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Scream

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  • Title: Scream (2022)
  • IMDb: link

Released 26 years after the original Scream, the confusingly-titled fifth film in the horror franchise that had devolved into a parody of itself captures a bit of the old magic with a “requel” introducing a new cast of potential victims and/or killers (Melissa Barrera, Jenna Ortega, Mikey Madison, Dylan Minnette, Jasmin Savoy Brown, Mason Gooding, Sonia Ammar, and Jack Quaid) while returning the familiar faces of Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell), Dewey Riley (David Arquette), and Gale Weathers (Courteney Cox) back to Woodsboro.

The new Scream is certainly derivative, but (like the original) it plays with the characters’ understanding of both horror movies and experiences with previous attacks. The results are better than expected, although for me things fall apart in the final act with the reveal who is under the Ghostface mask and the reasons why (to be fair, not all that dissimilar to problems I had with the original Scream).

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Rookie Season

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  • Title: Rookie Season
  • IMDb: link

The documentary Rookie Season takes us behind-the-scenes of Rebel Rock Racing fighting to establish its prescience on the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. With cameras in the car, on the track, and in the pits, along with behind-the-scenes interviews with drivers and pit crew, director Adrian Bonvento‘s film takes us along for the highs and lows of the team’s first season on the ten-race circuit which began with multiple wrecks to start the season and ends in glory.

The highlights of the film are putting the audience in the car with the driver, especially late during a race in rainy conditions and limited visibility where you get a feel for just how challenging the races are. While I think the documentary could get more in depth with its subjects, there’s certainly enough here to warrant a look for anyone interested in the sport.

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Catwoman: Hunted

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  • Title: Catwoman: Hunted
  • IMDb: link

The straight-to-video animated movie Catwoman: Hunted is a bit of a mixed bag. Elizabeth Gillies stars as Catwoman as the Bat-Family-adjacent character get sucked into a fight against Leviathan after Batwoman (Stephanie Beatriz) prevents her from stealing a priceless jewel. There’s some fun here, such as Selina Kyle dressing in a classic Catwoman costume to crash a costume ball and working in the character’s cat Isis as a supporting character.

Sadly, aside from Catwoman’s dialogue and character, much of the rest of the film is lifeless with characters being merely pieces to advance the plot, obstacles, or dialogue dumps to move Catwoman on her journey from some of the blandest characters to ever grace a DC animated movie.

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Hands of Stone

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  • Title: Hands of Stone
  • IMDb: link

2016’s Hands of Stone is your typical biopic offering highlights of the life and career of professional boxer Roberto Durán (Edgar Ramírez). Writer/director Jonathan Jakubowicz‘s by-the-numbers approach doesn’t offer much in the way of surprises or insight into Durán, but the film’s cast is solid beginning with a strong performance from Ramírez with some effective boxing sequences covering some of the biggest fights of the first-half of Durán’s career.

Robert De Niro as Durán’s trainer, Ana de Armas as his wife, and Usher in some inspired casting as Sugar Ray Leonard, highlight the supporting cast. De Niro is in grumpy old manger mode butting heads with his fighter for most of the film while Ana de Armas steals some scenes into Durán’s personal life. While at times the film seems to think of her as an afterthought, she’s stunning here often beautifully framed by cinematographer M.I. Littin-Menz.

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Exposed

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  • Title: Exposed
  • IMDb: link

A common reaction to watching 2016’s Exposed is “Um, what?” That’s also the correct reaction. Reuniting Knock Knock stars Keanu Reeves and Ana de Armas in a film which only briefly has them both on camera together, Exposed is at least two (maybe three) separate convoluted tales smashed together in a confused and haphazard fashion by writer/director Gee Malik Linton.

While Linton, under the name Declan Dale, wanted a surreal tale involving themes of abuse and its effects on victims both immediate and over time, Lionsgate instead wanted a cop picture. What was delivered is a little bit of both, but not a good version of either. While the stories eventually connect at the end of the film, they don’t ever true fit together leaving audiences questioning what they did with the last 100 minutes of their lives. There are certainly better ways to spend your time.

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