Posts by Jeremy Butler

Uncanny is definitely an apt title for this science fiction film: a story that deals with possibly the most realistic artificial intelligence entity ever created, in the realm of this film’s universe that is. The impact of this film will likely be dampened due to the release of a recent realistic science fiction drama that will not be named. In the beginning, the film did not fully capture my attention as I had an idea of how things were going to play out. That said, what I imagine could not have been further from the reality. It is rare that a film catches me off guard, and it is also a pleasant surprise when it does. So in that regard, my hat is off to this film.

Reporter Joy Andrews (Lucy Griffiths, Constantine) is selected to conduct a week-long interview with genius and recluse David Kressen (Mark Weber, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) a pioneer of technology said to have created something unlike anything ever seen. Their interaction gets off to the rocky start as the two size each other up and Joy remains unimpressed with Kressen until he reveals his innovation: Adam (David Clayton Rogers, Jane By Design), a fully functioning artificially intelligent humanoid. After the revelation Joy becomes fully engrossed with the story, and the trio spend a great deal of time together.

How much can you accomplish in less than ten minutes? In the case of Noel Clarke, you can prevent a global domination plot. OK, to be fair to the rest of civilization, it wasn’t just one ten-minute period, but a series of ten-minute periods. All things being equal, still extremely impressive, no? Noel Clarke is Ryan Dunn, a former soldier who finds that his consciousness is taken over by another, and he only regains control during a system reboot, as it were. In these brief moments of control, he learns of the plot that his operator (as it were) is putting into motion and does what he can to prevent it. However, this brings us back to the original question: how much can one really accomplish in a ten-minute period?

The film has a good opening as the audience is introduced to Ryan (Noel Clarke), who is just as new to what is happening as the rest of us. It’s always good to be on common ground with the protagonist. He wakes up in the back of a van with a young boy who has been abducted. Like any decent human being, he attempts to help the boy. Unfortunately for him, his counterpart is not a decent human being. As mentioned above, Ryan only has partial control during very short windows of time. During each “reboot”, he learns more about what his counterpart is up to in his absence, which includes a plot with global implications. Every time he wakes up, he finds himself in the company of a mysterious stranger (Ian Somerhalder), who is aiding in the plot.

A scary premise, but overall this quickly becomes a story about one family overcoming obstacles to find one another again. Heartwarming, granted; however, not very fear-inspiring. Earthfall features a global incident, which ultimately could mean the end of days. A meteor storm strikes the Earth, knocking it off its axis. Terrifying, right? Good foundation, but based on what I observed, clearly not the focal point of the story, which says to me that this story clearly did not have its priorities right.

Now before I receive a tongue-lashing from our family-friendly audience, allow me the opportunity to clarify. I am not suggesting that idea that the main characters’ primary focus was to locate one another was wrong; I am indicating that for that to be the focal point of the entire story results in a lackluster movie. The actual grim circumstance receives very little attention in comparison. My observation is that the catharsis achieved by being reunited will be short-lived given the dire situation. You may embrace long enough to register the end of the world.

Secrets abound in this horror more akin to The Omen rather than Carrie as I had originally suspected. I tell you, that life lesson about not judging a book by its cover still rings true. On the horror scale it does not really have that bone-chilling effect, but it holds its own, and the young talent does make an impression. Kennedy Brice plays the titular character, a little girl with an active imagination, or at least that’s what the grown-ups tell themselves as strange incidents keep happening around her.

As mentioned above, June is a little girl who has moved from foster home to foster home since being put into the system. Born into a cult that believed her to be the vessel for an entity that would bring judgement to the world, a massacre during a ceremony leads to her being brought into the system. After her latest placement ends in an occurrence that no one can explain, her social worker (Eddie Jemison) finds her a home with a loving couple, Dave and Lily Anderson (Casper Van Dien and Victoria Pratt).

“What an interesting girl.”

Four against one, hardly fair odds. Then again, that is how this group prefers it. Little do they know that their latest prey is much more than she appears. Abigail Breslin is every predator’s nightmare in this action thriller about a group of boys who like to lure unwitting girls into the woods to hunt for sport. This film had style, a bit of noir, making it difficult to the determine the time period it is meant to be portraying, but all the same, this was one of my favorites of movies I’ve reviewed this year.

Fair warning, this comedy is much shorter than I was originally led to believe. The cover of this disc gives the deceitful impression that you audience will be treated to at least three performances and one host; however, as it turns out you must read the fine print, as this disc is merely Part 1. I am usually an advocate of the saying leave the people wanting more; however, that saying only applies when you have sufficiently hooked the audience, which this stand-up special fails to do, making the possibility of engaging in Part 2 very unlikely.

The first downfall for this special comes from the format, as the performances of the host as well as the comedian (the host is also a comedian; however, evidence of that remains unseen) are intercut between a recurring skit as well as what appears to be a tutorial in slang. The skit does prove to be entertaining in the first and last incarnation; however, its placement between comedy sets at first make it more of a nuisance than anything else. It would have likely been better received as a preshow or an aftershow addition rather than chopped up and injected throughout the runtime.