Ed Wood (“Plan 9 From Outer Space”) directs “Jail Bait”, a rather bland film noir picture that is nowhere near as entertaining as Wood’s science-fiction movies. If you are looking for a good crime film then I sincerely suggest searching elsewhere.

In “Jail Bait”, the son of a plastic surgeon, Don Gregor (Clancy Malone), is drawn into a life of crime despite protests from his family. When he kills a man during a robbery, he must decide whether he wants to run from the law or hand himself in. When he chooses the latter, his crime partner decides to take desperate measures to counter Don’s decision.

The characters in “Jail Bait” are not very interesting. The lines are never as ridiculous nor are the performances as exaggerated as they are in other Ed Wood films so I felt very disappointed by them. You could even argue that many of the performances here and actually fairly competent, it’s just that the movie itself is not very captivating. Lyle Talbot (“Chinatown Squad”, “They Raid By Night”) is probably the most famous face in here and some will recognise him from “Plan 9 From Outer Space”. He plays one of the cops that pursues Don.

“Jail Bait” is a very underwhelming movie. Fans of Ed Wood’s cheesy sci-fi films are going to be left unimpressed by how sensible this seems in comparison. Really, the only reason to watch it is for the novelty of seeing an Ed Wood film that is not ridiculous. If you want a great film noir movie then may I direct you towards “The Maltese Falcon”, a truly magnificent detective film starring Humphrey Bogart. “Jail Bait” is a very short movie but it feels very long and there is just nothing on offer to get enthusiastic about. I cannot think of anybody to recommend it to.

“Jackass: The Movie” is a feature-length version of a popular MTV show. The film features real-life stunts. The best are slapstick, the underwhelming ones get the general public’s reaction and the worst ones are merely toilet humour. “Jackass” will make you laugh but will also make you shake your head in disgust.

Johnny Knoxville and his crew of fellow ‘Jackasses’ perform a series of different stunts. Like I mentioned, the best ones are the slapstick ones such as the golf buggy crash-fest, the mouse trap stunt, the part involving obese men skateboarding and the human bowling ball stunt. Then we get a bunch of ones where the general public’s reaction is the key such as the section with a man dancing in revealing clothes but the reactions are never very good. The worst however are the gross ones including the one where a man sticks a toy car up his rectum.

Knoxville has some personality but the rest of the guys involved don’t. Knoxville and a few of the others engage in physical comedy but some only do the weaker gags and therefore are totally unlikeable in my books. I don’t have any sympathy for the guys doing the stuff because they’re all consenting adults and they seem to enjoy the pain… they’re also talentless and can only find work doing this.

“Jackass: The Movie” has numerous warnings and extra one during the scenes with fireworks, which is odd seen as how there aren’t extra ones for the ones involving cars or animals. I like some of the physical gags but the rest are lousy and most of the filler clips in-between the major stunts are seriously disappointing. It’s a short movie and sadly can’t even get enough decent stuff together to make it work.

“Jackass Presents: Bad Grandpa” is a lot like “Jackass: The Movie” but with more plot. Like the normal “Jackass” stuff, it has its moments with a few clever public pranks but many of them don’t work either because they’re gross or they’re just not funny.

In “Bad Grandpa”, we actually get a continuing plot throughout the sketches as old man Irving Zisman, who is played by the lead man from the tv show Johnny Knoxville, has to get his grandson Billy (Jackson Nicoll “Fun Size”) to his dad. Along the way the duo cause chaos and while some of it is genuinely amusing such as the penguin scene others such as the diner sequence feel really lousy.

Knoxville has been transformed into an old man thanks to some excellent make-up and his performance also works to give the feeling that he is elderly individual. The kid doesn’t work so well and I imagine the only reason he got the part is because his parents signed the consent form (something I imagine few would do). The people they play pranks on aren’t as funny as they should be for this type of film to work but then again I can’t blame the filmmakers for something they have no control over.

“Bad Grandpa” didn’t need the thin plot it has and it needed the dirty gags; it needed more physical comedy. Now that it seems “Jackass” wants to move away from unconnected skits, I can only think as to what the next instalment will be. I don’t care for the franchise but if you like the show or any of the other “Jackass” films then you’ll almost certainly like “Bad Grandpa” but if you don’t like the other stuff then I can’t imagine this one will change your mind. One thing I’m curious about is what Johnny Knoxville’s medical bill is after all these years.

“Jackass Number Two” is the sequel to the equally insane “Jackass: The Movie”. It features more of the outrageous stunts and more of the gross humour. If you liked the last film, you’ll probably like this one more and if you despised the first one, you’ll probably hate this even more.

Johnny Knoxville and his friends carry out a bunch of crazy stunts ranging from branding one another to being hit by bulls to sticking leeches on their eyeballs. “Jackass Number Two” opens with a genuinely inspired scene where the whole crew try to evade a stampede but as it continues, I found myself shielding my eyes from the graphic nature of some of the stunts and gags.

Like before, Knoxville has personality but his fellow ‘Jackasses’ do not. I just don’t get why these guys subject themselves to some of the things that you see in this film. One scene has a man attach a fishing hook threw his face, he then proceeds to jump off a boat while the hook is connected to a fishing rod; when a shark comes along, he kicks it… I don’t get the point either. Other scene feature people being bitten by snakes and leeches, sometimes in the most unpleasant of areas. You may remember the horrendous things the guys endure but you won’t remember anything about them.

I like some of the physical comedy stunts such as one involving a boxing glove coming through a wall and another involving a swarm of bees in a limo; I laughed a lot at these scenes. It’s such a shame because some of the scenes in this film are hilarious but there are too many pointless scenes featuring things that are far too disgusting to even mention in any real detail. One stunt that stands out from the rest due its style involves a man dressed as an Arab suicide bomber, it’s sort-of clever and seems to be the only sketch with any social or political satire going on. Overall, I’d probably skip this.

The talented Robin Williams (“Bicentennial Man”, “Aladdin”) has starred in some great movies over the years but this isn’t one of them. “Jack” is a very cynical film that should be missed for so many reasons you can’t count them all.

Jack (Williams) is a boy who has a body that is growing four times faster than normal. When he’s age 10, he has the body of a 40 year old. In this film Jack goes to school for the first time and suffers every single problem you could expect to happen as nothing has any subtlety. All the antics in this movie are extremely childish but some comedies manage to pull off that sort of childish humour but “Jack” definitely can’t.

Robin Williams proves to be pretty annoying as Jack. I thought he was irritating in “Bicentennial Man” but that has nothing on this awful performance by a talented actor heavily misguided. Other big names such as Jennifer Lopez (“Maid In Manhattan”) and Bill Cosby are added into the mix but don’t improve anything. This is a classic example of a movie that misuses big names. It seems like they’re only there so that people will go to the movie because they’re in it as they don’t do anything worth watching.

“Jack” is a horrible movie no matter how you look or try to look at it. There isn’t one moment in this entire film where I enjoyed myself. Bad acting, bad story and bad humour make this a must stay away from type of film. This is a real shame as I hate to see someone with as much talent as Robin Williams go to waste like in this picture when he could be doing something much more worthwhile. I have backed Robin Williams on his choice of films when he did “Jumanji” but this is another one of his stinkers alongside “Bicentennial Man”.

“Dead Space: Downfall” is animated movie based on the sci-fi/horror “Dead Space” videogame. It’s got the monsters and the same level of violence as the videogame but it lacks the great atmosphere. Without the suspense, it becomes nothing but a boring shootout with endless blood yet no purpose.

Set shortly before the first game, “Dead Space: Downfall” chronicles the discovery of a mysterious object with religious significance. A mining vessel soon becomes overwhelmed by an evil alien entity. The ship’s crew members desperately try to stay alive but are increasingly turning against each other. If they are to have any chance of surviving, they will need to put aside any differences they have.

The characters in this movie are all incredibly unlikeable. There was not a single character here that I cared about in the slightest. Some of them are outrightly arrogant and unpleasant including Alissa Vincent (Nika Futterman), the main protagonist. Thankfully, the creatures featured all look like the ones from the videogames. Unfortunately, the film is so badly paced that they no suspense is built up before the reveal of the alien creatures. The animation on the characters is fairly unremarkable. The voice acting is pretty poor throughout.

“Dead Space: Downfall” is an exceptionally violent animated film with blood and guts flying all over the place. This definitely is not a movie aimed at kids as you can expect to see monsters get shot and cut in half countless times. The characters are boring and the story is meaningless so I just did not care about the action. The “Dead Space” games could work as films considering they already borrow a lot from films such as “Alien” and “Event Horizon”. In fact, just go and watch “Event Horizon” and you will see not only a vastly superior movie but a better representation of the game series.

DC really have been pumping out animated “Batman” movies like there is no tomorrow. Some have been really good such as the “Dark Knight Returns” films and others have been terrible such as “Under The Red Hood” and “The Killing Joke”. “Batman: Hush” is another decent one that gives you a lot of action with several of Batman’s foes.

Batman finds himself up against a sinister new foe that seems to know everything about him. Hush has come to Gotham and has several of Batman’s worst foes including Poison Ivy, Scarecrow and Harley Quinn doing his bidding. Also, Batman is trying to rekindle his relationship with a reformed Catwoman, who may be a powerful asset in the fight against this new enemy.

I was actually surprised by just how many Batman villains get crammed into this one. Bane and Poison Ivy are handled quite well but I cannot help but feel the sections with the Joker and some of the other villains feel a little rushed. Hush is an interesting villain and some changes have been made from the source material to keep comic book fans guessing. Superman even makes an appearance in here. The animation on the characters is okay. It’s not got the wonderful look of “Batman: The Animated Series” nor is it as stylish as something such as “Batman Ninja” but it’s perfectly acceptable.

“Batman: Hush” is a fun movie for those that really love the Batman character and want to see him do battle with many of his great villains. I’m not a comic book reader myself but from what I’ve heard, some fans were irritated by the fact this film throws in new twists. However, I think what is on offer is entertaining and done well regardless so hope fans can just enjoy the new story for what it is.

“Better Off Dead” is not only arguably the funniest teen film ever made, it’s also one of the most hilarious comedies that I have ever had the joy of seeing. The picture skilfully blends comedy, romance, sports and animation.

Lane Meyer (John Cusack “Dragon Blade”, “2012”) is desperately in love with his girlfriend Beth (Amanda Wyss). However, she leaves him for the smug captain of the local skiing team. Heartbroken with no clear purpose in life, Lane repeatedly tries to kill himself before deciding that he must try to win her back and demoralise his rival by winning a skiing race. Along the way, he must deal with various other whacky individuals.

The young Cusack does an excellent job as Lane. We really want to see Lane get his life sorted after being devastated by the end of his relationship. There are so many fun characters in this film that it’s hard to remember them all. There’s Lane’s mother (Kim Darby “True Grit”), who has some of the worst cooking skills I’ve ever seen. I also really liked the two Asian brothers that always want to street race against Lane. I of course cannot forget about the dastardly paperboy that will stop at nothing to get Lane’s money. The rest of the characters are great too.

“Better Off Dead” is truly a great movie that balances romance and humour. It also has some rather creative animated sequences. This is a really underrated film and I can understand why. It’s very similar to a lot of other movies from the era so I totally get why it went under a lot of people’s radar. There are just so many hysterical moments packed in here that I just had a big smile on my face the whole time watching it. It’s definitely worth seeing if you like Cusack, sports/comedies or teen comedies.

“Jack Reacher” is one of those murder mystery films with a look out how complex it is to catch a killer but what is also added is some tough guy material that usually appears in more brainless films and for me it evened out the pros and cons.

In “Jack Reacher”, a man is arrested for killing multiple people with a sniper. He’s told that he can either admit to the crimes and go to jail for life or he can be sentence to death. Instead of admitting to it, the alleged killer askes for Jack Reacher (Tom Cruise “Mission: Impossible”, “Risky Business”) by name. It’s now up to Jack Reacher, who has dropped off the grid for the last few years despite his record being clean, to solve the murder so that true justice is done.

Tom Cruise is alright as Jack Reacher but he lacks the ability to intimidate the bad guys and that’s why his attempts at being an action hero don’t really work, which makes him look quite amusing at times. The bad guys aren’t particularly memorable. The other characters aren’t all the great so this category proves to be so and so for this film.

I don’t know how or why “Jack Reacher” worked for me but it did. I liked the car chase despite bad editing, I liked the whole murder mystery thing despite having obvious parts to it, I liked the idea of the character Jack Reacher but was a little disappointed with the performance by Mr. Cruise and I liked using the brainless action vibe even though it distracted from the rest of the film’s more serious tone. If you like the murder mystery genre and you don’t mind seeing some tough guy antics that I think you’ll be happy with “Jack Reacher”.

Based on the Stephen King novel, “It” has a slick look but it is not particularly scary. A lot of the imagery in this film is intended to be disturbing but too much of it comes across as cheesy.

A group of bullied kids, known as the ‘Losers Club’, begin to investigate disappearances of children in their town when they are visited by a shapeshifting entity that often takes the appearance of a clown (Bill Skarsgård “Atomic Blonde”). The children will need to stick together if they are to overcome their worst fears and save the children of their town.

Pennywise the clown seems to be almost solely responsible for bringing the idea of scary clowns into the mainstream. The role was once held by Tim Curry for a miniseries version of “It” but it feels as though Bill Skarsgård was trying to do something very different here. Skarsgård does a decent job but I find it difficult to be scared by clowns. The children in the film are surprisingly good. My favourites are Bill (Jaeden Lieberher “St. Vincent”), Richie (Finn Wolfhard) and Eddie (Jack Dylan Grazer) but I feel the worst ones were Ben (Jeremy Ray Taylor) and Beverly (Sophia Lillis). From time to time, the kids provide some chuckles and most of the child performers do good jobs.

“It” features many elaborate special effects-filled sequences including one where Pennywise appears via a projector and another where a painting comes to life. The visuals in this film are often strange and interesting but rarely do they manage to be as unsettling as they ought to be. Horror movie fans have been showering this film in praise and I just do not get it; it’s not even the scariest movie based on a Stephen King novel (“The Shining” is far better).