Early in “Blackthorn,” I had to smile when the line “I can’t trust someone with no name” was uttered. Immediately, it brought to mind Clint Eastwood’s Man with No Name character from Sergio Leone’s “Dollars” trilogy — some of the best Westerns ever made. And “Blackthorn” is nothing if not a cinematic celebration of the […]
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Take Shelter
The indie drama is scheduled to open Friday at AMC Quail Springs Mall 24. Strangely, Curtis (Michael Shannon, TV’s “Boardwalk Empire”), a blue-collar worker in a small town in Ohio, is the only one who notices how different the drops are. That’s because it’s just a dream. Trouble is, his dreams have seeped over into […]
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From tusk till brawn
Somewhere on your Google machines, you can find a Top 10 list of the best arm-wrestling movies of all time. Perched at No. 4 is “Over the Top,” Sylvester Stallone’s 1987 flop opus about the sport. And the other nine spots are completely blank. I’d like to think that even if the chart weren’t a […]
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Area 51 Confidential
Blood, gore, aliens — who doesn’t love all of the cheesy things that come with a B-grade science-fiction film? The Reel Renegades will present a free screening of “Area 51 Confidential” as Saturday’s midnight movie for the month at VZD’s, 4200 N. Western. Through strategically placed cameras, the found-footage film follows a group of strangers […]
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Going ape
Norman, 1973. A mother chimpanzee named Carolyn held her infant to her chest as two strangers, a man and a woman, approached her cage. The man pulled out a dart gun, turned to Carolyn and shot the mother chimp with a tranquilizer. Carolyn slumped to the floor of the cage, her hands still clutching the […]
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Final Destination 5
So has everything else. As has been the case over the course of the hit horror series, each chapter adheres to its tried-and-true template. In fact, it could be argued that the movies are written from a “Mad Libs” page, but the only variable to change is the epic disaster that kick-starts each one. With […]
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Hat trick
After delivering a one-two punch with “The Seducers Club” and “Stay Low” in the spring with City Arts Center, local filmmaker Mickey Reece returns with a third: “Punch Cowboy.” The feature debuts Saturday night, with The Workweek’s Carly Gwin performing beforehand as a musical guest. While Reece’s movies jump from genre to genre — sometimes […]
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Near-‘Midnight’ movie
VZD’s Restaurant & Club, 4200 N. Western, hopes to change all that starting Friday night with the first-ever “The Midnight Movie at VZD’s” event. The screening is free. Appropriately enough, the inaugural film even has “Midnight” in its title: “15 Till Midnight,” an independent, R-rated, sci-fi film released last year. Made for an estimated $200,000, […]
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‘5’ star
In the past five years, Diana DeGarmo has been imprisoned, seen her true love murdered and birthed a blind, green baby. Now, she’s sexually harassed on a nightly basis. What a way to make to a living. Relax. The incidents above took place on the theater stage, from Broadway to touring productions of, respectively, “Hairspray,” […]
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Sketchy duo
But you do have a regular TV receiving local signals, including KAUT- TV 43. Lucky for you, 7 p.m. Saturday on the newly re-branded Freedom 43 is movie night. What makes that so special isn’t the film selection (unless you really like Jason Biggs), but the two men hosting it. Dubbed the 2 Movie Guys, […]