Bill Goodykoontz

Soul asks its audience to examine what in life truly is important. You never know what your spark might be, until suddenly you do. And it might not be what you think. Turns out you may have had it all along.

It’s a brilliant performance, Boseman coaxing so many emotions and feelings out of a deceptively complex character. His expressive eyes tell a lot of the story for him.

It’s not derivative. It’s just familiar. But it also boasts two unique elements.

Clooney’s hollowed-out performance — truly, he seems exhausted by life and disgusted by humanity, with a notable exception — is effective. But as a director, he creates two distinct worlds and struggles to bring them together.

Wonder Woman 1984 director Patty Jenkins’ long-awaited sequel, is a much better film. It’s not that it’s lacking in chaos. (With a running time of 2 hours and 31 minutes, it's not lacking in much.) It just uses chaos more judiciously. That's fitting for a film about wretched excess, about getting what you want and realizing that maybe you were better off without it.

It’s not particularly revelatory for fans, covering such a long expanse of time that it’s perhaps necessarily a little shallow in places. It is, however, a sometimes fascinating look at a career that had highs and lows even fans may not know about, as well as the tricky dynamics of creating music with your family.

I like the glitter. And I like The Prom in a general kind of way. It’s just not the show-stopper it might have been.

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.

Marder uses sound and silence as essential character elements. He offers frequent, jarring contrasts between what Ruben hears and what we do. This isn’t just to emphasize what Ruben has lost. It’s also a reminder: Silence can be shattering. It can also be beautiful. And it can bring peace.

Bettany is outstanding. He infuses Frank with just the right amount of inner turmoil and confusion as he tries to balance his love for his family with the wounds they have inflicted upon him — and as he tries to come to terms with his own identity among them.

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.

So sickeningly sweet dentists should show it in their waiting rooms to ensure business, the film just isn’t very good, even by treacly holiday film standards.

More than anything else, Freaky is a lot of fun. Just enjoy it.

In effect this is a pretty standard overcoming-adversity story, particularly with the more politically oriented social observations removed. What isn’t standard is the acting.

At times it’s a learn-your-lesson story. At times it’s a shoot-’em-up that does not skimp on the gore. Whatever trope it dips into, it does so without much originality.

It’s a throwback slow-burn thriller and an over-the-top scenery-chewing buffet — sometimes in the same scene. The back-and-forth tone prevents it from being the serious examination of human behavior (and misbehavior) it believes itself to be. It makes the experience of watching more strange than immersive.

Horror movies are notoriously tough to end well — how can the last act match the lead-up? But credit Chase with coming up with an ending that fits the mood of the rest of the film without selling out the audience emotionally.

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm is certainly funny. It’s just not the flash of inspiration the first movie was — it can’t be. Baron Cohen revealed more out of contemporary America (and a lot about Arizona) with the 2018 TV series “Who Is America?” The new movie will make you laugh, but too often it’s more of the same.

There is an element of sadness to this story that’s necessary to make it effective. Take that away and you’re left with a cute kids’ tale that doesn’t trust younger audiences to process the elements that can be difficult — and that make it better.

It’s more creepy than scary. But at least, you reckon, this not happening to you.

On the Rocks is a funny film, warm for the most part except when it’s not — and needs not to be. Minor Murray, you might call it? And yes, you could say that he’s in effect just doing the kind of thing he always does, only more so. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

The Trial of the Chicago 7 is something unexpected, fun. Sorkin trusts his instincts. Maybe real life has made it so that nothing seems over the top anymore. Whatever the case, it makes the film something else, too: timely.

Any film that reminds us that the work for equality is far from done is traveling a worthy path. This one just could have done it better.

Is it going to save Hollywood? No, probably not. But it might save your Friday night, and that’s not nothing.

I can say without hesitation that if you’re looking for something ambitious and difficult and super weird — and satisfying, in the end, though think of that in loose terms — I recommend the rather amazing experience.

Bill & Ted Face the Music is sweet and hopeful and, of course, kind of stupid, but that’s a big part of the point.

Of course with this kind of film, not every joke lands. You’re hoping for a good proportion — more hits than misses. The ratio isn’t quite as high as you’d like with The Binge, but it’s close enough.

If you’re up for an absurdist comedy-horror take on “The Most Dangerous Game” that involves murder, bad hip-hop and hallucinogenic rabbit poop, Get Duked! is the movie for you.

It’s a sobering reminder, during the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement, how undervalued Black lives have been, and for so long, in this country.

McBaine and Moss expertly build tension leading toward the election. Last-minute surprises and frustratingly cynical attacks only increase the edge-of-your-seat aspect of the film.

The balance between spunky kid film, buddy movie, comic book adventure and rugged violence is, as you might guess, difficult to find. But it’s kind of fun to watch “Project Power” try.

An American Pickle is the kind of movie that never quite decides what it wants to be. Pick a lane, as they say. Otherwise, you’re all over the place.

James makes some confident decisions in the film’s last act, showing a welcome trust in the audience, particularly for a debut feature. She also gets fascinating performances out of her actors — each does a lot with a little. The performances aren’t as muted as they are quietly, intensely focused.

Like the elements of a good hit song, it all comes together and seems fresh. It may sound like something you’ve heard before, but it also sounds new.

It’s a scarily efficient little horror movie, directed by Dave Franco in his feature debut, who proves knowledgeable about his subject. Really knowledgeable, evidently, because he and co-writer Joe Swanberg dip into just about every trope of the genre by the end of the 88-minute running time.

The beauty in Maines’ script, and in the performances, is how perfectly modulated everything is. Maines clearly gets some digs in at the Catholic Church, and Catholic education particularly. It’s really funny.

It’s dark, nihilistic, funny and ultimately sweet and hopeful, and thus so inadvertently perfect for people stuck at home practicing pandemic avoidance that you kind of have to love it a little.

Prince-Bythewood proves accomplished at directing set pieces that run toward the more balletic bone-crunching examples of the genre. Theron in particular, with films like “Atomic Blonde” on her resume, is good at this sort of thing. But she’s good at the moody stuff, too.

Hamilton defies a cynical reading. It is a great show, and an important one. Right now the latter might be more a more crucial description that the former. Don’t miss it.

When he’s on, Stewart’s skewer is sharp indeed.

Da 5 Bloods may not be the masterpiece you’d wish for, but it is a welcome contribution to Lee’s work, and to the conversations we all need to be having.

It’s a messy but ultimately satisfying film, an opportunity to carry a movie that Davidson takes full advantage of.

Wasikowska is outstanding. She’s got the most-interesting character arc, and she plays Judy at all stages of the story with a genuineness that never wavers, whether it’s as the quiet, put-upon secret weapon of the puppet show or the woman she becomes, which is something far from where she begins.

The direction in the film is terrific, with an atmosphere and vibe so pervasively thick you can practically feel what it’s like in the town. And on this particular night — this vast night — it’s creepy indeed.

Scoob! is a poorly written, nonsensical animated update of the Scooby gang.

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 trip through their history is a trip through the 1980s and ’90s, and Diamond and Horowitz offer the unique perspective of people in the middle of it then who are on the outside looking back, knowledgeable observers who know more now than they knew then. And isn’t that the idea?

Obama is so smart and insightful, even in response to the canned and near-sycophantic questions during the question-and-answer sessions on stage, that it makes you yearn for a real interview, a tougher documentary, one that trusts both Obama and the audience more.

The film, wisely, is built around Hemsworth. He’s good at this kind of thing, and no matter how many throats he slits, you still root for him.

Just being new and different aren’t enough reasons to stream something, not even when we’re shut in at home. Selah and the Spades is both of those things, but it’s a genuinely compelling film as well.

Trolls World Tour isn’t a great movie, but it’s not an awful one, either — and maybe most importantly, it’s a new movie, one you can watch right now without leaving your house.

“Never Rarely” is not strident, it doesn’t preach, it doesn’t harangue. Instead it relies on confident direction, brilliant acting and a deceptively straightforward story to make its point. Really, you probably haven’t seen anything like it.

First Cow sneaks up on you a little bit. You become engrossed in these men and their relationship, then their business, then their survival. And that’s definitely not nothing. Far from it, in fact

What She Said is a good movie, an engaging look at probably the most influential film critic of all time. (If you want to make a case for Roger Ebert, know that he was one of her followers.) But it’s obviously not the best way to understand her work and her influence. There’s only one real way to do that: Read her.

It all falls ultimately to Keough, who is outstanding at portraying the duality of a character, a duality the story demands.

It all adds up to a decent movie — one that, for those in the know, stands in the shadow of a better one.

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.

Clemency isn’t exactly a good time at the movies, but it’s definitely an enlightening one.

War is much on the minds of people right now, and 1917 is a good reminder, flaws and all, of what that really entails. The contradiction, of course, is that it is not one long slog through gorgeous sunsets, but a million little moments that make up the effort. That’s kind of the movie Mendes made, and yet it’s not. You want to feel a movie like this, but too often you simply appreciate it.

Cinematographer Darius Khondji gives the film a gritty, twitchy feel. The Safdies give it a story and a pace that never lets up. But Sandler gives it life, and makes Uncut Gems a must-see movie. Just remember: breathe.

How do you end the most iconic franchise of all time? (Don’t panic, there will be more movies, just not a part of this particular universe.) You end it by trying to please everyone. Which can make it hard to please anyone. But Abrams is a crowd-pleaser and a good one. He’s made a film that is unquestionably entertaining and wraps things up in a way that will make fans happy.

It’s a good movie. It’s also a flawed one. And in this case more than most, it’s hard to separate those two things.

It’s a weird film all the way around.

Haynes plays up the melodrama, and the film moves along without a lot of surprises. But that gives it a certain momentum — a momentum personified by Bilott in the storage room, sorting through boxes. It’s not flashy, but it’s how you get the job done.

The Irishman is a great movie, easily one of the best of the year, one of the best of the great Martin Scorsese’s career.

It’s more serviceable than inspired, but “Dark Fate” gets by on nostalgia. It’s just nice to see Schwarzenegger and Hamilton together again.

Erivo captures both Tubman’s defiance and her headstrong courage. But the film overall feels too conventional. It simply cannot fully capture the inspiring story of Tubman’s incredible life. Then again, what could?

Yes, the tone is a tricky balance that sometimes almost gets away from Waititi — there are some laugh-out-loud moments alongside some scenes of harrowing sadness. But for the most part, Waititi and the cast, which is uniformly excellent, manage to make it work.

Nothing is off the table when your status is threatened, no matter what your station in life. Parasite explores this in stunning fashion.

There are some funny bits and a welcome shot of new blood, but there’s not a lot of overwhelming evidence for this movie’s need to exist.

Tyrnauer’s film is fairly straightforward in structure — we hit the highlights up front, such as Cohn’s work advising Sen. Joseph McCarthy, a gig that would have killed most people's career — but it’s Cohn’s almost pathological need to be seen, and to be seen as tough and willing to fight, that makes the film so compelling.

Maybe there’s a place in the film world for El Coyote as a cult artifact, something that years from now enthusiasts will defend as a kind of dada experiment. In the moment, though, as you suffer through it, it’s just an ill-conceived mess.

Clearly, Zeroville is not a film for everyone. But if you love movies and you’re willing to experiment, it’s an enjoyable trip.

There was something about the first film, about seeing not just the horror but also the joy of growing up through the kids’ eyes. That’s lost by necessity here, but It Chapter Two certainly misses it. And so do I.

This isn’t a great horror movie so much as a fun thrill ride. Bettinelli-Olpin and Gillett know just how to put Weaving’s talents to good use.

It’s Hodge’s portrayal of Banks that elevates the film.

Them That Follow is a tough slog, no doubt. But it’s also a worthwhile one, even if you might appreciate it more than you’ll enjoy it.

Nanjiani is kind of like Bill Murray. There's just something about him that makes you anticipate something funny coming, if not now, soon, so why not start laughing? I don't know whether it would work in just any film, but here he's such an oasis of intelligence in a desert of comedic stupidity that I'd like to see if it would.

The Quiet One could have used a lot more complexity.

The handling of the faith aspect is actually one of the stronger parts of the film. Some movies like this lay it on thick, basically existing as a religious recruitment video. Here, and here alone, Ellis lays off and lets the audience think things through. The message is more effective this way.

The “Toy Story” saga felt fully complete without it, which makes this a movie that doesn’t really need to exist, but whose existence doesn’t diminish the whole, either.

The Dead Don’t Die isn’t bad, exactly. It’s just that with all this talent and all this beautiful weirdness at hand, it could have been so much better.

You come to a Godzilla movie for the epic fights, and on that front, Dougherty delivers.

Happily, this is a movie about not just idealism but practical idealism, and the struggle that maintaining it requires. It looks drop-dead gorgeous and, despite a few storytelling short cuts, it's unexpectedly moving.

Shadow is a terrific film — gorgeous, violent, Byzantine, inventive, just a joy to watch. Once it gets going.

It’s long on violence and short on storytelling. It aims high, working in the realm of myths, but it does so in hit-or-miss fashion.

It’s a good movie, so smartly directed by Ralph Fiennes, who also appears as Nureyev’s dance instructor, that at times it feels like an IQ test. But the story is intriguing and, ultimately, gripping enough to overcome all that.

Director Shawn Seet’s film is surprisingly sweet and moving.

Peele’s visual audacity is at times breathtaking, and always serves a greater purpose. There is a beautiful overhead shot of the family walking along the beach, carrying their supplies, casting long shadows. There’s no way to know in the moment you’re admiring this that it carries meaning that informs the rest of the film. That’s just terrific filmmaking.

It may be haphazard and loosely focused. But thanks to Skarsgård it’s never really boring.

It’s a weird little genre, the sick-teen romance. “Five Feet Apart” winds up as just a pedestrian entry in it, because it tries way too hard on the melodrama front. Being a teenager is difficult enough. Being a sick teenager is presumably that much harder. Being a teenager in “Five Feet Apart” means suffering from something else, in addition: overkill. And that’s deadly.

Credit returning director Christopher Landon and screenwriter Scott Lobdell (Landon co-writes this time) with trying something different with the story. Blame them for not doing something better.

Dig a little deeper, however, and you’ll find … another Liam-Neeson-gets-revenge action thriller. But one with quite a few laughs thrown in amidst the unlikely ugly heroics.

Capernaum is a tough slog, no doubt, even by tough-slog standards. But that’s a big part of what makes it so rewarding.

Jenkins brings an urgency to If Beale Street Could Talk, along with the melancholy of problems still yet to be solved.

How you feel about the film will depend on how you feel about politics, probably. But don’t let partisanship get in the way of appreciating another inventive film from McKay, and some truly brilliant performances. Surely on that, we can all agree.

The film gifts us with a fresh perspective, not just of the space race, but of ourselves.