If you're looking for a fun movie to start the spooky season, this is the perfect film for you.

Pfeiffer may be stripped of her luminosity, but she is vivid onscreen.

The whole range of human emotion — love, lust, anger, jealousy, despair, grief — is felt through Plympton's animation. It's just a shame that his boundless creativity doesn't extend to the narrative.

It’s when Soderbergh tries to say too much that he loses the thread a bit. That’s a shame, because he and the cast are so good at saying a lot with a little.

The story is gripping, compelling. One wonders what De Niro might have done with such a role 30, 35 years ago. De Niro -- whatever happened to him?

The film is not a classic of the genre, but it definitely falls into the upper echelon of the “worthy entry” category, and Steinfeld and Harrelson worthier still.

It’s ridiculous, far-fetched — absurdist, even. Some, or even a lot, of the jokes are stupid. But thanks in part to a terrific cast, expert timing and an all-in aesthetic, it's really funny.

It's adorable. It's also very thin. There's a disconcerting literalism to the songs' dramatic representation that chokes the drama.

The “Toy Story” saga felt fully complete without it, which makes this a movie that doesn’t really need to exist, but whose existence doesn’t diminish the whole, either.

The film gets gory toward the end, and as with most horror films, the climax isn’t as satisfying as the build-up. But Perkins builds layer after layer of dread, so that when an explosion finally occurs, it’s almost a twisted relief.

The film whirs along with such entertaining efficiency that you may not realize that, by the end, it has shifted its blame in a manner that does not exactly betray a lack of courage in its convictions, but a willingness to let some of the bad guys off the hook.

The destination is a letdown, but the journey there is harrowing and rewarding. Hall’s powerful and affecting performance is the biggest reason why.

The Last Stop in Yuma County is a promising debut, and a welcome chance to watch some actors you’ve seen in other things get a chance to branch out a little. It’s dark fun, assuming you find watching escalating tension a good time. And why wouldn’t you?

If you dig Hart’s stuff, you’ll probably love the movie. So go.

Border brings to horror-fantasy the same Swedish sensibility that “The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo” brought to crime thrillers. Welcome to the land of eternal night.

Spectre is still fun, the cast is top-flight. And had it been the first Bond film with Craig in the title role, the reaction likely would be "wow!" This is some good stuff, way deeper than the silly Bonds. But with history behind us, it feels a little slight.

This is not a flat and lifeless biopic in which a creation loses a bit of its wonder in the dissection of its inspiration. “Becoming Astrid” sidesteps that pitfall by focusing on the writer’s painful passage into womanhood, telling an intimate and unhurried story of quiet triumph over pain.

In creating the ultimate movie for sword-and-sandal blood-spatter fetishists, director Zack Snyder scores on the spectacle side—300 looks amazing—but his mechanical story line and over-the-top melodramatics don't support the action. [9 March 2007, p.1]

Percy Jackson isn't a great movie, but it's a good one, trotting out kernels of Greek mythology like so many Disney Channel references. For the most part, it works.

Surprisingly, the movie doesn’t bear much of the stylistic stamp we’ve come to expect of Lee, who’s in his generic journeyman mode here. But aside from a satisfyingly clever new direction in the denouement, what distinguishes the remake from the original is its cartoonishness.

Lavie, who directs and wrote the film, actually has more in mind than a comedy of errors. But the dramatic bits don't quite gel, and the film never quite takes off the way she apparently would like it to. Yet it's the kind of movie that offers small rewards along the way.

The Sense of an Ending is a twisty tale of time and memory that owes most of its compelling nature to Jim Broadbent.

Maybe Rubber is an homage, maybe it's a statement on horror films and their audiences, maybe it's a total goof.

Robinson tells the story in a straightforward way, not quite breezy but definitely in mainstream fashion. You long for a little more grit; even the rough edges seem a little smooth.

Potter’s sense of timing is terrific. She never lingers on one character too long. It’s the same with the movie — you’re in and out before you realize what hit you.

Under the perfectly paced direction of Ry Russo-Young (“Before I Fall”), Shahidi and Melton develop an easy chemistry on the way toward a satisfying denouement that’s neither tear-jerking tragedy nor fairy-tale wish fulfillment.

On the Rocks is a funny film, warm for the most part except when it’s not — and needs not to be. Minor Murray, you might call it? And yes, you could say that he’s in effect just doing the kind of thing he always does, only more so. We wouldn’t have it any other way.

Hitchcock is, well, fun. More fun than good, really. It feels weird to call it a disappointment, because it is entertaining. But you can't help feeling a little shortchanged on the deep-thinking front.

For fantasy fans who have dreamed all their lives of spending time inside Tolkien’s dazzling alternative reality, it’s a ride well worth taking.

Love & Taxes is an odd little title for an odd little movie, and yet it delivers exactly what it promises. And in an entertaining way.

“Nope” is good — quite good in places. But it’s not great. In fact it’s not clear that Peele means for it to be, odd as that sounds.

Its over-the-top violence is cartoonish at times, menacing at others - which is a good thing. And truly, if one must wander a barren, post-apocalyptic landscape with somebody, who better to wander with than Denzel Washington?

It makes for a unique sort of concert film, but also a weaker one. It would have been better if it had dispensed with the frail narrative or else committed to being completely bananas. But as die-hard Metallica fans well know, a little buffoonery is worth weathering for the main attraction.

Early Man is smart, funny, clever — and a bit of a disappointment.

Some may dismiss Heart of Stone as another rote action film. But to really look at it, appreciate the character of Rachel Stone and truly compare her with action men, she holds her own.

In the Fade is a tragedy in three acts, their varying tone and effectiveness held together, however tenuously, by a powerhouse performance.

So no points for originality. Madden tries to make up for this with sheer British acting personality and nearly succeeds.

Other People has its flaws, certainly, but when Kelly focuses more on the characters than their quirks, it’s an effective look at life and death.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is an emotionally layered story about failures in parenting that gave rise to one of our most enduring joys.

Monster Party is a twisted, grisly little shocker that isn’t afraid to grab you by the guts — or to show you a man’s guts cascading to the floor. It’s that kind of movie. It’s also pretty effective and rather fun, if you have the stomach for this sort of thing.

While Star Wars: The Last Jedi is a good movie and a worthy entry, it would have been stronger if Johnson didn’t telegraph those new directions before leading us to them.

The American is a very . . . patient movie, the inverse of an action thriller to an almost comic degree. With Clooney it's an interesting project. Without him, it would simply be boring.

Writer-director Noah Buschel (he was behind the Corey Stoll boxing drama “Glass Chin”) has crafted an odd little film that is sometimes compelling, sometimes maddening.

Certainly the film, which Cronenberg also wrote, is a comment on celebrity culture, on environmental disaster, on relationships, all filtered through a Cronenberg lens. If you’re seen “The Brood” or “Videodrome” or “The Fly,” you know how bizarre and horrifying that lens can be.

Downey is as funny as ever, if not more so. He ensures that Iron Man 3 is a solid installment in the franchise, and helps to make it seem, at least for a time, that it might be something more.

The Super Mario Bros. is family-friendly movie theater catnip over the Easter weekend, and it’s sure to be an enjoyable watch for the average viewer. I’ll leave the “Mario” superfans to determine if every frame, line of dialogue and reference to the video games lives up to the hype around the film.

Stewart proves to be an able filmmaker in Rosewater. But he also shows hints of being something more.

It's not that the artificiality doesn't work sometimes. It does, as some of the scenes are gorgeous to look at. But too often it serves as more of a distraction than an effective tool for telling the story.

Jones is patient — the film could have ended in two or three places before it does with no great loss — but the effort required by the audience pays off. We see the familiar in a new, if harsh light. We can hardly ask for more.

Kristian Levring offers a brutally beautiful take on the Western in The Salvation, a film reminiscent of a song that sounds familiar but offers its own pleasures.

Director Enrique Begné, who helmed this year's winsome "Busco Novio Para mi Mujer," directs with an emphasis on action over comedy. Sometimes that feels misplaced; the stretches without laughs grow increasingly longer as the plot moves forward. But he keeps things enjoyably fast-paced, so it's hard to complain too much.

Cuckoo is one of the best-looking horror films I’ve seen this year...But even with the highly stylized atmosphere, “Cuckoo” doesn’t quite land the plane. It’s not really clear what the villainous plan is or how the villains are executing it.

Point and Shoot is a fascinating, frequently frustrating documentary.

Above and Beyond is a straightforward, rah-rah documentary.

It’s safe to say that Tickled is nothing like what its filmmakers set out to make. That's an artistic blessing.

There are plenty of reasons not to like The Intouchables, but Omar Sy's terrific performance blows right past them.

What Finn’s film lacks in originality it makes up for in technical prowess, and he has the courage of his convictions. The colors, even the ones that should be bright, are muted. Everything is just a touch off, until it’s a lot off. Smile isn’t a great horror film, but there’s plenty here to make you … well, you know.

It's a weird movie. In a good way.

Unfortunately, the plot as a whole is rushed, with character-development shortcuts and one whopping out-of-the-blue development that seems to exist not as a surprise but because the filmmakers had painted themselves into a narrative corner and needed a way out. But there are some scares, and Cooper and especially Guido give authentic-feeling performances — again, with a few shortcuts along the way.

A perfectly capable movie that has chases and romance and double-crosses and double-double-crosses and action and is, ultimately, absolutely inessential.

Moore captivates as a woman who is either emotionally stunted and unaware or viciously in control of the whole chess board. Director Todd Haynes never cracks to let you know just which one she is. It’s possibly purposeful, but a lack of conclusion left me unsatisfied at the end of an otherwise deliciously disquieting movie.

Visually you can certainly call the film a breakthrough.

Yes, if you have watched more than four or five movies, you probably recognize the setup. It’s the execution that makes Hustle more than just a run-of-the-mill sports film. Not always a lot more, but more.

When she’s playing Cruella, Stone is definitely in charge. It’s a bravura performance, filled with a crackling energy that never spills over into parody. That’s what saves it. Stone makes Cruella a believable character — if not relatable, then at least recognizable.

Hello, My Name Is Doris is at times self-consciously quirky and precious and implausible — and Sally Field is so good in it that those complaints seem pointless.

Once you get past the premise — and granted, that takes some doing — Happy Death Day turns out to be goofy good fun.

Queen & Slim is strongest when it lets the images and the acting do the lion’s share of the talking.

When it reaches its boiling point, Les Misérables absolutely roils.

Beyond the shooting and running around, the film works because Beattie never loses the perspective of Ellie Linton (Caitlin Stasey), through whose eyes the story is told.

Sicario: Day of the Soldado is exciting, and still delivers nihilistic thrills. But this time around, the filmmakers are satisfied with that and not much more.

After that streak of deadly misfires it’s nice to see Shyamalan enjoying himself again.

The Boy and the Beast might not quite have the storytelling sophistication to win over every adult, but for teens and tweens in the midst of their own coming-of-age stories, it has the potential to be a wondrous eye-opener.

Berg keeps the story personal, which is certainly one way to tell it, though it would have been nice to see a little more about the devastating effects of the massive oil spill triggered by the rig's destruction.

Erivo captures both Tubman’s defiance and her headstrong courage. But the film overall feels too conventional. It simply cannot fully capture the inspiring story of Tubman’s incredible life. Then again, what could?

The Wonders is one of those films that's easier to experience than explain, which is almost always a good thing.

It’s a promising debut for Böhm, with a lot of promise. But it’s a home run for Powley, who makes Wildling worth watching even when it shouldn’t be.

Somewhat courageously, the film’s real focus is not on the obvious villains in this tale of two Americas, but on the absurd contradiction of its liberal hero watching a political apocalypse unfold on his iPhone.

Though there are no blazing historical insights here, the film is filled with moments of ribald humor and tender poignancy that offer glimpses into a society divided by class but united, mostly, in an outpouring of sheer, overwhelming relief.

Inevitably, embroidering upon a fairly simple idea saps some of its impact, and Glass ends up tipping more toward the self-conscious genre-riffing that “Unbreakable” offers an antidote for.

More of the same, using the found-footage tricks the first two films employed to try to shock the audience. But man, are those some good tricks.

It is intense and uneven, moving and maddening, all in just about equal measure. But an angry Lee is an interesting Lee, and he’s really angry here.

The Creator isn’t a masterpiece of the AI genre, if there's such a thing yet, but it's a good start.

Bigger, louder and dumber than its predecessor, Iron Man 2 is still a lot of fun.

Brittany is funny and authentic, but she can also be prickly and stubborn, even hard to like. You know, the way real people are.

Maybe Pavarotti would be even more compelling if Howard had delved deeper into the contradictions and controversies. But the director does achieve the first goal on entertainment: Always leave them wanting more.

“Last Black Man” pulses with undeniable energy and the promise of other, even better films to come. As director Joe Talbot’s first movie, it’s impossible to imagine it will be his last.

Watching Garfield swinging through New York or toying with criminals after he captures them is reason enough to welcome another telling of the tale.

Even if the big thematic statements are less than subtle, the story is solid and thought-provoking, and the performances are just stylized enough to match the intensity of Norton’s deep-dive performance.

Derrickson’s use of computer-generated action is a strength instead of a strain, and it’s not just showing off; in the context of the film, the bizarre images make sense.

[Gibson's] talent as a filmmaker, Desmond’s story and Garfield’s understated performance make Hacksaw Ridge a good movie, a straightforward story of faith and courage whose complications arise not in the story, but in the telling of it.

Davis is not above manipulating the audience at the end of the film, but so what? It works. And that closing credit, man. Some things are worth waiting for.

To call the film slight is an understatement, and its budget, particularly for a movie with genuine sci-fi elements, is miniscule. But it is so charming and sweet...and the songs are so winning that it is impossible not to fall for it.

Matthias Hoene’s delightfully chipper film delivers, even on the “not-a-lot-more” front. He set out to make a funny, fast-moving gross-out zombie flick, nothing beyond that, and he has succeeded with style. And humor. And guts. Lots of spilling, dangling guts (and other body parts).

If you enjoyed the first two “Bad Boys” movies, you’ll want to see how the characters have developed. If you aren’t a fan of the series, there is a strong enough story to make the film worthwhile.

Subtle it's not, but the film is effective both as a thriller and as a war film with something to say.

It’s the kind of movie that takes you by surprise. By the time it’s done, the honesty of the performances and the depth of character that’s revealed is exhilarating.

Perhaps the movie's most surprising feat? Somehow, the darned thing mostly works, probably because its heart is in the right place.

Burton reins in his worst impulses, bad habits that he’s been cultivating for over a decade, to make a wickedly dark children’s movie that is, finally, blessedly, fun to look at.