Annabelle: Creation delivers

5 second plot: This is the origin story of the doll Annabelle and the evil that comes along with her/it. A group of orphanages are on the receiving end of her wrath when they come live in her house. It takes them a bit to realize what they got themselves into.

5 second review: They were not kidding with the title. It's a good origin story and it connects nicely with the first movie. It is a bit dark and heavy (not much fun) but this darkness combined with some very scary moments and a touch of gore, makes it a pretty decent horror movie. Special kudos to the sound effects.

IMDb score: 6,9/10
Our score: 7/10

The Dark Tower is not as epic as expected

5 second plot: A tower (a dark one) stands in the middle of the universe. It keeps evil things out of our world (and other worlds). A child's mind can destroy it. Evil dude Walter is kidnapping kids from all over the world to try and take it down. Enter Jake, the kid that can probably destroy it. And Roland, the gunslinger that will do anything to prevent that from happening.

5 second review: It's good, but I was expecting a 2,5 hour epic movie and this is just a tiny part of that. Which makes it feel incomplete or more like an episode of a TV show. Matthew McConaughey is on a roll though as the evil Man in Black. The visuals are good except for a run-in with a weird creature half way through the movie.

IMDb score: 6/10
Our score: 7/10

Message from the King is brutal

5 second plot: Jacob came from South Africa to Los Angeles to find his missing sister. But he is too late, she has been murdered. Jacob starts looking for the men responsible.

5 second review: This is a brutal revenge tale, but it's not slick or cool revenge, it's pure dramatic rage. Overall it's a decent movie with a very strong performance by Chadwick Boseman but there are a couple of false notes, like the strange relationship between Jacob and his neighbor.

IMDb score: 6,3/10
Our score: 7/10

American Gods Season 1 Episode 6: A Murder of Gods

5 second plot: Shadow's (still dead) wife, the taxi driver and Mad Sweeney go on a road trip. The original plan is to go in Shadow's direction, but somehow they decide to go somewhere else first. Wednesday tries to find allies (other Gods (I'm just guessing)) for the upcoming war (what war? I don't know). This time he visits an old friend with a big love for guns.

5 second review: Not very much happens in this episode. There are a couple of (quick, but) spectacular deaths. And Mad Sweeney is on a roll. So still enough to make watching this episode worth wile but kick up the pace, pretty please.

IMDb score: 7,8/10
Our score: 7,5/10

Alien: Covenant does not hold back

5 second plot: A spaceship carrying lots of sleeping colonists on their way to a new home gets hit by a blast of idontknowwhat. The crew wakes up, repairs the damage and picks up a recording of someone singing a John Denver song. Which is weird because they are the first humans there. So they investigate. Bad move.

5 second review: The horror is very good (critters crawling out of humans galore), the aliens are pretty good too (especially the last one), the science fiction (spaceships) is incredible, but somehow something didn't feel right. I think it's the fact that it's not really about the aliens.

IMDb score: 6,9/10
Our score: 7,5/10

The Handmaid's Tale Season 1 is bleak

5 second plot: Humanity has become infertile. Only a few babies are born. The US has been taken over by traditional fundamentalists. Their solution to the problem is to gather up the fertile woman and have them impregnated by the leaders of the country. Offred is one of those women.

5 second review: For a world where they are scared not to have enough people they sure are killing a lot of them. It's a bleak story (more drama than sci-fi) that slowly unfolds over the course of ten episodes. Sometimes it feels a little bit stretched out, but I don't think they could have fitted this in a normal length movie. Elisabeth Moss' performance is amazing. The way she has to switch from one extreme emotion (trying to keep her shit together) to another is unreal.

IMDb score: 8,7/10
Our score: 7,5/10

The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 16: The First Day of the Rest of Your Life

5 second plot: Complete SPOILER ahead! Dwight (Negan's top guy) convinces Rick and his crew that he wants to switch sides. Alexandria prepares to attack Negan on the next visit. But they get double crossed by the all-dressed-in-black-fuckers (I knew it!). Alexandria narrowly escapes the wrath of Negan thanks to the Kingdom and the Hilltop.

5 second review: Will this Negan nightmare never end? I guess not. It's a very emotional and tense episode. But the final battle is confusing and doesn't seem to add up. And as a final note on the season: it felt like every episode was produced by an entirely different crew. I'm not too fond of this 'let's try something different every episode' style.

IMDb score: 7,6/10

Our score: 7/10

T2 Trainspotting is good but not great

5 second plot: Renton returns to his home town after 20 years and catches up with his old pals. They are all doing great. And they're very happy to see him. Not.

5 second review: Flashy images: check; noisy soundtrack: check; bleak British colors: check. This is a good update (especially the first encounters of Renton with his pals) but some things feel like a sad attempt to be great again (the 'chose life' update for instance). 

IMDb score: 7,5/10
Our score: 7/10

The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 15: Something They Need

5 second plot: Tara tells Rick where he can find lots of guns. The gang tries to take the guns peacefully (sounds funny huh). Sasha is Negan's prisoner. He wants her to join him. She says 'yes' too easily so he doesn't buy it. Maggie needs to watch out for the leader of the Hilltop what's-his-name. He's bad news.

5 second review: Did I miss an episode where Tara was trying to decide what to do? She promised she wouldn't tell anyone about the hidden group. I didn't really know where they were going with it at first but I loved the Pirates-of-the-Caribbean-zombies. They were there to make us not hate Rick for stealing the guns from a weaker group. Because now he saved them ya know... Too bad the group-name 'Saviors' is already taken.

IMDb score: 7,8/10

Our score: 7/10

Life sure is scary

5 second plot: Scientists orbiting earth examine a microscopic lifeform from Mars. It's all going very well. Until they piss it off.

5 second review: This movie is not a pleasant watch. You know what's going to happen from the get go. And you really don't want it to happen. And then all of a sudden you realize it's even worse than you thought. And then... it gets worse. The alien life form is not always as impressive as I had hoped, but the movie sure is scary.

IMDb score: 6,8/10
Our score: 7/10

The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 12: Say Yes

5 second plot: Rick and Michonne are out camping. They are venturing far and away and eventually strike gold. They find the guns they need to give to the crazy all-in-black group who will help them take on the saviors. But apparently they'll need more guns. TARA KNOWS WHERE TO FIND MORE GUNS. Rosita is tired of waiting and is going to go for it. Maybe. Probably.

5 second review: If Michonne doesn't stop smiling I'm gonna stop watching. I'm sorry but I just can't take it. I seriously do NOT like the all-in-black team. They are too phoney, they look like they come from another universe. What was up with the fucked up CGI deer? Did anyone else see this? They couldn't get a real deer?

IMDb score: 7,3/10
Our score: 7/10

Get Out will make your skin crawl

5 second plot: Chris is meeting his girlfriend's parents for the first time. They're nice people, but something's fishy. It comes down to this: GET THE FUCK OUT! NOW! MOVE IT!

5 second review: This is a well made, good casted (the best friend steals the show though), tense, mysterious, weird movie with a crazy conclusion. There's a slow building (but very present) racist undertone that will make your skin crawl.

IMDb score: 8/10
Our score: 7/10
Metacritic: 84/100

The LEGO Batman Movie is cool

5 second plot: Batman, the coolest crime fighting superhero on the planet, slowly starts to realize that he's a little bit lonely. He's always fighting crime alone and he could use a good team-up.

5 second review: It's cool, funny and visually stunning. The movie starts with a big bang and you silently hope that this gigantic ball of energy will keep exploding for the entire duration of the movie. But of course: that's impossible.

IMDb score: 7,4/10
Our score: 7,5/10

The Girl with All the Gifts is too sweet

5 second plot: Spoiler alert! (The least you know, the better your viewing experience will be.) The world has been overrun by bloodthirsty infected 'hungries'. Some kids are infected, but can still function normally, as long as they don't smell fresh meat. They might hold the key to the cure everyone's looking for.

5 second review: The infected are awesome when they get furious and very scary when they are in sleep-mode. It's not easy to add some new interesting thoughts to the zombie/infected genre, but this movie manages it. They made the girl (from the title) too sweet though. It's over the top and it's distracting.

IMDb score: 6,8/10
Our score: 7/10

Rogue One is a good adventure

5 second plot: It's the story of the brave rebels who steal the plans for the Death Star (and set the tone for the original trilogy).

5 second review: I don't like what they did with the computer generated (human) faces. It looks like clay animation from the '80s. It's a good adventure and there are some great action scenes. The appearance of Darth Vader is the big thing that makes seeing (and repeated viewing of) this movie worthwhile.

IMDb score: 8/10
Our score: 7/10

The Walking Dead Season 7 Episode 6: Swear

5 second plot: After two weeks of searching for food, Tara and Heath run into a whole lot of trouble and get separated. Tara ends up in a women-only hidden community. They're not too fond of strangers.

5 second review: Although the hidden community and their terrible history is a good addition to the ever expanding Walking Dead universe, it feels a bit like a drag to watch an entire episode centered around a (not so very interesting) side character. And I can already predict Rick's going to get his hands on this new community's guns to get back at Negan.

IMDb score: 6,7/10
Our score: 7/10

Nocturnal Animals is not a conventional story

5 second plot: Susan receives a draft version of a novel written by her ex-husband in the mail. It's a story about a man who goes through a terrible ordeal. As she starts reading it she gets sucked into the story and starts thinking about the life she used to have.

5 second review: It's two movies for the price of one (a story in a story) plus some free bonus flash-backs. The story in the story is good. The story around it feels very artificial. The contrast is big. But I guess that was the whole idea. The performances are very good, the picture is beautifully shot and the score is perfect. It's a little bit too dark and weird for my personal taste though.

IMDb score: 7,8/10
Our score: 7/10

Jack Reacher: Never Go Back is a little bit predictable

5 second plot: Reacher makes a new friend in the military. When someone tries to kill her, he takes action. Then he finds out he has a daughter. When she also becomes a target, he brings his ass whooping to the next level.

5 second review: I like the Jack Reacher character and I like what Tom Cruise does with it. This movie's a bit more action packed than the first one. You see the twists coming from a mile off but it's still good (light) entertainment.

IMDb score: 6,3/10
Our score: 7/10

Ouija: Origin of Evil is just a tiny bit scary

5 second plot: It's 1967. A widowed mom and her two daughters make their money by holding seances. The whole thing is a scam, but they seem to be helping people so they don't feel too guilty about it. One day, mom buys a Ouija board to help improve their act. But in doing so they invite a very evil spirit into their world.

5 second review: This is not an all out horror movie. It gets a bit scary eventually but it's still only mildly disturbing. It's a very simple story (which is good) with decent characters. The ball is dropped a couple of times (for instance: no-one seems to be shocked when a dead body is suddenly hanging from the ceiling) but overall it's pretty good. But not if you were expecting a big, bloody and scary horror movie.

IMDb score: 6,5/10
Our score: 7/10

Doctor Strange is quite a trip

5 second plot: It's the origin story of the guy in the title. He's a brilliant surgeon who can't operate anymore after a serious car accident fucks up his hands. While searching for a cure for his shaky hands he ends up being taught in the mystical arts by The Ancient One. It doesn't take long for him to step in and help defend the multiverse.

5 second review: I'm no expert on Doctor Strange but it looks to me like Benedict Cumberbatch is definitely the right choice for the part. The special effects are very spectacular but there are a LOT of them. It's a shame we didn't get to see any of the other super heroes. It's 'just' the origin story of the Doctor, they should have made it a little bit bigger (the story, not the effects, they are big enough).

IMDb score: 8/10
Our score: 7,5/10