Jeff Ewing

Nosferatu shows Robert Eggers at the height of his powers, building an atmosphere of choking menace anchored by magnificent turns from Lily-Rose Depp and Bill Skarsgard.

Wicked defies gravity for a soaring, beautifully sung return to Oz with wonderful vibrancy and a true sense of scale.

The Long Walk exceeds even optimistic expectations to easily become one of the best Stephen King adaptations.

From a horror standpoint, M3GAN could be scarier, but it's difficult enough for a film to balance suspense, a nuanced look at grief, and intelligently meta jokes, and M3GAN does all that surprisingly well. The long and the short of it is that, while M3GAN could perhaps be scarier and it doesn't feel entirely conceptually novel, it's a genuinely great addition to the horror-comedy canon.

Inconsistencies and issues aside, Shazam 2 hits the comic book movie sweet spot. The performances are strong, the humor lands, and the stakes feel high with comic book panache and the kinds of visuals one only gets in a comic book (business-destroying minotaurs, anyone?).

It's a well-balanced animated actioner that captures everything fans already love about Geralt of Rivia while exploring the complicated politics of monster hunting.

Some moments could benefit from lessened narration, a longer cut in an individual scene, or the maintenance of a less dreamlike tone, but it's a fine film that provides one of the most unique cinematic experiences in biopic history.

It's an excellent, if imperfect, crime thriller, capably indicting our era with the same insight that Kurosawa brought to the internet's potential to isolate in Pulse.

There's a clear command of how to set up a cool/scary/funny scene, execute, and move on before it's stale, and that's a testament to Roberts' skill as director and co-writer alongside scribe Ernest Riera.

It's a fun, action-packed outing with surprisingly effective emotional resonance, adding layers to existing Transformers lore while being a worthwhile story in its own right.

Echo Valley is a tense thriller propelled by strong performances from Moore and Sweeney and a never scarier Domnhall Gleeson.

Ne Zha II is a bold, action-packed, interesting celebration of Chinese legend, wrapped around the story of a growing boy who wants to determine his future. The new English dub translates these characters well to the screen, and its visuals are beautiful companions to the large-scale story.

The entity's visage is shocking, its effects personal and malevolent, and the film had some terrifying set pieces, creating a mysterious new supernatural creature to lose sleep over.

Between strong character work, adept mystery writing, amusingly tongue-in-cheek fourth-wall breaks which broadly work, and swift action sequences, Enola Holmes 2 is by and large a welcome and engaging mystery experience.

The film captures the reality of an abundantly free, but unguarded childhood well, and the resultant dreamlike quality of certain scenes is thoroughly engaging. It's absolutely a journey to watch.

It's a strong and highly watchable thriller that shouldn't be missed.

It's a fun narrative, the action elements are well done and uncompromising, and the jokes work. Sure, the narrative could use a little shine in certain aspects, such as the conspiracy at the film's heart and the background of their newly deceased, estranged father, but as a whole, it's a stellar outing and a lot of fun, a blank check for a probable franchise.

Altogether, The Fire Inside is a strong directorial debut for Rachel Morrison, boasting excellent performances from Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry.

It's a winner, with a surprisingly breezy pace for such a long action spectacle. Interested audiences should catch it on the largest screen they can.

KPop Demon Hunters is a charming action outing with fun world-building, catchy songs, and strong performances.

It's anchored by a wonderful central performance from Susan Chardy, who finds layers of nuance in Shula as her anger over the situation bubbles to the surface. It's an excellent film, and a strong display of talent across the board.

Your Monster is an engaging showcase of Barrera's considerable talents, as well as proof that Dewey can nail a charismatic rom-com lead role under any circumstances.

If Cheech & Chong's Last Movie is actually their last movie (a plausible hypothesis given that their last live-action feature together was back in 1984), it's a great curtain call. It's a breezy, engaging, but still informative look at the duo and their falling out, and it ends on a note that's surely welcome for fans of their comedic oeuvre.

It's a film that subtly reminds the audience to slow down, be present, and enjoy what one has, because it can be gone in an instant, while also encouraging hope. It's a beautiful cinematic journey and one not to be missed.

It may not feel fully original, and some moments could be honed, but it's a solid, visually gorgeous outing from Huston anchored by an excellent central performance from Michael Pitt.

It would have benefitted from a greater inclusion of Pep's good times, allowing a more well-rounded exploration and understanding of the storied athlete, but thanks to a well-scripted narrative and excellent performances, it remains an excellent biographical look into the decline and fall of a featherweight empire.

There's something to be missed from the first due to the predictability of his path in this iteration, but there are enough surprises and novelties (usually violent) to provoke delight and get adrenaline pumping.

It’s a gory, bonkers action-comedy premise anchored by a set of strong performances and a surprisingly poignant meet-cute, making for a wildly memorable action outing.

It’s a solid, aspirant crowd-pleaser that may not reinvent the wheel, but it proudly boasts a good enough set of them and confidently stays on the tracks.

By the film's end, both the film and its titular protagonist become honed, complex, and much-improved. It's an inconsistent sword-and-sandal epic, but one that lands some major notes as the sequences and combat get bigger, bolder, and feature better grounded performances.

Striking Rescue follows familiar beats, but there are enough twists and solid performances to land it well, while the action sequences are delivered with Jaa's characteristic uncompromising intensity.

The finale could use a little honing (greater context, a little more clarity, some tighter thematic context and background information), but it's still full of enough twists, tension, and surprises to have a solid time at the theater that audiences will be thinking about afterward.

The film is at its best when Heller is executing novel kills or blackmailing his bosses, and we're given just enough of those adrenaline-pumping scenes to make it all work together well. The Amateur strikes that delicate balance often (though not universally), but it works well enough when it counts, for an outing worth seeing.

Altogether, Black Phone 2 is a mixed bag that still has some clear winning attributes.

It's a good adaptation that stays true to the source material, but Chapter 2 still falls short of adaptational greatness.

The Rule of Jenny Pen has a lot going for it. Lithgow and Rush pull off strong performances, the escalation of tension is well-developed regarding the scenes taken as a whole, and the central conceit of the doll is used to strong effect.

Carmen is a largely enjoyable outing, fueled by a fresh take on the narrative and two leads with great expressiveness and a lot of on-screen chemistry. Barrera's dancing is truly beautiful, the choreography is inspired, and the gorgeous score pulls it all together.

As a whole, Devara: Part 1 is a bold and engaging tale marked with a pair of excellent performances by starN.T. Rama Rao, Jr., alongside a bold antagonist outing from Saif Ali Khan.

80 for Brady isn't the most original play in the playbook, minus the sheer atypicality of aiming a gang of protagonists with around almost 400 years between them at a sports event for which they aren't the usual fanbase. That said, the comedy has enough charm, memorable moments, and charismatic performances from legendary actresses that it's a good, breezy time.

It could innovate more thoroughly and ground its antagonistic plot with stronger internal logic, but it's a solid action outing that's well worth any audience's time.

Altogether, it's a solid dark comedy in the trappings of a psychological horror film.

The idea is good, but in practice The Prosecutor doesn't fully feel like a legal drama, nor does it feel like a martial arts film. It's a decent film with strong direction, but laden with regrettable missed opportunities.

A Man Called Otto has its moments, both humorous and heartwarming, and it works better than it should due to the strength of its performances. Unfortunately, it's also plagued by choices that blunt its overall coherence, seeming like Forster wanted to make an entirely different kind of film than the material dictated.

Some jokes run too long, don’t land, or could use another draft. It's a constant stream of cameos, which is overall fun but sometimes a little distracting. But, at its core, the sequel is a good-natured charmer about a troubled everyman who is trying hard to grow up without losing himself in the process, and it gives us a lot to laugh about on the way.

It's a beautiful tribute to a legend, packed with footage and interviews that highlight his accomplishments and unique talents, though at times a greater focus on John Williams the man, or a follow-up on certain thought-provoking threads, would be welcome.

Demon Slayer: Infinity Castle boasts stellar action, animation, and some wonderful performances, but it would be better as episodes than as a standalone film.

It takes some smart turns in the finale that modernize old tropes and give familiar beats a refreshing upgrade to relevant (but perhaps insufficient) degrees. The dialogue and situations feel real and authentic, and the performers land the material and have strong cast chemistry. At the same time, much of the movie is enjoyable but feels inescapably familiar.

One can't help but note the irony of a film about the pivot from the silent era to the talkies having such a loud, booming start but ending with a muffled thud.

It's a tense, mostly successful thriller with a talented cast, but greater artistry in the thematic development and greater novelty in the plotting would enhance the freshness of the crime drama.

What Last Rites gets most correct is its family dynamics, hearkening back to the first film's initial moments and providing a strong thread throughout the series. Farmiga, Wilson, and new and returning characters all pull this off brilliantly.

It is a somewhat decent movie hampered by so many preventable oversights and missteps.

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.

Mob Cops has an interesting true story at its heart, and a talented central cast to convey it, but there are self-imposed limitations baked into its core. There may have been a great movie here, but it simply doesn't achieve that potential.

Alarum is a genuine disappointment, putting a set of strong performers (who do quite well in action-heavy projects) in a situation that could produce memorable, excellent action scenes. It needs extra shine in the script and a stronger directorial vision to do so, which essentially damns the film to action thriller purgatory.

It's a film that largely rests on an edifice of clichés, contrivances, and ungrounded choices, needing greater development to actually land.

At the center of this mess sits a set of performances that are, beyond some writing oddities, pretty good.

It's an oddly cobbled-together hodgepodge of ideas and little real inspiration that could have graduated to fun schlock with a little more love.