Erik M.

Bee Movie is an animated CGI family comedy with Jerry Seinfeld as Barry Benson, who dreams of flying outside of his hive and onto new adventures. While trying to live his dream, he meets up with Vanessa Bloom (Renée Zelleger), a Florist, and soon sue the honey industry for all bee-kind, citing cruelty, misappropriation and other abuses. The flowers die when the bees stop pollinating, causing them to reconsider. Plenty of bee-related gags and other sight and size puns. It's just OK and may entertain the little ones.

Erik M.

The Men Who Stare at Goats is a bizarre comedy about just where taxpayer dollars are going to...which is Psych research, obscure religions, alternative explanations and other hokum back in the 80s (if it ever stopped). The ensemble cast is genuinely pretty funny, while the "real" subject is just too weird, like stuff pulled from the cheesiest tabloids, comic books, etc. You may like the wacky premise. Give it a shot.

Erik M.

The Blind Side is about a young man from the wrong side of the tracks who's taken in by an affluent family and given a chance at a football career, a home and a family that cares in this sports drama story starring Sandra Bullock, Tim McGraw and Quinton Aaron as Big Mike Oher. Some tropes and controversies arise, but beyond that there's also hope, courage, faith and helping others, too. Maybe see this film and think about what it means to YOU.

Erik M.

Dune (1984) is an ambitious but flawed Science Fiction fantasy/adventure about a remarkable young man named Paul Atreides who may be a space messiah, the wretched Baron Harkonnen and his allies who seek to destroy Paul, the Spice which is an addictive psychotropic drug found only on Dune, and a whole lot more, condensed. It's got planetary ecology, medieval history, feudal economics...plus giant sand worms, religious zealots, etc. Confused yet? This movie will fascinate some but befuddle the rest with plenty of ideas that go over the heads of their audiences.

Erik M.

The Woman in the Window is a crime thriller starring Amy Adams about a child psych who stays at home due to crippling fear of being outdoors, after a tragedy, who sees various disturbing things, including a murder! Gary Oldman, Fred Hechinger and others play suspects in a very contrived plot. OK for movies of this kind.

Erik M.

Matt Murdock is the Man Without Fear, known as the Daredevil. Ben Affleck plays the blind lawyer who fights for the innocent and helps defend Elektra (Jennifer Garner) from the grip of the Kingpin (Michael Clarke Duncan) and Bullseye (Colin Farrell) in this 2003 action fantasy. Some odd CGI moments can't derail an otherwise better Marvel movie.

Erik M.

Catwoman is NOT Michelle Pfeiffer but another woman named Patience in this one-off that has Halle Berry wearing skintight clothes and claws along with a silly helmet. Here, she's a mousey female-made-superhero who tangles with an anti-aging villain in Sharon Stone. CGI of the day and CW fights plus catty references abound. Not much else to see beyond her; the rest is sadly abominable.

Erik M.

Conan the Destroyer is the second swords and sorcery movie that features Arnold Schwarzenegger as the title character, this time joined by Wilt Chamberlain and Grace Jones. Here, he has to find a jeweled horn used to resurrect a beast that may kill a princess and slaughter the world. Not as good as the original, but still OK in parts.

Erik M.

In the original 1980s swords and sorcery epic Conan, Arnold Schwarzenegger stars as the muscular title character who must stop the same snake cult that slaughtered his village and killed his parents. James Earl Jones plays his nemesis, the evil Thulsa Doom. A classic.

Erik M.

In this Science Fiction Action Thriller, several friends rally when one of the girls is taken by a large mutant fish, resulting from toxic waste poorly managed in South Korea. Decent acting, SFX and some timely "Save the Earth" messages make this a cut above the rest.

Erik M.

This is the second film in the modern franchise wherein the creepy, cannibalistic killer is pursued by various people yet still manages to kill and torture his enemies while continuing his weird seduction of Clarice Starling, now played by Julianne Moore. Ray Liotta, Gary Oldman and others fill in the ranks of people out to get Hannibal Lector, with Oldman as a fellow psycho who's missing most of his face and longing for revenge. A decent follow-up to the movie.

Erik M.

This Is The End is all about various overpaid celebrities from movies, singers, Social Media Influencers and misc. others gathering at James Franco's place for a wild party only to have it interrupted by the coming Apocalypse. Now the guests must try to survive Divine Retribution and the Wrath of Heaven in this wild action comedy. Watch for Emma Watson to flip! Has some funny moments.

Erik M.

The original version with Janet Leigh and Anthony Perkins as a desperate woman fleeing with $40K to a old, off the road motel where a very lonely and dangerous Norman Bates festers and worships his mother while lusting and fearing others. His dark designs turn to murder in this Horror/thriller by Alfred Hitchcock and, though dated and in black and white, Psycho still scares with the best of them. Beware the basement or the shower, and especially "mother."

Erik M.

Red Dragon is a 2002 horror/thriller film about a man who thinks that he can become a literal dragon and the cop that wants to stop him. Very disturbing, yet very much in the vein of police procedural movies. Harvey Keitel, Edward Norton and Emily Watson star.

Erik M.

The Last Days on Mars is a 2013 Sci-Fi movie of low caliber and budget that posits bacteria on Mars infecting the blood of the crew and turning them into zombies. That's the premise, and it is carried by lead Liev Schreiber. It's not very good.

Erik M.

This is the CLASSIC George A. Romero Horror/Thriller about an unlucky day that shambling zombies arose from the dead to eat the living and spread their terrible blight! Shot in Black and White, with minimal SFX and a paltry budget yet even today the nightmare premise, decent acting and understated gore cause understandable fear in its viewers. Look for deeper messages and where this film might lead if you dare.

Erik M.

A small Ohio town is struck with a discontinued madness toxin, the military has orders to shoot to kill everyone, and only the local sheriff, his deputy and his wife try to escape this nightmare in this 2010 movie (a remake of the 1973 movie of the same name). Some very scary moments, sarcastic humor, and decent performances by Radha Mitchell and Timothy Oliphant make this worth watching.

Erik M.

Whiplash is about the drive to be the very best and the people who abuse it. Fletcher (played with a snarl by J.K. Simmons) is a music teacher who torments his class in the pursuit of perfection and Andrew (Miles Teller) is his latest and promising victim. Hard, edgy and difficult to watch at times as Fletcher is a dire millstone out to crush anyone it comes across, like a crazed Drill Sargeant. Paul Reiser and Melissa Benoist also star.

Erik M.

In this CGI animated comedy/adventure, a cruel stork wants to switch over to delivering anything BUT babies by a large warehouse full of company workers though a plucky human named Tulip and a stork named Junior learn to disagree with the program and, via strange impossibilities, they "make" a child and have to deliver it to expecting parents! Thing is, Tulip herself is seeking her own family as well. Will wolves, penguins, irate storks and more stop Tulip and Junior from their true mission of finding a forever home? Find out in this funny, wacky tale.

Erik M.

Carol stars Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara as a photographer and a troubled divorcee/mother in early 1950s NYC who begin a romance during Christmas. Despite some setbacks, they reunite in the end. Themes of forbidden romance/homosexuality, unfit parents, privacy and other controversies aside, this is actually one of the better movies that came out in 2015. See the film.

Erik M.