“Baby Driver” (**1/2 out of four) was a highly uneven action comedy about a getaway driver (Ansel Elgort) who likes to listen to rock music when performing his getaway tasks and gets in over his head when working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey) and his new team of robbers (Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Eiza Gonzalez). Flashy direction and quirky sense of humor help elevate thin and nonsensical storyline. Film has some laughs and fun action scenes but never quite hangs together and has too many ups-and-downs. Spacey as usual is first-rate and dominates all his scenes though he can probably play this role in his sleep by now.

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“911 Nightmare” (**1/2 out of four) was a reasonably tense and engrossing thriller about a 911 call operator (Fiona Gubelmann) who is disgraced and terminated after mistaking a real murder for a prank call; upon her termination, she sets out to clear her name and sort out the various clues and find the real killer. Brisk pacing and strong and believable performance from Gubellman help cover up various plot holes and illogical plot points. Worth checking out but still- this is no match for “The Call” with Halle Berry which was similar but much more striking and chilling.

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“The Wrong Neighbor” (*1/2 out of four) was a wrong movie about a newly divorced dad (Steve Richard Harris) who moves to a new neighborhood with his teenage daughter (Cristine Prosperi) and is befriended by an obsessive new neighbor (Ashlynn Yennie) who turns out to be a nutjob intent on wrecking their lives. Yet another “Fatal Attraction” rip-off that is fatally dumb and illogical and completely lacking any sparks or surprises. Michael Madsen is sorely wasted in a throwaway role as the school’s swim coach and Yennie is often laughable in the lead role.

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“Scaler, Dark Spirit” (*1/2 out of four) was a mumbo-jumbo horror thriller about a paranormal researcher (Jessica Froelich) who discovers an ancient evil residing in the catacombs beneath a city church and begins investigating but finds that this leads to (yawn) all hell breaking loose. Not exactly the worst of its kind but you’ve seen this umpteen amount of times before in “White Noise”, “Paranormal Activity”, or any exorcism movie of your choice. Only some stylish art direction and touches from director Dan T. Hall give this any distinction.

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“By Any Means” (**1/2 out of four) was a serviceable Netflix thriller about a celebrity actress (Brooke Burfitt) who is allegedly kidnapped by a fan (Thomas Gipson) but after her escape and his arrest- subsequent questions arise on whether she really was kidnapped or whether there’s more to both of their stories. Interesting story never shifts into high gear but keeps its grip thanks to its two strong lead performances and unexpected intelligent layers regarding celebrity and the twists and turns regarding both their stories……..leading to an ending that’s a real letdown and falls short of real satisfaction. Still, this is worth watching and better than most recent Netflix junk.

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“After School Special” (* out of four) was an embarrassingly awful comedy about two high-school morons (Richard Switzer and Ryan King Persaud) who pull a misfired prank on the last day of school and are assigned to a mentor (David Gere) when they discover an underground society with some very dirty secrets which they attempt to expose. Lame script and direction and irritatingly stupid characters give this school comedy failing grades. Eric Roberts, Ron Jeremy, and Jason London all show up in dreadful cameos.

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“Caged Beauty” (*1/2 out of four) was a maddeningly weird and pretentious drama about a musician (Silvia Suvadova) who is kidnapped and caged by her deranged ex-husband (Nick Mancuso) and forced to perform a series of challenges and complete her unfinished musical piece in order to win her freedom. If you make it to the end of this fiasco, you’ll feel like you were caged and will be begging for your freedom as well. Film is loaded with beautiful music but is also loaded with unpleasant and bizarre touches and scenes that go nowhere and a very pointless story. Good to see Mancuso as usual but judging from this- his career prospects seem to be under siege.

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“Money Back Guarantee” (* out of four) was an excruciating horror melodrama that unfortunately offers no money back guarantee for the viewers. Four travelers (John Archer Lundgren, Allison Joy McDaniel, Scott Alan Warner, Simon Poppelreiter) take a less-than-incredible journey together across the Midwest where they become embroiled in the black market organ trade. Terrible performances and annoying characters make this really tough to take but the script was already stupid and confusing. The seriousness of the underground black market completely eludes the makers of this mess.

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“You Get Me” (** out of four) was a forgettable Netflix thriller about a high-school student (Taylor John Smith) who breaks up with his girlfriend (Bella Thorne) after a sudden fight and then has a one-night fling with a new girl in town (Halston Sage) who turns out to be a serious sicko who enacts revenge when the two eventually get back together. Extremely stylish high-school version of “Fatal Attraction” moves fast enough but unfortunately has few surprises and starts to lag in its final third when it should be accelerating. Younger kids may “get” this but they’ll get more thrills and surprises watching the aforementioned “Fatal Attraction”, “Swimfan”, or “Obsessed.”

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“Ripped” (** out of four) was a chronically dumb marijuana comedy about two stoners (Russell Peters and Faizon Love) who smoke biologically enhanced marijuana developed by the C.I.A. in 1986 who then suddenly awake in the year 2016 when marijuana is beginning to get legalized and attempt to sort out all of the many changes that have taken place in the past 30 years. Occasionally funny but more often one-note and silly. Cheech and Chong and also Dave Chappelle offered a much more potent hit of the same material 20 and 30 years ago.

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