James Berardinelli

The Devil Wears Prada 2 is harmless enough, although it exists more as an afterthought than a legitimate continuation of a story that was fully told twenty years ago after the first 105 minutes.

When compared to the recent influx of musical biopics, this one sits somewhere in the middle; there is too little depth to elevate it to the top, but the soundtrack is too strong to let it sink to the bottom.

The obligatory concluding remark for a horror movie about the undead applies here: the best approach is to leave it buried.

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

While I admired the lead performances, the journey of The Drama remains unfulfilling. When I see a movie like this, I want to connect with the characters and believe their circumstances. I got some of the former but practically none of the latter.

If the idea of spending 90 minutes in a movie theater seeing gorgeously rendered versions of a hugely popular gaming world and its characters going through the motions appeals to you, then The Super Mario Galaxy Movie will scratch the itch.

This has "future cult film" written all over it. But, for those who are more concerned about the here and now, this is a film that delivers on its own peculiar brand of delights before wearing out its welcome.

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.

Project Hail Mary is more about the wonder of the unknown and the satisfaction of finding new friends.

Ultimately, The Bride! has "cult classic" written all over it. It possesses very little mainstream appeal—it is simply too weird and outlandish for the average moviegoer—but there are enough flashes of brilliance to fascinate a niche audience in years to come.

There is a sense of formulaic efficiency here that provides entertainment without soul-stirring depth.

There’s only so far you can take a slasher series without doing something truly off-the-wall. Since the studio refused to attempt a radical refit, we’re left with this: a franchise-charring dumpster fire.

Looking back at Psycho Killer as a whole, the missteps in the final 20–30 minutes easily overwhelm some of the earlier, better material. It's tough to recommend this even as a streaming time-waster.

If the mandate for any new interpretation is to offer something fresh, one is left wondering what this version claims as its justification for taking up over two hours of our time.

While the climax does not lack for action, the overall resolution feels flaccid and undercooked.

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

If the legend of Dracula has become tired through overuse, there is certainly nothing in this iteration to grant the old Count a new lease on life.

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

Send Help makes for an interesting counterpoint to Swept Away; the similarities are too frequent to be coincidental. Yet, where the Wertmüller film openly courted controversy for its misogynistic elements, Send Help is a more straightforward, crowd-pleasing endeavor.

At best, this is a late-night time-waster to be watched on Prime Video when all better options have been exhausted.

The Bone Temple doesn't work entirely well as a stand-alone, but as part of a larger whole, it is a very good continuation of the ongoing tale. It leaves me hoping for a successful box office run so we can see how the whole thing ends.

The film captures a specific fissure in American history, where the ancient, superstitious wilderness was beginning to yield to the steam and steel of the industrial age.

It doesn’t feel fresh, but neither is it stale. Despite the very modern setting, the throwback elements are by far the most welcome aspects being offered, proving that sometimes, sticking to the basics is the smartest move a director can make.

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

Made well, this sort of material has the potential for a deliciously lurid two hours. But Feig's lack of aptitude with the material results in a cheap and artificial product, never really drawing the viewer into its web and spinning an overlong yarn that fails to embrace an identity.

Marty Supreme is a flawed beast—occasionally irritating, sometimes shallow, and undeniably exhausting. But that exhaustion is the point. Safdie drags the audience through the wringer not to punish us, but to make the final release that much sweeter. Driven by Chalamet’s fearless performance and a directorial style that refuses to blink, the film leaves an impression.

Sentimental Value offers a powerful story about fathers and daughters, roads not taken, the thirst for redemption, and the path toward reconciliation.

Song Sung Blue is a good story—heartwarming, uplifting, tear-jerking, and chock full of a beautiful noise.

Alex is certainly worth spending a couple of hours with, even if the slow pace is better modulated for a night in than a night out.

This is as good as spectacle moviemaking gets: old-fashioned in intention but fully modern in execution. It may not stand quite as high as its two predecessors, but the fall-off is neither extreme nor precipitous.

For fans of the genre, Wake Up Dead Man delivers exactly what they have come to expect: a sharp, stylish puzzle box that is a joy to unlock.

With its curious fusion of tear-jerking drama and fish-out-of-water humor, Rental Family is indeed a strange brew—one of those films that sounds slightly ridiculous in synopsis but blossoms into something unexpectedly tender when experienced moment-to-moment.

It’s a seamless continuation of the stories and relationships introduced in Zootopia, moving things forward without making any radical changes to the underlying formula—and that consistency may be exactly what audiences want from a return trip to this animated menagerie.

It’s quirky, a little unpredictable, and never feels like warmed-over leftovers. There’s a bite to things – an edginess that doesn’t cut too deeply but keeps the sentimentality in check. One of the year’s most pleasant surprises.

Although not as good as the first Sisu—which made my 2022 Top 10 and has since become a cult favorite—Road to Revenge is a worthy follow-up.

Hamnet ultimately feels like the sort of mid-budget literary drama that used to be commonplace from the late 1980s through the early 2000s but has since become rare. It proves a better fit for Zhao than the blockbuster ambitions of Eternals: the intimate scale and emotional concentration suit her strengths.

Suffice it to say that those who love the play will sit enraptured through Wicked for Good and not think it’s a minute too long. Those without the same depth of connection may leave wishing Chu had hired a less generous editor and made better use of his pruning shears.

Although I didn’t find the film particularly noteworthy, I enjoyed visiting Paris in the late 1950s and appreciated the behind-the-scenes tour. Like many hangout films, it’s simply enjoyable to spend time with the characters, even if nothing momentous occurs (depending on one’s definition of whether the making of a classic movie qualifies as “momentous”).

The entire affair is so badly bungled that there isn’t even a briefly satisfying moment of catharsis. The obvious next act for these Horsemen is to vanish—and never come back.

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.

Del Toro's filmmaking instincts are solid and he makes this an engaging 150-minute journey, but when it was over, I never felt I had truly explored something fresh, and that was a mild disappointment.

When the story moves into the 2000s, Christy finds its true identity—not as a tale of athletic triumph but as a portrait of endurance and survival. It’s messy, painful, and deeply human, which makes it far more compelling than the average true-life sports drama.

The film lingers, not because it’s enjoyable, but because it refuses to let go. It’s the sort of movie you admire for its daring and endurance but would never want to watch a second time.

The decision to partially reinvent what a Predator movie can be is what makes Badlands work. While it leans on familiar sci-fi tropes and doesn’t exactly revolutionize the genre, it feels fresher than the other sequels and far less beholden to the original.

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.

Deliver Me from Nowhere wants to be profound, but it mostly feels like it’s still searching for a chorus.

Taut, relentless, and uncompromising, A House of Dynamite’s greatest strength is its sense of plausibility.

In truth, this feels more like a half-baked comedy sketch stretched far beyond its breaking point—until even the last traces of humor have leaked out like the gooey innards of a Stretch Armstrong toy that’s been tortured by a sadistic kid.

The Black Phone 2 stands as a strong companion piece to the original—firmly rooted in horror, maintaining continuity, yet not shackled by the tropes its predecessor embraced.

There’s enough suspense to keep an itchy trigger finger from changing the channel but viewers hoping for more won’t find it here.

The movie makes a variety of changes to Jeffrey’s story to make it more cinematic, but without the kind of narrative reworking needed to streamline the material, the result feels unfocused and shapeless.

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.

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

The film, anchored by a towering performance from Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson as Mark Kerr, is at once a sports drama, an addiction-and-recovery story, a tale of toxic romantic love, and an ode to male friendship. Unfortunately, it doesn’t fully succeed as any of these, because with so many elements competing, none has the room to truly emerge.

Destined to be counted among 2025’s best, One Battle After Another is proof that September isn’t always the cinematic wasteland it’s often made out to be.

Kogonada's direction crafts a variety of visually arresting—though not ostentatious—set pieces. Yet somehow, it doesn’t all come together. The whimsical magic evident early on grows stale. The movie’s tone is herky-jerky and never settles. And the ending feels undercooked and unearned.

Like Nicolas Winding Refn with The Neon Demon, Tipping approaches it all with deadly seriousness, convinced he’s delivering a profound statement when in reality he’s just serving up an overwrought, futile mess.

Despite a number of narrative holes, The Long Walk succeeds largely on the strength of its performances.

While the film does deliver a few solid laughs (though none that truly hit an 11), it ultimately falls flat, feeling less like a theatrical mockumentary and more like an overlong streaming special.

While there is some appeal in exploring how these characters might navigate the Depression and the approach of the Second World War, such arcs could never be properly developed within the confines of a feature film. The Grand Finale should be what its title promises: an elegant farewell.

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

Caught Stealing gives [Aronofsky] the right canvas, and he delivers with enough style to lift the film above the B-movie neo-noir roots of its screenplay.

Roach and screenwriter Tony McNamara sought a different perspective for the material. The result is more dramatic, less over-the-top, and proves to be tonally uneven. The humor is muted and less overtly vicious, but the more serious approach doesn’t quite succeed.

Howard stages several powerful sequences, including a harrowing childbirth scene, but the film falters in its final act, losing focus and stumbling toward an anticlimactic conclusion.

Because it thumbs its nose at the puritanical morality of contemporary mainstream cinema, Honey Don't! feels destined for cult appreciation rather than broad appeal. It’s a diverting curiosity—something to tide us over while we wait for Joel and Ethan Coen to reunite.

It’s an okay movie if all you want is an everyman dad doing superhero-ish things while getting beaten up along the way, but it’s neither as wildly entertaining nor as exhilarating as its predecessor.

This movie is built to be consumed, forgotten, and replaced — a product, not an experience.

Weapons is a step up for writer/director Zach Cregger from his promising horror debut, Barbarian – funnier, more unsettling, and ultimately more satisfying when taken as a whole.

As documentary biographies go, it's workmanlike but conventional – a solid effort and worthwhile investment of time though by no means a transformative or perspective-shifting film.

Though there are some narrative hiccups, its emotional core elevates it beyond mere cringeworthy gore.

This is a fun, funny trifle that deserves to be enjoyed on its own terms – a throwback that only feels old when that serves its purposes.

There's enough in the film to assemble an intriguing two-minute trailer. Unfortunately, the movie has an additional 92 minutes to fill and that's not something it's able to do with much success. The problems with Oh, Hi! relate not to its conception but its execution.

As a means to finally bring the Fantastic Four into the MCU, First Steps is as successful in its own way as Spider-Man: Homecoming was. In addition to representing an apology for the previous big-screen botching of Galactus, the film puts all the foundational pieces into place.

Unfortunately, for all its button-pushing, the movie's biggest offense is that it is often tedious and meandering and it takes at least 30 minutes too long to cross the finish line.

Robinson's movie flip-flops back and forth between being inept and goofy.

In 2025, Superman feels a lot like many of the other superhero movies out there - fun, frisky, and forgettable.

With impeccable period details, top-notch performances, and the text of one of the 20th century’s most lauded plays, The Piano Lesson represents one of Netflix’s stronger unsung late-2024 drops.

It’s past time to let the dinosaurs take a nice, long vacation. That way, when they come back, maybe we can once again be excited about them. “Excitement” is not something Rebirth delivers with relish or consistency.

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

The effectiveness of the film’s overall aesthetic cannot be understated: what F1 lacks in narrative development it more than compensates for with its thrill-ride aspects. Watching the film, you may not believe you’re in a racing car but you will feel like you’re doing more than passively sitting in a theater seat.

It’s a reasonable way to get out of the heat for a few hours and give your kid a treat but don’t expect to get as much out of it as you would if you were part of the under-10 crowd.

It’s a step up from 28 Weeks Later but it remains to be seen whether Nia DaCosta is able to bring this chapter across the finish line.

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.

Watching The Life of Chuck, I was inspired to remember how wonderful it can be to find a movie that offers the thrill of discovery and the comfort of real emotions. That’s such a rare combination these days and when a film unlocks the secret, it deserves to be seen and lauded for the accomplishment.

How to Train Your Dragon represents solid family entertainment even if it feels like it’s tracing over an existing pattern rather than developing something new.

For those who enjoy Anderson’s patented quirkiness, The Phoenician Scheme doesn’t disappoint. Assembled with the abettance of longtime friend and collaborator Roman Coppola, Anderson has almost completely dispensed with a conventional storyline in service of a movie that delights in parodying seemingly anything and everything.

The concept of expanding the John Wick “world” by adding a worthy female counterpoint isn’t an inherently bad idea. The flaw is in the execution.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life is too low-key for its own good and could have benefitted from a stronger connection to the titular author than the finished product delivers.

The overall production is bland and overcooked and the reliance on nostalgia and regurgitation often renders things dull and routine.

While the experience it offers may not be to everyone’s taste, it is off-the-beaten path and effective for what it attempts to be.

Fountain of Youth is a perfect example of something that can play in the background but proves singularly unable to hold anyone’s attention for the entirety of its running length.

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.

It’s a no-holds-barred action-oriented epic that doesn’t much care if it makes sense as long as viewers are amped-up and engaged. When the end credits roar onto screen with a full-throated rendition of Lalo Schifrin’s iconic theme song, it’s hard to argue that a good time wasn’t had by all, even if that “time” lasts longer than necessary.

In large part because of a great beginning and a solid ending, this is one of the better entries into the series, at least on par with Final Destination 3 and 5 and far and away better than the others.

Part music video, part bizarro psychological thriller, and part David Lynch-inspired descent into existential purgatory (I kept looking for Michael J. Anderson), the film’s weirdness is sometimes extreme enough to exert an almost hypnotic attraction. But, as good as he may be on stage and in a music studio, The Weeknd (a.k.a. Abel Tesfaye) is not a good actor.

One thing missing from Fight or Flight is the kind of Tarantino-inspired banter that elevated Bullet Train. In fact, the production is only fitfully successful in transcending the boundaries of a generic action film.

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

Watching Thunderbolts*, it’s easy to forget this is Marvel. Bringing together the flotsam and jetsam of the MCU and allowing them to have their own adventure (without any major cameos) goes against the grain for a film studio whose mantra seems to be “Always Be Escalating.”

I can think of bad slasher sequels from the ‘80s that were more engaging than this one.

The movie works when focused on character interaction and buddy-movie tropes, but the action elements are perfunctory at best and boring at worst. Bill Dubuque’s script is never able to balance out the ledger.

I wanted to love Sinners more than I did but the energy level is so infectious that it’s impossible not to get swept up and pulled in. It’s a sloppy concoction that carves out a new niche for vampires not unlike what Let the Right One In achieved.

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.

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

Some players will enjoy the flashes of familiarity but others will find the production to be lacking. “Cringey” might be too harsh but this is unlikely to become the next video game-to-movie classic.

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

Overall, Death of Unicorn falls short of being the Next Great Cult Classic but there’s enough here to enjoy for those who appreciate offbeat horror that doesn’t skimp on the grotesque aspects of the genre.

It’s not the worst we’ve seen from either Levinson or De Niro but there’s a sense that a pairing of these two working with a Pileggi script should have borne juicer fruits.

It’s disposable entertainment that will put some spare change in the distributor’s coffers while never coming close to replacing its venerable antecedent in viewers' hearts.

The film will likely find a receptive audience among those who enjoy blood-soaked B movies. It has enough gory elements to enhance the overpowering mood.

The seeds of a nice little white-knuckle thriller are evident but they never germinate properly. The end result is profoundly disappointing and can’t be saved by the few individual moments that do work.

The Electric State has an epic look but that’s increasingly common in any movie with sci-fi elements. But, aside from the special effects, it feels unfinished, with the actors groping to inhabit barely-there characters. What does it say when Mr. Peanut has more personality than either of the main characters?

Hollywood’s decision to abandon this kind of storytelling is one reason why cinema in the 2020s has fallen into the doldrums and, when something like Black Bag arrives, it’s a bittersweet reminder of the potential of the big screen experience.

As it is, this is a painless experience but lacks the qualities to make it a true pleasure.

The screenplay fails to provide any reason to care about the characters or their circumstances, so we sit in a theater seat, trying not to be hypnotized by all the flashes of light in the muddled brown-and-white environment or lulled to sleep by the inane babbling that passes for dialogue.

A mostly failed attempt to merge sci-fi with satire, Mickey 17 suffers from a fragmented narrative and a scenery-chewing performance from Mark Ruffalo that belongs in a different movie (perhaps Poor Things).

For those who hang in there long enough, Riff Raff delivers. I just wish the buildup had been more engaging.

Although I was suitably diverted by Last Breath, I couldn’t help but feel there was a missed opportunity to tell a more riveting story that, for whatever reason, the filmmakers chose not to pursue.

The movie isn’t quite as unhinged as the trailer indicates but it’s far enough off the beaten path to provide enjoyment for those who enjoy their blood & guts served with a twist.

Attempts at wit and humor seem half-hearted at best. Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy isn’t a terrible movie; it’s mediocre at worst. But it never should have been made.

Captain America: Brave New World, the fourth title to co-opt the “Captain America” name and the first to star Anthony Mackie in the role, is another example of how badly unmoored the MCU has become in an era of unfamiliar heroes and stalled storylines.

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.

A mixture of documentary and thriller, this is a compelling two-hour production.

This is a painfully bad movie that thinks it’s trying to be Jackie Chan-meets-John Wick and flies so far wide of the target that it might have been shot by a blind man.

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

It’s definitely not a pure thought-piece: there is a body count and quite a bit of blood (although this is by no means a gore-fest). But it seeks to do more with familiar tropes than merely create an unimaginative story around them.

At best, Gibson’s direction could be considered pedestrian. He fails to generate much tension prior to the climax and the characters never do enough to engage the viewer. The protagonists are bland and the villain lacks charisma.

The obligatory jump-scares aren’t the best and the movie is at times frustratingly underlit, but those things don’t keep the suspense at bay. In the end, however, Wolf Man is a story of sacrifice and love.

Although a heist film with a high testosterone quotient might not be everyone’s favorite wintertime treat, it’s an effective antidote for all the highfalutin Oscar wannabes out there.

It features a great performance by Domingo but, in some ways the less showy contributions of the former real-life inmates represent the best Sing Sing has to offer. The movie is touching and uplifting in often unexpected ways.

Young is very good in her part, making Eva a strong, flawed character whose depth helps to counterbalance the shallowness of everyone else. On the whole, however, The Damned wasn’t able to achieve what I was hoping from it and, rather than being an overlooked gem, it’s instead simply “overlooked.”

For all its sparkling visuals, Mufasa is redundant. And that makes watching it (at least as an adult) deflating.

It doesn’t break any molds but expertly crafts familiar material into an end product that will likely appeal to a wide audience.

Gracey’s bracing style, which invites some interesting observations (such as whether sex scenes featuring Williams-as-a-chimp should be considered bestiality), gives the movie an edge that it never loses even after we have gotten used to the substitution.

Anderson’s performance is the selling point but one can rightly question whether it’s enough to bolster the malnourished narrative.

A Complete Unknown isn’t shallow but the screenplay makes no attempt to psychoanalyze its subject. If there’s something to be learned, it’s how uncomfortable it could be to enter this man’s orbit. His music is iconic and speaks to many but, from the first scene to the last, he remains A Complete Unknown.

With its striking images, pervasive atmosphere, and incessant sense of dread, Nosferatu leaves an impression that proves hard to shake.

It rewards patience not only in the way it crafts its central character but develops the era in which it transpires.

Babygirl is perhaps not as gloriously, guiltily entertaining as some of the films Reijn used as models but it offers its own pleasures.

Instead of being truly awful, it’s simply mediocre, although one could argue that’s the last word a comic book movie wants to have applied to it.

Nickel Boys has a lot to recommend it, but there’s a sense that the experience could have been more devastating had the filmmakers simply let it play out rather than using it as an opportunity for directorial flourishes and experimentation.

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

With September 5, Fehlbaum has crafted one of 2024’s most unlikely thrillers. It’s also one of the best movies to reach screens in a year when genuine tension has been too often absent from films in which it should have been a key ingredient.

Although there are a few amusing instances when the film goes over-the-top with gore, those don’t save what’s ultimately a bad zombie apocalypse film with the undead replaced by robots.

The end result, however, whether pruned during the scripting stage or in the editing room, is a taut and compelling piece of cinema whose release in the wake of the 2024 election may have some viewers pondering Winston Churchill’s 1948 warning: “Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”

At its best, Nightbitch offers a deeply honest, emotionally unsettling portrait of the darker side of parenting. Unfortunately, those moments are counterbalanced by a metaphorical story element that devolves into an exercise in campiness so tonally at variance with the core story as to create a dissonance many viewers won’t be able to overcome.

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.

Although Gladiator II is an engaging diversion, it never feels like the epic one expects nor does it truly escape the shadow cast by the earlier chapter.

The movie drags at times, evidence that the too-generous 160-minute running time adversely affects pacing without resulting in a better-defined, deeper storyline.

It’s the kind of movie one can watch and appreciate on both an emotional and intellectual level but without having to do much heavy lifting. It isn’t the director’s best work but nevertheless represents a worthy entry to his increasingly diverse filmography.

Outside of a clever re-invention of how the North Pole works, Red One doesn’t do a lot right, which is surprising considering that the project re-teams director Jake Kasdan and actor Dwayne Johnson, who made the thoroughly enjoyable Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle.

A Real Pain will resonate most strongly with movie-goers who don’t mind films in which conflict is internalized and where human interaction – simple, vivid, and unforced – takes center stage.

Here’s hoping the movie finds its audience because it’s one of the freshest and most audacious films available in this year’s sparse cinematic landscape.

It gets under the skin and into the mind and does what good psychological horror does best: leaves the viewer unsettled and perhaps a little shaken even after the end credits roll and the lights turn back on.

Although I found the change of pace to be refreshing for a Neeson outing, the movie is too flawed for a full recommendation.

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

The movie is at its best when it feels like a Vatican riff on 12 Angry Men, a concept that is enough to keep things flowing smoothly until the frustratingly “Hollywood” events of the final 20 minutes.

As for Venom, the potential inherent in the creature has been wasted and squandered over the course of three movies and this final installment is the worst offender of all.

It’s a promising debut for Kenrick behind the camera and Zovatto is excellent in front of it but it’s hard to shake the incomplete feeling that accompanies a viewing.

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 relentless pace, which flags only occasionally, and entrancing storytelling make this follow-up an even more satisfying experience than the one provided by the 2022 production.

What we have here is enjoyable, if somewhat scattershot, and at least as entertaining as what’s airing most Saturday nights at 11:30 pm.

A feature film adaptation of King’s best novel is deserving of something more epic than this throw-away production.

The Outrun avoids pretentiousness and the emotional stakes are so high that it doesn’t threaten to become boring.

Folie a Deux functions as an overlong, pretentious coda – a slog that barely advances the narrative while regurgitating elements from the first film.

Despite a terrific performance by Kate Winslet and some powerful moments during the film’s final third, Lee falls into the bio-pic trap of trying to encapsulate too much of a famous person’s life into a two-hour chunk.

The Wild Robot proves to be one of the best animated features to emerge from the American studios post-pandemic and even approaches Miyazki’s (alleged) swansong, The Boy and the Heron, in blending artistry with entertainment value.

Wolfs is a pleasant enough experience. At 108 minutes, it’s not too long and, putting aside the aggravating manner in which Watts ends the story, it goes down easily.

Even those approaching Megalopolis with an open mind and fully expecting to see an expensive and expansive art film may be disappointed by the result. The more I reflect on the movie, the more convinced I become that the things Coppola does well are dwarfed by missed opportunities and outright missteps.

Despite some minor issues in presenting and pursuing the time travel episodes, My Old Ass rarely missteps and that will likely earn it a place on my end-of-the-year Top 10.

This is off-the-beaten-path movie-making that calls attention to itself by how different it is from the cookie-cutter stuff playing next door while never losing the capacity to entertain those who enter this bizarre world.

The movie falls into the category of something a viewer is likely to stick with once sitting there but it lacks anything sufficiently unique or compelling that would make it worth seeking out.

Overall, although this version of Speak No Evil doesn’t leave as deep or lasting an impact as its predecessor, it represents another in the seemingly-endless Blumhouse stable of low-budget films to warrant a recommendation for those who appreciate the genre.

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

After a few missteps and/or odd choices for the director (including Dumbo and Dark Shadows), Beetlejuice Beetlejuice puts Burton back in familiar territory and, surrounded by past collaborators and a sense of nostalgia, he thrives.

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

Ultimately, Strange Darling left me with a little “Emperor’s New Clothing” feeling, with all the excitement coming not from the actual story but from the manner in which it is presented.

Sanders, however, has taken a deep dive into the world of pretentious horror, where every killing has to be as stylized as it is gory. His characters have no humanity, his romance has no sizzle, and the whole thing turns into a slog where style overwhelms substance to such a degree that there’s too little left of the latter to matter.

Blink Twice is a deliciously nasty “refrigerator film” – a psychological thriller that holds viewers spellbound while in the theater (even if certain plot elements fall apart upon later reflection – say, for example, when getting a snack from the refrigerator later that night).

It mostly works although the tension never quite escalates to the levels reached by Ridley Scott’s original and James Cameron’s even-better direct follow-up.

Skincare feels like it wants to be a screwball caper movie but the comedy gets lost along the way.

About the only reason to see Fire of Love is to be treated to more material from the Kraffts’ archives, since Dosa and Herzog mostly selected different footage.

Regardless of the reason, Borderlands arrives as a legitimate contender not only for worst film of 2024 but one of the worst videogame movies ever released.

Perhaps in the hands of a visionary genius in touch with their inner child, it might have been possible to achieve something better than an overlong throwaway distraction for a preschooler. In the hands of these filmmakers, however, it feels like a soulless cash-grab – an attempt to tap into the family-friendly frenzy that has emerged this summer.

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

Demand for the movie is high and, although it’s not the be-all/end-all of superhero movies, its anarchic and rambunctious approach to the genre results in an entertaining hybrid of comic book action and straightforward satire.

Although Mc Carthy’s style is critical to the movie’s effectiveness, he doesn’t abandon the story in its service. Instead, he crafts a plot that is intriguing and engaging and caps everything off with a satisfying ending.

The opening sequence/prologue is gripping but that’s the only aspect of Twisters that works on its intended level. I was not blown away.

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

Everything about this movie feels both tired and tiring. Yes, it does a great job setting up a sense of deep unease but that quickly evaporates when it becomes apparent the movie isn’t going anywhere worthwhile or interesting, and the ending is downright silly.

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

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

Maxxxine is the weakest of the three members of the X Trilogy. It’s as if West and Goth were too enamored with the character to let her fade away, so they contrived a scattershot and ultimately unsatisfying way to return her to the screen.

Although not without its merits, it’s far from a standout even when one considers how lackluster the current indie/art house landscape has become.

I applaud what Costner has given us with Horizon. This contains many of the things on my movie wish-list with its focus on an original story, diverse characters, and a classic cinematic approach. Problems aside, Costner has me hooked and I’ll be among the first in line to see Chapter 2 when it opens in August.

This works effectively as a stand-alone film and part of a larger story, and finds a way to extend the Quiet Place concept without feeling redundant.

Yankovic understands and takes to heart the maxim of never letting the facts get in the way of a good story.

Kinds of Kindness may not offer the kind of full experience provided by Poor Things but it is a reminder of the responses a movie can engender when the director doesn’t play by the rules.

It’s a passable production with some interesting performances but the bumpy screenplay and uneven pacing keep the audience at arm’s-length and limit the effectiveness of the narrative.

It’s solid, middle-of-the-road Pixar, not quite as good as some of their better sequels but superior to the Cars follow-ups.

Ironically for something titled The Watchers, this production lacks the basic quality of watchability.

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

Hit Man is smartly written, with Linklater and Powell deftly melding screwball comedy elements with rom-com beats against a Hitchcockian thriller backdrop. The small twists have big payoffs.

Take away the spectacle aspect and the movie may seem repetitive and underwritten. In a premium movie house, however, the immersion is so complete that viewers may require a short recovery period once it’s all over.

My reaction is that I could learn a lot more about Winehouse by listening to her music than by watching this by-the-numbers sketch of her adult life.

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 narrative is all over the place. Character motivation is confusing. And, worst of all, the story simply isn’t interesting.

The battles and a climactic action sequence are well filmed but Kingdom isn’t trying to outdo the other summer films when it comes to edge-of-the-seat viewing. In a strange way, I find that refreshing.

The Fall Guy delivers where it matters – it’s a fun, uplifting excursion into big-screen escapism.

It’s not a complete package but it’s fresher than much of what’s out there today and is difficult to dismiss even if it sometimes feels like a graphic novel married to a video game.

Despite all its flaws, Challengers represents watchable high-end soap opera material. The story is undercooked but the dialogue contains some nice zingers and the actors are wholly invested.

It's easy to nitpick Abigail’s narrative. Parts don’t hold together well, there are significant plot holes, story elements violate just-established rules, and (in true horror movie fashion) characters sometimes make head-scratchingly stupid decisions. But, for those willing to overlook these often-familiar conventions, the movie is gorily diverting.

It’s all in good fun, if a little shallow.

Sasquatch Sunset is sufficiently different that it’s almost worth seeing for that reason alone. Alas, I don’t think it sufficiently rises above the gimmick of its premise to provide a compelling reason to spend 90 minutes in a movie theater.

When focusing on the micro-verse inside a news van and the four passengers taking the trip, Civil War does a good job dissecting the damage done by a desensitization to violence. But it botches the background and features an ending that belongs in another movie (preferably one featuring Gerard Butler).

Monkey Man may be a silly-sounding title but the story it tells is anything but silly.

The performances of Buckley and Colman rescue much of what’s salvageable in the narrative and there’s some interest in how the truth will be revealed but the movie isn’t as funny as it needs to be for the satirical elements to work.

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 for those who have an orgasmic reaction to kaiju confrontations, far too little of the film is devoted to them and the overreliance on CGI leeches away the immediacy and awe associated with the spectacle. This isn’t as bad as the 1998 Godzilla misfire but it’s perilously close.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners is a clear, unqualified improvement over such recent Neeson-led thrillers like Retribution and Blacklight. And, although one can argue that his once-prodigious talents are wasted in cash-grab projects of this sort, at least the movie provides 90 minutes of entertainment rather than turning into a by-the-numbers slog.

Immaculate is at times unsettling and the ending contains a strong shock element but the movie as a whole feels a little too familiar to engage its audience.

As scattershot and uneven as it is unnecessary, it fails to effectively build on the foundation laid in Afterlife while at the same time relegating the “old timers” into oddly-integrated super-cameo appearances.

There’s still quite a bit to like here, from the strong sense of atmosphere to the layers of a Hitchcockian plot, but this is not a complete movie. And when viewers are laughing at a movie rather than with it, something has gone awry.

One Life feels like something straight out of the 1990s when many low-key, non-U.S. dramas were being embraced by art house devotees and more adventurous multiplex visitors. The movie is neither showy nor ostentatious. It tells a story in a workmanlike fashion that allows viewers to learn a little bit more about the central figure and why his life is deserving of a big-screen treatment.

There’s nothing imaginary about how bad a misfire this movie is even for the Blumhouse base.

Although the movie has a conventional structure, the straightforward chronological approach works for this material, allowing the viewer to come to know Cabrini and become invested in her efforts to develop an orphanage, first in New York’s Five Points slum then in rural West Park.

Dune: Part Two is a spectacle to behold with an underlying arc that makes it more satisfying than a 2 1/2-hour bite of eye candy.

It’s not a terrible movie but it feels like a failed attempt to infuse the Coen Brothers’ wry aesthetic into a B-movie tableau.

For nearly two hours, the movie plods along, offering little beyond hackneyed dialogue that can’t be gleaned from a quick read-through of Marley’s Wikipedia entry.

Sadly, Madame Web fails to rise above its pedigree as a lesser superhero movie. It does nothing to convince viewers that there’s value to be found in a story not featuring a marquee comic book character.

Lisa Frankenstein obviously wants to be different and it at least succeeds in that aim. However, as a story of female empowerment with grand guignol overtones, it has the great misfortune of coming out in too-close proximity to the vastly superior Poor Things.

I didn’t laugh once and the movie’s stylized and satirical tone defused any connection I might have felt for the characters. Perhaps if the proceedings hadn’t dragged on well past the two-hour mark, it wouldn’t have seemed like such a chore to sit through.

Origin offers the best of both worlds: a well-developed story with a three-dimensional lead character who grows over the course of the movie and an intellectually satisfying element folded into the screenplay.

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.

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

Although aspects of All of Us Strangers have a cheesy flavor, the raw honesty of the movie’s best moments propel the narrative through its less credible pitstops.

Remove the musical elements and the 2024 version, directed by newcomers Samantha Jayne and Arturo Perez Jr., resembles an amateurish imitation of the 2004 original. Add in the mostly-awful songs and it becomes an in-your-face assault on the senses.

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

For those whose only requirements for horror movies are that they avoid the excesses of blood/gore/violence prevalent in R-rated fare and incorporate a few good jump-scares, Night Swim checks the requisite boxes. For those looking for a more complete experience, however, the movie struggles even to achieve the level where it would be considered worthwhile as a streaming option.

The strength of Anatomy of a Fall comes from its willingness to embrace ambiguity and a lack of closure in ways that intrigue (rather than frustrate) the viewer.

The first Aquaman may have been low-brow fun but the second is a chore from start to finish.

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

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

The 2023 The Color Purple is a handsomely mounted motion picture and there are fleeting moments when it touches magic.

As a well-acted standard-order bio-pic, Ferrari delivers but as something more, it falls short.

This is an American tragedy. Although the participants may be famous, the demons they fight in their intimate moments are familiar and relatable.

Although not as openly crowd-pleasing as Cooper’s A Star Is Born remake, there are enough interesting touches in the film – both in its aesthetic and some of the individual scenes – to demonstrate Cooper’s evolution as a filmmaker.

Gifted with a surprisingly large budget (reportedly ~$70M), Bayona is able to effectively recreate not only the crash but the dangers faced by the survivors while seamlessly incorporating on-location footage with studio-based material. The remarkable accomplishment results in a breathtaking motion picture that enthralls across the length of its 140+ minute running time.

It’s challenging but neither inaccessible nor impossibly dense. Kore-eda invites intellectual engagement but doesn’t leave the viewer unrewarded. This is one of the year’s best movies – the third time in the last decade I have made that statement about one of the director’s productions.

Even though it is rather obviously trading on a familiar and beloved brand, Wonka is nevertheless a fun and imaginative family film – certainly better than one might expect from a production crassly viewed by some as a “cash grab.”

This is one of the most effective depictions of Arendt’s “banality of evil” that I have seen and that’s in large part due to the unconventional tactics employed by Glazer in bringing this story to the screen.

American Fiction is the best kind of satire – one that is full-throated in its message, which it delivers with a cutting edge, while simultaneously taking the time to develop the characters in a meaningful way.

Regardless of whether the future will bring another Miyazaki movie, The Boy and the Heron is a wonderful gift for everyone who expected The Wind Rises to be his swansong. It’s proof that, no matter how hard Disney, Pixar, Dreamworks, and others try, there’s only one animator who finds magic in every release.

Poor Things offers an opportunity for cinematic discovery. It’s brave, unconventional, and unique and easily one of the year’s best.

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

Godzilla Minus One isn’t just a good Godzilla movie. It’s an excellent Godzilla movie – arguably among the best ever to grace the screen.

With its offbeat blend of warped humor, dramatic and horror elements, social commentary, and Talking Heads, Dream Scenario may not always be comfortable but it is undeniably provocative.

I’ll be the first to admit that not everything in Saltburn works and, during some of the cringe-inducing instances when it fails, it does so rather spectacularly. Yet Emerald Fennell’s film is just bonkers enough to be wildly entertaining and completely disturbing in equal parts.

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.

This may be the worst major animated film Disney has released in the past 40 years and its lack of creative energy doesn’t augur well for the immediate future.