IslandGuru Who payed the critics

NekoHomey Purely Joyful Movie!

ReaderKenka Let's be realistic.

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

zardoz-13 Sophomore director Trent Haaga has cast "Criminal Minds" co-star Matthew Gray Gubler as a character in "68 Kill" like no other he has portrayed. A bloodthirsty, comedy of errors-crime thriller about a harmless milquetoast and the brutal women in his life, this fast-moving, contemporary, 93-minute melodrama boasts three dominatrixes who treat him like their slave. The three desperate dames in Chip's life turn his days upside-down. They take him beyond his worst nightmares, and he is powerless to resist their bellicosity. Occasionally, he fights back. Most of his efforts unravel in utter futility. Gubler delivers a sympathetic performance in this role that allows him to change over the course of the action. He works for a sewage company, and he refuses to stand up for himself in the face of any confrontation. You will laugh until your sides are sore every time he ends up in a predicament with no apparent way out for him. Clearly, Gubler embraced the role because he was willing to behave cluelessly throughout with no qualms about how humiliating he would appear. "Chop" director Trent Haaga's second movie isn't anything major, but it features several exciting moments, interesting characters, and off-beat situations that you won't have trouble getting through an initial viewing. Happily, when the dust of his disasters settle, Chip emerges as a changed man.Our nerdy hero, Chip (Matthew Gray Gubler), has a vicious, joyriding girlfriend, Liza (AnnaLynne McCord of "Transporter 2"), who wants a better life. The first stepping stone to that dream is a scumbag, Ken Mckenzie (David Maldonado of "The 5th Wave"), has $68-thousand in cash in a safe at his place. Chip's crazy girlfriend Liza takes him along on what she calls a quick 'in and out' that turns out to be far more complicated. After Liza kills Ken, Chip and she are shocked to find an innocent bystander in the house, Violet (Alisha Boe of "Paranormal Activity 4"), who can identify them. Quick-thinking Liza has her stuffed the trunk of their red 2004 Mustang and she intends to sell the girl to her perverted brother, Dwayne (a bespectacled Sam Eidson of "The Cain Complex"), as extremely creepy as Liza. Chip discovers Dwayne makes gory snuff films, and Liza admits she sold another girl earlier to Dwayne, who used her for body parts in his home-made video. Chip draws the line at this point, clobbers Liza over the head with a pistol, and vanishes with Violet still in the trunk. Actually, Liza is as angry as she is impressed with Chip's display of machismo. She catches up with him on the highway somewhere in Louisiana and orders him pull over after she brandishes a pistol. The crack on her head that Chip administered when he whipped her with a pistol earlier her topples her. Now, Chip finds himself at the mercy of a second woman, Violet. He had opened the trunk to check on her, and she manages to relieve him of his pistol and turn it on him. After scaring the life out of poor Chip, Violet decides that she could spend the $68-thousand as easily as Liza. Moreover, Violet has fallen on hard times, some of which she can attribute to the unscrupulous Ken who sought to abuse her. When she refused his improper advances, Violet quit. Little did poor Violet realize that Ken was best buds with her landlord. She wound up in the street with nothing, and Ken was her only salvation. She went back to him as a sex slave. Mind you, with Ken out of the way and all that cash, Violet wants to go somewhere and live like a princess. Chip has to gas up the Mustang. He encounters a Goth-looking cashier at a gas station/convenience store, Monica (Sheila Vand of "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot"), and pays her from the $68-thousand. Monica gets noses and bargains with him to keep her mouth shut for two bills. Violet intervenes, saves Chip from Monica, and they head off to a motel. She claims that she wants sex with someone of her preference rather than vice-versa. Chip awakens the next morning, finds a body hacked up in the body tub. Not only is his Mustang gone, but also thieves have taken his clothes."68 Kill" chronicles the journey of hardship that Chip embarks on involuntarily to becoming a self-sufficient man who isn't prone to his hormonal desires. At the end, he spots a tattooed lady on the side of the highway with smoke pouring out from the hood of her car, a classic example of a damsel-in-distress. She tries to flag our protagonist down, but second thoughts prompt Chip to avoid her and cruise into the sunset. Humor pervades this perverse, profanity-laden exercise, and the surprises never seem like they will stop. The cast acquits itself admirably, but Gubler's pusillanimous hero overshadows them.

Hellmant '68 KILL': Four Stars (Out of Five)An extremely violent crime thriller about a guy who helps his crazy girlfriend steal a shitload of cash from her wealthy sugar daddy, but things of course don't go as planned. The movie was written and directed by veteran actor/screenwriter turned sophomore filmmaker Trent Haaga, and it's based on the 2013 book (of the same name) by Bryan Smith. It stars Matthew Gray Gubler (of 'CRIMINAL MINDS' fame), AnnaLynne McCord, Alisha Boe, Sheila Vand and Sam Eidson. The film premiered at the 2017 South by Southwest Film Festival, and it was distributed by IFC Midnight in indie theaters and on VOD. It's also gotten mostly positive reviews from critics so far. I mostly liked it. Chip Taylor (Gubler) is obsessively in love with his girlfriend Liza (McCord), and would do anything for her. So when she asks him to help her rob her sleazy rich sugar daddy, Chip agrees. Chip is reluctant to participate in the crime though, especially when Liza shows him the guns she borrowed for it, and his doubts are confirmed when people start turning up dead. Chip still can't build up the courage to tell his girlfriend no though. I can really relate to the lead character in this film, having been talked into a lot of stupid things by really beautiful women that I like, and I still I can't tell them no either. McCord is awesome as the femme fatale girlfriend in the film too, she's definitely the scene stealer of the movie, and she even reminds me a lot of Charlize Theron in it. Still the film is a bit too ridiculous, gory and disturbing (just to be disturbing). It has elements to it that I really like though, and the lead character is definitely relatable, but as a whole it's definitely a bit of a mixed-bag.

James Graham Anyone who thinks the new Ghostbusters film is good purely because it has all female leads should watch this. The story is about Chip and his strong minded girlfriend Liza. She has a sugar daddy who she plans to still $68000 from with Chip's help. Liza has a different idea of how to do the robbery and it ends in two deaths and a kidnapping. There is thin more double crossing, more deaths and a lot of blood. The characters are genuinely different to most films but still believable. Liza's brother was my favourite character and probably the most psycho of them all. I also loved Liza for being a strong woman but ordinary too. She knows what she wants and happy to kill for it if necessary. Although it has strong females the males don't really come over as weak and pathetic which normally happens with a strong female. Chip has a lot of bad things happen to him by women but ends up as the winner at the end. The film has some thriller elements. It is also funny in places. It also has blood gore with limbs being chopped off and Liza's brothers sexual perversion.This is a genuinely different but good film. I have seen a lot of films and never really seen anything like it. Give it a go.

gavin6942 Chip Taylor's girlfriend Liza had the perfect plan to rip off her rich sugar daddy. It should have been an easy in and out kind of deal. Nobody would get hurt and they would come out of it with enough loot to solve their problems. But things started going wrong as soon as they were inside the rich man's house, and for Chip it was only the beginning of the longest, most terrifying ride of his life.Let's start by discussing the cast. Matthew Gray Gubler is perfectly cast as "sad sack" Chip. Gubler's facial expressions alone should really make him a bigger name than he is. His range of emotion in just his eyes is very intense. AnnaLynne McCord is his partner-rival as the stereotypical crazy-beautiful Liza… something she is quite good at playing, as seen in "Excision", which coincidentally also starred Gubler. The duo also both starred in last year's festival hit "Trash Fire". Are they the new Hepburn and Tracy?Alisha Boe, who is distinguishing herself on television, is the breakout star here. Although she was unknown to me before "68 Kill", her strong screen presence suggests that offers are going to start pouring in. She has the look, she has the personality. Heck, she could make one great Marvel superhero, for example.The film as a whole is great in its bat-poop craziness, and the perfect vehicle for director Trent Haaga. I have been watching Haaga grow as a filmmaker for decades, from being a Troma darling to "Cheap Thrills". With "68 Kill", he has really hit the mainstream, with some bigger name actors and production value that could easily be mistaken for a Hollywood film. He does touch base a bit with the punk rock look of the gas station attendant, and the climax does seem to be something that would fit in alongside "Terror Firmer". Fans of Troma will enjoy this film, as it just keeps pushing the envelope in ways that we never see anymore.The black humor is endless. We have the "happily ever after" scenario that is quite funny given the amount of money involved. We have lines like "what Dwayne does is his own business" when what Dwayne is doing is certainly more than just his business. This is the blackest of humor with tongue more than firmly placed in cheek.As with many films, this is not for everyone. Those who are easily offended will be offended. The violence is over the top, the sex is gratuitous… and frequent. But if what offends some is what excites you, this is going to be a must-see. The movie plays March 24 at the Boston Underground Film Festival (BUFF).