Kimber Myers

Pretty but oh-so-dumb, Sugar Mountain is the cinematic equivalent of a himbo.

If you have an affection for puns or off-kilter humor, it’s hard not to be charmed by Asperger’s Are Us.

This isn’t meant to be a polished, restrained indie drama, but its flaws don’t solely reside in writer-director Alberto’s avant-garde approach. Instead, its biggest misstep is the two central characters who are so unlikable as to be unwatchable.

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.

As impactful as its rarely told story might be, “Trezoros” would have been better served by a shorter running time or a more focused approach to its central story.

Director Akan Satayev’s hacker thriller looks gorgeous, featuring locations around the world shot with crisp cinematography by Pasha Patriki. However, the script from Sanzhar Sultan is poorly structured and silly, revealing the emptiness beneath the shiny facade.

More unity of style would have made a better final product, but Kyle’s story — coupled with vibrant cinematography from Schlanser — is strong enough to keep audiences engaged and moved throughout the brief running time.

It earns points for not being overly pious, but there’s little depth in its exploration of one man’s spiritual evolution.

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

It’s surprisingly intimate at times, but we leave without greater insight into its subjects’ world.

Aggressive and aggressively unfunny, Hollywood-set comedy Walk of Fame hates its characters and its audience — and the feeling is mutual.

Blue Gold: American Jeans is intermittently engaging, but its attempt to weave together the journey of vintage clothing dealer Eric Schrader with the history of the apparel ultimately falls apart.

The flaws of Nola Circus aren’t limited to its outrageous and offensive approach. It’s that it never succeeds in bringing viewers onto its wavelength, which is probably a good thing for humanity’s sake.

This mess never knows whether it’s a mob movie or a raunchy comedy.

It creeps along without providing either scares or an unsettling mood.

The lifeless script and bland performances damn the film and the unlucky viewers who find it.

Though there are some cool moments, the film lacks the connective tissue to make an audience invest in Xia Tian’s efforts.

Unfortunately, the worst fault in this horror movie isn’t the amateur performances, beginner-level editing or the special effects; it’s the dreadfully dumb script.

Hearing Is Believing could have offered more insight into Rachel’s experience, but instead it invests in the action of its title, including long stretches of witnessing Rachel at the piano and on various other instruments.

The film is a moving experience for both its subjects and the audience.

Somehow worse than its ridiculous title, Awaken the Shadowman is sillier than it is scary.

While there are some cool creature effects and committed, physical performances by the actors playing the monsters, the movie’s worst sin isn’t the found-footage rules it ignores. Instead it breaks the cardinal rule of the larger horror genre, running 95 minutes without a single scare or moment of dread.

As writer, director, producer, star, editor and more, J. Van Auken brings a cool central concept and strong visuals, but the film ultimately never finds solidity.

Beyond its style, Dementia 13 doesn’t innovate, but it’s a capably made indie that should please genre fans searching for a haunted diversion.

There’s no artifice in this documentary, with the director simply presenting the women’s lives as they tell them, one after another. Slow-moving and sad, Twenty Two isn’t easy to watch, but it isn’t meant to be.

It’s a stunning feat of technology and artistry.

This slick and stylish exterior belies a rotting core underneath. Ryde thinks little of its characters or its audience; it's an exercise in misanthropy with a nasty streak of misogyny running through it.

The script blunts its own emotional impact with coincidences, odd choices and an ending that feels too neat, even for an inspirational film of this nature.