Calvin Wilson

If you’re looking for a film that’s just about guaranteed to make you feel good, you’d be well advised to drop by Daddy’s Home.

At its heart, Carol deals with the rules that society imposes on individuals, and the courage necessary to throw those rules out the window.

Working from a self-penned screenplay, Tarantino has come up with one of the wordiest Westerns on record, and even some of his most diehard fans may grimace at the film’s occasionally slow pace. But The Hateful Eight more than compensates through its intriguing characters, ominous atmosphere and palpable suspense.

The Big Short is the film that “The Wolf of Wall Street” wanted to be.

Only when the camera is on Vikander does the film transcend its artifice. In one of the year’s best performances, she imbues Gerda with such poignancy and grace that Redmayne all but fades into the background.

Perhaps the greatest triumph of Star Wars: The Force Awakens is that it justifies the enormous hype. Working from a screenplay that he co-wrote with Michael Arndt and Lawrence Kasdan, director J.J. Abrams (“Star Trek”) brings fresh energy to the franchise while adhering to the storytelling values that made it matter in the first place.

Macbeth takes liberties with the particulars of the Shakespeare play, but is fascinatingly true to its spirit.

An oddly uninvolving adventure story.

Chi-Raq is a mess — tonally inconsistent, overbearing in its earnestness and badly in need of editing. But it’s also director Spike Lee’s most passionate film since “25th Hour” (2002).

Working from his own screenplay, director Brian Helgeland clearly has a feel for the Krays’ criminal milieu, but it’s not long before repetition sets in. There’s only so much brutality that even the most bloodthirsty audience can tolerate.

Often, extending a film franchise signifies a lack of imagination. But Creed is a knockout.

If you think they don’t make movies like they used to, Brooklyn is glorious proof to the contrary.

Keaton, who deserved an Oscar for his performance in “Birdman,” brings to Robinson a bracing blend of humor and authority. Ruffalo is the essence of the newsman who just won’t quit, and McAdams is just as effective as his more low-key colleague.

As shaky as the situation it depicts.

Spectre isn’t bad — just slightly disappointing.

With visual and psychological precision, Abrahamson brilliantly evokes the experience of living outside of everyday reality. And he does so without resorting to either creepiness or sentimentality.

Provocative, intelligent but just a bit underwhelming, Our Brand Is Crisis — inspired by a 2005 documentary of the same name — plays as if the filmmakers started out with Oscar aspirations but ultimately weren’t up to the challenge.

As original and risk-taking as its subject, Steve Jobs will make you think differently about an American icon.

Page is outstanding as a young woman who has finally found happiness, only to see it cruelly slipping away.

As the deeply principled Donovan, Hanks deftly balances earnestness and humor. And Rylance’s spirited performance is almost certain to yield an Oscar nomination.

Working from a screenplay by Jason Fuchs, director Joe Wright seems overwhelmed by the material, and he fails to make us care about any of the characters.

Aside from art-house fare, American movies of recent decades have tended to ignore even the most urgent social problems. Despite its lapses into melodrama, 99 Homes is a thought-provoking exception.

There’s less a sense of hitting plot points than of capturing life on the fly, and Mendelsohn and Reynolds ride that vibe brilliantly.

Working from a script co-written with Christopher Browne, director Robert Zemeckis (“Forrest Gump”) pulls off a fabulous trick of his own: delivering a mainstream entertainment that has, at its heart, a poetic sensibility.

In a way, Stonewall is proof that the gay community has fully made the transition to the mainstream. It’s now subject to the kind of Hollywood nonsense that was previously reserved for heterosexuals.

These days, it’s tough to find a comedy that even aspires to sophistication. The Intern entertainingly fills that slot.

Oyelowo and Mara achieve terrific chemistry. Perhaps they’ll work together again — in a better film.

Best appreciated as a movie about being obsessed — a character trait that’s certainly not limited to chess masters.