“Goodrich” (**1/2 out of four) was an uneven but endearing melodrama about an art dealer (Michael Keaton) whose life is thrown into disarray when his younger wife (Laura Benanti) informs him she’s checking into rehab leading him to have to attend to the family responsibilities on his own and turn to his estranged daughter (Mila Kunis) for support. Keaton’s usual winning charisma and effortless likability makes this worth watching and sticking through even though it goes on too long and wanders at times. Kunis is strong as usual and Andie MacDowell has a key supporting role; this marks her and Keaton’s first teaming since the underrated 1996 “Multiplicity.”

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“Heretic” (** out of four) was a tiresome horror drama about two religious women (Sophie Thatcher and Chloe East) who are drawn into a game of cat-and-mouse when they are enticed into the home of a creepy older man (Hugh Grant) who takes delight in teasing and tormenting them. Initially holds you attention with its aura of tense malevolence but you soon realize that aura is all it has and it never goes anywhere beyond that and gets off the ground. Grant is first-rate in image-altering role for him.

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“Absolution” (** out of four) was a muffled action melodrama about an aging gangster (Liam Neeson) with early forms of brain damage who tries to rectify his past by reconnecting with his now-grown daughter (Frankie Shaw) but the criminal kingpin (Ron Perlman) he works for and others won’t let him go and he finds it impossible to escape the clutches of his violent past. Film incorporates themes of the recent “Knox Goes Away” with some of Neeson’s own “Taken” but it doesn’t converge into a satisfying whole. Neeson is solid as always and helps keep film watchable.

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“Gladiator II” (*** out of four) was a powerfully done sequel to the 2000 classic about a warrior Lucius (Paul Mescal) whose home is conquered by a tyrannical emperor (Denzel Washington) who now leads Rome and has to enter the Colliseum to engage in battle and restore Rome to its former glory. Director Ridley Scott ably duplicates the grandiosity of the original with his typical extravagant visual flourishes and enough storytelling fire to ovecome occasional lulls. Mescal is rock-solid in the lead and Washington is first-rate and chews up the scenery in a rare comic-villain role.

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“Planetquake” (** out of four) was an unexceptional disaster thriller about an incoming earthquake that’s caused by a tectonic shift below the Marlana Trench and a series of seismologists (Erica Duke, Phillip Andre Botello, and others) and military personnel (Michael Pare, Anthony Jensen, and others) who try to prevent it from happening and engulfing the West Coast. Cast of decent actors and a few impressive visual effects shot help it remain watchable but film follows a much-too-predictable pattern. By now, there are only so many times you can watch the end of the world on screen.

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“Nutcracker Massacre” (*1/2 out of four) was a mindless timewaster about a young novelist (Beatrice Fletcher) who returns home to visit her family for Christmas and finds a nutcracker doll has come to life and is wreaking merciless havoc while the doll’s owner (Patrick Bergin) tries to sort out the situation and figure out what’s going on. Artificial and logy from the beginning and recommended for “Nutcracker” completists only; it’s depressing to see one-time great actor Bergin in this claptrap.

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“The Lurker” (*1/2 out of four) was a threadbare horror thriller about a group of theatre students (Scout Taylor Compton, Michael Emery, Naomi Grossman, and others) who are planning and celebrating their final show and begin disappearing one at a time when (what else?) an unhinged maniac is on the loose. Just another jerry-built series of horror cliches; can’t the talented Taylor Compton do better than this? This one won’t be “lurking” around on Netflix for too long.

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“Haunted By Her Name” (*1/2 out of four) was a dreary horror thriller about a young man (Jaron Lanier) who journeys home after the funeral of his ex-girlfriend (Cailin Lanier) and finds himself haunted by images of her ghost that he is convinced are real. Chilling and spooky music score from Judah Relly promises grandiose themes that film unfortunately doesn’t deliver as it gradually plods nowhere. Both Laniers co-produced and co-wrote this in addition to other chores.

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“2.0 Lucy” (*1/2 out of four) was a cut-rate horror thriller that only ranks 1.5 according to this FB reviewer about a disgraced paleoanthropologist (Joe Eyre) who travels to a rural outback countryside to challenge his idea that humans are the master species and spends time with a woman (Lois Chimimba) who may be otherworldly and evil. Promising opening soon sputters as film becomes static and sluggish. This might have worked better as a 2-character play instead.

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