John Wick:  

Keanu Reeves is the title character in what is a first-rate revenge movie, and I hope that he chooses to do another based on this character.  Wick is a man retired from, shall we say, a more adventuresome life – he was a hitman with ties to the Russian mob, and most anyone else who needed his services, but he has now left “the life.”  All he has left is a classic car and a little dog, and at a service station he is accosted by some thugs who want his car.  He tells them it’s not for sale.  Later that night, they break into his home, kill his dog, beat him nearly to death – but not all the way to death – their mistake.  Great action, and Reeves really deliviers. Rated 18A.

Hector and the Search for Happiness:  

Simon Pegg (Scotty on the new Star Trek movies) is the Hector of the title, a psychologist in London who should be a pretty content guy, with Clara, his significant other (Rosamund Pike) and a thriving practice ... but he’s just not happy, and decides to travel the globe in search of ... well, happiness.  In the course of his travels, running into some of the most fantastic characters imaginable, Hector comes to learn many things about himself and his life ... and the payoff at the end is delightful.  It’s not really a drama, not a romance, not a comedy, but has elements of all of those things.  A kind, gentle, friendly film. Rated 14A.

Ouija: 

Watch this spooky chiller about a group of teenage girls who decide to contact one of their own who seems to have committed suicide using this device, at your peril.  Not the kind of film you want to watch alone in the dark.  It’s not a slasher film of any sort, just a strong, frightening chiller that has our young ladies frightened half to death ... or more!  It is produced by Hasbro which owns the rights to the “game” that the board has become ... but this movie won’t do a lot to promote sales!!  Rated 14A.

The Master (2012):

Great performances here by Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix but the subject matter is not for everyone – it certainly was not for me.  Hoffman plays a character named Lancaster Dodd who, according to many sources, is a fictional version of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology.  Phoenix is Freddie Quell, an emotionally damaged WWII Naval veteran who eventually stumbles into a meeting of this cult-like group led by Lancaster who manipulates his followers in every imaginable way.  None of the characters is sympathetic or likeable, so you have to appreciate this one for the artistic value alone. Rated 18A.

Twilight  (2008):  

Wow, seven years since Kristin Stewart heated up the screen as Bella Swan who falls in love with a vampire, Edward Cullen (Robert Pattinson) who is a new guy in school, who becomes her lab partner, and later her lover.  The beginning of one of the most successful franchises in movie history, this one is interesting to watch as the cast were very young and not famous at all when this movie was made, and many are now household names including Stewart, Pattinson, Anna Kendrick, and Taylor Lautner. Rated 14A.