Peter Hartlaub

One of the more thoughtful and valiant feature film directorial debuts in recent memory.

A film that defies lowered expectations — if not the tired adolescent mind-set and poor joke-writing — and emerges as the best in the series.

The best-case scenario for a movie based on a soft-drink advertisement. It is a disjointed and inconsistent comedy, shoddily filmed at times, while occasionally abandoning storytelling effort altogether.

It lacks a moral center, and at times seems oblivious to the laughable things that are happening on screen. It’s also about 20 minutes too long. And yet SuperFly is entertaining, period. The dialogue is fast and fun, and the sense of fashion is so pervasive that it occasionally distracts from the movie.

A category of films that reward viewers who view the cinemas as an escape, rather than an arena of deep thought. If you’re coming off a super bad week, or have had a few drinks, or just happen to find a crowded theater where laughs are contagious, you’ll have a much better time. If you rent the movie and view it alone, you’ll probably laugh three times, and never watch it again.

Upgrade is a movie by Leigh Whannell, who wrote “Saw,” “Insidious” and other memorable horror movies. But other than the occasional moment of stunningly gratuitous gore, it’s nothing like those films.

Show Dogs is really bad, even for a talking-dog movie.

The new version is a weak facsimile of an already mediocre film.

This is a filmmaker who cares less about horror cinema as a theme park ride, and more about mood.

A film that looks way more fun to make than it is to watch. There’s a stubbornness to the comedic approach, mostly in its unwillingness to age since the first “Super Troopers.”

Once the believability drops, the seams start to show, whether it’s some extras who seem aware of the camera, bad edits, comic-timing misfires or songs written for Thorne that aren’t quite as good as everyone onscreen says they are.

Mostly it serves as a comprehensive manual of bad places to hide from a masked killer.

The film is charming throughout, literally from the beginning of time to the final goal.

Yes, the two-minute trailers were an atrocious affront. But it turns out the other 91 minutes include thoughtful characters and some clever humor in between the pratfalls.

Although it isn’t a top-flight horror movie — too slow for thrill-chasers, too ridiculously fictionalized for historians — the film serves as a proper 99-minute commercial for that San Jose tourist spot.

The visuals themselves are inconsistent, but never boring. The sidekicks seem considerably less painstakingly rendered than the leads. A few of the merchants have the unnatural look and jerky movements of Pirates of the Caribbean animatronics.

It’s a poorly made film, with rough edits, distracting staging and plot contrivances that can be predicted to the moment.

And then there’s the real problem with Pitch Perfect 3: The best thing about the first movie — the singing — feels like an afterthought.

Coco is the best-looking Pixar movie since the tonally uneven “The Good Dinosaur.” The colorful afterlife is the centerpiece, but excellence is found in unexpected places.

Daddy’s Home 2 is an excessively negative, strained and predictable comedy.

If there’s a casualty in the sequel it’s Bell, who may be the funniest of the young actresses, but has the most limiting character, forced to repeatedly work a single my-mom-is-a-stalker joke.

“Thank You” is flawed, with a structure and pacing that dull the viewing experience, even as the message drives through. It’s a great discussion starter, but not a great finished product.

Miles Teller as Brendan McDonough is a standout, beginning as a dead-eyed drug user, then gradually turning into a responsible adult.

Some people clearly had a good time making this film. Whether you have a good time watching it depends almost entirely on your Pony love walking in.

The filmmakers offer very few clues, just more aqua filters and low-contrast visuals. And with each new jarring edit, the viewer cares less and less, until the 100 minutes seem to stretch on forever.

The fly-on-the-wall style is a slow build that leads to an immersive experience, and then an ultimate payoff as the change-minded department detours into another scandal. The Force is like watching a drug addict take a few meaningful steps toward recovery, only to relapse again.

Lego Ninjago is still nowhere near bad “Alvin and the Chipmunks” sequel territory. But at this rate, we may be only one or two movies away.

Stronger always feels right in the moment, solidified by an outstanding central performance by Gyllenhaal, and some wonderful ensemble work, especially the actors just below the top billing.