Lights Out ... Have no fear

HORROR film Lights Out by Swedish director David F. Sandberg, based on his short film of the same name, is not scary.
   It's got competent editing, music and acting to send some shivers down viewers' spines. But the film's real theme is the fear of familial abandonment, which is reflected when a creepy creature appears only when there's no light.

Jason Bourne ... Bourned to death

MATT Damon made a mistake returning to the Bourne series for the fourth time. Physically, Damon, 46,

still has the body of a natural born killer and still packs a killer punch. But his haggard look reveals a tired franchise that should have just ended with his third Bourne outing, The Bourne Ultimatum (2007).
   Returning director-producer Paul Greengrass, who co-wrote this film, has run out of ideas. The action and situations are similar to those viewers will have seen in the first three films.

The Shallows ... Looking Lively

THE Shallows is light on length and entertainment. Blake Lively's bikini bod is there for us to ogle. Her

best pal while stranded on a rocky outcrop is Steven Seagull; the bird provides her with someone to talk to.
     The film has scary moments, like when the humongous shark jumps out out of the clear blue sea and swallows a Mexican with great relish. The shark's athletic prowess notwithstanding, I couldn't figure out why it didn't just jump out of the water again and at least nudge our hapless bikini bod victim into the sea.

Star Trek Beyond ... Management study

THE crew members of USS Enterprise in Star Trek Beyond make an interesting study of how people

thrive in perilous situations and how the leadership of a captain, initially unsure of his position in the world, can bring out the best in them.
  It's not hard for some characters to disappear in a film with many characters, and it's to Taiwanese director Justin Lin's credit that he lets each of them have their day in the sun. Lin's proficiency in this department could be due to the fact that he has marshalled a few of the Fast and Furious films.

Ghostbusters ... Ghostly pallor

THIS reboot of Ghostbusters is easily this year's biggest flop, bigger than even Independence Day:

Resurgence, a sequel. The plot is simplistic, the ghosts are a pale imitation of themselves and the baddie will be known more for his curly hair than his evil deeds.
   Heck, even the appearance of Chris Hemsworth as a dumb blond hunky secretary fails to derive an avalanche of guffaws.

Everybody Wants Some!! ... Let the good times roll

WRITER-DIRECTOR Richard Linklater's Everybody Wants Some!! is so funny that its message may fly under the radar. Linklater calls this film the spiritual sequel to his Dazed and Confused (1993).  Dazed was about high school in 1976; Everybody is about being yourself and being open to discovering and experiencing new things in university.
  His message is incisive in 2016. People are often pigeon-holed according to whom they hang out with, the music they listen to and even the bar they frequent. I studied in a small-town college in Iowa, and it was normal for cliques to form according to sports teams, nationalities, ethnicities and majors.