‘I Can Do Bad All by Myself’ (Drama/Comedy: 1 hour, 53 minutes)
Starring: Taraji P. Henson, Adam Rodriguez, Brian White, Gladys Knight, Mary J. Blige and Tyler Perry
Director: Tyler Perry
Rated: PG-13 (Violence, thematic elements and some strong language)
Movie Review:
Nightclub singer April (Henson) must raise her niece and nephews after their grandmother goes missing. April feels kids are the one thing she does not need. She is dating a married man (White), who dislikes handyman Sandino (Rodriguez) living in her basement. April, an alcoholic, does not want a complicated life, but it exists. She thinks she can do bad all by herself. She learns people enter your life for reasons unexplained at times, and those associations sometimes save us, sometimes from ourselves.
At first glance, this film’s title appears like a headline for a Tina Turner sequel. This film has nothing to do with the still gorgeous Turner, but the title works.
This Tyler Perry production starts awkwardly funny and ends dramatically flawed, but the middle is dynamic and moving. The splendid moments in between are because of good acting, especially from the child actors, Hope Olaide Wilson, Kewsi Boakye and Frederick Siglar. Wilson is especially cunning. Taraji Henson is one of the best actress on screen today. Check her performances in “Benjamin Button” (2008) and “Talk to Me” (2007) and her breakout roll in 2005’s “Hustle & Flow.” She has been around for some time. Henson is a dynamic actress, although she overacts some in “I Can Do Bad.” She typically plays a similar role in each film.
Henson’s character is unique in that it is typical of Director Perry’s screenplays. One of the concepts Perry best delivers is a glimpse at urban life in big cities. Second, Perry features religion in his movies, where most films treat religion as just a passable concept. Third, he provides an interesting story, even if it appears you have seen it before in one of his earlier works
As a director, writer, actor and producer, Perry is a talented guy and one of the hardest working moviemakers. Again, as stated in other reviews, the biggest problem is his films appear like soap opera reincarnations of his earlier films and stage works. “I Can Do Bad” is a lackluster movie near its beginning, the drama quickly picks up, becoming a touching film. All is well until a rushed ending, where audiences receive a cheesy ending — a predictable, shotgun romance with no substance.
Grade: C+ (Good, but you could do bad all by another movie)

‘Sorority Row’ (Horror/Thriller: 1 hour, 43 minutes)
Starring: Jamie Chung, Rumer Willis and Carrie Fisher
Director: Stewart Hendler
Rated: R (Nudity, alcohol usage, graphic violence, profanity, sexuality and thematic elements)
Movie Review:
This horror is a remake of the 1983 film “The House on Sorority Row” (Mark Rosman). It follows the paths of several sorority members of Theta Pi. After one of the Theta Pi sisters’ boyfriend has an affair with another lady, the sisters’ prank goes too far and a young lady is killed. From there, murder, mayhem and madness reigns.
The best part about this piece is Carrie Fisher as Ms. Crenshaw, a gun-toting, tough sorority housemother. The rest of this film appears to only be concerned with the curves of nice young coeds, teasing viewers with nice bodily scenery when the plot is as convoluted as an act of Congress. The cast is very beautiful, but they provide laughs more than frights. In a very serious scene, two sorority sisters, devastated by the knowledge a killer is after them, discuss cosmetic application while a killer lurks. These scenes are funny, but they are far from believable.
“Sorority Row” does nice foreshadowing, showing puzzles to this story via technology: cellular phones, Facebook, etc. This puzzle is predictable.
Yet, this piece falls prey to same aspects that make all modern horrors drab monstrosities. Characters’ actions appear erratically asinine; they never do the “right thing.” The killer moves quicker than anyone else, and many people die for hours before law enforcement and emergency services arrive. Participants watching this should count it as hazing.
Grade: C- (Do not pledge)

‘Whiteout’ (Thriller/Mystery: 1 hour, 41 minutes)
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Gabriel Macht and Tom Skerritt
Director: Dominic Sena
Rated: R (Sexual innuendo, gore, and nudity profanity)
Movie Review:
U.S. Marshal Carrie Stetko (nicely played by Beckinsale) is the sole law enforcement agent at an Antarctic post. Soon, a murder gives her plenty of work to do, but multiple murders become an unwanted nuisance, as they all appear linked. Even more, Robert Pryce (Macht), an international operative for the United Nations, arrives. Stetko does not trust Pryce, but she has no other choice, the murders are piling up faster than people at a party with free food. This all happens as winter approaches one of the coldest places on Earth.
“Whiteout” is a smart mystery film that very easily appears like a mix of “Fargo” (Coen Brothers, 1996) and an episode of “CSI: Crime Scene Investigation.” “Whiteout” is a nice, slow-moving mystery that never gets boring. As law enforcement tracks down the killer, the plot becomes more interesting. After a long buildup of suspenseful evidence, “Whiteout” ends, rather charismatically, restrained.
The flashbacks hurt this film, however. Sometimes a character’s motives need explaining from the start, not haphazardly thrown between good scenes in sectionalized bits. A series of flashbacks interrupts the flow of viewers following the clues. More important, the flashbacks of Beckinsale’s Stetko are like an enigma because the flashbacks are out of sequence.
Grade: C+ (Some whiteout on the screenplay would help.)