'One Shot' (2021) Movie Review

The “one take” film, movies staged to look like they play out in a single, unbroken shot, have been used quite a bit as of late. There’s the upcoming thriller Boiling Point, Japanese horror One Cut of the Dead, and the highest profile recent uses, the Oscar-winning Birdman and 1917. Results can be mixed and the approach has limitations and pitfalls, but it’s an ambitious undertaking. The latest from director James Nunn (Eliminators), the unoriginally titled One Shot, uses this strategy to craft a strong gritty, low-budget DTV-style action film. And it’s hard to go wrong with a movie fronted by Scott Adkins.

'Lady Of The Manor' (2021) Movie Review

After being branded a sex offender, stoner slacker Hannah (Melanie Lynskey) gets a job as a live-in tour guide at a historical southern estate. One that happens to be haunted by the ghost of the home’s original inhabitant, the prim, proper Lady Wadsworth (Judy Greer). The two women, one living, one dead, become unlikely pals. Such is the premise of Lady of the Manor, the feature directorial debut from prolific actor and former Apple spokesperson Justin Long, who costars, and his brother, Christian Long. If that sounds funny, don’t worry, it isn’t.

'Wish Upon' (2017) Movie Review

Young Clare Shannon (Joey King) is having a rough go. As a child, she watched her mom hang herself. After that tragedy, her dad (Ryan Phillippe) totally abandoned his sweet saxophone skills in favor of his career as a dumpster diver, which is, of course, a constant source of embarrassment to Clare. High school sucks and is full of mean girls, her dream boy doesn’t know she exists, and she only has two friends, June (Shannon Purser) and Meredith (Sydney Park). If Wish Upon sounds like a familiar set up, you’re not wrong.