Ross Bonaime

After the dregs of the first five Transformers films, Bumblebee felt like the shot in the arm that this series needed to make it what it should’ve been all this time. Coming off that, Rise of the Beasts feels like both a step forward and a step back.

Beast has its flaws and is mostly by-the-numbers, but if the idea of Idris Elba fighting a lion is something that is of interest to you, then Beast is going to deliver.

Father of the Bride has its heart in the right place, trying to adapt this beloved story for another generation and audience, but by shifting too much away from the traditions of the past, Father of the Bride doesn’t have the same magic that its previous versions have been able to generate.

Cameos and fan service are fine to have, but the story has to be there to back them up, and it’s not quite there with The Flash.

Please Don't Destroy's debut film isn't necessarily a treasure, but there are a few gems to make the future look solid for this trio.

As a film that highlights Raimi’s talents as both a director of distinct superhero stories, and idiosyncratic horror tales, Doctor Strange works. Yet as a larger piece in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Multiverse of Madness starts to show the cracks in trying to continually attempt to build and one-up what came before.

Cronenberg certainly still knows how to create arresting imagery and craft stories that can make the audience squirm, but the story that isn’t being told with Crimes of the Future is far more interesting than the one he has decided to focus on, which often feels like regurgitating concepts he’s already handled before.

Emergency is ambitious and daring in what it’s trying to say and do, but a mishandling of pacing, serious issues, and pseudo-parody hurt what is a truly intriguing concept.

Sender wants to put us in the perspective of an addict, but instead, it always leaves the audience feeling like it’s missing something, not quite in step with what the film is trying to express. Goldman has a lot on his mind, but Sender sometimes feels like when you have too many ideas, and you try to say them all at once, but it comes out garbled and confusing.

There are great ideas within Cat Person, and when this story sticks to the meat of the original story, it’s a fascinating look at dating from a female perspective. Unfortunately, the nose dive in its intent in the final act, when Cat Person gets away from the short story, makes Cat Person two-thirds a solid film, and one-third an absurd blunder.

If Day has shown anything with Fool’s Paradise and the long road to get it made, it’s that he has passion and a vision, and a dedication to making a project that works for him. Fool’s Paradise might not work as well as it should, but fingers crossed that Day keeps at it.

With Aquaman and the Lost Kingdom, we get the best and worst of the DCEU, but also a reminder that there’s still hope for these characters, with a bit more focus, and a reminder of what works and what doesn’t with this world.

Scream used to poke fun at the silliness of horror movies and laugh at the genre's clichés, but now, it’s indistinguishable from the films it once gleefully lampooned, in what is easily the worst installment so far.

Intriguing moments of animation experimentation and a new batch of characters just aren’t going to be enough to keep this series worthwhile. Right now, Trolls is going in one direction, and it needs to shake it up a bit more to make things in sync again.

Frozen Empire attempts to evoke the past with constant callbacks, while trying to make the audience care about a more modern story with characters for a new generation, and ends up failing on both counts.

Maslany can effectively react to shadows and reflections, and Perkins can navigate this cabin to maximize its horror potential, but without the screenplay to back them up, this just becomes a curious experiment without much focus.

In the end, The Cow ends up a collection of tonal blunders and performances that are too big for this smaller-scale thriller.

The Pod Generation ends with a thud, leaving the audience to question what the purpose of this endeavor even was.

Even though the brutality is seemingly never-ending, we never dull to the constant barrage of pain—both physically and emotionally. Yet when Fuqua and Collage aren’t focusing on the cruelty of this world, the film stops dead, lumbering through the motions, complete with derivative choices, characters, and dialogue.

Trap is another promising thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, but his filmmaking choices simply can't do this conceit justice.

The Swearing Jar is a decent idea, but the screenplay and editing draws attention to itself in a way that takes away from the film’s biggest moments—a shame considering these moments could’ve been extremely effective if handled in a slightly different way.

The Mardini sisters in real life went through hell, and their journey is incredibly powerful, considering what they went through. But The Swimmers only occasionally gives this story the power that it needs, instead, falling into easy tropes and an unfocused narrative.

The American Society of Magical Negroes is a film that needs bite for its high concept to work, and unfortunately, Libii’s film doesn’t have teeth.

Even though zi isn’t quite the powerhouse of independent cinema that films like Columbus and After Yang were, it does feel like the work that Kogonada needed to do in order to right his sails and figure out where to go next.

Ty Roberts’ inspirational sports drama You Gotta Believe relies on age-old playbooks to a fault. It’s a true story and a surefire tear-jerker, but Lane Garrison’s screenplay is reductively hokey at the worst times.

There’s promise, but Vengeance at times feels like a West Texas version of Under the Silver Lake, but without the focus and care. Unfortunately, Ben’s editor was right, Vengeance is more a theory than a story.

The Bubble feels like the least personal film Apatow has directed so far, a film that seems like more of an excuse to just do something during the pandemic, instead of Apatow having something to say.

Fuze has the bones of a great idea, and one that does seem like a great fit for Mackenzie, given his past work. But Hopkins’ script is too generic an action exercise, from its bland plot to its nothing characters, that it’s hard to find anything to truly care about.