“Drunk, Driving, And 17” (*1/2 out of four) was an exceedingly weak melodrama about a high-schooler (Savannah Lee Smith) who makes a near-fatal mistake of getting intoxicated at a house party and drinking-and-driving and nearly killing a classmate. In the aftermath, the victim and his family and police have to decide is it her fault or the fault of the parents (Michael Michele and David Wright) who hosted the party? Earnest attempt at a serious subject matter is bungled by heavy-handed melodramatics and uneven acting. While far from perfect, “Hit And Run” and “The Crossing Guard” told the same stories with more raw power and conviction.

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“Chaos On The Farm” (** out of four) was an overly routine suspense psychodrama about a young woman (Brook Sill) who visits the farm of her uncle and aunt (Clare Kramer and Jake Busey) to tie up dangling issues in her deceased mother’s will but soon finds that they have both become nutjobs who want to hold her hostage and she does her best to survive and escape. Wholly predictable movie made for those who’ve never seen “Deliverance” or “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre” or any other redneck/psycho/people held in jeopardy movie. Good performances and stark cinematography from Chad Narducci are definite plusses but still can’t harvest this into material worth revisiting.

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“The Pay Day” (** out of four) was a trifling caper comedy in which almost everyone seems in it for a quick-and-easy pay day; a broke and frustrated IT technician (Kyla Frye) and her boyfriend (Sam Benjamin) decide to throw caution to the winds and steal valuable data worth several millions on the international market but a treacherous underworld figure (Simon Callow) attempts to thwart all their efforts. Both Frye and Benjamin co-wrote this movie in the vein of “Ocean’s Eleven” which is watchable but lacks the fire and flair to really come alive. Lead characters’ names are inspired by the lead actors from “Out Of Sight” which this movie sometimes also resembles.

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“Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: Once And Always” (**1/2 out of four) was a zippy continuation of the blockbuster series about the Power Rangers (Billy Cranston, Steve Cardenas, Walter Jones, and others) who are confronted with a global crisis and are called on to save the world once again but soon find that this might be a far more dangerous mission than they realized. High-energy movie with lots of action and visual effects but still mostly for fans and young viewers. Come to think of it, though, this is better than the 2017 feature-film adaptation and is probably on par with the previous 1995 version.

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“Air” (**1/2 out of four) was a pleasant if unexceptional melodrama set in the mid-1980’s in which a determined shoe salesman (Matt Damon) led the company of Nike in signing a then-unknown basketball player named Michael Jordan in a groundbreaking and blockbuster deal that would change the fortunes of the company and led to the explosion of lucrative sports endorsement deals in the landscape since. Sensational opening sequence plunges us right in the heart of the capitalistic decade of the Reagan ’80’s and holds you with its good cast and detail but gradually (no pun intended) the air comes out of the story and it loses its grip. Viola Davis is superb as usual as Jordan’s caring mom and Damon holds the movie together through its various lulls.

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“If I Can’t Have You” (*1/2 out of four) was a ridiculous suspense thriller about a radio host (Bailey Kai) who becomes targeted by an unknown stalker who turns her life upside down and she does her best to keep her sanity while trying to sort out the clues and go down the list and find out who this might be. Misfired thriller full of plot holes and obvious twists and for anyone who bothers to stay with it, film’s ending is an insulting letdown. Filmmakers obviously watched “Play Misty For Me” a few times but to put it mildly this time-waster “can’t” measure up to that classic.

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“The Last Kingdom: Seven Kings Must Die” (**1/2 out of four) was a visually sweeping but dramatically empty sequel to the 5 seasons of the title series about Uhtred Of Babbanburg (Alexander Dreymon) and his various comrades (Mark Rowley, Pekka Strang, and others) who suffer in the wake of the death of King Edward but vow to persevere ahead to unite a fractured England and make it a unified whole once again, regardless of the bloody costs. Beautiful cinematography from Luke Bryant and haunting music score by John Lunn/Danny Saul/Elvor Palsdottir help keep you entranced but after a while can’t camouflage that the story and characters are all so nondescript and vague. Final battle is extraordinary but even this (and other film’s elements) seem lifted from other superior medieval sagas “Braveheart” and “Gladiator.”

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“Family Dinner” (** out of four) was a moody but muted horror melodrama about an overweight teenager (Pia Herzegger) who is sent to live with her aunt and her husband (Nina Katlein and Michael Pink) at their farm to help her lose weight but she soon begins to suspect that not all is quite right there and there may be some be some dangerous ingredients added to the food that they are preparing and consuming. Highlighted by Gabriel Grajanek’s stark cinematography throughout but you keep thinking something is finally going to happen and it never does as it gradually plods nowhere. Not all THAT different from last year’s “The Menu” which had similar virtues and story flaws.

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“Renfield” (** out of four) was a scattershot horror comedy about the title character Renfield (Nicholas Hoult) who is the henchman for Count Dracula (Nicolas Cage) and his inmate at an asylum for decades but yearns for a life away from him and his overwhelming and life-affirming demands which put the 2 of them at a crossroads which leads to a violent showdown to the death. Cage is amusing in a role that is a companion piece to his earlier work in 1989’s “Vampire Kiss” but otherwise this is a hit-and-miss affair whose horror and comedy elements don’t really congeal or come together. Film uses footage from 1931’s “Dracula” in some flashback scenes.

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“The Tutor” (**1/2 out of four) was a moderately clever suspense thriller about a tutor (Garrett Hedlund) who is hired by a millionaire student (Noah Schnapp) at his luxurious estate but soon finds that his student has developed an obsession with him and that all is not at all what it appears to be as he finds himself in over his head in an escalating game of psychosis and murder. Film initially appears to be a simple character study but soon takes a few neat Hitchcockean twists and holds you in its grip with its stylish suspense but starts to become too improbable and loses its way before its disappointing final scenes. A mixed bag to be sure but marginally worth checking out.

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