Dead Man Down (2013)

Intriguing enough given its roundabout way of revealing its fairly basic plot, this revenge flick about a man double-crossing a gang lord wants to be an Infernal Affairs/The Departed action thriller with the epic-ness of Heat but the writing, which tries to squeeze romance out of a situation between a blackmailer and the man she wants to coerce into committing murder for her - writing which also has Noomi Rapace's character driven to murder because three red lines on her forehead destroyed her career as a beautician - is just too dopey too often for the action to be able to soar to Infernal Affairs/Heat heights.

★★☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEW

Big Momma's House (2000)

"Honky Grandma Be Trippin'" for realsies has Martin Lawrence playing the undercover cop who thinks the best way to inveigle his way into a wanted criminal's circle is to use a leftover The Klumps bodysuit to disguise himself as a large Southern grandmother, which seems a lot more work than simply developing the chemistry he finds he has as himself with the gangster's girlfriend.

★☆☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS

Glitter (2001)

A singer - who performs Mariah Carey songs like Mariah Carey, and is in fact played by her, but called Billy - is steered to stardom by the men who control the music industry, and when she finally achieves her dream of singing to a packed Madison Square Garden, she feels bad for not having been more grateful to the less talented agent in her life, who over the course of the movie grows steadily more jealous of her success and starts treating her badly - the end.

★☆☆☆☆

CINECAL: ONE SENTENCE REVIEWS