Mike Ryan

I think Spaceman itself is maybe just a couple tweaks away from being something truly special. But, as is, it’s kind of this oddball movie that I’m glad exists and I truly think Sandler is really terrific.

Dune: Part Two is certainly up there with some of the best science fiction movies I’ve ever seen.

Though I will warn you, if you haven’t cared for Matthew Vaughn’s more recent efforts, it’s unlikely Argylle is going to change that for you. It’s like he pays attention to what his detractors despise, then decides, “Well, what if I gave you more of that.”

This movie, hot damn. It just does not care. I can’t help but respect all of this. Please create an honorary Oscar for The Beekeeper.

I’ll admit, the sequel to Wonka looks pretty good! The plot of this movie leaves off exactly where you probably assumed this movie would start, but for some reason didn’t. And like I said earlier, Timothée Chalamet plays Willy Wonka with a lot of charm and I bet it’s not easy to play someone who is all-knowing, possibly supernatural, but is also not very smart at times.

If you’re looking to nitpick historical accuracy, Napoleon is going to drive you bonkers. But good gosh is it entertaining. And funny. Don’t forget funny.

Even though there are some fun scenes with The Marvels trio, I’d be hard-pressed to recommend this to anyone who isn’t an MCU superfan. Again, even *I* was a bit lost with the latest in the Kree and Skrull political relationships — I felt lost by it all and I’ve seen every movie. I bet a pretty straightforward plot involving the main three characters would have gone a long way.

This is just David Fincher making a bloody, fun, gritty movie about an angry assassin. The name of the movie is The Killer and our lead character very much does that.

Blue Beetle kind of encapsulates what is good and stale about these movies right now all in one package.

Meg 2: The Trench commits the worst sin a movie about a giant prehistoric shark can make: it’s kind of boring. I went in looking for an audacious good time and, instead, I got a movie about rock smugglers.

There’s a sense of personality and life in the Turtles in Mutant Mayhem that the other movies just seem to try and force.

At three hours long, even though the editing and narrative style keeps it moving, it gets to be redundant.

Honestly, I’m kind of in awe of Barbie and I would love to read the meeting notes of every conversation Gerwig had with someone at Mattel.

A lot of Mission: Impossible movies have a lot of exposition and can be complicated. Brian de Palma’s first movie (still my personal favorite, with Fallout a close second) is pretty complicated! But a terrific finale can cure all of that. And Dead Reckoning Part One has a really great sequence on a train to close the movie out.

This is a very fun movie . . . but Indy’s arc is poignant and also sad.

This feels like the definitive Flash movie.

It’s kind of remarkable what can be done with a Transformers movie with a director who actually likes these characters. (And also very much loves his mid-90s needle-drop jams.)

It’s one of the most, if not the most, immersive superhero stories going, pushing far beyond the boundaries of what superhero stories should and could be.

Making this installment complicated is it doesn’t have an ending. It literally ends during the middle of a scene. After 2 hours and 20 minutes of Fast action, even I was taken aback when the credits started to roll.

James Gunn bets big that you love each and every one of these Guardians. It’s a movie about friendship and the love these characters have for each other and risking everything to help the people you love. Without that bond to these characters, this movie doesn’t work. It’s still a funny movie with some cool action scenes and a lot of nonsense going on, all glued together by this really powerful emotional core.

It’s not as good as the first Shazam movie, which explored what it’s like to be a superhero when, in reality, you’re still just a kid. In this sequel, that aspect is still mentioned quite a bit, but not really explored.

So if this is it for John Wick, Chapter 4, improbably, goes out as easily the best of the series and a contender for one of the best pure action movies in recent history if not ever made. It’s so good I really kind of hope they end on this. I truly don’t think it can be topped.

Creed III does serve as a nice springboard to whatever future movies Jordan wants to direct. He’s done a really great job here. And it, of course, allows Jonathan Majors another chance to emote. Right now, Majors has to be the king of emoting. He is truly great at it. What’s interesting about this movie is a viewer can see both sides of the conflict between Adonis and Dame, at least to a point.

So what we have here is a coked-out bear on a murder spree and, honestly, it’s literally everything I would want from a movie called Cocaine Bear.

with Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania, like I said, I think Peyton Reed has given us an installment that, with the material that has to be introduced, is about the best version this could be. But I found myself missing the more grounded and funny world of Scott Lang that the prior movies had set up. You know, being a palette cleanser is a good thing.

The result is a truly suspenseful film with a powerful, emotional ending. Again, it’s one of Shyamalan’s best.

By sheer willpower alone Majors makes Magazine Dreams something to behold. This movie exists as a vessel in which to watch Jonathan Majors act his ass off.

What’s kind of impressive here is Fair Game does have a lot to say about gender dynamics in a “boy’s club” work environment, but it doesn’t get bogged down in that to the point we are watching a lecture. Like I said in the first sentence, this is a very entertaining movie.