2016

[6] Japan’s Toho Pictures launched a third reboot of their Godzilla franchise with this 29th installment (not counting two American-made movies). Shin Godzilla follows various political figures and public agencies as they deal with the arrival of a giant creature that crawls out of the ocean and starts wreaking havoc across the land. It grows and evolves into the Godzilla we all recognize, only meaner …

[7] Chris Pine and Ben Foster play west Texas brothers who resort to bank robbing to keep from losing their family farm. This draws the attention of a Texas Ranger, played by a snarky Jeff Bridges, and his long-suffering partner (Gil Birmingham). As the brothers collect nearly enough to stop the bank from foreclosing, the rangers close in. Will they secure a future for their …

[7] Christian Slater and James Franco star in this true story about rival gay porn producers fighting over a rising star named Brent Corrigan (Garrett Clayton). Slater gives Corrigan his start, but when Corrigan learns he’s being paid peanuts compared to what his videos earn, he tries to escape Slater — and his contract. The legal battle gets ugly, eventually outing the two to family …

[7] Jakob M. Erwa directs his own adaptation of Andreas Steinhöfel’s novel about a 17-year-old who returns from summer camp to find his hedonistic mother and twin sister have become uncomfortably distant. At the same time, he enters into his first romantic relationship with the new boy at school and seeks the aid of close family friends and his mother’s latest boyfriend to help him figure …

[7] A college freshman pledges at his brother’s fraternity, but the hazing rituals trigger post-traumatic stress from an assault and robbery incident that happened the spring before. Ben Schnetzer (from the upcoming Y – The Last Man TV series) plays the lead role, while Nick Jonas plays his brother. Jonas’ character is at first excited to have his brother join him at the frat house, …

[7] Chris Pratt and Jennifer Lawrence star as passengers of an enormous spaceship en route to a new colonial planet. They’re two of five thousand, all in hibernation for their 120-year voyage. But when asteroids damage the ship and cause Pratt’s character to come out of suspended animation 90 years early, he’s got to come to grips with the fact that he’ll live and die …

[8] Isabelle Huppert stars as a woman trying to learn the identity of the man who raped her. Based on that description, I pegged Elle for a revenge story, but it’s much more complicated and interesting than that. As the film unfolds, we learn Huppert is the producer of sexually violent video games. Then we learn she’s the daughter of a mass-murderer. It’s indicated that …

[7] Writer/director M. Night Shyamalan (The Sixth Sense) presents a high-concept, low-budget horror-thriller that delivers the goods. James McAvoy stars as a man suffering from multiple personality disorder who kidnaps three young women and holds them hostage. The women, led by Anya Taylor-Joy (The Witch), try to make a desperate escape before a terrifying new personality emerges. In the meantime, McAvoy’s shrink (Carrie‘s Betty Buckley) catches …

[6] Everest is the true story of a deadly 1996 expedition up Mount Everest in which two climbing parties suffered casualties after a fierce blizzard engulfed the mountain with little warning. The film is more of a dramatic biopic than a sensational survival flick, and while that’s normally a good thing, I do wish Everest were a little more suspenseful or exciting. The ensemble cast …

[4] A motley group of townsfolk fall under siege at a nearly-abandoned hospital surrounded by mysterious, hooded cult figures brandishing knives. Before they can figure out who the cultists are or what they want, strange creatures start popping out of the shadows inside the hospital that like to eat and transform their victims. Also, the hospital has a weird secret lower level to it, where …

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