James Berardinelli

An example of a vampire movie for the new century -- stylish, gothic, gory, and loud.

The problem with the film has little to do with the central triangle, which is engaging enough in a formula-driven way, but with the myriad uninteresting subplots that dot the cinematic landscape and have the unfortunate effect of padding the proceedings to the point of unwieldiness.

It's surprising to admit that the British comedian, known far and wide for his willingness to take risks, plays it safe in The Invention of Lying - a fault from which the movie never truly recovers.

Captain America falls into the prevalent pitfalls of origin stories. So much time and effort is expended explaining how the protagonist gains his super-powers (and exploring his initial usage of them) that there's not enough opportunity to develop a compelling storyline beyond his "baptism."

Kids will have fun, parents probably won’t be bored, but will anyone really care? Sing 2 is a product and, like many products, it exists mostly to distract and make money.

The movie is unpolished, unabashedly un-PC, and takes on as many "sacred cows" as it can uncover in a slightly-too-long 105 minutes.

This is a mixed bag - passable entertainment made palatable largely by Law, but the question of "Why?" (more than "What's it all about?") still lingers where this remake is concerned.

On a purely visual level, Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets deserves mention among the most technically accomplished works of those three. But as a complete motion picture experience, it falls considerably short.

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.

The musical sequences throb with energy and this allows We Are Your Friends to maintain its trajectory when its momentum flags.

There are some problems but most are related to the uneven screenplay and not the performances of Cage or his co-star, Robin Tunney.

The movie is entertaining on a superficial level, but there's little beneath the surface.

One of the great unanswered questions in Hollywood is how Chevy Chase still gets work. Although his appeal is not as incomprehensible as that of, say, Pauly Shore, it's not obvious, either; "range" is one word no one will ever use in conjunction with Chase's acting ability.

Kristen Bell shines as Veronica, playing the character as a more mature version of her TV persona.

Escape from New York isn't really science fiction -- it's an action flick set in a futuristic setting. Epic potential for a masterful, gripping tale is abandoned in favor of cheap thrills.

While The Beta Test does a solid job of presenting Jordan as the kind of person ripe for a comeuppance and giving us a high-octane performance to go with it, the movie falls down when it comes to basic storytelling.

Instead of focusing on FDR as a president, this movie gives up half its length to tawdry soap opera.

The movie is pretty much what you might expect from a big-screen adaptation of a once-popular '60s TV series: good-natured, appealing, and sophomoric.

Despite its many strengths, Thank You for Smoking hovers around mediocrity, and its lasting impression is like a puff of smoke that is dissipated by a strong gust of wind.

Sure, the viewer who wants to see a tightly-paced thriller with gun-play and emotionally-satisfying moments won't be disappointed, but there is a little more here than simple escapism. Although it takes a number of wrong turns, Falling Down still has the power to disturb.

While Caché offers food for thought, the last third is muddled.

The plot is borderline ridiculous and certainly doesn't stand up to close (or even not-so-close) scrutiny, but there's a level of entertainment to be had watching it unfold in all its strangeness.

Enough conspiracies and secret codes to make Dan Brown sit up and take notice. All this and more can be found in David Robert Mitchell’s bizarre, trippy Under the Silver Lake, where the plot at times seems as perpetually stoned as Andrew Garfield’s lead character.

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

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."

The cinematic equivalent of cotton candy: certainly not unpleasant, but not especially satisfying despite the sweet taste.

The arrival of the uncut Godzilla is a great boon to monster movie fans, but will have limited appeal to others.

Director/co-writer Gillian Robespierre is nowhere near as self-indulgent as Noah Baumbach but she’s aiming for the same audience.

Ultimately, the greatest fault with Killing Zoe may lie in Avary's ambition. In trying to do too much (crime film, love story, psychological thriller, and dissection of an alienated generation) with a ninety-minute motion picture, his focus becomes blurred. Regardless, with a style that alternately recalls John Woo and Sam Peckinpah, and a tone that is nihilistic in the extreme, he has created a movie that, while obviously flawed, isn't easily forgotten.

The key term here is "fairy tale," because, although the movie occasionally tries for dramatic moments, they're overplayed, undercooked, and divorced from reality.

The only thing that differentiates it from far too many other uninspired rom-coms is that some of the material is funny and there is an occasional edge to the repartee. Beyond that, however, it's a cookie-cutter movie, and the cookies are pretty stale.

Bland and forgettable - a romantic comedy with affable characters and some funny lines, but where love never really takes flight. It fizzles when it should sizzle.

Narratively, The Song of Sway Lake doesn’t have much going for it but when it comes to capturing the tone of a specific locale, the approach of director Ari Gold is without peer.

There's probably enough content here to warrant a three-hour movie but Good People is only 90 minutes long.

Although it’s being marketed as a love story, The Aftermath is more about grief and recovery than romance. In fact, the film’s illicit relationship is a cold, passionless affair that generates as much heat as a dying ember in a snowstorm.

Although the first half still works – largely due to the performance of Anne Bancroft as the iconic Mrs. Robinson – the second half is a mess with only a couple of funny lines to recommend it.

The problem with Beasts of the Southern Wild is that, like "The Tree of Life," it seeks to integrate its small, very personal story into a much larger, more ambitious tapestry.

I enjoyed The Osiris Child enough that, when it stopped with the complete story half-told, I felt a flash of irritation. For that reason, until more is made (if more is made – a prospect that seems questionable at best), I can’t really recommend The Osiris Child.

It's often diverting and occasionally funny, but it's ultimately inconsequential.

Into the Woods left me out in the cold. The long-gestating cinematic adaptation of Stephen Sondheim's fairy tale-infused Broadway musical, Into the Woods can claim a clever screenplay and a few enjoyable performances but little else.

The final half-hour of Broken Embraces is littered with facile contrivances and plot turns worthy of a soap opera. It's almost mystifying, and more than a little frustrating, to watch a movie cruising at such a high level suddenly suffer a complete breakdown and lose too much altitude.

Enjoyable, but it's a shallow enjoyment.

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.

Unlike the Harry Potter movies, The House with a Clock in Its Walls fails to find the sweet spot for cross-generational appeal.

The most important part of any thriller - even one as upper crust as this - is the resolution, and that's where Notes on a Scandal falls on its face. The ending itself isn't bad but the single act leading to it is unforgivable.

It's a fast-paced motion picture that fails the "reality test" but maintains a certain intensity for its entire running length. It's entertaining in the same way that an episode of "24" is entertaining.

Despite being sold and marketed as a thriller, the most interesting aspects of Shot Caller are the dramatic ones.

Despite rave reviews, film festival awards, and an Oscar nomination, Spellbound comes across as little more than a marginally compelling documentary -– the kind of movie that would be at home on PBS.

For the Watchmen fan, this may be as close to the Holy Grail as a motion picture could come. For everyone else, a sense of frustration and disappointment is not unwarranted. Watchmen is many things but it is not the Next Great Comic Book Movie or the film that will advance graphic novel adaptations to the next level.

Harrison Ford gives as dignified a performance as he has managed in many years. And the cinematography (by veteran Janusz Kaminski) is glorious. But the tonal shifts threaten to cause whiplash and the “improvements” made to London’s book (presumably to make it more cinematic) undermine both the thematic and narrative integrity of the tale.

Although this film has more cracks than the collapsing tunnel, thrill-seekers in search of two hours of cinematic action will find that Daylight falls considerably short of being a disaster.

Temple shows a better path for horror films to follow but the screenplay is too threadbare and the characters too poorly developed for it to really work. This is about 2/3 of a solid effort – unfortunately, the other 1/3 was never made.

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.

It's an awkward technique that outlived its usefulness more than four decades ago. I like the movie, but hate its presentation.

Weaknesses in the movie’s final 15-20 minutes don’t detract from how enjoyable the rest of the film is with its over-the-top gore, wild misdirections, surprising twists, and unsubtle stereotype-based lampooning.

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

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.

Although The Eclipse is technically a horror film, dealing as it does with issues of the supernatural, it has the heart of a romance and the tone of a drama. It's slow, thoughtful, and melancholy - at times seeming to forget that a ghost story is supposed to be at least marginally scary.

Take away the performances, and all that would be left is a cheapish B-grade motion picture.

Wonder Woman 1984 is overlong, tonally inconsistent, and poorly paced. Although it raises the bar during its final hour, the viewer has to navigate about 90 minutes of action-deficient, sometimes nonsensical narrative to get to the point where the title character (again played to perfection by Gal Gadot) does something other than moon over her lost love, Steve Trevor (Chris Pine).

The film's dramatic underpinning and the way it addresses impending empty nest syndrome are solid but the comedy varies from mildly amusing to achingly awful.

A movie that is relentlessly inoffensive and completely unoriginal –- two qualities that combine to make it only sporadically charming and rarely (if ever) compelling.

Although The Muppet Christmas Carol doesn’t really work as an adaptation of the beloved Dickens novel or as a Muppet movie, it nevertheless works on its own terms for a niche audience. It’s the kind of high concept family film that can be carted out every Christmas season and enjoyed in the same way as “Frosty the Snowman”, “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer”, or “The Year without a Santa Claus.”

As a follow-up/homage, Chapter 1 isn’t bad but it feels superfluous, adding little substantive to what was previously provided by The Strangers and the second film in the series, 2018’s The Strangers: Prey at Night.

The movie, which features numerous dead-end side-stories and glaring plot holes, is short on narrative and long on allegory.

I appreciate that Ponsoldt doesn't go for cheap tears through over-sentimentality, but his detached, low-key approach distances viewers from the characters. I watched the drama unfold from afar but was never involved on an emotional level.

Aquaman refuses to do anything original or unpredictable and turns into a by-the-numbers tale of how the trident-carrying King of Atlantis becomes a protector of both land and sea. It accomplishes this by hoping that special effects saturation will compensate for screenplay weaknesses.

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.

The problem with Rocket Science is that the character at the center of the drama isn't very energetic or, truth be told, interesting. This makes it difficult at times to remain engaged in the unfolding tale.

For those who enjoy the saturation style of humor and appreciate the way in which parody is not pushed too far into the absurd, Walk Hard is not without merit.

Aside from the lip service paid to the pros and cons of releasing free hydrogen onto the world market, Chain Reaction doesn't contain anything that we haven't already seen this summer. The explosive destruction that wipes out a portion of Chicago looks like it could have been excised from Independence Day. The action sequences recall Mission Impossible, Eraser, and The Rock, albeit with less energy. The concept of government agents being bad guys has been used so often that it has long since turned into a tired cliche. Chain Reaction isn't dull -- the film is paced to keep audiences attentive -- but the lack of originality dampens its enjoyability. As a result, box office reaction will almost certainly be more like a spark than an explosion.

Whatever the reason, the characters often seem only half-formed and there's a strange artificiality about the entire endeavor. Egoyan has never been a realist, and his style has contributed to his ability to deliver a knockout punch. Here, that punch is missing.

Perfect Sense offers an epic tale seen through the prism of a tiny, intimate story. It's the inverse of "Contagion," which sacrificed character to scope.

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.

In the end, there's a sense that director Olivier Assayas is more concerned about making a point than telling a story.

The scenario explored by Ben is Back starts out strongly but, with writer/director Peter Hedges unwilling to remain firmly rooted within the hard, mundane rhythms of a family drama, it loses focus and borders on the preposterous as it races toward an improbable climax.

It is not as engaging as "The Royal Tenenbaums," but about on par with "Rushmore" and "Bottle Rocket."

Joe Klein's novel -- is a cynical satire of life on the campaign trail. It's harsh, blistering, and possesses an edge that the film, a warmhearted comedy/drama, lacks.

For action fans, Shelter scratches an itch, even if it’s destined to be little more than a passing distraction.

Dream Lover is a classic example of a movie setting up its viewers. Half the fun lies in recognizing that at the end. Artsy dream interludes and some rather silly dialogue mar the production, but these things fade into near-obscurity in the face of the climax. Dream Lover will never be considered a classic, nor even a particularly memorable example of its genre, but that won't stop those who watch it from enjoying themselves -- even if that means playing into writer/director Nicholas Kazan's hands.

For zombie movie-fans, Army of the Dead provides a good blend of the fast and the familiar, all blended together into a concoction that hits the sweet spot. Snyder takes some chances, doesn’t skimp on the gore, and offers a shock or two. Perhaps that’s the best a zombie movie can hope to accomplish in 2021.

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

For those who expect a tightly-written mixture of the detective and science fiction genres, Time After Time is bound to be a disappointment. It's more of a lighthearted fantasy/romance with a few thriller elements thrown in.

Overwrought and disjointed, Ewan McGregor’s directorial debut is surprisingly faithful to aspects of the text but the overall presentation is conventional and disappointing.

Solo Mio is pretty much what one could reasonably expect from a Kevin James romantic movie: genial, good-natured, and ultimately pretty bland.

Elizabeth: The Golden Age lacks the intricate plotting that characterized its predecessor. The screenplay is more action-oriented but not as smart, and some of the dialogue is downright cheesy.

The PG-13 rating is an indication of how much the material has been neutered. And, although the lead character’s arc remains troubled and conflicted, the ending makes her seem more like a superhero than the material warrants.

Crank 2: High Voltage is the freak show act at a carnival. It's so over-the-top that the phrase ceases to have meaning in this context. It's a bizarre concoction of testosterone, adrenaline, and psychedelics. It seeks not only to top its predecessor, "Crank," but to outdo itself at every turn.

More of the same. One senses viewers wouldn’t want anything different.

In general, parodies may not rely overmuch on plot, but they need more in this department than Death to Smoochy possesses.

It's refreshing for a romantic comedy not to follow the formula by rote. I only wish I could be as enthusiastic about the amount of screen time accorded to certain characters who are more tedious than endearing.

A moderately entertaining but overlong film that emphasizes visual razzle-dazzle over narrative backbone.

The movie doesn’t exactly do Philip Marlowe a disservice but neither does it successfully re-invent the character for a new era and its attendant audience.

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

An individual’s appreciation of Cats may rest on a previous love of the stage play; others are more likely to throw up a hairball than purr in contentment.

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

Notting Hill does an adequate job, but this isn't one of those landmark romantic comedies that dozens of subsequent movies will seek to emulate.

It appears that Marvel has given up trying to broaden the tent. Although Thor: Ragnarok, the third film to focus on the exploits of the titular Norse God, boasts a lighter tone, when the flippancy is stripped away, it’s the same-ole-same-ole.

The resulting tale of friendship and family touches plenty of crowd-pleasing buttons but comes across as more than a little derivative.

Admittedly, mediocre Sayles is still watchable, but, relative to expectations, Casa de los Babys is a disappointment of significant proportions.

Ghost in the Shell is visually compelling but tone deaf.

In the interval between the release of "Super Troopers" and its sequel, we have moved on. For better or worse, Broken Lizard hasn’t. As a result, some of what would have been side-splitting in 2001 barely provokes a chuckle in 2018.

Splice is as much a psychological thriller and drama about bio-ethics as it is a horror movie. Like the vastly superior "The Fly," it uses gore sparingly; delivering shocks to the audience is a secondary consideration.

Calling The Angry Birds Movie an “animated film” is giving it airs. It’s a cartoon. Deal with it.

The problem is one of tone. The Five Year Engagement, despite its serious thesis, tries desperately to be funny. Some of the comedic material provokes laughter and some doesn't, but nearly all of it feels wrong.

The tone is lighthearted and the performances are effective but, in the end, the feature is so inconsequential as to leave no lasting impression.

There are times when iconic characters should be left alone to bask in the glory of a single appearance and, unfortunately, that's the case with Gordon Gekko.

The basketball star's power might be the drawing card for Space Jam, but the Looney Tunes group steals the spotlight – at least as often as Pytka will let them.

If nothing else, Unfriended does an excellent job portraying the frenzy that is on-line teen interaction. This is the new equivalent of "hanging out."

2 Days in New York splits its time between being a quirky comedy and a quasi-serious drama. Comparisons with Woody Allen may be inevitable, in part because of the setting, although none of the characters in this film are neurotic enough to match vintage Allen.

In the end, it's the self-mocking aura that save this film from being a waste of two hours.

It packs in a few scary moments and offers a nicely ambiguous conclusion. In Silent Hill, atmosphere trumps storyline.

If you're a fan of James Brown's oeuvre, the film will keep you interested. If you're not, Get on Up will quickly become tedious and will wear out its welcome long before the end of its 133-minute run.

It wants to be funny, charming, scary, and dramatic. It ends up being a little of each but not successful as any one.

The bad news is that Silent House is 88 minutes long, and the final half hour represents a descent into an anticlimax that ends with a scene as dumb as it is disappointing.

Hicks has made a technically adept film, but one that, for all of its strong acting and vivid photography, left me less moved than I should have been.

Ultimately, however, the movie is so desperate for a conventional ending that it subverts everything it was willing to try earlier.

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.

A bleak, black satire that occasionally strays all the way into "Pulp Fiction" territory.

A tighter version of the same story might have captured and held my interest, but this one had the proceedings wandering like the riderless camels in the desert.

It is neither deep nor intelligent, but it's not intended to be either. The saving grace of the otherwise generic product is that Bell's vivacity and Duhamel's rakish charm allow the viewer to root for them.

Paced more like an action movie than a drama, and, when a pause finally occurs at the end credits, we realize that it hasn't been an altogether satisfying ride.

For all his passion to tell this story, Heckler doesn’t seem sure of the best way to conclude it.

The problem with The Soloist is that, while Wright shows admirable restraint in dramatizing the interaction between the two principals and does not fall into the trap of following a "movie of the week" formula about mental illness, there is little emotional resonance in the story.

The Witches feels like a throwaway feature rather than a fully-realized fantasy adventure.

Those yearning to make use of a small package of tissues may be willing to overlook the movie’s deficiencies but I can’t help but wonder whether a conventional telling of the same story might have been more effective in the long run.

The book tore at my heart; the movie left me strangely unmoved.

The movie voids a lot of good will with a cheesy ending. This is just the kind of denouement I was hoping Taking Lives wouldn't sink to, yet it does.

Despite its overly praiseworthy tone, there are areas of interest.

All the explosions and fights are filmed with consummate skill, and are thrilling in their own right. But that's where it stops. The pacing is erratic and the level of tension ebbs and flows.

Unfortunately, Picture Perfect uses embarrassing contrivances to sabotage what should have been a pleasant excursion down a familiar road.

Parodies are hard to do well, as is shown by the mediocrity of so many recent attempts. No matter how ripe a genre is for satirizing, unless you know how to do it, there are no guarantees. Fortunately for Men in Tights, Mel Brooks has been doing this kind of thing for decades.

One could argue that Crank works best as a comedy. It's occasionally funny, and some times VERY funny.

Rushmore is one of those films that's so inconsequential that its memory threatens to fade away before the end credits have finished rolling.

Director Roger Donaldson has a lot of fun with his premise. The top-notch special effects, which use a lot of seamless computer animation, make the climax look very nice. The rest of the film is essentially one long chase sequence with a couple of nude scenes and maulings added to liven up the proceedings. No matter what genre you identify Species as, it's not top of the line, but there's also quite a bit of room beneath it.

A degree of unevenness is expected and that’s what Barbie delivers: a delightful confection at its best, an unfocused jumble at its worst.

The venerable series is looking outmoded and outdated. Media saturation and age have taken their toll.

It's a perfect choice for a mother/daughter evening out...decently constructed, solidly performed, and not too naïve.

Too often, it simply makes no sense.

It's lively and vivid but ends up leaving the viewer indifferent to the central character, his life, and his dubious place in British pop culture.

Characters are left half-developed or undeveloped so that as much plot as possible can be crammed into two hours. The result, while not wholly unsatisfying, will disappoint those used to the cinematic richness we have come to expect from this collaboration.

One of those romantic comedies that never quite clicks. At times, its humor is effective, provoking chuckles and laughs. At other times, the comedy feels forced and awkward.

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.

When this movie is quiet and introspective, it speaks with a clear voice. That insight gets muddled, however, the more forceful Singleton becomes.

Glass, the third film in what has become a trilogy, comes across as a mix of half-formed ideas baked into an uneven casserole. Overlong, talky, filled with meta references, and with a strangely low-energy tone, the movie never fully gels.

An intriguing blend of globetrotting neo-noir and road trip plot elements, The Wedding Guest often seems on the cusp of greatness without ever getting there. The film classifies more as a disappointment than a success because, despite its little triumphs, it fritters away too many opportunities and suffers through a turgid middle act.

All These Small Moments offers a mix of honesty and artifice. Some of the scenes simmer with truth; others are too obviously the construct of a screenplay.

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.

An offbeat romantic comedy that almost - but not quite - works. The characters and situations are a little too quirky for their own good.

Dark Phoenix is closer to the comic book story than the previous iteration, retaining many of the core elements. Unfortunately, it suffers from a massive condensation that not only mutes the film’s emotional impact but creates an erratic tone.

The 94-minute running time is too skinny to do the premise justice and The Greatest Hits feels like a Cliffs Notes version of a longer, better story. Plus, for a movie that relies on music for its emotional core, the soundtrack is lackluster at best.

Even the characters with the most screen time are (at best) slightly developed – there’s just enough humanity for us to be interested in whether they survive, although any emotional attachment is minimal.

The voices were chosen more for their big name appeal than for their ability to bring life to the drawings. The storyline is flat, linear, and shallow.

Rudy is intended to be triumphant and inspirational, and, in a cliche-riddled fashion, it attains those aims. Critics of the film will rightfully point out the instances when it wallows in sentimentality, but much of the story is true-to-life. While events along the way have been "Hollywoodized", at least the ending has not been overtly embellished; films of the 1975 game exist to prove that this is how events transpired.

The movie veers with surprising ease between comedy and tragedy. Some scenes are hilarious; others are somber.

In the end, I was more letdown by the movie’s inability to draw me in than impressed by its offbeat premise.

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.

The character arc of Paul Safranek (Matt Damon) lacks verve and, although some will appreciate the low-key denouement, the film as a whole exudes unfulfilled potential and the ending provokes little more than a shrug of the shoulders.

This movie is an entertaining and sometimes wildly-exhilarating ride.

Ted Geoghegan’s Mohawk is taut, bloody, and uncompromising – all with a dollop of social commentary thrown in for good measure.

Napoleon was without a doubt a complex and controversial character whose shadow loomed large over the first quarter of the 19th century. He deserves a better-focused, more passionate movie than the one Scott has provided.

It's a little too low-key to be an effective romance and a little too soft to be anything more ambitious. Ultimately, it's neither offensive nor horrible; it's just another unspectacular, uninspired entry on Nora Ephron's erratic resume.

Though the story is mostly faithful to the established origin of the character, it's not until the last 15 minutes, when "The William Tell Overture" arrives in its full glory, that this starts to feel a little like The Lone Ranger. But that's too little, too late. And when The Ranger (played here by Armie Hammer) finally shouts "Hi-yo Silver," the moment is spoiled by turning it into a joke.

A genial and unremarkable comedy with its share of tepid laughs. It's a significantly weaker offering than its edgier, livelier older brother.

The film’s problem is that, after chronicling Nancy’s nightmarish 12 hours on a tiny rock island, director Jaume Collet-Serra and screenwriter Anthony Jaswinski don’t know how to end things. Their choice of a resolution is preposterous and underwhelming.

This is a mediocre horror/comedy that deserves neither high praise nor disparagement.

Represents a disappointing way for the science fiction trilogy to bow out. Overlong and underwhelming, The Matrix Revolutions reinforces the thinking that it’s a rare movie series in which the final chapter is the strongest.

Does what all good National Geographic documentaries do: it informs and entertains while providing interesting wildlife footage. Unfortunately, it's not cinematic.

There are times when 22 Jump Street is borderline brilliant. Unfortunately, those instances are outnumbered by segments that don't work for one reason or another.

There are some splendidly over-the-top performances - chiefly those of Nicole Kidman and John Cusack, both cast against type - but the biggest narrative hole lies at the center. The lead character, played by Zac Efron, is dull, uninteresting, and poorly conceived.

Had there been more to Lightyear than a retread of sci-fi cliches with a beloved character, I would have been less disappointed.

If Madagascar 2 is the best Dreamworks can provide to go toe-to-toe with Pixar's beautiful WALL*E, then it's game, set and match to the Disney subsidiary.

Madame is populated by one-note individuals and the screenplay isn’t overly interested in building them beyond their core characteristics. As a result, lonely and bored Anne (Toni Collette) becomes unlikeable because she is defined by her vapidity and venality.

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.

Links between climate change, population growth, and a potentially catastrophic worldwide famine are reduced to background plot points. The moral/ethical conundrums of the “solution” are paid lip service but not aggressively integrated into the story.

The material itself is unremarkable and the execution is mediocre. It stands out as often for missteps as for elements that are memorable.

For those interested only in a visual fleshing-out of a Wikipedia entry, Class Action Park does the job. Anyone hoping for more won’t find it in this unremarkable piece of nostalgia-bait.

As a video rental, this film will probably play a lot better than it does at the local multiplex.

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

Asteroid City doesn’t represent Anderson in peak form but it’s an occasionally enjoyable diversion that offers enough smiles and low-key laughs to paper over a few the filmmaker’s annoying tendencies.

Pretty mediocre entertainment, and probably better suited for home viewing than a trip to the multiplex.

If there's a complaint to be made, it's that the humor could be less scattershot.

Effectively paced and nicely choreographed, the fundamental letdown of the ending results in a mild sense of dissatisfaction.

Unfortunately, this is also among the weakest of the early Bond films, although Connery is in peak form.

It’s an uneven film with a tone that veers from playful to menacing. Despite numerous simplifications of the source material, it’s long and, with only a few exceptions, the songs are unremarkable and feel more like filler than organic elements of storytelling.

If you liked "Zombieland," you’ll probably like Zombieland: Double Tap, just not as much. It has some good laughs, although they don’t come as frequently. It has some clever moments, but not as many. And the character interaction is fun, at least most of the time.

As a B-movie whodunnit designed for fast consumption by popcorn munching crowds of inattentive viewers, it’s solidly entertaining. But as a complex, Hitchcockian (as in the obvious inspiration, Rear Window) thriller, it misses by a wide margin.

Time Trap is a superficially entertaining science-fiction action/adventure film that might have worked better had it focused more on the “science fiction” elements and less on the halfhearted “action/adventure” ones.

Perhaps the greatest strength of Star Trek: The Motion Picture is that, despite a badly-paced middle, it boasts a strong beginning and end.

As a feel-good movie about disabled youths, Rory O'Shea Was Here gets the job done, but it isn't interesting or daring enough to make it worth a trip to a theater.

Tokyo Decadence will appeal to only a select few. The movie is rated NC-17 for a reason -- it doesn't pull any punches, and there's virtually nothing it won't risk putting on screen. Those who take a chance on this film may be shocked by what it offers, but, regardless of their opinion of the story, the overall experience won't soon be forgotten.

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

Project X's first-person verisimilitude is the movie's primary strength and most damning weakness.

This movie is more of a curiosity than a fully formed motion picture.

If there’s a compelling reason to see the film, it’s Regina Hall.

Perhaps surprisingly, it's no better or worse that the other superhero movies of 2015.

There are moments of brilliance, but overall this is a bit of a chore—and the ending renders the whole enterprise kind of pointless. Of the director’s six English-language films, this is his biggest misstep and the one I’ve liked the least.

For those with an adventurous and offbeat cinematic appetite, Chandni Chowk to China offers its shares of enjoyments, although there are plenty of "downs" to go along with the "ups."

Without the elegant technique of John Woo, Hard Target could have been a real dud. It is not a good alternative to more intelligent thrillers such as In the Line of Fire and as The Fugitive, but that's not the market it's aimed at. However, those who enter a darkened theater showing this film with a reasonable idea of what they're getting themselves into, are likely to emerge satisfied.

One of the problems with Unlovable is the uneven manner in which the tone shifts.

Despite a too-long running time of 144 minutes (the entirety of which much be endured to get to the post-credits scene), the story feels slight. There’s a strong emotional hook but it doesn’t fully compensate for all the half-baked story elements that litter the film.

Gangster Squad provides a welcome burst of heat and color, even if those qualities are more illusory than real and subject to a fast fade.

The strongest, most consistent performance is provided by Sam Rockwell, who displays a wide and convincing range of emotions.

Monsters vs. Aliens suffers from the common 3D problems: dim lighting, poor focus in fast-paced action sequences, and too many distractions for the movie to grab the viewer.

The rousing success of the final 45 minutes cannot entirely counterbalance the stumbling uncertainty of the first 90 minutes.

An atypical Allen film. Some of his usual themes are present - in particular, his neuroses about sex and love - but this movie does not bear enough Allen hallmarks to single it out as his work.

The craftsmanship is impeccable as is the acting, but the storytelling is where the movie falls down.

There are several painfully awkward "dead spots" in Mallrats where nothing works -- not the dialogue, the acting, or the direction.

It is as comfortable and predictable as any Saturday morning cartoon, although with higher production values and a spiffier look.

Rather than taking any sort of bold step forward, Moana 2 is more of the same. Although that can be seen as a positive, it feels a little disappointing that this is the best Disney was able to craft after an eight-year wait.

Weak dramatically, and that limits its overall effectiveness.

Although Tracy Letts’ adaptation is generally faithful to the source material, this is an example of something that can work well on the written page but loses a lot when condensed and brought to the screen.

Black Widow represents the MCU looking back when it should be moving forward. Everything about the movie seems small, even the big action set-pieces. No doubt fans – and when discussing Marvel, there are a huge number of those – will be delighted to see the mega-franchise returning to the big screen but it would be a fallacy to consider this anything but a low-tier entry.

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.

It’s almost worth seeing Last Night in Soho for the glorious heights of the first hour as Wright manipulates the visuals and acts like a master magician in developing his illusion. It’s when the illusion evaporates that the movie disappoints and, because it starts out so strongly, that makes the lackluster final act all the more discouraging.

Beautifully filmed and emotionally on-target when confined to 1924, Mothering Sunday loses its way once unmoored in time and left adrift on the currents of the years to come.

Has plenty of funny moments, but there's no chemistry between stars Ben Stiller and Jennifer Aniston. It's hard to accept that these two characters are, or even could be, in love. So, while the film is pleasant and sporadically entertaining, it can't be considered an unequivocal success.

In the final analysis, Rising Sun is yet another book-to-movie conversion that loses something in the translation. Despite the always-welcome presence of Sean Connery, the film fails to satisfy completely. There are a few too many plot holes and logical errors. Rising Sun may be solidly-paced, but not all aspects of the production are as successful.

With each new outing, the Final Destination movies are getting better.

The French have an entirely different idea of what constitutes a "comedy" from the Americans. Little White Lies is classified as a "comedy" in its country of origin. I suppose that's meant in a Shakespearean sense, because there's not a lot of humor in Canet's screenplay, which is primarily dramatic and includes scenes of outright tragedy.

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.

Enough things in Crossing Over work to keep the film from becoming a bore, but this is a definite step down from Kramer's past efforts, "The Cooler" and "Running Scared."

What starts out as a devilishly clever exercise in evasion and detection turns into a self-parody that climaxes with several eye-rolling whoppers. Well, at least it’s never boring.

The plot runs out of steam just past the one-hour mark and the charade, although necessary to the story, goes on for too long. The ending is, of course, the requisite happy one, but it seems a little anticlimactic.

Kalifornia is disturbing, and, while it doesn't overdo the blood, neither is the violence understated.

Contrasting The BFG to "E.T." does the new film a disservice, and it’s mediocre enough that it doesn’t need the comparison to emphasize its shortcomings. In recent years, Spielberg has become a hit-and-miss filmmaker and this is closer to a “miss” than a “hit.”

I could easily list a half-dozen movies about famous artists/authors that fall into the same general category as this one. Excepting Cumberbatch’s performance and the strong visual sense, there’s not a lot to separate this from any of them.

Although Around the World in 80 Days offers gorgeous visuals, that’s not sufficient justification for watching a film – any film – for three hours.

It's bland as often as it is affecting, and presents little that's new or original.

Although not “bad” in a conventional sense, it’s a disappointingly mediocre effort that doesn’t have a lot to offer potential viewers over age 10. It’s a perfect example of what can happen when a sequel exists simply because its predecessor made a lot of money.

Marginally worth seeing if you're a Pacino fan but, even then, waiting for the DVD is the smart bet.

The Dig feels like a condensed version of a story that, given more time to breathe, might have been fascinating and emotionally effective.

Ritchie’s strengths as a filmmaker don’t include developing complex female personalities so Dockery’s Rosalind is more like a male fantasy caricature of a strong woman than an actual character.

The story as a whole seems stale and overly familiar.

Jupiter Ascending feels like a truncated, Cliffs Notes version of something that might have worked a lot better as a mini-series. Two hours is too short for this tale and the end result suffers greatly because of that restriction.

Although the action scenes are competently executed, there's nothing here to raise the pulse.

When compared to today's visual standards for animated films, Hoodwinked is far below the curve.

Occasional bursts of comedy keep things from becoming unbearable but whenever Myers tries to get even a little serious or advance the "plot," the desire to take a nap becomes almost overpowering.

The film's biggest problem is its director. Marc Forster is an experienced art house filmmaker with impressive credits (most recently, "The Kite Runner)", but he is clueless when it comes to action sequences.

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

Nothing in T2 is memorable.

No one is going to remember the movie in a month, but for Mommies and Daddies seeking a night's break from their children, it's adequate entertainment.

Distilled to its basics, it's little more than a sit-com that has been tarted up with scenes of projectile poop, odd sexual fetishes, and knife wielding babies. It all seems a little tired and, more importantly, not as funny as it should be.

Although McHale’s theories are interesting to listen to, there’s a smoke-and-mirrors quality to them. One thing is certain, however: You Don’t Nomi is a much better motion picture than the movie it profiles.

Overall, I found the film to be somewhat disappointing – another instance of a streaming service pouring big screen dollars into a project of only middling quality.

It relies on gross-out scenes to earn the right to be called “disturbing” and seems more interested in delivering schlocky shocks than suffocating the viewer with suspense or dread.

Celtic Pride has numerous weaknesses, most obviously an overly-happy ending that seems distressingly sincere (as opposed to lampooning this kind of finale). The film also exhibits an unwillingness to divorce itself completely from sports film cliches and conventions. On the whole, however, Celtic Pride is surprisingly effective and entertaining. You don't even have to be a Celtics fan to appreciate it. In fact, considering who becomes the butt of the film's ultimate joke, perhaps it's best if you're not one.

Marry Me isn’t good enough to transcend the limitations of the genre but it’s a passably enjoyable throwback to the heyday of rom-coms.

This Means War is not funny enough to succeed as a comedy. It's not emotionally deft enough to succeed as a romance. And it's not exciting enough to succeed as an action film. It's a high-energy, fast-paced explosion of moments that can be edited together to make a compelling trailer.

The Young Victoria feels like a wasted opportunity and is among the least impressive in a long line of motion pictures about British royalty.

Tron: Ares is fan service at its finest: a bold, brash spectacle that can’t get enough of its Easter eggs and callbacks. But there are two problems with this approach: it can be alienating for those outside the inner circle, and it prioritizes sensory overload over storytelling.

Ultimately, however, owing to too many derivative elements and an erratic story that runs out of steam about halfway through, Metro is only partially-satisfying. I suppose any viewer's reaction will depend on whether they choose to see this particular glass as half-full or half-empty. Murphy fans and action junkies will probably find enough here to keep them involved and upbeat. Everyone else will likely see this material as disappointingly over-familiar. In the wasteland of early-1997 releases, you could do worse than Metro, but, by year's end, few people are likely to remember the title, let alone the premise.

Watching The Sense of an Ending, I was struck by the realization that this should have been a good movie. Unfortunately, as is too often the case, something didn’t translate from the written page to the big screen.

Some of the more serious (and non-homicidal) scenes recall "Prelude to a Kiss" (a gender-swapping movie in which Meg Ryan switches bodies with an old man).

There are far worse horror sequels clogging up the streaming services, and Ready or Not 2: Here I Come at least occasionally delivers on the promised gore and dark humor. Still, for those who just want to see Samara Weaving go scorched-earth on some devil-worshippers one more time, there are enough viscera and sharp objects to provide a passing entertainment.

Take away Bruce Willis and this is straight-to-video material.

The Equalizer 3 is the messiest of the three movies and the most narratively fractured, but it should still satisfy those who consider themselves to be fans.

The film's central flaw is that the characters are haphazardly developed, and don't come across as more interesting than the props.

This is one of those grim movies that requires viewers to endure the experience; however, instead of providing a worthwhile payoff, it never varies from the expected trajectory and leaves the viewer as cold at the end as the emotional temperature of the key relationships.

It's disappointing that so much talent has been assembled with so little to do.

The promise of Before We Vanish’s early moments is never fully realized, however, as the movie plods and meanders through an overly-familiar narrative on its way to a half-baked and uneven conclusion.

The real standout is Alfred Molina, hamming it up as a desert entrepreneur who races ostriches and avoids paying taxes.

Frustrating because it doesn't seem far removed from a wholly enjoyable motion picture, but the tempo's off, beats are missed, and the production ends up sounding out-of-tune.

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.

Despite being mediocre and largely forgettable, Couples Retreat is not unpleasant, although it's easier to recommend it for home viewing than for a trip to a theater.

Just a run-of-the-mill slasher/thriller.

It’s a near-miss that offers a captivating atmosphere and strong performances to go along with an uneven tone and a climax that’s so overcooked that it bursts at the seams with unintentional humor.

Despite its numerous problems, Posse remains an entertaining film. Not only does it bring an innovative perspective to the western, it tells a solid story.

I found Materialists to be overlong but not unpleasant but there’s a lack of balance in the way the secondary characters and side-plots are more engaging than the bland central romantic triangle.

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.

The only reason Adult Life Skills is getting attention in 2019, nearly three years after it was finished, is because lead actress Jodie Whittaker is now bigger than big.