Jeff Ewing

There are successful elements in the script, certainly, but there are also several frustrating moments that simply needed another draft to work the knots out. All that said, it's a successful foray into sci-fi territory thanks to a willingness to stretch the subgenre's established rules, making for a fun murder mystery that keeps audiences guessing.

Altogether, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a fun MCU entry that finally starts to feel like the new Saga is pointing somewhere interesting.

Brothers is a largely enjoyable comedy, predominantly thanks to its talented central duo and smart direction by Barbakow, though it admittedly suffers from a host of issues baked into the script itself.

It's considerably elevated by strong performances and some excellent directorial and cinematographic choices, but it ultimately is undone by details and narrative pivots that don't work.

There's certainly good here, but it's hard not to wish certain key moments were allowed to thrive.

Altogether, a lot works about Now You See Me: Now You Don't. It's a lot of fun, with a dangerous new foe and big, great-looking tricks. The new cast members are all stellar, have an engaging dynamic with the original team, and everyone gets a stand-out hero moment (a must for an ensemble this size). On the other hand, the script feels perpetually rushed.

It's a film with several strong elements, though some issues in the scripting and execution limit its ultimate impact.

There's an excellent film somewhere in The Woman in the Yard, but it would take another draft to uncover it from beneath that jet-black burial shroud. Suffice it to say, it's a horror outing that works rather well until it falls apart at the end.

Elric Kane's The Dead Thing packs an unsettling tone and real moments of insight into its lean runtime.

The Outlaws is a lean Western tale of paranoia and betrayal that mostly hits the target, but lacks greater all-around development.

It's clearly intended to be a companion to and showcase of the simultaneously released album instead of a fleshed-out, standalone film. Regrettably, it never lets the audience forget that fact, feeling far more like a long music video than a feature film.

Smurfs is better than its maligned predecessors, but it's still an absolute mess.

When it's sexy, violent, or bonkers, it's a wildly enjoyable romp, and lead Sydney Sweeney kills it any time she's allowed to dial emotions up to 10 (as fans of Euphoria or Immaculate can attest to). Was it great? For the majority of its runtime, no. Would I watch the sequel it teases? Yes. Inside you are two wolves, and if they're watching The Housemaid in different parts, the one watching the ending is the happier wolf by far.

Some elements and moments are effective, but they're layered with subplot details, character performances, and related choices that don't work as well as intended, firmly grounding an otherwise promising concept.

Uppercut, by director Torsten Ruether, benefits from Ving Rhames' strong screen presence, but a lack of believability in both character development and plotting keep the character study from working.