Scream 7 (2026)

Holy shit, there's 7 of them now? These movies have come a long way. After a number of fits and starts, including losing most of the new, younger cast they hired for the reboot several years back, the franchise falls back on nostalgia for its next legacy sequel, putting Sidney Prescott (Neve Campbell) back front and center, as well as familiar faces from the past. Does any of it make sense? We're long past that now. Series creator Kevin Williamson is in the director's seat this time, paying homage to Wes Craven in a back to basics format that's straight to the point, while basically providing fan service in spades. It's so self-aware, it almost feels like a parody of itself at this point. However, it's head and shoulders above the previous entry, so it's all right in my book.

2½ beer taps out of 5

Christy (2025)

Sydney Sweeney dresses down, weights up, and goes through the "ugly actor process" (not unlike Dwayne Johnson in The Smashing Machine) to portray real life figure Christy Salters, a tough as nails fighter who busts her ass to make her mark on women's boxing while suffering through sexism, homophobia and domestic abuse. As cynical as I am about these biopics, this is both a harrowing and inspiring story with standout performances by Sweeney and Ben Foster; although, if you've seen one sports underdog movie, you've seen 'em all.

3 pockets full of change out of 5

Vegas Vacation (1997)

A bit of the spark is gone in the fourth Griswold family adventure, but it's still a rowdy good time if you're into Chevy Chase at his manic best. Clark decides to take the family out on a classy trip to Las Vegas to renew his vows with Ellen, while Rusty tries underage gambling and Audrey becomes an exotic dancer. The film benefits from Cousin Eddie (Randy Quaid), returning from two of the previous films. Like the city of Vegas itself, it's a bit hacky, but has its charms.

3 dam tours out of 5

CHEAP THRILLS [2013]

How far would you go for the ones you love?
How much would you risk when money talks?
Those are some of the questions director E.L. Katz's deliciously nasty and horrifically hilarious Cheap Thrills asks it's off-kilter viewers.
It follows two old high-school buddies who meet a sadistic rich couple that will toss cash at them to perform humiliating deeds that grow increasingly more life threatening with each turn.  Like a reality show no one's watching, the characters turn their backs on dignity and "dance, monkey. Dance".  It pays homage to Roald Dohl's classic short story Man from the South and rightfully so, seeing as it treads over the same sort of themes.  While it's nice to see The Innkeepers' Pat Healy & Sara Paxton together again, it's Ethan Embry & David Koechner that steal the show with their unavoidable screen presence.
It's not a great film but entertainingly twisted enough to be exactly as it's title advertises it to be.  

3 bad days out of 5

LATE PHASES [2014]

Here Comes The Devil director Adrián García Bogliano makes his English language debut with the burly little werewolf film Late Phases.
Nick Damici is fantastic as a crotchety old blind man that moves into an old folk's community that has the tendency to get a little bloody every full moon.  The use of good ol' fashioned practical effects is a joy to watch but doesn't always work, especially when you see the man in the furry rubber suit that looks like a rabid version of Donnie Darko's Frank.  The tone of the film is an utter mess and there doesn't seem to be any real direction it wants to take.  Fortunately actors Damici and Tom Noonan have a wonderful chemistry together as they make the best of what they have to work with.  Something great was buried deep within the film but sadly it's never really found.

2½ iron lungs out of 5

THE GUEST [2014]

Director Adam Wingard's enticingly sinister psycho-thriller, The Guest, tells the story of soldier who visits the family of a friend who died in action to deliver a message to them.
Like Wingard and his crew's previous film, You're Next, it manages to take a simple and silly concept, paste a dumb face on it and deliver it with wit, style and a slickness that keeps you glued to your seat from beginning to end.  Known for gently playing the doomed Matthew on Downton Abbey, Dan Stevens takes an impressive turn as a menacing soldier turned killing machine in this ode to the '80's b-films.  If John Carpenter were to mix A History Of Violence and Drive, with a heavy dose of excellent post-punk/Goth-pop then this is what you'd get.  

3½ mix CD's out of 5