No Escape (Follow Me) (2020):

Social media is the focus here as a group of friends, one of whom has a very popular VLOG, travel to Moscow to improve the standing and the media influence of the VLOGGER. Sounds pretty straightforward, but the horror hasn’t yet begun in this thriller. A little inside tip – the scenes on the plane headed for Moscow show us the inflight movie in progress, which is “Escape Room,” from 2017 about six friends who enter the room with good intentions, but see it take a horrific twist. The writer/director of that film was Will Wernick who also wrote and directed this film. And what a surprise … once on the ground in Moscow, the friends find their way to an Escape Room and decide to try it out, just to show the social media audience how different things are in Russia as compared to America when it comes to this kind of “fun.” Of course all is not what it appears to be and soon the group finds itself trapped with a horror-movie-ending facing them. Rated 14A.

The Vanished (2020):

Actor Peter Facinelli (SWAT, the Twilight Saga) steps away from the cameras to write and direct this psychological thriller in which a family looking to enjoy a little away time at a cabin in the woods (a typical setting for such films) when things take a turn. The parents are Wendy and Paul (Anne Heche of “Chicago PD” and Thomas Jane of “The Punisher”) and they are hardly settled in when daughter Taylor (Kk Helm) goes missing. Paul and Wendy frantically call the police, and two arrive in short order, Sheriff Baker (Jason Patric) and Deputy Rakes (Peter Facinelli who can’t seem to stay away from in front of the camera!). it doesn’t take long before it’s clear to the parents that the Sheriff and his Deputy either can’t, or won’t, turn up and clues, so Wendy and Paul take matters into their own hands to find out what happened to Taylor, and where she might be. The further into their own investigation they delve, the less clear it becomes as to who is whom and what is what. Good tension with a twist along the way. Rated 14A.

Cut Throat City (2020):

This action-thriller stars Ethan Hawke and Wesley Snipes, and is set in New Orleans, post-Hurricane Katrina. Directed by rapper RZA, it’s the story of four boyhood friends, now adults, who can find no direction in the devastation left behind by the hurricane. Their jobs are gone, their lives as they knew them are gone, and they have no way to make a living. Opportunity steps in when a local crime boss makes a deal with them. If they pull a heist for him, their share will look after them for a long time and just might get them a new career in crime. Reluctant but with their backs to the wall, they do the deal, but it goes bad. Everything that could go wrong goes wrong and soon they are on the run. The cops have their number, but the crime boss things they double-crossed him, so they have two factions on their tails. Rated 18A.

Enola Holmes (2020):

Netflix acquired the distribution rights for this whodunnit after it was decided to stream the movie rather than put it in theatres.  It's a Sherlock Holmes story, but unlike any that have come before.  Enola (Millie Bobby Brown who played "Eleven" on ``Stranger Things") is a much younger sister to Sherlock and Mycroft Holmes, but she has the detective genetics that it takes to go looking for a mystery to be solved.  None of the Sir Arthur Conan Doyle books mention a younger sister, but here she is, and when her mother goes missing, Enola sets off to find her.  Helena Bonham Carter plays Mother Holmes, and Henry Cavill is Sherlock.  When it's discovered that mother is missing, and that there are a number of gifts and trinkets that she has inexplicably left behind, big brother Sherlock continues to insist that Enola leave the matter alone, and head off to boarding school.  Not her ... soon she is searching all of London, looking for clues.  A crime-adventure, rated 14A. 

Country-ish (2020)(TV series):

This Netflix original is a reality series that features country singer and internet star Coffey Anderson and his wife Criscilla.  It walks through their daily lives with the couple, and focuses on their careers - she's a hip-hop artist - their Christian faith, and their desire to provide wholesome entertainment in a world that seems to want things a lot more raunchy.  A former U.S. Marine, and an active participant in the Nashville music scene, Coffey has released nine albums so far, about half of them faith-based and the other half mainstream.  He was a contestant on season 2 of American Idol in 2003 where he made it as far as the Hollywood round.  Rated PG.

Pets United (2020):

A perfect animated film for youngsters, parents, and grandparents, but only if they watch with the kids. The central characters are all pets of one sort or another, and their common thread is that they are spoiled, they are selfish, and they live a life of luxury, because their owners have all the mechanical denizens of Robo City doing the hard work.  But what happens when the robots run amuck and the humans have to flee?  Time for the skate-boarding pug, the self-aggrandizing Siamese, a pet pig, and a smart fox to grow up and take some responsibility.  Good fun for kids of all ages - meaning, much past 13, they will probably think it's lame, but younger ones will relish it.  Rated G.