Tag: thriller
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Mother, May I?: Sons and Mothers and Fiancées, Oh My
MOVIE INFO: Emmett wants to clean and flip his recently deceased mother’s house: get in, get out, and avoid any trauma still lingering from when she abandoned him as a young child. Anya, his fiancé, see’s this as an opportunity to finally force Emmett to deal with his trauma because she believes it is preventing…
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Hit Man: Richard Linklater’s Identity Crisis
MOVE INFO: Oscar-nominated director Richard Linklater’s sunlit neo-noir stars Glen Powell as strait-laced professor Gary Johnson, who moonlights as a fake hit man for the New Orleans Police Department. Preternaturally gifted at inhabiting different guises and personalities to catch hapless people hoping to bump off their enemies, Gary descends into morally dubious territory when he…
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Under Paris: A Shark Movie Worthy of Its “Jaws”
MOVIE INFO: To save Paris from a bloodbath, a grieving scientist is forced to face her tragic past when a giant shark appears in the Seine. REVIEW: Under Paris, a Jaws imitator that takes place in the Seine, comes just in time for the Paris Summer Olympics. It’s a macabre tourist ad more likely to…
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LaRoy Texas: A Noir Comedy Where Everyone Gets It Mostly Right
MOVIE INFO: Broke and depressed, Ray (John Magaro) is mistaken for a dangerous hitman and given an envelope of cash. Along with his P.I. friend Skip (Steve Zahn), he must escape the actual hitman to make it out of LaRoy alive. REVIEW: With a crime comedy set in a small Texas town, where everybody is…
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The Last Stop in Yuma County: A Nihilist Lark that Homages the 30th Anniversary of the Trantino Style
MOVIE INFO: While awaiting the next fuel truck at a middle-of-nowhere Arizona rest stop, a traveling young knife salesman is thrust into a high-stakes hostage situation by the arrival of two similarly stranded bank robbers with no qualms about using cruelty–or cold, hard steel–to protect their bloodstained, ill-begotten fortune. REVIEW: Last Stop in Yuma County…
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Eileen: Sudden Fire, Sudden Danger
MOVIE INFO: Eileen is a peculiar young woman — aloof and unfazed by the gloomy nature of her job at the local youth prison. But something in her changes the day that the new counsellor, Dr. Rebecca St. John arrives. She is instantly captivated by Rebecca’s glamorous, enigmatic presence. As the two women grow closer,…
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Infested: Itsy Bitsy Spiders Grow and Grow
Movie Info: Kaleb is about to turn 30 and has never been lonelier. He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the…
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The Beekeeper: Jason Statham Delivers an Action Flick With Honey and Sting
MOVIE INFO: In The Beekeeper, one man’s brutal campaign for vengeance takes on national stakes after he is revealed to be a former operative of a powerful and clandestine organization known as “Beekeepers”. REVIEW: At some point in The Beekeper, starring Jason Statham and directed by David Ayer, a villain delivers the inevitable to BEE…
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Abigail : This Vampire Flick Has Some Real Bite
MOVIE INFO After a group of would-be criminals kidnap the 12-year-old ballerina daughter of a powerful underworld figure, all they have to do to collect a $50 million ransom is watch the girl overnight. In an isolated mansion, the captors start to dwindle, one by one, and they discover, to their mounting horror, that they’re…
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The Ministry of Ungetlemanly Warfare: Black Ops with a Dash of Bond, but Not as Fun
MOVIE INFO: Based upon recently declassified files of the British War Department and inspired by true events, THE MINISTRY OF UNGENTLEMANLY WARFARE is an action-comedy that tells the story of the first-ever special forces organization formed during WWII by UK Prime Minister Winston Churchill and a small group of military officials including author Ian Fleming.…
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Drive-Away Dolls: Drive Far Away From this One Coen Mess.
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: Written by Ethan Coen and Tricia Cooke, this comedy caper follows Jamie, an uninhibited free spirit bemoaning yet another breakup with a girlfriend, and her demure friend Marian who desperately needs to loosen up. In search of a fresh start, the two embark on an impromptu road trip to Tallahassee,…
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Argylle: Not Quite Bad as That Tacky Sweater
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: Bryce Dallas Howard (Jurassic World franchise) is Elly Conway, the reclusive author of a series of best-selling espionage novels, whose idea of bliss is a night at home with her computer and her cat, Alfie. But when the plots of Elly’s fictional books–which center on secret agent Argylle and his…
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Civil War: Getting Through the Fog of the American Split
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: From filmmaker Alex Garland comes a journey across a dystopian future America, following a team of military-embedded journalists as they race against time to reach DC before rebel factions descend upon the White House. REVIEW: Civil War is a war movie where the political divisions are never defined. We never…
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Monkey Man: John Wick With an Indian Twist
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: Inspired by the legend of Hanuman, an icon embodying strength and courage, Monkey Man stars Dev Patel as Kid, an anonymous young man who ekes out a meager living in an underground fight club where, night after night, wearing a gorilla mask, he is beaten bloody by more popular fighters…
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Road House: Not So Swayze
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: In this adrenaline-fueled reimagining of the 80s cult classic, ex-UFC fighter Dalton (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes a job as a bouncer at a Florida Keys roadhouse, only to discover that this paradise is not all it seems. REVIEW; The new Road House only outdoes the Patrick Swayze original in violence. The…
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The Marsh King’s Daughter: Caught in the Boggy Mess
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: In the tense thriller The Marsh King’s Daughter, a woman with a secret past will venture into the wilderness she left behind to confront the most dangerous man she’s ever met: her father. In the film, Helena’s (Daisy Ridley) seemingly ordinary life hides a dark and dangerous truth: her estranged…
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Mea Culpa: Tyler Perry Does Housewives Stupid
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: When criminal defense attorney Mea Harper (Kelly Rowland) takes on the murder case of artist Zyair Malloy (Trevante Rhodes), the truth isn’t as obvious as it seems. While she tries to determine the innocence or guilt of her cagy-yet-seductive client, it is uncovered that everyone is guilty of something. Tyler…
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Thanksgiving: Eli Roth Dishes Up a Turkey Day Anti-Consumerist Satire With All the Best Horror Trimmings
MOVIE INFO VIA ROTTEN TOMATOES: After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts — the birthplace of the holiday. Picking off residents one by one, what begins as random revenge killings are soon revealed to be part of a larger, sinister holiday plan. Will the town uncover the…
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Deliver Us: From All The Shining Riffs
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: When a nun in a remote convent claims immaculate conception, the Vatican sends a team of priests to investigate, concerned about an ancient prophecy that a woman will give birth to twin boys: one the Messiah, the other the Anti-Christ. Review: I hate it when a halfway decent religious horror…
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Sundance Review: Ponyboi: An Intersex Neon Noir
Movie info via Sundance: Unfolding over the course of Valentine’s Day in New Jersey, a young intersex sex worker must run from the mob after a drug deal goes sideways, forcing him to confront his past. Ponyboi bursts off the screen in this bombastic, edgy, and campy roller-coaster ride of a film. Flipping the script…
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The Retirement Plan: Nic Cage Gives Us His Less Comic Side
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: In The Retirement Plan, when Ashley (Ashley Greene) and her young daughter Sarah (Thalia Campbell) get caught up in a criminal enterprise that puts their lives at risk, she turns to the only person who can help — her estranged father Matt (Nicolas Cage), currently living the life of a…
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Self Reliance: Creating the Great Slacker Average Comedy-Thriller
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: When a middle-aged man (Jake Johnson) is invited into a limo by famous actor Andy Samberg, his dull life takes a thrilling turn. Johnson is offered a chance to win a million dollars in a dark web reality TV show, where assassins from all over the world attempt to kill…
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The Passenger: The Psycho Thriller as Therapy
Movie info (Rotten Tomatoes): Randy (Johnny Berchtold) is perfectly content fading into the background. But when his coworker Benson (Kyle Gallner) goes on a sudden and violent rampage leaving a trail of destruction in his wake, Randy is forced to face his fears and confront his troubled past to survive. Review: The Passenger, the new…
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Saltburn: Doing the Dirty Work a Fine Young Man Needs to Do
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Academy Award winning filmmaker Emerald Fennell (Promising Young Woman) brings us a beautifully wicked tale of privilege and desire. Struggling to find his place at Oxford University, student Oliver Quick (Barry Keoghan) finds himself drawn into the world of the charming and aristocratic Felix Catton (Jacob Elordi), who invites him…
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Master Gardener: Paul Schrader Rakes the Garden of Southern Weeds
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Directed by Academy Award® nominee Paul Schrader based on his original screenplay, MASTER GARDENER follows Narvel Roth (award-winner Joel Edgerton), the meticulous horticulturist of Gracewood Gardens. He is as much devoted to tending the grounds of this beautiful and historic estate, to pandering to his employer, the wealthy dowager Mrs.…
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Anatomy of a Fall: Putting the Author and Audience Response on Trial
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: For the past year, Sandra, her husband Samuel, and their eleven-year-old son Daniel have lived a secluded life in a remote town in the French Alps. When Samuel is found dead in the snow below their chalet, the police question whether he was murdered or committed suicide. Samuel’s suspicious death…
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The Creator: Simulating Humanity Via Machine Language
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: From writer/director Gareth Edwards (“Rogue One,” “Godzilla“) comes an epic sci-fi action thriller set amidst a future war between the human race and the forces of artificial intelligence. Joshua (John David Washington, “Tenet“), a hardened ex-special forces agent grieving the disappearance of his wife (Gemma Chan, “Eternals“), is recruited to…
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The Blackening: Racing to Get Every Bit of Killer Satire In
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: The Blackening centers around a group of Black friends who reunite for a Juneteenth weekend getaway only to find themselves trapped in a remote cabin with a twisted killer. Forced to play by his rules, the friends soon realize this ain’t no motherfu**in’ game. Directed by Tim Story (Ride Along,…
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Survive: Dashing Through the Snow
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: When their plane crashes on a remote snow-covered mountain, Jane and Paul have to fight for their lives as the only remaining survivors. Together they embark on a harrowing journey out of the wilderness. Review: In Survive, an adventure drama now streaming on STARZ, Sophie Turner not playing a bestie…
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Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant: A masterfully manipulative war thriller
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant follows US Army Sergeant John Kinley (Jake Gyllenhaal) and Afghan interpreter Ahmed (Dar Salim). After an ambush, Ahmed goes to Herculean lengths to save Kinley’s life. When Kinley learns that Ahmed and his family were not given safe passage to America as promised, he must repay…
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Sanctuary: Who’s Screwing With Whom?
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Set over the course of one night in a single hotel room, “Sanctuary” tells the story of a dominatrix (Margaret Qualley) and Hal (Christopher Abbott), her wealthy client. About to inherit his late father’s position and fortune, Hal tries to end their relationship, but when his attempt to cut ties…
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Plane: Gerard Butler Saves Us from Liam Neeson Once Again
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: In the white-knuckle action movie PLANE, pilot Brodie Torrance (Gerard Butler) saves his passengers from a lightning strike by making a risky landing on a war-torn island — only to find that surviving the landing was just the beginning. When most of the passengers are taken hostage by dangerous rebels,…
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The Equalizer 3: Finding Home By Killing Everyone in the Old Town
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Since giving up his life as a government assassin, Robert McCall (Denzel Washington) has struggled to reconcile the horrific things he’s done in the past and finds a strange solace in serving justice on behalf of the oppressed. Finding himself surprisingly at home in Southern Italy, he discovers his new…
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Hypnotic: Jedi Mind Tricks All Around
Movie info via Rotten Tomatoes: Determined to find his missing daughter, Austin detective Danny Rourke finds himself spiraling down a rabbit hole investigating a series of reality-bending crimes where he will ultimately call into question his most basic assumptions about everything and everyone in his world. Aided by Diana Cruz, a gifted psychic, Rourke simultaneously…
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The Wrath of Becky: Getting Her Revenge on the Second Time
Movie Info via Rotten Tomatoes: Two years after she escaped a violent attack on her family, Becky attempts to rebuild her life in the care of an older woman — a kindred spirit named Elena. But when a group known as the “Noble Men” break into their home, attack them, and take her beloved dog,…
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How to Blow Up a Pipeline: Oh, Just Get on With It
Summary via IMDB: Theo and Xochitl, lifelong companions from Long Beach, California, a city riddled with pollution from multiple oil refineries, are now in their twenties. After Xochitl’s mother passes away during an unexpected heatwave that she attributes to climate change, she becomes disillusioned with the sluggish pace of her college divestment campaign. Seeking more…
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Unseen: A Phone Thriller With Long Distance Eyes
Summary via Wikipedia: Gas station clerk Sam receives a call from Emily, a nearly blind woman who is running from her murderous ex in the woods. Emily must survive the ordeal with Sam being her eyes from afar using a video call. Review: Unseen is a neat little thriller with the most interesting twist: the…
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River Wild: A Feral Thriller
Storyline via Wikipedia; Estranged brother and sister Gray and Joey, embark on a whitewater rafting trip amongst tourists with their childhood friend named Trevor. Along the river, the events quickly turn from exciting to terrifying, as the group finds themselves trapped alongside a killer who is intent to sabotage the trip while keeping secrets from…
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Mission Impossible; Dead Reckoning-Part One— See Tom Run and Run and Talk and Talk
Storyline via IMDB: Ethan Hunt and the IMF team must track down a terrifying new weapon that threatens all of humanity if it falls into the wrong hands. With control of the future and the fate of the world at stake, a deadly race around the globe begins. Confronted by a mysterious, all-powerful enemy, Ethan…
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Blow Up My Life: Another Generic Drug
Storyline via Chattanooga Film Festival: Jason (JASON SELVIG), a disillusioned pharmaceutical employee, is fired after a drug-fueled social media post goes viral, but when he accidentally discovers a deadly opioid conspiracy hidden by his former boss (DAVRAM STIEFLER) he sets out to redeem himself. In this noir comedy-thriller set in the age of tech, Jason…
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Hell Hath No Fury: Marriage Is So Deadly Funny
Storyline via IMDB: A husband and a wife separately and unknowingly plot to murder each other on the same fateful night. Review: Hell Hath No Fury is a murder comedy of errors. There are murders and infidelities and betrayals a plenty which all go merrily awry and right. One cohort dies with a knife blade…
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Shazam: The Fury of the Gods- A Little too Much DC Universe
Plot via IMDB: The film continues the story of teenage Billy Batson who, upon reciting the magic word “SHAZAM!” is transformed into his adult Super Hero alter ego, Shazam In the sequel, Shazam: Fury of the Gods the superhero’s alter ego is the 17-year-old Billy Batson (Asher Angel), a foster child on the cusp of…
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John Wick 4: Same John, Meaner Dog
Plot via IMDB: John Wick uncovers a path to defeating The High Table. But before he can earn his freedom, Wick must face off against a new enemy with powerful alliances across the globe and forces that turn old friends into foes. John Wick: Chapter Four like its predecessors is an endless kinetic display of…
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Knock at the Cabin: Shyamalan Gets Less Shocking Just More Twisty
Plot via IMDB; Wen, only seven years old, is vacationing with her two dads, Eric and Andrew, at a remote cabin. While catching grasshoppers, she is approached by a stranger named Leonard. Initially friendly, he explains that he needs Wen and her parents’ help to save the world. However, Wen becomes suspicious when three other…
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Violent Night: This Is One Die-Hardened Santa
Plot via IMDB: When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint I’m one of those film fans that thinks Die…
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The Good Nurse: Meds and Murder on the Side
Plot via IMDB: Amy, a compassionate nurse and single mother struggling with a life-threatening heart condition, is stretched to her physical and emotional limits by the hard and demanding night shifts at the ICU. But help arrives when Charlie, a thoughtful and empathetic fellow nurse, starts at her unit. While sharing long nights at the…
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Megan: Just Another Grizzly American Girl Doll
Plot via IMDB: When Gemma suddenly becomes the caretaker of her orphaned 8-year-old niece, Cady, Gemma’s unsure and unprepared to be a parent. Under intense pressure at work, Gemma decides to pair her M3GAN prototype with Cady in an attempt to resolve both problems-a decision that will have unimaginable consequences When you’re a robot engineer…
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Cocaine Bear: Zonked Out More than the Average Bear
Plot via IMDB: Inspired by the 1985 true story of a drug runner’s plane crash, missing cocaine, and the black bear that ate it, this wild dark comedy finds an oddball group of cops, criminals, tourists and teens converging in a Georgia forest where a 500-pound apex predator has ingested a staggering amount of cocaine…
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Sundance: The Tuba Thieves
Plot via Sundance:A spate of robberies in Southern California schools had an oddly specific target: tubas. In this work of creative nonfiction, d/Deaf first-time feature director Alison O’Daniel presents the impact of these crimes from an unexpected angle. The film unfolds mimicking a game of telephone, where sound’s feeble transmissibility is proven as the story…
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Sundance: Bad Behaviour
Plot via Sundance:Lucy seeks enlightenment. The former child actress makes a pilgrimage to join her guru, Elon Bello (Ben Whishaw), for a silent retreat at a beautiful mountain resort with a Tesla-crammed parking lot. Before she shuts off her phone to the world, Lucy reaches out to her daughter, Dylan — a stunt person training…
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Sundance: Animalia
Plot via Sundance:Heavily pregnant Itto looks forward to a day of peace and quiet when she gets her affluent household mostly to herself after her husband, Amine, goes away on business. She’s quickly lost sight of her modest origins and has adapted to her new family’s detached opulence. But when a mysterious state of emergency…
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Sundance: Heroic
Plot via Sundance:Eighteen-year-old Luis (Santiago Sandoval Carbajal) enlists as an infantry cadet in the Heroic Military College in the hopes of becoming an officer and supporting his struggling family. Tucked away in the mountains and surrounded by statues honoring Aztec gods, the school is constructed from giant slabs of stone and ruled by even more…
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Sundance: Fair Play
Plot via SundanceHot off the heels of their new engagement, thriving New York couple Emily (Phoebe Dynevor) and Luke (Alden Ehrenreich) can’t get enough of each other. When a coveted promotion at a cutthroat financial firm arises, supportive exchanges between the lovers begin to sour into something more sinister. As the power dynamics irrevocably shift…
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Sundance: The Accidental Getaway Driver
Plot via Sundance:Long, a Vietnamese driver in Southern California, answers a late-night call for a ride. Already in his pajamas, he reluctantly accepts, picking up a man, Tây, and his two companions. But the men, recently escaped convicts from an Orange County jail, take Long hostage at gunpoint, thrusting him into their getaway plan. When…
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Missing: Google How to Overwrite a Thriller
Plot (from Wikipedia)When her mother disappears while on vacation in Colombia with her new boyfriend, June’s search for answers is hindered by international red tape. Stuck thousands of miles away in Los Angeles, June creatively uses all the latest technology at her fingertips to try and find her before it’s too late. However, as she…
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“Summer of 84” Goes Beyond Stranger Things
Summer of 84 earnestness will engage the 80’s fanboy. Its twist will shock them.