Tag: Thriller

REVIEW: ‘I.S.S.’ has some suspense but execution is clunky

The International Space Station may bring astronauts to the final frontier, but as this film shows, they are still very much tied to what’s happening down on Earth.

“I.S.S.” centers on six characters aboard the station in Earth’s orbit. There are three American astronauts: Kira (Ariana DeBose), Gordon (Chris Messina) and Christian (John Gallagher Jr.), as well as three Russian cosmonauts: Weronika (Masha Mashkova), Nicholai (Costa Ronin) and Alexey (Pilou Asbæk).

Kiras is the newest to the station and is still adjusting, but she finds everything going smoothly on board as the crew gets along and stays busy. That is until they all witness massive explosions and find out that a major war has started. Each group then receives notice from their nations to take over the station.

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REVIEW: Don’t bother with a dip, ‘Night Swim’ is a skip

A film from Blumhouse Productions kicked off both 2023 and 2024. The difference is that “M3gan” was a much better experience than “Night Swim.”

The new horror stars Kerry Condon and Wyatt Russell as Eve and Ray Waller, who begin the movie in the market for a new house. Their search for a new home comes after Ray had to retire from Major League Baseball due to an illness.

The home they end up buying appears to be a great fit, as the pool in the backyard will be helpful for Ray’s physical therapy. Things at the new home start off well enough, with the family of four enjoying the luxury of having a pool. However, creepy things begin happening and paranormal sights are seen.

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REVIEW: ‘The Killer’ is a brisk, finely crafted thriller

Director David Fincher has made another solid film on Netflix. Now here’s hoping he makes a third season of “Mindhunter” for the streaming service.

Let’s stick with his latest film, though. With “The Killer,” Fincher returns to the thriller genre, and gives audiences insight into the mind of an expert assassin. Playing the main character, who is only referred to as the Killer, is Michael Fassbender.

The film follows the character returning home from a job only to find someone close to him has been attacked. Knowing the perpetrators are still out there and could potentially strike again, the Killer sets out to eliminate the threats.

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REVIEW: Sans dialogue, ‘No One Will Save You’ succeeds with suspense

Those who’ve played Nintendo games where protagonists are speechless other than grunts should find themselves in familiar territory with this mostly dialogue-free film.

Kaitlyn Dever stars in the picture, now on Hulu, as Brynn, a young woman living in a rural house near a small community. Brynn lives a simple, quiet life, appearing to be trying to recover from a trauma in her past.

After a fairly typical day, she goes to sleep, but is woken up by noise in and around her home. The intruder, though, is no burglar, but rather an extra-terrestrial, and there’s not just one that Brynn has to escape from.

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REVIEW: Vampire flick ‘Last Voyage of the Demeter’ disappoints

There have been many film adaptations of Bram Stoker’s classic novel “Dracula.” Adaptations of a single chapter, though? That’s a new one.

“The Last Voyage of the Demeter” is based on the chapter “The Captain’s Log” from Stoker’s 1897 book. In the film, the Demeter is a ship leaving Bulgaria helmed by Captain Elliot (Liam Cunningham). While the movie is narrated at points by Elliot who gives his thoughts on the development in his log, the film is centered on the character Clemens (Corey Hawkins).

A doctor looking to return to England, Clemens joins the crew of the Demeter which is sailing to Britain on a seemingly routine voyage. Along with the crew, the Demeter is carrying plenty of cargo, including a mysterious crate. As one would expect, the box contains the legendary vampire himself.

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REVIEW: ‘How to Blow Up a Pipeline’ is bold, powerful filmmaking

The brink has been reached for the characters in this drama, and it forces them to go past the point of no return.

It’s no surprise, as they feel the same has happened with climate change.

The film, inspired by the book featuring the same title, follows a group of young people who, seeing all other forms of protest ineffective, decide to sabotage a section of an oil pipeline in Texas. The plan originally formulates between college students Xochitl (Ariela Barer) and Shawn (Marcus Scribner).

They join forces with activists Rowan (Kristine Froseth), Logan (Lukas Gage), Theo (Sasha Lane), Alisha (Jayme Lawson) and Michael (Forrest Goodluck). Additionally, they partner with Dwayne (Jake Weary), a Texan who was forced to relocate when his property was bought out for a pipeline’s construction.

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REVIEW: Poor execution buries ‘Cocaine Bear’s’ potential

I think a more entertaining movie about a forest animal high on cocaine would be one focused on a moose, but this was inspired by a true story so it is what it is.

As the title suggests, there’s cocaine in the movie, lots of it. More specifically, it’s cocaine that’s dumped from a smuggling plane over a forest in Georgia, where it’s then ingested by a black bear.

Knowing the cocaine needs to be recovered, a mob boss sends his fixer Daveed (O’Shea Jackson Jr.) and his son Eddie (Alden Ehrenreich) to pick up the drugs. Meanwhile, Sari (Keri Russell) is a mother whose daughter skipped school to go to the forest with a friend. Sari goes in the forest to look for her daughter and, like Eddie and Daveed, come across the dangerous cocaine Bear.

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REVIEW: ‘Missing’ manages to keep audiences glued to the (fictional) screen

It can be hard to catch lightning in a bottle twice. Yet “Missing,” while not as strong as its predecessor “Searching,” manages to be another fun screen-based mystery.

The movie is connected to the previous installment by only a small reference at the start. In this picture, the focus is on June (Storm Reid), a young woman who lives with her mother Grace (Nia Long). The movie picks up with Grace about to leave on a vacation with her new boyfriend Kevin (Ken Leung) while June stays home.

Left alone while her mom is away, June does some partying before Grace is set to get back. However, on the date Grace’s plane is to arrive, she’s nowhere to be found and there’s not much information as to why. Sensing something is wrong, June begins researching what happened to her mother on her computer, and begins unraveling dangerous secrets.

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REVIEW: ‘Knock at the Cabin’ creates some suspense amid issues

Cabins are often relaxing places to stay at, unless it’s a cabin in a movie. In that case, it’s almost always an extremely dangerous place to be.

“Knock at the Cabin,” directed by M. Night Shyamalan, is another movie that shows a lovely vacation to a secluded, rustic location turning into a nightmare scenario. The movie follows the married couple Eric (Jonathan Groff) and Andrew (Ben Aldridge), as well as their daughter Wen (Kristen Cui).

During a stay at their rented cabin, the family is approached by a group of four individuals, led by Leonard (Dave Bautista). At first, it seems like a home invasion, but the family soon learn that the four are there to warn them about an impending apocalypse. According to the four, disaster is around the corner, and the only way to stop it is one of the family members being sacrificed.

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REVIEW: Manic energy in ‘M3gan’ makes it a fun watch

Another addition to my never ending list of reasons why I fear a robot uprising.

The titular doll in “M3gan” is basically an android built by Gemma (Allison Williams), a robotics engineer working at a toy company that releases advanced products. While she’s at work on her latest project, her sister and brother-in-law are killed in a car accident.

Gemma’s niece, Cady (Violet McGraw), survived the crash and is now living with Gemma, but the girl has become depressed and reclusive. In trying to help Cady, Gemma activates M3gan to be a doll and friend to the girl. However, M3gan was still in the testing phase, and the artificial intelligence in the doll has the potential to be dangerous.

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