DVD Review For May 5, 2015: SELMA, BLACK OR WHITE, and THE PYRAMID

SELMA
Rated: PG-13
Stars: David Oyelowo, Tom Wilkinson, Carmen Ejogo
Plot: Martin Luther King, Jr. protests to get African Americans the right to vote by marching from Selma to Montgomery, Alabama.
Trailer

Clint Says: See this movie this week

It's hard to believe that the event portrayed in this film happened only 50 years ago. It's also incredible to watch David Oyelowo become Martin Luther King, Jr. He walks like him, he talks like him, and his resemblance is nearly spot on.

This may be one of the more uncomfortable films I've ever endured. The entire time I wanted to ear-tug the opposition into the corner and slap some sense into them. I wanted to scream at the screen and say, "how can you possibly think that it is okay to treat another human that way?" I sat there embarrassed like you do when your ignorant cousin twice-removed starts spouting off racist remarks at Thanksgiving dinner.

This is a powerful film that everyone should see. On the one hand, it's great to see just how far we've come in the last 50 years, but it's also important for the younger generations to see it so that they can understand the struggle that happened not so very long ago.

There are several times when the movie bogs down, and there are only a few times when it really gets dramatic, but there is a quite power throughout the film that keeps you engaged.




BLACK OR WHITE
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer
Plot: A single grandfather fights a custody battle for the granddaughter he has helped raise.
Trailer

Clint Says: It's worth a rental if you don't have anything better to see

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Kevin Costner gives a fine performance in this movie while Octavia Spencer's character is annoyingly obnoxious. That said, I wish the movie itself would have been better.

It's a slow-paced, snoozer that you know how it is going to end after the first 10 minutes. It's basically a short set-up and then 105 minutes of repeat filler. It's the kind of movie you see and won't remember seeing three months from now because there is nothing in it that is sticky, important or even interesting.




THE PYRAMID
Rated: R
Stars: Ashley Hinshaw, Denis O'Hare, James Buckley
Plot: A group of archaeologists uncover more than they bargained for inside an ancient pyramid.
Trailer

Clint Says: Don't even bother

Earlier this year the movie AS ABOVE SO BELOW came out on DVD. In that film, several people find themselves trapped by something evil in the catacombs of Paris. THE PYRAMID is the same movie, only in a pyramid and significantly crappier. (And that's really saying something, because AASB wasn't that great of a flick).

The scares in this movie are all old and hack, the plot is just slightly more original than the scares, and even though this film clocks in at a mere 89 minutes it feels like it drags on much longer.

Just like walking across the hot desert sand for days with no water, the end credits are a beautiful and welcoming oasis.

Movie Review For January 30, 2015

PROJECT ALMANAC
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Amy Landecker, Sofia Black-D'Elia, Johnny Weston
Plot: A group of teens build and use a time machine, but things start happening beyond their control
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

PROJECT ALMANAC is an okay film. It's not horrible, but it's not great either. It is a "found footage" style movie, but it really should not have been. There are several scenes in the movie where there is no way any of the kids would have been filming.

The movie has several large plot holes and, for all of the cool effects, it really doesn't go anywhere new and exciting. There are also several scenes that are straight rip-offs from classic 80s and 90s movies. After the third or fourth copied scene it becomes really tedious.

The film clocks in at just over 1 1/2 hours, but it feels significantly longer than that.

If you do want to spend the money to see this in theaters you won't feel like you got ripped off, but you also won't feel anything earth-shattering either.




BLACK OR WHITE
Rated: PG-13
Stars: Kevin Costner, Octavia Spencer
Plot: A single grandfather fights a custody battle for the granddaughter he has helped raise.
Trailer

Clint Says: Wait for the DVD

I can't believe I'm about to say this, but Kevin Costner gives a fine performance in this movie while Octavia Spencer's character is annoyingly obnoxious. That said, I wish the movie itself would have been better.

It's a slow-paced, snoozer that you know how it is going to end after the first 10 minutes. It's basically a short set-up and then 105 minutes of repeat filler. It's the kind of movie you see and then when it comes out on DVD you vaguely remember seeing it before.




THE LOFT
Rated: R
Stars: James Marsden, Eric Stonestreet, Wentworth Miller, Karl Urban
Plot: Five married men buy a secret loft together to have affairs, but trouble arises when they find a dead woman there.
Trailer

Clint Says: Don't even bother

THE LOFT is one of those films that looks interesting based on the trailer, but the actual movie is horrible. The acting is embarrassingly bad, the dialogue is worse, and the mystery and suspense aren't even worth the effort of an eye roll.

At best, this movie feels like a long soap opera episode, but it's not even that good. The effects are so poorly done and there are so many blatant continuity errors that you can't help but notice how little the director cared about this film.

Avoid THE LOFT like you would an STD.