The Butterfly Effect (2004)
Apr 19, 2004Alternate Timelines
This was dismissed at the time because of its star Ashton Kutcher but is a surprisingly good film in which Kutcher finds the ability to travel back in time and alter his past
Kevin Durand
X-Men Origins: Wolverine (2009)
Apr 29, 2009Comic-Book Superhero
After the disaster of X-Men: The Last Stand, the decision was made to give a whole film over to the series’s most popular character, Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine, and to go with a prequel that told his origin story. Largely a film that exists as a series of superheroic action scenes
Legion (2010)
Dec 31, 2010War Between Angels
An absurd film where angels conduct a war on Earth, which comes amid much in the way of gunfire and creature effects. Directed by a former visual effects supervisor.
I Am Number Four (2011)
Feb 25, 2011Alien Teenager on Earth/Young Adult
Produced by Michael Bay and directed by the perpetually insipid D.J. Caruso, this is no more than a Young Adult high school version of Disney's Witch Mountain films concerning an alien teenager with psi powers
Real Steel (2011)
Oct 9, 2011Robot Boxing
Film about robot boxing that leaves no sports movie cliche untouched, nevertheless works effectively on all the right emotional cues. Capably made, with good effects and the cute kid steals the show
Resident Evil: Retribution (2012)
Sep 24, 2012Videogame Adaptation/Complex of Zombies and Mutants
Another unnecessary entry in a creativity-handicapped series, the continuing popularity of which is baffles. This shuffles through the familiar moves, brings back several familiar characters but only leaves me asking why I have invested some nine hours of time following this series
Cosmopolis (2012)
Jul 11, 2012Vision of Near-Future Social Collapse
David Cronenberg film that takes place in a limousine and consists of a surreal drift through a near-future world in the midst of economic collapse, observing it with darkly brilliant, razor-sharp agitprop dialogue
The Mortal Instruments: City of Bones (2013)
Aug 20, 2013Secret World of Magic Amid the Everyday
A Young Adult fantasy adaptation that fells a Harry Potter wannabe repackaged with the brooding teen romanticism of the Twilight series, all under a director whose indifferent handling fails to animate any of the material
Noah (2014)
Apr 12, 2014Biblical Legend
Darren Aronofsky's adaptation of the Biblical legend was mired in controversy. I can only applaud his decision to defy those who claim ownership of the story and set out to make an interesting film. Yet Noah remains an epic that never seems to quite fill the screen and a human drama that never quite comes to life
Winter’s Tale (2014)
Feb 15, 2014Urban Fantasy/Romance/Fate and Miracles
Akiva Goldsman, a screenwriter who has laid a trail of devastation through the genre, attempts to film a classic fantasy novel that has aptly described as unfilmable, resulting in a curtailed story that works in individual scenes but is mostly a spawling patchwork of fantasy elements and a romance that never seems to spark
Ready or Not: Here I Come (2026)
May 16, 2026Human Hunting Game
Ready or Not was a reasonable hit with audiences. Now Samara Weaving and the same creative team are back with a sequel that expands the game and polishes the black humour to a point of perfection
Tragedy Girls (2017)
Jul 25, 2022Teen Girls on a Killing Spree/Black Comedy
Darkly funny comedy where two girls in high school conduct a series of murders to create publicity for their true crime blog
Abigail (2024)
May 31, 2024Vampire Kidnap Thriller
From the duo behind the Scream reboot films, a thriller about the kidnap of a young girl in the vein of From Dusk Till Dawn that abruptly pivots to become a vampire film
Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes (2024)
Jul 20, 2024Planet of the Apes Sequel
A fourth entry in the Planet of the Apes reboot saga. The previous two entries hit incredible heights in terms of motion capture performances but this still a solid entry that holds up well
Clown in a Cornfield (2025)
Jun 20, 2025Killer Clowns
The killer clown film has become its own genre niche since the remake of It, offering assorted wacky genre mash-ups. This is a better budgeted entry than usual from the director of the cult Tucker and Dale vs Evil
The Naked Gun (2025)
Sep 28, 2025Hard-Boiled Detective Parody
A revival of the Leslie Nielsen starring Naked Gun films, which were a parody of the hard-boiled detective film. With Liam Neeson playing Nielsen’s son. Featuring a surprising degree of SF content