The Commuter (2018)

A daily commute on a surburban train is rendered even more mindless for an insurance salesman (and ex-cop) when a woman approaches him mid-journey with a harebrained proposal - enjoying the ensuing ridiculously plotted action aboard the train requires you to leave your mind at the departing station. 

★★☆☆☆

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The Conjuring 2 (2016)

The Amityville murders are referenced, the Warrens head to London, and that and the fact Lorraine is reluctant to continue her and her husband's old-school ghostbusting are what distinguish this second outing from the first one -- everything else is so familiar you'll catch yourself checking to see if it isn't in fact the one you've already watched: the Warrens bang on locked doors, tout Christian faith, are struck occasionally with supernatural apoplexy, and again fail to answer any of those nagging questions you have about inhuman spirits - why do they sometimes drift across corridors, at other times move as a shadow across walls, and at other times again choose to only appear in reflective surfaces?

★★★☆☆

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The Judge (2014)

Built around a court case but in fact a better family drama than a courtroom one, this story of an estranged father (a judge) and son (a lawyer) reunited under, er, trying circumstances is about as consequential as an episode of Picket Fences, but I liked Picket Fences and I like this, too, for its humour, warmth, and for avoiding - to its great benefit - any mawkishness, even with an ending that could very easily have gone Presumed Innocent on everyone.

★★★★☆

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The Conjuring (2013)

James Wan, director of Insidious, a 2010 horror starring Patrick Wilson about a family terrorised by demons, brings us The Conjuring, a 2013 horror starring Patrick Wilson about a family terrorised by demons, but while Insidious was dopey, this is an effective, tighter version of the regurgitated story.

★★★★☆

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Orphan (2009)

It is a pity the makers didn't manage this thriller's entirety as well as it manages its surprise ending because although the ending is a good one (it had the cinema I was in on its feet, causing a huge uproar), the story that precedes it about Esther "The Bad Seed" orphan girl who has a wee behavioural problem, is humorless and arduous and even at times tiresome.

★★★☆☆

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Source Code (2011)

A jumble of sci-fi ideas that couldn't possibly end up making any sense, ends up making sense in this smart and snappy action flick that pulls a final, surprising emotional punch.

★★★★☆

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