Lucy:  

Scarlett Johansson is superb as the title character, a woman taken as a drug mule against he wishes, who has a new designer drug surgically implanted in her abdomen, and who has the entire container burst, sending the drug into her blood stream in a catastrophic rush.  Instead of killing her immediately, it allows her to use the larger part of her brain that most humans don’t access, and she becomes something of a superhero in a revenge story that will keep you riveted.  Written and directed by Luc Besson (Taken 2, The Transporter), this one keeps you right in the story, keeps you completely engaged, and offers a great outcome. Rated 18A.

Annabelle:  

This prequel to the horror-thriller “The Conjuring” is an outstanding chiller that takes the Raggedy Anne doll from the first movie into another realm.  Allegedly based on fact, the doll seemed possessed by something evil, and in fact, the real doll is encased in a glass prison in the museum of the Warrens, the ghost-busting, occult-chasing couple who appeared in the first film.  Alfre Woodard’s character features largely here as the doll works to take over the mind and body of a young woman named Mia (Annabelle Wallis – no relation) with mind-numbing results. Rated 14A.

The Boxtrolls: 

This animated kids’ feature did very well at the box office despite its rather bleak premise.  Based on a children’s novel called “Here Be Monsters,” it tells the story of a young boy named Eggs, who is an orphan, and who lives with the trolls in the caverns below the streets of a big city.  When an evil entity decides to eradicate the Trolls, Eggs decides to go above ground and take him on face-to-face in order to save his adopted family.  Voices of Ben Kingsley, and Tracy Morgan, with Brian Hempstead Wright (Bran Stark from Game of Thrones) as Eggs. Rated PG.

Ted (2012):

Mark Wahlberg stars as John alongside a teddy bear with an R-rated vocabulary (voiced by Seth MacFarlane).  Somehow, John has brought the bear to life, and the two have grown up together with a very R-rated upbringing.  But once John meets “her” … Lori, played by Mila Kunis, it seems to be time that he grew up and began focusing on building a regular life that doesn’t involve spending all his time with a child’s toy.  The “toy” objects, and the war is on.  This movie is, to date, the top-grossing live-action R-rated movie of all time.  Definitely not for kids!!  Rated 18A with an unrated version available on DVD that is even more extreme!

Enemy At the Gates (2001):  

I really liked this war movie when it played in theatres, and it holds up even better on DVD and download.  The story is about two snipers, one Russian, Vasilli played by Jude Law, and the other German (Konig played by Ed Harris). The time and place is the Battle of Stalingrad in WWII and Vasilli is superb at taking out Germans soldiers of importance thereby destroying the morale of Hitler’s troops … until he comes face-to-face with Konig who is equally talented at taking out targets at 1,000 yards or more.  Of course there is a woman involved, and a bit of a triangle forms … but the sniper action is excellent.  Rated 18A.