Jennifer Lawrence trusts to Francis Lawrence, who directed her in the final three Hunger Games films. As such, she bares it all in this taut spy thriller. Based on the novel by Jason Matthews the story introduces us to Dominika Egorova (Lawrence). Her promising career as a ballerina is brought to a brutal end when…
Tag: throwback
Vampires vs. The Bronx (2020) – Oz Rodriguez
Vampires vs. The Bronx feels like a bit of a throwback to those teen/young audience horror films that were springing up during the 80s. Undeniably influenced by The Lost Boys, and perhaps The Monster Squad, it doesn’t have quite the same level of cult-hood, but it is a fun film that is a solid kid-friendly…
The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare (2024) – Guy Ritchie
While there isn’t much to describe in terms of character arcs, Guy Ritchie’s latest, The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare has a couple of things going for it. It’s based on a recently declassified (2016) true event of World War II, it has an enjoyable cast, and it’s always fun to see Nazis get punched, and…
Escape Plan (2013) – Mikael Hafstrom
Escape Plan feels like a bit of an action throwback and leans into the escapist (pun intended) entertainment of the 80s and early 90s. And what better way to do that than with two of the biggest stars of the 80s Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger? Stallone plays Ray Breslin, a professional escape artist. He…
Life of the Party (2018) – Blu-Ray Review
With a recycled plot that is straight out of an 80s film, the Melissa McCarthy vehicle, Life of the Party hits blu-ray and DVD this week from Warner Brothers. Despite using all of the university and college tropes that have been in play since National Lampoon’s Animal House, the film arguably takes the story and…
Allied (2016) – Robert Zemeckis
Available today from Paramount Pictures is director Robert Zemeckis’ wartime romantic thriller, Allied. Opening in French Morocco, the film is a deliberate throwback to the romantic war films of yesteryear. In the first half of the film there are intentional callbacks to films like Casablanca and Notorious, calling to mind our memories and emotions…
We Are Still Here (2015) – Ted Geoghegan
Coming out today from Anchor Bay, available on both Blu-Ray and DVD is this film that is bound to be a divisive one for the horror community. If you’re a gore hound, love your jump scares, or just have a short attention span and a need for instant gratification, this may not be the…
The Mind Reels 