Gone in the Night

Most horror flicks live in the tight confines of a long night, or 24 hours, or a weekend. There’s significant passage of time in “Gone in the Night” (2022), which is both interesting and annoying. Interesting, because it hints there might be an actual story beyond the gory instant gratification of typical horror. Annoying because we keep jumping between the present and flashbacks, which is cliche camouflage that the actual story sucks. Middle-aged Winona Ryder, confronted with her mousy, mediocre existence and a twisted alternative, must find a solution to the ultimate dilemma. We’re left wondering, and rolling our eyes.

Agent Game

Mediocre action flicks are like a salad bar. They all have that big bowl of iceberg (guns), but after that, it’s interchangeable fixins. In “Agent Game” (2022), the filmmakers added olives (black sites), tomatoes (expendable operators), shredded cheddar (CIA conspiracies), pickled beets (Mel Gibson) and of course, ranch dressing (double-crosses). Plot twists are croutons. Normally, it would be a semi-interesting way to waste 90 minutes when there’s nothing else on TV, or fine Saturday-nap-inducing fare. Except for the insult. (Spoiler Alert!) The film concludes like a feature-length pilot for a 1990s TV series. Seriously? I was watching a commercial? C’mon!

Sleepless

For most of “Sleepless” (2017), I was on the edge of my seat. Partially because of the tense action surrounding crooked cops and a Vegas drug deal gone bad. Mostly because I couldn’t hear the clenched-jaw mumblings of Jamie Foxx and his cast of mush-mouthed costars. It wasn’t me. I’m old, but I don’t listen to Fox News all day with the sound turned up to 11. This was the worst dialogue sound of any movie I’ve seen recently. There are also way too many plot elements straight out of “How to Write a Modern Hollywood Action Script, Vol. I.”