The Cabin in the Woods (2011)

Five friends go for a break at a remote cabin, where they get more than they bargained for, discovering the truth behind the cabin in the woods.

Tongue-in-cheek horror flick cleverly ups the antes onto ever new meta-levels  and is filled to the brim with genre allusions; fun for fans, but a bit over-the-top.

Maltin**1/2: "...script is aimed at the hearts of fanboys everywhere, adding at least two extra levels of surprises. Amusing and intelligent, but the cleverness works against the horror, the horror against the humor."

Ca$h (2010)

A man meets up with two "good guys" to recover what is unlawfully his, taking them on his whirlwind ride, doing things they never would have imagined, just to survive.

OK thriller with an original plot idea and a touch for satire works only partially and is somewhat undecided where it wants to go.

Rush (2013)

The merciless 1970s rivalry between Formula One rivals Niki Lauda and James Hunt.

Daniel Brühl is perfect cast as Niki Lauda in this well-made and entertaining buddy-rival story.

Maltin**1/2: "Screenwriter Peter Morgan...tries to spin gold from another real.life story, but this isn't necessarily the stuff of great drama - except on the track, where director Howard uses his filmmaking know-how to create a vivid, visceral experience."

Ghostbusters (2016)

Following a ghost invasion of Manhattan, paranormal enthusiasts Erin Gilbert and Abby Yates, nuclear engineer Jillian Holtzmann, and subway worker Patty Tolan band together to stop the otherworldly threat.

Recap of the 80s box office success with an all-female hero cast ist just as silly as the original, but likewise mildly entertaining.

In the Heart of the Sea (2015)

A recounting of a New England whaling ship's sinking by a giant whale in 1820, an experience that later inspired the great novel Moby-Dick.

Old-fashioned seafaring adventure delivers all the goods of such a tale, but not too much more.

Blackhat (2015)

A furloughed convict and his American and Chinese partners hunt a high-level cybercrime network from Chicago to Los Angeles to Hong Kong to Jakarta.

Suspenseful and lively cyber espionage thriller disappoints with building up a highly charged international conspiracy and coming up with a  simple criminal solution.

Snow White and the Huntsman (2012)

In a twist to the fairy tale, the Huntsman ordered to take Snow White into the woods to be killed winds up becoming her protector and mentor in a quest to vanquish the Evil Queen.

A fairy tale is turned into a  dark and violent fantasy film in a style more like The Lord of the Rings than a children's movie; one also wonders what was wrong with the classic tale to be expanded into such a heavy Hollywood production.

Maltin*1/2: "Poisonous retelling of the famous fairy tale...Grim in every sense of the word. Theron's performance has no nuance or shading (just shouting) and Stewart has little presence. Novelty of familiar, full-sized British actors as the seven dwarfs offers too little too late in this long, violent, ponderous production."

Red Dawn (2012)

A group of teenagers look to save their town from an invasion of North Korean soldiers.

Superfluous remake of a silly Cold War propaganda actioner has no redeeming qualities except for some watchable action, but probably worse than the original, since the premise has even less clout than it hardly had 30 years before.

Maltin**1/2: "...surprisingly watchable remake of John Milius' 1984 kids-versus-Commies shoot 'em-up. Premise is silly, performances and dialogue are uneven, at best, but some rousing action sequences have an impressive semi-documentary quality."