the @popcollin reviews

Based on the true story of the annual Homeless World Cup soccer competition, this feel-good Netflix original stars Bill Nighy as the coach of the England squad. All the standard tropes abound, but dang it, this thing’s actually pretty good. Sure, at its core it’s a fairly basic underdog sports […]

Liam Neeson has made a nice little living in recent years doing crappy-to-middling flicks about a haggard hero out to kill the bad guys in whatever situation he finds himself in. His latest, set in 1970s Ireland, finds him staring down the barrel of a gun when IRA terrorists come […]

Mark Wahlberg stars in this based-on-a-true-story inspirational tale about an adventure athlete who befriends a stray dog while on an arduous cross-country team race and decides to bring him along on the journey. Sure, it has all the beats and tropes of a good old-fashioned underdog (no pun intended) flick, […]

How is Laura Linney not one of the most celebrated actors at work today? Her outstanding talents are yet again on display in this black comedy (or light-ish drama) that centers on teenager Doris (Nico Parker), who is struggling to keep her head above water as her brother is in […]

Written and directed by actor Keir O’Donnell (helming his first feature), this kinda-romantic, kinda-dramatic heist flick finds small-town loser Baron (Joe Keery) recounting his recent life story to his new cellmate after getting nabbed for robbing a bank. It turns out that everything went south almost immediately after he met […]

Put four dozen of America’s greatest pop artists together in one room for one night, and there’s bound to be some good stories there. And yes, indeed, there were. Chronicling the recording of USA for Africa’s ‘We Are the World’ charity single in January of 1985, this documentary is a […]

Nat Wolff and Lucy Hale co-star in this surprisingly smart and heartfelt romance about two forlorn souls who meet at a wedding and embark on a ‘Before Sunrise’-style night of getting to know each other. The chemistry between the two carries the film along, and the witty and effective script […]

Jason Statham returns to the screen in his usual bulletproof, butt-kicking way in this surprisingly solid action flick from David Ayer (‘Fury’, ‘End of Watch’). As a former top-of-his-game operative, Statham is out for revenge (is there ever any other way?), hunting down an evil cyber-company that preys on seniors […]

Based on the Broadway musical (which is based on the 2004 movie, which is based on a book), this yet-another rehash sparkles, sure, and has many of the same feels and fun as the original, but what was truly groundbreaking way back when now seems (sadly) kinda like an ordinary […]

Actor Jake Johnson (‘New Girl’) makes his directing debut with this allegory about loneliness in a desperate world—starring as Tommy, a guy living a drone-like, solitary existence who gets offered the chance to win a million dollars by Andy Samberg (playing himself). The proposition is simple enough: survive for thirty […]