“Average Joe” (*1/2 out of four) was a cheesy Marvel/DC/comic-book wannabe about the title avenger (Jason Sedillo) who must defend his home turf of San Antonio when the malevolent Lord Menace (Camden Toy) returns from the dead to wreak havoc once again and he has to round up his other group of friends (Taylor James Johnson, Akasha Villabolos, and others) to get back into shape and get back into the world of crime-fighting. Writer/director Mark Cantu seems to be trying for something in the vein of “Shazam” and “Spider Man” but he’s constricted by a miniscule budget which makes this look shoddy at best. Film’s poster may remind you of “The Avengers” but this is overall a below-average effort.

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“Lullaby” (* out of four) was a monumentally dull horror show about a new mother (Oona Chaplin) and her husband (Ramon Rodriguez) who discover a lullaby in an ancient book that they find and they at first think this is a blessing but soon realize that this unleashes the ancient demon Lilith and (naturally) all Hell breaks loose. Director John Leonetti recycles much of his ideas and scenes from his previous “Annabelle” and virtually every other religious/exorcism/haunted house movie you can think of to humdrum effect. This is one “lullaby” which is sure to put you to sleep.

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“Murder Mystery 2” (** out of four) was a fizzled sequel to the very funny 2019 original about the two married detectives (Adam Sandler and Jennifer Aniston) who find themselves swept back up in international intrigue when their friend (Ahdeel Akhtar) is kidnapped at his own wedding in France and a ruthless thug (Mark Strong) threatens the destruction of all of them. Lots of action and a spectacular climax aboard the Eiffel Tower but hardly any laughs this time around; the good chemistry between Sandler and Aniston can only carry this so far. Sandler’s first Netflix sequel and this marks his and Aniston’s third film together.

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“Tetris” (** out of four) was a glib biographical drama set in the late ’80’s in which fledgling businessman Henk Rogers (Taron Egerton) joined forces with USSR game inventor Alexey Pajitnov (Nikita Efremov) in a historical international business venture to invent the title video game Tetris which became one of the highest-grossing games of all time. What starts out as a lighthearted and bouncy story of business and capitalism soon morphs into an “Argo”-like thriller of espionage and deceit but film just does not have the magnitude or scope to have the epic sweep that it needs. Director Jon S. Baird wants to make you believe that the Tetris game resulted in the eventual fall of the Soviet Union but it’s a bit of a stretch to put it mildly. Unlike the game itself, the bits and pieces and blocks of story in the film don’t fall together into a cohesive whole.

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“The Unheard” (* out of four) was an unbearable horror thriller about a young woman (Lachlan Watson) who undergoes an experimental procedure to restore her shattered hearing but soon finds that she is having frightening hallucinations about her deceased mother and starts losing her mind. Film is so lifeless and dull that you wish she may have simply gotten ear implants instead…..and it goes on forever at over two hours. Keep this one on your “unseen” list and make sure it stays there.

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“On A Wing And A Prayer” (** out of four) was an overall bland drama about a devoted husband (Dennis Quaid) and his wife (Heather Graham) on an airplane flight with their children; when the pilot suddenly dies mid-flight, he has to take control of the plane and save his family and lead everyone to safety. Earnestly done Christian-themed melodrama starts off well but starts to peter out ironically when they get in flight, just when the story should be peaking. Quaid is rock-solid and likeable as always but this never quite takes “wing” as it should.

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“Damaged Goods” (**1/2 out of four) was a ruminating but remote melodrama about a young woman (Hannah Alline) whose life is unraveling who is contacted about her estranged father (Danny Vinson) who sexually abused her and scarred her for life and now needs part of her liver to survive and she is in a moral and personal quandary of whether to forgive him and save his life or let him perish. Affecting story about forgiveness and betrayal and the various scars from childhood trauma and abuse but story never hits the emotional crescendo that it should and ending is overly pat. Some scattered effective moments and solid performances by both Alline and Vinson still make it worthwhile.

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“Home Not Alone” (*1/2 out of four) was a claptrap suspense thriller about a woman (Andrea Bogart) and her young daughter (Maya Jenson) who move into a beautiful new house and find that the former owner (Adam Huss) is a serious sicko who refuses to let go of the property and still resides there, without them knowing it. Title is relatively clever but all ingenuity ends there, as script gets more ridiculous by the minute and film’s ending is bewildering and stupid. You may want to actually watch “Home Alone” (or any of its sequels) for more thrills and scares than this timewaster.

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“Puppet Master: Doktor Death” (* out of four) was a dreadful entry in this inexplicably popular and endless series about the return of the return of the title murderer who pops up at a senior-care facility involving various nurses and patients (Melissa Moore, Rick Montgomery Jr, Laura Dennis, and others) and mayhem ensues. Unfortunately, the puppet itself is the best actor and performance here because most other performances and filmmaking are painful. Horror fans would best watch a “Muppets” re-run for more scares and more laughs. Someone please put this series to “death” before more sequels are made.

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“Every Breath She Takes” (*1/2 out of four) was a flimsy suspense thriller about a businesswoman (Tamala Jones) in an abusive relationship with her overbearing husband (Brian White) and thinks she has finally escaped him after a deadly fire at their house but she soon begins to see various visions and hallucinations of him. Are they real or are they signs that she is losing her mind? Or more to the point- does anyone care? Pretty weak psychodrama attempts to incorporate various themes of PTSD, domestic violence, and stalking but it’s all ineffectual. Tisha Campbell is wasted in a small role as a hard-nosed detective with a terrible wig.

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