Frailty (2001) – Bill Paxton

I miss Bill Paxton. Sure, I never actually got to meet the man, but I loved his work. And It has been forever since I watched his film Frailty, so why not a revisit? Damn, this one is still a solid film. Mr. Meiks (Matthew McConaughey) comes to see FBI agent Wesley Doyle (Powers Boothe)….

White Lightning (1973) – Joseph Sargent

Burt Reynolds stars as Gator McClusky, who feels like he may be a more rough and tumble relative of the Bandit. And speaking of Smokey & the Bandit, Hal Needham, who went on to direct that classic film, served as the second unit director on this film. Gator is in prison, and he’s a model…

Raw Deal (1986) – John Irvin

I knew not all of Arnold Schwarzenegger’s early work were going to be winners. And there was a reason I never wanted to take a chance on Raw Deal. From everything I’d seen, trailer and image wide it looked pretty horrible. Surprise, surprise I was right. It has a horrible soundtrack and score, and the…

Now You See Me (2013) – Louis Leterrier

What happens when you take Ocean’s 11 heist vibe and throw some magic at it? Well, you could come back with something like Now You See Me. While it doesn’t have all the star power of the Soderbergh film, Now You See Me is fairly entertaining and has some solid casting. Mark Ruffalo plays FBI…

Chain Reaction (1996) – Andrew Davis

Following his success with The Fugitive, Andrew Davis tried to tap once again into the conspiracy and chase that rocketed that film to success (not to mention its incredible star power. This time out, with Chain Reaction, he stacks the cast with Keanu Reeves, Morgan Freeman and Rachel Weisz. In fact, Davis pulls out all…

TIFF24: The Order dir. Justin Kurzel

Jude Law plays Terry Husk, an FBI agent who is investigating a murder and a series of large bank robberies along the American Northwest. As he digs in, he begins to suspect it’s all tied to a racist terrorist organization that may be planning a big move. Based on actual events, and just as relevant…

Dark Skies (1996) – Hostile Convergence, and We Shall Overcome

Series creators Bryce Zabel and Brent V. Friedman developed the story for Hostile Convergence which Javier Grillo-Marxauch wrote the teleplay for. It debuted on 7 December, 1996, John Loengard (Eric Close) ends up in Socorro, New Mexico in April 1964 as he investigates the infamous Lonnie Zamora (Robert Carradine) UFO sighting. The original sighting is…

Eraser (1996) – Chuck Russell

Arnold Schwarzenegger fights to save Vanessa Williams and stop an arms deal with terrorists in Eraser. The big guy is John Kruger, a U.S. Marshal who specializes in working the Witness Relocation Program. The opening sequence sets up his abilities and the aspects of the job which see him erasing Johnny C (Robert Pastorelli) to…

Final Destination (2000) – James Wong

Death doesn’t like to be cheated, especially by twenty-somethings playing teenagers as we see in the first installment in the multi-film series christened Final Destination. Written by X-files alumus James Wong and Glen Morgan alongside Jeffrey Reddick from a story developed by Reddick, the horror thriller is fairly basic, with a number of familiar faces….

I Come in Peace (1990) – Craig R. Baxley

Is I Come in Peace considered a Christmas movie? It’s set at Christmas. That seems to be the only requisite for some films. I mean John McClane got invited to a Christmas party so that covers off Die Hard, but what about Dolph Lundgren as Detective Jack Caine caught up in a drug war in…