Deliver Us From Evil:  

Eric Bana stars as real-life New York City cop Ralph Sarchie who has had, along with his helpful exorcist priest Edgar Ramiriz), a number of demonic instances of possession and worse.  Inspired by Sarchie’s book, this film focuses on a series of demonic activities that result in a series of bizarre crimes committed by the most depraved and evil perpetrators imaginable.  The instances in the movie, despite the press to the contrary, actually did not happen and did not come from Sarchie’s book, but rather are the imaginings of the screenwriter.  Scary stuff, yes … real stuff … no! Rated 18A.

Begin Again:   

This is a small film more likely to be found at a festival rather than a theatre, which is mostly what happened – it didn’t get a lot of theatrical distribution.  Mark Ruffallo is excellent as Dan, a one-time hot, hot, hot record producer who has fallen on hard times and too much booze.  Keira Knightly is Gretta, whom he sees singing reluctantly in a Greenwich Village club.  There is a fabulous scene that gives insight into the creative process of a good record producer, in which Gretta sings accompanied only by her guitar … Dan, in his mind, adds in each additional instrument and creates an arrangement that is a wonderfully-shot scene.  Anyone who plays music, appreciates music, and understands a little of what it takes to get a record out, will enjoy this film immensely – I certainly did!! Rated PG.   

Free Fall: 

If you want a “name” actor to play a diabolical villain in a direct-to-DVD release, Malcolm McDowell (A Clockwork Orange) is your man!  Here he is Thaddeus Gault, a financial genius who is also scamming people out of billions.  When his assistant Jane (Sara Butler stumbles across his secret, Gault dispatches a hitman to take her out.  Confined to the skyscraper in which the Gault offices exist Jane is on the run, and soon finds herself trapped in an elevator as the assailant closes in.  A thriller with a low budget, but not a bad little movie for what it is. Rated 14A.

Swindle (2013):  

When a teenaged boy named Griffin (Noah Crawford from “My Name Is Earl”) comes across a baseball trading card that is worth millions, he promptly, and accidentally, sells it at a million dollar loss.  Now he needs to get it back.  Based on the novel by Gordon Korman, the search is on as to how to get the card back without doing too much that’s illegal.  A solid cast of young actors including Jeanette McCurdy from iCarly come together playing his friends to put together a caper to get the cared back.  Good fun for younger viewers. Rated PG.

All American Christmas Carol (2013): 

Wendy McLendon-Covey (Bridesmaids, Blended) is Marjorie, a trailer-trash single mom with a booze problem and no future, who is visited by three ghosts on Christmas Eve with the intent on changing her ways before it’s too late. This direct-to-DVD movie is played for laughs with a little bit of truth along the way as well.  Eric Roberts (Julia’s brother) co-stars as he does in many films at the low-end of the budget train. Rated 14A.