Machete’s origin stems from a pseudo movie trailer (and one of the highlights) in the B-movie homage Grindhouse, Robert Rodriguez and Quentin Tarantino's’ double bill. Machete is a fine gory action thriller about a hit man/ex-cop professional slasher seeking revenge on very bad people.  Not only do things start off with an immediate bang and an El Mariachi feel within the first five minutes, but Machete delivers ample badass dudes with big knives, guns, sluts and gore…this is my kind of flick.

They say you can’t judge a book by its cover, but we’re all guilty of it. What they should probably also say is: You can’t judge a movie by its poster, which is exactly what I did before I saw The American, starring George Clooney. On the poster, Clooney is running with a gun in his hand with a stern look of concentration on his face. I was expecting an action-packed, James Bond-esque film, except that Clooney is an assassin instead of a spy. I was mistaken.

It’s been more than 20 years since a tale of enemies who become friends who become lovers became the gold standard for the contemporary romantic comedy. But Going the Distance helps us understand why every exploration of what works or doesn’t work in the genre circles back to When Harry Met Sally.