Nerve, while hardly perfect, is one of the better surprise flicks of the year as it’s just a simple but fun suspense-thriller featuring two fine performances from Emma Roberts and Dave Franco and a nice moral at the core of what is really a convoluted story, yet I was entertained from beginning to end.
Special Effects is a convoluted crime-thriller that is merely one of many from the era. I did enjoy watching Eric Bogosian as the villain (SPOILERS!) so at least on that front it’s not a complete waste of time.
Reign of Assassins is a half decent martial arts thriller that’s pretty stylish in its camera movements (perhaps these scenes were the ones directed by John Woo) and the story is interesting enough especially for fans of the genre.
The Lost Bladesman is your typical and middle-of-road martial arts flick tolerable for Donnue Yen as well as the story based on a historical figure, but little else.
Beyond Valkyrie: Dawn of the Fourth Reich is an interesting historical drama that features some great production and costume designs and an earnest performance from Sean Patrick Flanery.
Evils of the Night is your typical but fun cheesy 1980s sci-fi/horror film with some questionable acting (not sure what Julie Newmar was doing in this), laughable dialogue and some lovely T&A any boy growing up during that era would’ve enjoyed.
Hush Hush… Sweet Charlotte is a gem of a drama (almost film noir in some respects) of a film headlined by two amazing performances by Bette Davis, who reunites with director Robert Aldrich, and Olivia de Havilland.
Bobby Deerfield is a slow paced drama that’s more character than sports (so don’t expect Grand Prix) but with Al Pacino’s usual piercing performances make the film well worth checking out.
50 Years of Star Trek isn’t a bad documentary but by the same token, nothing overly special outside of that it features the final interview with the late Leonard Nimoy and perhaps that alone is worth the price admission.
Ice Age: Collision Course is one of the worst animated movies, professionally done anyway, I’ve ever come across. The animation itself was fine but the jokes were terrible and rarely landed and the story is haphazard and lazily done.
Our Kind of Traitor is hardly perfect with a script that probably could’ve used some fine-tuning but with some great performances, headlined by Ewan McGregor and Stellan Skarsgård, as well as Naomi Harris who has some wonderful scenes, I think this is worth a rental or, if cheap, outright purchase.
Living in the Age of Airplanes is a beautiful documentary from filmmaker Brian J. Terwilliger and I enjoyed it for the fact it’s not about the mechanics of airplanes, which I’m sure NatGeo has covered in the past, but instead an appreciation on what they have brought to humanity at large.
Murphy’s Law isn’t Charles Bronson at his best and is more memorable for the young Kathleen Wilhoite and her plethora of lovely insults which makes this so hilarious and the story at least is serviceable with a great and utterly scary villainous.
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.
9 to 5 is an oft funny social comedy thanks in large part to the trio of female leads, Jane Fonda, Lily Tomlin and Dolly Parton with honorable mention to Dabney Coleman for playing their jackass boss.