Scream (2022):

I am generally not a fan of the slasher genre of horror movie, but this new version of the Wes Craven original from 1996 is brilliant. Within the context of the film, which is both serious and camp, we learn many rules about watching slasher films, and we also learn that this one is a "requel" which is a combination of a reboot and a sequel. This version of "Scream" is both of those things. The dialogue is brilliant with a tight script, and enough of the original characters to create a high degree of familiarity. 25 years ago Neve Campbell starred as Sidney Prescott, a young woman pursued by a knife-wielding masked murderer who dispatched several young woman with Sidney in his sights as the next and best victim. Now it's a quarter century later and the town of Woodsboro, location of the first series of crimes, sees the emergence of a new masked killer who is terrorizing the town. There is a lot of graphic violence here, as the college kids who are at the heart of the action hold a clinic on how to survive a horror movie ... they use the series of films titled "Stab" as a facsimile for the movie we are watching, and there are numbers of references to everyone from Michael Myers from the "Halloween" franchise, to a setting that takes place on Elm Street with a tip of the hat to Freddie Krueger. The person in the Ghostface mask seems to have a method in the killings, seeking specific secrets kept by some townspeople. This, the fifth in the "Scream" franchise, requires Sidney's return to Woodsboro as the only person who may be able to stop the mayhem. Also returning from the first film, and from the fourth one as well, are David Arquette and Courtney Cox. This is a direct sequel to "Scream 4" and also may be the launching of a new franchise. Rated 14A.

Jockey (2021):

Although there is no question that this indie film belongs almost completely to its star, Clifton Collins, Jr. as Jackie De Silva, the supporting role played by Maple Ridge, B.C. native Molly Parker (“Deadwood,” “Lost in Space”) is key to the success of this little film. De Silva is a jockey who sees the end of the track just around the corner after a long and mostly satisfying career, but medical problems encroach and riding may not be in his best interests. He wants one more good season, and with the help of Ruth (Parker), and a new horse, it looks as if he just might get his wish. The fly in the ointment is a new arrival on the scene, a competing jockey named Gabriel (Moises Arias) who claims to be his long-lost son, the product of a one-night stand nearly 20 years ago. Ruth and Jackie look like they might have a future together away from the racetrack, but with the new horse, the new kid on the block, and the worrisome health issues thing now look somewhat dodgy. The best part about this film is the highly accurate world of the racetrack as writer/director Clint Bentley grew up in this world, and recounts it with stunning detail. Rated 14A.

Parallel Mothers (2021):

Penelope Cruz is in her element here literally in this drama set and shot in Madrid, Spain. She is a professional woman named Janis, a gifted photographer, who finds herself in the maternity ward, about to give birth, sharing the room with a much younger woman, a teen named Ana (Melina Smit). Both are single, both are expecting for the first time, one ecstatic about this turn of events – that’s Janis – and the other frightened and horrified by the experience and by what is to come. Thus begins a strange “buddy” movie as the two women face their situation together, but as is so often the case, what we don’t see becomes the problem. Each has situations in their respective lives that had them end up here, and each has personal difficulties that come to the fore as they strike out on this difficult journey. Interesting character study, and very, very Spanish. Rated 14A.

Against the Ice (2022):

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau ("Game of Thrones") leads the cast here in a historically accurate story of the exploration of the North in the first Netflix original from Denmark and Iceland. Coster-Waldau plays Captain Ejnar Mikkelson who led a Danish expedition to Greenland bent on proving that it was one island, and not broken up into several, some of which were being claimed by the United States circa 1909. He left his crew behind with the ship and set out cross country with just one inexperienced crewman, and in a journey that took far longer than expected, ultimately found the one-island proof that he was seeking. When he returned to the ship he found it crushed by ice floes and abandoned, with the brutal northern winter setting in. If you liked the story of Sir Ernest Shackleton in "Endurance," you will find this an excellent journey of man against nature. 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.