The Emperor’s Club (2002)

The Emperor’s Club (2002)

[6] An prep school teacher tries to set his students on a righteous path in The Emperor's Club. More like Goodbye, Mr Chips than Dead Poets Society, this flick focuses more on the importance of moral character than inspiration or motivation. (Don't just…
Scream 4 (2011)

Scream 4 (2011)

[6] You really aren't supposed to return to a well too many times. But in the case of the Scream franchise, I was still thirsty. So I drank... and the water's still good! Of course the novelty has worn off, but unlike…
Playing for Keeps (1986)

Playing for Keeps (1986)

[4] Miramax moguls Bob and Harvey Weinstein directed and co-wrote this uninspired teen comedy about three high school graduates who transform a dilapidated bed & breakfast into a hip & happening getaway for young people. It's like leftovers from half a dozen…
The More the Merrier (1943)

The More the Merrier (1943)

[6] A pleasant screwball comedy from the versatile George Stevens. Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, and Charles Coburn play mismatched roommates during a housing shortage. Scenes where the three narrowly avoid collision while getting ready in the morning will remind you of a…
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 toward the…
Swiss Army Man (2016)

Swiss Army Man (2016)

[9] When a movie's main title is preceded by a lonely man riding a farting corpse off a desert island and across the ocean, you either leave the theater immediately, or settle in for a cinematic experience like no other. Paul Dano…
The Telephone Book (1971)

The Telephone Book (1971)

[7] In New York City, a young nymphet named Alice (surely a Wonderland reference) receives an obscene phone call and immediately falls in love with the caller. She embarks on an urban adventure to find her lover, meeting one strange person after…
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 in Hopkins'…
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) gets pretty…
Cooties (2014)

Cooties (2014)

[4] Elijah Wood and Rainn Wilson star in this tepid horror-comedy about a group of teachers terrorized by children gone savage after infected chicken nuggets are served in the school cafeteria. I was bored with this one. It's neither funny nor scary. If…