1408 isn’t great cinema, but does an adequate job in spite of its flaws.

A smooth ride boils down to a claptrap, 'Usual Suspects'-style finale.

Simple, it is as by-the-books formulaic as can be, and there's not a surprise around that the corner that isn't obvious immediately.

Marull's Pilar is quietly powerful and agonizingly terrorized as the '50s-style wife muted and bound by duty.

Worth seeing for its solid first two acts, some terrific acting by some favorite character actors, and a several solid spook-show scares.

There isn’t a subtle bone in its body, and some of the acting choices are poor, but it’s pleasant enough.

Stevan Mena nonetheless is adept at creating images that disturb and disgust on levels most horror filmmakers can only dream of.

The screenplay has a strong sense of fun but after establishing its concept and characters it doesn't know where to take them.

There’s no denying the filmmaking mastery on display, but perhaps Min-ho could make his future history lessons a little more approachable.

Don’t come looking for scares either: possessed narcissistic actors choking themselves over and over isn’t all that frightening. The script, by Luke Baines and Nick Simon, just can’t find any new, intriguing ground to cover. As a comedy, however, the feature is infinitely more effective.

Dead-on for Cronenberg fans though the mutant reptile and amphibian factory might be a tad(pole) too much for the squeamish at heart.

Director Marc Rosenbush gets the absolute most he can out of his no-budget-friendly, minimalist location and a solid, if unremarkable cast.

Insanely inventive and brimming with exceptional performances, The Saddest Music in the World is as audacious as it is entertaining.

A consuming and stimulating work and a theoretical thriller, it is a film which could only be created by a remarkably skillful filmmaker.

I love sex with strangers! Yeah, the film is cool too. But damn, do I love sex with strangers!

The 3D visuals are an enormous part of MVA's experience and they also help to cover up the lackluster “comedy.”

As Leth overcomes each obstacle set before him, the film becomes a work of extraordinary artistry, intellectual exhilaration, emotional uplift, and outright affection.

While its heart is in the right place and the cast gives powerful performances, Things Behind the Sun doesn't shed any new viewpoint or perspective on the subject matter.

This is a low-key, indie take on a well-worn genre; one that frequently resorts to scatological humor and easy targets, making for an odd mix of the sophisticated and crass.

Once you become accustomed to her material and begin to anticipate it, some of the shine comes off the act.

A film about a family billed as "bizarrely dysfunctional" – is a pleasant enough experience. However, it probably could have used a little more of the bizarre or dysfunctional to spice things up.

There's a natural authenticity to the film that makes it intensely watchable, even though it's repetitive and slightly underwritten.

A young man wanders the streets looking for love. There you have most of the plot of Julián Hernández's masterful debut feature. But what a rich cinematic journey this is!

While the film boasts an all Chinese cast, the story, culturally, is pretty tame.

Yumiko Shaku as Yuki is small, beautiful, and stunningly sexy while she plies her deadly skill like a dancer. Her self-assured poise and large expressive eyes say everything that the minimal dialogue doesn’t.

Renfield is a good movie that squanders its potential to be great.

Dan Habib certainly has noble intentions in mind with Intelligent Lives. The energetic, ambitious young people at its core are a joy and discovering where they wind up is sweet. However, the documentary never goes far enough to explain vital elements in the civil rights advancements for those with disabilities, and the directing style fails to generate forward momentum.

There is energy to this film that is somewhat different from Nunez's others. Along with a terrific cast, Nunez keeps the action driving forward: dangerous, sexy, and conflicted.

The Bank Job secures the viewer’s attention pretty quickly and does not relinquish that hold for a second.

To be sure, The Love Guru is incredibly funny. Side-splitting laughter only stops when the movie does, so don't expect it to linger all the way to the parking lot.

Anytime the characters aren’t actively trying to kill each other, it feels like the directors just got bored and are marking time till they can get to the “good part.”

A genuinely brilliant cast--Robin Wright Penn and Katie Holmes are especially notable--distinctive camerawork, and terrific art design all contribute to this unique blend of fantasy and reality that truly transports the viewer to a magical realm.

Scodelario carries the film with an energetic, no-holds-barred performance. She’s in almost every shot, planning out escapes and outwitting the reptiles, and she gives it her all.

Lord of Misrule might just be the most effective outing for the director yet. It possesses an earnestness and polish that affords audiences a morbidly fun and familiar film yet still manages to turn a few expectations on their ears precisely when they need it.

The fascinating visuals and performances by Leung and the assortment of actresses like Gong, Zhang Ziyi and Maggie Cheung ensure that the film is still worth watching.

A soulful soliloquy about the fragility of memory and starting over, Brian Cavallaro’s 32 Weeks sails along smoothly until a storm of an ending sends it sinking into melodramatic—and oddly gruesome— depths.

Kill Ben Lyk manages to be entertaining and inconsequential in equal measures. Give it a shot.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom is exactly what you think it’ll be. Whether that’s a good thing or a bad thing is up to you.

Folks read comics for enjoyment, not to admire how well the pictures are drawn, and the same axiom can be directed here with audiences likely to admire the work that’s gone into this film -- rather than joyously enjoying the film itself.

Never too dreary, Sherman's Way is a pleasant drama-comedy that's just fun to watch, much like a laid-back drive during the summer; it's not about where you're going, or how you'll get there, but just about how it feels to be in the car driving.

The revelation of the film's mystery just barely makes sense. Yet, we dismiss it as an extended MacGuffin, and thus can delight in the film's devious turns.

With two of the three engines effective, Twelve and Holding unfortunately breaks down by trying to wrap up its problems too neatly. In this vision of early adolescence, the script throws in solutions when the preteens are still feeling out their issues.

Portraying the same 1945 confrontation from the vantage point of the Japanese was an inspired idea. Unfortunately, the movie it inspired is something of a letdown.

There is humor, drama, and sexual indiscretion, with entertaining and sometimes insightful moments, but the themes are so narratively ill-defined that it never gels.

This is a gentle, understated character-driven piece that has more in common with European romantic dramas than those made in this country as a rule.

Waiting… is only intermittently funny, but when it is, it's hilarious.

This is the kind of film where you think you can predict everything that’s going to happen upon the first shot and you spend the rest of the film praying that you’re wrong. But it’s fun getting there.

A moving and stark reminder that the casualties of war reach much further than we imagine.

Smart and full of sharply drawn characters and wonderfully snappy dialogue.

Patrick Sheane Duncan's script deftly weaves together the stories of Serling and Walden, and Zwick remarkably sidesteps the trap of sticky sentiment--an idea further carried forth by Ryan's admirably against-type (and shamefully unsung) performance.

Fascinating as it is to see the sheer drive and determination of a man who builds his persona with unwavering dedication, Loudmouth can appear somewhat hagiographical in its approach. Sharpton is too fearless for such a style and has never shied away from confronting those who are angered by his words, for, as Dr. King once said, “In order to love your enemies, you must begin by analyzing self.”

While the images presented here are peerless, James Nachtwey is a fascinating individual and it is a shame we cannot learn more about the man behind these extraordinary images.

What Swinging Safari lacks in the story is made up in originality and a satisfying art direction.

What might just be this film's greatest strength is how it shows that no matter how "different" we might appear to be on the outside, what's on the inside is what provides our common bonds.

A Gen-Z Bonnie and Clyde, Marmalade takes big, admirable swings, and while it misses some, it avoids the cardinal sin of being boring.

While I could probably spend an entire weekend watching Milla twirl her kukris, it's obvious from the rather lazy pacing that Anderson is growing increasingly self-indulgent with his creation.

Imagine a blend of "The Wizard of Oz," "Beetlejuice" and "Roadside Prophets" and you'll know exactly what Wristcutters is like.

While this is far from an avant-garde, ingenious flick, it uses a dependable formula that’ll definitely deliver.

While not a classic by any means, is still a mostly entertaining experience.

Slow paced, but interesting.

A lyrical poem to the lost places in our past and our heritage.

What it makes up for with sheer visual magic it lacks in coherent plotline.

It is hard not to recommend anything starring Rogowski, an actor so unique in approach and delivery that I always relish the opportunity to see him in a major role. I wouldn’t necessarily go so far as to say that he saves Luzifer entirely, but he certainly makes it watchable.

Despite the many things it does right, atmosphere and casting, mostly, it doesn’t give you any reason to remember it.

McGrath's new film offers a treat for fans of Dickens and moviegoers who love to see a fairly large cast ham it up with delirious abandon.

The Beach Bum is not a terrible movie. The directing is competent, the score is excellent, and the cast is game and hilarious. However, considering who was at the helm, it is not focused enough and winds up with nothing to say.

What I loved about Lanthimos’ earlier movies was that they moved my heart while making me squirm. With Kinds of Kindness, his Tin Man could use a lot more heart.

The notion of exploring how a young boy views the world through his manipulative older sibling’s eyes – and how poverty affects that developing worldview – is not a bad one. It’s just delivered haphazardly. I applaud McAulay’s efforts, but Don’t Tell a Soul is at its best when it’s simply having fun as a silly B-flick. Shut your brain off, enjoy – and, like with any guilty pleasure, don’t tell a soul you liked it.

I generally wince at the thought of a foreign film receiving a Hollywood do-over, but No Reservations satisfactorily Americanizes its German predecessor by taking an originally more serious story and adding to it a lighter, more comedic tone.

By its conclusion, Paranormal Activity: Next of Kin accomplishes its task of delivering a suitable level of scares in time for the witching season.

Good-looking but predictable and schlocky, Mia and the White Lion is ultimately saved from slaughter by its two plucky heroes.

Mailer’s glossy film contains all the expected melodrama that hardcore fans of sports movies have come to expect. Others may wince at the predictability of the plot but are bound to find at least some respite in Shannon’s magnetic performance.

Perkiness Alert! Much of the banter and many of the gags are amusing but Witherspoon cranks the perkiness to off-the-dial levels here and anyone with low tolerance for superpeppy movie do-gooders should consult a physician before viewing.

Europe’s New Faces is a worthy exercise to pull back the curtain on the experience, but it should perhaps be edited down to 90 minutes or so and include some framing context so we know who and what we are seeing and why the migrants chose to make this trip.

Consisting of three segments, this hit-and-miss cinematic jumble imagines our world being taken over by the titular otherworldly gateways. Their origins and purpose remain ambiguous throughout, which some may find tantalizing, while others will deem infuriating.

Game Changers does a formidable job of patiently tracing the history of game shows from their very inception to the current deluge of such shows on TV.

To its favor, the film is blessed with strong peformances by Ozgu Namal as Meryem and Murat Han as Cemal.

A must for any true rock aficionado.

Director Darren Aronofsky, creates an eerie "Eraserhead"-like world that keeps the film compelling even when it digresses into a silly cat-and-mouse psychodrama.

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

Director Juho Kuosmanen excels in telling a story that seems entirely believable and realistic, never forced or predictable. The actors are equally talented.

Like Father, Like Son never truly absorbs us in its characters, leaving a lot of food for thought, but little to say on any of it.

The film is loaded with enough curious twists and turns to keep your eyes glued to the screen to see who lives, who dies, and if anybody is smart enough to close ‘the door’ on their way out.

If you’re going in hoping for something the whole family can genuinely connect with on a deeper level, you’ll be disappointed. It’s a kids’ movie, plain and simple, and there’d be no way I’d see this if I didn’t have kids.

Waltzing with Brando never gives Zane the opportunity to go deeper, which makes for a forgettable film and a lost opportunity for what could have been the role of a lifetime.

Ultimately, Vanquish falls into the cliché of typical action films, where the focus is on the action, and the story is a way to string the action together

There’s a lot of silliness that will warm the hearts of Rom-Com fans. The silliness at least is high brow with Paul Feig at the helm and Emma Thompson part of the writing team.

Instead of a taut coming-of-age drama, we seem to have gotten a surfing movie that happens to have a skeleton of a story.

It’s perfectly entertaining, it’s just not going to win any Oscars, but it doesn’t need to, it’s a summer movie for fans of the comic and adults who still feel like kids. If that’s you, go see it!

Up to the final scene, the film seems to just barely miss the mark in the place where it could have thrived. The ending is somewhat puzzling with the assumption that the audience would make a connection to what happens with David, but instead, it just left questions.

The film is as intimate as it can be, but at times, feels like an invasion of privacy.

Most Westerns like to have a slow burn, but not this one. Canfield includes constant action here that keeps the story from dragging. The nice thing is that the action is there not just to have action, it has a purpose and helps the narrative move along.

Tabernacle 101 is undeniably entertaining in a trash-tv sort of way.

Although Great Great Great might not be as gripping and memorable as its name indicates, it manages to uniquely capture the essence of the lives of middle-class young adults trying to come to terms with the fact that their journeys will be very different from their parents’ and that nothing is as easy it seems in this trying time.

1st Summoning‘s final act plays like one of the better-quality segments from the V/H/S franchise, and it suggests that this filmmaking team might have been better represented by an all-killer-no-filler short subject rather than a feature.

Maybe Banderas wanted to capitalize on the popularity of the Taken or John Wick franchises, which is entirely understandable. For a man used to covering a wide range of genres, the role of the older action star is one with a certain degree of cultural cache. The Enforcer, though, just isn’t the right vehicle.

The Outsider puts a spin on the western drama but quickly falls back into the conventional tropes of the genre. It best to approach The Outsider knowing that its primary focus is on the story and not action.