Barbarian Queen

Actors: Lana Clarkson, Katt Shea, Frank Zagarino, Dawn Dunlap, Susana Traverso

Rating: 3 out of 10, Another Corman outing with Phil Specter’s murder victim in her most famous role. She plays a queen with the unfortunate (for her) habit of losing her top at every turn as she tries to rescue her pretty boy intended from an evil empire. Corman’s attempt to bring a Boris Vallejo painting to life with predictable results. So bad, it’s likable.

MVP: Lana Clarkson as Amethea for same two reasons

Chips

Actors: Dax Shepard, Michael Peña, Rosa Salazar, Adam Brody, Vincent D'Onofrio

Rating: 8 out of 10, I really enjoyed this. I don’t think I ever saw a complete episode of the old television series this is based on so I wasn’t encumbered with expectations. Dax Shepard and Michael Pena make an interesting set of buddies with some real chemistry. It was nice to see Pena finally getting some top billing as he’s always killing it in supporting roles. He gets the Ponch role and plays it to the hilt as a womanizer with the unfortunate habit of serially shooting his partner. I think fans of the original series are angry because this translates the plot into raunchy comedy but it is very funny. There are too many cameos to highlight and everybody seemed to have a great time. The script is lot smarter than its getting credit for.

MVP: Michael Peña as Frank "Ponch" Poncherello

Hell or Highwater

Actors: Jeff Bridges, Chris Pine, Ben Foster, Gil Birmingham

Rating: 10 out of 10, It is so . . . Texas. West Texas permeates the film. It should get billing as an additional character because the story of two bank robbing brothers pursued by an aging Texas Ranger plays out on those dusty, oil soaked plains. Anyone who’s visited Texas will see the infinite detail in casting the minor parts and the exterior shots that will bring Texas, with all its warts exposed, into the limelight. Ben Foster and Chris Pine get down and dirty as the brothers on a quest against a bank trying to steal their land and future. There was a convincing rhythm to their interaction that seemed more real than most true brothers. This movie belongs to Jeff Bridges though, out for his last ride as a Texas Ranger. A vestige of pre-political correctness, his dogged pursuit defines an era passing, as do so many other smaller elements in the movie. It’s not a typical cops and robbers flick as the there was a lot more gray area explored in the search for justice. The final, underplayed confrontation between Pine and Bridges crackled. I don’t think anyone would voluntarily visit West Texas and you now don’t have to, go see this movie and you’ll leave with some grit between your teeth. Loved this movie, in case you hadn’t figured that out.

MVP: Jeff Bridges as Ranger Marcus Hamilton

LA La Land

Actors: Ryan Gosling, Emma Stone, John Legend, Rosemarie DeWitt, Finn Wittrock, Jessica Rothe, Sonoya Mizuno, Callie Hernandez, J. K. Simmons, Tom Everett Scott

Rating: 9 out of 10, This is about dreamers. It tells a simple love story but the more important message it to hold on to your dreams. L.A. is probably the sun center for dreamers and this was a poignant ode to them. While most movies expose the heartbreak of broken dreams, and while there’s some of that here, it’s mostly about possibilities. You’ll hear more about the song and dance numbers which are dazzling but this movie is all about heart. While Gosling is very good, this film belongs to Emma Stone who tells the entire story through her eyes. I’m sure there will be thousands of would be actresses trying to line up self-financed one woman shows after seeing this but none of them are Ms. Stone. I’m not big on song and dance movies but there was an imbedded magic to this flick that drew me in.

MVP: Stone as the liquid eyed Mia

Resident Evil: Final Chapter

Actors: Milla Jovovich, Ali Larter, Shawn Roberts, Ruby Rose, Eoin Macken, William Levy, Iain Glen

Rating: 7 out of 10, The promised (hopefully) last film in the series as we follow Alice back to the “hive” where the whole apocalypse started in the first movie. Jovovich has grown to be a compelling female action star as she continues her six movie swath cutting through zombie hordes while battling the evil Umbrella Corporation. It’ every bit as silly as it sounds but I remain a fan of this type fare and really enjoyed this last ride with Alice. While this is promised to be the last chapter they did leave themselves a little wiggle room. Nothing is ever final in the Resident Evil world, especially when it makes buckets of money.

MVP: Milla as the irrepressible Alice

John Wick 2

Actors: Keanu Reeves, Common, Laurence Fishburne, Riccardo Scamarcio, Ruby Rose, John Leguizamo, Ian McShane,

Rating: 10 out of 10, I was prepared for a letdown because the first one was so good but I was heartily surprised as this one is possibly better. It is no more believable but provides a lot more texture into the underworld society Wick is trying to escape. Reeves deadpan look is perfect for the Wick part as he mows down a seemingly endless stream of would be foes, usually with his signature headshot but he also touches his own mythology with a very sturdy pencil. A total thrill ride of completely unbelievable but impossible to ignore action. The first great movie of 2017, all the more so since it’s a sequel and had higher expectations to meet.

MVP: Mr Reeves, por favor, who else in the very dangerous title role

Underworld Blood Wars

Actors: Kate Beckinsale,Theo James, Lara Pulver, James Faulkner, Charles Dance

Rating: 6 out of 10, This can be recommended for its only socially redeeming feature – Kate Beckinsale back in skin tight lycra spandex as the heroine vampire fighting against both sides in a vampire versus werewolf war. Tris Prior’s boyfriend, Four, is back to assuage the teenybopper crowd. I really liked the first couple movies in this series but it’s devolved into a loosely assembled series of CGI fights superimposed on a very shaky script. Still hard to ignore that lycra.

MVP: Kate Beckinsale once again as Selene, slinky and deadly