Shawn Van Horn

Wardriver feels familiar. It's Dane DeHaan that makes it worth investing in. If only they had gone deeper, Wardriver could have lifted itself past expectations into something more compelling.

The Pout-Pout Fish is not bad by any means, but don't go in expecting a new animated classic. Little kids will probably enjoy it for the innocent, lesson-filled, mild fun it is, especially if they've been introduced to what inspired it first. There's nothing wrong with that. It's what The Pout-Pout Fish aims for, and it achieves the goal.

The best thing Whistle has going for it is that the "monster" is actually pretty creepy, and the rules created behind what it does are intriguing enough. The gore and death scenes are effective, pulling in the viewer, as the character building pushes them away.

The performances of Holland and Mara mask the weaknesses of a slightly unfulfilled adaptation, which has charm in its flaws. The ending attempts to set the themes right, but needing to think about it afterward means it's not a film you'll forget about so soon. Seek out The Dutchman. It's well worth the challenge.

It's well-acted and not schlocky, but it's one of those presents you open on Christmas, excited to receive it, only to forget about it the next day.

You won't forget Alan Ritchson. If he can make crap entertaining, imagine him in a comedic role with a much better script

Trap House is a fun enough time worth watching, but it traps its star and doesn't let him out.

It's flat characters on an unfinished stage, rehearsing a bad script, with no weight behind any of the odd choices and filming techniques. It wants to be a movie, but it doesn't know how. Just stay on your horse and ride past this one.

In Your Dreams deserves to be held up with the best of what other animation studios have done, and as one of the most visually stunning, funniest, and beautifully touching films of the year

There is fun to be had here, but it's spread too thin in a movie where even 90 minutes is too long.

There are more misses than connections in the third act, and for its title, it's never really vicious enough despite the blood and gore to come. Still, it'll keep you on your toes as it's cutting off someone else's.

V/H/S/Halloween is dark and demented, and is the funniest movie of this franchise. But if the V/H/S series just turned it down a notch and tried some different storytelling formats, the next one could be even better.

Killer coyotes aren't all that scary, and the comedy of the supporting characters feels forced and overly written. Kudos to the crew for coming up with a premise and refusing to send it off the rails into fantastical absurdism. Still, just because you keep the plot grounded doesn't mean that there is enough to keep up the tension.

Adulthood is a film with three-dimensional people who are good for some laughs due to their reactions, but the surrounding plot is high-stakes and filled with suspense. Every single time you think you know where it's going, a new twisting avenue carries us somewhere else.

It's content with being simply silly when it could have been so much more. Still, Doin' It will make you laugh out loud throughout its runtime, and Lilly Singh shows that she has what it takes to succeed on the big screen.

A short runtime kills any character development and tension.

Rainn Wilson gives one of his best performances in this compelling action comedy.

Trust does a great job of showing what Turner is capable of. The problem is everything around her. Pardon the pun, but it takes an interesting premise and doesn't trust itself to craft a compelling story with interesting characters around it.

If you're a moviegoer who desires smart, original horror, skip Witchboard. You're better off just watching Sinners or Weapons again.

It is just as chaotic, caught between peril and hope, as our reality. The ugliness and the potential of humanity are rarely this captivating.

Empathetic human performances turn Sovereign into more than a typical crime thriller.

The Old Guard 2 feels like nothing more than setup, with scene after scene of dialogue and exposition and little actual fighting.

Quirky characters and an unpredictable story combine for a film that will break your heart while making you laugh.

Outside of a few creepy images, The Ritual is not even remotely scary.

Lilly becomes a chiseled-down Wikipedia summary version of a life, dipping in here and there to show you the big moments, but in the process, characterization and emotion are stripped away.

If you haven't seen many demon possession movies, or on the opposite spectrum, if you can't get enough of them, Rosario is a decent 90-minute watch. It's not awful, it's not going to insult you, but it's a retread of better movies with every predictable plot point you can imagine.

Jack Quaid and Jeffrey Dean Morgan give heartbreaking and sometimes hilarious performances as two men who need to prove to themselves and everyone around them that they can save the day.

In the Lost Lands could have been an exciting story about witches and werewolves in the post-apocalyptic world, but instead, it's more lifeless than the green-screen backgrounds that consume its runtime.