Reuben Baron

Entertaining yet depressing, surreal yet too real, frustrating yet somehow cathartic, "I Saw the TV Glow" leaves such a strong impression that it's hard to stop thinking about it days after seeing it.

The lack of character development blunts any potential for the deeper emotional impact found in the best war movies. The lack of political contextualization further limits how much the film is really capable of saying.

Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga is a good movie that has either the fortune or the misfortune of existing as a prequel to a nearly perfect movie.

Beyond just being clever and unexpected, there's something quietly powerful to this story of truth-seekers in a post-truth world.

Taken on its own terms, Frankenstein is a compelling, at times moving, and utterly gorgeous epic. As a fan of both Del Toro and Shelley, I can't help but nitpick the details.

Deeply hopeful, spectacularly produced, and equally adept at laughter and tears, Project Hail Mary is the best new movie to hit theaters so far this year.

Doing double duty as both a romcom and a twisted body horror movie is a tonal challenge that "Together" pulls off successfully, in large part thanks to how fun it is.

Bring Her Back genuinely disturbed me. You can decide whether that's reason to see it as soon as possible or reason to stay far away.

Despite my questions and quibbles, I'm still happy this sequel exists, even if it falls short of masterpiece status.

Maybe there's something I'm not getting here, but as far as I'm concerned, Die My Love comes alive in individual scenes yet feels stultifying as a whole.

It's intelligent without being profound, amusing without being hilarious, empathetic without being gut-wrenching. "Cute" is the word I'd use to describe it overall. By nature it's nothing special, but it's not bad either.

The only thing holding Heretic back from instant classic status is its final act, where some of the big secret reveals end up a bit disappointing after so much great build-up.

Much of Materialists is almost aggressively unromantic, and while it's not without laughs, those are also darker and more uncomfortable than you'd expect.

Though its long string of wacky plot points might sound convoluted on paper, one shouldn't worry too much about it. The craziest details are mostly there for laughs, and the thematic and emotional through-lines that actually matter remain clear throughout.

As a whole, "Day One" is different enough from its predecessors while meeting similarly high marks of filmmaking craft, resulting in a solid piece of popcorn filmmaking.

As an introduction to the rebooted DC Universe, "Superman" is zippy blockbuster fun. But amidst all its cartoon absurdity, it might just inspire people to make a difference in this universe.

Good Luck, Have Fun, Don't Die is both a battle cry and a bleak joke about how unregulated technological progress could destroy civilization and break our souls ... if it hasn't already.

This is a surprisingly sad movie — just one that also happens to be funny.

The power of Fiennes' and Binoche's performances, as well as the strength of the classic tale itself, allow "The Return" to build into something both entertaining and meaningful in its final act.

What remains in question is how much this story constructed through hints, however well they can be understood, actually evokes feeling. To me, Carousel felt like it was missing something that could have made its quiet slice-of-life scenes a real emotional experience.

The problem is it can't find nearly enough to say to justify its 148 minute runtime, exhausting interest and failing to build its intriguing big ideas into a compelling story.

The meta-narrative of where The Smashing Machine fits into Johnson's career is more interesting than the film itself, which I found a bit of a bore. Johnson's performance is good enough, and Emily Blunt is truly transformative as Kerr's unstable wife Dawn Staples, but neither get that much to do beyond repeat the same sort of fights (physical or verbal) over the course of two hours in a film that fails to justify why we should be so interested.

Whatever happened in bringing this story to the big screen, 100 Nights of Hero starts off enjoyable enough in the moment, but by the time it ends, it's easy to feel underwhelmed.

On Swift Horses finally achieves the emotional resonance it's been aiming for just a few minutes before the credits.

The cinematography is gorgeous, and the audacity of the twists can be darkly funny. But thinking about "Cuckoo" afterwards, I feel like I'm missing the key to making sense of and really connecting with it.

The Drama is a very well-crafted, never-boring dark comedy that is unfortunately completely broken at its core, handling a loaded premise in ways that are unbelievable at best and offensively tacky at worst.

Eden will attract interest for its strong ensemble and for its intriguingly dark true story. It's an entertaining enough way to pass two hours, but it's also not a film I expect people will be thinking about long after they see it.

The final result of "Wicked: For Good" falls between the best and worst case scenarios: some big worthwhile changes and additions show a smart adaptational instinct, but it's still less entertaining than "Part 1," marred by inconsistent plotting, lackluster humor, and fewer exceptional musical numbers. It's good enough, but I could be happier.