Harley Quinn: The Complete First Season features some great animation and Kaley Cuoco isn’t bad voicing the lead, but the storytelling never worked for me, although the characterization of HQ seemed spot-on.
Home Again is hardly terrible but also hardly as charming as the filmmakers thought it was in spite of Reese Witherspoon whose talents are hardly taxed. This is at best a rental otherwise it’s a story that should’ve aired on the Hallmark Channel.
I can’t say I was entirely disappointed in Keeping Up with the Joneses but for the talent they had, Galifianakis, Hamm and Fisher in particular, the script does them no justice with humor that doesn’t quite land and a thin plot that can’t compensate for the lack of laugh-out-loud jokes.
Road House is another classic of the 1980s, a fun romp with a cheesy story and yet Patrick Swayze has more than enough charm to pull it off and make it all the more memorable.
“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.
Man Up is on the better and all around fun surprises of 2015 in a genre that doesn’t very often surprise. The chemistry, both romantic and comedic, shared between Simon Pegg and Lake Bell really propels combine that with some genuinely funny scenes, even surreal, it makes for a breezy brit-rom-com.
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.
Black Rock is respectable little film featuring two daring performances from Aselton, who also served as director, and Bell. The story is good enough to keep one’s attention but the villains are rather one-dimensional, almost Deliverance-lite, and it is brutal in its violent nature that I’m not sure I really would revisit it any time soon.