Baking up a storm of humor and heart, the pro-shot Broadway production with Bareilles leading the charge is the perfect treat this holiday season.

With energetic voice performances from the main cast, a humorous tone that doesn't overstay its welcome, and dynamic action that seamlessly goes from one fight to the next, Merry Little Batman is a lovely exploration of the mythology behind The Dark Knight, showing the cutest side of the relationship he has with his son.

Without talking about how, why, or in what manner, it is Acken who emerges as the darkly delightful standout of The Sacrifice Game.

The Archies is just the sort of fun, upbeat film to instill a little hope and joy and leave you dancing long after the credits roll.

Even though the cast helps to nurture the sense of nostalgia in the film, it doesn't prevent the screenplay from failing to match the tone of the OG series.

Much like the scene from which it gets its name, where a photo from an old album is flipped to reveal those four words, turning things over and holding them up to the light is the necessary starting point to finding the truth.

Leave the World Behind is a smart, compelling take on the end of the world, and proves Esmail is a writer-director who deserves larger-scale projects like this after his television successes.

Wonka is a bit shaggy, with too many moving parts, but its spirit and its optimism—and a fantastic performance by Chalamet—make up for the film’s weaknesses.

Poor Things is a staggering accomplishment of a movie, a film that feels so uniquely Lanthimos, and yet, with a heart and a shocking amount of joy and enthusiasm that shows the filmmaker pushing his style and boundaries as much as possible.

We follow Angel and her fellow journalists as they must struggle through year after year, celebrating their wins and mourning their losses. There's no glossy sheen, no dramatic score. Bad Press brings us into the trenches of their push and pull with local politics, and it is made all the better for it.

Renaissance: A Film by Beyoncé, Queen Bey wants us to know that being at one of her concerts is a communal experience.

What a shame even a master filmmaker like John Woo couldn’t at least partially liven up a derivative piece of action cinema like Silent Night.

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.

With Garner at the helm of a film that fires up some endearing energy from start to finish, Family Switch is not a perfect film, but it’s glossy, humble, and good-natured enough for an easy watch this holiday season.

Brutal Heat delivers a curious experiment that never fully embraces the potential of its concept.

It is very much an ensemble film, yet it also serves as one of the final demonstrations of how Cloud could command a scene like no one else. That alone makes Your Lucky Day a bittersweet gift, but the sharp film also has quite a lot else going on as well.

It is the vibrancy to the presentation that remains the standout though the performances are also good fun.

While it is not going to be among the very best of 2023 when it comes to its story, the craft that went into its presentation is unlike anything you’ll see this year or any other. It manages to burst through the surface of its frequently stormy narrative waters and grab hold of your heart just as it does your eyes.

Godzilla Minus One more than carves out its place among the best entries of this long-running series.

Good Burger 2 certainly isn’t a masterpiece, but Kenan & Kel still have the special sauce that makes this film work.

From the gorgeous cinematography by Erik Messerschmidt, the mesmerizing Daniel Pemberton score, a towering performance by Cruz, and Martin’s screenplay that reflects as much on Enzo’s insular battles as well as his public ones in equal measure, Ferrari is one of Mann’s best film in years.

From references to Lin-Manuel Miranda (Moana) to songs that don’t rhyme and even metalinguistic performances – the one with the clocks is especially good because it completely underscores a particular character’s personality – Leo shows a surprising level of maturity that we’ve only come to expect from Pixar and Studio Ghibli films.

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.

It is a triumph in every sense of the word just as it is a humble portrait of life's small moments. The way Kaurismäki strikes this balance is breathtaking in its patience, proving how the most moving works of cinema can come from the simplest of places.

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.

With Thanksgiving, Roth brings horror back to basics and reminds us that it can be nasty, gory, gnarly, and a ton of fun all at once.

Napoleon is a grand film, both in terms of Scott creating a story with a size we’ve rarely seen from him, and the bold, large choices made by a completely game Phoenix.

By the end of the film, the film that seems so much like Collateral on the surface is actually far more personal, reminding us of the unlikely bonds that we can share together as human beings and that it's never too late to find a home and family beyond the conventional boundaries of what is expected.