Richard Roeper

Ford v. Ferrari expertly captures the essence of mid-20th century racing, and the spirit of the men who went to battle in Le Mans.

Despite a far-too-long running time and a second half that often relies on audience-pleasing gimmickry in favor of a compelling story arc, The Flash is an exceedingly well-acted adventure with just enough gas in the accelerator to make it to the finish line before wearing out its welcome.

This is a star-studded extravaganza light on character development and heavy on battle spectacle, resulting in an impressive-looking but dramatically underwhelming story.

To say this film doesn’t follow a conventional narrative is putting it mildly. One can understand how some viewers will be thrown off, maybe even put off, by the radical change in plot course midway down the stream. I found it to be a fresh and bold and immensely effective choice.

Damon is terrific. The movie lives and breathes on his performance, and he comes through in every scene.

It’s a new twist on the period-piece slasher movie, smart and strange and fantastically depraved. I kinda loved it.

Director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Baby Driver), who is of course British, aims to rectify that with The Sparks Brothers, a sprawling and comprehensive and cheeky film that documents the rise and fall and rise again and fall again and the leveling out and all the other peaks and valleys the group has experienced over the last 50 years.

It’s a morose and slow-paced and off-putting drama, in which even the joyous moments seem brittle and draped in melancholy.

The Internship is the movie version of a goofy dog that knows only a few tricks but keeps on looking at you and wagging his tail, daring you not to like him. Down, boy. You win.

Director Lears and co-writer/editor Robin Blotnick had the benefit of knowing the outcomes when they put together the film, so it’s easy to understand why Ocasio-Cortez is the primary focus. But they do an excellent job of weaving in the stories of the three equally impressive candidates.

Good Time is a hallucinatory and often gripping one-night stand of mishaps, mayhem and madness. Ultimately, though, the sometimes clever story runs out of steam and limps across the finish line, and the in-your-face characters and camerawork, not to mention the in-your-ears score, left me not all that involved and a bit exhausted.

A couple of action sequences are well staged. That’s about it for the plus side.

It’s a solid double and that’s just fine, but I’ll admit to a feeling of mild disappointment it wasn’t a grand slam, given the greatness of the first adventure and the grand and creative mind of Mr. Bird.

Given the nature of director/co-writer James Gray’s admirably daring, bold and ambitious, sure-to-be-polarizing, flat-out weird, crazy fever-dream space opera, it’s only fitting for the title to be so obscure and challenging.

Rarely have two actors been so effective playing the same character while taking totally different approaches.

At times the symbolism grows repetitive, and the running time of 2 hours, 42 minutes admittedly tested my attention span on occasions — but this is an original, sometimes breathtaking depiction of a certain slice of American life.

If you’re looking for a smart, insightful, slightly cynical yet warmhearted and consistently smile-inducing slice of life reminiscent of the best character-driven films of the 1970s, punch your ticket right here.

A Hidden Life is one of the most metaphysical films ever set against the backdrop of World War II.

Sandler gives one of his most authentic performances.

What a beautiful, thrilling, joyous, surprising and heart-thumping adventure this is.

I won’t divulge any more so you can experience the cool madness of The 11th Green for yourself. Suffice to say it’s out of this world.

As the film takes deeper and darker turns, it also becomes something special, something unflinchingly honest, something that will punch you in the gut AND touch your heart.

Thanks to the creative efforts of director Gerwig (who co-wrote the screenplay with her partner Noah Baumbach), the absolutely pitch-perfect casting starting with the gorgeous and talented humans Margot Robbie as Barbie and Ryan Gosling as Ken, and a candy-colored, screen-popping production design that transports us to Barbieland and beyond, this is a truly original work — one of the smartest, funniest, sweetest, most insightful and just plain flat-out entertaining movies of the year.

Douglas Tirola’s Drunk Stoned Brilliant Dead is a frenetic, rough-edged, unapologetic tribute to the Lampoon, featuring some amazing archival footage, nifty bits of animation and dozens of straightforward talking-head interviews that crackle and pop.

We appreciate Mister Rogers even more after seeing this film, but I’m not sure we really got to know him any better.

You feel a hurricane of emotions watching Barbara Kopple’s brilliant and searing documentary Desert One.

I Am Big Bird is a loving, respectful (if at times shamelessly sentimental) portrayal of Spinney.

Clouds of Sils Maria is an expertly filmed insider’s look at the film business, the trappings of fame and the unstoppable, sometimes bone-chilling march of time. It’s complex and wickedly funny and dark, and it features the best ensemble acting of any film I’ve seen so far this year.