Urban Legends: Final Cut was a poorly made horror sequel to a movie that wasn’t all that good, though at least in that case I appreciate the passion behind it, this one seemed to be cooked from numerous producers.
Barbershop 2: Back in Business is a fine sequel and although, as with the first film, isn’t my cup of tea in terms of comedy but any fan of Ice Cube or Cedric the Entertainer might find it entertaining.
Barbershop is a fun enough ensemble comedy that actually shows some depth for Ice Cube unlike some of this crappy family adventure fare.
Small Town Crime was one of the better films of this early 2018 year that excels thanks to a strong cast led way by John Hawkes with special note toward Robert Forster and Clifton Collins Jr. in smaller roles.
The Star technically isn’t a great animated movie by any stretch but it is perfectly safe and unlike The Emoji Movie, did illicit a few laughs from me and never once came across as cynical, and the voice talents was pretty impressive while the animation, albeit nothing extraordinary, was passable.
Transformers is something I more or less hold the same opinion about when I watched it in theaters, 10 years later. It’s not terrible by any stretch and most of the action is well done, but the acting is subpar and the dialogue even worse.
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.
Agent Cody Banks 2: Destination London isn’t a good movie and where the first at least had the fun factor, this one is left with bad writing and below average acting since it doesn’t have the benefit of featuring the likes of Angie Harmon, Ian McShane or even Darrell Hammond as presumably the studio wanted to cut costs.
The Town That Dreaded Sundown isn’t great but at least it has some creativity linking itself to the original in a movie within a movie sense. The self referencial aspects were fun and the acting wasn’t half bad, though one of the twists at the end wasn’t exactly unexpected. Still, for horror fans, this might be worth a pick up especially considering the reasonably low price.
Scream 4 might’ve come a few years too late after the last installment, but I for one enjoyed it as Wes Craven and company were able to update the franchise for the 21st century. The original cast slips into their roles nicely while the new generation offer up a certain and needed freshness, though writer Williamson didn’t succumb to the horror sequel clichés (though there a few).