A+D
There are a lot of artsy people out there who believe that because a movie is independent, it's automatically art and better than some drivel you'd see in a normal theater or on TV.  Seen as part of the 12th San Francisco Independent Film Festival, A+D is the epitome of rubbish filled with emotional nonsense that left me literally drinking a gallon of water so I would have an excuse to step out and use the restroom every few minutes.     A+D is a self described "universal story of relationships", but it's not.  It's a movie about a mentally unstable woman who thinks nagging is witty and how miserable a man would become who's stupid enough not to notice the telltale warning signs that she's... READ MORE >>>

Storm
With the war that tore apart Yugoslavia in the 1990's as the backdrop for this courtroom drama, Storm is the latest offering by co-writer and director Hans-Christian Schmid.  Unfortunately this is one storm that doesn't bring much intensity.     Kerry Fox (Bright Star) is Hannah Maynard, a prosecutor for The Hague's tribunal for war crimes in the former Yugoslavia who is given the case of a Serbian commander accused of killing innocent Bosnians.  When her newly minted boss, played by Stephen Dillane (John Adams) hands her over the case's star witness, things get a little dicey.  First off, Hannah feels passed over for the position she believes she was equally qualified for, second, the witness could very well be lying which could collapse the whole... READ MORE >>>

Black Dynamite
Michael Jai White is like the Rumplestiltskin of action movie heroes. He burst onto the scene in Spawn back in 1997, kicked a little ass in both Universal Soldier movies, and then faded from the bone crunching genre to focus on dramas. Well the sleeping giant has reawakened thanks to the blisteringly hilarious blaxploitation send-up/royal homage Black Dynamite. Unlike other blaxploitation tributes (think I’m Gonna Git You Sucka! and Undercover Brother), Black Dynamite isn’t set in modern day times and it’s not just another film paying compliments to the low budget black action films of the ‘70s. Instead it’s actually... READ MORE >>>

Fish Tank
What a dismal, deadening life -- at least in Essex, east of London, as depicted in "Fish Tank", and probably in all small cities throughout England.  Well, maybe it's bad all over.  But let's not get into economics and politics now.       Back in the early 1960's, England developed a unique subgenre - the "Angry Young Man", and the girls were represented by people like Rita Tushingham (A Taste Of Honey).  Whereas, back then the famous "gaze", staring out into nowhere and dreaming of a better life, was perfected by Ms. Tushingham and copied by all budding actresses of her generation, Mia, the protagonist in "Fish Tank" attacks whole gaggles of girls, defies her mother, shuns her sister and aerobicizes her demons into submission with... READ MORE >>>

A Dangerous Man
Action, action, and more action!  That's what I want when I watch a Steven Seagal movie.  I don't want any of that artistic stuff, a plot full of learning about the inner child of characters nor do I want a sappy love story.  When it comes to cheesy action movies, all I want to see is ass kicking, sexy women, and a fast plot where I don't have to think.  A Dangerous Man is exactly what a Seagal movie should be.      The story starts off with Shane Daniels (Seagal), attacking a mugger who attempted to rob his wife.  Soon after the incident, police find the mugger dead and Shane is interrogated about his past in the Special Forces.  The evidence is damning and... READ MORE >>>