Maniac (2012)

A small shop owner leads a double life as an obsessive serial killer. I think the thing that stands out most about this one, aside from Frodo Baggins as a wide eyed knife wielding murderer, is the clever camera work.  Shifting from pov to conventional shots during the murders creates an effective 'you were there' feel during those sequences.  FX and production value are both good and creates an effective overall 'creepiness' to this offering. The killer is both torn and driven and his psychosis is effectively portrayed.  Clever work overall and fans of the thriller genre may find much to like with this one.

Pacific Rim (2013)

Giant monsters invade the Earth and giant robots are built to combat them. Transformers, Battleship, and Japanese monster movies from the 70's meet in this visually epic last man standing style fight for the existence of the human race.  This movie reminded me a lot of Battleship, the hero and the pacing are almost interchangeable.  While not as mindless as you may think its going to be its every bit as action packed.  Great FX and overall good production value help to make it easier to overlook some of the sillier aspects while enjoying the mayhem. Not for everyone but if you enjoyed Battleship its a good bet you will like this one as well. Recommended.

Oblivion (2013)

After an alien invasion a handful of humans are tasked with claiming the remaining resources of Earth for a move to Titan.  Easily the best Tom Cruise movie since Minority Report.  Production value and FX are both top shelf.  Story wise you will see elements of Moon, The Matrix, The Island and 2001, creating a clever but simple plot that serves the pacing well by creating tension and enough depth to move things forward without bogging things down with too much detail and complex character development.  Roles like these make you forget that Tom Cruise is crazy in real life.  Anyway, I was thoroughly entertained throughout and for sci-fi fans its hard to imagine missing with this pick.  Recommended.

Silk (2006) "Gui si" (original title)

A crippled scientist discovers a way to trap ghosts to power anti-gravity technology.   Hard to classify this one, horror/thriller/sci-fi perhaps?  Whatever camp you are in the story is well developed and multifaceted despite its minimalist aspects.  FX are respectable if not stellar and fans of Asian horror will recognize some fairly standard 'ghostly' behavior.  Being the nerd that I am it was the scientific angle they use to propel the story forward, tying physics to the supernatural, that really made this one work for me.  Very entertaining with a bit of a twist on the end that may be a little surprising. Enjoy.  Recommended.

The Lone Ranger (2013)

Re-imagining of the venerable masked lawman.  I went into this expecting a total train wreck like Wild Wild West.  Alas no it wasn't as bad as it could have been.  That doesn't mean it was good either.  They could have called it the Tonto refuses to shave his girly 'stache and a white horse named Silver show.  Typical Disney framework but a lackluster build up.  It has its moments however, one of them being the rather small role of Hellena Bonham Carter and her amazing ivory prosthetic. Younger audiences may find things more entertaining but I don't know how many young people are interested in cowboys and Indians these days so it makes one wonder who their target audience was. Not as bad as a TSA cavity search but less fun than a voucher to the buffet.  If you must see it my advice is make it a rental.

Olympus Has Fallen (2013)

North Korea stages an assault on the white house.  A lot of name juice in this Gerard Butler dick measuring fest.  Action is pretty intense but the level of belief suspension is high as well as we are treated to a series of blunders, ignoring of protocol, and some pretty serious WTF?!s.  But if you can get past all that you have a pretty intense adrenaline filled 1 super dick against the world style movie that is pretty damn fun to watch.  Won't win any awards but I doubt you will come away too disappointed.  Take out brain, put on bib and let the ass kicking commence.

World War Z (2013)

Brad Pitt does a zombie movie.  The best one word description is big.  The budget on this had to be more than the last 20 years of zombie movies put together.  What they come up with is a War of the Worlds mass panic mashed into 28 Weeks Later and finishing off with Legion.  Overall its fairly entertaining although I was miffed at some of the gimmicks they pulled to increase tension (you build a wall then don't man it or send one of the 2 dozen helicopters buzzing around to keep eyes on the enemy, really?)  Formulaic and doubtful to recoup at box office.

Devil's Pass (2013) "The Dyatlov Pass Incident" (original title)

A group of people set off to discover/document the infamous secret of the Dyatlov Pass incident.  Okay as you may already know I'm not a big fan of 'found footage' style movies however this one has as its basis an actual unsolved mystery, and I just luv that kind of shit.  About 2/3rds of the movie is about what I have come to expect of these kind of projects, a lot of 'drama' and not much story.  But then something interesting happens and the story takes a sharp left turn into weirdville.  They throw some pretty good misdirection out there then totally run the other direction (and props for where they go with it).  One of the more memorable endings although not entirely unpredictable once you reach a certain point.  Nice sort of thriller/sci-fi package is what you have here.  I have to say I enjoyed this one and not looking up a dripping nostril helped more than you think.

Evil Dead (2013)

Five people go to a remote cabin in the woods on an intervention for their drug addicted friend.  As a huge fan of the Rami/Campbell original I was chomping at the bit to see this one.  I have to say I came away conflicted.  While the story in this version has more meat on the bone and the dialogue in places seems more natural they toss in these random props that kind of take away from the atmosphere they should be creating instead of have some guy holding up an 'applause' placard (the red writing in the Necronomicon). In some places the idiot factor goes completely off the chart and while I know its the norm for slasher bloodbath style horror movies they lay it on pretty thick.  The level of violence is extreme however, along with good, if not great, FX. There are definitely some memorable scenes which I think will work better with people who haven't seen the original (for me the demons of the classic are MUCH better than the demons in this one).  I think fans of the genre should give this a look, if nothing else so you can say you saw it.  There are some places where those with aversions can find a nice chill. A gimmick Twinkie for those who sit through the credits.