“Jekyll And Hyde” (*1/2 out of four) was a lackluster melodrama set in 50’s London in which a determined lawyer (Tom Hendryk) begins investigating his close friend Dr. Henry Jekyll (Michael McKell) who is accused of a horrific murder and begins to suspect that there may be more to this than meets the eye which blurs the terrifying line between reality and fantasy. Umpteenth retelling of Robert Louis Stephenson’s classic story is stuffy and inert. Hide away from this wooden timewaster and watch the classic 1931 version instead.

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“Code Of Silence” (** out of four) was a stilted underworld melodrama set in ’60’s London in which The Krays (both played by Ronan Summers) were in full-power and terror over other mob organizations and businesses but one hard-nosed detective (Stephen Moyer) sought to bring them down leading to a bloodbath of ruthless double-crosses and dealings. Reasonably well-acted but never jumpstarts and seems all-too-familiar and derivative to carry sufficient charge. By now, there have been so many movies about The Krays and their reign of control that their subject matter just doesn’t inspire the craze that it used to.

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“American Siege” (*1/2 out of four) was an American dud about a grizzled small-town sheriff (Bruce Willis) who battles a gang of thieves (led by Timothy Murphy) once they take a wealthy doctor (Cullen G. Chambers) hostage and threaten the town but he soon finds there might be more to their motives and underlying reasons than meets the eye. Substandard Willis actioner in which he sleepwalks and picks up another easy DVD check; would it kill him at this point to pick an action movie with some style and originality? Some of the Georgia scenery is pretty but this is still pretty much a “siege” to make it through.

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“The Gardener” (*1/2 out of four) was a wilted action potboiler about a gardener (Robert Bronzi) at a wealthy manor estate who has to return to utilizing his deadly martial arts skills when a brutal gang of thieves (led by Gary Daniels) ambush the estate and threaten the family (Nicola Wright, Richard Kovacs, and Jake Watkins) for whom he works. As I’ve noted before- it’s positively eerie how much Bronzi reminds you of Charles Bronson but even Bronson himself couldn’t have enlivened this limp pile of action cliches. Someone should cast him in a new “Death Wish” remake pronto!

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“Last Looks” (*1/2 out of four) was a slovenly and stupid melodrama about a disgraced ex-cop (Charlie Hunnam) who sees a chance for personal and professional solace when a private investigator (Clancy Brown) hires him to investigate the death of the wife of an eccentric television star (Mel Gibson with an annoying English accent) and the clues take him in all different directions. Film can’t make up its mind whether it’s a satirical black comedy or a hard-boiled mystery but it hardly matters because it strikes out at both. Brown brings his A-game as usual and does his best to liven up all his scenes but this one is still hardly worth a “look.”

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“Amityville In The Hood” (0 stars out of four) was an excruciatingly inept horror mess about an Eastside gang (Dustin Ferguson, Erik Anthony Russo, and others) who use the Amityville property to harvest and cultivate marijuana but they are soon ambushed and attacked by a rival gang (Knife Sotelo, Hector Gomez Jr. and others) from the West Coast and their crops are stolen who take it back home to Compton where anyone who smokes it suffers a killer buzz, in all senses of the word. Out of all the movies bearing the lucrative “Amityville” name this may actually be the worst which is no small feat. Laughably bad acting and filmmaking make this unwatchable but film isn’t at all funny. Margot Kidder must really be turning over in her grave by now.

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“Dangerous” (** out of four) was a mundane action melodrama about a former sociopath (Scott Eastwood) who has reformed and journeys back to a remote island to investigate the death of his brother but finds himself tangled up with various law enforcement (Famke Jannsen and Tyrese Gibson) and underworld figures (Kevin Durand, Ryan Robbins, and others). Half-baked story feels like another retread of the “Bourne” series; good cast makes it watchable but you’ve seen a lot of this before and done better. Mel Gibson is well-cast in a small role as Eastwood’s drunken therapist.

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“The Matrix Resurrections” (** out of four) was an unnecessary extension of this hugely popular series about the continuing adventures of Neo (Keanu Reeves) who is pulled back into the construct of the Matrix and reunites with Trinity (Carrie Anne-Moss) as he tries to find out if the everyday reality he has come to accept is a construct or concoction. Fourth entry is packed with the series’ usual mumbo-and-jumbo and pretentious gibberish (I was not as huge a fan as others of this series as you might have guessed) and self-indulgence. Picks up speed in its final third and does feature a few dazzling action scenes and visual effects but this still bears the marks of going back to the well once too often and was hardly worth “resurrecting.”

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“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” (** out of four) was a half-hearted sequel about a single mom (Carrie Coon) who arrives in a small-town with her two teenagers (Finn Wolfhard and McKenna Grace) and they soon begin to uncover their family connection to the original ghostbusters (Dan Aykroyd, Bill Murray, and Ernie Hudson) when strange paranormal activity begins to occur. Disappointing third entry in the series is just a weak nostalgia trip for original fans; the original trio show up in precious little and at the very end. Original deceased ghostbuster Harold Ramis shows up in some impressive CGI recreations.

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“Hostage” (*1/2 out of four) was a brutally unpleasant melodrama which holds the viewers hostage about a young cheerleader (Nicole Henderson) who was adopted by the murderers of her parents; years later in the midst of a home invasion she learns more about her parents and has to decide what side she is on and what course of action she wants to take. An unlikely candidate for Family Movie Of The Year award as film immerses you in unlikeable characters and harsh scenarios. Film only runs an hour-and-19 minutes but runs out of steam even at that length. No relation to the 2005 Bruce Willis actioner of the same name although come to think of it- it does have a very similar story

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