While Tom Cruise’s involvement is the only reason “Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” exists, the sequel quickly turns into “The Cobie Smulders Show.” And, in a delightful surprise, the actress proves feisty, flirty and extremely skilled with both her fists and her feet.

Christopher Lawrence
You should focus on keeping away from this seen-it-all-before misfire.
Before she portrayed murdered “Fantasy” dancer Debbie Flores Narvaez in a new Lifetime movie, Roselyn Sanchez spent several hours speaking with the victim’s sister, Celeste. The actress says she also heard from Flores Narvaez herself.
Caesars Palace hosted a special Friday screening of the documentary “Unchained: The Untold Story of Freestyle Motocross,” where the man of the hour was Mike Metzger. The 40-year-old was back at the hotel where in 2006, he completed a backflip over the Caesars Palace fountains.
As a die-hard Red Sox fan, Ben Affleck may resent the comparison to Yankees great Reggie Jackson, but the actor has become Hollywood’s version of Mr. October.
Take away its racially and politically charged overtones and “Desierto” really isn’t all that different from this summer’s surprise hit “The Shallows.” That is, once you swap out the shark for a racist, psychopathic Jeffrey Dean Morgan and Blake Lively in a barely there bikini for a fully clothed Gael Garcia Bernal.