Kimber Myers

Dhont’s film is a strong debut from a technical angle, but it lacks the humanity necessary for a story of this nature.

It’s not unpleasant, thanks to the energetic dialogue and songs, but it lacks the fun and focus that made “Pitch Perfect” such a surprise hit worthy of repeat viewings.

This is all fascinating in isolation, but transitions between stories and the experts’ insights never feel cohesive. The Portal also lacks the depth to fully engage — and convince — the viewer.

The Intruder is a blunt but effective instrument. This thriller lacks subtlety and craft, but it succeeds at what it’s intending to do: keep the audience stress-eating popcorn for 100 minutes and leave entirely satisfied with the experience they just had. It’s not a good movie, but boy, is it fun.

Elephants almost works, but it self-destructs with as much frequency as its damaged characters.

There’s merit — and in fact, real present need — for what The Mindfulness Movement is trying to say, but the film often gets in its own way.

Unfortunately, this Australian horse racing film remains a standard underdog narrative that fails to rouse the audience from their seats, despite the best efforts from its cast and a few charming moments.

Scaborough doesn’t try to shock audiences, but its attempt at a surprise is sadly predictable.

Seeds might be classified as horror, but its most disturbing element isn’t what audiences expect from the genre.

The Circle is a movie that has all the appearances of working – a solid director, great cast and impressive pedigree – but constantly throws errors. It’s a frustrating viewing experience with little surprise or delight to be found.

Taylor’s film only really works if you turn off the rational part of your brain, which isn’t fully developed until you’re in your 20s anyway. If you can ignore the plot holes and gaps in logic, Ma is a fun, dumb time at the movies.

For all its faults – both in its construction and the execution of its themes – I Feel Pretty still manages to be fun in the moment. It’s sweet and silly with a scene-stealing performance from Williams, but it ultimately could learn from its own lessons. It’s not confident enough in its central premise, leaving the audience wanting something more.

Round of Your Life is unlikely to result in any conversions — to faith, golf or focused driving — but at least it won’t have viewers throwing their clubs in anger.

The oily slick of sin across the surface of this film isn’t what makes it wickedly fun; it’s the utter devotion to its bonkers twist, at once defying logic and good taste. Serenity knows it’s trash, but that’s not to say that it’s not entertaining trash.

There’s an absence of character details that could make the central romance of Vincent N Roxxy more believable. Luckily for the film, the palpable chemistry between Hirsch and Kravitz imbues the relationship with realism, even if we don’t have much else to go on.

This is not a good movie – but that doesn’t mean that it’s not a good time.

The sequel to “Divergent” is the cinematic equivalent of the KFC Famous Bowl: a nutritionally devoid mishmash of elements and past films that somehow manages to be less than the sum of its parts once cobbled together.

Where King of Thieves fails its heralded cast is in its shifts in tone. We’ve been promised a fun ride with Caine in the driver’s seat, but the trip goes downhill too quickly.

A few strong moments from its stars brighten the film, but it’s never more than a mildly enjoyable diversion.

Like a wrestler struggling to balance his real-life and in-the-ring personas, the grappling comedy Heels feels torn between its dual personalities, one warm, one coarse. Though individual parts work, this indie film from actor-writer-director Ryan Bottiglieri never fully unites its various elements and disparate tones into a well-crafted whole.

The documentary is at its strongest when it leans into its variety of subjects, rather than when the director centers on his own history and training. However, he skims over both, and the lack of depth and focus hurts his argument.

Unfortunately, the film doesn’t fully explore its big ideas or give its talented cast dialogue to match.

As a debut feature it’s a big swing, and a miss, but there’s also just enough to suggest that Wakefield may connect in the future.

Individual moments work, but there’s little to tie them together in a cohesive narrative.

Beauty Bites Beast does lessen its usage of narration and animation as the film gets going, but the damage is already done. It blunts its own effectiveness by over-embellishing stories and facts that could have stood on their own.

Beyond the strength of the visuals, there’s promise in the young cast that you see glimpses of here. ... However, it’s never enough to make “Gully” worth watching. Its raw, gritty approach feels like an effort from the filmmakers, but it’s mostly work for the audience to endure.

The bland, boring Paranoia does little to distinguish itself and isn’t good (or even enjoyably bad enough) to be passable even as Saturday afternoon cable fodder.

There’s something fresh in Detour, but it’s buried underneath a largely unremarkable movie.