Alan Ng

Rockwell and Schwartz are basically doing their version of a Hope-and-Crosby road film. They play characters very familiar to an American audience and that is played against a British comedic landscape. The result it interesting to watch, but I think more for the Brits than its American counterparts.

I give Killers of the Flower Moon a mild recommendation. It’s too long and predictable. The saving grace is its performance across the board.

There are many flaws in Animal Farm, but its message is what I’m recommending the film for. Look, it will make great dinner conversation with your toddlers.

Blue Beetle is worth seeing, but it has many missed opportunities.

In the end, my question is whether Never Rarely Sometimes Always is meant to be just a story or offer something political to say in the great abortion debate. I’m certain the film exists to highlight the stories of young women forced to travel across state lines for abortions. Either way, there’s not enough of either to make it a compelling movie in the end.

UglyDolls is good for the kids and a great way to occupy their attention for almost 90 minutes. For the adults, it’s just another uninspired children’s film to hold us over until the next one comes along.

In the end, the film and its storytelling is meh.

The story is unique, and the end revelations are clever but fall short of mind-blowing (which is the bar). Lathrop Walker carries the film from beginning to end. He’s exciting and likable. He excels at his stunt work and provides the empathy we need for his character to carry us to the finish line.

The highlight of Snake Eyes is the action.

While having all the key elements of a mystery, director Stacie Passon’s film is more a character study focusing on themes of the safety of sisterhood and self-imposed alienation.

The reason to see The Last Movie Star is its performances from both Burt Reynolds and Ariel Winter. It’s a sweet, solid film and a suitable bookend to Reynolds’ career as a leading actor.

The real problem with the film is tone and pace.

It’s a good-looking movie overall.

After Yang is a good-looking movie, especially for one that’s mostly talking and conversations, the acting is good — an easy feat for seasoned actor Colin Farrell and Malea Emma Tjandrawidjaja is adorable as hell. But unfortunately, it misses its storytelling potential by focusing too much of our attention on the wrong story elements.

The only reason to see this film is if you’re a fan of any of the actors. Everyone is good, but ultimately, the story will let you down.

Though I may not have connected with the final product as intended, if the idea of a psychological thriller about pregnancy appeals to you, then the movie might be your cup of tea.

I’m Not In Love is competently made. Despite the screenwriting-as-therapy formula, it’s entertaining and engaging to watch.

Let’s be real: the only reason to see a Jason Statham movie is for all that juicy action. Fist fights, knife fights, gunplay, machine-gun mayhem, explosions… all in this game of cat-and-mouse.

In these divided times, films centering on political issues either make an earnest attempt to persuade the other side to consider its point of view or play to its political allies and demonize its enemies. The Public does the latter, and the result is to further widen the divide of political discourse with self-righteous finger-pointing.

The standout star here is Cailey Fleming as Bea.

While the film boasts an all Chinese cast, the story, culturally, is pretty tame.

Renfield is a good movie that squanders its potential to be great.

If you’re going in hoping for something the whole family can genuinely connect with on a deeper level, you’ll be disappointed. It’s a kids’ movie, plain and simple, and there’d be no way I’d see this if I didn’t have kids.

Ultimately, Vanquish falls into the cliché of typical action films, where the focus is on the action, and the story is a way to string the action together

There’s a lot of silliness that will warm the hearts of Rom-Com fans. The silliness at least is high brow with Paul Feig at the helm and Emma Thompson part of the writing team.

The Outsider puts a spin on the western drama but quickly falls back into the conventional tropes of the genre. It best to approach The Outsider knowing that its primary focus is on the story and not action.

Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is fast-food when audiences demanded a five-course meal.

Aside from Hank’s brilliant performance as Fred Rogers, I also liked the style of storytelling. The movie from start to finish feels like an actual Mr. Rogers episode with its simple three-man jazz piano score and its slow, deliberate pace. The overall story is good, sweet, but predictable.