the @popcollin reviews

Jennifer Lopez kills it (literally) in this suspense-action flick that never feels wholly original but still manages to ride its taut pace and her charisma all the way to the finish line. Lopez stars as a former military-operative-turned-FBI-informant who, duh, can’t escape her past, especially when it takes her estranged […]

Netflix’s latest foray into Hallmark-level schlock stars Rachael Leigh Cook as a travel executive sent to Vietnam to scout a possible tour company acquisition. Stuffed to the gills with gorgeous scenery, a CliffsNotes to Vietnamese culture, and oodles of cute little moments, it’s actually a decent date-night option with a […]

Chris Evans is a local farmers’ market vendor who falls for Ana de Armas… not knowing she’s an international spy. After the obligatory ‘You’re a spy?!’ moments, the movie settles into halfway-decent territory, as both stars (along with a handful of pitch-perfect cameos) help make what could have been a […]

Taking its cue from oh-so-many 80s pop culture gems (‘The Breakfast Club’, ‘Dirty Dancing’, ‘Pretty in Pink’), this fun and funny high school comedy is reminiscent of 2022’s ‘Honor Society’—about an over-achieving girl who will do anything to get into Harvard. Writer Anthony Lombardo (TV’s ‘Modern Family’ and ‘American Housewife’) […]

Keira Knightley and Carrie Coon star as the real-life newspaper reporters who helped crack the terrifying serial murder case from the early 1960s in this drama written and directed by Matt Ruskin. It’s beautifully dark and spooky, thanks in large part to cinematographer Ben Kutchins (‘Ozark’, ‘The White Lotus’), but […]

Apparently hoping to atone for the debacle of last year’s entry into the franchise, directors Matt Bettinelli-Olpin and Tyler Gillett return and move the goings-on to the Big Apple. Turns out, it may be all that was needed. Upping the blood and gore certainly helps the film return to its […]

Based (hopefully VERY loosely) on the true story of a bear who overdosed on smuggled cocaine dropped from a plane in the Tennessee wilderness in 1985, this gonzo movie is one of the more wild-n-crazy things you may see all year. Over-the-top, cartoonish violence and a whack-a-doo script by Jimmy […]

In what amounts to an effective mash-up of ‘The Grifters’ and ‘The Usual Suspects’, this sneaky-good suspense drama is a slick neo-noir caper starring Julianne Moore, Justice Smith, and Sebastian Stan as a gaggle of folks who are all interconnected and may or may not be scamming each other. Directed […]

The 31st film in the MCU feels very much like many that came before it—gonzo visual effects and occasional humor but overall shrug-worthiness. It’s perfectly fine, sure, and the addition of Jonatan Major’s Kang the Conqueror injects the festivities with some new blood, but there’s not much here to jump […]

It’s the early days of the COVID pandemic, and money manager Phil (Reid Scott) retreats to his house in the Hamptons with his family, only to be interrupted by the unexpected arrival of his old uncouth, loud-mouthed college buddy (Adam Pally). What could have very easily arrived as a broad […]