[6.00/10] Magic Camp (2020)

Magic Camp (2020)

Quick Review: In a typical Disney fashion, this one is sweet, harmless, feel-good, and full of family-friendly humor and adorable children, telling an 'underdog' story of togetherness and support, but "Magic Camp" not only has some magical tricks up its sleeve that will make you fall in love with the little underdog magicians and their ability to entertain as well as impress, but it also demonstrates some big heart along the way, and especially during the touching even tear-jerker of an ending.

[5.50/10] Mortal (2020)

Mortal (2020)

Quick Review: Bleak in tone, grim in feel, yet stylish, and emphasizing the splendor of Norwegian scenery, "Mortal" is too slow, uneventful, and surprisingly lackluster for a fantasy dealing with an ordinary man who gains stormy God-like superpowers, and Nat Wolff looks uncomfortable in the lead, and yet director Øvredal redeems himself in the unveling final act, manifesting his inspiration and admiration for the Norse mythology, even if the abrupt ending makes the movie seem incomplete.

[6.50/10] Yes, God, Yes (2020)

Yes, God, Yes (2020)

Quick Review: The most raunchy faith-based movie you will ever see, but also the wittiest, "Yes, God, Yes" is a sweet and charming, yet horny and naughty coming-of-age drama about adolescent female desire, led by Natalia Dyer's alluring turn as the modest, but sexually curious Alice, who discovers that no belief beats our nature, with the hilariously ironic approach taken by director Maine being the film's biggest strength, as it satirizes religious hypocrisy in a sincere and playful way.

[5.50/10] An American Pickle (2020)

An American Pickle (2020)

Quick Review: Displaying sense of quirk by using pickles as a main plot device, this one is just as creative as it is ridiculous, and it juxtaposes the charms of the old times and the chaos of present nicely, but purely as a comedy "An American Pickle"  doesn't work, as it lacks not just wit, but proper humor as well, it gets sillier and sillier as the story unfolds, the overall commentary is clumsily delivered, and Rogen's double turn often gets too much, but at least it shows heart in the end.

[7.00/10] Sputnik (2020)

Sputnik (2020)

Quick Review: Taking place in '83 USSR, this Russian sci-fier captures authentically the grim bleakness of the Soviet era, and sets a somber tone for its barely original, yet clever and effective story that explores the bond between a wicked alien and its human host with visceral depth, and though "Sputnik" is very toned-down in its approach, it offers some sheer creature terror, grisly gore, and true frights, but above all suspense, with Akinshina's gripping character being the movie's driving force.

[5.00/10] Swimming for Gold (2020)

Swimming for Gold (2020)

Quick Review: From the formulaic and predictable a champion-turned- loser-turned-winner plot and typical teen drama to the cheap humor and dodgy acting, this AU sports comedy is an example of lame film-making, and yet, the appealing characters, light, bright, breezy looks and feel, refreshing Queensland setting, and smooth pacing make "Swimming for Gold" a sweet, often enjoyable, feel- good, easy to watch movie that aims to be more of a guilty pleasure than a gold medal competitor.

[5.75/10] Project Power (2020)

Project Power (2020)

Quick Review: It gets messier and messier as the busy, if undercooked story unfolds, the visuals are vastly overstylized, and it never unleashes its full power, but "Project Power" is still a fun and energetic mix of sci-fi-infused cop action, revenge thriller, and teen drama with swag, all glued together with some shot-term, albeit catastrophic superpowers to shake things up, and thanks to the terrific cast, fancy looks, flashy CGIs, and some cool rapping involved, the end result is kinda satisfying.

[7.50/10] Double World (2020)

Double World (2020)

Quick Review: With more layers of depth than a regular martial contest flick, but also satisfactory in terms of action, offering some inventive set pieces and thrilling battles, this is on one hand an engaging story about fellowship, vengeance, and genesis, driven by dignity and determination, but purely as a fantasy film, "Double World" is a spectacular visual feast jam-packed with warriors, creatures, fights, chases, blood, cool weapons, and flashy CGIs, boasting with top- notch production design.

[3.75/10] Seriously Single (2020)

Seriously Single (2020) 

Quick Review: More like seriously hackneyed and even more seriously desperate, this by-the-numbers rom -com features every genre cliche, and doesn't even hide it, but when you add same lame dialogues, over- the-top acting, dumbass humor, and obnoxious, if occasionally charming characters, the result is a sparkly, yet tasteless romance full of shallow social media gimmicks, with the only good thing about it being the cool Cape Town setting, since "Seriously Single" is South African.

[5.25/10] #Alive (2020)

#Alive (2020)

Quick Review: It features a likable protagonist you can't help rooting for in his fight for survival, but that and some gory zombie mayhem in the end, this Korean 'virus' horror is not only extremely limited in setting, taking place mostly in an apartment building, but sadly it's largely lacking in originality, action, and execution, adding little to nothing to the genre, with all the practical effects on the undead looking as cheap and tacky as it gets, which makes them more amusing than horrifying.

[6.50/10] Black Water: Abyss (2020)

Black Water: Abyss (2020)

Quick Review: All the relationship drama between the mostly dull and irritating characters is as pointless as it is distracting, and the daylight- set third act takes away from the strain, but the dark, tight and soggy water cave location is aquaphobic and claustrophobic enough to make you feel uneasy, the creature itself is authentic and menacing, and the sudden croc attacks are gruesome and nasty, plus, "BW:A" creates firm suspense during the finely-shot in- the-muddy-water scenes.

[5.00/10] Greyhound (2020)

Greyhound (2020)

Quick Review: Visually grim, grey, and soggy, and entirely taking place on a crowded warship in open sea, "Greyhound" honors U.S. Navy and their valor, courage, and struggles by recreating an inspiring true story, and it displays very well technically executed action scenes, but frankly, it is a surprisingly trite and tedious effort, consisting mostly of shooting and shouting, that's more loud and chaotic than thrilling, and even the always great Hanks gets swallowed by all the busy mayhem.

[6.00/10] Palm Springs (2020)

Palm Springs (2020)

Quick Review: Essentially, a loopy nonsense of a sci-fi rom-com, yet on the other hand - a playful time travel romance with goofy nature, "Palm Springs" feels fairly familiar, as it is basically a mash-up of various well-known films, but then again, it's an oddly refreshing take on the genre that has too much fun with its wacky concept, building up a zany, cliche-free love story about two oddball strangers with fiery chemistry stuck in a time wrap, even though it tries a little bit too hard doing it.

[6.25/10] Host (2020)

Host (2020)

Quick Review: Extremely gimmicky, yet relevant to the current situation in the world, this quarantine-inspired 'desktop' horror done completely via computer screen windows does take time to warm up, appearing a bit too simplistic and familiar at first, but for its just hour-long runtime, not only "Host" delivers enough creepiness, supernatural mystery, and effective jump scares, but also hints on the uncertainty of our future, plus, you'll never look at Zoom online meetings the same way ever again.

[5.25/10] The Rental (2020)

The Rental (2020)

Quick Review: The cast acting and fancy location make this weekend- getaway-gone-wrong thriller decent, but strangely enough "The Rental" decides to play it as a relationship drama filled with human conflicts, on its way of building up to all the terror in the third act, appearing unsure on what it wants to be, not to say the mystery around the slayer and his background is unexplained and too baffling, but at least the deaths are grisly and gory enough to make up for the low suspense.

[5.75/10] The Beach House (2020)

The Beach House (2020)

Quick Review: The easy-breezy feel and coastal setting contrast with the sinister events that occur later on, but despite being mesmerizing in its cosmic peculiarity, "The Beach House" is a slow-moving, perplexing, and thoroughly eccentric exercise in horror that declines to provide any logical explanation to all the weird stuff happening, which takes away from the effectiveness of its original take on 'there is something in the water' concept, offering nothing but some gruesome imagery.