Dexter: New Blood (2022):

Although it’s not actually a movie, it could be! This continuation of the story of Dexter Morgan, Miami Police blood spatter expert who was a serial killer on the side, is now available on DVD and Blu-Ray after a successful one-season run on cable and streaming services. The production values are sharp, the writing is crisp, and each episode has the look and feel of a feature film. When Dexter, marvellously played by Michael C. Hall, left us in 2013, he had faked his death and we saw him working as a lumberjack in the forests of Oregon. That was supposed to be the end of things, but sequels to successful projects are money makers, so here we go. When the action opens in episode one of ten segments, Dexter is no longer in Oregon. We learn, through dialogue, that he now works in a gun store in and is a solid citizen of the small town of Iron Lake in upstate New York, where he lives on an acreage outside of town and is just an A-Number-One guy who is dating the town’s female chief of police, and whose past is completely unknown to any of his new friends. It has been several years when Jim aka Dexter gets a surprise visitor. It’s his son Harrison (Jack Alcott) who has been searching for his “dead” dad for many years. In his teens now, what Harrison wants to know is why his father abandoned him, why he was supposed to think him dead, and why Jim Lindsay is an assumed name. It doesn’t take long for Dexter to given in to an old urge, one that has him murdering and dismembering people who are “bad,” and it seems that Harrison may have inherited some of those genes. Each episode brings us closer and closer to Jim’s real identity being revealed … and in the end, I think it’s safe to say that there won’t be another season of this show … no spoilers though! Rated M for Mature.

For the Love of Money (2021):

This dramatic thriller with organized crime overtones lays out the story of a woman named Gigi (Keri Hilson) who, several years ago, turned her back on her family and on the family business which was making billions, to walk her own walk. For those who knew Gigi, no real surprises there – she was always her own person, and now she is a single mom to a great young girl, and she fills her days with basketball practice and piano recitals and all the things that a good mother does. When she left home, Gigi was pregnant, and since that day, she has plotted her own course. The life that she left behind was gone forever – NOT! When the life of Gigi’s daughter is threatened, she goes back to some of the old ways from which she had walked away, and soon, those who threatened her little girl became very sorry for their involvement in what was turning rapidly into a no-win, and possible fatal turn of events. A largely African-American cast and crew spins the story out with Gigi being pulled back into a life she never wanted. Rated 14A.

Silent Night (2021):

Nell and Simon (Kiera Knightly, Matthew Goode) are a married couple living in their native England and enjoying an upscale life. Every year they host a Christmas dinner for their circle of close friends and their spouses in which a good time is had by all. Not this year though. It appears that, by the time the Dinner is over, all the guests, the spouses, the children, and the hosts, will be dead. It’s the apocalypse! A strange poisonous gas cloud is covering the earth and the UK is next in its sights. The British Government has issued every man, woman, and child with a poison pill which can be used, when the time comes, for a quick and painless death. All have agreed with the suicide pact, but James has just learned that his wife Sophie (Lilly-Rose Depp, daughter of actor Johnny Depp) is newly pregnant, and she is not sure that she wants to take the pill … and there is a faction that believes, like those who thought that the Pandemic was a hoax, the poison gas cloud isn’t the real thing. Each guest weighs in with their opinions and their feelings and as the clock counts down to midnight, the time the gas cloud is to arrive, people begin taking action. To say more would be to offer a major spoiler. A good film with an interesting premise, made pre-Covid, but with implications for today’s current situation. Rated 14A.

Love Like the Falling Petals (2022):

This Netflix original from South Korea is a love story wrapped up in a drama, as Harutoo, a young man with a gift for photography, is encouraged in his pursuit by Misaki, a young woman with a gift for handicrafts that makes Harutoo envious, wishing that he had her level of talent. Their love is almost immediate, and it grows exponentially until something changes this idyllic life - Misaki is suddenly aging at 10 times the normal rate, meaning that in just one year she appears 10 years older. The challenges faced by the couple are enormous as the mystery deepens. Rated 14A.

Robin Robin (2021):

This stop-motion animated film from the UK tells the story of a little baby robin who rolls out of her nest onto the ground, and who is saved, and then raised by a family of mice. As Robin gets older, she begins to realize that she is not a mouse, and that maybe she doesn't really belong with this family. A heart-warming story with an excellent message that both children and parents will enjoy. Gillian Anderson ("The X-Files") provides one of the major voices in this British made film. Rated G.