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.