Dan Mecca

Forbes and Wolodarsky are clearly fascinated by this character and all of his sins, but not those he sinned against.

The beats are familiar, recalling many a teen movie past, but the themes resonate for today’s youth and they resonate clearly.

Moors is a filmmaker with immense talent, as demonstrated in his Sundance film Blue Caprice from a few years back, but the beats don’t quite align this time around.

Schwarz is determined to give us the full view of this issue, and it’s much appreciated.

Mostly funny and sometimes heart-wrenching, Showwalter, Nanjiani, and Gordon collaborate comfortably, finding laughs in the more dire moments.

Strouse wants to explore the complexities of somebody who’s chasing their dreams, mostly blind to the wreckage they might make around them, and Williams finds the layers in the character. But the message remains far more muddled than her performance.

All in all, it’s bracingly effective and not altogether dire.

The film loses form a bit as it lumbers towards its final moments, but the juice is worth the squeeze. All involved here are determined to find the laughter in the pain of dealing with other people. And if there must be blood, so be it.

There’s a whole lot going on throughout Live by Night. Somewhere in there is a crime film worthy of its intention.

The film, directed by Denis Villeneuve, delves into the moral fiber and traumatic tree rings of war more than most films have or most likely ever will, but without one clear vantage point or emotional anchor.

The first two — The Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demons — left much to be desired. This one emerges as a marked improvement, though that’s not saying a whole lot.

One of the most interesting things when watching Before The Flood is noting how the tone has changed in reference to climate change in just a decade.

Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk, proves both messy and inspiring.

For every moment that feels overly self-serious, there are two that promise this thing’s some kind of pop-schlock classic.

Taylor’s unremarkable thriller is not one that demands to be seen in theaters, but will undoubtedly be seen and enjoyed in that rainy Sunday afternoon kind of way. There’s some comfort in that.

This film is so unabashedly, so unflinchingly evil that it is extremely impressive and extreme unlikeable.

Blood Father, directed by Jean-François Richet (Mesrine, Assault on Precinct 13), works remarkably well as a grindhouse throwback, sporting a screenplay (from Peter Craig and Andrea Berloff, based on Craig’s novel) that’s better than it has any right to be.

This is spare-but-effective filmmaking.

The only bond built is the one between Perry and Dima, two characters who are little more than pawns in the game. It’s exciting enough watching them try to negotiate their situation, but it’d be more intriguing if we knew more about the people making the decisions.

Miller’s New York, full of academics who still have the capacity to act like children, isn’t exactly new, but plenty fascinating.

Samberg and company are keen observers of pop culture and every facet of its insanity, doing their very best to out-size that which already feels larger than logic. They don’t always succeed, but when they do, it’s more than worth it.

Johnston and company are aware that introducing a hero means more than showing off his suit and gadgets or building up the universe he will eventually encapsulate. Before any of that, we must care about who he/she is.

A brutally cynical, largely unfunny film fueled by muddled social commentary.

Like so many too-late sequels, the film — directed by the first film’s action choreographer Yuen Woo-ping — rides on waves of nostalgia and little else.

From start to finish, Christian Ditter‘s How To Be Single struggles to be both a forward-thinking comedy about women dating in the modern world and a reliably generic romantic comedy that will satisfy those looking for cinematic comfort food.

There’s honesty here and a swath of well-written, well-developed female characters, but not enough to justify laughing with a kidnapper.

Operation Avalanche is a solid piece of entertainment and a formal step up from their first feature. Where it lacks is in authenticity, too often feeling like an in-joke with no punchline.

Despite the creativity on display, the character choices and fatal decisions feel cliched.