Author Van Roberts

MOVIE REVIEW OF "THE CONTRACTOR" Chris Pine reunites with Ben Foster in their third outing together in Swedish director Tarik Saleh’s “The Contractor” (**** OUT OF ****), a sizzling but bittersweet...

MOVIE REVIEW OF THE BLACKOUT Nothing about the Netflix thriller “Blackout” (*** out of ****) from its generic title to its amnesiac hero who dodges trigger-happy hordes of gunmen after him is remotely...

MOVIE REVIEW OF THE "BANDIT'' If you crave true-life crime sagas, “Gridlocked” director Alan Ungar’s “Bandit” (*** OUT OF ****), should intrigue you. This lightweight but entertaining, action...

MOVIE REVIEW OF THE ''BEAST" An avenging lion turns into a maneater in “Contraband” director Baltasar Kormákur’s exotic animal opus “Beast” (** OUT OF ****) after African poachers armed with...

MOVIE REVIEW OF ''THERE ARE NO SAINTS" A nihilistic exercise in misogyny, sadism, murder, and revenge, Hispanic helmer Alfonso Pineda Ulloa’s unsavory actioneer “There Are No Saints” (**1/2...

MOVIE REVIEW OF ''WHERE THE CRAWDADS SING" Movies made from bestsellers rarely live up to their literary origins. Happily, “Where The Crawdads Sing” (*** OUT OF ****) qualifies as an...

MOVIE REVIEW OF "WOLF HOUND" The spectacle of watching vintage World War II era aircraft perform aerial maneuvers in writer & director Michael B. Chait’s “Wolf Hound” (*** OUT OF ****) should make...

UMMA//MOVIE REVIEW Some of the best scary sagas involve the occult. The filmmakers need not resort to jarring jump scares, shrieking musical cues, and/or prosthetic gore to induce fear. Our heroine tangles...

MOVIE REVIEW OF ''BOON" Sometimes, disposable B-movies can be refreshing. You rent them on impulse with low expectations. Typically, if the first 30 minutes don’t drum up enough drama, you search...

"SHARK BAIT" MOVIE REVIEW “Shark Bait” (*** OUT OF ****) lives up to its alluring title. British producer & director James Nunn’s aquatic opus qualifies as one of the best shark survival...