The early life of the famous musician Michael Jackson, known as the King of Pop. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbtgEE6rkxw I walked into Michael with my guard up, because music biopics have a bad habit of showing up dressed like prestige and acting like karaoke. They promise revelation and usually deliver a gift-shop timeline with better cheekbones. This one, though, came in with actual juice. Antoine Fuqua keeps the story parked in the rise years of Michael Jackson, and Jaafar Jackson, in...

Former war hero Nikki's peaceful life is shattered when her daughter is kidnapped. Thrust into the criminal underworld while hunted by cops and military, she must fight to rescue her child. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-hyEvH0JPpo Every so often I want an action movie that does not arrive carrying a three-ring binder full of mythology, twelve side plots, and a prayer circle for its own seriousness. I want a movie that walks in, cracks its knuckles, and gets on with the business of making...

Captain Jordan Wright's squadron on leave for a wedding in Mexico encounters a murderous cartel. As Jordan tries to lead survivors to safety, war erupts between his squad and the cartel, forcing him into a battle to save his men. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pdpy4vb0O0 I went into Brothers Under Fire the way a man walks into a roadside diner at 11:47 p.m.: not expecting transcendence, just hoping the grill is still hot and nobody has given up on standards entirely. This thing first...