Peter Hartlaub

It’s summer, weed is legal in California now and laughs are a scarce resource. You could do worse than Rough Night.

The story is painfully simplistic, and it becomes quickly apparent that the narrative is a crude cement to hold together the carnage.

As the film meanders, the powerful moments barely outnumber the ridiculous. And another excellent performance from McAdams isn't quite good enough to mask the distractions.

The “Happy Death Day” franchise isn’t going to revolutionize filmmaking. But the uplifting vibes — and occasionally absent slasher — haven’t come close to overstaying their welcome.

Isn't quite as boring as it sounds, thanks to writer/director Steve Conrad's strong script and decent performances by John C. Reilly and Seann William Scott.

It's a weighty and visually interesting movie that unfortunately doesn't have a strong message beyond its overwhelming bleakness.

This film is too scary for very young children, while older fans are likely to focus on the film not faring well in comparison to the elder Miyazaki's recent work.

Well-scripted, well-acted and occasionally sexy, but just isn't all that interesting.

If Stanley Kubrick filmed an orgy like the one in this film, "Eyes Wide Shut" might have been halfway tolerable.

There are plenty of bad films to get riled up about in the summer. Percy Jackson: Sea of Monsters isn't one of them. This is harmless tween-centric fun.

Filmgoers looking for copious amounts of mindless violence won't be disappointed.

Legend of the Guardians sounds as if it were scripted by a team of 11-year-old boys, with too much plot for its 91-minute running time, a script that steals liberally from "Star Wars" and some occasionally eye-roll-worthy weirdness.

Isn't a terrible addition to the teen coming-of-age party movie catalog. It just feels dated.

A lot more enjoyable if you can leave your cognitive skills at the door.

At its best, the movie is a collection of entertaining memories from a group of gutsy women.

This time, it seems as if there’s a little less magic in the woods.

The core fan base of this English sword battle drama will pay for the boundary-pushing blood and gore. Why bore them with things like plot and context and production values?

Once you're done trying to conjugate the smurfs, there's a better movie than anyone could have possibly expected, thanks in large part to an honest effort by Harris in a thankless role.

The movie is an enjoyable but flawed attempt at an epic story, with too much of the best action concentrated in the beginning.

Lottery Ticket is likable, and that goes a long way.

The performances are the best part of this uneven film.

It's an imperfect facsimile, guilty of borrowing too many ideas from the earlier film, and then executing them with differing results.

It's a bright and fun movie, but also repetitive and overloaded with plot. A nice enough diversion, but not a necessary one.

Frenetically paced but mostly pointless computer-animated film that will satisfy children but may give parents a headache.

Well written but weakly executed, it's hard to imagine anyone is going to cherish the film, if they even remember it in three months' time.

Basically torture porn.

It's a homemade protein-and-steroids smoothie of a plot, combining elements of gore, self-parody, 1990s nostalgia overload and an attempt to say something -- while actually saying absolutely nothing -- about the American dream.

The makers of Into the Blue know what the audience wants. And they deliver a little bit more.