2017
T2 Trainspotting, though enjoyable in its own right, ultimately relies too heavily on nostalgia for the original to be a complete success.
Don’t Hang Up is a tense and effective low-budget thriller, though it misses out on fully probing the dangers of online bullying.
Chapter & Verse is another strong reminder that stories about black lives must continue to be told—even if it treads familiar ground.
Rings is a film that falls flat on its face, failing to capture the raw and understated tension in the original American remake.
Fear Itself is a series of montages of famous horror films, though it misses out on probing just why we are fascinated by being scared.
James McAvoy shines in M. Night Shyamalan’s latest, in which he portrays an array of characters as a man who suffers from dissociative identity disorder.
THE SPACE BETWEEN US struggles to find its original voice amidst the plethora of recent space exploration movies.
xXx: Return of Xander Cage, the long-awaited sequel to 2002’s xXx is finally here, finally being the operative word. It’s been fifteen years, in fact, long enough for the first movie to have had endless cable TV airings, and for nearly everything about the current marketplace to change.
Prevenge is a film about revenge from the womb; it succeeds both as a satire of how pregnant women are seen and as a hilarious comedy.
A Dog’s Purpose is a manipulative movie that, though occasionally cuddly and cute, serves little “purpose” overall.
Get the Girl is an action movie that is obsessed with the idea of an action movie, but not with actually being one.
Lost in Florence is a breezy romantic comedy set in Florence, Italy, though don’t expect to get much of a deeper meaning than that from it.
Sleepless is a thriller that occasionally seems passable and avoids some clichés, but still doesn’t quite achieve the level it could have.
Mindhorn, the debut feature film from theatre director Sean Foley, has one hell of a concept that has been created as a Frankenstein’s monster, taking bits and pieces from other British cult comedies from the last two decades.