Comedy
Rod Lott
Now that I’ve devoured Warner Archive’s The Great Gildersleeve Movie Collection, I know who my mom was referring to all those years. It’s irrelevant for your enjoyment of the set, but Harold Peary’s Gildersleeve character proved so popular on the Fibber McGee and Molly radio program, he was spun off into his own show (and eventually TV and these films).

Comedy
Rod Lott
Seven's not a lucky number in the case of Seven Psychopaths, writer/director Martin McDonagh’s follow-up to the Oscar-nominated In Bruges. In fact, the math is all wrong, as I kept waiting for its disparate elements to add up. Unfortunately, it never did.

Features
Rod Lott
Once upon a time, there lived a beautiful girl — a woman, really. There’s no question she was a woman. Otherwise, this particular story would not exist.

Horror
Rod Lott
Horror fanatics making horror movies is the worst thing about today’s horror movies — worse than remakes, The CW casts and the PG-13 rating. And I say that as a critic who loves the genre.

Thriller
Rod Lott
Can a bad ending ruin an otherwise OK movie? In the case of The Factory, I believe it can.

Documentary
Rod Lott
Don’t feel stupid: I didn’t know who Ralph Zavadil was, either. After all, we can’t be faulted for living in Oklahoma City instead of Ontario, Canada. Ultimately, it makes no difference, because Beauty Day, the documentary about the man, is a fun viewing nonetheless. That’s because there’s something about watching stunts of bodily harm that holds universal appeal.

Comedy
Rod Lott
Any cries of nepotism in the case of Rashida Jones officially can be buried, and the dirt above patted with a shovel for good measure.

Horror
Rod Lott
Lake Placid: The Final Chapter has swam to video shores, losing the numeral “4” somewhere along the way. Haven't seen Lake Placid 2 or 3? Didn't know they existed? Ooh, you are going to be so lost!

Thriller
Rod Lott
Rent’s a bitch. And that is why, six months after her best friend went missing, Amanda (Katie Cassidy, TV’s Arrow) finally gives in to getting another roommate, Hailey (Tracy Spiridakos, TV’s Revolution). The two college students turn out to have something in common, however: abusive men.

Horror
Rod Lott
When I first heard of Mimesis, I thought it was a great idea: horror fans unwittingly participating in a live role-playing game that plops them into the classic film Night of the Living Dead. Now that I've seen it, however, I realize I was wrong. It's a terrible idea, and one executed poorly by Dark Fields director Douglas Schulze.

Horror
Rod Lott
Smiley is Candyman for the LOLcat generation.

Drama
Rod Lott
Vanguard director Takashi Miike is not one to repeat himself, and in Hara-Kiri: Death of a Samurai, he hasn't — not really. Yes, the film is the Japanese filmmaker's follow-up to 2010's 13 Assassins; yes, both are remakes and focused on samurais. But they approach the genre from such varying ways that other than excellence, the similarities end there.

Action
Rod Lott
Who in the hell hires Jackie Chan and then tells him not to kick a lot? The Exterminator director James Glickenhaus, that’s who.

Thriller
Rod Lott
Here's how I knew the Icelandic crime thriller Black’s Game was going to be great:

Television series
Rod Lott
Ed Halligan, you bitter sonofabitch, how I’ve missed you.