Bill Goodykoontz

Mylod, working from a script by Seth Reiss and Will Tracy, goes all in on the social commentary. Some of it is funny, some of it appalling, none of it as engaging as when Mylod uses food to make statements.

Without Lohan, Falling for Christmas would be another of the near-anonymous morass of holiday movies so prevalent during the season. Even with her it’s not much more.

Wakanda Forever misses Boseman greatly — the entire film is about missing him — but it moves the story forward in a way that seems logical and fitting.

Weird: The Al Yankovic Story is like eating ice cream for breakfast. Sure, it sounds like a good idea, and for a while it actually is. But eventually it starts to feel like too much.

Armageddon Time is above all what it sets out to be: a story about growing up, and all the joy and pain that entails.

The way Park composes each frame is masterful. Sometimes the set-ups are intended to throw you off the scent of what’s happening, but wow, who cares when a film looks like this?

It is a fascinating document of making a comeback record — sorry, Tanya — while balancing the hard work and the gentle coaxing and cheerleading required when working with a complex talent like Tucker.

If this is the end — and who are we kidding, the film’s box-office returns will determine that, not its plot — it’s a disappointing one. But it’s long past time to let it die.

The star wattage is blinding, but the film fizzles out.

Blanchett navigates this journey with ferocious power — even as Lydia is losing her own. It sounds like a cliche, but her performance is so believable, so natural, which at times means so disturbing, that it doesn’t seem like she’s acting. She’s just being.

The film . . . is good, not great; it never quite marries the skewering of New York elites with the true-crime feel of its grittier elements. But the performances keep it mostly on track.

There aren’t enough scares to keep you on edge in Mr. Harrigan’s Phone, but there’s enough else going on to keep you interested.

Too often the jokes don’t land. Neither does the physical comedy. The story doesn’t really hold. It’s clear that Schneider and his daughter love each other, and this film is a way to express that. But it’s a lot to ask of the rest of us to watch it.

What Finn’s film lacks in originality it makes up for in technical prowess, and he has the courage of his convictions. The colors, even the ones that should be bright, are muted. Everything is just a touch off, until it’s a lot off. Smile isn’t a great horror film, but there’s plenty here to make you … well, you know.

The gossip will die down, presumably, but the film will remain. And what will stand out about it in the future is what stands out now: Pugh absolutely nailing the role of a woman trapped in a too-good-to-be-true scenario, and slowly coming around to that realization.

It’s exceptionally well made, daring and experimental, with a powerful performance from Ana de Armas at its center. At its everything, really — she dominates the film, as well she should. But the film is also too long, too self-indulgent, just too much. It is a marathon of misery.

It’s all very British, enough so they should serve tea and crumpets during screenings. Some of it is also entertaining. Just not enough.

Things get gross and gory — it’s a Ti West film, after all — but more than anything else, West is having fun. Lurid fun, yes, but fun nonetheless. And if you’re a fan of horror and filmmaking, you will, too.

What’s really missing is the sense of magic. Some films feel like classics from the start. Others don’t. The new “Pinocchio” falls into the latter category. Watching it makes you believe sometimes it’s best to leave well enough alone.

Thus, despite being stuffed full of inventive, near-visionary visuals, “Three Thousand Years of Longing” winds up feeling a little incomplete. The story lacks the one thing the djinn promises: magic.

A Love Song is, no doubt, a small movie (it only lasts 81 minutes), a miniature study of a life. But it is an oddly compelling one. And Dickey and Studi masterfully make the difficult look easy.

The result is a movie that’s fun in spots — a good dish here and there, you might say — that doesn’t add up to a fully satisfying meal.

The best thing “Day Shift” has going for it is the best things the dopey ’80s films had going for them — a willingness not to take itself too seriously. And that only gets you so far. But who knows, maybe in 40 years this will look better in retrospect, too.

There are some clunky bits in which the filmmakers aren’t attentive enough to details. And the CGI in some spots is laughably bad. But Midthunder makes up for it. She makes Naru believably tough and smart, the kind of warrior who might well stand a chance against an opponent seemingly impossible to defeat.

Director David Leitch’s film, based on the novel by Kôtarô Isaka, is a hyper-stylized, hyper-violent action film that rarely comes up for air. It’s also a big ol’ mess. Although everyone involved seems to be having a good time.

Give writer and director John Logan points for creativity, exceptional inclusion and casting Kevin Bacon. But the movie could have used a lot more of the camp-slasher horror part.

“Nope” is good — quite good in places. But it’s not great. In fact it’s not clear that Peele means for it to be, odd as that sounds.

It’s delightful. Director Caroline Vignal infuses the film with just enough whimsy — but not too much. It’s not going to rewrite the rules of cinema or anything, but it’s not trying to.

Certainly Anything’s Possible is a welcome unique entry into the high-school romance genre, with representation playing an important part. It’s not as deep or as deeply felt as it might have been, but at least it’s a start.

Gosling and Evans are movie stars, no doubt about it. How far that charisma can take a film is a question “The Gray Man” asks and answers: pretty far, but not far enough.

It is, of course, impossible not to think of what might have been had Giffords not been shot. Every victim of gun violence inspires that feeling. But Cohen and West capture her work since, both to recover and on behalf of others. The Tom Petty song that inspires the title is apt: won’t back down, indeed.

Daisy Edgar-Jones is affecting and effective as Kya, known to redneck townsfolk as “The Marsh Girl.” If only the filmmaking and screenwriting were as good as her performance. It’s really just a swampy Southern Gothic soap opera at heart, with designs on being something more.

The film only works if Ethan Hawke is scary. And he is.

Kosinski never manages full control of the film’s tone, which is essential in a story like this.

It’s a throwback in some ways, offering the same feeling you might get from ’90s and early 2000s films like “Garden State,” “Walking and Talking” and “Flirting with Disaster,” not in content, but in mood and atmosphere — an indie vibe that permeates everything, in a pleasant way.

“Lightyear” is an OK movie. Chris Evans as the voice of this version of Buzz is a nice touch. But there’s just no magic here.

There is a really cool idea at the heart of the film, which brings together the cast of the original “Jurassic Park” movies and the cast of the latest bunch from the “Jurassic World” ones for the first time. Although they’re kind of like guests staying in different parts of the same hotel who just happen to run into each other at dinner.

Yes, if you have watched more than four or five movies, you probably recognize the setup. It’s the execution that makes Hustle more than just a run-of-the-mill sports film. Not always a lot more, but more.

Eventually the film's subtlety gives way to a more straightforward conclusion. But Okuno and Monroe still make Watcher worth watching.

Certainly the film, which Cronenberg also wrote, is a comment on celebrity culture, on environmental disaster, on relationships, all filtered through a Cronenberg lens. If you’re seen “The Brood” or “Videodrome” or “The Fly,” you know how bizarre and horrifying that lens can be.

Fire Island, Andrew Ahn’s romantic comedy that is basically “Pride and Prejudice” with gay men, is an utter delight.

Top Gun: Maverick is a movie-star movie with great action pieces best seen on the biggest screen available. It’s a modern take on old-fashioned fun.

The Bob’s Burgers Movie is good. At times it’s really good, with a lot of the charm and humor that makes the show so great.

Montana Story is a personal film, a small story told under the Big Sky. Those skies can make any story feel epic in scope — they frame tales as mythology in a way. But in Scott McGehee and David Siegel’s film (they wrote and direct), those same skies are so grand and far-reaching they can make you lose your perspective.

This is not a movie for the squeamish. It may not be a movie for the non-squeamish either. But it is a movie for those who like to see directors take big swings, seemingly unconcerned if they whiff every now and then.

Vartolomei’s performance is amazing. The way her face registers everything she endures, from grim determination to frustration to mental and physical agony, seems genuine, authentic.

The Innocents, writer and director Eskil Vogt’s horror film about children with supernatural powers, is definitely difficult to watch, a brutal bit of business. But the thrills aren’t cheap — they’re hard earned, if you can call them thrills at all.

As events unfold, Raimi’s hand becomes more and more apparent, and that’s a good thing.

Memory is a good-enough movie that could have been a lot better. Neeson is to thank for most of the good. Turns out he, like his characters, does have a particular set of skills. They involve acting.

If you want pinpoint accuracy, watch a documentary. If you want to see top-notch actors inhabit characters in genuine and ultimately moving ways, The Duke is a much better option.

There’s nothing particularly surprising in the plot, once you get past the meta-Cage business. Pretty soon it’s just an action movie. What is surprising is how enjoyable Cage and Pascal make the movie anyway.

The most interesting parts of Father Stu, an OK film in which Mark Wahlberg plays a rough-hewn man who finds redemption in an unexpected place, are not the ones you — and possibly the filmmakers — would expect.

The story, meanwhile, strains to be a masterpiece. And the strain shows.

There are some laughs (a well-placed police baton, for one). But Metal Lords feels unfinished, rough, like a solo the guitarist never mastered.

The twists are somewhat predictable; a twist within a twist is reasonably satisfying. But this is the kind of movie that relies less on surprises than chemistry. And Pine and Newton’s is fine, nothing more. In fact their conversation is far more magnetic than their romantic scenes.

It doesn’t always make sense. But it is fascinating — and fun — to watch.

There’s a freewheeling spirit to The Bubble that’s meant to reflect the times during which the film was made, but instead of creative forces finally unleashed it comes off as half-baked, more like a first draft than a finished film. Apatow knows comedy, and his intentions here are good. It’s just the movie that isn’t.

Impressionistic, unconventional and often downright weird, it’s most of all an exploration of humanity — what that means and how it is achieved.

There’s nothing wrong with a thriller leaving some loose ends. But Deep Water trips over them too often.

Among other things, “The Outfit” is a celebration of those who sit quietly, who soak in what everyone else is saying, who you overlook.

Compartment No. 6 takes people and places you might wish to escape on first blush and makes you glad by the end that you’ve spent time with them.

It all works beautifully. And the animation is brilliant. It’s all in service to the story of a girl who must decide whether to resist change or embrace it. Will she hide from her true nature or will she grin and — sorry — bear it? Turning Red answers the question in a surprisingly satisfying way.

The Batman is impressively made. The acting is first rate, and the chemistry between Pattinson and Kravitz is magnetic. It’s meant to be an important statement. It’s just not a lot of, you know, fun. Or as someone famously put it in another Batman movie, Why so serious?

How do you make an age-old tale that’s been told many times before feel fresh and invigorating? Hire Peter Dinklage, for starters. He makes Joe Wright’s pandemic project “Cyrano” come alive with a performance heartening and heartbreaking. Wright’s penchant for elaborate, over-the-top set pieces helps, too.

It’s not clear that the movie has anything to say, new or otherwise. . . . Other than that it’s just blood and guts, and lots of it.

Occasionally you see a movie that just satisfies on all fronts — the performances, the direction, the whole package. Even less occasionally you see one that does all that and moves you, too. “The Worst Person in the World” is one of those.

Knoxville and the others go about their messy business with a glee that is impossibly contagious.

With Drive My Car, the journey is as satisfying as the destination. It’s great.

Scream is a confident movie that begs you to compare it to the other sequels in the slasher franchise, even daring you to mention it in the same breath as the original. Good. It should. Because it’s even better than the original “Scream,” which came out in 1996. Until the end.

Jockey, Clint Bentley’s debut feature as a director, is a delightful subversion of the typical sports movie. It’s an assured film featuring outstanding performances, which of course helps a lot.

Greed, the lust for power and the willingness to do anything to obtain it are all on a lot of people’s minds just now. Washington offers a glimpse into that dangerous combination, one that resonates as strongly as ever.