The Spy Who Dumped Me:

Billed as an "Action Comedy," this buddy movie, with Audrey (Mila Kunis), and Morgan (Kate McKinnon), has elements of both genres, but overdoes one or the other, leaving us wondering if it's a laugher, a spy movie, or some kind of strange hybrid. There's enough here to keep us engaged, even though some of the funny scenes fall flat, and some of the action scenes cease to be believable.  Audrey has been dumped by Drew (Justin Theroux), something he did via text message, and she is inconsolable.  Her best friend Morgan, tries in many ways to help get her pal up and running, but it's been a year, and things aren't good.  When Drew shows up back in Audrey's life, the bullets start flying - the two women have already been picked up by the CIA for interrogation because Drew has been up to ... well, something.  At least it looks like the CIA.  Or maybe MI6.  Or maybe ... well, that's where it gets muddy, but it matters little.  Once Drew is back on scene and the fireworks begin, he is shot and killed, Audrey and Morgan know, from his dying words, that there is something that he left with Audrey that everybody wants, and with his final breath, tells them to go to Vienna, to a specific restaurant, and meet Verne ... but trust no one.  That's the set up, and it's everybody against everybody else, with real spy stuff that includes vehicle chase scenes through European streets, friends that could be villains and villains that could be friends, and a cast that includes Paul Reiser and Jane Curtain as Morgan's parents, and Gillian Anderson of The X-Files as the Bond movie equivalent of "M."  You won't take much of it seriously, but if you work around the dreadful F-Bomb-laden language, you'll get the guts of what is a movie with some fun in spots ... enough to make it worth seeing.  Rated 14A.

Slender Man:

Rarely does a movie show up with a Cinemascore of "D" but this horror film manages that quite nicely.  Cinemascore is a compilation of voting done as patrons exit the movie on its first night in major American cities.  Those audiences were not at all happy with this derivative film about young women who get caught up with the supernatural entity of the title - a long, hardly defined, character which is now picking them off one-by-one.  A little bit of Freddie Kruger, a little bit of Halloween, and a little bit of every other horror film you have seen with this premise.  While there are few make-you-jump moments, nothing really happens, we don't get to know the characters well enough to even miss them after they disappear ... leaving you with the chances of coming away having liked this film as very Slender, Man!  Rated 14A.

Teen Titans Go!  To the Movies:

Based on the Cartoon Network series, the chances are good that if you are much over the age of 16, you have never seen the TV show upon which this animated movie is based, and in some respects, that might be just a little sad.  The Teen Titans are B and C-grade superheroes, with animation that is a step above Pokémon, but nowhere near The Incredibles.  They feel, as a group, that they are not respected, because they don't have their own movie like all the other superheroes, and they set out to right that wrong.  For younger kids, there is all the scatological humour that, for reasons unknown to me, they seem to find so, so funny ... and for adults, there are all kinds of inside comic references that will mean little or nothing to the kids ... for example, giving Bruce Wayne's parents advice not to go down the alley with their young son after their evening at the opera.  If you know your Kryptonite from your speaking a name backwards, a campy couple of DC comics’ references, as an adult, you'll be just fine getting the kids through this movie which is just long enough to be short.  Pretty funny stuff!  Rated PG.

Making a Murderer (Season 2):

This Netflix original first debuted in 2015 with its premise that Steven Avery, a man convicted of murdering a young woman, Teresa Halbach, was actually framed by law enforcement who needed a quick conviction.  The 10 episodes walked us through Avery's jailhouse interviews, as well as many others in his life.  Most who viewed the show believed Avery innocent.  Still, he sits in prison a decade later with no relief in sight.  Season two brings us the results of all the investigations to date, and offers other alternatives to Avery's guilt.  Rated M for mature audiences.

Gnome Alone (2017):

Perfect for younger children, 8 and up, this is the animated story of a girl named Chloe, set to go to high school, who learns that her garden gnomes have come to life ... and that someone, or something is kidnapping them, vile beasts called the Troggs.  Does Chloe go to school as planned, or is she off to hunt down her precious gnomes?  Without option two, there is no movie, so it's off to find out what has happened.  Features the voices of ventriloquist Jeff Dunham, with actress/singer Becky G as Chloe.  Rated PG.