the @popcollin reviews

The live-action remake of Disney’s 1989 classic has everything you remember about the original, along with a handful of nifty new songs (courtesy of Alan Menken and Lin-Manuel Miranda). Big kudos to Halle Bailey, who makes Ariel her own, and to Melissa McCarthy, who gives us a wild-and-crazy Ursula. The […]

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 […]

Lily James stars in this enjoyable rom-com about a struggling British filmmaker who decides to make her Pakistani bestie’s voyage through an arranged marriage the subject of her next film. The film floats on the chemistry and talents of James and co-star Shazad Latif, overcoming its formulaic plot to become […]

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 […]

Shailene Woodley stars in this gritty and dark crime drama about a beat cop recruited by the FBI to solve a series of mass shootings in Baltimore. Playing a little like ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ mixed with anything by David Fincher, it’s buoyed by solid performances by Woodley and […]

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 […]