Brian Truitt

You won’t be able to tear your eyes off the screen, both because of the physically magnetic performances and also because it’s hard to fathom what madness exactly is going on at times.

For all its whiz-bang goodness, “Alita” is almost completely undone by its flawed script.

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.

What keeps it all watchable is Rodriguez’s magnetism.

Director Joe Cornish grounded the alien-invasion genre with clever plotting and entertaining English youngsters with 2011's “Attack the Block” and does the same with epic fantasy with this clever “Kid.”

A befuddling mélange of superpowered showdowns, psychological gaslighting and self-important comic meanderings, it's a finale that doesn’t know what it wants to be.

While its narrative is unnecessarily complex and its story influences obvious, director Karyn Kusama (“The Invitation”) is mostly successful juggling a noir style, shifty denizens and shadowy dealings under L.A.’s bright sun.

Exquisitely crafted...It’s a strange little amalgamation that totally works: a vicious Shakespearean satire about power-hungry mind-sets, stealth corruption, American ambition and the current state of divided affairs in our country, but also a quasi-fictional go-for-broke biopic about a political leader we really don't know at all.

The cast is superb, especially King.

Whether together or solo, Blunt and Miranda are endlessly charming.

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.

Unfortunately, there’s not much room left for fleshed-out personalities or narrative depth, making the whiz-bang wonder often feel too empty.

Roma is an elegiac and moving work driven by Aparicio’s understated and nuanced performance.

It’s a slightly insane, hilariously daring and often touching mashup of everything that makes super-flicks so darn popular with the introduction of a Spider-Man who's ready-made for today’s generation of kids.

As hilarious as it is, The Favourite doesn’t skimp on impressive costuming and production design, and the film gamely tackles class and gender themes, as well as partisan politics, in its tale of women behaving badly and men being nitwits.

If the original “Creed” was a straight-up knockout from bell to bell, the sequel takes its time with body blows – from all directions – to ultimately get you right in the feels.

While the new “Ralph” falls short of the original’s brilliance, any adventure with the big oaf and his glitchy BFF is #winning.

It’s easy to fall for these “Widows” when themes of class, religion, grief, gender, injustice and race are married to terrific action sequences and a gang of looting ladies stealing the show.

It’s the master class put on by Viggo Mortensen and Mahershala Ali that powers this moving and often hilarious work and gives it mass appeal.

Old-school Potterheads will rejoice, though fans of the charmingly quirky group of heroes from the first “Beasts” may lament their do-gooders getting lost in a growing magical landscape.

At least we have a winning Lisbeth. Now let’s put her in a situation that’s all her own and not just a placemark for a caped crusader or a dapper secret agent.

You’ve heard of an October surprise. This is a November disappointment.

The 21-year-old actor holds his own in the emotional project opposite a couple of heavyweights, Nicole Kidman and Russell Crowe. Just as deft in his work is writer/director/co-star Joel Edgerton, who's crafted a touching look at the darker sides of evangelical belief and parental judgment.

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.

As it turns out, “Bohemian Rhapsody” the song is a sonic masterpiece and Bohemian Rhapsody the movie is just a conventional rock flick, one all too ordinary for a man and a band that exemplified the extraordinary.

Splendidly directed by Marielle Heller, Can You Ever Forgive Me? feels worn and lived in – in a good way – with a world of musty vintage tones and bar-room desperation given emotional life through McCarthy and a super supporting turn from Richard E. Grant.

By staying true only to the initial narrative, this Halloween solidly ranks as the best chapter since the first – not exactly the highest bar – mostly by making Laurie (a remarkable Jamie Lee Curtis, whose last appearance in the series was 2002's "Halloween: Resurrection") anything but a victim.

In his previous works, Chazelle mined the flawed soul of artists in tales that were notably personal, while First Man is a story of an introvert that too often feels distant.