X-Men

When you look back at the original “X-Men” (2000), it’s a pretty solid underpinning to what has been one of the most stable franchises in recent filmdom. A traditional, good-but-not-great summer blockbuster that neatly sets the table for sequels, merchandising, etc. But you also see something else. The special effects are like a traditional movie, not like a video game. The music is symphonic, not like a pop/rock/hip-hop festival. It’s all so … analog. Not that that’s a bad thing. It’s just a little jarring to see how much has changed in action movies in a decade and a half.

 

The Call

You have got to rent “The Call” (2013). Trust me. Not enough? Great camerawork. Still? OK. So you’ve got all these pervy TV detective shows, like “SVU” and “Without a Trace,” right? Well, what if we looked at one of these abduction cases from the 9-1-1 operator’s point of view? Something new, right? After that, the movie follows the same basic premise that all these things follow. Protagonist Halle Berry has some history with the perp. Tense phone calls, dude slips away, yada, yada, yada. Until the end. And that, dear friend, is why you’ve got to rent “The Call.”

Boomerang

“Boomerang” (1992) is a formula romantic comedy made at the height of Eddie Murphy’s marketability. It’s what big stars do: they make a formula romantic comedy. This one doesn’t even have a plot gimmick. It’s straight-up Eddie Murphy. He even works portions of his standup act into the dialogue. It follows the “guy falls for glamorous chick when he really belongs with normal chick and almost realizes it too late” formula. There’s also Halle Berry, before she became a big star. Metaphorically, Martin Lawrence plays Murphy’s id and David Alan Grier plays his super-ego. Murphy, or course, is the ego.