For some, redemption lies at the end of a long and difficult path. For many, that road is without a bend, to others a winding and treacherous journey of doubt awaits. To those who have done jail time all this can seem impossible.

Writer/director E.B. Hughes’’s New York City-set “The Long Way Back” follows one Max Lyons, a man who’s  just been released from prison after doing a year and a half stretch for theft.

I've never really cared for the films of Zack Snyder. They may look great as the director gives each one his unique visual style but the films feel empty and badly scripted.

Apart from his debut feature as director, the surprisingly respectful remake of George A. Romero’s “Dawn of the Dead,” every Snyder film became more and more insufferable. (It should be noted that, as of this writing

Director Luke Holland set about the incredibly brave task of getting on film as many of the last living members of Hitler’s forces as he could, and the result is a powerful, heartrending documentary called “Final Account.” Now in their eighties and nineties, these elder Germans reflect back on the terror that the Third Reich was able to visit upon Europe. But what of being German at that time? Was it easier to just conform when the Nazis were

Hanif Muhammad made the conscious decision to rise above the injustice and poverty that befell him and many in his community.

Muhammad found himself incarcerated due to the many bad choices made in his youth, as he went down a wrong path for many years. Allowed a second chance to rise above it all and break the stereotypes that affected many of his friends and family from

Actor Clayne Crawford impressed me with his performance in the excellent and underrated 2012 thriller, “The Baytown Outlaws.” In a film full of over-the-top violence and macho posturing, Crawford found a realistic tone to his performance which kept the film centered.

His film choices have been uninteresting and haven’t challenged him as an actor since this.

Crawford is back on my radar

“Impasse” | Yimou Zhang has made some absolutely wonderful films over the years, including “Hero” and “House of Flying Daggers.” His films typically delve into China’s past and complement historical stories with larger-than-life acrobatics and martial arts action. Zhang once again trains his lens on the past with “Impasse,” but this time it’s to the era of WWII. “Impasse” follows a group of Chinese special agents who are working in Manchukuo

There’s a decent idea for an action and revenge movie lurking somewhere in the mess that is the new Guy Ritchie movie “Wrath of Man.” For one, Jason Statham is present, so it’s foregone before the opening credits—done to the tune of a bizarro world, baroque James Bond style—have finished. In short: bad guys are going to die hard at Statham’s hands. They probably deserve it. What else do you need to know? Well, for one, Statham keeps his typical

In the opening moment of “Outlaws” (scored to the Doom-tinged sound of the song “Lunacy” from the Ambient-Rock group Swans), a leather-clad motorcycle gang cuts through the night streets like riders of an oncoming Apocalypse. It is a moment that immediately grabs and foreshadows the aura of the film.

Director Stephen McCallum immediately assures us that his first feature

In Tom Clancy’s excellent 1993 novel “Without Remorse,” a former Navy Seal Vietnam Veteran named John Kelly loses his pregnant wife in a car accident, befriends a former prostitute, helps her kick drugs, and finds her murdered by her ex-pimp who almost kills Kelly as well.

Seeking revenge by murdering pimps and drug dealers, Kelly decimates a drug ring, goes on a mission to rescue POWs and fights against political corruption and KGB moles.

After being canned for three years (allegedly due to pressure from the Los Angeles police department) Brad Furman’s “City of Lies” was rolled out last month.

Although it would have benefited from a longer running time and deeper examination into the facts (this story would shine as a three-hour street crime epic), Brad Furman’s procedural gets to the meat of the inquiry into