can’t blame them for wanting to follow up. As expected, Aaron Paul reprises his role as Pinkman after a six-year separation from the character. Paul, who has gone on to find greater success since the end of the series, clearly still has great love for the character who helped bring him to prominence, and also garnered him several accolades including three Primetime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series.  Several familiar faces return in order to give the series the proper sendoff, including Krysten Ritter’s Jane Margolis, Jesse Plemons’ Todd Alquist, Jonathan Banks’ Mike Ehrmantraut, and yes, of course, Bryan Cranston’s Walter White.

Picking up directly after the events of the Season 5 finale, Jesse Pinkman has escaped the Aryan Brotherhood’s custody by fleeing in Todd Alquist’s El Camino. Taking refuge with his friends Skinny Pete and Badger, he is well aware that a manhunt is underway for him and needs to disappear. However, having just escaped captivity, he is without resources. Until he remembers a means to get the funds needed to engage the services of a "disappearer." Unfortunately, he is not the only one after the money, and he has to stay one step ahead of everyone who is after him.