After the dregs of the first five Transformers films, Bumblebee felt like the shot in the arm that this series needed to make it what it should’ve been all this time. Coming off that, Rise of the Beasts feels like both a step forward and a step back.

Foe, the beautifully shot yet scattered lo-fi sci-fi mystery thriller starring Saoirse Ronan and Paul Mescal, is not a good movie. However, it is an interesting one.

As a complete portrait of youth on the cusp of the rest of their lives, it never manages to be authentically sharp enough to transcend the more tiresome narrative trappings it falls into and a grating over reliance on musical cues as punchlines.

Beast has its flaws and is mostly by-the-numbers, but if the idea of Idris Elba fighting a lion is something that is of interest to you, then Beast is going to deliver.

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.

Father of the Bride has its heart in the right place, trying to adapt this beloved story for another generation and audience, but by shifting too much away from the traditions of the past, Father of the Bride doesn’t have the same magic that its previous versions have been able to generate.

There is a good film in The Harbinger that we catch glimpses of in moments of horror and the conversations we do get to see play out. It just is struggling to break through the uncertain confines of the story it is trapped in.

Where Slumberland truly shines is with its cast. While Slumberland is one of Barkley’s first feature credits, along with Spirited, the young actress already shows she can deal with a huge range of emotions. And while Slumberland’s story can feel bloated, Barkley’s Nemo is the emotional anchor that holds everything together. The biggest surprise of Slumberland, though, is Momoa, who embraces a dad energy we didn’t know he had.

Given that the two leads in this project don't seem to have a clear driving force to their actions, this feminist thriller does more to show the challenges that women face than to create fully developed characters. Although the film does end with a bang, these missteps leading up to the resolution make the final scene bittersweet.

Of the two classic Universal sequels, Son of Dracula has more to it, even with such bad miscasting as the all-American Lon Chaney Jr. as Dracula (and it is Dracula himself here, despite the title). He gives it the ol' college try, and he was the first to play Dracula in a moustache, but there's no getting around his voice or his blue-collar demeanor.

The Machine has enough going in its favor to warrant a recommendation to fans of Kreischer's stand-up comedy, but other audience members may walk out feeling empty.

Cameos and fan service are fine to have, but the story has to be there to back them up, and it’s not quite there with The Flash.

Please Don't Destroy's debut film isn't necessarily a treasure, but there are a few gems to make the future look solid for this trio.

When creative directors are given the chance to take big swings and actually do so, the result can bring about nightmarish experiences unlike anything out there. The glimpses of this in V/H/S/85 serve as a reminder of the value of the series and the visions it can ultimately provide a home for.

As a film that highlights Raimi’s talents as both a director of distinct superhero stories, and idiosyncratic horror tales, Doctor Strange works. Yet as a larger piece in the ever-expanding Marvel Cinematic Universe, the Multiverse of Madness starts to show the cracks in trying to continually attempt to build and one-up what came before.

Cronenberg certainly still knows how to create arresting imagery and craft stories that can make the audience squirm, but the story that isn’t being told with Crimes of the Future is far more interesting than the one he has decided to focus on, which often feels like regurgitating concepts he’s already handled before.

Since a creature feature lives and dies by its monster, Troll has the clear advantage of conjuring a magnificent beast from Scandinavian folklore. Of course, that might not be enough for viewers looking for something fresh to watch. Even so, Uthaug ultimately succeeds in developing a movie that’ll most likely please fans of giant creatures.

Ultimately, there's much to enjoy in Sharper, with a premise that offers intrigue and a strong group of performances, but it falls flat at the end, unwilling to dig deeper into its characters or the meaning behind its story.

Emergency is ambitious and daring in what it’s trying to say and do, but a mishandling of pacing, serious issues, and pseudo-parody hurt what is a truly intriguing concept.

It's well-acted and not schlocky, but it's one of those presents you open on Christmas, excited to receive it, only to forget about it the next day.

Without Winter in the frame, it lacks direction and oomph, leading the Lost Boys star to carry everything on his foam latex-covered shoulders.

If you're a moviegoer who desires smart, original horror, skip Witchboard. You're better off just watching Sinners or Weapons again.

For a film that originally was thought of as a subversion of the Star Wars franchise, Rebel Moon - Part One: A Child of Fire feels pretty similar to an installment of it.

Despite a strong central performance from Sasha Luss, Latency works against its own concept and falls into cliché thriller tropes.

Sender wants to put us in the perspective of an addict, but instead, it always leaves the audience feeling like it’s missing something, not quite in step with what the film is trying to express. Goldman has a lot on his mind, but Sender sometimes feels like when you have too many ideas, and you try to say them all at once, but it comes out garbled and confusing.

There are great ideas within Cat Person, and when this story sticks to the meat of the original story, it’s a fascinating look at dating from a female perspective. Unfortunately, the nose dive in its intent in the final act, when Cat Person gets away from the short story, makes Cat Person two-thirds a solid film, and one-third an absurd blunder.

Tow isn't a movie that anyone will outright hate, but it squanders so much of its potential that it fails to deliver the important message that it wants to share.

The texture that gives vibrancy to these types of understated stories just isn’t there, ensuring that what little there is to grasp onto soon slips away as well.