JonPaula

A story that pits the ruggedly handsome and capable Liam Hemsworth against a horde of insurgents deep in the jungles and caves of the Philippines. Liam is excellent as the untested JTAC officer - who gets his first taste of combat when his extraction mission goes badly wrong. Basically, it's "Behind Enemy Lines" meets "Lone Survivor."

The action is loud, graphic - and despite the multitude of drone-kills - fairly intimate, too. Director William Eubank strategically uses short bursts of slow-motion to emphasize key moments in the frantic battle scenes, and the results are pretty awesome. "Land of Bad" earns its hard-R rating and then some.

Meanwhile, Academy Award winner Russell Crowe is amusing and believable as the "guy in the chair" - helping the youngest Hemsworth brother navigate the hostile terrain via a drone he's piloting overhead. This parallel plot delivers a lot of realistic levity to the otherwise serious script. I found myself particularly invested in Crowe's passionate dedication to this young solider he's never met. Which is good, because outside of their comms-only relationship, we learn exceedingly little about their backstories - only that one like Fruit Loops, the other is on his fourth marriage, and they're both from Ohio.

There's some nail-biting set pieces loaded with huge fiery explosions and blistering fire-fights: which should please all audiences looking for a audiovisual rush. But outside of a surprisingly wholesome moment in the film's final scene - this is not a particularly deep or affecting film.

A solid, by-the-numbers tactical adventure dads everywhere are sure to love, I thought "Land of Bad" was a rather COOL film. One of the better #RegalMysteryMovie selections!

Released in May of 1989, this $200,000 comedy farce is really only notable for being the first feature film to star future A-list funny man, Adam Sandler. But before he matured, or was even cast as a player in Saturday Night Live, he starred as a struggling comic onboard a cruise. After his recent string of uninspired, unfunny cash-grabs, it's easy to forget Sandler was once a hilarious comic with some truly great material... sadly however, we get almost none of that in this sorry excuse for a film. Instead, he puts on stupid voices, mugs for the camera, and generally acts like an incompetent goof for the majority of the 97 minute film. The supporting cast includes Tom Hodges, Scott LaRose, Billy Zane, and Billy Bob Thorton - none of whom are the slightest bit memorable. The story plods along to the incessant sounds of a steal drum calypso, bland jazz, and cheap Muzak, also the actual presentation style is curious and inconsistent.

Sandler himself breaks the fourth wall to introduce us to the story, immediately apologizing for its "no budget", and then he's shelping the viewer around boat like we're watching his personal vlog. But other sequences are conventionally shot, and edited for some reason - I hesitate to guess what director Valerie Breiman was possibly thinking. The lethargic and pointless narrative is worsened by constantly cutting away to Miss Universal confessionals, ridiculous dream sequences, and Burt Young as General Noriega who is actually watching the film itself on VHS, who defends his honor by shouting at the TV, "We'll see who gets the last laugh, you left over worthless kangaroo vomit!" Besides being awfully paced, the R-rated movie is really quite uncomfortable and awkward... every scene plays out three times longer than it needs to, almost as if they were deliberately padded so the picture could qualify for "feature length". With unrealistic dialogue, and empty characters - this film is devoid of conflict and tension, making it at true struggle to actually sit through. It's no surprise this film presently sits in IMDb's bottom-10 rated movies of all time... it is just so painfully boring, I regretted watching literally every scene. "Going Overboard" is a "Terrible. Not even enjoyable ironically." With no redeeming qualities and nary a single laugh whatsoever, it's a wonder Sandler actually managed to have a successful career after piece of GARBAGE.