Bill Goodykoontz

It’s all a neat trick. Or exercise. Or brain-teaser. Whatever you want to call it, Upstream Color is like nothing you’ve ever seen before. But once you have seen it, once isn’t going to be enough

Long story short: Hunt for the Wilderpeople is a terrific movie and you should do whatever you can to see it.

There is nothing in the film that will keep you awake at night. Instead, The Awakening works much more subtly, with a profound sense of dread and resignation, a death-obsessed movie given life by Hall's performance.

Good movies create their own worlds, and that’s certainly true of Goodnight Mommy — even if it’s a world you wouldn’t want to live in.

The enormously appealing thing about Glass Onion is watching the cast have an obviously good time with their characters and with each other.

It's almost as difficult to sit through Starred Up as it is satisfying to watch it.

But it’s Atwell who steps up the most. Like Phoebe Waller-Bridge’s character in “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” her motives are fluid, which makes her more fun.

A mix of comedy, science fiction, nostalgia, adolescent wish-fulfillment and beer, beer, beer, its parts shouldn’t fit together as neatly as they do. But somehow Edgar Wright and Simon Pegg have again managed to make a movie that is knowing, touching and hilarious.

Miller maintains control over the proceedings at all times, which is impressive enough. But where he really soars is in the performances he gets from his three lead actors.

Like the first film, The Croods: A New Age is a pleasant enough movie. It may not make you forget the original, but only because you probably already had.

[Washington's is] a tremendous performance. It's when he is on-screen (most of the time) that Zemeckis' film really, if you'll excuse the expression, takes flight.

For a movie that seems at times to have no idea what it's trying to do, 'Silver Linings Playbook' is compulsively watchable. ... Throwing together so many movie tropes and blending them is both a brilliant idea and a scary one, but one that Russell proves well capable of handling.

Logic devolves, cameos abound — there are two that are truly inspired, one of which involves legendary recasting — and lessons are learned.

[An] enormously entertaining movie.

It’s fun, it’s smart and yes, it actually does have something to say. Delivered in this way, I think people are more inclined to listen.

The Testament of Ann Lee is a biographical film about a real person, though one about whom a great number of details aren’t known. It runs up against some rough patches during the telling of the story, but overall it is immensely enjoyable, an unflinching (and nonjudgmental) look at faith, no matter how bizarrely we may think it’s practiced.

He's often called the Yiddish Mark Twain; supposedly Twain, upon hearing this, said to tell Aleichem that Twain was the American Sholem Aleichem.

The Internship has some funny moments. The cast is too talented for it to come up completely dry. But for a movie about a place so filled with ambitious climbers, it is far too lazy.

The Secret in Their Eyes never lets you forget that you're watching a movie - and never lets you wish you were doing anything else.

Pattinson is what helps us keep pace. He completely inhabits Connie with his jittery, twitchy efforts — he can’t stand still, so neither can we.

Rogowski carries the film, and it is quite the performance — one whose appeal is difficult to work out in your head, which makes it all the better.

The Queen of Versailles is funny, sad, infuriating, instructive. It's the American Dream inflated to ridiculous extremes, until it bursts.

The cinematography is outstanding, revealing the harsh beauty of the land. And the acting...is terrific. The burden rests on Eid’s shoulders, and he more than carries it. He’s a natural, showing us Theeb’s curiosity, loyalty and ingenuity while still retaining the innocence of a boy who has been sheltered from the world outside the desert.

Villeneuve's telling of her story - and of her children's - is painful, searing and something close to brilliant.

It’s good — funny, smart and contemporary. By definition it can’t be as groundbreaking as the first film, but never does it feel like a cash grab.

An intriguing look at the effects on one man's life; whether they're worth the cost is something Steinbauer leaves up to us.

A great movie exists in Love & Mercy, side by side with a pretty good one.

Overall, it's exactly as absurd as it sounds, but in the best way.

American Honey is a remarkable movie, which doesn’t mean it’s perfect — its imperfections, in fact, are what help make it so urgent, so vital, so real.

A gorgeously shot, well-acted Western that resonates more the more you let it settle.

Along the way, Koichi and Ryunosuke grow up a little bit; Kore-eda isn't opposed to letting reality intrude on their lives. It's not sad, but more wistful -- the young actors make it so. They are delightful. So, too, is I Wish.

Maysles gets to the heart of what is important to Apfel: truth, in a world in which it's in increasingly short supply.

What Abrams has done is find and return the ingredient crucial to the original three films in the franchise that was sorely lacking in the second round: fun...There are some laugh-out-loud moments here, but also some touching ones. Happy, sad, exciting, silly — all that is included, along with the original sense of Saturday-morning-serial abandon that made what became known as “A New Hope” so wonderful all those years ago.

The Last Days on Mars isn’t a disaster. Robinson, in fact, shows some promise. It’s just not much of anything, a movie ultimately as barren as the landscape on which it takes place.

At times the film threatens to become relentlessly bleak, but never fully so, thanks in large part to Plummer’s performance. And cinematographer Magnus Nordenhof Jønck finds beauty in the most desolate places; even flashing police lights set against nightfall are inviting.

At the beginning of the film, you want Hong to work through the scenes faster. By the time it’s done, you’ll wish they lasted longer. That’s a kind of magic, too.

Aida's Secrets starts out as a fairly straightforward documentary about reuniting two long-separated brothers, but directors Alon and Shaul Schwarz don't stop there.

It's Gerwig’s movie, Gerwig’s take on childhood and the patriarchy and feminism and love and death — boy, death — all wrapped in a package that continually surprises. So yeah, it’s not what you think it is. It’s better.

Strange Darling is an original, well worth seeing — and then talking about.

What is so impressive is how deeply Abreu makes us feel what Cuca is experiencing.

It is undeniably fun to see such a great movie sliced and diced and put back together in so many ways. Too often when we see a movie we like, we just say it’s good, recommend it to someone and leave it at that.

The Eternal Daughter doesn’t scare you in the traditional sense as much as it moves you, and that’s every bit as powerful an achievement.

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.

Lucky is one of Harry Dean Stanton’s last roles, a rare leading performance, and it is a treasure.

The best thing is that Nichol doesn’t adopt a luddite stance. He doesn’t try to impart the evils of technology, at least not much. (Some people in the film lean that way.) He’s more inclined to chronicle the joys of a fading delight, one click-clack at a time.

Demon is a powerful film, one that makes us wonder what greater films Wrona might have made.

David Lowery’s film is about as quiet and patient as what is ostensibly a caper movie can be. Yet its engine never idles, in large part because Redford, at 82, remains a movie star, someone to whom we are drawn, even as he is politely robbing a bank with a note, a gun and a smile.

The storytelling in Linoleum isn’t simple, but the joys of its discoveries are. It’ll make you think, and ultimately it will make you smile.

As with "The Central Park Five," you come away from the film impressed by the storytelling but enraged by the facts. It's outrageous that this kind of thing happens, but Berg does an outstanding job of showing us how it does.

It’s not a bad movie, by any means. Just repetitive in its relentless praise.

A compelling film, and an excruciatingly entertaining one.

Kapadia does an outstanding job of getting at what Senna meant to Brazilians and to his sport. The man himself was a tougher nut to crack, but maybe that's best. A little mystery suits a good story, and Senna is definitely that.

This is not an anti-religious polemic, though it easily could have gone that way. Instead it is a much more thoughtful film and in some ways more troubling. No one is trying to do the wrong thing here, but, as with most things in life, it becomes increasingly hard to know what the right thing might be.

A heartfelt, moving and bracingly honest document of a famous man as he fades away.

The film is ultimately an excuse to watch and enjoy Streep, Wiest and Bergen. Sometimes roles for outstanding actors who aren’t in their 20s and 30s anymore wind up being embarrassing misfires (see the cloying “And So It Goes” or “Book Club” for examples or, better yet, don’t see them). That’s not the case here. Let Them All Talk is a low-key success.

It's a movie as warm and fuzzy as a comfortable blanket, and as safe as the milk Edwards prefers to anything stronger. Not as exciting, perhaps, but it gets the job done well enough.

There is a sad sweetness to the whole affair, for lack of a better term. Or maybe it's a sweet sadness. But O'Brien's outlook on life (he thinks his use-by date may be approaching), and Hawkes' portrayal of it, elevates the film beyond what's on the page, making what's on the screen a lot more satisfying.

Clever and current without being cynical, smart without being condescending, funny without being exclusionary to grown-ups or to kids.

The movie is as gorgeous as it is disturbing, and that’s a powerful combination. It may be about the beginning of the end of the world or the beginning of something else entirely. I’d be lying if I said I understand every aspect of the film, but I was engrossed trying to.

Especially rewarding about Oduye's performance is how she's able to portray that frustration while retaining hope and optimism.

It's feel-good, no question about it. But it's also absorbing, important and inspiring.

There is an edginess to Babygirl, an uncomfortableness that is part and parcel of the subject matter. But it’s somehow accessible. Maybe that’s a plus, maybe that’s a minus; perhaps it depends on your taste for this sort of thing. But there’s undeniable power in Kidman’s performance, one of the most interesting and, along the way, best of the year.

Is Whose Streets? the only story we should see and hear about what went on in Ferguson and after? No. It’s by its nature incomplete, one side of the tale. What makes it important is that it is the side that too often goes ignored. But here, at least, no more.

A compulsively watchable look at Rivers.

It’s not a warts-and-all treatment because, at least in this telling, there are no warts. It’s more about securing Berra among a new generation of fans as one of the greatest players who ever lived. And on that front, it more than succeeds.

There’s a great journalism movie hidden in Bad Education. Forgive the biased viewpoint. Luckily, there’s also a really compelling, breezy comic crime drama — with a terrific performance by Hugh Jackman — sitting there in plain sight.

The film is slow at times, despite bursts of action, and Chandor could have let it breathe a little more. The seriousness grows stuffy every now and then, but these are small quibbles. A Most Violent Year is an outstanding movie about business and marriage, not necessarily in that order.

David Fincher's meticulous direction pays off in spades. From the way he expresses the book's construction — not quite he-said/she-said, but a version of that — to the way the film looks (cold and uncaring, like its characters) to his work with actors (go Tyler Perry!), Gone Girl delivers.

There is an honesty to The Perks of Being a Wallflower, a genuineness of experience that makes the movie soar when it just as easily could have stumbled.

Simien's film is one of those rare works that teach by appearing not to — you laugh at some of the antics, cringe at others, but the film is so entertaining you may forget you're learning something.

Negga is fantastic. Her eyes alone convey passion, the feeling that she has had enough. Words aren’t needed. Good thing, because neither she nor Richard use them too much. They’re living their lives, harming no one, and being harmed for it. It makes the story one of the best examples of making a universal situation personal.

An epic-length, fascinating film about faith and its opposite number, doubt.

Dumb Money isn’t a documentary, and it’s not a go-to guide for beginning investors. It’s not trying to be. It’s trying to be something a little less weighty and a lot more fun than that, and it succeeds.

In an age in which celebrity gossip and page views trump all, hearing two masters talk intelligently about movies and how they’re made is, if nothing else, a welcome treat.

It shouldn’t work, honestly. There’s too much going on in too many directions at the same time. But Villeneuve brings it all together somehow. We’re more than five hours in between the two films (this one is 2 hours and 46 minutes), and while the lack of a sequel wouldn’t be as infuriating as it was last time around, I can’t believe I’m saying this, but I think I’m ready for more.

Maggie has some rough edges — what caused the epidemic, for instance? — but it's still a worthwhile effort, especially for a first-time director. And for an old pro like Schwarzenegger, trying something different and succeeding.

David O. Russell's film makes use of some terrific performances - Christian Bale is brilliant, as is Melissa Leo, even by their lofty standards.

[Jodorowsky's] a hoot, and so is Jodorowsky's Dune. But it's something more, too, a look at twisted genius and missed opportunities, a sad but intriguing combination.

There is so much beauty in Monster, and so much sadness.

Yelchin and Poots are especially good.

Subtle, it's not.

Legends of Oz: Dorothy's Return lacks any sense of magic.

If it wasn’t for her, it would be near-unwatchable.

This is a film that finds horror not in the extreme, but in the mundane. That alone makes it a worthwhile entry in a genre that it both inhabits and rises above.

The world Bell creates in In a World ... is so agreeable and inviting you’ll enjoy the visit.

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.

This truly is what a summer movie looks like — and yes, feels like.

Green shows us nothing lurid, nothing explicit. Instead she lets the toxicity build, bit by bit, until it’s seeped in everywhere. That’s powerful, and that’s worse, too.

Eschewing a tidy wrap-up, Reeves doesn't leave us feeling manipulated, as so often happens in films like this. Instead, we want to know where the story goes from here, and that's no small accomplishment.

Denis (“Beau Travail,” “35 Shots of Rum”) is a very particular filmmaker, forcing you to adjust to her rhythms. Never is that more apparent than the last scene, which goes on for a quarter of the film or more, right through the end credits and beyond.

The look of the film is jaw-dropping at times, beautiful to behold. If the story... can't quite keep pace with the look of the film (and, alas, it can't) it will take you awhile to notice.

Succeeds in portraying a life so solitary that, even when he knows what's going on, that's a deal Owen is willing to make.

Fences is a feast of brilliant acting, in a story that’s sometimes as difficult as it is powerful.

Puzzle just kind of chugs along at its own pace, one of those small movies that packs a bigger punch, one in which, sorry, all the pieces fit.

Malik Bendjelloul really knows how to spin a yarn.

If it’s not great — think of a sort of JV “Commitments” and you’ll have the idea — it is surely winning.

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.