“The Travellers” (**1/2 out of four) was an agreeably done comedy about a stage designer (Luke Bracey) who returns to his native Australia to say goodbye to his dying mother (Susan Porter) but this trip soon devolves into chaos as he encounters his difficult father (Bryan Brown) and past lovers (Celia Massingham and Alison McGirr) as he struggles to keep himself together and coordinate his life. Pleasant outing from writer/director Bruce Beresford (“Driving Miss Daisy”) with a well-served cast although it stops just short of hitting the mark. Brown adds some suavity and style as usual with his effortless (and ageless) charisma.

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“Home Education” (* out of four) was a languid psychodrama set in the England countryside about a young girl (Lydia Page) who starts to question the beliefs of her domineering and overbearing mother (Julia Ormond) as she ventures out on her own for the first time and encounters the horrors of real life. Both inept and inert; film is incredibly stuffy and blah but has no real story to tell. A particularly egregious waste of Ormond who in better days starred in “First Knight” a film with actual tension and verve.

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“The Dummy Detective” (*1/2 out of four) was a dismal comedy made by and for dummies about a detective (Jonathan Geffner) who also happens to be a ventriloquist and arrives at a cheap hotel inn and investigates a serial killer and finds the killings may be traced back to the hotel owner (Sean Young) or some of its patrons (Deborah Twiss, Ed Altman, Kristin Samuelson, and others). Star/writer/co-producer Geffner unfortunately bears most of the blame for this almost painfully unfunny film which shamelessly rips off the similarly titled “The Cheap Detective” and also “Clue”. Juri Beythien’s crisp 50’s-like cinematography is one of film’s few assets.

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“Jimmy And Stiggs” (** out of four) was mindless but entertaining stoner comedy about an out-of-work struggling filmmaker (Joe Begos) who spends his days smoking mountains of weed and then in a hallucination thinks he is abducted by aliens and fears for their return and contacts his friend Stiggs (Matt Mercer) in preparing for all-out war! Opening pseudo-coming attractions in the vein of “Grindhouse” are hilarious; the rest is perfectly watchable fluff but at least it never stops moving and is directed with some flavor and flair. Writer/director Begos shot this entire film in his home over the course of 4 years beginning during the COVID lockdown!

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“The Verdict” (** out of four) was a slick but obvious, empty suspense potboiler about an alcoholic defense attorney (Joshua L. Eady) tasked to defend a woman (Brittany Altenbach) accused of murdering her husband’s mistress but soon finds evidence that prove she might actually be guilty putting him at a dangerous moral/personal/career crossroads. Intriguing material is stalled by pedestrian screenplay and execution and misses the mark. Not a remake of the classic 1982 Paul Newman/Sidney Lumet thriller of the same name, despite very similar storylines.

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“Intrusive” (*1/2 out of four) was a seemingly endless suspense psychodrama about a successful auto mechanic (Alah Adams) who has an affair with the best friend (Nadia Adelay) of his wife (Allyson Adams) who turns out to be a deranged nutjob who does not take rejection well and then seeks to turn both of their lives upside down. Suspenseless story with a dire lack of thrills, scares, or even erotic charge and goes on far too long. How many times can filmmakers re-tell the same story over and over again?

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“Snapped” (*1/2 out of four) was a pretty awful suspense melodrama about a businessman (Syncere Ellis) whose well-insulated life and relationship with his wife (Gayla Williams) is overturned by a new co-worker (Demarvious Rorie) with whom he has a steamy affair. Virtually a remake of 2009’s “Obsessed” which in itself was a remake (i.e. rip-off) of “Fatal Attraction” but both those films at least had good actors and filmmakers behind them. Film’s only real “snap” comes from Rorie but it’s otherwise pretty brutal.

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“Trouble” (*1/2 out of four) was a lifeless melodrama about a woman (Ebony Tates) in treatment for cancer and whose finances are straining for her and her husband (Emory Lawrence); when her wealthy ex-lover (Montreal Diggs) returns and re-enters their lives, it throws them all into a whirpool of bitterness, jealousy, and duplicity. Ironically titled fiasco goes nowhere slowly, despite talented and attractive cast. By the end, it’s hard to care about anyone or anything.

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“Mr. Buzzkill” (* out of four) was a terminally low-grade horror thriller about a group of friends (Jason Crowe, Kaylee Williams, Celeste Brandon) who go on a partying camping trip and reminisce about the title horror legend who is still out there on the prowl and shows up to slash them all one-by-one. It’s horrendous movies like these that make you realize how great the original “Friday The 13th” really was. Climactic song “We Gonna Smoke Some Pot” easily ranks as most annoying movie song of the year.

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“The Vindicator” (* out of four) was a mind-numbing, ugly horror melodrama about a sadistic serial-killer who interrupts a live-stream broadcast and challenges its presenters (Anna Green, Dez Kuchiara, Chris Maher, and others) to nightmarish tasks that uncover their darkest impulses and secrets and push their survival instincts to the mental brink. In-your-face imitation of “Saw”, without any hint of that film’s cleverness or craft. For freaks and masochists only.

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