The Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

The Exorcist: The Beginning (2004)

[4] Director Renny Harlin's cut of this film is more quickly-paced and energetic than Paul Schrader's (both films feature the same story and most of the same cast), but it has the misfortune of stepping in a big pile of silly…
Fracture (2007)

Fracture (2007)

[6] Ryan Gosling plays a young prosecutor pitted against slicker-than-snot Anthony Hopkins, representing himself in a trial where he's accused of murdering his wife. Hopkins is about to get away with everything, but Gosling is determined to poke a hole…
Into the Grizzly Maze (2015)

Into the Grizzly Maze (2015)

[3] James Marsden, Thomas Jane, and Piper Perabo star in this wannabe animal attack movie that's really just an overwrought drama about estranged brothers burying the hatchet. The squabbling between the two men (all the men in the movie, actually)…
The Baby (1973)

The Baby (1973)

[7] A social worker investigates a mother and her two adult daughters who take care of a 21-year-old man who wears diapers, sucks baby bottles, and sleeps in a baby crib. The family insist the man has the mental and emotional capacity…
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo (2011)

[6] Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara star in the second adaptation of the Stieg Larsson novel about a journalist and a computer hacker who work to solve the mystery of a missing woman. Is there perhaps something wrong with the fact…
Attack the Block (2011)

Attack the Block (2011)

[7] Inner-city teenagers band together to protect their south London neighborhood from an alien invasion. This one's for fans of monster movies, with interesting creature effects and a talented young cast. It kinda bugs me that the heroes (or anti-heroes)…
Straw Dogs (2011)

Straw Dogs (2011)

[7] [SPOILER REVIEW] Sue me, but I like both the Peckinpah original and this remake. Straw Dogs is a home invasion thriller that is either a tragedy about a pacifist man (James Marsden) who must turn violent to survive, or…
Contagion (2011)

Contagion (2011)

[6] Steven Soderbergh directs what is probably the most believable, realistic approach to a deadly epidemic movie that I've ever seen, but that doesn't necessarily make it the best movie. The building action is the film's strong point, and primarily…
Super 8 (2011)

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)

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…