It's the Walmart of feel-good family films: accessible, cheaply made, useful in a pinch and full of American flags.

The film, like most of MacFarlane's work, is a mix of occasional laugh-out-loud moments — there are some here — and cringe-worthy misfires that play a lot more tone-deaf than he seems to intend.

There aren't any scares to speak of, though there is some gore. The cast is game to try anything, but there's just not much here for them to work with. Like most zombies, Burying the Ex is an idea that should have stayed dead.

It's a fine line between being gratingly self-conscious and really smart; more times than not, Me and Earl and the Dying Girl comes out on the winning side of that equation.

Throughout the film Famuyiwa, who also wrote the script, uses split screens and backs up the film and jumps around and freezes the action, but he's not showing off. He uses these techniques to tell his story, and doesn't overuse them to the point of annoyance.

Inside Out is terrific, a mind-bending concept turned into a brilliant film, a return to form for Pixar not just in terms of quality but in taking risks — risks that pay off.

It actually is quite funny. It is also warm and empathetic, though a viewer's reaction to the film might vary depending how they view the subject of assisted suicide.

The Nightmare is a different kind of documentary, shelving the usual experts and talking heads for a more personal experience of the title subject. That's good and bad.

The film spends more time lingering on Emma's love affairs than it does in making sense of them; her declarations of passion and despair lack both.

This is World War I from a woman's point of view, a different perspective than we usually see. It's the story of someone who doesn't fight — who would be so shaped by tragedy that she would vow never to — but for whom the horrors of war are just as vivid and devastating.

Every third person on the planet will go to see this movie, and they will find exactly what they seek, nothing more but certainly nothing less. It's that nothing more part that ultimately disappoints.

The Connection is long and occasionally long-winded and determinedly old-fashioned in its approach. That's why I liked it.

Insidious: Chapter 3 is almost more a spoof of a classic like "The Exorcist" than it is an homage. It's not scary horror, it's silly horror, and the audience is in on the joke.

There are no princesses, monsters or castles in the sky, but that doesn't mean there is no magic.

Everything feels pat and oversimplified, with no gray areas. That's not uncommon in films of this nature, but Christensen is unable to make the movie feel like anything more than propaganda.

Spy is hilarious and heartfelt, a terrific movie.

A great movie exists in Love & Mercy, side by side with a pretty good one.

The big-screen version of Entourage is constructed like the series, another chapter in a sequel-ready story. If you wanted something more, you won't get it. But you will get this, and if it does well, likely more of it.

That it chooses to waste a capable cast of mature actors by trotting out tired sex jokes as the enfeebled old men plot the world's most needlessly convoluted bank heist solves the mystery of why it took the film two years to limp its way to American cinemas.

Barely Lethal has some laughs, and will probably serve nicely as a movie you can land on for a few minutes when it shows up on cable. But it slides into the rote generic-teen-comedy mode too soon to be anything more.

The purpose of San Andreas is not to make us think, but to make us gape, to pummel us with effect and effect until we finally give in. Fair enough. Uncle. I need a Tylenol anyway.

Crowe can be a great storyteller, a terrific director whose characters make us believe in them and in what they're doing. That doesn't happen in Aloha, which famously means hello and goodbye. Stick with the latter definition here.

Ultimately, the whole affair is forgettable. The original film was promoted with the tagline "It knows what scares you." If there was a truth-in-advertising law regarding films, this movie's ad copy would read: "Poltergeist: Meh."

Téchiné's fidelity to the facts delivers a disappointing denouement to an intriguing character study.

Niccol looks at the pilot's struggles and the toll this remote form of warfare takes on his life. It's certainly intriguing, but he tells his story in such broad, obvious strokes that the movie isn't as powerful as it could be.

It's always entertaining to see a genre tweaked, at least when it's done so with the proper mix of respect and madness at work in Slow West.

A well-acted, nicely directed, quiet little movie.

Tomorrowland may not fully reach the heights for which it strives, but it has a good time trying.

Arlo & Julie is a comedy, a mystery and a romance rolled together, yet it barely adds up to one movie.

The movie is fascinating when it looks at the mechanics of Big Bird, which are physically challenging.

Animals may be the kind of story we've seen, but it's told in a way that makes it worth seeing again.

Maysles gets to the heart of what is important to Apfel: truth, in a world in which it's in increasingly short supply.

We've been down this road before. But Pitch Perfect 2, goofier than the original, makes it an enjoyable trip.

It is insane. In a good way. Whoever said "Too much is never enough" made an impression on Miller, who uses the phrase as a starting point and blasts off from there.

Like a greatest-hits album, it's not as deeply satisfying as an artist's best work (try Yen's "Ip Man"). But it will keep you entertained.

The movie, like Jackie, loosens up a bit, and her relationship with Ian adds a nice bit of warmth. Hunt directs the film, and at times its tonal shifts are a bit jarring.

Despite the heavy themes, "100-Year-Old Man" keeps the tone light. It is a comedy, after all. The laugh-o-meter needle hovers fairly consistently on "amused grin."

You hate to see a good cast wasted, but when it comes to 5 Flights Up, the verdict is: no sale.

There is nothing brave about Bravetown, a film so paint-by-the-numbers bland that its efforts to piggyback the sacrifice of American servicemen and women for emotional depth is downright craven.

Yes, it has a bit of the watching-races-for-the-wrecks feel to it, and by the end of the film, it's not clear Piven has a destination in mind, or whether it's important to arrive at one. But this is a performance that demands your attention. It also deserves it.

Director Thomas Vinterberg and Carey Mulligan, who plays Bathsheba Everdene, bring exciting life to the story.

Maggie has some rough edges — what caused the epidemic, for instance? — but it's still a worthwhile effort, especially for a first-time director. And for an old pro like Schwarzenegger, trying something different and succeeding.

Despite the bumpy ride, the final destination reveals a weirdly daring comedy with the familiar, but still necessary, lesson that being popular isn't all it's made out to be in the movies.

A relentlessly unfunny comedy, it wastes the talents of Reese Witherspoon and Sofia Vergara as egregiously as one could possibly imagine, resorting to lame jokes, cliches and incompetent storytelling to pass the time.

Giroux's refusal to pass judgment on his characters prevents us from doing so, and the film is much more powerful for it.

Adult Beginners is funny and warm and sweet enough without overdoing it. Again, it's not groundbreaking, but it shakes things up a little.

There is much to like about Avengers: Age of Ultron. There was much to love about "The Avengers," and therein lies the difference.

The film is fascinating in its exploration of the give-and-take between art and commerce.

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 is clean, crisp and passionless. You almost wish for some Bravo sleaze to add a little edge to the proceedings.

Checking subtlety at the door, Monteverde goes for broke on the emotional-manipulation front. Perhaps that's OK as a device for illustrating a parable, but it doesn't make for much of a movie.

Lee Toland Krieger's film masquerades for a while as a romantic drama brainier than most, getting good mileage out of an intriguingly odd performance from Blake Lively. But ultimately, the movie relies far too much on contrivance and coincidence.

The story takes some unexpected turns, which Crowe handles well, without overplaying them. Overall, The Water Diviner is a solid effort, a good, old-fashioned movie when it's not delving into soap opera.

It's great when a movie messes with your head. And Ex Machina, screenwriter Alex Garland's directorial debut, does just that, pretty much from start to finish. The writer of "28 Days Later" and "Sunshine" purports to examine A.I., or artificial intelligence. What he's really after is something at once more exotic and more relatable — and infinitely less predictable: human nature.

Although it's enjoyable, actor Chris Messina's directorial debut is somehow less than the sum of its parts, wading only through the shallow end of familiar human conflicts resolved too conveniently to satisfy.

Monkey Kingdom is a delightful gambol, visually stunning and educational without feeling like it, with a propulsive drama about escaping one's lowly social class at its core that inspires reflection on some uncomfortable truths about ourselves.

It's interesting to wonder how the film will age, given the short shelf life of technology. In two years all this might seem as dated as a dial-up modem, technology not nearly advanced enough to support the action here. But for now Unfriended lives in the moment, as do its characters.

Beyond the Reach is a misfire, one of those movies that never quite rises to the level of guilty pleasure.

So much of "The Hunting Ground" describes the behavior of college students at their worst. Watching Pino and Clark find some measure of peace and healing while offering the same to others shows it at its best.

True Story never really soars in the way it might, but the performances more than keep it aloft.

For an R-rated romance about a young writer's affair with a sultry French siren, 5 to 7 generates all the heat of an Easy-Bake Oven. It aims to sizzle but quickly fizzles.

One of those message movies that never uses subtlety when a sledgehammer is handy.

It is a fascinating film, and if it skimps somewhat on the moral complications of this kind of art, it holds nothing back in terms of volume: Image after image grabs our eye and often grips our throat.

An Honest Liar is a fascinating look at what the truth means, and how it means different things to different people. It's also a reminder that no one has a monopoly on it. Not even the Amazing Randi.

"I didn't hate it" isn't a high watermark for praise, but when it comes to most Sparks adaptations, it's practically as good as winning an Oscar.

It's Kikuchi who carries the film. She gives Kumko a sense of dignity and strength in the face of absurdity, and does so with few words.

We get a sharp look at getting older, growing up and assuming responsibility. The fedora is optional (and not recommended).

What's interesting is how Jacquot treats the material. It is, by any measure, a romantic drama. But he uses the score, by Bruno Coulais, as if the film were something else altogether.

The film itself begins to feel like Gray, a pretty bird in a gilded cage with nowhere to fly.

If you like a little bit more in a movie — say, characters that are mildly interesting or a plot that's a wee bit logical — stay far away.

Reynolds is a good actor but he's miscast. Mirren is great, and she makes Woman in Gold better than it otherwise would have been. Still, it's just kind of boring and straightforward, even if its inspiration is not.

It's wrenching stuff. If bits and pieces feel contrived (and they do), overall the message is strong — and important.

Pacino and his director don't get back to basics — given that Pacino plays the title character, an aging rock star who long ago sold out, that wouldn't make sense. But the actor brings such a charming attitude to the role that his performance feels far more genuine than the story itself.

This is a man who knows things, and Hawke creates an inspiring platform that allows him to share (at least some of) them.

It's terrific. It's about many things, but dread infuses them all. You won't be grossed out. You'll be creeped out. And that's a lot more satisfying.

For all its energy, razzle-dazzle and whiz-bang technology, it doesn't know how to tell a simple story or cobble together three-dimensional characters, and that's a problem not even the best of 3-D glasses can fix.

It's all wildly uneven, but some bits really are funny. Ferrell plays his usual clueless character, but he's good at it. And it turns out a toned-down Hart is a funnier Hart. But Cohen can't keep a handle on it all. Worse, he has no feel for when the satire goes too far.

Civil-rights movements are never really over because they're never really won. She's Beautiful When She's Angry doesn't overtly make that case until its closing minutes, but when it does, it's made all the more powerful by the footage that preceded it.

This is really entertaining stuff. It requires the ability to laugh at misfortune, but Szifrón is so skilled in his writing and direction that this isn't a problem.

The Gunman is a predictable slog through action-movie tropes, and Penn's intensity isn't a good fit.

At least [Teller's] presence, along with Woodley's, makes Insurgent good, if not great. And it's not too late to keep improving.

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

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.

Demange's busy camera is effective in conveying the chaos swirling around Hook. If we can't always tell exactly what's going on, neither can Hook. It ratchets up the tension considerably.

The Cobbler definitely won't please the audience for Sandler's mainstream blockbusters, and it's unlikely to win him new fans among the indie intelligentsia, either.

In Run All Night, Neeson gives us more of the same, although with Collet-Serra's assistance, it's dressed up in a more interesting package.

It's beautiful to behold and wears its magic on its well-appointed sleeves, daring the audience to crack wise.

The utter lack of surprises and waste of a first-rate cast — Anthony Hopkins as Alfred "Freddy" Heineken; Jim Sturgess and Sam Worthington as kidnappers — make for a tremendous letdown.

Supporting turns by Philip Rosenthal and David Alan Grier as two pals in the business are fun, but they can't prevent the movie's rather aimless nature or self-indulgent feel.

Polsky keeps things lively, both visually and with his editing. But the sometimes-lighthearted approach never undermines the serious business at hand. It enhances it.

Boorman retains the sense of melancholy and, ultimately, optimism from the first film. That, coupled with excellent portrayals of what could have been stock war-movie characters, makes Queen and Country a worthy follow-up to a classic.

Unfinished Business is a jumble of half-baked ideas, none particularly interesting.

It's asked in the film, "How many new lives can we have?" The answer, it turns, is however many we want. And as long as Dench, Smith, Nighy and Imrie stick around, the same probably is true of "Marigold" movies.

Blomkamp regular Sharlto Copley is quite good — as Chappie, in a motion-capture performance. (He also provides the voice of the robot.) If this were somehow a commentary on man's increasing lack of humanity or something, that would be fine. Instead, it's just good work buried inside a movie made up of intriguing ideas that never really go anywhere.

Written, produced and directed by Christopher Nolen, who gives himself a small role, the movie fails as both a comedy and morality tale.

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

Mommy is a film as harrowing as it is exhilarating, a story sometimes hard to watch but impossible to turn away from.

There is so much love and understanding of all the genres the film is skewering that What We Do in the Shadows transcends its lowbrow inspirations. It's a real treat.