Magnetosphere: Movie Review

A good character with no plot.

A story of a 13-year-old girl growing up in a new town, with new friends, a first crush, a head full of insecurities and realizing she has synesthesia. Thirteen is probably one of the hardest ages to center a movie around, primarily because it’s the hardest age to get natural acting from; they’re old enough to be self-aware but not experienced enough to know how to turn that into playing a character in front of a camera.		2024 Directed by: Nicola Rose Screenplay by: Nicola Rose Starring: Shayelin Martin, Patrick McKenna

Follow (AKA: Juegos de Seducción): Movie Review

Staid, unoriginal and uninteresting.

Diego Boneta has returned to his native Mexico in this Spanish-language seduction thriller. Titled Follow in English, the Spanish title Juegos de Seducción translates to “Seduction Games” which at least makes sense in addition to being a much better title. But this movie also doesn’t concern itself with what is good, or better, or makes sense. The plotline of a handsome con artist who scams wealthy women but may have found his match is about as lazy as they come.		2025 Directed by: Gonzalo Tobal Screenplay by: Hipatia Argüero Mendoza, and Adriana Pelusi Starring: Diego Boneta, Martha Higareda

Don't Log Off: Movie Review

Mystery, tension and humour all used to great effect in this pandemic horror.

Don’t Log Off is a COVID-set horror/thriller, and we’re talking early pandemic. Five years ago can seem like such a long time ago right now, so this can feel a little dated. The setting is arguably an easy excuse for the virtual set-up and why the whole group of friends who live in the same city are on-line and not in-person. But whether you consider this gimmicky or not, it works.		2025 Directed by: Brandon Baer, Garrett Baer Screenplay by: Brandon Baer, Garrett Baer Starring: Kara Royster, Khylin Rambo, Luke Benward, Ariel Winter

Singing in My Sleep: Movie Review

An enjoyable journey through song and complicated emotions.

A sweet, thoughtful and tender portrait of a young woman struggling to make it as a musician in the shadow of her famous father. Charlotte Lakes (Jessica Belkin) is the daughter of Jack Lakes, a successful rock star with one album who would have just faded away into obscurity but instead he died at the height of his fame, so now eight years later he’s a cult icon and Charlotte cannot escape his presence.		2025 Directed by: Nick Wilson Screenplay by: Nick Wilson Starring: Jessica Belkin, Jacob Brand, Malin Akerman and Gavin Leatherwood

Nuked: Movie Review

A chaotic comedy that fizzles away its potential.

Let’s start with the cast, headlined by a dark-haired Anna Camp wearing electric blue eyeshadow playing a sex podcast host who’s turning 40 and married to her husband for 20 years. If you didn’t realize how long ago Pitch Perfect was, that sentence should clear that up. The Hangover alum Justin Bartha plays husband Jack, a quieter unassuming schoolteacher. They are joined by six friends for their birthday party which may or may not be their last night on Earth.		2024 Directed by: Deena Kashper Screenplay by: Danny Kashper, Deena Kashper Starring: Justin Bartha, Anna Camp, Lucy Punch, Tawny Newsome and Ignacio Serricchio

Forgive Us All: Movie Review

Western-horror with intriguing set-up but minimal story.

Forgive Us All is a New Zealand made western-horror drama set in a post-apocalyptic world where a virus has wiped out mankind turning humans into cannibalistic zombies. It’s interesting at times but also strange and has a hard time turning its theme into something compelling. Rory (Lily Sullivan) is bloody, sweaty and shaking with anger, fear and grief after just burying a family member.		2025 Directed by: Jordana Stott Screenplay by: Lance Giles, Alex Makauskas, Jordana Stott Starring: Lily Sullivan, Lance Giles

Almost Cops: Movie Review

An Americanized, bastardized version of the buddy copy action comedy with bad writing, bad acting and bad jokes..

In the Netherlands, the tile is “Bad BOA’s” where BOA is an acronym from the Dutch for a type of law enforcement officer. It is meant to make you think of Bad Boys even though Netflix changed the English title to Almost Cops. Whether they change the title or not, this movie is still a lazy knock-off of a mix between Bad Boys and 21 Jump Street.		2025 Directed by: Gonzalo Fernandez Carmona Screenplay by: Kenneth Asporaat, Michel Bonset, Murth Mossel Starring: Werner Kolf, Jandino Asporaat

Brick: Movie Review

Smart and engaging thriller that lets in too much nonsense.

The German Netflix thriller Brick takes a smart, simple premise, builds something unique and engaging, and then temporarily goes insane before getting back to the only possible ending. What I love about movies like this is how unique and universal it is at the same time; it’s original and can appeal to anyone around the world. And it starts very strong with two characters fully defined within minutes and then suddenly locked in with no explanation.		2025 Directed by: Philip Koch Screenplay by: Philip Koch Starring: Matthias Schweighöfer, Ruby O. Fee

Pretty Thing: Movie Review

Illogical trash dressed up as artistic.

Movies where an older woman has an affair with a younger man that turns into an obsession is not a new genre. There are dozens of movies literally named "Obsession" that are exactly this. I am concerned though that Babygirl’s recent success both at the box office and with critics, will spurn more terrible movies like Pretty Thing that attempt to elevate the genre in ways that just don’t work.		2025 Directed by: Justin Kelly Screenplay by: Jack Donnelly Starring: Alicia Silverstone, Karl Glusman