Norman Gidney

As a bitter commentary on family, truth, trust, and above all, the religion, The Lodge is a serviceable mood piece that ends up leaving you feeling cold, and not in a good way.

Honk for Jesus, Save Your Soul is a wicked read of religion and a showcase of comic talent.

Darkly comic, disturbing, and fun, Piercing is a vulgar little thriller that is one you watch without the one you love.

St. Agatha is a fine thriller that is much better than you will expect it to be. Bousman guides a coherent and nimble narrative to shocking and satisfying builds.

The Hole In the Ground surprised me, took me on a fun ride, and returned me, almost unshaken. This was a brilliantly satisfying monster movie.

Call Jane is dripping with amazing actors giving solid performances, but only Banks is given a chance at Oscar bait. Weaver’s Virginia is a sagacious activist with long hair, always reminding the group to keep the goal in mind, but we are cheated of heavier moments with her. What is here is wonderful, but it could have used a few moments of gravity.

Horror movies usually aim to scare, entertain, and teach us. Amulet mostly does all three. Very nicely done.

Before You Know It comes off as pharmaceutical-grade Hallmark Channel, which means that Utt and Tullock take the same familiar elements and end up finding some absolutely hilarious scenes that remind us why we love the movies, to begin with, just not consistently.

Delgado’s script is keenly aware of the world she is sharing. With the utmost humanity, each frame conveys the lives of those living in limbo, working for the mere hope of something better.

While the first act is slow but promising, the second and third acts don’t move any faster.

House of Cardin is a solid, encyclopedic documentary of one of the greatest designers of our time. He deserves to be celebrated, no question there. But this doc wants to inform rather than reveal, to celebrate rather than investigate. C’est la vie.

Not since Shaun of the Dead has there been such a consistently uproarious zombie movie.

The Garden Left Behind is a melancholy but strangely optimistic look at the struggles that some in the Trans community face every single day. It’s not a perfect film, but it is a movie with a message of tolerance and understanding. For that, it should be praised.

This is innocuous, pop entertainment and, taken on those grounds, it does the job just fine.

The real torpedo that sank this ship was that the source material wasn’t all that good, to begin with.

The surprise is the remarkable script from screenwriter (Zack Weiner) and the sharp-eyed direction from Daniel Robbins who work to take an idea we have seen a million times before and turn out something new and fiercely entertaining.

Somehow, we get a new Annabelle movie that develops its own personality and takes on the lore without rewriting or undoing anything that has already been shown in the other films.

Samantha Buck, Marie Schlingmann bring a light touch and a wonderful comedic tone to a story of one hell of a woman. This is a lighthearted comedy about resourceful females far ahead of their time.

Wounds is a visceral, disturbing descent into the destruction of a man that hits all of the conventional horror notes with sadistic joy taking viewers on a ride straight to hell.

A good-natured comedy that, while not always funny, remains as sincere as The Book of Mormon. No, really, that is a massive compliment.

In the end, what’s left is yet another bad Amityville movie that fails to entertain or scare. Still, the house does look scary. Maybe if they try one more time…

Everything culminates in strained dramatics and forced tension as the audience is sure to be scratching their heads in confusion.

Holbrook is talented. There is no question about that. The guy wrote, directed, produced and cut Beloved Beast together. It’s just a shame that this strange yarn couldn’t be reduced to the essentials and given real power. Had we been offered less movie with more meaning, the impact would have been far greater.

What is most frustrating about 15 Years is just how much it gets right while so narrowly missing the mark.