Iron Man 3 (2013)

Has Iron Man finally met his match? No of course not but they try to pitch it that way. Overall this is a visual movie with lots of action and flash and paint. Story wise it doesn't hold up as well. Purists will be pulling their hair out at the less than stellar Mandarin and the rest of us are left a little puzzled by the seeming lack of intelligence shown by supposedly intelligent characters.  But enough of that, few people go see a movie like this for character intricacies, they want eye candy and they get it in spades with this film.  For me the first one is still the best and they descend in the order they came out. It will be interesting if they close the door on the franchise here, after another Avengers movie, or if a 4 is in the works. Recommended.

Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters (2013)

So what becomes of Hansel and Gretel after they stuffed the child eating, gingerbread house living, witch into her own over? Probably not this movie but thats no reason not to see it.  This is kind of a mash up of Van Helsing (2004) and The Brothers Grimm (2005) with a serious weapons upgrade.  Action is what this movie is about, and you get plenty of it.  The witches are these super powered ninja like critters led by a super super powered witch (see picture).  So if you thought the only thing that could have made the Underworld saga better was an injection of The Terminator then this may be the movie you have been waiting for.  Not much thinking is required (just enough to turn off your phone and go pee BEFORE the movie starts), so strap in and prepare to have your hair blown back by the mayhem.  And for the record mini-guns are just plain cool.

Dark Skies (2013)

A family finds themselves the target of a terrifying and overwhelming force. This is one that had a lot of potential and you can almost see where the bean counters stuck their fingers in the pie. The potential for brilliance is right there, but they go with the gimmicks instead.  Think Paranormal Activities meets Poltergeist but with Aliens. They do a lot of sleight of hand in the first half of the movie trying to make things scary, but the meat is found in the second half (still riddled with gimmicks) with an ending reminiscent of Mama.  For a half a minute I thought they were going to throw a power twist on the end and leave it open for a potentially cool sequel (I guess they could still but it wouldn't be near as cool starting out). Still it manages to serve up a pretty good creepy in parts with Keri Russel and J.K. Simmons both turning in very respectable performances. Overall I was disappointed, but more as a result of high expectations than film lameness.  If you are a fan of Paranormal Activities you may enjoy this one as well.

The Power of Few (2013)

One urban neighborhood is about to experience a moment of weird.  This is one of those colliding story line movies where a bunch of separate events and players converge in one event or series of events... (like in Snatch). Christopher Walken revises his fallen angel look from Prophecy 3 as a local TV celeb on the skids, privy to the next big event in human history.  Okay production wise this is more like an indie film, some of the acting is a little stiff and the dialogue in places is overtly vague when its unnecessary (a trick used to pull a viewer in when the plot won't do it).  Other places the players are absolutely brilliant (the shootout in the store).  It also gets to claim the dubious honor of hosting one of the most disturbing laughable scenes I have ever encountered outside of a Troma production. They wrap it up with a 'what if' foreboding potential doom but it comes with a warm fuzzy.  It really is the last 10 minutes that set this movie apart from others of its ilk. Maybe not something to go looking for but if opportunity presents itself I say you should take advantage, who knows... it just might make your day.

Love Sick Love (2012)

A weekend get a way with a booty call turns into an ordeal in the psycho fun house.  I'm not really sure where they were planning to go with this one... after they pulled out daughter psycho and M. Emmet Walsh I was expecting things to go in a more traditional horror direction (like Misery), but as they developed things with the kids roles I was thinking maybe it will be a comedy (like The Ref).  Alas neither of these turn out to be the case.  What you get is sort of a luke warm 'I'm crazy and you better love me or I will kill you' story that actually ends in murder.  A couple moments aside I say this was a waste of time.