Thriller
Rod Lott
London, jazz, neon-lit nights, a posh hotel, a heist, Imogen Poots: Comes a Bright Day has so many elements I love to see in the movies, yet they add up to such a minuscule amount of pleasure. It's like pouring your favorite bubbly beverage all the way to the top of a frosty glass, only to see that once the head has subsided, you're left with so little.

Horror
Rod Lott
Call me crazy, but 3,400 square feet seems like an awfully massive home for a strip-mall veterinarian's assistant and a Geek Squad-esque installer of home-theater systems. Then again, the place does have its drawbacks: doors open on their own, furniture moves mysteriously, mold appears, and then things start to die within its well-mortgaged walls — a Costco cactus here, the neighbors’ dog there.

Comedy
Rod Lott
Reveals Big Tits Zombie lead actress Sora Aoi in the disc's behind-the-scenes footage, "We have action, nudity, striptease, zombies, and splatter." Oh, you guessed that already? Either way, her eight words could double as a review.

Music
Louis Fowler
Singer/songwriter Savannah Jaine wants to perform for you. Just name the time and the place.

Eclectic
Rod Lott

Drama
Phil Bacharach
Alfred Hitchcock was more than the master of suspense. The director of such landmark motion pictures as Rear Window and Vertigo was instrumental in devising the language of modern film. As such, it seems a cruel irony that a movie about him would be made by decidedly lesser filmmakers.

Music
Joshua Boydston
The All-American Rejects with Shiny Toy Guns and more
6 p.m. Friday
Diamond Ballroom
8001 S. Eastern
diamondballroom.net
677-9169
$19-$24

Thriller
Rod Lott
Just a decade after starring in Sleuth, Michael Caine returned to similar fare in 1982's Deathtrap. Both are crafty mysteries with a bare minimum of characters and even fewer settings, but many twists to leave viewers with spinning heads.

Drama
Rod Lott
If John Hillcoat is setting out to build a directorial career on downbeat and depressing films, he's doing a fine job. From The Proposition and The Road — especially The Road — and now Lawless, bleakness is his bread and butter.

Television series
Rod Lott
At least not in its initial release, I’m guessing not many saw 2010’s Tiny Furniture, an imperfect but smart and charming comedy that burst Lena Dunham, its star/writer/director, onto the indie-feature scene. On its strength and reception, Dunham scored a series deal at HBO with none other than Judd Apatow (Bridesmaids) producing