A Nightmare on Elm Street Part 2: Freddy's Revenge

Rushed sequel with Freddy Kruger (Englund) manipulating main character Patton into doing his murders for him. Black sheep of the franchise, with it being the only film in which the male is the protagonist and also to have no recurring characters aside from Freddy. Typical inferior horror sequel, but it does make attempts at honoring its predecessor. Its low points are a scene with Freddy possessing a pair of lovebirds; and another scene where Myers is inexplicably right on her hunches, trying to convince Patton that it wasn't him who committed a murder when he admits to it, but also that he made his confession to her with his hands soaked in blood! Rusler is slightly more appealing as the bully-turned-friend; unfortunately, he's not explored enough and ultimately comes across as a contradictory character. Concept may have actually worked had they given it another year or two to fill the bumps in the script.

National Lampoon's European Vacation

The Griswolds (changed to "Griswalds" for this outing) are back and off to Europe after winning the free trip on a game-show. Predictable and inferior, likely the weakest of the series, but still offers some worthy laughs nonetheless. Both kids are replaced, but the recasting has since become a fun ongoing gimmick in the following films. Perhaps working Randy Quaid back into the plot somehow would've made this holiday more memorable? Despite its flaws, the concept of sightseeing with Sparky and his fam still "works" per se, so this installment is far from a complete waste. Followed by NATIONAL LAMPOON'S Christmas VACTION.

The One I Love

In an attempt to save their marriage, Duplass and Moss retreat to a beautiful secluded estate, with a guest house that challenges whether or not they'll ever be able to fulfill each other's expectations of partnership. Commendable for its originality and ability to force the viewer to reflect on love; but it gets lost too quickly in genre-shuffle (dry-comedy, drama and romance iced with THE TWILIGHT ZONE), and the execution is just so poorly done that it's difficult to maintain an open-mind. Ted Danson plays the therapist who recommends the getaway spot.

Terminator Genisys

Fulfilling the prophecy, John Connor (Jason Clarke) sends his right-hand man Kyle Reese (Jai Courtney) back 45-years to stop a Terminator (Schwarzenegger) from killing his mother Sarah Connor (Emilia Clarke), but when Reese arrives, the past has been altered, leading him on a whole new mission. The concept is better than the execution; and while it could've been a lot worse, it is never a good sign when all the film's potential is used up in the first hour. From beginning to end, the movie takes a lot of different avenues, but none of them are ever impressive or memorable.

Run All Night

Career criminal Neeson finds an opportunity to make amends with his estranged son Kinnaman… all he has to do is save his life a few dozen times in a single night from a mob of gun toting cronies led by crime boss Harris. D'Onofrio makes for a useful plot device, but Nolte's appearance (which was originally more than just one scene) comes too late in the movie to have any impact. Perhaps it would've been more interesting if it was straight-edge Kinnaman that died and Neeson out for revenge instead of the other way around—but as it turns out, director Collet-Serra and writer Ingelsby decided to go cookie-cutter with characters who had far more potential if they weren't used in such a cliché plot.

Kickboxer

Brothers Alexio and Van Damme travel to Thailand for a kickboxing tournament, but when a rule-breaking (and back-breaking) assault occurs in the ring during Alexio's match by mammoth thug Qissi, Van Damme sets out to avenge his brother by learning the art of Muay Thai from trainer Chan. By-the-book martial arts flick is a tolerable time-killer, but Anderson and Chan's characters risk so much for nothing—what is their motivation? Despite the beautiful cinematography by Kranhouse and excellent fighting choreography by Van Damme himself, there are just too many failed opportunities to make the story slightly better that its pros cannot compensate for the instances of avoidable laziness.

The Boxer

Overall bland but nicely shot film centering around boxer and former Provisional IRA volunteer Day-Lewis's release from prison after serving 14 years for "taking the rap" and attempting to go straight in his old Belfast neighborhood. Watson and Scott work fine in their supporting roles, but Cox and McSorley's talents are wasted by rushed character development. Despite Day-Lewis' three years of boxing preparation mixed with the unusual outcome of a real-life bout, not a single gripping boxing match is delivered throughout the entire film—with fires and brawls going on outside of the ring (plus the intense climatic sequence which seems out-of-place in this otherwise incredibly dull flick) it's really hard to take an interest in the sport of boxing.

Mad Max: Fury Road

One long battle of car chases and explosions set in a futuristic outback. Gasoline and water are apparently very valuable, but we see no character treating them like scarce commodities. There's not a whole lot of dialogue to establish what's going through the minds of these underdeveloped characters in a fictional world, but here goes a shot: At some point during a scuffle within a scuffle, Hardy and Theron team up to help the five wives of cult leader Keays-Byrne flee his wretched wasteland (no, they don't bother with trying to save any of the children or old people we saw for some reason, just five beautiful women). However, it is commendable for using CGI sparingly. Director Miller intended to make the film feel like one continuous chase, and his accomplishment is at the price of establishing interesting characters; not to mention that it's impractical for the audience to be pumped the entire time—a roller-coaster has to go up and down. The flame-shooting guitarist was undeniably savage though. There ends up being too many unintentional callbacks to Hardy's performance in THE DARK KNIGHT RISES: a mask covering the nose and mouth, blood transfusion tubing, the weakness of hope, use of a sawed-off shotgun, etc. Ultimately a fun nightmarish ride worth time and money, despite its obvious flaws.

Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues

San Diego and the 1970s are a thing of the past. The 1980s and New York is here. After a nasty separation from Veronica Corningstone (Applegate) which involves her getting a promotion and him losing his job, Ron Burgundy (Ferrell) reforms his old crew of Brick Tamland (Carell), Brian Fantana (Rudd) and Champ Kind (Koechner) for a gig at a 24-hour news channel. Yes, there are laughs; and yes, a third installment would be worth making; but ultimately, ANCHORMAN 2 suffers from similar flaws as an AUSTIN POWERS sequel, where they try to go one step further than the original but end up going one step back—all with far less replay value than the predecessor.

Jingle All the Way

When workaholic father Schwarzenegger misses his son's (Lloyd) karate class graduation, the only way to make it up to him is to buy a Turbo Man action figure—or, "a stoopid liddle plahhstic dawl", as Schwarzenegger would say it in yet another role that inexplicably required him to have an Austrian accent for a character with an American name (hmmm)—but the toy is sold out everywhere, save some very few exceptions that will require some competition from others who are equally desperate (and that's where Sinbad comes in). The premise is wonderful, and there are a lot of genuinely hilarious moments. The downfall is how quickly the movies loses a grip on reality (which could've easily worked with the same amount of humor and fun), especially during the finale. Also, the lack of likability from Schwarzenegger and Wilson make this Christmas adventure a pretty brutal endeavor. The idea that Schwarzenegger's character has enough time for his job (and, let's not forget, the gym), but not his son, doesn't make him all that redeemable.

Whitey: United States of America v. James J. Bulger

UNDISPUTED FACT #1: After 16 years at large and 12 years on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's 10 Most Wanted Fugitives list, "Whitey" James J. Bulger was arrested in Santa Monica, California, on June 22, 2011.

UNDISPUTED FACT #2: Bulger is a murderer and drug-dealer.

ALLEGATION #1: Bulger was actually not an informant, but that people are out there trying to sully his reputation as being a "classy bad guy".

ALLEGATION #2: There is corruption involving this investigation and trial within the highest levels of law enforcement.

This film chooses to focus on the allegations, not the facts. "Journalistically jumbled", to quote the spot-on statement from John DeFore of The Hollywood Reporter. Wouldn't it be far more interesting and useful to examine how this proved killer/drug-dealer avoided capture for such an astonishing length of time? Book-ended by Stephen Rakes' interview, which seems tragically fitting; but otherwise, this documentary just seems like overlong tabloid blah. WHITEY is merely a documentary targeted at DEPARTED fanboys.

The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug

The journey continues with Bilbo (Freeman), Gandalf (McKellen) and the dwarf company reaching the Lonely Mountain to take back what is rightfully theirs from the dragon Smaug (Cumberbatch). Legolas (Bloom) is delightfully written into the story, but doesn't really help move it forward; while Bard (Evans) and his home of Esgaroth bring a freshness to Middle-Earth, but the over-development of the subplot steers things way too far off course. Too pretentious and dark—it's as if Peter Jackson took all the fine things in the book and injected it with steroids, draining any sort of hype for the last minute third installment. A cameo of Peter Jackson's two pugs (one fawn, one black) is probably the best thing about this film.

Christmas with the Kranks

A Christmas turkey (pun intended) based on Grisham's SKIPPING Christmas. Being fed up with the commerciality of Christmas and becoming uninspired to celebrate it with their daughter Blair (Julie Gonzalo) away, Luther (Tim Allen) and Nora Krank (Jamie Lee Curtis) cause a community uproar when they decide to take a tropical cruise and skip out on the winter celebration. Some of the attempts at hilarity work, but a lot of it fails; however, the film's real downfall is the attempt to make villains out of the two leads for their lack of conformity.

Live Free or Die Hard

Ugh. It wasn't even like the first three movies were THAT cool (even though they were pretty awesome for the late-1980s–mid-1990s), but John McClane returns after a 12-year hiatus like we missed him to stop cyber terrorists who hack into government and commercial computers. Timothy Olyphant does a good job as the villain, but is nowhere near as memorable as Irons or Rickman from the previous films. Fans complain about the PG-13 rating—though, aside from the language, it's not too tame even compared to its R-rated predecessors. Based on the WIRED Magazine's 1997 article "A Farewell to Arms" by John Carlin.

Accused at 17

Teenager Anderson is accused of murdering classmate Taylor after she and her friends (Maeve and Montgomery) play a prank on her for sleeping with boyfriend McClendon. The accused's mother (Gibb) must now try to find the truth in order to save her daughter from a longtime prison sentence, and soon suspects that it was best friend Montgomery who may have framed her. Yet another Lifetime Movie about a complex situation that is resolved by simplistic plot devices. However, one must give credit where credit is due; the teenagers' parents (particularly Gibb and Moses) are incredibly likable and believable, and have impressively sharp dialogue. Could've been a lot lot worse.

A Mother's Rage

Shielding Loughlin (who cannot escape FULL HOUSE, as her character here is also named Rebecca) puts her motherly instincts to good use when she senses terror afoot. The acting is not half-bad… in fact, one could say the acting is actually pretty decent (and that's saying a lot for a Lifetime Production); however, the trap is set when we finally make it to the ending, and all the complexities of these decently developed characters are quickly wrapped up by simple solutions. Perhaps easing up on the sub-plots would have allowed for a less rushed ending. Shaun Sipos' performance alone allows this time-filler to be worth the while, and Lori Loughlin is as charming as ever despite her character being a bit of a nut.

Gone Girl

Not to be confused with Affleck's 2007 feature-length directorial debut GONE BABY GONE, this outing is based on Gillian Flynn's 2012 novel of the same name, examining such themes as appearances, dishonesty, marriage and the media. Affleck seeks missing wife Pike, while the press, investigators, friends and even family go from being supportive to suspicious of the worried husband. A story that mirrors the "Missing white woman syndrome" clichés with very unconventional results—but not as unpredictable as intended—much of which is told and revealed through a non-chronological timeline. A movie that will be remembered for its intense first-viewing experience.

Kick-Ass 2

When life gets boring for former crime-fighter Kick-Ass (Taylor-Johnson), his ex-companion Hit-Girl (Moretz) trains him on how to be a proper hero; while D'Amico (Mintz-Plasse) adopts a new villainous title. Although this installment received more negative reviews than its predecessor, it's not any worse in quality… it's just not as overrated. Gets moving real quickly, and never runs into a dull moment. Fatal flaw: the audience is taken out of the story too often with the characters' insistence and reminders that the plot is supposed to be grounded in reality. Jim Carrey is far less theatrical than you'd expect, but he still brings his charm nonetheless.

The Lords of Salem

Even in Rob Zombie's growth as a filmmaker, it seems he cannot bring himself to stop parading Sheri Moon Zombie—his wife and LORDS OF SALEM's star—around like a trophy. The film follows a recovering addict working as a disc jockey in Salem, Massachusetts, who becomes haunted by a coven of witches from the Salem Witch Trials. The supporting cast is comprised of many excellent actors such as Bruce Davison, Jeff Daniel Phillips, Ken Foree, Dee Wallace, María Conchita Alonso, Richard Fancy, and especially Meg Foster. Admirable for lack of convention, with Zombie taking influence from Ken Russell and THE SHINING and turning it into a movie that he wanted to make rather than a movie people would care to see; but the overall effect is a fail, never becoming as scary, violent, intense or worthwhile as it intends to be. Title taken from a song appearing on Zombie's 2006 album EDUCATED HORSES.

Cabin Fever

Eli Roth's directorial debut can be a bit dense at times and is full of shameless clichés, but has gained a cult-following over the years for being a halfway decent horror movie made at only a 1.5 million dollar budget. Five college graduates who rent a cabin in the woods (already two clichés in just half a sentence) fall victim to a flesh-eating virus. Idea came from Roth's experience of developing a facial rash from rotten hay during an Iceland trip. Sound mixer John Neff survived the real flesh-eating bacterium, which took 13 days of non-stop intensive care to cure. Despite the real-life inspirations from Roth and Neff who maintain the make-up in the film is 100% accurate, the movie never hooks the viewer into the story's reality.