It’s a matter of pacing and choices, what Penna chooses to focus on and what he ignores. He’s got all the elements of a good movie right in front of him. He just never puts all the pieces together.

A sequence set during Carnival is equally engaging, with giant floats and throngs of people watching the parade. Several scenes are shown from the birds' points of view, which make for a dizzying, dazzling experience.

Ultimately, Revenge of the Electric Car is like meeting with an overeager salesman. In real life, that's not necessarily an unpleasant experience, but it also doesn't last 90 minutes.

It’s a throwback slow-burn thriller and an over-the-top scenery-chewing buffet — sometimes in the same scene. The back-and-forth tone prevents it from being the serious examination of human behavior (and misbehavior) it believes itself to be. It makes the experience of watching more strange than immersive.

Batkid Begins is a good movie about great intentions and a large group of people coming together to make a stranger most of them will never meet happy.

Even as big-budget blockbusters go, this is a hard movie to connect with.

Maria rounds out the trilogy of important women in the 20th century in consummate fashion. Lorraín sticks to his melodic style while highlighting an undeniable actress of our time, this time with Angelina Jolie.

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.

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

When it comes to dumb fun, generally speaking you want a pretty good balance between the two elements. “Normal” ignores this notion, gleefully so.

It delivers plenty of exciting action with some CGI-assisted visual flair, from stampeding bison to a starkly beautiful image of a frozen lake with our hero flailing on the wrong side of the ice. Hughes’ efforts to bring emotional drama to the proceedings fall flat, however, relying on coming-of-age clichés that strip the story of any real surprise.

It's fun to watch the actors work. But you wish they had material a little stronger to work with. Laggies doesn't give it to them.

It's all too much on the surface, not enough underneath. In other words, fans of the first film will love it.

This cartoonishly violent exercise in cinematic hero worship comes at the audience with chambers loaded and fires off rounds too rapidly to worry about how vapid it all is.

If Keanu sometimes comes off as another sketch stretched a little thin, that doesn’t put it in too shabby of company. It may not be as great as “The Blues Brothers,” but it’s up there with “Wayne’s World” — and light-years ahead of “Coneheads.”

Aster, who also directed the excellent “Hereditary” and the somewhat less excellent “Midsommar,” has the audience where he wants it — off-kilter, uncomfortable, bewildered. It’s his comfort zone, but not ours. Whether you enjoy this kind of manipulation will go a long way toward deciding how much you like the film.

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

This is Ferrell's movie, meaning some inspired laughs sandwiched between annoying bits that stretch on well past their usefulness.

It will quench the thirst of die-hard fans who always want more. But does that thirst justify “The Matrix Resurrections?” Maybe. But it can’t make it a great movie. And despite Reeves’ willingness to jump back in, neither can anything else.

It's not a great movie so much as it is great moviemaking. It's basically a potboiler genre film, a B-movie with big talent attached.

Fantastic acting by the likes of Garret Dillahunt, Chris Cooper and Joel Torre lift characters above the cliched, offering a one-sided history lesson that is still well worth learning.

It does give Cera a chance to play at being a bad boy. But it's just that - playing at it.

Movie-release schedules are set by studios months in advance, and many are the movie that had the misfortune to open at an inopportune time. But Hotel Mumbai is responsible for myriad other poor creative decisions that make a spectacle of misery.

Certainly Anything’s Possible is a welcome unique entry into the high-school romance genre, with representation playing an important part. It’s not as deep or as deeply felt as it might have been, but at least it’s a start.

Rarely do you find a Gen Z movie that doesn’t make the group seem so insufferable. This film shows the struggle of modern dating during this time, at this age.

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

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.

Helgeland has given us an impressive introduction to one of the most important men in U.S. history. But you can’t help wanting more.

Shipka is both funny and gritty as the wry observer unwillingly drawn into the action, the kind of role at which she excels.

How many times have we complained that summer blockbusters are all about the action, at the expense of niceties like character development? Well, Edwards has gone in another direction, one that's more intriguing in theory than on the screen.

This is a movie that's just out there, beyond our normal experience in a theater. You may walk away impressed or offended by Killer Joe, but Friedkin and McConaughey make sure you won't walk away indifferent.

The ideas are there. Or at least mostly there. The performances are first-rate, particularly those of Vikander and Olsen, waging a war of wills — the tension is palpable. Maybe the payoff just can’t match the build-up.

The movie is a pretty humdrum affair when it focuses on humans, even when actors are playing characters based on real people.

Visually you can certainly call the film a breakthrough.

Maybe the Manson murders are not meant for easy explanation, which in part seems to be what Morris is getting at. Maybe we’ll never really know the answers. But we don’t seem to be able to stop looking for them.

It’s a weird film all the way around.

The Angry Black Girl and Her Monster is a horror movie, no doubt. It’s also an intelligent one, with the courage to challenge its audience, to make it see the horrors not just in the monster, but in the societal inequities that ultimately created him. Thankfully, Story isn’t afraid to rework a classic.

It's easy to get sucked into Begin Again, to enjoy the friendly performances and the goes-down-easy songs, and to not even notice until it's over that the film is more a feel-good fairy tale than anything else. We might not have seen much that was truly meaningful in the end, but it was warm and fuzzy while it lasted.

As tiresome as those live-action sequences are, they are more than outweighed by laughs — some riotous, some groaning and some very, very befuddled, but none predictable.

While the acting draws us into the story; it plays like a daytime soap opera with really good actors and Australian accents.

Director Felix Van Groeningen unflinchingly depicts the struggles and hopes of a family affected by drug addiction in a powerfully honest movie with gut-wrenching acting.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice relies on your familiarity with and memory of those performances. It’s a fun journey down memory lane. It won’t take you anywhere new, particularly, but let’s face it, that’s not why most people will take the trip.

The story is just so downright weird that the film can't help but be compelling. Just not as compelling as it could have been.

Director Kevin Macdonald offers a suffocating visual feast. Some of the particulars don't add up, so much so that you do notice them even as the action plows forward. But it's still a thrilling ride.

Marvel at the audacity of Nørgaard and his cast, of how far they are willing to go for a laugh. It's a bumpy ride, but for those with the stomach for it, it's an entertaining one.

McEwan, as is his wont, aims for something bigger here, the bigger questions — the biggest, even, of life and death. Thanks to Thompson’s outstanding performance, he mostly achieves what he sets out for.

Kong: Skull Island is one of those movies best described as big, dumb fun.

The mystery isn't the reason to watch the film. Bell is. She's the perfect vehicle for Thomas' sharp, sassy writing, able to deliver a pop-culture-infused put-down with ease. And yet she is also vulnerable, something her relationship with her father drives home.

Yes, it’s a boxing comeback story. But the car accident makes it different, and Teller and Eckhart make it better than it ought to be.

Although Pasikowski is heavy-handed in his filmmaking, sometimes in the extreme, Aftermath does show the danger inherent in this kind of groupthink.

Every now and then you run across a film in which a really talented cast takes a crack at a well-worn genre entry. For the most part, that’s what Permission is, though writer and director Brian Crano tosses in a couple of wrinkles.

The twists are somewhat predictable; a twist within a twist is reasonably satisfying. But this is the kind of movie that relies less on surprises than chemistry. And Pine and Newton’s is fine, nothing more. In fact their conversation is far more magnetic than their romantic scenes.

The Lesson is a quiet little film with surprisingly sharp teeth.

The film has so much potential, but it's a shame that it all falls flat.

The Void is a horror film that goes off the rails — not by accident, but on purpose. And not just a little. It’s gloriously off the rails, unhinged, absolutely bonkers.

A too-good Gru is a boring Gru. No matter how much you crank up the adorability factor or offer up the occasional laugh, there is no getting around that.

The one-note joke plays out longer and better than you might expect, at least for a while. But not forever.

It's more thought experiment than film, and although it's laudable for its daring to be unlike any film you’re likely to have ever seen, it ultimately doesn't have more meaning to import than a well-photographed daily affirmations calendar.

It’s refreshing to see a satire, rather than an hours-long documentary, about a grifter. But, unlike Anna Sorokin and Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes (her adaptation: “The Dropout,” also on Hulu), who’s been convicted of fraud, the resolution to “Not Okay” is not as absolute.

What Sheen and Bello provide, however, is searing acting. Their performances - genuine, awkward, difficult - are not always easy to watch but never are less than tremendous.

Subtlety may not be Watkins' strong suit, but he knows how to frame a scene for maximum tension and dread.

In Wakefield’s mind, naturally, there is no life without him. It’s to Cranston’s credit that, at least for a couple of hours, we’re willing to play along.

Unfortunately, stretching things out dilutes the charms of Segel and Blunt, which are considerable.

If Free Guy really was a video game, it’s not one you’d play over and over. But as a one-time lark, it’s entertaining enough to invest in.

Attractively staged and spiced through with raunch, About Last Night is still a pleasant enough romp, even if you have no intention of returning its phone calls.

I Want You Back accomplishes what it sets out to do, and you almost can’t go wrong with this cast of hilarious people. Will it be the best romcom of 2022? Maybe. Will it be considered a classic in 20 years? Maybe not. But it is the exact film our current dating culture needs.

Jeunet's new film, Micmacs, mixes the dark, claustrophobic world of "Delicatessen" and "City of Lost Children," with the happy-ending optimism of "Amélie" and "A Very Long Engagement." It isn't a convincing graft of moods.

These are fantastic performances, even if they’re painful to watch. Una isn’t pretty, but it is powerful.

Match is no masterpiece, but it is an intriguing and entertaining example of actors lifting the material they're given to greater heights, with Stewart leading the way.

There's nothing particularly earth-shattering here, but maybe that's appropriate for a film honoring food that aims to be mouthwatering but unpretentious.

The acting is uniformly excellent, and the cause - dragging the beginnings of civil rights into Jackson, Miss., at great risk - couldn't be nobler. What the film lacks is a strong point of view.

A surprisingly effective horror film, which is to say it’s scary in all the smart ways.

It's always entertaining, and it boasts a terrific performance from Sara Forestier.

If Sick isn’t a great COVID-inspired horror film, at least it’s a start.

Destroyer frequently zombie-shuffles into unintentional hilarity, confusing darkness for depth, ugliness for complexity, convolution for smarts. It is just too self-serious to take seriously.

On Chesil Beach, Dominic Cooke’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s bestseller, features a couple of outstanding performances, but you have to suffer through some serious heartbreak to enjoy them. If “enjoy” is even the word. This is seriously depressing stuff. But good! Really. Don’t let the downbeat vibe scare you off.

It’s a scarily efficient little horror movie, directed by Dave Franco in his feature debut, who proves knowledgeable about his subject. Really knowledgeable, evidently, because he and co-writer Joe Swanberg dip into just about every trope of the genre by the end of the 88-minute running time.

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.

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

While it’s visually arresting, it’s a disappointment. It’s too on the nose as a political allegory, and too lacking in coherent narrative to satisfy as a hipster comedy-drama.

Props to Bad Milo for its fearlessly pulp approach in exploring well-worn characters and their ho-hum dilemmas, but you know you’ve got a dull story on your hands when not even a butt monster can jazz it up enough.

On the Map is more like a sleepy lecture during the last week of high school: You may hear some worthwhile information, but it's not going to stick.

Lucy is insane, makes very little sense, doesn't stand up to scrutiny and is an absolute blast.

Where does creativity come from? And how do the lucky few who are touched by it make it last? Can they? Touched with Fire isn't a perfect study of the question, and it can't really provide a complete answer, probably because there isn't one. But thanks to Holmes and Kirby, it at least asks in a compelling way.

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.

As an exegesis on tortured creative genius, Harmontown proves wanting. It's in the exploration of how "Community" fandom formed its own distinctive community of outcasts that the film excels.

Plummer’s genuine, heartfelt performance will likely go a long way in humanizing a diagnosis that is often unfairly stigmatized.

Kahlil Gibran’s The Prophet is a hit-and-miss affair, easy on the eyes but nothing to write home — or a term paper — about.

What an interesting failure Margaret is.

Enchantment is an essential ingredient of an animated film, particularly one that skirts dark edges. The Boxtrolls doesn't have nearly enough of it.

Though polished and image-conscious, offering too little insight into the physical and psychological trauma suffered in the bullet’s wake, the film is nevertheless moving without resorting to saccharine overtures.

A documentary so enthusiastic, good-natured and sweet about such an abject disaster that it almost makes "Troll 2" worthwhile. Almost.

It’s a compelling portrait both of Bauer and of a fraught moment in German history. But from the vantage of the present, the issues — and the characters — seem pretty black and white.

Not just dark but dank, Denis Villeneuve's Enemy is a surpassingly creepy film about identity.

What the filmmakers are interested in is Elliott, and it’s easy to see why. He’s outstanding playing with the various aspects of his life and career, and he brings some at-times unexpected emotion to scenes that he elevates.

Swank and Rockwell, both typically great in almost everything they do, act as if their lives depended on it - their lives, not their characters'.

Deserves commendation for its fearless bravado, if for little else. [25 Oct 2012]

A surprisingly enjoyable movie.