Brian Truitt

The message here is everything might not be as awesome as it used to be, but that’s OK. It's a grounded, modern sentiment – and a self-reflective one – wrapped in a hyperactively bonkers, extremely enjoyable package.

Directed by Lee Isaac Chung, “Twisters” is a monster truck of a summer movie, an often-enjoyable ride rocking a “Hell yeah, science rules!” bumper sticker that gets stuck in muddy subplots and looking at the original in its rear-view mirror.

An enjoyable piece of vibrant world building that steps away from the musical bent of recent non-Pixar efforts like “Encanto” and the “Frozen” flicks.

Not all the swings land in “The Smashing Machine.” Which is fine, given how hard Johnson hits (and gets hit) with this fascinating shift in his acting. Going to the mat here with the role of his life – so far at least – shows a performer whose true potential we're just now finally seeing.

After two mediocre 2000s film featuring Marvel’s legendary superhero family, and an atrocious third outing in 2015, the foursome makes its Marvel Cinematic Universe debut in a combo sci-fi/disaster flick full of retrofuturistic 1960s flavor.

The filmmaker embraces unpredictability and plenty of gore for his graphic spectacle, yet Alvarez first makes us care for his main characters before unleashing sheer terror.

If you were holding out hope that Frozen 2 could equal or surpass the original phenomenon, it’s time to let it go.

It took three “Thor” films for Chris Hemsworth’s thunder god to find his groove. Although Larson’s heroine is still a work in progress, Captain Marvel lays a solid foundation to follow her wherever she flies next.

It’s an outstanding, feel-good combination of East and West that depicts Japan's popular "rental family" business – where actors play a client's parent, spouse, sibling or friend at events or in their personal life – while also nimbly exploring loneliness, identity and the importance of found family.

The Lost Bus is a cathartic quest and character study that works thanks to McConaughey’s steeliness and Greengrass’ ability to put you on the edge of your seat (even if it’s just the couch).

It’s another complete and uncanny transformation for Theron, who dazzles as anchor Megyn Kelly in the all-star drama Bombshell.

An ambitious love letter to the original. It's also as polarizing a picture as last year’s “mother!” – which shares a commitment to blood and insanely audacious climaxes – and thoughtfully explores feminine strength amid the proudly self-possessed carnage.

The film’s greatest strength is its major team-up. Caine and Keitel have an electric chemistry when they’re onscreen together.

With Butler’s stellar portrayal, it’s never dull, and more enjoyable than not. The musical numbers are often dazzling, boosted by Luhrmann’s inimitable style. And the plot (for better and for worse) covers a ton of Presley’s life. But even when it’s over, you’re still not sure what Hanks is doing.

Satirical comedy, battlefield brutality and personal tragedy mix yet never completely gel in Napoleon, a biopic starring Joaquin Phoenix as the mercurial title character.

The intelligent, timely and twisty thriller Miss Sloane introduces an antiheroine feared by both Republicans and Democrats. Jessica Chastain is all hellfire and high heels as powerful Washington lobbyist Elizabeth Sloane.

Tonally, Ant-Man is a little all over the place — at times, it's a quirky comedy, heist film, trippy sci-fi project and family drama, never able to really blend everything in a cohesive fashion.... That said, when it's on its game, Ant-Man does some of the best stuff ever in a Marvel movie.

A hilarious, heartbreaking, touching and rather wonderful close to an enjoyable trilogy.

Director Ridley Scott unleashes a pumped-up, action-packed sequel that lacks the gravitas of the 2000 original, mainly because it’s way more interested in pulpy soap opera.

Nobody fails to break a bunch of new ground transforming another normal guy into a murder machine although Odenkirk's presence does give the film a conflicted and darkly comic center. Let's hope more machine-gun antics are in his future.

A loving ode to a few decades that Spielberg made his own, Ready Player One’s an entertaining nostalgia trip that wears its influences proudly but throws them at such dizzying force that sometimes you feel like you’re buried under Chuck E. Cheese tokens.

Unlike the corner of the entertainment industry it tackles, Mindy Kaling’s quick-witted screenplay for “Late Night” doesn’t go for cheap laughs, but instead wields incisive barbs to successfully make its point.

The movie is successful at finding little details that make it feel lived-in and authentic.

The moving and eye-popping thriller, starring a never-better John David Washington, dives into the hot-button topic of artificial intelligence but more importantly mankind's tendency toward war and how we treat those different than us.

Directed by Simon Curtis and written by series creator Julian Fellowes, the sequel is a charming and soapy new chapter filled with enjoyably dry humor (mostly courtesy of the fantastic Maggie Smith), some heartbreak, a dash of mystery and a history lesson from old-school Hollywood.

There’s also a relentless darkness in "Soldado" that some fans of the original will love, but the inherent idealism of Blunt’s Macer is missed: When everybody's a shade of bad, it begs for any sort of normal protagonist.

Take out the cool retro tunes, neon everything and the formidable woman of action, and Atomic Blonde tends more bland than Bond.

Top-shelf Shyamalan. Centered on a family having to make the most dreadful of decisions, “Knock” is a well-crafted intimate thriller that plays with your expectations and immerses you in a disconcerting situation.