The Movie:
Every once in a while, in my quest to find scary movies, I stumble across a hidden gem--not necessarily scary, but a film that doesn't take itself too seriously, and thus allows for laughs and acting chemistry to carry it through. Devil's Den is one such movie.

Following in the footsteps of Project Greenlight's last pet project, Feast, as well as cribbing from 1996's From Dusk Til Dawn, Devil's Den relies on witty lines and slightly cheesy special effects to entertain, and for that, it delivers.

With only a handful of characters, the plot unfolds in a strip club (aptly called Devil's Den) where the strippers offer more than meets the eye. The film is carried primarily by three actors: Ken Foree (from 1978's Dawn of the Dead and 2005's The Devil's Rejects, as well as television's The X Files and Babylon 5), who portrays demon hunter Leonard; Devon Sawa (the star of 1999's Idle H...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Having never heard of Purgatory House, which was written by a 14-year-old girl, I was expecting a simplistic film. Instead, the film delivered complex themes of teen isolation, drug and alcohol abuse, as well as cutting, suicide and the afterlife, all while capturing exactly what it's like to be a teenager in this day and age.

To lay the groundwork for the film, one must first understand how it came to be. It all started when actress/director/producer Cindy Baer was paired with Celeste Davis through the Big Brothers Big Sisters program in Los Angeles when Davis was just 11 years old.

As their friendship grew, Davis' home life was unraveling--she was withdrawing from her farther and step-mother, and losing interest in school and friends. By age 14, Davis was living in a teen shelter, and when Baer set about looking for a new project, she turned to Davis, knowing that the teen ha...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Apartment Zero, which was released in theatres in 1988, has finally found its way to DVD--again. Apparently this is not the first DVD release of A-Z, as it was released in the mid 90s by a small, independent distributor, in a bare-bones, pan and scan version, with no added material.

As for the film itself, Colin Firth plays Adrian LeDuc, the owner of a small cinema who is antisocial and living in close quarters with several busy-body neighbors. He eventually lets his guard down when he invites a stranger into his life to share his apartment.

That stranger, Jack Carney, is played by Hart Bochner, who brings charisma to the screen while he woos and flirts his way into the apartments and lives of his new roommate and neighbors.

The film, set in Beunos Aires, blends quirky characters with the culture of the time. This was writer David Koepp's first screenplay (he went on to pen n...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Incubus, or ridiculous, as I will from now on think of it, gives top billing to none other than Tara Reid, whose perpetual orange "tan" has always bothered me. But it's her lack of acting ability and her raspy voice that really grate on my last nerve.

Leading a cast of actors I have never seen before and am quite frankly surprised have ever been gainfully employed in films, Reid plays Jay, one of six college students who walk away unscathed from a car wreck only to find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere (actually, the middle of the Bitteroot Mountains in Montana).

Like any predictable horror film, they soon stray from the marked road into the woods, where an even more predictable storm comes rolling in. Then, when they stumble across what appears to be a hidden, strange building, they decide to break in and seek shelter from the dark woods.

Of course they do. Becau...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Poster Boy, which won the 2004 Grand Jury Award for outstanding screenwriting at L.A. Outfest, is about Henry Kray, who is thrust into the spotlight as a poster boy in his father's campaign for re-election.

With a handful of bit parts to his name, Matt Newton, who portrays Poster Boy's main character, Henry Kray, is better than most of today's young Hollywood actors. His turn as a closeted homosexual yearning for anonymity while engaging in promiscuity and all while playing good son for his ultra-conservative Republican Senator of a father is both realistic and touching. Newton captures the struggles of his character in both expression and words, delivering one of the two scene-stealing roles in this film. The other role belongs to Newton's on-screen mother, played by film veteran Karen Allen. Her turn as the Senator's bitter, alcohol swilling, chain-smoking wife could have easil...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Having made the mistake of seeing The Grudge in the theater (the mistake being that I had to listen to people slurping, smacking, chatting and yelling stupid things at the screen), I savored The UNRATED DIRECTOR'S CUT of Grudge 2 the way I now prefer to watch most movies--at home, on the couch with my two cats and dog. And, being a huge horror genre nut, I viewed G2 like I do most scary movies--alone, during the day, while my husband, who is, shall we say, less of a horror fan, is out toiling away for "the man."

Unlike, say, Saw III, which I made the mistake of sitting through recently, G2 does not pick up immediately where it left off. Instead, it interweaves three separate storylines set in two different period and locations, which could have been confusing but, in the hands of Director Takashi Shimizu, somehow wasn't.

Sarah Michelle Gellar of "Buffy" fame is back to reprise ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Actress Sarah Polley portrays Hanna, a troubled deaf woman with a tragic past who chooses to spend her first vacation in four years in the middle of the ocean on an oil rig caring for a burn victim in writer / director Isabel Coixet's The Secret Life Of Words.

Polley has always made interesting career choices, such as her turn as a grocery clerk / drug dealer in Go, and her beautiful performance as a dying woman in My Life Without Me. Now we can add TSLOW to that list. And while her co-star, Tim Robbins, who plays burn victim Josef, has quite a few blockbuster roles under his belt, it's turns like this one, as well as his portrayal of a man torn between love and duty in Code 46, that leave me wondering if this is the same guy who played Ebby Calvin 'Nuke' LaLoosh in Bull Durham all those years ago.

In the end, while this movie seems on the surface to be about two people thrown ...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Although I'm an avid reader, I have to admit I've never read Augusten Burroughs' Running With Scissors, although I am aware of the controversy surrounding the book (in that the legal guardians of the main character weren't very happy with the way they were portrayed). Much like the hoo-ha surrounding James Frey's A Million Little Pieces, I take all the hoopla with a grain of salt. (Let's just say, if I were to ever write my own memoirs, there would be several unhappy people knocking on my door--let's face it, the truth hurts.)

That being said, what does bother me is when a movie that's clearly a drama pretends to be a comedy. I don't blame the movie, I blame the people who choose the clips for the previews, as well as those who write the text for the DVD box.

This happens all the time. For instance, The Upside Of Anger, which was such a great movie, but so not a comedy. Sometim...Read the entire review

The Movie:
I think I know why The Mostly Unfabulous Social Life of Ethan Green didn't play in any theaters where I live--the marquees didn't have enough room for the name of the film. And that's too bad, because I enjoyed it.

Who can't relate to bad dates, run ins with exes, and one night stands that turn into relationships gone bad? Anyone with a history of dating should be able to get some laughs out of this movie.

This film, based on Eric Orner's comic strip, takes viewers on the ins and outs of dating Ethan Green, as well as peeks at the lives of everyone peripherally involved in his life, including his lover(s), roommate, exes, mother and friends.

With a running length of 88 minutes, even those with short attentions spans should be able to hang on until the end, which provides an ending that, although expected, wraps up the story nicely.

Apart from a surprisingly humorous perform...Read the entire review

The Movie:
First of all, I need to preface this review with a few words. I'm a straight, married female, and one of my favorite shows is The L Word.

Homosexual storylines do not bother me in the least. What does bother me, however, is a movie pretending to be a mystery / thriller, that's really just a porno, which sums up Open Cam.

This movie centers around a group of D.C.-based gay men who enjoy online chatting (and more) with others. But there is a killer in their midst, one who is picking off the online fornicators one by one.

From comical scenes where characters are car-jacked with plumbing pipes, to contrived situations set up only for the sex scenes, Open Cam fell short of everything it was and wasn't trying to be.

While I'm not a gay male, and can certainly stomach attractive men in intimate situations (hello, Six Feet Under!), Open Cam's sex scenes vascilated between gross and...Read the entire review

The Movie:
Being a Kevin Costner fan (overlooking his involvement in The Postman and Waterworld, that is), I expected a certain level of entertainment from The Guardain, and I was not disappointed.

While the story centers around the world of U.S. Coast Guard rescue swimmers, I found the characters just as appealing as the subject matter.

Not only does Kostner portray reluctant Coast Guard instructor Ben Randall with humor and sincerity, but his "average joe, aw shucks" demeanor is reminiscent of Crash Davis in Bull Durham. (And 17 years later, he looks just as good.)

Teen heartthrob turned Moore clan husband / daddy Ashton Kutcher does a fine job as the full-of-himself Jake Fischer, a fast swimmer with a faster mouth, which often gets him into trouble.

The cast is rounded out by Sela Ward, who portrays Randall's estranged wife; relative acting newcomer Melissa Sagemiller, who play...Read the entire review