“The Knick”: The Complete Second Season is another triumph from Cinemax and includes amazing performances by Clive Owen, Andre Holland (who probably was the standout amongst them all), Juliet Rylance and Eve Hewson, though the other supporting members never disappoint either.
“The Girlfriend Experience” is one hell of an experience. It’s probably one of the more sexually explicit shows I’ve seen in quite some time yet there’s a good story at the core with just the right amount of mystery to keep one’s attention not to mention a strong performance by Riley Keough.
“Blindspot”: The Complete First Season doesn’t exactly harness its full potential and there is some predictability in Doe’s character arc, yet I can’t say each of these episodes at least were somewhat entertaining but I can’t say much more than that.
The Return of the Living Dead is an incredibly fun zombie flick. No, it doesn’t have the subtext of a George A. Romero film but it’s unique in its own right with some on-point humor that is consistent from beginning to end.
“The Magicians”: Season One is a fun new series that borrows from books like “Chronicles of Narnia” and “Harry Potter” with some CW-like drama thrown in for good measure. Still, the acting isn’t half bad and it was at least compelling enough to keep my interest through the relatively short 13-episode first year run.
Melissa McCarthy continues her usual schlock in The Boss and teaming up with her director/husband following the atrocious Tammy, this might be a step above that movie but not by much as the laughs are few and far between and worse yet, is kind of mean-spirited at times.
No Escape is an all around entertaining film perfect for a Saturday movie night. No, it doesn’t make you think or have any profound performances but the acting isn’t bad with Owen Wilson serving as a fine everyman type of character and Pierce Brosnan in his small part is a lot of fun. This is probably worthy of a rental.
Session 9 doesn’t feature great performances, though Caruso is a lot of fun to watch, though Peter Mullan and Josh Lucas had a few solid scenes, and the writing is, at best, so-so, but writer/director Brad Anderson did take full advantage of the real-life creepy location of the mental hospital to great effect.
“Person of Interest”: The Fifth and Final Season may have benefited from a few more episodes, if not a full season order, but considering we got 13 episodes is nice as it gave the writers a chance to wrap things up.
I Am Wrath is hardly a great action flick and although Travolta is a shell of what he once was, he at least possessed some charm to make the thin plot enjoyable, along with some nice scenes with Christopher Meloni as well. This is the quintessential rental type movie and one where you shouldn’t expect anything profound.
Blood and Black Lace is easily one of the better in the giallo sub-genre and the place to start for those new to it. The suspense is generally intense and the plot is well developed with true intrigue throughout. This Blu-ray released through Arrow Video offers excellent video/audio transfers and a fine selection of bonus material.
Criminal is your run-of-the-mill action/thriller that succeeds mostly with a strong ensemble cast led way by Kevin Costner who gives a nice performance while Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds are more background noise. This is the perfect movie as a rental, but not much more.
Barbershop: The Next Cut is the latest installment in the vaunted series and actually might be the best of the four (including the Beauty Shop spin-off). No, the acting isn’t the best as Ice Cube’s range isn’t exactly that great, but the story has a fine emotional core and it’s a solid advancement for these characters.
The Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice: Ultimate Edition does plenty things to correct the hacked up theatrical version though if you didn’t like the plot the first go-around, the UE won’t change your mind. For myself, as a fan of Batman in particular, found it entertaining mainly for Ben Affleck’s portrayal as the Dark Knight and a nice glimpse of what’s to come for Gadot’s Wonder Woman.
Criminal is your run-of-the-mill action/thriller that succeeds mostly with a strong ensemble cast led way by Kevin Costner who gives a nice performance while Gary Oldman, Tommy Lee Jones and Ryan Reynolds are more background noise. This is the perfect movie as a rental, but not much more.