It is the show-stealing performance of Alicia Vikander that brings everything together.

He has the capacity to both enlighten and infuriate simultaneously, making it impossible to take our eyes away from the beautifully shot trainwreck before us. American Dharma is the height of that signature Errol Morris style.

Unfortunately, Black Sheep takes so long to get going and misses so many easy opportunities for classic comedy it has to be regarded as a noble failure.

Though I don’t think 100 Days to Live is necessarily a PSA on suicide prevention, it’s a damn good thriller. I’m still thinking about the morality of that ending even now.

Although the main narrative thrust may seem redundant for the genre, this perspective makes this well worth watching. This is especially true thanks to good humor, interesting family and community dynamics, and the lead’s convictions which have been decently constructed.

The Dying Gaul is Craig Lucas's film directing debut, and it's impressive. The film never feels one bit like a stage adaptation.

While I appreciate getting a cult classic a new coat of 4K to be mean for the stream in fine fashion, Caligula: The Ultimate Cut is not your grandpa’s Caligula.

Stir all of those ingredients together, and you have a production fuelled by countless hours of maneuvering a gamepad and the real-life trials and tribulations of those on the human side of the video screen.

Unfortunately, this horror gem won't even receive the same fate as a crappy "Children of the Corn" sequel, that of ending up on the back shelf of the local Blockbuster. This all but guarantees, that some kid won't accidentally come upon it and scare the crap out of himself. And that's just sad.

An unusual angle on the age-old coming of age story. Filled with solid performances by veteran actors Ivey and Raymond, as well as a captivating performance by newcomer Grace.

An over-the-top celebrity cartoon of cool and a tilt-a-whirl of fun.

Horror movies usually aim to scare, entertain, and teach us. Amulet mostly does all three. Very nicely done.

This film felt more like an “afterschool special.” What I mean by that is that this movie felt very “safe."

The comedic drama is insightful, touching, and relatable, permitting viewers the ability to resonate with its every line, moment, and character.

As a comedy, Mark, Mary & Some Other People keeps the laughs light and the story grounded.

While not breaking any molds or revealing a side to addiction that many films haven’t before, Stay Awake tastefully captures how devastating it can be for family members.

The crux of the story rests on the relationship between David and Nic, and Carell and Chalamet truly bring the characters to life with their raw, humanistic performances indicative of the open wounds displayed onscreen. The film nimbly captures the bitter animosity that only arises amongst those whom we love most.

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice is a fantastic return to the world and magic of the original Beetlejuice.

It achieves that magic combination of nuance, depth, and having a big heart that makes it both a crowd-pleaser and a favorite of critics.

It's a simple and sweet-natured movie, and one that seems appropriate even for the very young.

Watching how it was a struggle to get people into the seats even before the pandemic and all the stress that Greg and Tish Laemmle endure is a little tough to watch at times, but Only in Theaters is essential viewing for every filmgoer.

The Children Act is a masterpiece from beginning to end and it should not be missed.

A competently calibrated feel-good machine. It's as effective as anything on The Lifetime Channel. Which is likely where this project would have wound up were it not for the involvement of Washington.

Not since the heyday of Fellini, I dare say, has there been such a merrygoround of a movie.

A rich drama that gradually evolves into a feel-good story.

Do You Trust This Computer is informative at the least. Everyone and everything comes off as credible, and the philosophy comes off as plausible. It effectively plants the seeds of paranoia.

Brian’s Song can melt the hearts of the coldest, most emotionally stunted men in the universe, leaving them sobbing in delicate, weeping hordes of sadness. It’s the Old Yeller of adult males, and no real man will ever fault another for getting a bit misty in it’s presence.

It’s refreshing to see an animated film remain true to its audience and avoid becoming a Disney-clone. Diaper-loads of fun.

It's clear right away that The Roost is no hack job. It's made by people who have a major love for the genre and generally anything that goes bump in the night.

Successful in kicking off a largely amusing and visually engaging franchise.

Incredible because for a 100 minute movie, Alexandra's Project passes like 30. Incredible also that most of those 100 minutes take place in a single living room. It's the tension and performances that pull you through, never letting your attention stray from what's going down on-screen.

It's a touching story of father and son type male bonding -- male bonding with Nick Nolte no less -- that's bound to find some audience members blubbering by film's end.

Reconfigured into a very different one-woman movie by Gibson and director Jeremy Kagan. Unfortunately, the transformation was not successful.

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've never been a fan, but in the space of a couple hours the Woodster gives both an explanation AND the finger to ALL of his critics. This is mean-spirited fun, just the way we like it!

There is no emotional manipulation, and there are no ideological hand-outs. You almost feel like you’re watching the events unfold through a keyhole, which gives every hushed exchange and passive-aggressive examination a voyeuristic thrill.

Mehta skillfully navigates both the tender sequences and the more devastating ones. Aided by Howard Shore's rousing musical score, she portrays a beautiful country ripped apart by social violence. Her film serves as an ode to those who either died or were forced into exile for having the courage to express their true identities.

This Scottish film often pushes for realism, though its stylish tones fall back on whimsy.

Not unlike its predecessor -– might be hard to swallow, but it’s so delicious you just can’t help but want more. Not unlike one of those gobstoppers you can find in any candy store -- Hard to chew, nice to endure, if you will.

Good news is that most of the marvelous English dialogue cast from the Cowboy Bebop series has returned for the film. The bad news is that the heart and soul of the series hasn’t.

At 90 minutes or so, with the needless pseudo-artistic embellishments and tautology tossed out, Armand would have been an intense and cerebral little psychological nail-biter.

I’ve Got Issues brings to mind the zaniness of Quentin Dupieux, with a dash of Todd Solondz’s existentialism and the off-kilter freestyle nature of David Cross and Bob Odenkirk’s stuff. If you find one of the bits redundant, its brevity ensures another one is coming right up.

If you’re in the mood for some mindless zombie entertainment (pun intended), then Wyrmwood: Apocalypse has got you covered.

The adaptation of Penelope Fitzgerald’s 1978 novel The Bookshop by Spanish director Isabel Coixet (My Life Without Me, Elegy, Learning To Drive) is not devoid of plot disturbances but provides fair moments of gorgeous filmmaking and acceptable entertainment.

Saved! is just a sweet and funny movie that starts off with bite but settles into an honest feeling of happiness and acceptance for all types of people and their choices.

Hate crimes, racial tensions, economic strife, illegal immigration, and the preservation of white neighborhoods are familiar issues in this nation, but the crux of the documentary Farmingville is where these issues play out.

Surprisingly good.

Throughout Hadas Ben Aroya’s All Eyes Off Me, we’re privy to a level of intimacy not often seen.

Kitchen Brigade tells us to take risks, be brave, and cook like hell along the way. That is if you can cook. If not, just get someone to do it for you and focus on the life stuff instead.

Ip Man 4: The Finale is a thrilling end to the Ip Man saga. The action is fast-paced, and the fighting is poetic. The story not only brings a modern twist to the legend but is just as relevant today as it was in the 70s.

Director Sabrina Van Tassel does an excellent job of drawing in the audience to the labyrinthian case of Melissa Lucio.

The movie is well-written by Garrel, Carriere, and Langmann. Cinematographer Renato Berta makes the atmosphere in all of its beautiful simplicity. The acting is fantastic.

Let the Corpses Tan is a fiendishly clever, meticulously stylish, lean, comedic thriller. Its sole purpose is to grab you by the lapels and entertain the living hell out of you, boy does it.

The Actor shows how much fun there is in the indie sphere for regional values mayhem to be had.

The joy behind this film is right there in the old-time, exploitation-tinged title.

The Irish humor and setting make for a lovely time with the film as we get a droll glimpse of daily life in Ireland, and things that are lost and found again.

As a cinematic experience, Yomeddine is near flawless, with a skillful direction, an engaging story, a fitting score and a captivating visual, but it particularly has to be praised for its actors.

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

In the end, Plane is a high-adventure thrill ride. Unplug your brain. Suspend disbelief and strap in. No lectures, moralizing, or virtue signaling. Just an everyman trying to get home to his family. It may also serve as motivation to take a few wilderness survival courses.

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

Their chemistry as performers together is particularly noticeable, so it’s a shame more focus wasn’t given to keeping the three of them on-screen together as much as possible.

As impatient as I was with Loggerheads, I can't hate it. The sincerity of its performances is too real; its compassion for its characters is too strong. On the other hand, I haven't mentioned yet that the loggerhead is a species of turtle.

There’s just enough in Black Box to make for a mild goosebump or two this Halloween.

If you’re a big fan of the Farrelly Brothers' films, you should like Stuck on You. If their films repulse you, stay home and rent "The Hours" again.

It's a tough one to recommend to everyone. Just know now this isn't a horror film as they're making it out to be nor is it a true return to form for Friedkin. Even so, it's worth seeing but perhaps as a DVD rental further down the road.

The only obvious question that Oswald’s Ghost raises is: how come Mort Sahl wasn’t in the movie? (If you don’t get that joke, you need to brush up on your Kennedy conspiracy lessons.)

This delicately observed story, deeply felt and masterfully stylized, is a triumph for its maverick director.

Ihara and Aw’s love story feels real and plays well as represented through fine cuisine.

A Glitch in the Matrix is timely and full of mystery and wonder, but lingering on descriptions of surreal subjective experience misses the point. This would be a much more interesting movie if it had more focus on the science of simulation theory.

Throughout Sick, Williamson decisively proves that breaking all the rules sometimes breaks the movie.

Destroyer is a good film, but it is Kidman’s nuanced performance that takes it to the next level.

By turns infuriating, charming, wistful and annoying, Kwik Stop winds up a touching, if frustrating film.

May not exactly be an innovative film, but it most certainly is a lovable one.

Ararat isn't a great film because it's too convoluted and personal at times, but it's a showcase of technical mastery; the way Egoyan interweaves the stories of the historical recreation, the relationship between the son and his stepsister and the mystery of the art historian's dead husbands, is endlessly compelling.

A film that's every bit as odd, unique, and unnerving as its title character.

Will ultimately be remembered more for the trademark Anderson look than for any of its characters or any emotional impact.

Isn't nearly as fresh, suspenseful or witty as it's inaugural bloodfest, but it does offer enough blood and breasts to keep Craven and Williamson in business for a few more arterial sprays.

For a comedy, it isn't that funny. For a thriller, it isn't that thrilling. In short, it would have been a much better movie if focused on either/or.

The filmmaker, doing a lot with an extremely limited cast and location, has a concrete vision and sticks with it, and whether you get it or not is up to you. A character in the film, when confronted, states: “Big question. Too long to answer.” That pretty much summarizes this cinematic endeavor.

Still Life in Lodz is at its best when the rich history of Lodz takes center stage. There are some downright beautiful establishing shots that get bogged down by aggressively overbearing music choices and repetitive information. The amount of archive footage and animation does nothing but pad out the already minimal runtime. This type of story doesn’t need these gimmicks and grandiose moments since they clash horribly with the previously set up atmosphere.

Awfully funny, with surprisingly potent social commentary just underneath the quirkiness.

In the end, nothing about The Interpreter strikes us as very original.

Grim and frequently depressing, and despite the artistry of its framing it nonetheless is a very difficult movie to endure.

You can expect the same defecation and drug humor that crud up comedies of this ilk. Of course, its vacuity is intentional, and maybe we could always use more movies of the women-behaving-badly variety. But there’s also a real danger in perpetuating this type of teenage girl; it propagates the idea that, for women, defiance is power, radicalism is freedom, and being really hot is often all you need to survive.

Jackson gives an amazing, nuanced performance as he teeters on the edge of paranoia. Spacey gives a great, toned-down show as I guy who's in over his head trying to find out what the hell is going on.

There is nothing wrong with grade-A prime aged Angus beef, but sometimes all you really want is a McDonald’s hamburger. “Major League” is the quarter pounder with cheese of baseball movies. There’s nothing original about it, all the characters are stolen from other books or movies, but it understands the longings of a starved baseball town, and manages to wring out plenty of laughs from familiar situations.

Actually one of the better comedies I've seen this year speaks volumes for the quality of the performances and the caliber of the script.

As a violent, supernatural adventure, the film should attract both action and horror enthusiasts alike, yet Evans ends up slightly short of thrills and ambiguity, which are always valuable aspects of the genre.

Stiller is laugh-out-loud funny from start to finish and anyone that may quibble about plot minutiae, is just not ready to have a good time.

Stop-Loss is a bit uneven. Mixed messages abound.

By preserving the core narrative, characters, and emotional arc of the original, the live-action remake remains true to its roots. Though the cast is new, the heart of Hiccup and Toothless’s friendship still soars.

It’s a crisp piece of entertainment that was worth waiting for, considering that I’ve been waiting quite a long time to see this ever since reading the book.

I think that All The Bright Places is a beautiful film. You will probably cry, but it will be worth it.

Go with the somewhat far-fetched concept, get past the overt sentimentality, and you’ll find a true crowd-pleaser.

The Year Between culminates with a beautifully emotional scene, but the journey to get there is a challenge, much like for those who are suffering from a number of mental health issues. But the performances and the overall message of empathy made it worth it all for me.

It’s rare that something as formulaic as an action thriller could be so moving.

It is not only the year's best documentary, but it is also among the finest films ever made about religion.

To complain about the lack of originality is to ignore the real wit and joy behind this very fun film.