Every horror franchise has at least one black sheep in its series of films, and it's safe to say the Texas Chainsaw Massacre family just found a new source of shame to hide away in its basement and pretend  doesn't exist. The recent string of reboots for classic horror franchises like Friday the 13th, Nightmare on Elm Street, Halloween, and now Texas Chainsaw Massacre have all been disappointing, but Director John Luessenhop's Texas Chainsaw 3D takes the cake as the most incomprehensible and horribly written of the lot. Besides an interesting look into the start of Leatherface's origins, Texas Chainsaw 3D offers nothing to the ailing franchise but horrible one-liners, nonsensical storytelling, and boring slasher kills.

Colloquially and unofficially, every time someone takes a gun and walks into a school or crowded space and kills a bunch of people, everyone else proclaims, "There must be something wrong in their head." In part, that diagnosis isn't wrong, but it doesn't really take into question the big picture of the multitude of variables that might have led that person to do the horrible thing they did. Were they depressed? Did they have a bad childhood? Is there something physically wrong with their brain? The potential list of questions goes on, but ever since a man climbed a bell tower at the University of Texas and gunned down a bunch of his peers, psychologists have been trying to determine exactly what factors push someone from just being an angry or conflicted individual into a rampage killer. NOVA explores the progress made to date and goes inside the "Mind of a Rampage Killer".

Season five of True Blood seems to be a super-sized version of the show: bigger cast! bigger plot! bigger scope! It's enough to make the season feel completely out of control. And if you watched this season when it aired last summer it certainly felt out of control. With so many meandering plotlines it felt like the show had lost much of its excitement and verve. But True Blood has always faired better on DVD/Blu-ray, a true show that is actually more enjoyable when marathoned (but more on that later).

Whether you choose to measure it as a Sidney Lumet film, a David Mamet film, or a Paul Newman film, the legal drama The Verdict still scores high as a terrific example of all three. As a film about redemption with as many uplifting moments as disappointments, it's an excellent example of Lumet's ability to create contemplative moments from a total fearlessness of silence. For David Mamet it's a film of considerable restraint on his part that lends itself to the reserved interpretations of Newman, Jack Warden, James Mason, and Charlotte Rampling to decide how confident, desperate, or impassioned a character should be without spelling it out obviously in the language. The Verdict lets us into the story of a lawyer at his lowest just as he opts out of descent into abyss in favor of a chance at redemption.

It takes a lot to faze New Yorkers. Despite its outward appearance as the receptacle for the nation's dead-eyed, rage-filled, walking dead, the city comes to have a zen-like quality once one becomes attuned to its various assaults on the senses. That's because the city, which in the past decade and a half has suffered a major terrorist attack, a blackout and a several hurricanes (along with ongoing slayings and racial tension), has simply come to accept as everyday life things that would normally warrant some sort of police action, a fact thatBroken City doesn't take to heart. It's nice to know that the Billy Taggarts (Mark Wahlberg) of the world are still out there exposing political corruption and bad governance, but, once exposed, it's hard to imagine the residents of the city he holds so dear batting an eyelash at the shenanigans of its Mayor Nicholas Hostetlers (Russell Crowe).

The cop who kills is back, with Season 7 of Showtime’s macabre dramedy, Dexter. Michael C. Hall returns in top form, with a sibling crisis on his hands, not to mention a bloody blade in them. With the eighth and final season on the horizon, seven was a return to form that a tired series needed. After an undeniable peak in the fourth, grisly season, the villains and plots have worked and failed in spurts, much like the blood of the seemingly endless victims in Miami. Fans finally have something fresh to celebrate, not to mention a renewed quivering anticipation for how the house will come down.

Remember Keanu Reeves? He used to be a popular actor who made his name in basically every film genre. From the Bill and Ted movies to Speed to The Matrix, the man was certainly a bankable film star. Unfortunately, in the last decade or so, he has experienced something of a decline in the quality of his roles. The worst came in 2008 with the dismal The Day the Earth Stood Still remake. Mr. Reeves had made a career relying on his wooden persona but this was just the worst. Similar criticism can be said for Generation Um..., an independent cinematic mess and his latest debacle now out in a limited theatrical release and on Video on demand (VOD).

Any drama series aimed at teenagers has to walk a fine line so it doesn't come across as pandering, over- or under-sexualized, melodramatic, or any number of other possible pitfalls common in that genre today. Dance Academy succeeds by virtue of choosing a very specific lens through which to view a coming of age and then using it to cast a number of common teenage issues in a light very different from the usual fare. Instead of obsessing over sex like Skins, or over shenanigans like The Inbetweeners, Dance Academy focuses on a group of youngsters who love dancing and do their best to cope with growing up as they strive to do well enough to retain their acceptance at their prestigious Australian dance school. A talented cast and some distinctly unique storylines make it an unexpectedly strong teen drama series.

If the three essential components to a slam-dunk film are captivating subject matter, great writing, and an amazing cast, The Iceman hits two out of three. The script feels anemic, and can’t even be rescued by the film’s completely overqualified cast that skillfully portrays the (true) life story of Richard Kuklinski – a Jersey city hitman and mass murderer who also happens to be a devoted husband and father. Relatively unknown before now, director Ariel Vromen managed to bring together a pretty impressive cast for his biggest film yet, including Michael Shannon, Winona Ryder, Ray Liotta, Chris Evans, Stephen Dorff, David Schwimmer, and James Franco.