At its core, Fly Me To The Moon is a thoroughly enjoyable, memorably novel rom-com that regularly surprises in a genre that often doesn’t, and we're all better for it.

The main reason why The Penguin Lessons is sweet, but also poignant, is due to the script's keen eye for comedy in the face of a tumultuous backdrop.

Timberlake's acting aside, Reptile is the perfect kind of digestible, mid-budget crime thriller that we just don’t get enough of.

There is something occasionally charming about Outlaw Posse. Alas, charm can only get you so far when a film resembles more of a scattered work of cosplay than a robust cinematic work.

Some jokes run too long, don’t land, or could use another draft. It's a constant stream of cameos, which is overall fun but sometimes a little distracting. But, at its core, the sequel is a good-natured charmer about a troubled everyman who is trying hard to grow up without losing himself in the process, and it gives us a lot to laugh about on the way.

Smith has always been best when he wears his heart on his sleeve as he does with The 4:30 Movie, a film whose earnestness tries to iron out some of the usual problems with Smith’s films, but with mixed results.

Parthenope is a decades-spanning slice-of-life movie that has no interest in diving into the complexities of its protagonist.

Love Me has its flaws. But the cast is endearing, the robots are cute, and if you enjoy a romance movie, you won't be disappointed in this.

In the end, The Cow ends up a collection of tonal blunders and performances that are too big for this smaller-scale thriller.

While often bloody, It's a Wonderful Knife is never too spooky for non-horror fans and never too focused on a cheesy love story for those watching the film for its gory delights. There is a little bit for everyone here, making for a pleasant enough viewing experience for this holiday season.

It's far from perfect, but the production design of the film and the strong backbone of actors make Cobweb an entertaining film, though not a must-see.

None of the action scenes have any passion to them and, even worse, they can feel downright contrived. That it then pretends to have something more to say strains credulity.

Trap is another promising thriller from M. Night Shyamalan, but his filmmaking choices simply can't do this conceit justice.

Death on the Nile might have been a long time coming, but it’s one of the most alluring mysteries in years, and a great example of how Branagh can elevate iconic stories with grace and care.

While G20 doesn’t always rise to meet Davis at her level, it’s a performance that elevates even the weakest beats, giving audiences a satisfying, if uneven, ride.

While Snook does all she can to give the experience some heft, Run Rabbit Run is a horror film in search of something greater others have already achieved that it is never able to find.

The film is at its best when Heller is executing novel kills or blackmailing his bosses, and we're given just enough of those adrenaline-pumping scenes to make it all work together well. The Amateur strikes that delicate balance often (though not universally), but it works well enough when it counts, for an outing worth seeing.

Plemons, Collins, and Segel elevate this basic story beyond more than just a generic noir homage, but it’ll likely leave the audience like Nobody: willing to accept less when they should be asking for more.

Even though the flaws in Last Dance are glaringly obvious—not only is this the worst of the Magic Mike franchise, it’s also clunky in a way Soderbergh films rarely are—it’s still hard to not get caught up in the celebration of it all.

Amelia's Children is a horror film that has moments of unintentional humor, but is ultimately dull rather than some sort of clever dark comedy.

What starts as a more violent Mr. and Mrs. Smith takes an unexpectedly brutal turn, becoming borderline unamusing. Taccone pushes himself to try and break from his usual comic mold, but with Over You Dead Body, he ends up pushing too far.

For all the ways Botet and company put their hearts into giving it some life, the film is persistently defined by death of not just its characters, but of creativity itself.

It features terrific performances from Roberts and Garfield, but even they are not enough to save the film from being too muddled and morally ambiguous for its own good.

80 for Brady is not the new golden standard of sports comedies, but it was clearly never trying to be. It's cute, silly, and light, all things that a comfort movie should be.

Despite feeling overcrowded and at times unevenly paced, Wildflower is a warm coming-of-age tale that amplifies the stories of underrepresented groups in the media. In addition to highlighting the complications that come with growing up, it reminds you to appreciate the people who appreciate you back.

With two movies under their belt, Statham and Ayer have proved to be the perfect match for delivering entertaining and simple action flicks to the big screen.

The Watcher in the Woods is a great movie for seventy minutes, but the subpar ending really does stain an otherwise solid watch.

Contrary to the film's critical reception, Fallen stands out as one of the most interesting portrayals of demonic possession ever put to film (not to mention managing to be a compelling detective thriller).

Charles Laughton hams it up wonderfully in a villainous role, and Jamaica Inn is enough of an oddity to make it strangely engaging throughout much of its runtime.

Despicable Me 4 understands its appeal and plays to its strengths. With fun details, vibrant animation, and strong comedic energy, it is a delightful and entertaining addition to the franchise, offering enough laughs and heartwarming moments to satisfy both longtime fans and newcomers alike.

This is a movie that deserves to be discovered, to be recommended to friends, and to develop a cult following that lingers on. It's just too much fun to settle for less.

A familiar underdog story made engaging by the flashes of patience with which it approaches its material, Sanaa Lathan’s On the Come Up doesn’t reinvent the wheel as much as it tries to roll along with it.

Azrael is both familiar and unique, blending genre comforts with a risky idea. Luckily, it all works, paying off a relatively massive gamble that benefits from Samara Weaving's star power.

The dialogue remains consistently sharp, authentic, and unique to its characters throughout, proving to be the film's strength.

Slingshot is more of a murky mystery where the big revelations don't hold up under scrutiny.

Offering a fresh take on a legendary folk hero, William Tell’s solid cast and engaging battle sequences will keep viewers hooked. Easy to overlook its faults with impressive sequences, performances and sharp cinematography, the film is an appreciated one for its throwback feel.

If written well and with the same care as its direction, this could have conveyed a sense of more genuine tragedy. Regrettably, for all the ways the performances try to eschew convention for a bit more substance, it is a losing battle from start to finish.

What starts as a promising storyline soon dwindles as tired tropes take center stage and no sparks fly between the main pair.

Race for Glory: Audi vs. Lancia is a compelling and rewatchable film though it feels as though some elements have been cut out.

There are masterful works of horror that have proven less can be more. Despite some of its promise, Baghead is not one of them.

Chestnut is an effective and enjoyable if rather simple and slight coming-of-age movie about a unique time in a person’s life that few filmmakers have chosen to focus on.

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.

With heartfelt and emotional performances by the cast, See You When I See You is a stirring tale about survivor's guilt, grief, and reconnecting in the wake of tragedy. Though the film hits on all emotional notes, there's one crucial setback that holds back an otherwise moving story.

Death of a Unicorn is a delight; a clever, sharp-horned, and violent horror-comedy that demands to be seen on the big screen with an audience.

For a film that's little more than an hour long, Number 17 manages to weave a complex plot of who's who and whodunit.

For all the ways that Darby and the Dead tries to give its abundantly safe story some life, it can’t break free of a narrative hellbent on dragging it to the grave.

The movie is as sloppy as a horror movie can be, but that also contributes to its charm. The only major downside of the experience is a drag of a first act, that’ll most certainly scare away impatient horror fans, and with good reason.

With disregard to elements it itself establishes and featuring more characters than it knows what to do with, the film forgets to flesh out its comedic potential and sticks to the repetition of a handful of jokes, even when some of them fall flat.

Fixed has the stylish hand-drawn animation that Genndy Tartakovsky is so well-known for, but the juvenile humor feels beneath a filmmaker of his stature.

Susie Searches has its heart in the right place, and this could’ve been the beginning of an interesting mystery series of sorts, full of intriguing characters, twists and turns that are hard to see coming—even for Susie. But the mishandling of tone and unusual shifts in logic and character motivations makes this film more of a mystery in itself.

While the kills in the first movie were quite imaginative, they also erred slightly into the fantastical. The Wrath of Becky grounds its kills more in reality, but it doesn't pull back on the gore whatsoever.

Umma is a solid entry for Shim's debut with a strong story and standout leading performance from Oh. It examines generational trauma, identity, and what it means to confront your past, and it does so effectively.

Once again, Daisy Ridley proves she has the charm and star power to make even the shakiest scripts a thoroughly enjoyable watch. Like Protégé, Cleaner has a lot of compelling storylines, action sequences, and intention, but the execution leaves something to be desired.

The cast as a whole never gels together like you'd want in a big team-based spy film like this, maybe because they spend so much time in separate locations talking to each other through earpieces.

Especially compared to the 2015 adaptation, A Man Called Otto is a clunky update that often feels like it's full of cartoonish characters, with poor music choices, and cloying sentimentality. But when Forster and Magee pull away from these eccentricities, the story of Otto and Marisol is often a thing of beauty, and wonderful friendship that is lovely to watch grow.

There's an excellent film somewhere in The Woman in the Yard, but it would take another draft to uncover it from beneath that jet-black burial shroud. Suffice it to say, it's a horror outing that works rather well until it falls apart at the end.

The undeniable likability of Ben Wang keeps things from sinking, and the marvelous action sequences mark a strong start to Jonathan Entwistle's feature filmmaking career.

Pretty Lethal is at its best when it’s a straightforward film about bloody fights and survival. This isn’t the most complex concept, and when the movie tries to include unnecessary details, it stops the narrative dead in its tracks.

Overall, Teen Wolf: The Movie packs a heavy punch and stands tall in the original series' six-season shadow. The film pulls on threads that have always resonated well with its loyal viewer base and continues the story of these treasured characters forward in a truly authentic way.

While the film does make an admirable effort to focus on Neeson's action hero as a true character rather than a mere blunt instrument for fight scenes, but thanks to an overly cliché screenplay, the movie will likely be another forgettable action film in Neeson's filmography.

Even the most jaded may be swayed by Perry’s latest demonstration of his skills at making movies that work simply but that also simply work.

Under the right circumstances, the story that The Trouble with Jessica tries to tell could work if it paired its comedy with a meaningful perspective on depression and self-harm. Instead, this misguided take on a dark comedy ultimately lacks laughs, thrills, and overall reverence for severe topics.

At Midnight is a rom-com that loves the hell out of rom-coms, and rightly so — the genre’s at its best when it’s not trying to be clever or smart or better than those that came before it, when it fully embraces the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with watching two people fall in love, and Feingold’s script knows it.

Reverse the Curse calls its shot with confidence but doesn’t possess the fundamentals to bomb a home run, barely getting on base with this out-of-synch heartwarmer that’s icy to the touch.

While it takes a while to get there after dancing around its premise, when Run Sweetheart Run hits its stride it is more than worth running along with it.

A film so quirky that it’s ready-made for a Wes Anderson remake.

Yet even though it never quite reaches its full potential, Day Shift is enjoyable for the aspects it does want to focus on, even though it’s hard not to wish it would investigate the larger world further.

For some, this film could miss the mark; for others, it could be exactly the comfort viewing that's needed, but overall, Marry Me merits more of a "sure, okay" in response rather than a resounding yes.

Whatever joy you get in individual moments is lost in the shuffle of a film that far overstays its welcome.

I imagine there are a select few out there whose taste in comedy earnestly leans towards the likes of dadaism, and they might find actual humor in this almost anti-comedic story. There are perhaps a few more who will get the odd sensible chuckle out of the movie and forget it ever existed within a month.

As Hallmark-esque as this Netflix rom-com might be, it offers the perfect combo for what you anticipate from a seasonal title. It delivers on a low-stakes love story between two people from different cultural backgrounds, allows for its main character to grow into her own and understand her worth, and gives viewers the opportunity to escape to Paris without leaving their couch.

In Clerks III, Smith returns to where his career began and has made one of his best films in decades, a tender and compassionate look at friendships that last no matter what, a remembrance of where Smith came from, and an appreciation for all those who helped him along the way.

Disenchanted posits that happily ever after isn’t always the ending of the story, but Disenchanted also proves that sometimes, maybe it should be.

Of course, Gardner’s documentary will please horror fans above anyone else. Still, Living with Chucky is a thoughtful study of how filmmaking, especially independent filmmaking, brings people together.

To its credit, there are some decent gore scenes, and the practical makeup is done well, but not enough to distract from some pretty laughable special effects. Compared to the original and even the 2010 version that won the Oscar for Best Makeup, Whannell’s version isn’t breaking any new ground.

Bader and Blyth are an irresistibly charming duo, and the decision to move the story's present-day scenes from Palm Springs to Barcelona results in some of the film's most stunning locations. Not only will you be rooting for Poppy and Alex to make things work, but you'll also probably end up with a little wanderlust yourself.

Altogether, a lot works about Now You See Me: Now You Don't. It's a lot of fun, with a dangerous new foe and big, great-looking tricks. The new cast members are all stellar, have an engaging dynamic with the original team, and everyone gets a stand-out hero moment (a must for an ensemble this size). On the other hand, the script feels perpetually rushed.

The Marvels is the shortest film in the MCU so far, and it’s great that DaCosta has made a movie that is short, sweet, and yet, ends up being more impactful and playful than most Marvel films. In a universe that often feels suffocated by the amount of history, dense storytelling, and character awareness needed to enjoy these films, DaCosta figures out how to handle all of that in one of the most fun Marvel films in years. It’s kind of a marvel.

They Will Kill You is an undeniably fun and berserk action film that relies on the style to make up for the lack of discernible substance. For the most part, They Will Kill You pulls this off, and it’s easy to get caught up in just how much this cranks itself to 11.

Brothers is a largely enjoyable comedy, predominantly thanks to its talented central duo and smart direction by Barbakow, though it admittedly suffers from a host of issues baked into the script itself.

Led by two solid performances by Pugh and Freeman, A Good Person shows growth from Braff as both a writer and director, as he attempts to push himself into a more mature story that we’re used to from him.

There's some fun to be had here, but overall, Jurassic World Rebirth feels indicative that this franchise is not dissimilar from what the original film is trying to say about the ethics of cloning dinosaurs.

There's certainly good here, but it's hard not to wish certain key moments were allowed to thrive.

Snow White deserved an update of sorts, and this is an admirable new take that certainly is one of the better live-action remakes from Disney. It might not be the fairest Snow White of all, but it's an admirable effort nonetheless.

Elevation is a thin story with every trope and stereotype you've seen from better monster movies

Sadly, Nightwatch: Demons Are Forever is another example of a sequel that exists just to reminisce on what came before without doing much new until it's nearly too late.

Summering provides the perfect territory for whoever wants to feel nostalgic about childhood, or just wants to enjoy spending time with kids trading clever banter. But the journey gets a little less sweet once you realize that the movie lets go of basic logic just so its main characters can have a bit of fun and bring their journey full circle.

If you don’t stress over the logistics of time travel and are willing to appreciate the “deeper meanings” that are on full display, then check out this beautifully shot love letter to the messiness of New York City and life itself.

There’s no sugarcoating Cobweb’s flaws, from pacing to convoluted editing. Yet, the movie does have the potential to become a crowd-pleaser, as it does deliver the scares. It might not be a particularly memorable horror film, but it’s still entertaining, and sometimes that’s all the reason we need to go to theaters.

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.

It's another perfect excuse to shove popcorn in your face as you cheer watching Statham beat some people up.

The characters are consistently charming, the humor sufficiently silly, and the animation often beautiful, though the standard path it takes holds it back from fully exploring the potential lurking just beneath the surface. When it all bursts free towards the end is when the film is at its best.

Try as it might to tackle complex themes and serve up some steamy romance, both endeavors fall flat and will likely leave audiences underwhelmed.

It’s that heart that makes Champions better than expected, a shaggy underdog story that might be a bit overlong and a bit awkward in places, but with charming characters that help smooth out these rough edges. In doing so, Bobby Farrelly sticks to his comedic sensibilities, creating an endearing comedy that doesn’t need to break from the formula of similar films that have come before.

For all the anticipation about this being a star turn for Styles, the lack of depth in his performance and of the film itself ensures it won’t leave nearly the impression it set out to.

To see Clooney and Roberts team up again when they have demonstrated in the past (the Oceans movies and Money Monster) that they go together like rum and coke is a lot of fun, but it also makes it undeniably noticeable that they deserve better. I don't mean an Oscar-worthy dramatic biopic. But a rom-com with some nuance and wit.

There are moments of terror near the beginning, but it gets far too tangled up in a generic narrative that drowns out any sense of vision. Even with some striking visual moments and excellent sound design, it is all in service of regrettably very little.

If anyone could’ve updated this story for 2023, it’s Barris—as he's shown with black-ish. But instead, You People is a missed opportunity, a half-assed reinterpretation that is only sporadically funny, and without the heart or the substance that this story would need for it to truly work.