1. THE WOLF OF WALL STREET:

5 Oscar noms, but no award, and that is fitting.  Despite all the hype and all the talk of Best Picture and Best Actor for Leo DiCaprio, I did not find this anywhere close to an award winner – unless it was an award winner for record foul language, record perverse behaviour, and record goes-nowhere-story.  Based on the autobiography of financial scam-artist Jordan Belfort, the excesses here as he lies, cheats, and otherwise inserts himself into the lives of once-innocent people, did nothing for me.  Rated 18A.

2. DELIVERY MAN:  

Not being a big fan of Vince Vaughn, the star of this film, I had low expectations, but it turned into a touching and thoughtful romantic comedy with a great message of tolerance and understanding.  Vaughn plays David, a guy who drives a meat delivery truck for his family’s butcher and meat business in Chicago.  He’s not very good at it.  In fact, David isn’t good at much. Years ago he made multiple donations (for money) to a local sperm bank ... and finds out now, that a class action suit has been launched, that he fathered more than 500 children ... they’re adults now, and they want to know who their biological father is.  A superb journey through the life of a man who finds meaning and purpose. Rated 14A.   

3. OLD THOMAS:  

Better than average horror-thriller based on a graphic novel and story by horror-meister Dean R. Koontz, this one was directed by Stephen Sommers (The Mummy, The Scorpion King) stars Anton Yelchin, who is Chekhov in the new Star Trek movies.  As the title character, Odd Thomas, Yeltsin is a short-order cook in a small town, struggling with his special talent ... he sees dead people, and he sees them everywhere.  A game-changer occurs when a horrific character and his entourage of the dead start feeding on fears of the townsfolk, threatening to take their evil country-wide.  Willem Dafoe co-stars as the sheriff who teams up with Odd Thomas to stop the carnage. Rated 14A.

FROM DAWN TILL DUSK (2014):

This is a made-by-Netflix series based on the Quentin Tarentino 1996 horror-thriller in which a pair of criminals hideout in a small Mexican town that just happens to harbor a basement of vampires.  George Clooney starred in the original.  You won’t find him here, but for fans of the undead, this does the trick!  Rated 14A.

THE WOMAN IN BLACK (2012):

Daniel Radcliffe (Harry Potter) is a lawyer at the turn of the last century, having to settle an estate in a remote area.  He sets up shop in the house of the deceased, and slowly begins to learn from the townsfolk that the place is haunted by a spirit that takes their young children.  This is an excellent gothic horror story in which mood is everything.  Radcliffe is excellent here.  Rated 14A.

METAL TORNADO (2011):

A “B” cast that includes Lou Diamond Phillips and Greg Evigan copes with an energy project designed to take heat and electricity from solar flares goes very bad when design flaws unleash an unnatural disaster on the earth. Set in Philadelphia, shot in Ottawa, it was made for American cable, no theatrical release.  Rated 14A.