Unfriended–  This was a great idea for a horror movie and they pulled it off well (this must have been a tough one to edit). On the one-year anniversary of Laura Barns’ suicide, a group of high school friends talk online using Skype. A stranger enters their chat room and no one can figure out how to get rid of them. This stranger starts harassing them and the encounter takes a nasty turn when he/she accuses them of causing Laura’s suicide. The entire movie, except for one shot, takes place on Blaire’s computer monitor. A fresh take on the tried and true revenge horror genre, I like a lot of what Unfriended does. It’s a little similar to how found footage movies work, but it puts you in the room of one character while everything happens in front of you in real time (there are no cuts away from the screen). Some interesting death scenes (even if a lot of it obscured, this ghost proves to be rather camera shy) round out the horror hallmarks. Much like how George Romero used Night of the Living Dead to comment on society at the time of its creation, Unfriended takes a look at something dark going on today: cyberbullying. There are some “Why don’t they just…” moments but I think they’re pretty easy to explain away so it didn’t bother me. Also, while the tension building is done well a few times, they rely on orchestra hits for scares too much. Unfriended was a pleasant surprise for me, I liked it.

Straight Outta Compton– Dug this one quite a bit and don’t have too much to say about. Just a solid movie with great casting. The (abridged) story of N.W.A’s rise out of Compton, CA in the late 80’s and their genre changing work for the short time they were together. Their talent wasn’t a flash in the pan as many of the members went on to make waves beyond the music industry all the way up to today. Really impressed by O’Shea Jackson, Ice Cubes own son playing his younger self! It’s his first acting role and he did a hell of a job. Jason Mitchell as Easy-E is the other stand out to me and would you look at that? Paul Giamatti being typecast again. It’s a blessing and a curse I guess. I like F. Gary Gray (he certainly took every opportunity to use dolly shots in every in-the-studio scene) and always wonder why he doesn’t direct more. He’s picked up the Fast & the Furious mantle, so I guess I don’t have to think that anymore. The Italian Job was more than 10 years ago, I guess he feels like he’s ready to shoot some more car chases.

Dope– I inadvertently watched two 90’s rap soundtrack movies back to back. Dope is more fun of the two. Malcolm and his two best friends are geeks in high school and get invited to a party that’s way out of their league where they get thrust into a world they wanted nothing to with. They stick together and make the best of a bad situation. A fun adventure in Los Angeles, Dope has enough zigs and zags to keep it interesting and funny with the great Shameik Moore in his first lead role as Malcolm. This kid can emote with the best of them and makes for a believable 17-year-old geek with a love for the 90’s that’s doing his best to figure out who he is, where he’s going, and how he’s going to get there. Quality soundtrack peppers the movie with nostalgia along with original music that Pharrell Williams clearly had a hand in making. Good flick.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon: The Sword of Destiny– I liked this one more than I thought I would. It’s been so long since the first movie, I forgot all of it and figured it wouldn’t matter going into this (it doesn’t). The theme of this one is love and redemption (which I think is what most of the first one was about actually) mixed around a fight for a legendary sword. While I think it starts a little slow, once the “gang” of defenders come together it levels out and keeps a good pace. With legendary stunt/fight choreographer Woo-Ping Yuen at the helm, you come for the title and stay for the crazy wire-fu battles. Good trick wrapping two stories of love with epic sword fights. There’s something for everyone here. It’s available to watch in English or Chinese, so don’t let the idea of subtitles scare you away. Easy recommendation if you liked the first one, Destiny keeps a good lineage alive.