James Berardinelli

The most enjoyable parts of The Secret Life of Walter Mitty are his fantasies, such as one in which he stands up to his boss in a way he never would in real life.

I would classify Charlie Bartlett as a smart teen film. It's more ambitious and overall more successful than its '80s forebears even though the resemblance is unmistakable.

A little like watching an episode of the TV show of which Adam Sandler is an alum: "Saturday Night Live." Zohan feels like an extended collection of skits tied together by a flimsy umbrella story.

There's no shortage of material on the screen in Bee Season - it's just not assembled in a satisfying manner.

Just don’t expect this to be a light, escapist excursion into outer space. Even by sci-fi/horror standards, this is dark, gruesome, intense stuff.

Another Simple Favor feels lazy and overplotted, and it definitely overstays its welcome.

The movie is pretty to look at in a "Transformers" sort of way and moves briskly enough that it never threatens to bore, but it's hard to feel much of anything about the characters and, when it's all over, there's a sense that everything that happens is obligatory.

Despite being drenched in atmosphere, Last Rites can’t conjure enough genuine scares to fend off the creeping sense of boredom.

The film, directed by South Korean Jee-woon Kim, hits all the necessary action beats and effectively blends in the humor.

Aside from a powerful performance by Ron Rifkin (reprising his stage role) and a few quietly effective scenes, there's not much reason to subject yourself to a film this off-putting.

The bottom line: If you know what the Anti-Life Equation is, this movie was made for you and you might enjoy it. If that sounds like comic book gobbledygook to you, it’s safe to say you won’t be missing anything by not giving up four hours of your life to sit through this.

In a time when, more often than not, sequels disappoint, it's refreshing to uncover something this high-profile that fulfils the promise of its name and adds another title to a storied legacy.

The film's structure is a little awkward, almost certainly as a result of its being expanded from 20 minutes to 97.

The movie's realistic portrayal of the ingredients that can lead to bullying and other forms of unkindness inflicted on outsiders by those in power, speaks strongly to viewers watching in the 21st century.

A script that, at its best, is inconsistent, and, at its worst, is laughably implausible and riddled with obvious flaws.

The film's notable quality is the music and as soon as one song is finished, we're ready for the next one. Unfortunately, there are often long passages of dialogue and narrative to endure before getting there.

There's no doubting that Memoirs of a Geisha is a lush motion picture, and it has much to recommend it, but this will not go down as one of the great screen romances of the 2000s.

The only worthwhile portion of Twin Dragons is the climactic action sequence, but, to get to that, it's necessary to endure more than an hour of unfunny physical comedy and excruciating verbal interaction.

A family film (albeit a mediocre one).

As was true for "In the Company of Men," LaBute doesn't care if viewers are offended. Supported by a fine group of actors, he tells the story without compromises, and that gives us a refreshing alternative to multiplex fare.

It's lighter, brighter, funnier, faster-paced, and a whole lot more colorful than before.

The length is the film's undoing. No matter how tantalizing the premise, overexposure leads inevitably to boredom.

Although visually more impressive than even Bakshi’s blend of traditional animation and rotoscoping, The War of the Rohirrim suffers from some stylistic hiccups and the straightforward storyline limits the “epic-ness” of the production. Still, as a stand-alone adventure story, this is an engaging episode and a solid addition to a still-limited cinematic universe.

This is as dark as Zwigoff has gotten - arguably even darker than "Bad Santa." And, while it's legitimate to label Art School Confidential as a "comedy," the movie is more clever than it is funny.

It's an entertaining diversion - a good way to pass a couple of hours as late summer evenings lengthen - but not much more.

There's nothing in So I Married an Axe Murderer to recommend the film, even to die hard Saturday Night Live and Wayne's World fans. This uninspired, completely forgettable mystery satire is bursting with the brand of juvenile humor that only a select few seem to find funny. When it comes to guys named "Mike Myers", it's debatable who's less watchable: the ex-SNL actor or the mass murderer who keeps surfacing in the seemingly-endless series of Halloween films.

The only time Sparkle evidences energy is during the song performances, of which there are too few. The half-baked melodrama provides an unappealing and overlong buffer between them that fails to justify the nearly two-hour running time.

This is a vile and reprehensible motion picture.

Ten Items or Less is not landmark cinema nor is it deeply thought-provoking, but it's smart, funny, knowledgeable about life and people, and a crowd-pleaser.

Traditional and uninspired, it does an adequate job of relating Duran’s story but falls short of providing an engaging cinematic experience.

Has some interesting things to say about someone thrust into the spotlight against their will but the sometimes heavy-handed emotional manipulation limits the production’s overall power and effectiveness.

The most disconcerting thing about A Walk in the Clouds' tendency towards overt melodrama is that almost all of it is totally unnecessary. Minor script changes could have eliminated huge chunks of this, leaving behind an uplifting love story. Even as it is, however, there's still something special about the motion picture. I just wish the final half-hour hadn't been such a bloated disappointment.

12 Strong represents a recent war as depicted on screen in an old-fashioned way.

Has a fascinating premise; it's the execution that's sloppy.

While Changing Lanes isn't a perfect movie, it's watchable and compelling, and works on more than one level.

A rather mediocre experience, offering sporadic laughs but never achieving the level of consistent humor necessary to make this memorable.

It's hard to deny that Brüno succeeds in being both outrageous and outrageously funny, and it's hard to damn a comedy, regardless of its faults, for those qualities.

It’s cinematic fast-food but not of the delicious, addictive variety. It’s a little overcooked and has gone cold – still edible but by no means satisfying.

This unexceptional and uninteresting story of a self-pitying borderline-personality teenager verges on being unwatchable as a result of McDonald's decision to bombard the audience with extraneous images in lieu of telling the story.

Provided the viewer is broad-minded enough not to be bothered by a nearly constant stream of profanity, Strays offers a kennel of off-color laughter.

Steve Carell's portrayal of Max is just about perfect for the material.

Boiling off the divisive political subtext and its associated sociological aspects, what we’re left with is an old-fashioned exploitation thriller. Seen in that context, The First Purge isn’t half-bad. It’s competently made, delivers its share of thrills and edge-of-the-seat moments, and gives the audience an opportunity to stand up and cheer.

There's a good dose of reality in this story, even if the script occasionally becomes too preachy. The end sequences especially could have been toned down.

The film is worthwhile primarily for the fun, breezy first hour. After that, it's a case of watching to find out how things turn out.

A prefabricated example of shoddy workmanship.

This is as surprising a romantic comedy as I have seen in some time.

Like the real Eddie’s 1988 Olympic experience, however, the movie’s memory is likely to fade fast.

Although the movie disappoints late in the proceedings by pandering to cliches, few will be so bored as to leave before the curtain comes down.

We’re here for the nasty kills, the clever eviscerations, and the M3GAN vs. AMELIA rumble. And we get very little of any of those things.

The resulting finished project is a series of skits performed by famous people doing favors for a friend, and it works about as well as one might expect from such an endeavor.

Booty Call isn't a source of nonstop laughs, and there are a lot of gags that fall flat, but, on those sporadic occasions when something works, the result can be hilarious.

The chief problem with Seberg, as is often the case with biopics, is that the filmmakers never really find the character underlying the historical figure.

Captive State is a messy, incomplete affair. Attempts to assemble it into a workable package in the editing room didn’t work, so we’re left with a weird cross between "District 9" and "The Battle of Algiers" that doesn’t do either of those apparent inspirations justice.

Delivered with dashes of black comedy, thriller elements, and pathos, this film illustrates how even a seemingly decent, hard-working man can be driven to unthinkable lengths in pursuit of a job that's to die for… or, more appropriately, to kill for.

The end product feels trite and unfinished, with the romantic plot being awkwardly and unconvincingly shoehorned into a production that lacks focus.

The pacing is too leisurely and, although Ungar is invested in telling Galvan’s story and fleshing out the man behind the dubious legend, there are times when it feels like he’s bypassing a more intense rendition of the same basic story. Bandit offers more of a diversion than an experience.

Yet, although Stone has clearly made this motion picture with his tongue planted firmly in his cheek, he nevertheless manages to capture all of the tension and mystery necessary to hold the viewer's interest.

Despite various shoot-outs, dogfights, chases, and crashes, Oblivion is not a teen-friendly film. The storyline is too dense and the pacing too uneven.

Offering inspiration in both the truth of its basis and the way in which it is presented, The Boys in the Boat is an antidote to the pervasive cynicism of the modern era.

It’s a big-screen cartoon and, although it may work for its target audience – video game-consuming pre-teen boys – other viewers may find the production to be lacking in anything beyond a little visual razzle-dazzle.

The House of Yes is what happens when a film takes the dysfunctional family melodrama to its farthest reaches. It's a bold, gutsy movie that's definitely not for everyone.

For the movie’s first half, director Neil Jordan does a reasonably good job of it. Then, unfortunately, he falls victim to the most dreaded of horror movie clichés: supposedly smart characters doing irredeemably dumb things.

Costner, who has never been the most emotive of actors, is perfect for this role.

There's real heart to be found in the story but it comes along with borderline saccharine sentimentality, a too facile ending, and clean outcomes that aren't earned.

Put this one squarely in the “guilty pleasure” category. And keep in mind that if you can’t be entertained by a thirteen-year old girl ruthlessly dispatching evil-doers in ways that will make a horror film fans tingle with glee, this may not be your cup of tea.

No matter how one views it, however, it’s worth seeing for the story it tells, the tension it generates, and the glimpse of potential it offers for future productions employing this technique.

Boogie is at times unpolished but it offers a compelling and sympathetic portrayal of the title character and avoids excessive melodrama or a too-facile ending.

Cocaine Bear is imperfect. By traditional cinematic standards, it’s probably not very good. But it is fun and won’t disappoint many who are titillated by the title.

For Your Eyes Only is a solid adventure, although it could have been better. There's enough action to hold those with even a short attention span, and Roger Moore's deft charm hasn't yet begun to wear thin.

It falls short of brilliant but it's a lot more daring than what passes for "dark comedy" these days, and it reminds us that "feel bad" comedies may not always be as funny as "feel good" ones but, when they work, they can ultimately be more satisfying.

If there’s a compelling reason to remake The Magnificent Seven, it can’t be found in the 2016 version, a loud, cluttered, and generally disappointing production.

If someone was going to make a Hunger Games prequel, this is about the best one might hope for.

As a character study, The Little Things works. As a thriller, it’s a mixed bag and individual preferences will determine whether to classify the resolution as exhilarating or annoying.

On the whole, this is another disappointing animated effort and it resides considerably lower on the totem pole than this year's current non-live action champion, "Ratatouille."

Unremarkable. A more honest description would be to label it as mirthless, pointless, and banal.

Strictly speaking, it's not a top example of movie making, but it offers two hours of undeniably solid entertainment, and not too many viewers can argue with that.

Despite a threadbare screenplay featuring overfamiliar motifs, the movie gains traction as a result of a committed, riveting performance by Evan Rachel Wood.

A standard-order noir murder mystery with a confused, contrived last act, Anon is more notable for how it sees the future than what it sees going on there.

For what it is, Assault on Precinct 13 delivers. It's not great art, but, for B-movie fans and those looking for a mid-winter jolt of energy, it's good fun.

It's more heavy lifting than some will be willing to engage in but there's something welcome about a motion picture that doesn't hand out a dumbed-down resolution in a neatly wrapped package.

For the most part, this movie hits the right notes and gives its audience a dose of white-knuckle tension.

The story introduces interesting new wrinkles and the ending, when considered in the context of a trilogy, makes this movie feel less like an extraneous add-on than a part of a larger tale. There’s really nowhere else to take the franchise, however. With this sixth installment, it’s over.

With its rare mixture of intelligent plotting, flawless acting, and start-to- finish tension, Copycat is a force to be reckoned with.

Empire of Light offers an appetizer of nostalgia for those who remember theaters during the early 1980s but the main course isn’t the easiest to digest, despite several strong performances.

A Girl Like Her offers an emotionally honest examination of an important and often overlooked societal problem.

Sadly, the elements that made the book special did not survive the transition to the screen.

For those who have a penchant for talky subtitled romantic comedies, this one has its charms, but is probably more worth seeking out once it's on video than during its (probably short) theatrical life.

The movie's musical sequences, which primarily feature popularized versions of gospel standards, are exhilarating and energetic. Unfortunately, that's only half the story, because the so-called dramatic material, which links together all the musical numbers, is mind-numbingly bad.

Then again, it's worth noting that this Hollywood production is actually saying something, rather than just churning out eye-popping special effects while relying on a regurgitated plot.

Is Woo using this ultra-violent experience to make an anti-violence statement? Perhaps, but even if that’s the case, it doesn’t work. Whatever the director is trying to do with the movie, it makes it for one big lump of coal in the 2023 cinematic stocking.

The clumsy and obvious byproduct of the financial success of its predecessor last Halloween, this movie has no reason for existing except to provide Paramount Pictures with a few extra shekels.

Almost paradoxically, 2010 may be unnecessary, but it is nevertheless a worthwhile effort.

This isn’t Jarmusch at his best but it’s more accessible than some of his films and doesn’t demand more from an audience than to sit back and be amused.

Even though the ending is inescapable (and therefore predictable), that does little to diminish its effectiveness.

While the voice acting is fine and the story is nicely paced, the visuals are disappointing.

The movie carries a mild PG rating but may be too intense for younger children.

Although advertised as a family-friendly feature, A Wrinkle in Time is a poor choice for younger children. The glacial pacing of the first half-hour, coupled with less-than-easily-digestible chunks of exposition will cause many kids under 10 (and a few adults as well) to squirm in their seats with impatience.

In The Beekeeper, as has been the case with pretty much anything Statham has done in the past half-decade, the actor is on hand to collect a paycheck in exchange for bringing a recognizable name to the proceedings.

Although there are times when the dialogue is downright insipid, it contains enough wit to provoke frequent chuckles (and maybe even a few guffaws – Andy Garcia has a laugh-out-loud one-liner) and the movie quadrupoles down on the romance element.

In short, although Blackbird is effective as a buzz-kill and features a few nicely choreographed scenes, too little about the film feels like real life and who wants a fantasy film that’s such a relentless downer?

Confetti is an excellent study of what happens when someone botches Christopher Guest's mockumentary format.

Alpha Dog isn't a happy movie, but it's dramatically solid and the impressions it leaves will not be easily shaken.

It’s rich material, but despite having one of the greatest actors of his generation at his disposal, Ronan manages to fumble it—delivering a film that functions more as a sleep aid than a drama.

Possesses both an edge and a sense of self-mocking that's unusual for any feature, live or animated.

The result is an unappealing mess, made less bearable by uniformly lackluster performances and the cheesy special effects.

With Rookie of the Year, Daniel Stern has struck out.

In a head-to-head comparison, one would be hard-pressed not to declare that "Precious" is the better film - it makes fewer compromises and doesn't shy from showing the true ugliness only hinted at in this movie, but The Blind Side is more accessible. It's easier to digest. In the end, both films tell stories of triumph over adversity - a category of drama that uplifts while offering a dollop of social commentary.

MouseHunt is "'Home Alone" with a rodent in the place of Macaulay Culkin.

Rodriquez nails the pacing – it’s slow enough to allow for character development (at least where Alita is concerned) but ramps up during the well-choreographed battle and chase sequences. Everything moves along fine…at least until the final few minutes when it becomes apparent that we’re about to be victimized by a story that requires multiple installments to play out.

A misfire in far too many meaningful aspects, The Book Thief is so bad that it's tough to decide whether it's better used as a sleep aid or watched while under the influence as an object of derision.

An effective translation of the source material, but that's not necessarily a good thing.

The fourth movie is in many ways better than it has a right to be and it’s certainly a worthy way to dispose of a couple of hours lying on the couch at home, but this is hardly a triumphant return for Axel or Murphy.

It's a thinking person's thriller, where pyrotechnics give way to plot, character development supplants fight scenes, and adrenaline does not short-circuit intelligence.

Works on its own terms, which is more than can be said of most horror films these days. If this is the kind of movie you're looking for, it delivers.

Once Upon a Deadpool is as crass a cash-grab as one is likely to find, but at least the filmmakers/studio are upfront about their motivations.

Almodovar's central parody is strong enough to save this film from floundering too much or too often. It's daring and nasty, but rarely brilliant.

For those who do not consider themselves to be among the Sex and the City faithful, this is a painful experience, perhaps the longest 148 minutes likely to be spent in a movie theater this year. Watching grass grow is more dramatically satisfying.

The over-the-top acting is forgivable, but the plot's incoherence is not.

The movie consists of a bunch of random events and, if you pause long enough to consider things like plot and motivation (something you’re not supposed to do), it becomes evident that most of the movie doesn’t make any sense. Add to that an anti-climactic ending, scattershot editing, and too many extraneous characters and the last Star Wars movie is the most bloated and least satisfying of all the main-line adventures.

Strange that a movie about comedy is so lacking in this quality.

It's easily the weakest entry into this ever-expanding category and is inferior to its subtitled source material. Quarantine implies "stay away" and that's not bad advice.

Some of what occurs in Lucky Number Slevin is done with a wink and a nod, although McGuinan (á là Tarantino) doesn't skimp on the gore.

Although the storyline is predictable, the intelligent dialogue and top-drawer acting more than make up for the possible deficiency.

Dark Web is a sequel only in that it mimics its predecessor’s style. The story and characters are new and, because the supernatural element has been eliminated, the movie adds a dash more suspense to go along with a heap of misanthropic nihilism.

Shooter does what any good thriller should accomplish - it thrills. It's fast-paced, energetic, and doesn't follow a path that seems pre-ordained from the beginning.

I can’t say that Annabelle Comes Home, the third feature focused on the creepy girl doll, is the worst (because it has plenty of competition) but it’s easily among the dumbest.

If this truly is Ridley Scott's preferred cut, he has proven unable to justify the existence of yet another Robin Hood film.

The latest motion picture to take an intriguing premise and flush it into the septic tank.

As punchy and energetic as the first few moments are, the rest of the film quickly falls back into mediocrity.

Crash has a couple of concepts which are, admittedly, fascinating and original, but not a whole lot more.

Grumpy Old Men works more often than not. It's an example of a frothy, good-natured holiday picture that adults can relax and enjoy. As a comedy, the movie contains enough fresh humor to keep the laughs coming.

The jokes, which are frequent and frequently successful, make this motion picture worth sitting through, even though, at nearly two hours, it runs on for far too long. For those who are just looking for a movie that scores high on the feel-good comedy scale, Multiplicity is a can't- miss choice. In the end, however, I couldn't help wishing that Ramis had tried for something a little more ambitious, rather than settling for a multiplicity of laughs without much genuine substance.

For a movie about magic, that’s one element sorely lacking in this retread.

Although the production is sporadically amusing, it feels like a 20-minute short that was expanded to feature length to its considerable detriment.

Coscarelli's screenplay introduces an abundance of intriguing concepts but never goes very far with any of them. The characters are paper thin and the special effects are laughably bad.

With Mexican-born director Everardo Gout at the helm (DeMonaco having stepped away from directorial duties following Election Year), the Forever Purge is adept at providing the violence and gore fans expect from an exploitation flick. And, despite its pretense of offering political commentary, that’s really all this movie is.

Many years ago, an acquaintance of mine said “Who needs good art when you’ve got great trash” and that applies here. Although I would stop short of calling this a “gem,” it is at times creepily effective, at least during its first three-fourths. As the film approaches its climax, it loses some of its uniqueness but there’s plenty to like about it before it starts to feel overly familiar.

Despite its flaws, the movie is compulsively watchable, and few will be bored by it. It's a charming movie that falls short of greatness, but is still worth a solid recommendation.

An incomplete memoir with spotty character development, but, in part because of the way it was filmed and in part because of the strength of the cast, it's still an effective entertainment.

As a bio-pic, De-Lovely is pretty standard, run-of-the-mill stuff (albeit with an interesting framing device). However, as a "best hits" collection of Cole Porter's music, it is unparalleled.

Life Itself starts out with great promise – a dizzying first act that creates the tapestry of a character’s life by offering a kaleidoscope of moments from his past. It’s poignant, effective, and punctuated by actions that are breathtakingly sudden and unexpected. However, after the strong beginning, the movie takes a conventional turn.

A shallow, transparent satire/social commentary, Palindromes lives and dies on a gimmick.

While the result is far from the pinnacle of Disney’s family-friendly production hill, it’s at least as good as most of the other animated-to-live-action transformations.

Lost Highway is unusually bizarre even for this atypical director. Co-written by Barry Gifford, the film ventures deeper into the nearly psychotic supernatural than any feature Lynch has previous overseen.

Amateur is a curious mixture of high art and delicious campiness, and the result is a funny, insightful, and almost-hypnotic motion picture.

Hysteria's "hook" is that it chronicles the development of one of the 20th century's most popular home appliances: the vibrator. However, although the details surrounding the deplorable state of women's medicine during the Victorian era are intriguing, the central story - a romantic comedy between a progressive woman and a forward-thinking doctor - is flaccid.

We Are Marshall is precisely what one expects from a true sports story: it's uplifting and inspiring.

Although The Phantom is more often enjoyable than not, it lacks that special characteristic necessary to provide it with a unique identity. Arriving in the midst of so many "can't miss" offerings, I expect it to sink like a rock, moving quickly to "dollar theaters" then to video. I'd like to be able to champion this film, but the truth is that I'm tiring of the genre as a whole, and, while The Phantom opts for a different tone than most of its brethren, it's still not an especially memorable motion picture. This is the kind of movie that offers modest entertainment while you're in the theater, but is forgotten by the time you get home.

A dull, meandering storyline and visuals all-but destroyed by a second-rate 3-D conversion make this movie inferior to its predecessors.

I'm sure there's an interesting story of sibling rivalry somewhere in She's the One, but Burns has cluttered it up with so much artificiality that it never gels. Who really cares whether Francis and Mickey make peace with each other, or who ends up with what girl? If these things mattered to us, She's the One would have been a success, but since they don't, it isn't. Since New York only needs one Woody Allen, maybe for his next film, Burns will try stretching his thematic and geographical boundaries. Otherwise, his promising film making career may already be in trouble.

With its refined wit and glorious vision, The Hudsucker Proxy is certainly deserving of a wide audience.

It takes something lackluster like The Amazing Spider-Man 2 to remind viewers why movies like "Captain America: The Winter Soldier" are considered superior.

At its best, The Journey is riveting drama, with Paisley and McGuinness acting as proxies for the two sides in the long-simmering, bitter civil war that divided Northern Ireland for 40 years along sectarian lines.

Mediocre and recommended only to those who can claim a familiarity with the play.

Another Stakeout offers unfettered (and largely mindless) fun. The humor ranges from mildly amusing to downright hilarious, and the action scenes are handled with an eye for pacing and tension. Perhaps because of the absence of romantic chemistry, the second Stakeout isn't as good as the first, but it's still a worthy successor. Since virtually everyone involved in the 1987 picture is back, the sense of continuity is seamless, both in big and little things. For those looking for uncomplicated summer entertainment, Another Stakeout fills the bill adequately.

Cage’s performance provides the glue for an uneven film.

The movie succeeds because screenwriter Howard Himelstein keeps Wilde's best lines intact and the actors speak the words with practiced confidence.

Looks great and has some raw, unsettling moments, but the overall impression is of a production that fails to achieve what it sets out to do.

The Rocker is more disappointing than it is outright bad. One expects something a little fresher from Wilson.

Admittedly, the typical romantic comedy thrives on tropes and clichés but the pandering in Finding Your Feet is so extreme that it gets old fast.

I don't often use the words "godawful" and "abomination" to describe a movie, preferring to reserve such terminology for extreme instances when I feel duped and mortally offended. Case in point: Bachelorette.

Everything about director Rachel Lee Goldenberg’s film is bright, garish, and peppy. Although watchable as a sort of mindless flashback, it doesn’t work as a movie.

It’s an adequate horror movie with the requisite atmospherics and jump-scares, and it provides Conjuring fans with their fix. However, as the latest chapter of what is now a trilogy, it’s a disappointment.

Okay, Wanderlust has its moments. It's sporadically funny - funny enough to deliver a good laugh or two. The problem is, it doesn't do more than that, and the comedy is inconsistent.

Affleck is at his best playing wisecracking supporting roles (like in the recent Air, which Affleck also directed) and at his worst as an action hero. He sleepwalks his way through Hypnotic, doing little to rouse the audience from its own slumber while failing to generate any sparks with his co-star, Alice Braga.

The "special effects" employed to have the animals' mouths form words might have been state-of-the-art 20 years ago, but they're outdated today, and the gorilla looks like a guy in the monkey suit that was abandoned after the 1976 version of "King Kong." I guess CGI was too sophisticated for the technical crew.

Five Feet Apart’s final half-hour is disappointing and frustrating – and it has nothing to do with the eventual fates of the characters or their romance. What’s bothersome is that, after spending nearly 90 minutes of meticulously developing a sensitive, honest relationship between two ships passing in the night, the movie takes a turn into the ridiculous.

Pokemon: Detective Pikachu isn’t a movie. It’s a cog in a multibillion-dollar media empire, a soulless feature-length example of product placement at its most blatant.

The weakest aspect of The Lucky Ones is by far the conclusion, which is flat and contrived.

The problem with The Book of Eli is that the narrative isn't a match for its sentiments. The script feels like it's an iteration or two short of a final draft.

One note portrayals, skin deep characters, and a glacial pace all combine to prevent The Quarry from succeeding either as a slow-burn thriller or a message-oriented drama.

It's an epic pretender, not an epic contender.

If you're desperate to give something up for Lent, make it movies like this one.

This isn't a family-friendly film - anyone over the age of about 8 will immediately recognize that significant chunks of the story don't make sense.

Produced during the pandemic and available on Netflix, the movie is well worth a look both as an exploration of love’s bitter aftermath and as an example of how art can bloom even in the most challenging circumstances.

The underlying idea is pregnant with promise but writer/director Shelagh McLeod, making her feature debut, is trapped by the time limitations of a film into cutting narrative corners and cheating to achieve an upbeat ending.

White Squall is a success because the good elements are so well-orchestrated that they dwarf the few obvious flaws. This film offers just about everything, including a twenty-minute white-knuckle sequence and a chance to shed a few tears. In short, it's first-rate entertainment.

The slow, uneven beginning is more than compensated for by the rousing climax.

Director Philip Saville, working from a script by Adrian Hodges (which, in turn, is based on the novel by Julian Barnes), has crafted a competent, character-based tale, but the issues examined are stale, and Saville is unable to find a way to take the story to a newer, more interesting level

I'm not convinced there was a compelling reason to remake La Femme Nikita. The original stands well on its own, and, having been made only a few years ago, it's definitely not dated. Nevertheless, mainstream American audiences hate subtitles, so this won't be the last foreign language film to receive this treatment. In terms of style and originality, Point of No Return can't compare to its inspiration, but, for a Hollywood thriller, it's more than adequate.

If you go to Eight Legged Freaks expecting anything but a campy, cheesy romp, then you have wandered into the wrong theater. This movie is for those who like smart (often self-referential) humor and cheap thrills.

In terms of checking off the genre’s requisite boxes, You, Me & Tuscany does just enough to earn a passing grade for rom-com devotees who prioritize "vibes" over cinematic standards.

A fully disengaged brain is probably the key to enjoying Final Score. Employing even basic logic engenders a recognition of how truly stupid this screenplay is, especially when it comes to the resolution.

It's an enjoyable and unpretentious perspective of life that reminds us how important and rewarding the little things can be.

At his best, Carpenter was able to do amazing things with low budgets and a surfeit of creativity but, despite the arguments of its adherents, Big Trouble in Little China isn’t an example of one of those instances.

Instead of bringing intriguing characters with real problems and interesting dialogue to the bash, Kaplan and Elfont take the lazy approach of pulling generic stereotypes off the shelf and throwing them into a formulaic plot that doesn't offer one genuine surprise or meaningful moment.

I.S.S. doesn’t disappoint but neither does it go above or beyond what one might reasonably expect based on the trailer.

Red Sparrow is a deliciously perverse, unflinchingly violent thriller – a modern-day espionage tale that breaks with the tradition of making the spy business the purview of suave and debonair characters.

There are problems with De Palma's version, especially in its portrayal of the key relationship between Carrie and her mother, but it's a more engaging and insightful portrayal than Kimberly Peirce's too-slick remake.

Perhaps the most disappointing thing about Apt Pupil is the lack of sustained tension generated by director Bryan Singer.

Measure of a Man, the sophomore feature effort from British director Jim Loach (the son of the famed filmmaker Ken Loach), effectively captures this difficult-to-pin-down feeling with a largely unsentimental coming-of-age story based on Robert Lipsyte’s novel, “One Fat Summer.”

Anyone expecting a movie dominated by figure skating will be disappointed. The Cutting Edge concentrates on its characters, with the skating limited to a supporting role. This is not a movie for cynics, nor for those who don't occasionally like to sit back and enjoy an undemanding, "comfortable" film. For unadulterated fun, The Cutting Edge may not earn a gold medal, but it's worth at least a bronze.

Fly Me to the Moon isn’t a complete failure to launch (thanks primarily to the not-inconsiderable charisma and energy Johansson brings to the production) but neither does it have the thrust to make it into orbit.

There's nothing in The Guardian that audiences haven't previously been exposed to ad nauseam.

The problem with In Time, to the extent that it is a problem, is that an intriguing premise turns into window dressing for a somewhat routine "Bonnie & Clyde"-meets-"Robin Hood" action thriller with car chases, heists, and gunplay.

he movie is funny enough to get its share of laughs but, in its angry heart, it’s a tragedy - and the saddest part is that too much of this story is true.

A compelling, thought-provoking, and unsettling drama.

This movie only takes a few minutes to crash and burn, but more than an hour and a half to realize it.

he Celebration rips apart the placid facade of a familiar subject, leaving its audience stunned. As difficult as the film can at times be, the patient viewer will be rewarded.

Tomorrow Never Dies is a better film than Goldeneye. In fact, it's the best Bond film in many years.

This sloppy mess also pales in comparison to the better-paced, taut "Olympus Has Fallen," which represents 2013's better White House invasion story.

As a piece of religious instruction or an animated version of a crèche, it accomplishes its aims. As a movie, however, it's slow, plodding, and not terribly interesting.

Essentially a one-joke movie that milks its central conceit long after there's nothing left.

A fairly routine thriller that gets high marks as a result of tight pacing and top-notch acting.

Part of the reason The Devil's Own is endurable is because, in spite of various script deficiencies, both of the stars -- Pitt and Harrison Ford -- have an undeniable screen presence. And, while star power can't save a sinking movie, it can at least keep it afloat longer.

While Malice won't win any awards, it's a cut above the average. The result is a curious mixture that provides one-hundred minutes of entertainment.

A pleasant but relatively inconsequential movie.

Light, funny, and clever.

The Holiday is no vacation. Sloppy writing, an overindulgent editor, and poor casting have taken an intriguing premise and transformed it into an uneven mess.

Ricci's performance is brave and effective - the most provocative in a career that has rejected Hollywood norms.

Beauty and the Beast attains a nearly-perfect mix of romance, music, invention, and animation.

Given some of the dubious decisions made in crafting the 1987 film, there was ample opportunity to make vast improvements. Unfortunately, this Running Man fails to take advantage and, while stumbling on approach to the finish line, it trips and falls in the final moments.

Love Me isn’t bad in the sense that it is poorly assembled or incompetently shot. On a craft and technical level, it’s above average. But the narrative is incoherent and the philosophical meanderings lack depth and intelligence.

Despite being overlong, Blackhat is mostly engaging. The narrative features one major change of direction and things get increasingly preposterous as the climax approaches, but that's not unusual in this genre.

By incorporating a strong Jamaican flavor and infusing the mix with reggae and dance, Elba provides something more interesting than the standard tale of gang warfare and drug deals that forms Yardie’s skeleton. However, although these unique elements form an effective distraction, their ability to captivate wears thin, exposing the threadbare, overfamiliar story that struggles mightily to keep viewers engaged.

Like a time-travel movie, but without the time travel, The Mothman Prophecies delights in playing with cause-and-effect relationships.

The film stays true to its unpretentious origins -- it's like a comic book come to life, with an undeniable visual flair, a lot of kinetic action sequences, minimal character development, and a plot that could charitably be called "uneven".

Unfortunately, stiff acting, an increasingly hard-to-swallow storyline, and an atrociously bad ending torpedo Eli Horowitz’s Gone in the Night, making it unworthy of even a streamed view. When the movie started, I wanted to like it. 90 minutes later, I just wanted it to end.

Viewed from the straightforward perspective of a narrative-based motion picture, writer/director Nathalie Biancheri’s sophomore feature never gains traction. There are some interesting ideas but it becomes increasingly difficult to relate to the characters or the situation the more obviously divorced from reality things become.

The film isn’t funny enough to warrant a recommendation and, although it doesn’t desecrate the less-than-sacred image of the earlier film, it proves itself to be superfluous. However, Coming 2 America will disappoint only those who believed Murphy could do something amazing or hilarious with this dubious property.

They say the third time's the charm. Not with the Insidious series, it isn't. Admittedly, installment #3 is an improvement over #2, but it fails to reach the highs of the chilling-but-uneven original.

It would be nice to argue that the good outweighs the bad in The Switch, but it's a wash.

It ends up feeling a little like warmed-over "Strictly Ballroom" without Baz Lurhmann's over-the-top sense of style.

This movie is a perfect example of what's wrong with many big-budget films today: no characters, no intelligence, and, worst of all, little fun.

Kandahar is one of those movies that exists without having a compelling reason for doing do. As a war movie, it’s not especially insightful or gut-wrenching. As an action film, it lacks energy, momentum, and consistency. As a drama, it feels artificial and manipulative.

I am conflicted about this film. I like the fact that it takes chances. I appreciate that it's trying to do a supernatural love story without falling into the schmaltz of "Ghost." Yet I recognize that the screenplay is like Swiss cheese - riddled with hole.

Deadfall suffers most obviously from a sense of not being adequately developed.

Trap is a house of cards built on a bed of sand in the middle of a hurricane. It flies apart and collapses almost immediately and the various plot threads are so thoroughly ripped to shreds that there’s nothing left at the end but the wreckage of a movie and the recognition that 105 precious minutes have been stolen.

Die-hard Christie purists may be disappointed by some of the changes but, on the whole, Death on the Nile is faithful enough to tell the story and different enough to work better with modern-day concerns about diversity than the original text.

While Bean branches out from the format developed for the television series, it remains faithful to the concepts and constructs that led to its success.

Those for whom Spirit was made will find this to be a thoroughly enjoyable production. As a "kids' movie", Spirit is a resounding success.

Eternals, despite trying to be a departure from the superhero generic norm, misses wide of the mark and ends up being a major lapse.

Offers enough suspense to make it worth the price of admission.

The Hills Have Eyes gets points for gore and general creepiness, and for occasional periods of tension, but it's not scary enough to linger long in the subconscious.

Kenneth Branagh’s new, workmanlike interpretation of the tale will be met with different reactions from those who are familiar with the ending and those who aren’t. It makes a big difference.

Compelling material, especially for those who believe that the lives and loves of the dead can impact the trajectory of the existences of the living.

H20 is the second-best entry into the series, and, although it's nowhere close to the level established by Carpenter's classic, it avoids the excesses that ruin many would-be horror movies.

It has an interesting subtext. I'm referring to the way the lives and friendships of these four individuals crumble in the wake of their accident.

This is yet another early 2025 movie where there’s just enough material in the film to assemble an intriguing three-minute trailer but not enough to make the other 120 minutes of more than passing interest.

For all its faults, Gracie is made with enough grace to get us rooting for the protagonist.

This picture doesn't have deep enough currents to succeed as a psychological thriller and, as a ghost story, there are times when it has trouble treading water.

A stillborn affair that could have been -- and should have been -- a whole lot hipper and funnier. If you've seen the two- minute theatrical trailer, you've seen nearly everything that's worthwhile in the feature.

Besson may have misfired with The Fifth Element, but at least he does it with flair and a sense of humor.

It’s an enjoyable enough parfait but far from a theatrical destination.

There's enough material in Self/less to fuel a mini-series. Instead of letting the story breathe, the film rushes along at breakneck speed, using contrivances and "shortcuts" in failed attempts at character development.

Ghost in the Shell is visually compelling but tone deaf.

Magic Mike’s Last Dance is one of Soderbergh’s most notable misfires and, although one can justifiably argue that sub-par Soderbergh is as good as a solid effort by many other directors, that doesn’t change the end result: there’s something unsatisfying about this motion picture.

With its canned, predictable action sequences and mirthless attempts at humor, it displays an ineptitude that is frankly shocking considering the talent involved.

If there's a complaint to be made about Insidious, it's that the film's second half is unable to live up to the impossibly high standards set by the first half.

The Last Voyage of the Demeter is a harrowing journey but, for those who appreciate horror, it’s well worth taking.

"Before Sunrise" is a great movie. The Sun is also a Star isn’t. It’s not horrible and it may please its target audience but it misses an opportunity to have a deeper and less surgically-targeted impact than what it achieves.

The most disappointing aspect of The Iron Lady is that some of the most memorable hallmarks of Thatcher's time in power are glossed over.

Every time An Ordinary Man seems to be headed into a minefield of clichés, it takes an unexpected detour and the film’s final such excursion comes like a gut-punch.

A viscerally effective, fast paced thriller.

I have come to the conclusion that it's impossible for a Steven Segal movie to be anything better than mediocre, and this particular travesty may be his worst yet. The title Under Siege is supposed to represent the situation faced by Segal's character, but it's equally appropriate in describing the experience of the poor viewer who sits through this film.

At 2 1/2 hours, the movie is actually too short to adequately tell the full tale (The Ten Commandments is 70 minutes longer) but that doesn't prevent Scott from presenting multiple, seemingly endless scenes of people crossing deserts.

Although none of the characters are fleshed out much beyond the comic book level, we nevertheless find our sympathies aligning with them.

Despite being light in the story department, The Crimes of Grindelwald offers plenty of small pleasures and tightens up the linkage between this series and Harry Potter.

I'm not a religious man but, Hallelujah! I may not be done with Meyer but at least I'll never again have to cope with the angst, self-absorption, and vampire mythology mutilation that characterized these five movies.

National Champions remains effective as an ode to cynical realism but it’s uneven at best as a slice of drama.

Those who want something substantial in their cinematic diet may recoil from what A Working Man offers. But for anyone whose primary concern is to see the righteous slaughter of bad guys at the hands of the noble Statham, A Working Man doesn’t disappoint.

The biggest crime committed by The Spy Who Dumped Me isn’t its dearth of humor or reliance on an unimaginative espionage plot but the way it wastes the talents of its leads, Mila Kunis and Kate McKinnon.

Has enough charm and whimsy to capture the attention and imagination of children and parents alike, and arguably represents one of the best live-action family films to enter theaters this year.

Predictable this isn't, but that can be seen as both an asset and a detriment.

Despite the negatives, I'm still recommending Fallen on the strength of its complex plot and especially its ending, which I loved. The final scenes are startling, audacious, and unexpected. It's not often that a plot development takes me by surprise the way this one did.

As YA romances go – and there are plenty to choose from – this is a lesser option.

It's a funny movie, although rarely is the humor of the loud, obnoxious kind we have come to associate with Ferrell. It's not unlike "Blazing Saddles."

300 may not offer masterful storytelling in a conventional sense, but it's hard to beat as a spectacle and that makes it worthwhile viewing for all but the most squeamish of potential audience members.

This is not a story that cries out to be remade every 15-20 years. And, while the special effects and acting are getting better, the story isn't.

The movie is uneven in the extreme, to the extent that it feels like two imperfectly wed pictures. The first, while not extraordinary, at least contains some interesting ideas. The second borders on embarrassing: an overblown melodrama complete with coincidence building upon coincidence and plot threads that are left unresolved.

As a whole, Valentin is a moderately entertaining motion picture, but the lack of a satisfying sense of closure dims its appeal.

Scream 4 is so obsessed with the self-referential element that made the original Scream unique that it loses the capacity to be genuinely scary or funny.

Sadly, passion and romance are two ingredients missing from this melodrama, which does an excellent job of re-creating the Depression-era circus business.

X-Men: Apocalypse is a competently made superhero action film but it’s not a game-changer and its brand of action seems a little too familiar.

Like undercooked comfort food, the series has lost its taste and appeal. Despicable Me 4 exemplifies what happens when an animated franchise overstays its welcome.

Certainly, the story told by The Monuments Men is worth telling and it's easy to see why a luminary like Clooney would be sufficiently attracted to want to direct it. Unfortunately, this treatment, written by Clooney and long-time collaborator Grant Heslov, isn't the best fit.

The International possesses the look and feel of a thriller, but not the heart or soul of one.

The Producers is a movie based on a play based on a movie about a play. And that's probably the funniest thing about it.

Too much in Nacho Libre doesn't work to enable me to recommend it to anyone except a card-carrying member of the Jack Black fan club.

Triple Nine turns out to be a thoroughly entertaining (although violent) thriller.

As Nina, Aniston not only displays a surprising capacity for both comedy and drama, but she shines with the kind of star quality that only a handful of current performers exhibit.

Generic and forgettable.

Mixed together, all of this makes for a fascinating viewing experience, but the unfortunate ending diluted my enthusiasm for the film as a whole.

The film's comedy is lackluster, with supporting actors Nathan Lane and Sean Hayes (as Tad's manager and agent) providing a few mildly amusing moments that would be at home in a sit-com.

This is a beautifully shot motion picture, and there's no doubt that the lush scenery upstages the actors.

Following director Peter Jackson's powerful, true-life matricide tale, Heavenly Creatures, The Frighteners falls short of expectations by being just one of many in the long line of 1996 summer movies.

The pacing is uneven, the frenetic action is rarely suspenseful, the dialogue is neither witty nor intelligent, and the anticlimactic endgame drags out to an improbable conclusion.

"Labor" isn't just a word in the title of Jason Reitman's new film, it's a description of what it feels like to sit through the movie.

A problem with this movie, as is too-often the case with productions set within the confines of a space craft/capsule, is that the filmmakers don’t trust the inherent dangers and claustrophobia of the situation to be sufficiently suspenseful.

Jose Padilha's Robocop reboot does some of the things a good remake should do: it retains the central ideas and themes of the original while updating and rearranging the narrative to lose a derivative feel.

The weaknesses of Beautiful Creatures ultimately outweigh the strengths but the conviction of the central relationship is good enough to keep things from becoming laughably bad, even if it all comes apart toward the end.

The Intern is a romantic comedy without the romance.

Dangerous Beauty is a lavish historical melodrama that has enough suds, sex, and flashes of flesh to appeal to soap opera-lovers and enough substance to attract those of a more intellectual bent.

Haphazardly plotted, it not only falls prey to absolute predictability but chooses to have nearly every important conversation (except one) occur off-screen. That sort of laziness is unacceptable and results in a strong sense of audience dissatisfaction.

A by-the-numbers, slightly fictionalized chronicle of the rise and fall of pop singer Whitney Houston (Naomie Ackie), the film struggles to find a reason to exist beyond providing fans with an opportunity to listen to some of her most popular songs.

One key missing element: the world in which this story takes place never feels unique. We aren't drawn into it the way we were with Middle Earth or Hogwarts. In fact, with all the airships flying around, there are times when it feels like an extension of Stardust.