The handful of scenes in which Bernstein does speak of his craft are engaging; the film depicts him as well-loved as both a professional and a man, a charming teacher to his students; his charisma and confidence are hypnotic. Unfortunately, it’s unclear what Cooper is really keen to communicate with this portrayal.

It’s a master class in discomfort.

It’s difficult to overstate how badly Foe fumbles its heady premise and firecracker cast, a film so dependent on its biggest secret that it’s both predictable and hard to grasp by the time the trigger is finally pulled.

The Wonderful Story of Henry Sugar is a choreographed dance of an experience — one that could have easily felt like a run-on sentence. However, Anderson is skilled enough as a filmmaker to make sure to pace things out with a deliberate and sure hand, utilizing both long takes and clever edits to make 37 minutes fly by like 15.

If this film is Miyazaki’s true bow, it’s a magnificent final flourish that folds together many of the thematic and aesthetic threads he’s explored through his career: man’s relationship to nature, the majesty of flight, the twin pulls of love and loss. It’s stunning and inscrutable and measures among the best of his works.

As pretty as The Creator looks, and however well-considered its world may be, it feels like all sizzle and no steak. AI is an extremely prevalent issue facing us in the real world, but Edwards seems disinterested in exploring beyond its aesthetic surface (e.g. borrowing real people’s voices and likenesses in perpetuity) in favor of a warmed-over critique of American imperialism in the global East.

Venice, if nothing else, is a pleasant reminder that stories can be spooky without aiming for hard scares. Sometimes, the vibes of Halloween can feel like an all-or-nothing proposition, but for us scaredycats, sometimes it’s nice to just enjoy autumnal vibes with just a hint of terror in the air, like the first whiff of wood smoke while walking through your hometown on a brisk October day.

As a primer for one of the funniest, most emotionally satisfying thumbs in the eye to the super-rich in recent memory, Dumb Money is a pretty good time. That said, it leaves out crucial details and has little time to dig deeper into its cast of characters, making it feel like a cardboard glimpse into a complicated blip in the rigged game of American finance.

The reason to watch this, aside from its in-depth look at the world of independent lucha libre, is star Gael García Bernal, who throws himself into this role and the ring, performing a truly impressive series of stunts while celebrating Cassandro’s achievements.

Like a bullet fired by the Equalizer himself, this third film is efficient, effective, and entertaining, with a narrative that eschews twists on top of twists in favor of drawing the viewer into this small town where Robert’s found refuge.

Strays has a surprisingly large joke density, and quite a few of them land in an unexpected way.

Like the superhero stories of the ’90s and 2000s that clearly inspired it, Blue Beetle feels like the scrappy origin story we need to get through in order to explore better things in the more exciting sequel. Hopefully, Gunn and Safran see fit to keep Jaime Reyes around for their version of the DCEU, and toy with the true potential of its hero.

The more half-baked elements in the screenplay prevent Gran Turismo from assuming its role as a modern sports tale for a new generation — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the ride.

Heart of Stone is the rare streaming movie that does not open with an in medias res action sequence, followed by a “[Some Amount of Time] Earlier” card and a flashback to simpler days.

Admittedly, big stretches of Demeter are a bit overwritten and unnecessary; there’s no real need for a film like this to exist, especially considering we know how it’ll all turn out. But as long as it’s here, it might as well be celebrated for what it is: lean, effective nautical horror of a type we don’t often get anymore. Seaside scares are a rare thing these days, especially when Øvredal packs this much atmosphere and characterization into such a wafer-thin premise.

Still, as giant shark movies go, it’s a far more coherent entry in the genre than others, with effects work that’s several notches above the rest.

In a time when so much of what we consume can feel plastic and cheap and mass-produced, it’s the human touch we come to crave — especially when it leads to something as fun as this.

Haunted Mansion uses its existence as an opportunity to tell a story about life, death, and what it means to let go of someone you love — yet another reminder that in the right hands, previously existing intellectual property isn’t necessarily a roadblock for storytellers. Sometimes, it can be the car that makes the journey possible.

As a viewing experience, Oppenheimer is a whole lot of movie, a man's life given the epic treatment — because he did do truly epic things, things that elevate his life story beyond the limitations of genre. And thus, the film proves exceptional at drawing the audience into the experience, when it lets the power of its images do the talking. Its best moments stand out as some of the most original and exciting filmmaking of the year, highs that do a lot to counterbalance the sequences which dive back into bureaucracy and comparatively petty rivalries.

Barbie is a magic trick, a stellar example of a filmmaker taking a well-established bit of corporate IP and using it to deliver a message loudly and clearly. That Greta Gerwig’s third solo film as director also manages to be a giddy, silly, and hilarious time is essential to its power, and the challenge of this review is thus trying to explore how the magic trick works, while still preserving the flat-out awe I have at what it achieves.

Oh, does Tom Cruise get in his steps over the course of this film, finding new and exciting locations through which to run, which Christopher McQuarrie's cameras capture with just enough of a wink to let the audience know that he gets it.

Beyond the gross-out humor and music video homages, there’s a sweet and emotional story about finding family in the world where you’d least expect it, and the strength that can be found in friendship.

No Hard Feelings ends up belonging to Andrew Barth Feldman, who very soon may be one of Hollywood’s go-to leading men (following his year-long stint as the titular role in Dear Evan Hansen). Despite the script’s slightly jumbled ending, Feldman aces his character’s transformation, and finds dozens of moments to truly shine.

Mangold’s steady direction doesn’t quite live up to Spielberg’s signature flair, but this is a solid entry in the franchise, solid enough to even inspire interest in future installments.

The Blackening is tense, funny, and thoughtful. It’s a miracle when any movie expertly hits that hat trick but even more so when it does it with this much confidence.

I still don’t know whether all (or even most) of Asteroid City’s ideas coalesce, so scattershot is the film’s pacing and plotting. But from moment to moment, it charms and moves in ways only Anderson can deliver.

The best movies are little worlds that welcome you into the experiences of fascinating characters, giving you everything you need to understand their perspectives and actions. Past Lives does so in spades, painting on a small canvas, but with rich hues of emotion and meaning, knowing that a great story and a great life aren’t necessarily the same thing.

There’s an immense amount of baggage weighing down what proves to be a vaguely competent superhero adventure, albeit one that fails to add anything significant to the genre by the end.