BROKEN ARROW at 25: Ain't It Cool?
by Nikk Nelson, Staff Writer
Director John Woo would follow up Hard Target with one of my favorite action movies of all time, Broken Arrow (1996).
Tommy C. Appreciation Club: The Outsiders
Written by Kathleen Rowell (screenplay) and S.E. Hinton (novel)
Directed by Francis Ford Coppola
Starring C. Thomas Howell, Matt Dillon, Patrick Swayze and appearance by Tommy C.
Running Time: 1 hour and 31 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG
by Hunter Bush, Nikk Nelson, Ryan Smillie and Liz Locke
The Tommy C. Appreciation Club, or TCAC, solemnly swears to watch and appreciate all theatrical performances by Tom Cruise then recap them, round-table style. In this edition, the Moviejawn crew chats about the minor role Tommy C. plays in Coppola’s 1983 flick, The Outsiders.
Read MoreBuddy Games
Written by Josh Duhamel, Bobby Schwartz and Jude Weng
Directed by Josh Duhamel
Starring Olivia Munn, Josh Duhamel, James Roday Rodriguez, Elysia Rotaru and Dax Shepard
Running time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
MPAA rating: R for strong crude sexual content and language throughout, some graphic nudity, drug use and brief violence
by Nikk Nelson
At least ninety percent of my decision whether or not to review a film for Moviejawn comes from the movie poster. If I see someone I like, I say yes. I don’t watch the trailer or even read a plot synopsis. I just dive in. It’s only gotten me into trouble a few times, the most recent being Josh Duhamel’s directorial debut, Buddy Games (2019). Duhamel also co-wrote and stars. At a glance, what I saw was Saban/WWE films trying to get into the slapstick gross-out Happy Madison Productions game, complete with Nick Swardson co-starring. A quick note about the cast. The face on the poster that immediately made me say yes to reviewing this was James Roday Rodriguez.
Read MoreBelushi
Written and directed by R.J. Cutler
Featuring Harold Ramis, Dan Aykroyd, Chevy Chase and John Landis
Running time: 1 hour and 48 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
My mom was slightly obsessed with John Belushi. I remember sitting with her when I was very young, watching Saturday Night Live skits like The Olympia Restaurant with Buck Henry and Samurai Hotel. She laughed harder than I ever heard her laugh—that breathless, uncontrollable laughter that sounds totally different from someone’s everyday chuckle. I remember her telling me that John Belushi died before I was ever born. Tears welled up in her eyes. She told me something about people that burn bright in this world and, to this day, I can’t remember if it was something from Keats or Def Leppard. What I never forgot was making a connection between what John Belushi did on TV and how it made my mother react.
Read MoreBloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell
Written and directed by Shinichi Fukazawa
Starring Shinichi Fukazawa, Asako Nosaka, Masaaki Kai, Masahiro Kai and Aki Tama Mai
Running time: 1 hour and 2 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
Sam Raimi changed the American horror genre forever with the release of The Evil Dead (1981) and Evil Dead II (1987)—the latter being essentially a remake of the original. Raimi took all of the traditional elements of horror, most notably camp, comedy and gore, and turned the volume up to eleven. In my opinion, the influence of the films transcended the horror genre, inspiring filmmakers in every corner of the artform—an influence that continued for generations. I don’t think Edgar Wright, for example, exists without Sam Raimi. Writer/director Shinichi Fukazawa and his passion project Bloody Muscle Body Builder in Hell (2012) definitely wouldn’t exist without Sam Raimi and The Evil Dead films. Part of the Nightstream film festival’s Retro series,
Read MoreBullets of Justice: I Don't Know What It is But I Like It
Directed by Valeri Milev
Starring Danny Trejo, Yana Marinova, Dessy Slavova, Doroteya Toleva and Timur Turisbekov
Running time: 1 hour and 16 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
The overall aesthetic of Valeri Milev’s Bullets of Justice (2019) seems to be gaining popularity with movies like Turbo Kid (2015) and Kung Fury (2015)—a sort of 8-Bit, dirty-dystopian chic. I have not seen Milev’s other films yet, so I’m not sure how they compare but I can only guess Bullets of Justice is a horse of a different color. It’s like if Star Wars (1977), Machete (2013) and Spun (2002) were pureed in a filthy blender with every 80s action movie trope and topped with the Borderlands videogame series. It really is something. Even summarizing the plot, I feel like I mixed medication. During the third world war, the government creates a race of pig-spliced super-soldiers that, twenty-five years later, betray their human overlords, take their place at the top of the food chain and start hunting humans for meat. When Kicks texted me that this looked right up my alley, she was not lying. But, to be honest, it really made me question my alley.
Read MoreCollector’s Edition Boxset of I Spit on Your Grave from Ronin Flix: A Review
by Nikk Nelson
The Unboxing
Ronin Flix has a lot of competition these days in the game of special edition re-releases of chronically unavailable cult classics. I’m here to say they’ve got a solid formula from what I’ve seen so far with the collector’s edition boxset of I Spit on Your Grave. I really dig their logo, first of all, and it’s front and center on the giftbox. This was the first thing I appreciated about the packaging.
Read MoreBoys From County Hell
Written and directed by Chris Baugh
Starring Jack Rowan, Nigel O'Neill and Louisa Harland
Running time: 1 hour and 30 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
These days, it’s difficult to bring any level of originality to werewolf, vampire and zombie movies and that stops almost no one. But this festival season, I was treated to two films that actually made a refreshing monster movie, The Wolf of Snow Hollow (2020) and Boys from County Hell (2020). Straight outta Ireland, this vampiric tale written and directed by Chris Baugh follows Eugene Moffat, played in a very impressive performance by Jack Rowan, a down on his luck and chronically directionless lad living in the small village of Six Mile Hill. Immediate parallels are drawn to An American Werewolf in London (1981) as the film opens in a pub, The Stoker, named for Bram Stoker, the author of Dracula. But Six Mile Hill has its own vampire legend, that of Abhartach, who, they claim was the real inspiration behind Stoker’s novel and just so happens to be buried not too far from here…
Read MoreBloody Hell
Written by Robert Benjamin
Directed by Alister Grierson
Starring Ben O'Toole, Meg Fraser, Caroline Craig and Matthew Sunderland
Running time: 1 hour and 35 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
I don’t know what it is about Northern Europe but, between movies like Midsommar (2019) and the Nighstream featured Bloody Hell (2020), places like Finland are the new Transylvania. I’m not sure who exactly is writing synopses for festival films but Bloody Hell was the second film I came across this season where the initial synopsis really failed to capture the plot. Originally, I thought I would be following a bank robber on the lam in Helsinki after one of his robberies is recorded and goes viral. To my delight, the plot ended up being a lot more complex than that. Rex, played in an outstanding performance by Ben O’Toole, was a witness to a bank robbery.
Read MoreThe Inevitability of Empathy: Mnemophrenia in Review
Written and directed by Eirini Konstantinidou
Starring Freya Berry, Robin King, Tim Seyfert, Tallulah Sheffield and Jamie Laird
Running time: 1 hour and 18 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
mnemophrenia (ni-mä-frē-nē-ə) noun:
A condition or a state characterized by the coexistence
of real and artificial memories,
which affects the subject's sense of identity
Wolfman's Got Nards
Directed by Andre Gower
Featuring Adam F. Goldberg, Seth Green, Shane Black, Heather Langenkamp and Zach Galligan
Running time: 1 hour and 31 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
I’ve never known life without The Monster Squad (1987). You wouldn’t think the small-town Anthony, Kansas videostore, Videomax would carry something like it. But they did, because it was run by an older, super-foxy hippie that I had a huge crush on growing up. For a solid four years, I bet, anytime I rented a movie, it was Monster Squad and whatever else. It was one of a handful of movies that I knew by heart and could more or less perform on the spot
Read MoreAction U.S.A.
Directed by John Stewart
Starring Gregory Scott, Cummins William, Hubbard Knight, Barri Murphy and Ross Hagen
Running time: 1 hour and 29 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
“Just stop at body...” -Inside Joke, Kyle Whitley
I love trash cinema. In my teenage years, I set an alarm every Sunday to make sure I was up by noon to catch Mystery Science Theater 3000 on the Sci-Fi Channel. It was church. One time, a friend was combing through my stacks in the basement and was surprised to find a dense collection of Steven Seagal, Chuck Norris and Jean-Claude Van Damme. It seemed to run contrary to what they assumed was my taste. I should have a sea of Criterion Collection and little to nothing else. But they were wrong.
Read MoreHow to Deter a Robber
Written and directed by Maria Bissell
Starring Vanessa Marano, Leah Lewis, Chris Mulkey, Gabrielle Carteris and Abbie Cobb
Running time: 1 hour and 25 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
“It’s like Fargo meets Home Alone,” is how writer/director Maria Bissell described her feature debut in the chat preceding the screening of How to Deter a Robber (2020). I’m not sure who wrote up the synopsis for the festival, but they described the two main characters as ‘amateur detectives who investigate the wrong cabin’. They honestly must have mixed up another film’s synopsis because it wasn’t the story at all.
Read MoreThe Boy Behind The Door
Written and directed by Justin Powell and David Charbonier
Starring Lonnie Chavis, Ezra Dewey and Kristin Bauer van Straten
Running time: 1 hour and 28 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
Kids in horror has always been important to me. Perhaps it sounds like a strange principle but, not fishing for sympathy, there were several aspects of my childhood that were very horrific. I always found solace in horror, particularly if I could see myself represented in the film. So, movies like The Shining (1980), The Witches (1990), Child’s Play (1988) and The Lost Boys (1987) were all very important to me as a kid. It gave me a way to reconcile what was happening around me—a way to be healthy in an unhealthy environment.
Read MoreThe Wolf of Snow Hollow
Written and Directed by Jim Cummings
Starring Jim Cummings, Riki Lindhome and Robert Forster
Running Time: 1 hour and 23 minutes
MPAA rating: R due to Violence, Bloody Images, Some Drug Use, Language
by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport and Nikk Nelson, The Cinema Freak of Nature
“There is no such thing as werewolves. They’re imaginary.”
Old Sport -
This is a bold statement, but I’m just gonna throw it out there and not worry about the consequences: Jim Cummings is our generation’s Orson Welles. This guy doesn’t mess around. Jim has moxie. He makes things happen. He writes. He directs. He stars. He doesn’t edit his films. This is good. This is YES. His most recent endeavor, The Wolf of Snow Hollow is, frankly, one of the most wonderful werewolf flicks I ever did see. With movies such as Happy Death Day, Crawl and Ma, the horror genre has, in my opinion, been making a return to its zany cheesy creepy phase that was experienced in many of my beloved eighties slashers and I am totally here for it.
Read MoreNightstream Film Fest 2020 Preview
by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport and Nikk Nelson, Cinema Freak of Nature
This October, the horror film scene is alive and well.
Despite there being a global pandemic, we have not found ourselves short of spine tingling flicks. With the challenges from COVID-19, five genre festivals have banded together to create the ultimate accessible virtual event that is sure to be a real scream! Beginning Thursday, October 8 until October 11 horror fans are in for a real treat with the Nightstream Film Festival. Showcasing features, repertory films, shorts and special events, horror fans are sure to experience thrills and chills! Moviejawn’s Old Sport and Cinema Freak of Nature, highlight some of their picks and some filmmakers to watch out for!
Read MoreAn Origin Story as Told Through a Horror Watchlist
by Nikk Nelson, The Cinema Freak of Nature
“Why are you the way that you are?” -Michael Scott
Some of my earliest memories are horror movies. I was never really bothered by them. I didn’t know it wasn’t something everybody did until I started school. Kindergarten was weird. I suddenly felt very alone. As time went on, I found my people—thank you Joe Bob Briggs and Monstervision on TNT.
Read MoreScare Me
Written and Directed by Josh Ruben
Starring Aya Cash, Josh Ruben, Rebecca Drysdale and Chris Redd
Running Time 1 hour and 44 minutes
by Nikk Nelson
Movies about writers and writing is my jam so much, I wish I could put it on toast. Those in the horror genre, even more so. Josh Ruben writes, directs and stars in one of my newest favorite movies of all time, Scare Me (2020). Initially, what drew me to this review was Aya Cash, who I was introduced to in the FX series You’re the Worst—in my opinion, one of the best shows ever made about middle age, relationships, and mental illness and Aya Cash is brilliant in it. When I saw her on the Scare Me poster, I immediately said yes.
Read More2020 Fantastic Fest Preview
by Rosalie Kicks, Old Sport and Nikk Nelson
The pandemic is NO on a lot of fronts, but there has been one silver lining and that is film friendships. Prior to the pandemic, I knew of this character Nikk Nelson. He had been contributing to this fine movie publication of ours since close to the inception, but I never truly bonded with him. Life got in the way. Then, well, life kinda stopped and spaghetti entered the picture. Endless pasta bowls and flicks became a Saturday routine with Nikk. Fast forward to now, and he has been invited to live in our basement among the movies and spiders as our cinematic crypt keeper of sorts.
Read MoreRent-A-Pal
Written and directed by Jon Stevenson
Starring Wil Wheaton, Brian Landis Folkins and Amy Rutledge
Running time: 1 hour and 48 minutes
Exploring the Horror of Connection/Obsession in Rent-A-Pal
by Nikk Nelson
When my filmpal Rosalie Kicks sent out a call for this review, I saw two words: Wil Wheaton. My sort of obsession with Wil Wheaton has been documented before in one of the first pieces I ever wrote for Movie Jawn. Did you know he regularly records audiobooks? He’s also a fiction writer, no big deal, renaissance man and national treasure but whatever. Had another contributor snagged this opportunity, I would have had to fight them, Matilda (1978)-boxing style—float like a kangaroo and sting like, um, one too. But it’s all mine. It turns out, my territoriality conveniently lent itself thematically to writer, director and editor Jon Stevenson’s feature debut, Rent-A-Pal (2020).
Read More