Joseph Sackett’s feature film, Homebody, finds a charming and fresh take on the body swap formula.

The shame-filled vagabond and lonely nature of flesh-eating portrayed in Bones and All is a thinly veiled allegory for addiction. Lee and Maren are the new Sid and Nancy, with another complicated love story for the ages.

The Fabelmans will take your expectations of the Spielberg brand and tie them to a rocket. It is engaging and compelling. I am still pondering it days later. If you love movies, you owe it to yourself to catch this on that same big screen that Sammy loves so much.

Guzzoni, at times, drowns the film in its messaging by not mixing it up, but we’re never bored. We can thank López’ performance for that and our creeping sense of alarm at the abuses that the less fortunate are forced to suffer through.

The Banshees of Inisherin is a magnificent film telling a great, compelling story.

Though it may not be as iconic as the 1940s version, Guillermo del Toro’s Pinocchio is still astounding. Every character is fleshed out and filled with eccentricities lacking in prior versions. Themes of empathy, fascism, dealing with death, and learning to live again run deep within this masterpiece. And for all the complexities, the film is just plain enjoyable.

With Adult Swim Yule Log, Kelly delivers a new dimension in seasonal insanity, and won’t the kids just love it? Just slide your arm into the crazy stocking until you hear a click.

I definitely enjoyed Avatar: The Way of Water much more than the first. Its message of family and the portrayal of a strong father and mother protecting their children is refreshing.

The filmmaker educates and entertains with a profoundly human story about the life of a young woman. Viewers will become invested in what happens to Di and learn about the Hmong tradition along the way.

With Babylon, Chazelle laments and condemns; he documents and romanticizes. There’s truth beneath the embellishments. The filmmaker gives this project his all. Luckily, it all works. Bravo.

The Old Town Girls is about the consequences of decisions.

Spaz does not break any ground in terms of style and technique. However, the main subject is fascinating all on his own, and his story is equally as compelling. The good, the bad, and the ugly are presented here for everyone to consider and draw their own conclusions about Spaz’s work and temperament.

Mendes finishes things on a graceful, open-ended note. He adeptly handles unabashed romanticism and raw grief, optimism and hopelessness, significantly aided by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor’s soft piano score. The music peaks during the film’s most fervent moments, both violent (a protest during the climax) and tender (our heroes climaxing in each other’s embrace).

The writer and the director rub our faces in muck until all we see is darkness, providing the faintest ray of light at the end. You will be infuriated – not so much at the witnessed injustices as at the filmmaking team for subjecting you to over two hours of grief and misery.

The archival footage, reenactment, well-executed cinematography, and stunning wardrobe and makeup allow Framing Agnes to linger in your thoughts much past its ending. Joynt created an exquisite beauty that banishes the notions that trans is wrong or dirty and highlights how it is wildly misunderstood.

The drama is a mostly compelling watch, but we’re left wanting more from a film with such an impressive assemblage of individual pieces.

The Friendship Game is deplorable from beginning to end. Fans of Peyton List may get a small amount of enjoyment, as the actor is good. Unfortunately, she’s the only worthwhile part of the film, as the direction, editing, and cinematography are woefully incompetent.

Blood Relatives is a blast from start to finish. Noah Segan orchestrates a strong sense of atmosphere while still focusing on well-developed characters. His screenplay is whipsmart, while he demonstrates an excellent command of tone.

Thanks to the incredible editing and score, the story never loses momentum. In fact, due to real-world parallels (as a part of the plot is based on true events), Enola Holmes 2 offers more intrigue and danger than the original.

Lady Chatterley’s Lover has the look, feel, and beauty of your Merchant-Ivory high-brow English dramas. Simply add sex and nudity.

Fans of A Christmas Story, and those simply in the mood for a holiday flick, will enjoy A Christmas Story Christmas for the light, nicely touching tale that it is in its own right, without the pressure of having to be as perfect as something as legendary as the leg lamp.

EO is an incredible film, but do be aware it does skew bitter, especially at the finale.

Our Father, The Devil is a deeply suspenseful and insightful film.

An elegiac, minimalist fable, Utama is about many things: global warming, survival, our connections to each other, our priorities. It’s the silences that propel the narrative forward, the wide-open spaces that sear themselves into the mind. But hope prevails.

While Actual People is not going to be for everyone, it does preserve a moment in time from Gen Z culture that informs and enlightens.

Boesten’s ability to capture the natural beauty and intense emotions revolving around family, ghetto life, drug dealing, and its consequences is exceptional and unexpected. She transforms Master of Light from a straightforward biography of a great but somewhat unknown artist into a poignant documentary that offers something to everyone of any generation.

Dermer maintains a bittersweet tone, a gentle mix of levity and pathos. He studies the complexities of friendships, dealing with loss, looking at life as if for the first time, living each day as if it were your last, letting go, and trusting people more. He poses some intriguing questions.

I can go on and on about the multiple tiny lightning bolts Hansen-Løve catches in her bottle. Arguably the biggest lightning she caught was hiring Seydoux.

The movie suffers greatly from very uneven pacing, a bloated run time, and an underwhelming villain.

Occasionally fun and constantly deranged, it’s a film that could have been much more with a modicum of restraint. I gave the worms a shot, but I think I’ll stick to eating worms of the gummy variety.

Behind the pseudo-intellectual curtain of Philippe’s pseudo-documentary, you will not find a wizard. You will find nothing at all.

Strictly for hardcore horror fans, though I can see this also becoming a huge “dare you to watch it” event for the uninitiated. We haven’t had a movie this dangerous in the theaters in a long time, and its presence is both important and historical in the history of extreme cinema. This movie will bite your face off.

As it progresses – and Smith cunningly makes it feel like the film attains a life of its own, guided not by directorial hands but by fate itself – Sr. becomes a touching ode to a formidable individual whose countercultural comedies influenced generations of filmmakers.

Gabby Giffords Won’t Back Down is powerful, inspirational, and emotional, a must-watch.

Fingers in the Wind is not an easy viewing experience because of the slow pacing and ambiguity. But the cast and Murdoch’s originality in both technique and narrative make it a worthwhile journey for me. I look forward to seeing where the director’s filmmaking career goes from here.

Raymond Lewis: L.A. Legend needs to be seen by basketball fans everywhere because the man’s name deserves to be in the history books for his talent/determination, as well as for being a cautionary tale.

Polley attempts to tackle the issue from multiple angles – how male toxicity is passed down to helpless youth by their elders, for example – but ends up running in circles.

While the narrative and the characters are derivations of several aspirations, this still feels original and new. It’s a fun watch; the only hope is that Mukerji and the team will make a cleverer and more rational entry the next time out.

I’m here simply for the brilliant performance of Cate Blanchett. She’s imperfect, incredibly flawed, and a villain who doesn’t know it.

Thanks to the cast and crew, this flamboyant tale of lavishness works on almost every level. At the heart of Pretty Problems lies a story about appreciating what you have and not relying on the compliments of strangers to influence your self-worth.

If you like action, then you’re going to have fun, but this is by no means a perfect movie and doesn’t stack well against old-school MCU (everything up to phase three). Its weakness lies in the by-the-book story and does nothing to overcome the superhero fatigue we’ve been feeling for a while.

While the familial drama is more engrossing than the terrorist plot, Deierling is at least ambitious and swings big. Plus, the acting is superb, so the two halves still work together.

The double-edged sword with Smile and its popularity means there may be a sell-by date after which many of the harrowing sequences become subsumed into popular culture and will no longer feel fresh upon initial viewing. This isn’t the film’s fault, but such is often the case when the public gets a hold of a work of art. See it with a crowd, and see it soon.

The Pez Outlaw has something for everyone. It’s a crime thriller, rom-com, family drama, corporate espionage flick. It is also a sincere and loving look into the Pez collecting community, which is full of the sweetest people imaginable. This is the kind of film you’d show to someone who doesn’t like documentaries to change their mind. It is that good and powerful.

For the more casual viewer who is craving a traditional tear-jerker, this drama more than fits the bill.

The opening sequence is an amazing horror scene and sets a tone that the rest of the movie doesn’t even try to follow until the climactic finale.

Midwives partially plays like a feature film, especially in its second half, when it takes a more contemplative approach with emotional “slice of life sequences” and moves swiftly across years with touches of humour.

I recommend the film wholeheartedly to lovers of weirdo cinema, for people who don’t expect films to follow a strict format, and for those who love the art of writing for film. The screenplay by Emigholz is a behemoth that somehow doesn’t crash, although it seems like it could at any given moment.

The best thing about the film is the repeat viewing value.

Robin de Levita’s adventurous first film is a wild ride that goes for broke in all the best ways. As such, it should not be missed.

After watching the documentary, I hope that as critiques of the male gaze become more and more mainstream, audiences will see through the many cliches and understand the ideology objectifying women in cinema. And as they gaze back, I hope we all realize that they have complex stories to tell.

Despite the greatness of Lloyd, the acting overall comes across as a bit stiff. There are a lot of fresh faces here, so it’s to be expected. Your level of enjoyment of Spirit Halloween: The Movie will probably vary based on your expectations coming in. I kept mine low and had some fun with the spooky cheesiness of it all.

Lowen does a masterful job of presenting the anti-choice movement without spin.

The set design and production value are top-notch, which makes it even more jarring that the production sounds so modern and American. It is taken to such extremes as to be its downfall. It somehow seems less believable because we’re ever aware of being manipulated. It is a shame because, in this case, the real truth was so much stranger than fiction.

Sissy ultimately doesn’t break any new genre ground, but Barlow and Senes embrace these tropes rather than try to avoid them.

Its complicated story, hero, and visual style are a great reminder of the beautiful thrillers birthed during the Golden Age of Hollywood, albeit with the help of modern technology to pull it off with a modest indie budget.

Despite, or perhaps because of, the graphic imagery, this feature is a brilliant look at obsession and the possible grisly endpoint of reductio ad absurdum.

The writer-director’s perverse, continuous, and purposeful avoidance of any semblance of genuine emotion or coherence results in an aggressively unpleasant experience.

West’s bold, stylish direction and brilliant use of color and shadow push Pearl into a whole different level of horror. Goth carries the picture with a bit of acting that is subtle and over-the-top at the same time. How? I don’t know, but I know it works wonders.

Those seeking more adventurous, cerebral, inspired stuff will get a helluva kick.

While Dead for a Dollar may not make one toss out their copy of The Searchers, it’s still a refreshing change of pace seeing three excellent actors in an uncommon genre. When it comes to its originality, though, we’re left watching the tumbleweeds float on by.

Ultimately, Blonde is a recommend but loaded with caveats and disclaimers. It’s not for everyone. Its artistic visuals and Ana de Armas’ spot-on performance as Marilyn Monroe is worth seeing, but the almost three hours of emotional trauma may be a hard pass for most.

The story of these three athletes with big dreams is truly incredible and will open viewers’ eyes to the hardships faced not only by international players trying to make their way in American sports but all athletes.

Ten Tricks is a sweet, goofy little comedy about sex. If that or any of the stars appeal to potential audience members, then prepare for a sexy and silly time.

What We Leave Behind is about generations passing on their hard-earned wisdom. It offers an insider’s glimpse into our neighbor’s culture. Some may find its lack of emotional peaks – save for, perhaps, the ending – exasperating, while others may regard it as a well-edited and shot home movie. But look a little deeper. There’s real poetry here.

One wishes that the directors would have devoted more time to his past, how he came to be interested in Philosophy, and how he came to harness it as a tool useful in conflict resolution. Even still, McAverey and his staff’s love for the children comes through clearly.

For those who have read any of the McDonald adventures with the reporter (there are nine, not including the “Son of Fletch” novels), Confess, Fletch feels much more authentic. Hamm is given one of the biggest sandboxes yet for his talent and he pulls it off. Here’s hoping for future chapters.

Guzmán’s skills as a documentarian have not eroded one bit. His soft narration reminds one of Werner Herzog sans his, at times, metaphysical excesses. The director captures incredible footage of the protests as a functioning organism, a sublime wave of furious power.

Considering everything that MacKay and Hewlett attempt and successfully pull off, the minor imperfections of The Swearing Jar are particularly easy to overlook.

Invisible Demons is tough to watch because of the shocking images and facts presented, but it is done with purpose. The purpose is that we all need to start living cleaner and healthier lives so we can avoid getting to the point of no return.

Despite obvious tension between the two groups of characters and the considerable bloodbath that follows at the lakeside, Camping Trip does not formulate a dark, horrifying atmosphere or a psychologically-heavy tension.

This is a poignant examination of the many forms of love. Even if one isn’t totally on board with the lifestyle at the center, it makes it hard not to wonder what that seemingly mild-mannered couple you know might be up to when the shades are drawn.

Living is a good remake and a solid film on its own merits.

Even with some pacing issues, this is a thoughtfully written and beautifully shot thriller.

It raises interesting questions about cults of personality, our inability to deal with aging, and how we can use the people around us to get what we want. That’s not exactly surrealism, nor is it realism. It’s just Hollywood.

Characters are keenly observed and come front and center over the plot. Anything can happen. Absurdity reigns supreme. Yet, at the end of the day, we know a little more about the human condition after seeing it bursting at the seams.

This drama is about a real war, actual people, and things that matter. While it probably won’t make a billion dollars at the box office, for my money, a true story well told in a heartfelt way is invaluable and important.

The uninitiated may wonder what the fuss is about, but for the true Fassbinder Heads out there, Peter von Kant is a revelation. Ozon has made one of the best homages to a master filmmaker ever made.

The movie is never funny, scary, spooky, or interesting. Bakalova and Davidson are trying their best but cannot buoy the picture. Badly lit, poorly shot, and sporting even worse dialogue, the film offers nothing to anyone, though it thinks it has something important to say. Pretentious and dull is the worst combination.

The title subject in Maya and the Wave is so graceful and elegant that you can almost forget the Herculean struggle that made it possible.

A lack of flash or energy does nothing to detract from the sheer depth of film exploration present in The Story of Film: A New Generation.

Syms’ debut is anything but desperate; au contraire, this is the mark of a relaxed, confident filmmaker with a long, bright future.

Clemons does a fantastic job of making tense moments very believable.

Riotsville, U.S.A. brilliantly uses the aesthetic of its archival footage to not only place us in a historical era but also to inform, to critique state power.

This shameless excuse for children’s entertainment would be a blemish on any hack’s resume.

Part of the problem with Moonage Daydream is that it is trying too hard.

Decision to Leave deals with the biggest subjects humans have to grapple with: love, sex, and death, and does so in what amounts to a serious, dramatic fashion.

LaBute rewards patient viewers with two amazing lead performances, crackling dialogue, and genuine suspense. While the film might be flawed, it is imminently watchable.

Blind Ambition has plenty of drama to make a wine tasting engaging for even the most devout tea-totaller.

Loving Highsmith is about loving Highsmith and all that implies. As such, it gets the job done perfectly.

Empathy and balance is the reason you must see This Land.

The Book of Delights is the meeting of mindful deconstruction and visual intrigue about falling and being in love.

The only thing lacking, in this case, is the pay-off in actual scares. Surrogate is a worthwhile journey that held my attention throughout, with top-notch performances from a mostly female cast.

For an ultra-low-budget Indie horror comedy, The Day After Halloween provides a good share of laughs and jolts.

Everything in Easter Sunday is played for laughs… crazy family, wacky mob thriller, and lots of cameos. It’s all good, light fun. See it because you’re a fan of Jo Koy or just to get to know a little more about your Filipino brothers and sisters.

Couple the brilliant construction with the intense performances from Saboia and Fasanaro, and we have one of the more memorable foreign romance films in recent memory.

A moderately fun B-flick masquerading as an “elevated” genre piece, it doesn’t quite bury itself but never quite finds its footing either.

Despite budgetary limitations, Dawn Breaks Behind the Eyes perpetually surprises with its ability to keep all its plates spinning throughout its kaleidoscopic journey.