Ferdosa Abdi

As the film marches to its conclusion, one will have some appreciation for the rotoscoping animation, the score, and the voice work from some of the actors. However, the murky narrative structure and the lack of a central protagonist only works against all the gory goodwill the film possessed.

Ultimately, The Pale Blue Eye feels like more of a missed opportunity than a story worth enjoying on its own. As far as historical fiction goes, the film fails to capitalize on its central historical figure, especially with Melling’s performance a beacon of light.

Spy Kids: Armageddon is creatively deficient. With each new Spy Kids project, Rodriguez mines an empty cave; there is nothing but dirt and hopeless dreams.

As a film birthed from the pandemic, the presentation already feels outdated. There is an attempt to revitalize the format, but it falls flat. All in all, the family dramedy has all the right pieces, but, like any dysfunctional family, they don’t come together in the most cohesive of ways.

Best. Christmas. Ever! is not the most splendiferous Christmas movie ever, but it will satisfy those hungry for new sentimental holiday movies every year.

It's entertaining, and there are a few chuckles to be had. One can appreciate the referential and situational humor as they are timely and apt for the characters. Lester and Gentry are a winning combo.

Badland Hunters may not be a worthy successor to Concrete Utopia, but it is an entertaining zombie actioner.

Ambitious ideas and stunning visuals do not make for a great film, but Millepied should consider following his instincts to fight for an all-dance musical for his next feature.

The story is simply a rehash of the first film, and even the jokes begin to fall flat well before the halfway point. Hocus Pocus 2 is enjoyable, but it doesn't quite live up to the lightning-in-a-bottle moment that was the 1993 film.

The synopsis sounds straightforward, but there is a lack of balance from the start, and the film has an ill-mannered approach to telling a sensitive or impactful story about sex trafficking.

Without offering anything particularly interesting or nuanced, The Guilty still has enough to keep audiences engaged and on the edge of their seats.

Clock showcases that Jacknow is a talent to watch in horror, though the film doesn’t stick the landing. Occasionally, the concept is stretched too thin, especially when the character work is lacking.

One Way won’t carve a place into the crime thriller pantheon, but its most notable achievement should be setting the stage for Andrew Baird and Colson Baker’s inevitable rises in the film industry.

Knights of the Zodiac, despite its reasonably minor flaws, is fun.

While the film is romantic and poignant in parts, the whole thing falls apart when it relies on the central couple, who lack intense chemistry and substance.

The script is mind-numbingly silly and, at times, doesn't try to elevate the remake meaningfully; it's really about engaging with the wild action and nothing else.

Despite subverting expectations and being edgy in its approach, the lack of energy and fearlessness keeps this story from reaching its full potential. Weiss's directorial debut is not a dud, but charm can only get you so far.

There are some good moments in Shotgun Wedding. Lopez, Coolidge, and Lenny Kravitz are game and there is a Herculean effort from the trio to do something worthwhile with the script they are given.

Memorable? Hardly. Entertaining? Somewhat. Ultimately, the film will resonate with the people eager to devour more Stephen King-inspired projects; sadly, there is nothing genuinely inspired to enjoy.

Sadly, this adaptation fails to stand out from all the other sci-fi horrors about people being used for experiments. It doesn't even compare to the original 1984 film nor does it stand tall alongside great recent Stephen King adaptations like 2017's IT and 2019's Doctor Sleep. Firestarter is more like Pet Sematary and Carrie, a dull, exhausting remake that doesn't do anything new.

At the heart of this plausible political thriller is a need for more insightful and incisive writing. The Independent often shows audiences what they already know about American politics, but it doesn’t tell one more.

The dynamics needed to be defined better, and despite some compelling filmmaking, the flagrant disregard for characterization reduces Fear The Night to a mildly tolerable home invasion horror.

Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre is a superficial spy mission that is joyless and charmless.

Overall, Puppy Love is very dull. The movie has all the clichés at its disposal but can't make much of it. The writing is witless and dry, and the directing — by Nick Fabiano and Richard Alan Reid — equally so.

In the end, Escape the Field is tolerable at best. It doesn't shatter any expectations, but it won’t be utterly hated if one decides to give it a go. There are more charming and innovative horror-thrillers about escaping a maze, but Escape the Field tries. For a first feature, it is serviceable for a small-budget venture.

The Eternal City struggles with finding the tonal balance between a child-friendly action-comedy and an adult-appropriate action-comedy.

Ultimately, The Cursed is merely a slow trek through horrific gore, lackluster and confusing werewolf lore, and a muddled understanding of the legacy of the Roma.

Sex Appeal has good intentions and good instincts, but a lack of nuance torpedoes the whole endeavor.

The result is a baffling and confounding mess that is either intended to make audiences laugh or is dead-serious in its pursuit. Whatever the intention, it is up to viewers to decipher what is most true to them.

The lack of specificity around the situation and the underbaked character development reduces Azrael to being nothing more than a horror with an interesting premise.

The Seven Faces Of Jane is an experiment that just does not deliver the right results.

This particular narrative is a sound idea but for a documentary instead.

The drama feels undercooked, and the characters barely escape one-dimensionality.

If one is wanting something substantive, with big laughs and surprising twists, Murder Mystery 2 should be avoided at all costs.

Much like The Mother, Trigger Warner is all setup with little payoff. The emotional sentiments are effective but drawn out in uninteresting ways, and Alba, a capable actress, is not nearly as charismatic as the middling script requires her to be.

DeVine is entertaining enough, and the gag of watching Bronson and Barkin playing cool criminals can intrigue just about anyone. For all its flaws, The Out-Laws will win over those who flock to Happy Madison’s movies time after time, even if you'll promptly forget what you have watched.

Trail of Vengeance is undermined by the fact that a feminist Western cannot succeed without women having meaningful influence behind the scenes. What we are left with is a film that is a hollow imitation of a much-loved genre.

It is easy to see the potential in the first act, but Purple Hearts leans too much into over-sentimentality, with narrative tricks designed to trigger tears and subdue thinking.

Assassin Club has the benefit of starring a relatively well-known actor, but even Golding can't save this movie from its mediocrity. Any hope Assassin Club had of being good is squandered within the first ten minutes.

The film is a basic thriller with little to offer audiences who enjoy the genre.

Although the film's narrative is passable at best, it struggles to maintain any momentum due to uninteresting characters and predictably bad writing.

This is a terribly unfunny venture, which fails at the film’s only job.

Fangs Out is not great and hardly promising, but there is an admirable quality to it that you can’t help but embrace.

Taurus plays like a personal project, but that doesn’t make it good. However, Baker should take pride in knowing he has a future in acting; he just needs to pick better projects.

There could have been a lot to love about The King’s Daughter, but it seems the creative team simply did not know what to do with it.

First Date is a hodgepodge of familiar tropes and homages to teen romcoms and, while there is a sliver of promise, the film is lacking in charm.

I don’t go out of my way to drag films, as there is so much time and effort put into every project, and a film of this caliber was likely made with the best of intentions. But intending to craft a pitch-black dark crime comedy is different from actually executing one well. And Riff Raff just doesn't land.

Those who may be new to the genre or merely want to disengage for a little bit will find merit in Choose or Die. But for bona fide horror fans, the derivativeness and the flatness of the execution is too much to tolerate.

Asking For It is a pop-rock take on the revenge thriller that tries to take a stance, but fails to make a case for why it exists. Asking For It often feels like a mansplaining version of what a modern revenge thriller should be.

The tonal imbalance and the mismanaged themes make for an extremely uncomfortable watch. However, Dog might find an audience, one that is not so bothered by the lack of depth, and who will tolerate the surface-level insight into the issues it barely touches upon.

The lingering lesson in all of this is Megan Fox deserves better and Big Gold Brick is a solid turd of a movie.

Borrego, written and directed by Jesse Harris, is misguided and fails to be thought-provoking or contemplative on the matters it seems to be about.