 20th Century Studios, 2026. Linda Liddle (Rachel McAdams) is a big fan of "Survivor." So much so that in "Send Help," we discover that she has submitted an audition tape to compete on the long-running Reality-TV series.
She definitely has what it takes to survive on an island, as we soon find out in this wildly fun and, at times, gory dark comedy thriller.
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NETFLIX Review: 'A House of Dynamite' a slow-burning thriller that ignites our deepest fears10/8/2025  Netflix, 2025. Director Kathryn Bigelow ("The Hurt Locker," "Detroit," "Zero Dark Thirty") is a true master of immersive, high-tension realism. The stakes have never been higher in her newest film, the harrowing "A House of Dynamite," a control room thriller that examines what it may look like if the United States was on the brink of an actual nuclear holocaust.
 Universal Pictures, 2025. A key question one must ask themselves when going into a "Jurassic Park" movie is: What do I truly expect? Expectations - and where we set them - play a major part in how we experience any film. Sometimes, aiming too high can almost guarantee disappointment. That's not to excuse a movie that sets a low bar for itself...rather an acknowledgement that much of our reaction depends on the mindset we bring to the theater.
Taking into consideration that the first "Jurassic Park" movie was a ground-breaking, earth-shattering blockbuster and a global phenomenon - and considering just how TERRIBLE many of the sequels have been - it's safe to say that "Jurassic World: Rebirth" is a bona fide success. It draws on our nostalgia without feeling manipulative. It simplifies things to the core of what made the first one a hit, without merely trying to recreate it. You could say - in a fitting parallel to the film's plot - that this installment extracts a bit of the original's DNA, in a noble attempt to finally do something worthwhile with it.  Paramount Pictures, 2025. When it comes to myth-making in modern cinema, no character in the past decade rivals the legend of John Wick. Across four films, Wick (Keanu Reeves) has racked up a body count that challenges the highest in cinematic history. With action sequences and production values that have set a new standard for the genre, the John Wick series has become the benchmark other action films aspire to reach.
Branching off from this success comes "Ballerina" (technically titled "From the World of John Wick: Ballerina"), featuring a character that Wick crossed paths with back in "John Wick: Chapter Three - Parabellum." Eve (Ana de Armas) is more than just a female version of John Wick, and while "Ballerina" stumbles out of the gate, it eventually finds its footing and earns its place in the John Wick cinematic universe.  MPI International, 2024. Woody Allen's 50th film is one of his better ones, with "Coup de Chance" landing as an effective thriller that relies mostly on - what else? - the script's inherent wit.
Review: 'John Wick 4' a poetic, imperfect final chapter that goes down swinging for the fences3/16/2023  Lionsgate, 2023. "John Wick" was the unlikeliest of box office successes when it hit theaters nearly a decade ago (2014). Since then, the franchise has become a beloved IP for Lionsgate, grossing nearly 600 million at the box office. "John Wick: Chapter 2" (2017) expanded the world of John Wick, with secret societies of assassins and some mythology to go along with its non-stop action. "John Wick: Chapter 3 - Parrabellum" (2019) wasn't quite as interesting, but it delved into this universe even further.
Each chapter has nearly doubled the gross of the previous installment, and that brings us to the highly-anticipated "John Wick: Chapter 4," a movie that would feel like a fitting end to the saga, if we didn't already know that they're planning a "John Wick: Chapter 5" as well as a spin-off film, "Ballerina," and a live-action series based on the hitman hotel and safe-haven, "The Continental." Amazingly, "John Wick: Chapter 4" in absolute ground-breaking achievement in action cinema, the most confident and gloriously-rendered installment yet. It has many, many problems, but the good outweighs the bad - perhaps just barely - and if you've followed John Wick this far, there's no way that you'll feel disappointed by his latest adventure.  Paramount Pictures, 2023. Here's what I liked about the new "Scream VI" movie: There were some very cool kills, some great set-pieces (the opening sequence, a scene set in a mini-mart and a scene spanning across two high-rise apartment windows were super-cool). I really like the main cast - the "Core Four" as they're referred to - of Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Mason Gooding and Jasmin Savoy Brown. And there was something that felt "freeing" with this franchise deciding to head out of the confines of Woodsboro, California for the dark, murky, dangerous streets of New York City.
But the "Scream" films have always felt "risen above" the rest of the horror genre...mainly by how it mixes in sharp satire of the horror genre itself. The characters in these films have watched all the horror movies. They know all of the tropes of the genre. Like the savvy viewers sitting in the theater, these people are not going to fall for the usual tricks. This has always made "Scream" feel smart. They have acted as an ongoing subversion of the genre. As a massive fan of the first four "Scream" chapters, I was not at all a fan of the last chapter, essentially called "Scream 5" (in fact, it was simply called "Scream" as it tried to relaunch itself as a franchise, but that's besides the point). "Scream VI" is a giant improvement over the previous installment, and for its first two-thirds, it felt like an inspired chapter in the ongoing "Scream" saga. But the last half-hour made it IMPOSSIBLE to be on board with, succumbing not only to the terrible tropes that the series often makes fun of, but leaning into them unknowingly.  Lionsgate, 2023. Director Guy Ritchie has made a career on style. His latest film, the full-titled version of which is "Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre," has plenty of it...the problem is that the script is a complete dud. This renders its talented ensemble useless, each desperate to breathe life into this dead-on-arrival crime-comedy-thriller, but each - save Hugh Grant - being held back without ever getting a chance to shine.
The result is a movie that feels like it should be cool but isn't...a movie so high on its own supply that it becomes grating, not charismatic, the longer it slogs on.  Apple TV+, 2023. "If you're going to steal, steal a lot."
That's the under-riding premise of "Sharper," a slow-burning thriller about con artists conning other con artists, where nothing - and no one - is ever quite is it seems. Despite the movie leaving me with a feeling that it should have been more effective given the talented cast, "Sharper" still was an enjoyable if not infallible mystery.  Universal Pictures, 2023. Knock knock. Who's there? It's "Knock at the Cabin," a shallow, shoddy and condescending thriller that I can already tell you will stand as one of the worst offerings of 2023.
Don't answer the door...you've been warned! |
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