Instead of having to explain this universe, The Secrets of Dumbledore can let us sit with these characters reckoning with the loves they’ve lost in quiet and gentle ways, create a captivating and often hilarious action sequence with a multitude of beasts, or explore the history of Dumbledore’s family with subtlety.

Jimpa is a heartfelt tribute that unfortunately doesn't resonate as much as it should.

The shocking images of Superpower can move us, but the movie ends up being nothing more than a piece of propaganda. Even worse, the documentary is a wasted opportunity to give a proper voice to the people who still live and fight in Ukraine. Instead, Superpower seems more concerned about contributing to the mystification of Zelensky and the image of Penn as a lonesome and brave hero.

Rather than come away feeling like you’ve watched something truly daring or inventive, it all feels derivative. It is a film that is too mundane to even get mad at.

Grounded by exceptional performance across the board, a rich and funny script, and confident direction, Lisa Frankenstein is a delightful film. It doesn’t break a lot of new ground (unless you count the many graves that are dug up throughout its 101-minute runtime), but it does manage to frequently subvert expectations of horror, comedy, and romance movies alike. All-in-all, it’s a bloody good time.

The final showdown between Laurie and Michael Myers is pretty thrilling, perhaps because we know that this is the last time we will ever see the pair face off (supposedly). Whichever side you land on, whether you are Team Laurie or Team Michael, you won't feel cheated by the conclusion of the film, which makes what preceded it a lot easier to forget about and made the movie, in general, a lot more palatable.

Disney has been at the forefront of animation in film for much of its 100 years and their legacy is unparalleled. That’s a lot to put on the shoulders of any animated film, but Wish, with its mundane celebration of this history, is a disappointing commemoration of these accomplishments.

Dauberman's film is competent enough that I think it will manage to find an audience who's into an overly traditional take on vampire lore, as well as win over King fans who have been onboard with this tale, in all its incarnations, since day one.

Fans of the Italian director have probably not seen it, and it’s surely the strangest film he’s made, with signs of his favorite cinematic elements he would bring into later, more well-known films.

While Bird Box Barcelona is only following the trend, it is too bad to see the spin-off try so hard to keep fans excited about the next chapter that it undercuts the emotional weight of its ending. So, while the film surpasses the original in every sense, it still gets dragged down by the needs of a franchise.

As a film, Mortal Kombat II does still have some issues with some awkward pacing and perhaps one too many characters to juggle, particularly in the first half. But once the second half gets going, it becomes a bloody good time and a bone-crunching spectacle from start to finish.

Boy Kills World comes across as obnoxious, and the viewer already feels exhausted within the first 15 minutes of the film. It's as if the creative team wanted to make a cult movie but completely forgot cult movies have to be fun.

The film tackles an age-old theme of man versus monster, but does so in a way that creates a strangely perfect balance between action, science fiction, and even a dash of horror.

It’s truly impressive that Fowler has found a way to integrate the wild world and characters of the Sonic the Hedgehog games into the real world in a way that actually works, but it’s a shame that it comes at the expense of the story of friendship that made the first Sonic the Hedgehog film so charming.

With its tight script, well-balanced characters, and bone-chilling scares, The Nun II is the first Conjuring spinoff operating at the same caliber as the franchise's core films, proving that this universe is far from played out.

Godzilla x Kong is a vacuous de-evolution into monster-on-monster action but also arguably the best possible version of that transition. There’s no doubt that this is fairly moronic, but it still manages to be an improvement over what we’ve seen from the last two installments in this cinematic universe.

The Seven Faces of Jane is a curious experiment, but ultimately, a failed one.

It's a real shame that The Alto Knights doesn't explore its real-life story as thoroughly as it should have, as there is a genuinely interesting story to tell here. The film details historical events that didn't just dramatically impact the shadowy world of organized crime, it changed the public perception of the Mafia forever. The Alto Knights perhaps would have been better served if it had been a documentary narrated by one Robert De Niro instead of a meandering feature film that stars two.

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.

If you are looking for a light and fluffy holiday movie that you can stream with the whole family while sipping on some spiked eggnog, you can do a whole lot worse than Candy Cane Lane.

There is potential within the Shazam! films that have never quite been met. Especially with this latest installment, this often feels like DC’s attempt at having a Spider-Man-esque character in their roster, and if you squint, you can almost see that possibility.

As entertaining as Until Dawn is, it’s fairly light in most regards, other than the kills. While the characters in the game had more time to have intricate connections to one another, these five are fairly one-note.

Edward Berger's latest is all style and no substance, despite giving Colin Farrell a weird role to sink his teeth into.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie captures the spirit of the games, the deep history, and the incredible possibilities that these games have presented for decades, all in one of the most fun animated films in years, with a team behind it that you can feel loves these characters and this world.

After a decade away, Jeunet has returned to embrace all of his worst eccentricities to create an absurd mess.

The Apology is a dreadful story told horribly. It fails to understand its own protagonist, underestimates character development, and ignores the rules it establishes for itself.

A fun concept does not automatically mean a quality film, as the overly intense direction, hollow scares, and imbalance of tone make it a thrown-together mess.

Book Club: The Next Chapter is a raucously funny movie that will leave audiences ready to grab their gal pals and set off on an adventure to Italy.