the @popcollin reviews

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 […]

Fans of ‘Friday the 13th’, ‘Halloween’, and any other 80s slasher classic will feel right at home taking in this low-budget oh-so-Indie winner from writer-director Erik Bloomquist. Set on the last day of summer camp in 1987 (because of course it is), the film is a perfect homage to the […]

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 […]

From the writers of ‘Booksmart’ and first-time feature director Kyle Marvin comes the tale of four Tom Brady-loving ladies (Lily Tomlin, Sally Field, Rita Moreno, Jane Fonda) who decide to make their way to the 2017 Super Bowl in Houston. From high-stakes poker to pot gummies to ghost pepper wings, […]

Based on the true story of Australian Jessica Watson, who sailed solo around the world at age 16, this solid adventure flick is very much in the vein of ‘Soul Surfer’ and ‘Ride Like a Girl’—true stories of fierce young women who made their mark on the world. The full-of-promise […]

A young couple (Anna Camp and Joseph Mazzello) navigates the difficult realities of infertility as they start their life together on a Midwestern farm in this low-budget Indie from first-time feature director David Hunt. Although outwardly a vehicle for the pair of actors to pad their resume a bit (with […]

Jennifer Lopez and Josh Duhamel star as a bickering couple whose tropical wedding is interrupted by terrorists in this not-half-bad actioner (call it ‘Die Hard at Sandals’) from ‘Pitch Perfect’ director Jason Moore. It’s played for laughs more than anything else, but there’s some decent stuff going on here, and […]

Not for nothing, but Gerard Butler keeps right on churning out better-than-average action flicks like he wants to be the next Bruce Willis. This one finds Butler as Brodie Torrance, the pilot of a commercial plane that has to make an emergency landing in the South Pacific, only to find […]

After eleven years, Shrek’s feline sidekick is back with a fun and largely whimsical (though too dark for very young eyes) adventure. From the creative team behind ‘The Croods: A New Age’, the film finds Puss (Antonio Banderas) down to the last of his nine lives and on the quest […]