Ross Bonaime

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

Death on the Nile might have been a long time coming, but it’s one of the most alluring mysteries in years, and a great example of how Branagh can elevate iconic stories with grace and care.

Plemons, Collins, and Segel elevate this basic story beyond more than just a generic noir homage, but it’ll likely leave the audience like Nobody: willing to accept less when they should be asking for more.

Even though the flaws in Last Dance are glaringly obvious—not only is this the worst of the Magic Mike franchise, it’s also clunky in a way Soderbergh films rarely are—it’s still hard to not get caught up in the celebration of it all.

What starts as a more violent Mr. and Mrs. Smith takes an unexpectedly brutal turn, becoming borderline unamusing. Taccone pushes himself to try and break from his usual comic mold, but with Over You Dead Body, he ends up pushing too far.

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.

Susie Searches has its heart in the right place, and this could’ve been the beginning of an interesting mystery series of sorts, full of intriguing characters, twists and turns that are hard to see coming—even for Susie. But the mishandling of tone and unusual shifts in logic and character motivations makes this film more of a mystery in itself.

Especially compared to the 2015 adaptation, A Man Called Otto is a clunky update that often feels like it's full of cartoonish characters, with poor music choices, and cloying sentimentality. But when Forster and Magee pull away from these eccentricities, the story of Otto and Marisol is often a thing of beauty, and wonderful friendship that is lovely to watch grow.

Yet even though it never quite reaches its full potential, Day Shift is enjoyable for the aspects it does want to focus on, even though it’s hard not to wish it would investigate the larger world further.

In Clerks III, Smith returns to where his career began and has made one of his best films in decades, a tender and compassionate look at friendships that last no matter what, a remembrance of where Smith came from, and an appreciation for all those who helped him along the way.

Disenchanted posits that happily ever after isn’t always the ending of the story, but Disenchanted also proves that sometimes, maybe it should be.

The Marvels is the shortest film in the MCU so far, and it’s great that DaCosta has made a movie that is short, sweet, and yet, ends up being more impactful and playful than most Marvel films. In a universe that often feels suffocated by the amount of history, dense storytelling, and character awareness needed to enjoy these films, DaCosta figures out how to handle all of that in one of the most fun Marvel films in years. It’s kind of a marvel.

By capturing Flipside in this way, Wilcha shows the weird, unbelievable nature of life and the surprises that make it such a beautiful mess.

They Will Kill You is an undeniably fun and berserk action film that relies on the style to make up for the lack of discernible substance. For the most part, They Will Kill You pulls this off, and it’s easy to get caught up in just how much this cranks itself to 11.

Led by two solid performances by Pugh and Freeman, A Good Person shows growth from Braff as both a writer and director, as he attempts to push himself into a more mature story that we’re used to from him.

Snow White deserved an update of sorts, and this is an admirable new take that certainly is one of the better live-action remakes from Disney. It might not be the fairest Snow White of all, but it's an admirable effort nonetheless.

It’s that heart that makes Champions better than expected, a shaggy underdog story that might be a bit overlong and a bit awkward in places, but with charming characters that help smooth out these rough edges. In doing so, Bobby Farrelly sticks to his comedic sensibilities, creating an endearing comedy that doesn’t need to break from the formula of similar films that have come before.

If anyone could’ve updated this story for 2023, it’s Barris—as he's shown with black-ish. But instead, You People is a missed opportunity, a half-assed reinterpretation that is only sporadically funny, and without the heart or the substance that this story would need for it to truly work.

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.

With The Greatest Hits, Benson gives us the film equivalent of an album with a cool cover that masks the inadequate record within.

García’s latest film is a predictable, completely fine, but uneventful dramedy that never quite finds a way to dig itself out of mediocrity.

Beyond these two endearing actors being able to gleefully chew the scenery, The Gray Man is mostly a collection of tired spy tropes, directed in a muddled and baffling way, that seemingly exists to set up what seems like will be a fairly unimaginative franchise.

Bullet Train is knowingly absurd and has plenty of fun with the wild lengths it can go, and for the most part, that keeps Bullet Train on the rails.

Beyond the ‘90s references, Y2K is an underwhelming, but mostly entertaining movie that never quite goes as far as it should with its concept, comedy, or the relationships between its characters.

How to Make a Killing is a fun, albeit flawed thriller drama with a mildly dark sense of humor.

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.

Tron: Ares isn’t likely to turn Tron into the major franchise Disney has clearly wanted it to be for decades, but it is a sign that the company has a smarter understanding of what these movies need to be: exciting to look at, with a great soundtrack, and with a story that’s dumb fun. Tron: Ares not only achieves that, but finds fun ways to fit in the other installments that make you actually want to see more installments in this world, as opposed to having them forced upon us. Tron: Ares isn’t a killer app, but it is a solid upgrade.

Possibly the biggest surprise to Luck is just how generic and uninspired it feels, despite how many ideas are crammed into this story. There’s no wonder, no excitement, no jokes that land.