“Another You” (*1/2 out of four) was a hokey psychological thriller that could clearly use some psychological help about a young science major (Ksenia Solo) who falls in love with a fellow student (Diego Boneta) and refuses to let him go at all costs and begins to lose herself in a scientific breakthrough experiment of deja vu that tests her (and the audience’s) sanity. Some interesting plot layers involving love and psychological exploration are lost by film’s nonsensical story and dreary presentation. By the way, this is not a remake of the 1991 Gene Wilder-Richard Pryor comedy “Another You.” Pick another movie instead.

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“The Last Word” (** out of four) was a curiously flat and unmoving story about the relationship between a bitter and tyrannical old woman (Shirley Maclaine) who hires a journalist (Amanda Seyfried) to write her obituary but this leads to them striking up a friendship that affects both their lives. A perfect role for Maclaine who plays this familiar part with ease but that doesn’t mean we care about (or like) her character at all. Seyfried is good but her and Maclaine never create much sparks or chemistry. A disappointing result from noted music video director Mark Pellington who made the sensational and underrated 1999 work “Arlington Road.”

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“Lake Alice” (** out of four) was a ho-hum horror show about a family who goes to their cabin in the woods to celebrate Christmas together with their daughter and her new boyfriend but they find themselves besieged and slaughtered by a murderous bunch of rednecks and psychotics. Reheated mix of “Friday The 13th”, “You’re Next”, and (oh I almost forgot) “The Cabin In The Woods” is neither the best nor the worst of its kind but too routine to make an impression, and too constrained by a low budget. It’s movies like these that make you realize what a masterwork the original “Friday The 13th” series was by comparison.

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“Southside With You” (*** out of four) was an absorbing story set in the summer of 1989 about the fateful first date between Barack (Parker Sawyers) and Michelle Obama (Tika Sumter) which took them through the Southside of Chicago as they discussed their upbringings and political idealism on how the country needed to be changed. One of two biographical films of Obama released last year (“Barry” was the other), this lacks the other film’s emotional heft and resonance but is still well-done and entertaining. Sawyers and Sumter are perfectly cast in the leads.

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“7 Witches” (*1/2 out of four) was a plodding horror thriller about two newlyweds (Persephone Apostolou and Mike Jones) who decide to rent an island which is cursed and under the complete domination of seven witches who take them in but they soon find they are unable to leave. More scares and thrills were available in “The Craft” or even “Witches Of Eastwick” but at least it’s mercifully short at only an hour and 10 minutes. Moody music score by Brady Hall and eerie cinematography from Ryan Purcell are some of film’s few virtues.

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“Extortion” (**1/2 out of four) was a compelling thriller about an American tourist (Eion Bailey) on vacation with his family in the Caribbean. When they become stranded on an island, he finds himself at the mercy of a cold-blooded fisherman (Barkhad Abdi) who aims to extort and kill them. Tense and nerve-jangling thriller is efficient and well-acted but loses its way towards the end, and starts to become overly ridiculous. Danny Glover is solid as usual as a detective on the case and Abdi is strong in playing virtually the same role he played in “Captain Phillips”.

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“The Last Face” (** out of four) was a limited melodrama-love story set against the backdrop of war-torn Africa in which a selfless and heroic doctor (Javier Bardem) and the spokesperson (Charlize Theron) for a medical assistance organization fall in love as they are trying to make a difference and save a country ravaged by poverty and despair. Never as soaring or compelling as it should have been, and overlong. Film is well-intentioned but also jumbled and aloof, with the good performances from the two leads giving this its only real passion. A middling directorial effort from Sean Penn and about on par with his previous efforts “The Crossing Guard” and “The Pledge.”

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“Cocaine Conspiracy” (*1/2 out of four) was a drab action melodrama about a former Secret Service agent (Michael Howe) who is called back into personal action when his family is held hostage and must destroy an international drug cartel that (yawn) threatens world domination. The kind of movie that Chuck Norris and Steven Seagal did- and did better- in the ’80’s and ’90’s and seems shopworn and dated now. Good performances and a few good action scenes fail to enliven the proceedings.

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“Vincent N Roxxy” (** out of four) was a moody but mild melodrama about a small-town loner (Emile Hirsch) with a mysterious past who falls in love with a rebellious beauty (Zoe Kravitz) who he crosses path with but the two find that violence and their past connections follow them everywhere and prevent them from living happily ever after. Highly reminiscent of Tarantino rip-offs from the ’90’s and leads to an inevitable bloodbath at the end; watchable but never invigorating or electric. Lenny Kravitz’ daughter Zoe is OK in the lead role but the first-rate Jason Mitchell is wasted in a throwaway role as a drug-dealing thug.

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“Hunters Prayer” (** out of four) was an overplotted, underwritten underworld action thriller about a junkie assassin (Sam Worthington) who ends up helping the girl (Odeya Rush) he was assigned to kill, and helps her to avenge the death of her family as they’re both relentlessly pursued across the streets of Europe. Worthington does all he can to keep this by-the-numbers story afloat with his effortless charisma but even he looks like he’s just going through the motions at times. A disappointment from director Jonathan Mostow who directed the superior “Breakdown” and “Terminator 3”.

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