Brian Truitt

There is more than enough magic, music and muscle to go around – everybody’s so ripped, Love and Thunder often seems like a Frank Frazetta painting come to life.

Gosling nicely follows up his Oscar-nominated Ken turn as an embattled Everyman who falls 12 stories, gets thrown through glass and pulls off an epic car jump, among other death-defying moments in the breezily delightful Fall Guy.

The film is loaded with a gripping plot and enjoyably sketchy characters but hobbled by an uneven tone that ricochets between zany comedy and serious crime thriller.

There are elements borrowed from B-movie horror flicks, crime dramas, Broadway musicals and love stories, mashed together in bold and bizarre strokes. And while imperfections exist in the violent, genre-defying romance, they don’t dim Gyllenhaal’s clear-eyed passion, grand ideas and big swings spattered on the screen.

That Circle of Life everybody was singing about three decades ago? Thanks to Jenkins’ inimitable grace and Miranda’s tuneful swagger, it continues to feel vibrant.

Entertaining and surprisingly funny given the subject matter, the movie’s also an exquisitely acted affair paced by Chastain (who also produces), turning in a career-best effort as the complex Tammy Faye.

The Glass Castle offers up a movie clan to beat in terms of complete dysfunction, though the brutal and heart-wrenching film is in its own way just as much of a mess.

Race makes its title's double meaning all too clear, and at a time when the Oscars and movies, in general, struggle with finding racial balance, two guys of different skin colors coming together for some sports-movie magic is a fitting and truly welcoming lapping of the competition.

Most of the silliness lands, and the stuff that doesn’t is enveloped by the total chaos, anyway. That’s all to be expected with Deadpool around. The meat of the matter, surprisingly, is the loving closure given to the Fox movie run, plus a reminder how much an unleashed Jackman rules now, and always did.

A satisfying look at young unrequited love, bromances, independence and letting go.

The follow-up fails in every way, as a retread of the beloved ‘90s vehicle and as a youth-centered setup for future installments.

Your mileage may vary when it comes to the over-the-top carnage and in-your-face machismo, but it’s impressive just how bonkers Fate is, like a litter of kittens hopped up on grade-A catnip.

The women in Coen brothers’ movies are usually the much smarter gender, as it is with “Dolls,” where Joel Coen and Cooke’s script creates a tight-knit relationship between its heroines that’s an absolute delight to watch, surrounded by goofball personalities and a healthy amount of campiness. It’s a playfully madcap turn on the “Thelma & Louise” model, and if Jamie and Marian decided to drive off a cliff, you’d want to be in that Dodge with them.

While Mission: Impossible has found a popular way to reimagine an old show for modern times, Man is immersed in all things retro — from the ginchy fashion to a jazzy score — but for an action adventure, it’s a mostly tedious affair with fleeting moments of cool.

Both fun and frustrating, Fast X gets it in gear enough for a gutsy finale that leaves characters in serious peril. Yet with an end game in motion, and only one movie (perhaps two) left in this long-running franchise, it’s not the time to be stalling out this close to the finish line.

A lively, satirical stab at modern-day reality TV, scary big-brother technology, cultural dissension and rampant income inequality, all slathered in blood-soaked ultraviolence and bonkers charm. And don’t worry, old-school Arnold lovers: It’s so insanely different from the original movie that you can adore one without losing any love for the other.

There’s a Miracle Mop at the heart of Joy, though the movie is such a mess that even it would have a hard time cleaning up.

The cast is a stellar one, especially Smith. Not only does he capture Omalu’s Nigerian accent and mannerisms but also the character's idiosyncrasies.

It isn't good and it isn't bad – it is, to borrow a fitting adjective, "all right." But the film might as well be called “Matthew McConaughey: The Movie,” as it casts McConaughey in a role seemingly tailor-made for his famous style and yet, like the actor himself, also upends those same expectations.

Fennell’s adaptation takes some liberties with Emily Brontë’s original 1847 Victorian-era novel but unless you’re a devout superfan, you likely won’t be too mad. The Oscar-winning British filmmaker crafts a sumptuous bad romance that’s quite haughty, darkly hilarious and ultimately heartfelt.

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare does well with its “Superman and Reacher kill Nazis” vibe before overcomplicating the matter. Yet the biggest issue with director Guy Ritchie’s World War II action comedy is it doesn’t know what kind of movie it wants to be.

A hostage thriller, a campy satire of the 24/7 media culture and a takedown of Wall Street, though it never fully succeeds on any of those tracks.

Introduces an endearing, guitar-strumming new star in British actor Himesh Patel.

Everything Everywhere is an action-packed club sandwich of weird, but also a splendidly human experience to cherish.

The low-budget thriller deftly mixes horror-movie moments, pure strangeness and comedy like a family-friendly David Lynch effort as it takes audiences on one really oddball trip to grandma's house.

Even with its flaws and struggles with originality, Aquaman is reminiscent of the early Marvel movies in its storytelling, best when taking wild swings instead of being an earnest superhero jam.

With good guys aplenty and a big heart, The Flash pens a love letter to DC superhero movies past, though the film runs around in circles trying to make it all work.

All the contemporary wrapping, a dizzying array of tones (from screwball humor to cornball earnestness) and endless songs by “The Greatest Showman” duo Benj Pasek and Justin Paul winds up being like tinsel distracting from what works best: Will Ferrell as a determined phantom and Ryan Reynolds as his snarky Scrooge.