Fast & Furious 6 - Universal

Is it worth $10? Yes

Conventional wisdom suggests after six movies the “Fast & Furious” franchise should run stale, but the insertion of new characters, clever concepts and creatively ridiculous action keep it running full speed ahead. “Fast & Furious 6” is no exception, although a few lulls keep it from being furiously entertaining throughout.

With millions at their disposal after “Fast Five,” Brian (Paul Walker), Dom (Vin Diesel) and their crew are enjoying retirement. Brian and Mia (Jordana Brewster) just had a baby, Roman (Tyrese Gibson) is living it up with his private plane and honeys, Tej (Ludacris) likes to share his wealth, and Gisele (Gal Gadot) and Han (Sung Kang) talk of settling down together.

Epic - 20th Century Fox

Is it worth $10? No

“Epic” has a fun story: Tiny people live in the forest and wage war for their salvation. They fight and trade barbs just as normal humans would, and there’s heroism, magic, and of course love. It’s sort of “Honey, I Shrunk the Kids” meets “A Bug’s Life” with mini humans battling bugs in 3D computer-generated animation.

Unfortunately the filmmakers take this premise, give it the middle finger and do nothing with it. No real imagination, creativity or originality. Worse, the animation looks awful.

The Hangover Part III - Warner Bros.

Is it worth $10? No

What a stale, sad way to end a trilogy.

In “The Hangover Part III,” the follow-up to the hilarious 2009 original and the hit-and-miss remake/sequel from 2011, an exotic animal is again (remember the tiger?) featured. This time Alan (Zach Galifianakis), an immature goon whose charms were exhausted at the end of the first film, has purchased a giraffe. Alan’s loving life, listening to Hanson’s “MmmBop” while driving on the highway with the giraffe in tow, when the poor animal is decapitated.

Seeing a giraffe’s head fly off its body and into the windshield of an unsuspecting car with children inside isn’t funny, it’s dumb. And mean (warning animal lovers: dogs and chicken are also murdered). And worse, the gag comes in the beginning and has no context. It’s just there to be extreme and stupid and try to make us laugh.

Frances Ha - IFC Films

Is it worth $10? No

This film review requires a short disclaimer: Greta Gerwig. Write her name down if you don’t know it, and spell it with an extra “a”, Great-a, for emphasis. The lead actress and co-writer of “Frances Ha” is the reason for each star in the rating. One for her brilliant, multi-faceted acting, and the other for her artful and insightful writing (a welcome contrast to director Noah Baumbach’s [“The Squid and the Whale”] slipshod stylings).

Baumbach chooses black and white for this film, ostensibly to give it a timeless, Warhol-meets-Woody-Allen feel. Instead, he manages to make Brooklyn appear dirtier and greasier than it really is. The fairly good-looking cast also ends up looking like they need a shower in this weirdly lit b&w.

The Reluctant Fundamentalist - IFC Films

Is it worth $10? Yes

It’s a helluva thing, the American dream. It comes with such promise of opportunity, and such optimism for a better life, that it’s easy to forget about the “dream” part of it, and the fact that for many it never becomes a reality. “The Reluctant Fundamentalist” takes things a step further: It grants its Pakistani-born main character the American dream, and then makes the dream impossible to keep.

Based on the novel by Mohsin Hamid, Changez’s (Riz Ahmed) family moved to the United States from Pakistan when he was young, and even though they ran in wealthy circles, the family was not well off. He graduates from Princeton and takes a financial analyst job in New York City, where his boss (Kiefer Sutherland) quickly identifies him as a rising star. He meets a girl, Erica (Kate Hudson), with issues of her own, and settles into a nice, comfortable life.

Just like that, the American dream is a reality.

Renoir - Fidelite Films and Samuel Goldwyn Films

Is it worth $10? Yes

Built upon the intriguing triangle of French master painter Pierre-Auguste Renoir in his later years, his son Jean, a soldier, then still discovering his interest in cinema, and the woman they both love, the film “Renoir” is both laudable and a bit disappointing for its scope.

Anyone expecting anything like a biopic of either of the two most famous Renoirs will be unsatisfied. That doesn’t make it a bad movie, though. What’s presented is a specific period (1915-1918 approximately), and the reason for this particular window of time is that “Renoir” is really the story of the adventitious Andrée Heuschling (played with finesse by Christa Theret), the painter’s final muse and object of the future filmmaking giant’s desire. Writer/director Gilles Bourdos (“Afterwards”), in seeking to tell Andrée’s story, was wise not to include the oeuvres of the artists. While this left plenty of room for character development, the opportunities were often missed.

The list of remakes, Timecop - Universal Picturesreboots and sequels is growing at a rapid rate. THR is reporting that Universal Pictures is in the process of developing a remake of Dark Horse Comics' "Timecop." The official description for the comic is as follows: "What a dream: to travel through time. You can change the past, the future, your future. Then imagine Max Walker, one of the Time Enforcement Commission's toughest and most extreme cops. But as nasty as Walker's methods are, even he may not be able to stop a nefarious plot to destroy the future as we know it." The original film, released in 1994, starred the badass Jean-Claude Van Damme, and was written by the creative minds responsible for the comic. There is no word yet if he will return/cameo in the new film, but add this to the ever growing list of remakes I want to see.

Cinema Blend is reporting that 20th Century Fox just gave Marvel/Disney the big middle finger. It had been announced not long ago that Joss Whedon ("The Avengers") would be including siblings Scarlett Witch and Quicksilver in "The Avengers 2" (either as baddies or good guys), and that they could only do that if they didn't mention the siblings were mutants. The two characters fall in a shady gray area where both Marvel and Fox are allowed to use them. So now that it is last minute Fox has added a character to its upcoming "X-Men: Days of Future Past," and it is none other than Quicksilver. They hired a decent actor, Evan Peters ("American Horror Story"), but at the same time this will mess with people's minds when they see "The Avengers 2" the very next year and a completely different character (in terms of purpose and origin) with the same name is being portrayed by a different actor. Could this lead to maybe a crossover between the studios? Not likely since Fox makes poor decisions. I'm still looking forward to both movies, but still....dick move Fox.