“Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu” (*** out of four) was a propulsive series entry about the fall of the Evil Empire and the fledgling New Republic who enlist the help of the legendary bounty hunter Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his apprentice Grogu (David Acord) but this leads to an all-out war that threatens the future of the galaxy as a whole. Fun for “Star Wars” fans with the usual expected array of spectacular visual effects and action scenes. Starts to wane a little in the final third but revs up again for an explosive finale. The voice of Hugo Durant is actually director Martin Scorcese and Sigourney Weaver is nicely cast in a key role as Colonel Ward.

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“Dutton Ranch” (**1/2 out of four) was a meandering but easy-to-take melodrama about a family (Kelly Reilly and Cole Hauser) who struggle to maintain their massive ranch while raising their young son (Finn Little) and facing tough competition and economic and personal battles in their lives. Lack of plot and narrative thrust are balanced out and compensated by spectacular and beautiful cinematography on stunning locations in Dallas, Texas and agreeable performances. Film is a feature-film expansion of the current television series.

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“Wolfcop” (** out of four) was a not-bad horror psychodrama about an alcoholic cop (Leo Fafrd) who goes through a series of bizarre and violent transformations and realizes he is turning into a werewolf but this makes him even more a ferocious officer to be reckoned with in his backwoods country town. Undeniably silly movie shows strong influences of early Sam Raimi and The Coen Bros. but is better than you would expect with some good acting and hard-boiled dialogue. Made in 2014 and sat on the shelf unreleased for well over a decade.

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“Bad Apples” (*1/2 out of four) was an umpteenth retread of “The Bad Seed”, “The Good Son”, “Orphan”, and too many others to mention; a young disturbed sociopathic kid (Scarlett Brining) begins to show her psychotic true colors once her foster parents (Lisa Wilcox and Darren Lee Cupp) adopt another child (Celeste Blandon) which brings in all sorts of feelings of jealousy, contempt, resentment, and murder. Tired story is strewn together out of cliches and horror fragments from other and better movies. Horror fans will note the return of Wilcox from the “Nightmare On Elm Street” series but this is sadly unlikely to resuscitate her career.

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“Death Cycle” (** out of four) was an over-the-top slasher melodrama about a young woman (Kristen Kaster) reeling from the death of her sister who is visited by a man (Matthew Ninaber) looking to solve the ongoing grisly murders from a motorcycle maniac murderer but they soon realize he is coming after both of them and they need to unite together to survive. Not bad by the admittedly low standards of these things thanks to some stylish direction from director Gabriel Carrer but marred by in-your-face and gratuitous violence that leaves a bad taste.

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“Hellfire” (**1/2 out of four) was a modestly affecting crime melodrama about a drifter (Stephen Lang) who wanders into a nowheresville Midwestern town under the complete rule and authority of a ruthless mob boss (Harvey Keitel) and tries to help himself and the various other residents (Scottie Thompson, Michael Sirow, and others) escape. Leisurely story initially holds its grip thanks to Lang’s authority and quiet intensity but loses its way as it starts to simmer into a conventional action thriller and melodrama and starts to becomes a Coen Bros-like version of “Rambo.” Lang is rock-solid as usual; Keitel is wasted in his umpteenth role as a crime boss.

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“The Punisher: One Last Kill” (** out of four) was a meager continuation of the classic Marvel series about Frank Castle (Jon Bernthal) who is now an alcoholic with severe PTSD but has to spring back into vigilante action when the matriarch (Judith Light) of a crime family he once brutalized recognizes him and swears vengeance. Lacks the emotional resonance and stylish intensity of “Punisher: War Zone” (by far the best of the series) and seems hollow and routine. Bernthal also co-wrote the screenplay and is solid in the lead role but is/was blown away by Ray Stephenson.

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“Faces Of Death” (** out of four) was an uneven remake of the 1978 cult horror classic about a website-content moderator (Barbie Ferreira) who comes across a series of videos reproducing the gruesome killings from the original and realizes it’s the work of a copycat murderer (Dacre Montgomery). Alternately plodding, effective, pretentious, and overly weird and doesn’t congeal into a satisfying whole. Made with some skill and good production values but doesn’t match the revelatory shock and scares of the original. Filmed in 2023.

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“Forbidden Fruits” (*1/2 out of four) was a charmless teen comedy/melodrama/horror thriller about a secret witch cult (Lili Reinhart, Victoria Pedertti, Alexandra Shipp) that operates out of a mall store (!) but the arrival of a new hiree (Lola Tung) forces them to question their darkness and sisterhood strength. Starts off relatively briskly but then quickly descends into a synthetic monstrosity combination of “Mean Girls” and “The Craft.” In fact- the Toronto mall used in this film is the exact same one used in “Mean Girls”…………but there’s no Regina George

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“Lee Cronin’s The Mummy” (** out of four) was a grim reimagining of “The Mummy” franchise about the daughter (Laia Costa) of a prominent journalist (Jack Reynor) who vanishes in the heart of the desert without a trace; upon returning home 8 years later, her family begins to realize she isn’t quite the same daughter she was before she left. Much more of a horror movie than an action story like previous movies but not very scary and has no sense of humor either. A few creepy moments to be sure and some superior visual effects towards the end but perhaps it’s time this series was mummified itself and buried.

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