SHORT TAKES

Dylan McDermott

THE CLOVEHITCH KILLER (2018). Director: Duncan Skiles. You would think that a movie about a boy (Charlie Plummer) who comes to suspect that his own father (Dylan McDermott) may be a notorious, long-term serial killer, would be a lot more compelling than this disappointing and flaccid entry. True, this is not meant to be a kind of Friday the 13th slasher film, but one doesn't need gore to make a fine suspense film, which this isn't. There are continuity problems, "off" moments, even if the acting is generally good. Comparing this to Hitchcock, as some have done, is ludicrous! Instead of provocative, this is just blah. **

UNKNOWN (2006). Director: Simon Brand. Five men wake up in a locked warehouse with no memory of who they are or how they got there, although they eventually figure out that two of them are kidnap victims and the rest are kidnappers. But which is which? Unknown holds the attention as the characters -- and the viewer -- switch loyalties back and forth, but ultimately this is disappointing and the twists not that special. The acting is good, however, with Greg Kinnear making an especially strong impression. **1/4.

Missy Yager

HAPPY DEATH DAY 2U (2019/Christopher Landon ) is the sequel to Happy Death Day. A machine worked on by Ryan (Phi Vu) has been creating time loops, one of which Ryan himself is caught in until Tree (Jessica Routhe) finds herself back in the loop of the first picture. She is then punched into a parallel dimension where her friends behave differently and her late mother (Missy Yager) is actually alive. The film is an uneasy combination of retreaded material with new tricks, and the occasional gross-out moments don't really fit the tone of the rest of the movie, which blends black comedy with sentiment. The movie has suspense, but is also ridiculous at times. Basically this is for easily pleased 14-year-olds. **1/4. 

Captain Marvel powers up

CAPTAIN MARVEL (2019). Directed by Anna Boden and Ryan Fleck. Kree warrior Vers (Brie Larson) discovers that she is actually an earthling named Carol Danvers (her Kree name comes from the last four letters of her surname) and due to an accidental infusion of energy (she absorbed the power of an exploding energy core) becomes the super-heroic and powerful Captain Marvel. In the Marvel comic books, the Kree race has been warring with the shape-changing Skrulls forever and neither are especially admirable, but in this picture the Skrulls are the good guys. In the comics the original Captain Marvel was a Kree male named Mar-Vell but in keeping with the film's "girl power" theme, that character is now played by Annette Benning! Frankly Captain Marvel is confusing even if you're familiar with the characters, and in the comics Carol Danvers was a much richer, more human, and interesting person. Aside from a chase on an elevated train, there are no memorable action scenes in the movie, which just seems messy and poorly choreographed, with a mediocre screenplay and storyline. (In the comics, the child Monica Rambeau became a different Captain Marvel -- as an adult -- who joined and for a while led the Avengers.) **.

Guy Pearce

SPINNING MAN (2019). Director: Simon Kaijser. Evan Birch (Guy Pearce) is a married philosophy professor who may be diddling with his students. When a teenage girl goes missing and strands of her hair are found in his car, Evan finds himself under the scrutiny of Detective Malloy (Pierce Brosnan) while Evan's wife (Minnie Driver) tries to keep her own suspicions under control and fails. The big problem with this well-acted suspense item is that it all leads up to absolutely nowhere. The characters -- cheating professor, worried wife, reformed alcoholic cop -- are stereotypes and never quite come to life beyond that. Ambiguity is all well and good but this just doesn't work. **.