Fast Five (2011)
[4] Vin Diesel and Paul Walker star as hot dudes who drive fast cars, apparently for the third or fourth time. I would never have given this kind of movie a look if it weren't for the unusually good notices…
Chappie (2015)
[7] Chappie starts out rough, juggling multiple storylines and shifting our character identification many times throughout the first 30 minutes, but once the title character is 'born,' the film gets more and more thematically compelling. Chappie is a robot designed to…
22 Jump Street (2014)
[6] Jonah Hill and Channing Tatum go undercover at college to bust another drug lord in a sequel that is admittedly and unabashedly more of the same. But the sequel is even more bromantic than the first, playing the relationship…
21 Jump Street (2012)
[6] Channing Tatum and Jonah Hill star in this big-screen adaptation of the Fox TV show, about two young cops who go undercover at a high school to help find the supplier for a new, deadly drug. Young directors Phil…
Sausage Party (2016)
[7] Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg co-wrote and co-produced this R-rated animated satire about a grocery store hot dog (voiced by Rogen)Â that discovers the truth about life outside the store's sliding glass doors. But it's an uphill battle to convince…
Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie (2016)
[7] If you're a fan of the ill-mannered British TV show, you'll probably enjoy Eddy and Patsy's first big bloody screen adventure. Me? I think it's one of the funniest TV shows EVER made, so I drove two hours to the…
Suicide Squad (2016)
[6] While there are signs that Suicide Squad is a film rushed to completion and feels at times torn in different creative directions (sources report the studio made extensive revisions after the lukewarm reception of Batman vs Superman), the end…
Super 8 (2011)
[6] J.J. Abrams' comprehensive homage to Spielberg's early career is a decent spooky kids' adventure movie. It does a good job stirring nostalgia among 30-somethings like myself. It's not as mysterious or suspenseful as one might expect from Abrams, the…
Drive (2011)
[8] Ryan Gosling channels his inner Eastwood in this stylish thriller about a Hollywood stuntman who moonlights as a getaway driver. The combination of Hossein Amini's emotionally restrained script and Nicolas Winding Refn's visceral direction are a winning combination, boosted…
Hanna (2011)
[7] Saoirse Ronan (The Lovely Bones) stars as a mysterious teenager raised in the wilderness by her ex-CIA father (Eric Bana) to be a lethal killing machine. Director Joe Wright steps out of his comfort zone (his previous films include…