“A House Of Dynamite” (** out of four) was an unexceptional political action melodrama about a deadly missile that’s fired at the U.S. and various political and law enforcement figures (Idris Elba, Rebecca Ferguson, Gabriel Basso, and others) race against the clock to find out who’s responsible and why and how they have to respond to save the country and stay alive. Surprisingly pedestrian outing from director Kathyrn Bigelow in what sounds like a sure-fire potboiler as she recycles various scenes and story elements from (the far superior) “Thirteen Days” and her own “Zero Dark Thirty.” Elba adds some style and panache with his effortless charisma but still can’t enliven this to actual “dynamite.”

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“One Battle After Another” (** out of four) was a long-winded political melodrama about a former revolutionary (Leonardo DiCaprio) whose life of perpetual stoned paranoia is altered when his daughter (Chase Infiniti) is kidnapped and his comrades (Benicio Del Toro, Regina Hall, and others) reform to find her with various military personnel (Sean Penn, Tony Goldwynn, and others) pursuing them all. Director Paul Thomas Anderson tackles numerous topical issues of military oppression and incarceration with some scattered moments of engrossing emotional power but (like a lot of Anderson’s other works) it meanders too much and goes on far too long and loses most of its dramatic interest. Del Toro stands out as usual but his 2000 “Traffic” was a far richer and more powerful work about politics and the drug trade.

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“Tron: Ares” (**1/2 out of four) was a flashy but hollow third entry in this influential series about the title program which is highly sophisticated and dangerous and crosses over from the digital world into the real one which results in various C.E.O.’s and A.I. figures (Jared Leto,, Greta Lee, Jodie Turner-Smith, and others) all vying for control and domination. A visual tour de force with lots of psychedelic imagery and visual effects to give hardcore fans and computer geeks their money’s worth but they have to combat a muddled script and story which isn’t always that compelling (and doesn’t always make sense). A definite improvement over last entry “Tron: Legacy” but still feels untouched by human hands and maybe that’s the point. Original “Tron” star Jeff Bridges returns for a few key scenes as Kevin Flynn.

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“Nanoshark” (* out of four) was a brainless horror comedy about a group of none-too-bright scientists (Trevor Payer, Peter Whittaker, John N.E. Hill, and others) who use nanotechnology to shrink a shark which is then injected into people to cause a rare blood disorder; when this soon leads to problems, the scientists have to shrink themselves to enter the blood and try and kill the smallest shark ever. Outlandishly stupid premise might have been fun had it been played for high-camp and with flair and conviction but is crude and dumb all the way through. It’s movies like these that make you realize maybe “Jaws3 and 4” really weren’t as bad as we thought at the time.

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“The Jurassic Games: Extinction” (** out of four) was a fairly predictable sci/fi horror thriller about contestants (Brandon Stanley, Ryan Francis, and others) on a gameshow in a dystopian future that have to fight against bloodthirsty dinosaurs to stay alive. Film is an obvious hybrid of “Jurassic World” and “The Hunger Games” but having said that it’s well-produced and certainly features sufficient amounts of visual effects and action/chase scenes. Only main detriment is it starts to overstay its welcome by going on too long.

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“Anemone” (*1/2 out of four) was a rambling melodrama about two estranged brothers (Daniel Day Lewis and Sean Bean) who attempt to re-connect with one another after numerous life-changing events that took place earlier. Day Lewis’ long-awaited return to acting after his tentative retirement in 2017; great though it is to see him back on screen, film moves like molasses and has no real story to tell and drowns him out. Film marks the directorial debut of Lewis’ son Ronan. Beautiful lensing from Ben Fordesman is one of film’s few virtues.

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“Shift” (*1/2 out of four) was an unwieldy psychodrama about a security guard (Connor McGill) working an overnight shift who uncovers a chilling mystery when a tenant’s visitor disappears without a trace and he begins to realize a killer is in the building with him. Not all that different from the 1998 Ewan McGreggor disaster “Nightwatch” and film is nowhere near as brutal or as unwatchable but still unlikely to win a place at next year’s Oscars. McGill does what he can and has to carry the majority of film single-handedly.

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“Match” (*1/2 out of four) was a substandard horror potboiler about a woman (Humberly Gonzalez) who meets a man on an online dating website and is lured to his house where she is instead met by his disturbed mother (Dianne Simpson) and a beastly creature and is imprisoned and has to fight to the death to survive and escape. Might be the first horror movie in which a woman helps a creature/monster masturbate onscreen but aside from that there’s not much here of originality or shock value. Gonzalez is a real knockout and does what she can in the lead role; hopefully she finds scripts and stories that are a better “match” for her in the future.

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“Traumatika” (** out of four) was an uneven horror melodrama about a boy (Ranen Navat) whose mother (Emily Goss) begins to show signs of demonic possession which leads to the both of them encountering a whole series of psychological trauma and questioning their state of sanity and reality. Made of spare parts from other (and better) horror movies “The Amityville Horror” and “The Exorcist” but is at least made and directed with some style and colorfully lensed by Pierre Tsigaridis. Far from the worst of its kind but still doesn’t transcend its derivative origins.

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“Pursued” (*1/2 out of four) was an overlong, overdone horror thriller about a young girl (Miesha Tate) who uncovers a horrific murder online and takes matters into her own hands but is instead pursued by the killer who turns out to be far more ruthless and savage than she expected. Uninvolving story takes both too long to get going and too long to get where it’s going. Molly Ringwald has a minor role as the girl’s mother but based on this effort needs to be “pursuing” better roles for her comeback.

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