After Ever Happy (2022):

This romance, heavy on the drama, tells the story of Tessa and Hardin (Josephine Langford and Hero Fiennes-Tiffin respectively). Their relationship has been a challenge, with Tessa a sweet, simple, good girl, and Hardin the moody, and sometimes cruel young man for whom she fell. They have been through a lot when a revelation about their respective families sheds light on the fact that they are not that different. Tessa has an edge to her that begins to show, and Hardin has a softer nature in some respects. The startling truths about their respective backgrounds have Tessa better understanding Hardin's dark nature, but the more she tries to comfort and understand him, the more he pushes her away, because the deepest, darkest secrets have not yet been revealed. As they move in that direction, an even more complex issue threatens their relationship. Circumstances now have them in a transatlantic situation with a distance issue maximizing their problems. Can they survive? Can’t tell you! Rated 14A.

The Devil’s Workshop (2022):

Well, there is method acting, and there is researching your role to get better at it. Which one does Clayton exemplify in this horror-thriller that may leave you a little unhappy with the way it ends. Clayton (Emile Hirsch) is an actor trying out for a role as a demonologist. His main competitor at the audition is Donald – he was lost roles to Donald before, and resents the fact that the younger actor seems to get all the breaks. Both are invited back for a final audition and it is suggested by the producers that they do something to prepare. Donald gets coaching from a couple of friends, while Clayton puts an ad online, asking to meet with a real demonologist. He gets a response from Eliza (Radha Mitchell) who says she is the real thing, and that she is happy to meet with him. During the course of their first session, she tells him that he has evil spirits in his head, and that she will have to eradicate them in order to cleanse his mind and better prepare for the role. During the purification, in which he is told to keep his eyes shut tight, he sneaks a peek and sees Eliza about to stab him with a large knife. Only a misunderstanding, she convinces him … let’s start again. This time she drugs him with a potion in the tea she has prepared, and now the nightmare really begins. What follows are graphic horror scenes and a realization that Eliza is in league with the devil, and that not getting the role will be the very least of Clayton’s troubles. I like a good horror-thriller, but don’t put this one in that camp – it becomes too graphic, too … well, horrible … and it does not, for me at least, offer a satisfying ending. Rated 14A.

The Most Dangerous Game (2022):

Inspired by the 1922 short story of the same name by Richard Connell, this thriller follows a similar path as the story, with just a few updates. A father and son are shipwrecked on a remote northern island and are barely able to save themselves on shore when it becomes clear that the shipwreck was not the worst of their problems. The island is owned by a reclusive man who uses it as a hunting preserve exclusively … and the game that he hunts is human!! With the father and son coming to the grim realization that there is no help to be had from man nor beast in this isolated location, and with the hunter knowing every square meter of the island from a lifetime of finding human prey, it becomes a cat and mouse game with the highest stakes possible – two human lives. Tom Berenger, Bruce Dern, Casper Van Dien, and Judd Nelson star. Rated 14A.

Falling for Christmas (2022):

This Netflix release looks, on the surface at least, an awful lot like a Hallmark seasonal movie, known for thin plots, beautiful people, and nice outcomes. It's certain that the casting of Lyndsay Lohan, sometimes showbiz bad girl, will get more attention than the storyline itself. Lohan's character here is named Sierra Belmont. She is an heiress, set to inherit a fortune that will make her a billionaire, she is engaged to the man of her dreams, and she has a ski accident in Utah that results in a head injury creating that standard romantic-movie device, amnesia. Sierra doesn't know who she is nor can she remember her past. She finds herself in the care of a blue-collar guy who is the owner of the ski lodge where her accident occurred. Did I mention that he is handsome beyond words? And that he has a precocious daughter who feels slighted by their temporary guest? In the days leading up to Christmas, we watch as two worlds collide, that of the uber-rich, and that of the working class. As for Lohan herself, after bouts of drug problems, challenges with such people as director Michael Bay whom she equated with Hitler, she left the Hollywood lifestyle and now lives in Dubai. Seeing her back in front of the cameras is a first in several years. Rated 14A.

All Quiet on the Western Front (2022):

WWI was a long, long time ago, having ended in 1918, but its stories remain as relevant today as when they were told during the heat of battle.  Based on the novel by Erich Maria Remarque, it follows the lives of some young German idealists who, their flames fanned by the State propaganda machine, sign up to fight against what they believe to be a monstrous enemy that deserves to be subjugated and put to death.  Actor Daniel Bruhl is Paul Baumer, who, along with his friends Albert and Muller, enthusiastically enlist fuelled by patriotism and in the strong belief in the just cause for which they fight.  Everything changes on the Western Front when the horrors of trench warfare become a reality, and when it becomes evident, piece by piece, that the cause for which they fight is neither noble nor just, but rather is dictated by the needs and desires of politicians safely ensconced back home in Germany.  Even though the date of the truce that will end the war has been announced, Paul and his surviving friends are ordered to continue to fight by the top brass so that Germany will have gone out on the offensive.  Rated 14A.