Brian Lowry

The Little Mermaid is both slick and satisfying, meeting the primary challenge of allowing parents and kids to create memories around seeing it together. Setting aside its other assets, Bailey’s out-of-this-world contribution alone serves up the kind of splashy entertainment that justifies getting out of the summer sun, and in terms of being enjoyed far beyond that, might even have legs.

Fauci makes no pretense about where its sentiments lie, lauding a figure whose critics have seemingly twisted his image beyond recognition in their attempts to demonize him.

Those advocating for the movie as an Oscar contender might be overstating its merit, especially in a year with an abundance of options. But as a warm-hearted holiday release, Gerwig has created a "Little Women" for the 21st century, which, if history's any guide, will still be watched and compared to editions past and future not only through this century, but into the next.

Nomadland is a meticulously crafted little movie, anchored by a star at the top of her game. Yet it's possible to enjoy the film on that level and still come away feeling if the film makes much noise in the awards hunt, it's a sign that this was a relatively weak year.

It's also a terrific showcase for star Nicole Beharie.

Anyone with a taste for Cold War dramas will find an intriguing addition to their cinematic library with The Courier, a fact-based story featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as a Hitchcockian everyman who becomes the unlikely conduit to a Soviet leaker of secrets in 1960. It's the kind of historical tale that, after the closing crawl, will likely send more than a few viewers running to Google to read more.

At its core, though, is a solid caper movie rooted in the challenges associated with running any criminal enterprise -- a more modest version of "Goodfellas," with less blood, and more skin.

The requisite thrills are there, as well as the flourishes that audiences have come to expect from the “Mission: Impossible” franchise, from the ornate masks and disguises (a staple of the original show too) to the death-defying stunts (clearly a made-for-the-movies upgrade to the formula).

Overall Last Night in Soho's way-back machine delivers a thrilling trip, one that niftily brings a bit more Taylor-Joy to the world.

The Rise of Skywalker feels like a welcome course correction, featuring sequences and references that more cynical minds will dismiss as "fan service," but which derive emotion and power precisely from the bond and investment the audience has forged not just with this permutation on the story, but all of it going back to the original trilogy.

Economically told and cleverly calibrated to maximize its claustrophobic setting, it’s among the most effective films the director has delivered since his mid-career slump, making this a door well worth opening.

Young Woman and the Sea is an exercise in the simple power of a well-told story, the kind that can wash over and uplift you all at once.

A bit slow-moving at first, the history gives way to a thoughtful conversation about how best to remember this history and honor its victims, while simultaneously highlighting the modern science surrounding identifying the ship and, thanks to DNA, potentially linking its captives to their descendants.

What Bombshell briskly details is how and why Fox News -- and those who possessed the grit to stand up -- came under that unwelcome spotlight, one brick, and abuse, at a time.

What makes Marriage Story work, mostly, is the raw nature of the performances -- allowing the stars to flex different muscles than their respective blockbusters -- and the agonizing aspects of the two trying to shield their young son while losing contact with what made them love each other.

This is, admittedly, a strange time related to how and where people will wind up consuming this type of small-boned movie, but there's always room for another good one. "Let Him Go" might not be super, but it's definitely a trip worth taking.

What sets Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn apart is the personal connection for director Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Chalk it up to modest expectations -- starting with early previews that rubbed people the wrong way -- but Aladdin is a great deal of fun, with charming leads and elaborately mounted songs. It's hardly a whole new world, but in this suddenly well-populated land of live-action reboots, makes the most out of its familiar one.

Director Gerard Johnstone builds up nicely toward those moments, smartly taking its time before the casualties and coincidences start piling up. The film is also a savvy rumination on the perils of letting technology serve as the ultimate babysitter, with Cady becoming a bit of a little monster herself when deprived of M3GAN’s company.

Supernova is by any measure a modest production, but it accomplishes what it sets out to do: Creating a touching, low-key showcase for its stars, one that allows them to cast a bright light.

Ammonite joins a long list of forbidden love stories, yielding a movie presented in washed-out tones, which shines principally thanks to Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan. The result is a slow-moving, somewhat predictable but finally effective period romance that primarily serves as an old-fashioned testament to star power.

Always meta in its nods to the genre's quirks, the latest "Scream" is so self-referential as to risk swallowing its own tail. Yet this quarter-century-later "requel" (a term specifically explained in the movie) turns out to be a great deal of fun, cleverly wedding familiar faces with new stars in what isn't exactly a remake or reboot but rather plays like a refresh.

The movie still works, if somewhat marginally, in portraying the culture that allowed such behavior to fester, the mix of fear and going along, coupled with a fleeting compliment and the burning desire to get ahead.

Not Okay isn’t the kind of movie that’s going to amass a vast audience (hence its debut via Hulu), but it is one of those of-the-moment ideas that makes you take inventory of where we are, and the manipulation that can play into who commands the spotlight.

Tapping into the twin markets of A) lovers of rom-coms and B) recovering English majors, “Rosaline” promotes a fleetingly mentioned “Romeo and Juliet” character front and center, then builds a very clever and breezy movie around her. The result is a welcome starring showcase for Kaitlyn Dever more likely to prosper in the hamlet of Hulu than it would have fared in the province of theaters.

Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings conjures a slick addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe, one that owes less to the comics than most of its predecessors. The movie not only strikes a welcome blow for inclusion with its predominantly Asian cast, but deftly juggles epic world building with lighter comedy in a way that should appeal to audiences, depending on how many can be lured back to theaters at this moment.

Mean Girls might recycle old tropes about high school’s caste system, but for those who just want a boisterous couple of hours in a theater, it aces that test.

Ultimately, “Dungeons & Dragons” delivers enough laughs and thrills to justify braving a trip to the theater. And for these purposes, that’s game, set and match.