John Fink

The supernatural element with low-rent visual effects derails an interesting enough concept where the rules don’t matter. Finding a creepy, mysterious porn film is weird by itself, and while it need not be grounded in realism like 8mm or Hardcore, Porno doesn’t have to throw away the rule book to be fun and scary.

Vibrant and often hilarious––with a surprise appearance by Fred Durst, who becomes a spirit guide to help the kids “break stuff” and save humanity––Y2K is far from perfect, but it does try harder than most comedies in its densely accurate portrait of an era of angst awaiting the nightmares of the 9/11 era.

Students of the genre will know what’s coming and if you’re craving a few thrills, you can do far worse.

King Cobra is a lurid piece of business that, at times, goes gleefully over the top while lacking the kind of gut punch you might expect in the film’s third act.

The grand takeaway from Puerto Ricans in Paris, which delivers what you’d expect and not much else, is that someone ought to finally give Luis Guzmán the leading role of a lifetime. The film, however, is tolerable on cable or free TV.

I admire the film’s ability to commit to a rather simple idea, but that idea seems to lack the gravity and impact it ought to.

Unfortunately Nerdland doesn’t offer many surprises.

Occasionally clunky pacing aside, the film is a delightful bit of cinematic comfort food.

In the most disappointing miscalculation, Schumer and Hawn seem to be lacking chemistry together in a relationship that walks familiar ground without really offering any kind of subversive take on the material.

Fronted by a fine performance by Matt Smith, Mapplethorpe plays it safe with a subject that’s anything but.

As far as straightforward crude comedies go, The Brothers Grimsby succeeds at times, even if the confines of narrative cinema restrict just how wild Sacha Baron Cohen can be.

Despite overstaying its welcome through one absurd action sequence after another, it knows exactly what it is: an action movie your uncle would have liked after receiving on VHS from Columbia House. It’s just skillful enough to keep one engaged as we witness otherwise dull archetypes escape one tense situation after another.

A film such as this lives and dies by its leads, and both are wonderful on-screen together, creating a realistic love story that works well as they navigate the situation they both find themselves in.

There is something occasionally fun in watching a film with questionable choices bookended by over-the-top musical numbers. It’s not hard to imagine a spirited programmer getting a crowd excited for it at some point in the future.

Below Her Mouth is sexy and captivating, telling a familiar story with a fresh sexual frankness.

Despite the intimate, conversational style, A Private Portrait feels a bit cold and calculated, with a focus on celebrity versus art.

Neatly wrapping it all up in a bow, right down to big reveals and reconciliations, The Perfect Match offers not nearly enough twists on a tired formula.

Despite a few laughs, it’s a film that panders to a general audience with the funky musical score of a blaxploitation flick but none of the heart, spirit, or outrage.

Narrative risks aside, Outlaws and Angels takes the easy way out instead of allowing these moments the breathing room they need.

Occasionally entertaining and cringe-inducing, it’s largely more of the same: a retread of previous Jigsaw/Saw outings that sets the series up for new revenue opportunities without slaying larger dragons.

[A] paint-by-the-numbers product, which ought to have been released directly to VOD.

Rehashing some of the best and most memorable moments of Terry Zwigoff’s 2003 comedy, Bad Santa 2 is dirtier but certainly not funnier and it ultimately gives us less of a reason to care.

Upon a first glance, the film is somewhat hollow an experience, offering trite dialogue and an on-the-nose message about beauty and the horrors of genetic engineering taken to their extreme.

A game of Truth or Dare can actually be a great way to get to know each other, the only problem here is that these characters are so paper thin, that it’s hard to care what secrets they may hide.

Sleepless isn’t intellectually offensive or even all that embarrassing for the talent involved. Beat by beat, right down to its twists, it’s a predictable January thriller.

The material is simply too thin to support a 106-minute-long version of this story without veering into boredom as the path to the confession is a tediously predictable one.

Ambitious and deeply flawed, Acrimony may appeal to hardcore fans of The Room–it’s not every day a melodrama comes along that’s this fun precisely because it never takes itself seriously.

The craft is quite admirable, while the elements feel a bit recycled.