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Frank's Movie Log

My life at the movies.

  1. The New Mutants 2020

    D: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Josh Boone. Starring Maisie Williams, Anya Taylor-Joy, Charlie Heaton, and Alice Braga.

    We meet an assortment of angst-ridden teens with lethal mutant powers imprisoned in a hospital resembling a boarding school. Teen drama ensues, culminating in a big CGI finale. The single location and shallow characterization make this play like the pilot for a TV series. I liked Maisie Williams’s performance, but I knew her character from the comics and may have imported more depth than the film proffered.

    Watched on
    10 Apr 2021
  2. Friday the 13th: A New Beginning 1985

    D: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Danny Steinmann. Starring Melanie Kinnaman, John Shepherd, Anthony Barrile, and Suzanne Bateman.

    After Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter delivered the franchise’s highest grosses, Paramount ditches Jason in an attempt to reboot the franchise. Bad idea. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    09 Apr 2021
  3. Ride Lonesome 1959

    B+: 4 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Budd Boetticher. Starring Randolph Scott, Karen Steele, Pernell Roberts, and James Best.

    James Coburn’s debut. Randolph Scott plays a bounty hunter determined to bring in his query at all costs. Coburn plays the dim-witted sidekick of a man Scott meets on the trail. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    07 Apr 2021
  4. Lilith 1964

    D: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Robert Rossen. Starring Warren Beatty, Jean Seberg, Peter Fonda, and Kim Hunter.

    Gene Hackman’s debut. Warren Beatty plays a returning veteran who hires on at a palatial mental institution. There he falls for the titular Lilith, a manipulative patient played by Jean Seberg. Hackman has a small, but memorable role as the smarmy husband of Beatty’s former flame. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    06 Apr 2021
  5. Five Guns West 1955

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Roger Corman. Starring John Lund, Dorothy Malone, Mike Connors, and R. Wright Campbell.

    Roger Corman’s directorial debut. During the Civil War’s waning days, the Confederate Army conscripts five convicted killers, offering them full pardons provided they intercept a Confederate traitor traveling with a fortune in stolen gold. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    05 Apr 2021
  6. Child's Play 2 1990

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by John Lafia. Starring Alex Vincent, Jenny Agutter, Gerrit Graham, and Christine Elise.

    Restored to working order, Chucky resumes his murderous quest to sacrifice young Andy to escape his artificial body. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    04 Apr 2021
  7. X-Men: Dark Phoenix 2019

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Simon Kinberg. Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, and Nicholas Hoult.

    Better than expected. The opening sequence sees the X-Men rescuing a troubled space shuttle mission. This marks the first time in the nineteen-year-old franchise where the team acts as superheroes combating a non-mutant threat. A refreshing change. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    03 Apr 2021
  8. Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter 1984

    B: 4 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Joseph Zito. Starring Erich Anderson, Judie Aronson, Peter Barton, and Kimberly Beck.

    I was still waking up early for Saturday-morning cartoons when this film premiered. What I knew of the series came via third-hand bits of lore relayed in wide-eyed playground whispers. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    02 Apr 2021
  9. Kvinnors väntan 1952

    C-: 2.5 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Ingmar Bergman. Starring Anita Björk, Eva Dahlbeck, Maj-Britt Nilsson, and Birger Malmsten.

    A portmanteau comprising the stories of three married women awaiting their husbands at a summer cottage.

    The vignettes play out with confidence and ring true, but lack resonance. Honest performances all around, but the women’s deepest secrets all revolve around disappointments in their respective husbands. Shocking for a 1950s audience, but trite today.

    Watched on
    01 Apr 2021
  10. Hi, Mom! 1970

    D+: 2 stars (out of 5)

    Directed by Brian De Palma. Starring Robert De Niro, Allen Garfield, Lara Parker, and Charles Durning.

    A sequel to Greetings that sees Robert De Niro reprising his role as Jon Rubin, now a Vietnam War vet returned home to New York City. Continue reading...

    Watched on
    31 Mar 2021

Pagination

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