Cool down with these autumn flicks

It looks as though Labor Day weekend is a little slim on new releases. The thriller Don’t Let Go is opening nationally, but it isn’t being screened for the press. That means it’s as good a time as any to look into the future and find out more about some of what’s arriving over the fall and holiday seasons.

September begins with a major release in the form of It Chapter 2. This Stephen King adaptation about a group of childhood friends facing off against a supernatural clown will finish the story off for good and is likely to be a big box office success. The following week features The Goldfinch with Nicole Kidman and Ansel Egort. It is a...

Looks like it’s another busy edition with loads of Blu-ray and DVD releases hitting store shelves and rental outlets. There are some big summer epics coming your way, as well as noteworthy independent fare and a few documentaries. So, if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!

Big New Releases!

The Banana Splits Movie - If you were a little kid in the ‘60s or ‘70s, you might remember various live-action Sid & Marty Krofft children’s programs like H.R. Pufnstuf and Sigmund and the Sea Monsters. This direct-to-disc feature film re-imagining of the Banana Splits, turns one of their family-friendly shows into an R-rated...

Rating: «« out of ««««

Running Time: 121 minutes

I’m not sure that anyone was pining for a sequel to the action pictures Olympus Has Fallen and London Has Fallen, but audiences are getting a third one. This reviewer was especially uncomfortable with another follow-up, especially considering how much I detested the previous entry for being mean-spirited and possessing a xenophobic streak. Thankfully, Angel Has Fallen is an improvement over the prior chapter. Yet, while it fulfills its duties as a serviceable action flick, the story presented is still pretty dopey and there is nothing especially memorable about it.

The events of the previous film have left Secret Service Agent...

Rating: ««« out of ««««

Running Time: 95 minutes

Rich people are awful. This is the assertion made by the film Ready or Not, and based upon the events depicted, it’s a pretty accurate portrait. It’s a gory, over-the-top horror effort with its tongue planted firmly in cheek that is reminiscent of titles like 2011’s You’re Next. Just like the previous movie, the feature attempts to mix thrills, laughs and buckets of blood in equal measure. Thankfully, much of it works and the end result is an amusing little genre flick.

Grace (Samara Weaving) is a young woman excited and anxious on her wedding day. She’s marrying a nice guy named Alex Le Domas (Mark O’Brien) but...