James Berardinelli

The movie may attract some attention from horror/thriller fans eager for a post-Halloween fix but this is no better than a direct-to-video production masquerading as a theatrical release.

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.

Whether or not Kusama made this film with the intention of proving that this kind of story, often presented with a male character and from a male point-of-view, can be as compelling (and perhaps even more so) with a gender-flip, she has achieved that.

The movie works in large part because of the depth of Steinfeld’s performance. We haven’t seen such a well-realized character in any of the other Transformers movies.

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.

Vice feels like a documentary-wannabe that never achieves whatever it’s trying to do. It rehashes events and information that have long been part of the public record and, despite the abundance of acting talent at director Adam McKay’s disposal, none of the characters achieve escape velocity.

Abetted by a strong lead performance from actress Felicity Jones, the film stands as a monument to gender equality at a time when that subject has become a hot-button issue due to the upheaval associated with the “#metoo” movement.

Cold War features a few too many ellipses and occasionally substitutes operatic tragedy for credible motivations. This results in a film that, although breathtaking to watch and emotionally wrenching, is strangely unsatisfying.

Mary Poppins Returns is an imperfect sequel but as a throw-away holiday film designed to provide a family viewing experience, it satisfies a need.

The film’s ensemble cast provides a case study in unforced, emotionally powerful acting.

The film’s biggest problem is its uneven pacing.

Mortal Engines, the movie adaptation of Philip Reeve’s YA novel, represents one of the most impressive examples of “world building” in recent years, surpassing such contenders as Valerian, Cloud Atlas, and even the recent Star Wars episodes.

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.

Narratively, not a lot happens during the opening 60-70 minutes, but Cuaron is marinating us so that later events have an uncommonly strong impact.

The move is a blast.

Like Kore-eda’s previous masterpiece, "Like Father Like Son," the movie uses a domestic drama to illustrate larger and more compelling concerns about society in general.

One possible misstep along the way is Willem Dafoe’s narration – it’s too wordy for the material and doesn’t quite work. Still, that’s a minor quibble about an otherwise dead-on portrait of a lost soul who may never quite find herself but who makes an uneasy peace with what the world has made of her.

The result may peter out on the way to an anticlimactic conclusion but it’s fun while it lasts and at least one of the three peerless female leads should get some kind of Oscar recognition. (My bet is on Colman.)

Those wacky Coens are at it again. And those serious Coens. And those loquacious Coens. The Ballad of Buster Scruggs, a paean to pre-revisionist Westerns, allows the Oscar-winning brothers to try out nearly every weapon in their considerable arsenal.

Green Book avoids sanctimoniousness in presenting this heartfelt, if sometimes familiar, story of mismatched strangers who learn to overlook boundaries of race, sexual orientation, and class as circumstances force them to rely on one another.

By playing things too safe, it loses the power and spontaneity that gave Creed its energy and drive.

It’s breezy and fun and, like its predecessor, relies more for its appeal on nostalgia and familiarity than a strong narrative thrust.

The Front Runner is a less a film for general movie-goers than for political junkies.

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.

The resulting script offers the seriousness one anticipates from McQueen and the switchbacks and turns one expects from Flynn.

With the exception of a few slow spots, Outlaw King flows briskly. It’s one of the better “Netflix originals” the service has provided and worth the expense of two hours.

The actors, especially an uncharacteristically low-key Russell Crowe, are effective in bringing the personalities to life and director Joel Edgerton (who adapted the source material and also acts) avoids the kind of extreme melodrama that could unbalance a project like this.

“Hollow cash grab” is one way to describe The Grinch. Equally appropriate would be “soulless abomination.”

Distilled to its essence, The Girl in the Spider’s Web is a generic espionage/crime thriller. Although briskly paced, the plot is far from airtight and demands a deus ex machina to reach its climax.

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

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.

It’s the best performance of McCarthy’s career, topping the one she gave in "St. Vincent."

Designed for and targeted at prepubescent girls, the holiday-themed fantasy adventure drowns in CGI, underdeveloped characters, and a plot utterly devoid of energy and excitement.

It’s too bad no one working on the production recognized the disparity in quality between the performance/non-performance scenes or they might have leaned more heavily on the former at the welcome expense of the latter.

The compelling reason to see it in a multiplex, however, isn’t so much the advantage of a larger screen as it is the absence of commercial breaks. The full impact of the movie relies on the gradual building of momentum and any kind of interruption could break the spell.

If I wanted to be kind, I’d call Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake “visually striking” and “stylish.” If I wanted to be brutally honest, I’d call it “tedious”, “pretentious”, and even “painful” (although not in a good way).

Won’t win any awards for acting or writing but generates suspense when it needs to and tells an engrossing Tall Tale.

Bleak and gripping, Galveston offers a compelling experience for those who don’t demand pure escapism and are willing to sample the darker side of cinema.

Although the movie features strong performances and contains some individually potent scenes, the film’s style keeps the viewer at arm’s length, limiting the story’s overall power and emotional resonance.

This is the sequel Halloween fans have been awaiting for four decades. With John Carpenter whispering in his ear (the original director returned in an “advisory” capacity and as co-composer), David Gordon Green has taken the series back to its roots.

This isn’t just another “cancer movie.”

Bad Times at the El Royale has problems beyond its inability to stick the ending but that’s the one that ultimately sinks it.

The Old Man & the Gun’s problems relate to a lack of balance. The movie is fine when it focuses on Redford – at least until the anti-climactic final act when it loses energy and momentum – but dead-in-the-water where the other actors/characters are concerned.

When movies address fertility problems – something they rarely do in the first place – it’s usually with something less than the honesty on display in Private Life.

Unfortunately, along with his determination to burrow into the lead character’s psyche, Oscar-winning Damien Chazelle (whose statuette came for "La La Land") fully embraces the shaky-cam handheld approach.

It doesn’t offer a story of any surprising depth or emotional strength. It’s straightforward which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but the limitations of this telling of Colette’s life is defined by a familiar quality.

Crisply paced but undercut by hard-to-swallow plot contrivances, the movie doesn’t waste much time, taking only about an hour and a quarter to unspool.

To the extent that Venom works, it’s as a comedy not an action/adventure superhero film.

All movies have a perspective. The one presented in The Hate U Give is measured but unmistakable. The film is incisive; its manipulation is covert and strategic, engendering feeling without seeming intrusive.

Cooper directs with a sure hand, never overextending himself, and Lady Gaga proves to be a natural performer (she’s more believable in the role than Barbra Streisand was 42 years ago). She and Cooper exhibit a strong, primal chemistry. The movie works because we believe in them and have a rooting interest in their star-crossed, doomed love affair.

Made for the National Geographic Channel, Science Fair was devised as a television project. As such, it’s more than worthy of the time spent viewing it. The material is strong enough, however, that for those who appreciate documentaries of this sort, it’s a reasonable candidate for theatrical viewing.

There’s a sense that, in trying to add humor and cinema-friendly “touches” to her narrative, Gleason occasionally takes us too far from reality and, during those times, the movies loses its focus on the 16-year old protagonist, Jamie Winkle (Joey King).

In his latest diatribe, Moore throws everything at the viewer including the kitchen sink and hopes something – anything – will stick. Sadly, not much does.

Although there are times when the story loses its focus (mostly during the scattershot and occasionally confusing second half), the overall impression is one of satisfaction and the animation is better than anything to emerge from Japan since Miyazaki “retired.”

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.

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.

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

Lack of focus is ultimately the undoing of sophomore feature director Yann Demange – despite crafting several compelling stand-alone sequences, he is unable to stitch everything together into a compelling whole.

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.

Although there’s admittedly some perverse entertainment value to be found in this soap-opera derived mystery, the movie never rises to the level of something gripping like "Gone Girl." It’s occasionally fun in a trashy sort of way, but nothing more.

Black is a capable action director so the individual fight scenes are well-executed and occasionally involving. It might have helped the excitement level if we had more than a passing affinity for any of the characters.

The sense of verisimilitude helps to ground the drama. Although MDMA goes to some dark places and features its share of ugly scenes, it’s ultimately a story of hope and redemption. It helps to remember that Wang has become a successful businesswoman and now filmmaker.

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

The overall package, despite suffering from some third-act narrative problems, generally goes down easily and boasts a strong, lived-in performance by Shannon Purser (Barbara from the first season of Stranger Things).

Peppermint isn’t preaching a message; it’s intended as escapist fun. The problem is, there’s nothing “fun” about sitting through this 100-minute exercise in robotic butchery.

Five Fingers of Marseilles is simultaneously familiar and unique. As befits a film set in an isolated corner of the pre-and-post-Apartheid country, the movie incorporates its contemporaneous circumstances into the plot.

An unevenly paced but ultimately winning romantic comedy, Juliet, Naked is the latest success based on a Hornby novel, joining "Brooklyn," "High Fidelity," "About a Boy," and "Fever Pitch."

There’s nothing momentous about The Wife but it functions equally effectively as a character-based drama and an allegorical statement about the power dynamic between men and women in pre-21st century marriages.

A taut, effectively paced mystery-thriller with a powerful emotional component

As horror movies go, Boarding School is worth seeing simply because it’s different. Not weird, off-the-wall different like mother! or Hereditary, but different in a good way.

At times dull and plodding and at other times cartoonishly silly, Kin rarely works and, when it does, it’s often for the wrong reasons.

The movie, which is concerned primarily with the several weeks surrounding Eichmann’s capture, mixes factual elements with a few “Hollywood touches” to provide a compelling thriller.

First-time director Jonathan Watson crafts a film that’s neither funny nor exciting, although it often seems to be straining to be one or the other. It’s a tonal mess and its inconsistencies make it a frustrating viewing experience.

Despite being one of the shortest theatrical releases of the year, clocking in at about 75 minutes (not counting end credits), The Happytime Murders feels overlong. That’s probably because the plot is nonsensical and pointless.

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

The Swan hits many of the right notes but as an attempt to be something more, it paradoxically becomes less.

The short running length is a benefit because it means that Mile 22 doesn’t stick around long enough to wear out its welcome – a too-often evident problem in films of this sort.

Granted, one wouldn’t expect a modern-day fairy tale to be socially conscious but there’s something so overt about this materialism that it stains the overall experience.

It’s supposed to be a screwball comedy but someone forgot to include the laughs.

The Meg takes itself far too seriously. The only amusing elements are Jason Statham’s occasional one-liners coupled with his exasperated expressions.

BlacKkKlansman comes across as equally entertaining and disturbing, which is most likely what Lee intended.

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.

I suppose it’s possible to argue that The Darkest Minds can be enjoyed for what it is. Unfortunately, that “what” refers to something incomplete.

If there’s a knock on Eighth Grade, it’s that it feels too true-to-life to be entirely comfortable.

Although unintentional, Puzzle is what its name implies. Despite an Oscar-caliber performance from Kelly Macdonald, the film is hampered by sluggish pacing and a sterile mood that sucks the life out of various emotionally-charged situations.

Blindspotting is a compelling film with much to say about subjects like gentrification and race – things it approaches with a mix of wit and seriousness. However, when it comes to punctuating a core theme of the Black Lives Matters movement, it falls short of the gut-punch delivered by a film such as "Fruitvale Station."

Although perhaps a little too long and not as tightly plotted as Rogue Nation, Fallout offers everything a viewer could reasonably expect from a Mission: Impossible production. It’s reliable.

Though not unusual for animated movies to provoke tears, Maquia: When the Promised Flower Blooms is perhaps the second animated film I would openly classify as a “tearjerker” (the first being Grave of the Fireflies).

Occupation accomplishes the previously unthinkable: an alien invasion film that makes "Independence Day" look smart.

The Equalizer 2 represents a solid follow-up to "The Equalizer" and an effectively understated entry into the 2018 summer movie sweepstakes.

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.

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

Be advised, however, that the idiotic ending doesn’t redeem the uneven middle portion.

Leave No Trace is one of the most moving motion pictures thus far of 2018 and it achieves its power without resorting to the overt manipulation favored by many movies.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Siberia is effectively well-paced, offers instances of tension, and doesn’t cheat at the end.

Like the little-seen 2004 mockumentary, "Confederate States of America," Sorry to Bother You blends conventional comedy with political satire to produce a film that will generate laughter and a sense of discomfort in equal doses.

The high production values, excellent acting, and strong writing make this a cut above what is often accorded this sort of release pattern. For those intrigued by the material, it’s worth seeking out.

Ant-Man and the Wasp offers nothing close to what we have come to expect from entries into the MCU. Plodding, repetitive, replete with technobabble nonsense and lifeless action, this is easily the worst-written of any of the 20 MCU offerings and may be the worst all-around film featuring a Marvel superhero since Sony rebooted Spider-Man.

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.

Day of the Soldado retains the edge-of-the-seat and nihilistic qualities of its predecessor, but there are shifts to the overall tone, which is neither as stark nor as ominous.

Despite a committed performance from lead actress Mackenzie Davis and a promising opening, the film quickly corkscrews into a death spiral of trite dialogue meant to obfuscate the lack of a coherent or meaningful narrative.

The acting in Beach House is uniformly strong and that’s one reason why the film works despite various narrative shortcomings.

Cliffhanger elements aside, I have no desire to revisit this world again. It’s played out. There’s only so far you can go with dinosaur movie and this series has gotten to that point…and beyond. Fallen Kingdom isn’t dino-myte. It’s dino doo-doo.

It’s another comedy that falls prey to two common problems: (1) predictable, uninspired humor, and (2) inept attempts to inject drama into the proceedings during the last act.

Constrained by expectations and established character/plot limitations, Incredibles 2 lacks the freshness and ingenuity displayed by its predecessor. It’s good, fun family entertainment but it’s not incredible.

By making the key participants in The Valley an Indian-American family with many traditional values and customs, Kariat emphasizes the universality of the problem.

A frustrating crime thriller that incorporates too many plot threads into the overall narrative at the expense of character identification, suspense, and emotional heft.

Bernard and Huey is a small pleasure; it’s almost always welcome to watch a character-based film crafted without pretentions.

The humor is often muted and at times almost apologetic and a subplot involving long-ago events fails in its goal of boosting the three-dimensionality of a character.

The movie spends perhaps too much time on the planning of the caper and too little time on its execution, which turns out to be on the underwhelming side. It’s also not terribly exciting.

The film functions as a time machine to take the viewer back to when (s)he watched “Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood” on television and re-introduces the man who functioned as a friend/mentor/father-figure.

First-time director Ari Aster hits a home run when it comes to an overall sense of impending doom. Sadly, Aster’s story isn’t as waterproof as his stylistic aptitude.

Like all B-movies, this one provides moments of visceral satisfaction while ignoring nuance and (at times) logic.

It’s as if the film’s reason to be is its aesthetic, with everything else being of secondary concern.

Although guilty of soft-peddling some harrowing aspects of the experience to achieve the teen-friendly PG-13 rating, Adrift nevertheless gives a flavor of the existential experience inherent in this situation by illustrating that surviving a shipwreck is as much about mental strength as physical endurance and stamina.

It’s an emotionally satisfying experience that brings to life a group of appealing characters and allows them to grow and expand in front of the lens.

An inelegant melding of a bland origin story with a generic heist tale, Solo never generates sufficient energy or interest to elevate it above the level of a failed curiosity.

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.

The caper in Carter & June is clumsy and straightforward, lacking sophistication and intelligence. Sadly, that’s an apt description of the film as a whole, which is difficult to sit through and leaves no lasting impression beyond the desire to warn people to stay away.

The bottom line is that viewers who enjoyed Deadpool will almost certainly enjoy Deadpool 2, although perhaps not quite as much.

Lelio’s subdued approach to the material robs it of potential emotional power but also keeps the story grounded.

This is not only the least funny movie in which McCarthy has appeared but the tamest and most toothless.

At its best, Terminal is a tasty, tangy parfait – a kaleidoscope of neon-tinged visuals and a twisty storyline with a tortured time line.

This is yet another chapter in “When Smart Movies Turn Dumb.”

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.”

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

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.

The movie is rarely funny with much of the comedy being too broad, too predictable, or both.

There are good reasons to see Tully. Theron’s performance is high on the list, as is that of Mackenzie Davis. The first 30 minutes are uncommonly good, which may be why the spike of disappointment is so acute when the film fails to maintain that level for its entire length.

By compressing everything into an overheated 24-hour period, Duck Butter is able to explore the highs and lows in extreme circumstances, where the importance of every moment and action is heightened.

Supercon has its moments, although not nearly enough of them, and its grossest-of-gross-out scenes might be disgusting enough to cause John Waters to wince.

No, it’s not a game-changer like "Deadpool" or "Logan." It remains firmly anchored within the “traditional” comic book milieu. But, with an unwavering devotion to spectacle and action, the film throws down a gauntlet where this kind of mass team-up is concerned.

Colossal is 2/3 of a great movie and 1/3 of a mess. Writer/director Nacho Vigalondo is tremendous when it comes to setup and the majority of his narrative but he can’t stick the ending.

Like a well-made romantic comedy that follows all the rules, Kodachrome engages because the dialogue pops and the actors are sufficiently invested that they give breadth and depth to characters who are, for the most part, underwritten.

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.

The way in which I Feel Pretty presents its message is one of the film’s biggest problems. If there’s something less subtle than a sledgehammer, it applies here.

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 hard-to-swallow drama about sibling rivalry, mental illness, and bad therapy. Cobbled together using clichés and contrivances, Brian Shoaf’s feature debut perceives mental illness more as a personality quirk than a sickness and treats it almost as a kind of magical realism.

Wildling starts out strongly but the qualities that make the first 20 minutes engrossing and harrowing drain away and the movie morphs into a thoroughly unsatisfying excursion into fantasy-tinged horror.

Damn, is it good to watch a movie that expects the audience to pay attention and that doesn’t pander to the least common denominator.

A godawful teen-magnet utterly devoid of entertainment value beyond the lure of its popular, photogenic cast and the dubious attraction of playing the “guess who gets it next” game. The little bit of cleverness that ends the film comes far too late to save this movie.

The problem with Rampage is that it’s not content to be mindless fun. There’s too much exposition and too many needless human villains. Plus, the tone is more lugubrious than the flippancy suggested by the trailers.

Don’t be fooled by the PG-13 rating – A Quiet Place has an adult aesthetic and younger viewers may be unprepared for its unconventional style and unrelenting intensity.

Although the movie’s foremost goal is to deliver big laughs, it gets points for taking seriously the trauma of parents who, after nurturing and caring for their children over an 18-year period, are forced to let go.

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.

First-time director Russell Harbaugh presents grief as it is, in all its pain and ugliness, rather than using the convenient, uplifting short-hand that Hollywood prefers.

With a running length of 30 or 40 minutes, Isle of Dogs might have been brilliant. Unfortunately, this concept, although suitable for a short, is too thin for a full animated feature.

Spielberg has invested massive creative capital into Ready Player One and the resulting production has all the ingredients viewers expect from potential blockbusters. Whether it achieves the level experienced by Spielberg’s biggest successes remains to be seen, but it is without a question one of the year’s most energetic, visually rewarding, and ultimately exhausting motion pictures.

Like most unintended second installments, this one is superfluous – a remix of moments, scenes, and images from its predecessor infused with the need to make everything bigger and louder.

Although the ending is generic and needlessly protracted, the production as a whole is suspenseful – full of diabolical little twists as it ventures deep into an uncomfortable territory using the trail blazed by "Misery."

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.

Imogen Poots and Zoe Saldana add their names to the project but, although they give solid turns, their roles are secondary. The star is relative newcomer 15-year old Madison Wolfe, whose performance is note-perfect.

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

This is one of those films where the comedy prefers to accentuate characters’ deficiencies than pursue slapstick. Because of this, Buscemi, Palin, Tambor, and a deliciously pompous and over-the-top Jason Isaacs (as Field Marshal Zhukov) shine.

Tomb Raider may be the most faithful adaptation of a video game to-date. Unfortunately, faithfulness to the source material doesn’t always result in the best cinematic experience and this is one of those occasions.

Love, Simon is charming and likeable in much the same way that heterosexual teen comedies can be charming and likeable.

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.

The narrative contains some clever moments but the resolution somehow feels like a cop-out, perhaps because we’ve seen it so many times before.

Although there are a few missteps, the movie boasts a deliciously dark tone that makes for compelling viewing.

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

The 2018 Death Wish has been developed with a specific audience in mind – those who enjoy these kinds of thoughtlessly violent outings. The direction is workmanlike, although without the flourishes that have added some visual razzle-dazzle to similar orgies of brutality like "John Wick" and its sequel.

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.

A compulsively watchable thriller that represents a calling card for the Ramsay brothers for the movie industry.

It maintains its cheekiness while poking fun at the overused concept of redemption. Most importantly, it stays funny up to the beginning of the end credits, and maybe a little beyond.

Liking "Ex Machina" is no guarantee of liking Annihilation or vice versa. In terms of tone, Annihilation is a close cousin to "Arrival." There’s the same dark atmosphere and bleak sense of discovery.

Outside of the insects, nothing else is either creepy or compelling. For a better version of pretty much the same story, invest the time in watching "Aliens."

The plot is sparse. This is about acting, dialogue, and character interaction, not narrative.

The Cured suffers from a common marketing problem that afflicts many horror-cross-something hybrids: it’s at times too slow and existential for pure blood and gore lovers and too grotesque for those with a penchant for offbeat, idea-based allegories.

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

This is the closest Marvel has come to making a stand-alone tale in many years. Even Doctor Strange felt more connected to the larger MCU.

Double Lover may not represent Ozon in peak form but it’s too weirdly entertaining to dismiss out-of-hand.

Instead of vying for a so-bad-it’s-entertaining categorization, it falls squarely into the hell of cinematic mediocrity.

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

As for the movie itself, it’s not worth much ink. A kluge of bad science and worse science fiction clichés, it tries to be atmospheric and scary but succeeds only at being frustrating and tedious.

Although there are numerous problems with Fifty Shades Freed, the third and final installment of E.L. James’ trilogy, the fundamental one is also the most obvious: the lack of a compelling story.

Aside from being a showcase for up-and-coming action star Jason Momoa, it offers little else of note.

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.

If I knew definitively what the plural was for the term deus ex machina, I’d apply it here. Rarely can I remember a movie filled with so many miraculous rescues and associated contrivances.

It’s a small gem that deserves to be discovered.

Den of Thieves delivers an above-average cops-and-robbers heist film.

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

Paddington 2 is a charming early-year offering and, although the main character is better known in the U.K. than the U.S., no cultural leap is required to fall in love with the bear and enjoy his adventures.

The Commuter falls into line with Neeson’s other high-octane, low-intelligence efforts and part of the reason it works (to the degree that it works) is because of the sincerity with which the actor attacks the part.

Although prone to occasional sermonizing, The Post offers a stirring reminder of the importance of these kinds of unsung heroes in protecting the American way of life.

There’s ample evidence that the producers (and writer/actor Leigh Whannell) are milking a familiar title for all it’s worth – of the four Insidious films, only one has been any good and, although The Last Key may not be the worst of them, it’s easily the most irrelevant and generic.

In true Sorkin style, the movie is all about the nonstop dialogue, which pours out at a mile-a-minute but, as a result of the way the words flow (not to mention the skill with which they are delivered), they function as momentum builders rather than verbal diarrhea.

When Getty isn’t on-screen, the movie is a bit of a bore and it doesn’t help that Mark Wahlberg is woefully miscast and the thriller elements are anything but tense or suspenseful.

Despite some great acting, Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool is a largely unpleasant viewing experience and the downbeat tone isn’t helped by a narrative that flits back and forth in time without rhyme or reason, sometimes confusing the viewer with the needlessly convoluted transitions from flashback to present (and vice versa).

Although there is a political element to this movie, however, it works on a primal level – that of a person struggling to find not only a path forward but some kind of meaning in an act that lacks reason, compassion, or sense.

Phantom Thread, Paul Thomas Anderson’s follow-up to 2014’s Inherent Vice, feels a little like a mash-up of Bergman and Hitchcock without the verve of the latter and the subtleties of the former.

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.

In style, if not substance, The Greatest Showman is reminiscent of the Disney film, "Newsies." Like the 1992 live-action musical, The Greatest Showman comes to life when the characters are singing or dancing but struggles through the sequences in between.

A tremendous improvement over the tepid 1995 original, this quasi-sequel brings humor, fun performances, and a canny understanding of late 1990s-style video games to a party that never takes itself seriously.

The movie, written for the screen and directed by Scott Cooper (who helmed Jeff Bridges’ Oscar-winning performance in "Crazy Heart"), is careful not to demonize anyone and make the path to redemption both slow and methodical.

The Last Jedi is a film of moments. There are perhaps a half-dozen of them: goose-pimple inducing, fist-pump encouraging, heart-racing bursts of cinematic satisfaction. The problem is that the narrative threads connecting them are lazily knitted and sometimes tangled or broken.

Wonder Wheel seems more like a cobbled-together afterthought than the romantic melodrama it seeks to be.

Call Me by Your Name, the latest film from Italian director Luca Guadagnino, is a study in mood and emotion. It’s about living in the moment and capturing that moment. It’s about using the canvas of film to convey to the audience the inner feelings of the characters. Call Me by Your Name is short on dialogue and long on emoting.

It’s hard to come away from this film and not believe that, in his heart, writer/director del Toro is a romantic.

Although the story is weirdly engaging in its own right, the best parts are the prologue and epilogue.

I, Tonya holds our interest by exposing the falseness and commercialism of Olympic-level skating competitions and illustrating how the perseverance shown by Tonya is perceived not as an asset but a character flaw. The film’s strength is that it does more than simply make us laugh.

Because Wonder wants to attract viewers of all ages and seeks to provide a “positive” experience, it glosses over the darker aspects that a story of this sort should address. In doing so, it at times feels dishonest and the Pollyanna-ish ending borders on cloying.

I usually give writer/director Tony Gilroy the benefit of the doubt because he has scripted some of my favorite films but Roman J. Israel, Esq. is a few steps too far in the wrong direction.

The way it has been presented, with forced and artificial junctions, keeps the viewer at arms-length from the story and creates questions about the historicity of some scenes.

Traverses a high wire between comedy and tragedy and does so without a safety net. Outside the Coen Brothers, it’s hard to find a filmmaker with that skill and with this production, McDonagh has placed himself in august company.

Coco may not be a blockbuster but, regardless of how it performs at the box office, it’s a welcome return to a variety of animated fare that prizes inspiration over safety.

Gary Oldman’s portrayal of Churchill is among the best to reach the screen. With the help of makeup, Oldman immerses himself so deeply in the role that the actor disappears.

The movie, like the book, takes a long, hard look at the system of racial inequality that defined this time and place, and reminds viewers of the price to be paid for surrendering to our base instincts.

As with most slow-burn neo-noir movies, Sweet Virginia thrives on atmosphere. It oozes it from every frame.

Narrative-wise, Justice League is forced to do too many things.

While this sort of film has its share of pleasures, it runs out of steam long before the end credits arrive. At some point just past the middle, it goes on autopilot. The glimpses of cleverness become less frequent and the movie seems more interested in upping the body count than advancing the (admittedly thin) story.

The similarities between Daddy’s Home 2 and last week’s release, "A Bad Moms Christmas," are striking. Not only are the two films sequels to successful first installments but they follow the similar template of bringing back the most popular elements of the first movie, stirring veteran actors into the mix, and finishing everything off with a big kumbaya moment.

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.

Along the way, there are moments of pathos and light humor but Last Flag Flying only occasionally ventures into melodrama or silliness, and those instances are easily forgiven.

Highlighted by an awards-worthy performance by Saoirse Ronan and structured around a light, witty script by Gerwig, the movie delivers a well-targeted snapshot of a year-in-the-life of an ordinary high school senior.

It is being touted as “Miike’s 100th film” and, while one could argue whether the numbering is strictly correct, it’s close enough to be reasonable. Here’s to another 100.

By avoiding the temptation to rail against religion and instead offer an introspective and respectful look at it, Novitiate becomes that rare thing: a movie willing to show the flaws of Catholicism without dwelling on its negatives.

One of those plot-by-numbers sit-com movies that tries hard (perhaps too hard) to reproduce the elements that made the earlier film successful.

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

All I See Is You ultimately fails to deliver much beyond a gradual descent into disinterest and watch-checking.

Wow. Just wow. Every year, movie theaters bring us their share of surprises – both good and bad. Suburbicon goes immediately to the front of the line of contenders for the most disappointing film of 2017.

Wonderstruck is an evocative movie with a vaguely disappointing narrative that, although it reaches a conclusion, doesn’t justify the patience viewers must exhibit to reach that point

This is made for art-house viewers who prefer films that go in strange and unexpected directions, where a failure at least offers thought-provoking elements that can function as conversation-starters.

Ultimately, the film’s tone is hopeful. That at least saves Thank You for Your Service from being a complete downer.

Director Joseph Kosinski, despite being best known for handling the technical difficulties of "TRON: Legacy," shows the ability to push an audience’s buttons.

Apparently, someone turned up the heat because The Snowman is a sloppy mess.

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.

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

Marking the directorial debut of Andy Serkis, it’s competently made but not exceptional.

Uses drawn images to peer into the dark corners of teenage life: bullying, self-loathing, and depression.

The movie feels like Baumbach is working through some family issues.

In terms of overall visceral impact, The Foreigner is perhaps not as satisfying as a John Wick or the aforementioned Payback because it’s a more serious, complex movie. Nevertheless, it’s well-made, nicely paced and accomplishes what we expect from this sort of film.

By limiting the film’s time frame, the narrative is allowed to breathe and, as a result, we get a distinct snapshot not only of the main character but of the setting that resulted in his becoming historically important.

By turns frustrating and tedious, this can sink even the most intriguing story.

6 Below is meant to be inspirational and, although it’s not specifically designated as a faith-based movie, it often feels like one.

Director Lucky McKee and screenwriters Jared Butler and Lars Norberg take a standard premise and tweak it sufficiently to make it interesting and, at times, even darkly humorous.

It’s a fun film that breezes by and, despite any liberties it takes with history, offers a valuable look at Wonder Woman’s real origin story. For adults with curiosity, this makes for an offbeat companion piece to the big-budget blockbuster.

The last scene is unforgivably cheesy in a non-self-aware fashion. And don’t get me started on the dog…

Despite a seemingly straightforward slice-of-life storyline, The Florida Project achieves something rare and magical: presenting existence from the perspective of a young child while, at the same time, providing enough “clues” that viewers are able to decipher what’s really going on.

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.

The pressure on filmmakers to equal or exceed the impact of a beloved original is intense. In a case like this, when the reputation of a movie has built over decades, expectations are elevated to an almost impossible level. With Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve has met those expectations by crafting a film that rivets the attention, excites the imagination, and engages the mind.

Relying more on existential and philosophical issues than action or cheesy special effects, Realife represents the kind of movie I want to see more of.

It’s a surprisingly flat bio-pic of King’s life between 1972-73 with little attempt to make Riggs into anything more than a two-dimensional caricature/foil.

What we get is a mediocre remake of a mediocre original – not exactly must-see cinema.

Frears isn’t just telling a pleasant story about an unusual friendship; he’s asking us to take a look at whether we have advanced as far in 120 years as we believe we have. The question lingers after the movie is over.

The movie is more about the events that resulted in Felt becoming Deep Throat than his work in that role. Although not the definitive Watergate movie, it illustrates an aspect of the scandal that to this point has not been given ample attention by filmmakers.

The screenplay is quirky enough to resemble an unfinished Coen Brothers narrative but mainstream enough to appeal to a broad audience.

The movie may be marketed to art house audiences but it has something to say to (and about) us all.

When it doesn’t work, it’s because it tries too hard to provoke laughter with clichéd jokes and subpar physical comedy.

The film conveys energy, color, and movement from start to finish, irrespective of whether Polina is dancing, bartending, or trying to catch a few moments of sleep in a laundromat.

Although at times fictionalized to make for a more cinematic retelling, the movie is largely accurate and rigorously avoids exploitation.

The comedy is sporadically amusing but never laugh-aloud funny and the drama, which one might charitably argue is trying for a Toy Story-level emotional response, fails utterly. (However, I imagine most kids up to about pre-teen age will love it.)

There’s fun to be had but it’s not consistent and at times it’s disappointing how certain scenes play out.

The story is so obvious that a viewer could leave the theater for fifteen minutes and not be even a little lost upon his return.

Kudos to Darren Aronofsky for having the courage to make this film. Kudos to Paramount Pictures for having the guts to open this wide rather than burying it or hiding it as a VOD release. It’s too bad it doesn’t work.

The film offers little more depth about the writer than his Wikipedia article and considerably less than one would get from reading the semi-autobiographical The Catcher in the Rye.

A delightfully loopy comedy about the hijinks that occur when families collide.

Its video-on-demand availability makes Anti Matter easily accessible and it will reward those who seek it out.

Whatever small pleasures it may offer are wiped out by the frustrating sense of incompleteness that accompanies the arrival of the end credits.

I’m not predisposed to like movies focused on hollow characters floating in their own bubble of self-absorption, whether they’re men (Entourage) or women (Sex and the City), and as soon as I realized that’s what Home Again was offering, I knew I was in for a long 97 minutes. Unfortunately, I was right.

An atmospheric period-piece murder mystery, The Limehouse Golem combines elements of Sherlock Holmes and Jack the Ripper into a Victorian-era gothic stew that, although perhaps not as ultimately satisfying as it might have been, nevertheless provides for an unsettling two hours.

One reason why It works is that it doesn’t rely solely on jump-scares and gore to startle audiences. Yes, there are some of both, but It is more about building tension than cheap gimmicks.

Nearly every role is miscast, which is rather amazing. Christoph Waltz and Judi Dench (as an abbess) are perhaps the exceptions.

The comedy is embarrassingly unfunny, the attempts at drama are badly acted and sometimes cringe-worthy, and the copious amounts of blood during the fight sequences fall short of being amusing while sabotaging any hope of taking them seriously.

The Layover is an appalling movie.

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.

Connie (Robert Pattinson) is one of those individuals who constantly seems to be on the edge of a violent explosion and that potential makes watching Good Time a frequently exhausting experience.

It’s competently made and sporadically compelling but not likely to pique the interest of anyone unfamiliar with the main character.

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

Unfortunately, because of a variety of missteps, Bushwick never achieves what it sets out to do. It’s undone by a litany of bad decisions and the underlying weakness of the core material.