The acting is subdued, nothing over the top, but captures a realism not normally seen in the bigger-budget films.

In Dune: Part 2, Denis Villeneuve is a sci-fi visionary. He built two massive worlds (on a relatively modest budget) that give you a sense of place rather than feel like a series of random locations. Villeneuve gives us a seamless image, blending the real with CGI. The care and detail make everything feel practical.

Terezin is a compelling WWII tale that finds a new way to approach the evils the Nazis perpetuated upon an undeserving people. The direction is splendid, and the cast is magnificent.

Nomadland is a wonderful exploratory mission into real American life.

Red Right Hand fully delivers in the action realm.

This is an atmospheric and beautifully crafted horror film, with its brains firmly on the inside.

578 Magnum does not tell a fresh tale, and the editing leaves a lot to be desired. But Dinh delivers where it counts: the action. The action scenes are stellar and will take the audience’s breath away. The cast is also great and delivers their martial arts with intensity.

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

In terms of narrative, writing, and performance, the flick is hardly lousy to watch and will leave an impression, though it may not be everlasting.

Glazer’s film is marked by supremely judged restraint.

This is exactly the kind of movie that improves on subsequent viewings, allowing you to enjoy it more once you accept the narrative on its own terms.

Kim Jee-woon’s film is smart and full of laughs but comes up against profound issues created by its gaming of reality.

The immense length and repetitive format can sometimes make the film feel like an endurance test. To say that its pacing is glacial would be unfair to the melting ice caps.

Although sincere and well-crafted, the repetitive lethargy of A Still Small Voice would perform much better in a short art film, not a full-length feature.

Onlookers is a novel exercise in audio and visual presentation. Natural light, loads of wild sound, and the environment of Laos are presented plainly with zero artifices or embellishments. If you’re looking for a new kind of travel film, this is for you.

The documentary is a deeply meditative look at what it means to truly live with purpose and meaning.

Modernism, Inc: The Eliot Noyes Design Story is well-crafted and educational. Its deep dive into corporate culture design is fascinating.

The space stuff is secondary to a powerful tale, insightful dialogue, and brilliantly developed characters. It’s the perfect nerdy date movie.

It is exciting in ways you cannot imagine and must be seen to be believed.

It’s refreshing to see a sex comedy that recognizes that it’s really not all that simple for all of us.

Paradise City is a fun and lightweight tale for an evening of Hulu and chill. It’s not going to change the world, but it’s entertaining enough, especially considering Willis’s recent retirement.

Handling the Undead is more of a philosophical journey than a survival journey.

Porcelain War is an engaging, timely look at art, war, homeland pride, and the resilience of the human spirit. While it is not subtle, it is impactful and never dull.

Popular Theory is an amusing film with just enough heart to be more than a one-time watch.

She Is Conann shatters the limits of cinematic imagination.

Prison films are an underrated genre, and Pino’s film is a more than worthy addition to the great family of films that take place behind bars.

Disco Boy is not your average war drama, or sociopolitical study, or character dissection, or psychedelic trip. It’s all of those things, and Giacomo Abbruzzese wouldn’t have it any other way.

All the actors are superb in their characterizations and limited sets.

It is fascinating how Elordi takes something so deadly and still manages to maintain a shimmering vulnerability.

The cast is a high point for the film, elevating the narrative and adding extra personality to each character.

The twists and turns happen right on point to keep the lively meter cranked up to a wicked level. You don’t even get that feeling that you watched half a movie like with other two-part pictures, as all the crescendos you need are included here.

Exhibiting Forgiveness is a must-see movie for its universal message of family…and for the great performances and art. Kaphar will immerse you in pain and guide you to hope in the end.

The director walks the delicate tightrope of emotions so that every new development makes previous scenes all the more intense

Good One is a carefully crafted character study. It’s brought to life by perfectly calibrated performances, led by the young but brilliant Lily Collias. This is one hike everyone should experience.

The characters feel real, the performances are personal, and you really know each character by the closing credits. It’s not the most rewatchable film, but Under the Fig Trees will capture your curiosity and more than satisfy a need for an excellent character-focused drama.

Veni Vidi Vici is doing a lot, but the filmmakers make it all work. Their strict control of the comedy hits the perfect dark tone. The cast is tons of fun, while the writing is a sharp takedown of politics and power in modern-day Austria.

Skywalkers: A Love Story is riveting and engrossing. The cinematography is beautiful, capturing the wonder and danger of being so high. The editing is sublime.

It’s artistic without being pretentious, thoughtful, and elegiac without treading into monotony, beautifully acted without drawing too much attention to its stars.

The Seeding doesn’t rely on jump scares to frighten its viewers because the plot and characters are devilishly creepy on their own.

Miller’s Girl is a stunning debut from Bartlett. The plot is winding and intriguing, with an absolute gut punch of an ending.

Origin is an important movie for this single reason: to make us rethink race in America.

T.I.M. is a satisfying look at the horrors of technology as it integrates with our everyday lives.

Gaucho Gaucho is a celebration of a community of Argentine cowboys and cowgirls who live beyond the boundaries of the modern world.

The whole film is an elegant inquiry into what happens when memory fails or when it just hurts so much it’s easier to try and forget. This portrait of broken people doing their best is an oblique and beautiful thing.

As a documentary, Pasang: In the Shadow of Everest does its heroine justice.

Abigail is a brilliant film showcasing the problem of bullying. The actors add to the weight of the story.

The acting and direction in Lonesome Soldier should appeal to a broad audience, not just those familiar with PTSD and military life and outcomes. In addition, the film is well-shot and scripted, and Jackson Harlow has great screen appeal in every version of himself, along with the film’s supporting cast.

This is a unique holiday horror experience that can be enjoyed year after year.

This is a hidden gem, one that we shouldn’t sleep on.

Bigger, brassier, and gayer than its predecessor, Mean Girls (2024) is a saccharine overload of cinematic bombast.

The screenplay has a lot it wants to say and does so in a fun, murderous way lined with wicked humor. All the actors understood the assignment and successfully pull off their roles.

Bye Bye Tiberias is a powerful portrait of how broken things come back together over and over.

Stripping the glory from gangsterism like chrome from a tailpipe is the pulse-pounding documentary Man On The Run, written and directed by Cassius Michael Kim.

The acting is superb, and the pacing is remarkable. But most importantly, the look into women’s rights, morality, and normalized societal oppression speaks volumes about its country and the road to freedom.

While this is skillfully made in all of its technical aspects, it stands as a missed opportunity for someone of Eom Tae-haw’s talent.

As much as I find Eckhart and Dobrev to be a fun duo surprisingly well-suited for a movie like this, Harlin’s action opus is just begging for a rewrite and a jolt of originality.

There is still life behind the eyes of each weary face and still deep-felt reasons to strive for a better tomorrow, even in the wake of such destruction and desolation.

McQueen has aced the task of translating Stigters’s book, putting her research into an educational and provocative collage and bringing it gracefully to another medium and a wider audience.

The art direction and attention to detail in The Boys in the Boat are beautiful and well done, especially capturing the feathering of the rowing, the splashing and pools of water, and the creek of the rigging as the team of eight turns the oars with muscle and unison.

Silent Night is held back by its time. In 2023, we’ve seen tons of Woo inspirations and imitators; even in his Hong Kong days, Woo could create action-filled cinema with some emotional resonance, but Silent Night can’t keep up. The final battle and stairway shootout save the film, but don’t expect the wall-to-wall action seen in John Wick.

Neither Confirm Nor Deny plays like a Tom Clancy thriller and opens a little-known door in American history.

Neither the meals depicted nor the viewing experience should be rushed. Time is needed for the ingredients of the film to achieve a simmered state of perfection. Your patience will be rewarded.

Instead of establishing and repeating the same flavor, we are presented with a sci-fi-tasting menu of increasing complexity.

Who wants to be subjected to water torture for 2 hours?

What I appreciated about this movie was how it captured trauma and selective memory.

The Iron Claw succeeds because of the human story being told.

The Naughty Nine is a breath of fresh air from the usual holiday fare. Yes, it still has that feel-good message that so many Christmas titles have, but it goes about it uniquely.

A true cinematic gem.

How to Ruin the Holidays reminds us that change, for better or worse, is what makes life worth living.

Portman delivers a compelling and unabashed performance, one that is award-deserving.

Wonka is fluffy, loud, colorful, and goofy. King is not looking to expand on the literary legacy of Roald Dahl; it’s not that serious.

The American Fiction cast is brilliant.

Each personality comes across with honesty and humility as they encounter age, death, and performance without compromise and on their terms or stage of choice.

A Disturbance in the Force covers everything about the Star Wars Holiday Special in such a hilarious and entertaining way that it would make even Darth Vader chuckle. The Force is strong with this one.

It’s A Wonderful Knife is one of those pictures that is so surprisingly good you wish you had seen it in a theater. Plus, this is one spiffy-looking picture.

If you have been fiending all year for a quality drama that shares a different world, then Frybread Face and Me is what you have been waiting for. Luther’s deft screenplay ably gets across a lot of complicated family business in just a few strokes.

The film has an innate sense of wonder in every moving landscape, colorful character, or evocative performance.

Into The Weeds is a most satisfying but frustrating experience. The satisfaction comes from how well-made and engrossing the film proves to be. The frustrations lie in the true story being documented.

Total Trust asks a lot of questions that each of us must answer before it is too late.

The thematic equilibrium within Smoke Sauna Sisterhood does not negate the male gaze. Rather, it asserts the feminine. Through confession and testimony, women become embodied. Witnesses, irrespective of gender, fortify their truth.

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 result, while flawed, is glorious: majestic, atmospheric, visually stunning, led by two charismatic leads. Scott, at 86, shows the young ‘uns how it’s done.

Connecting to humanity as a whole through reading ancient prose and writings and trying to decipher them, Mishory parallels the idea of immigration as not only progress but also survival.

On one hand, it is a good but seemingly typical genre film that has moments of uncanny intelligence. On the other, it is an uncannily intelligent work that eventually settles for simply being a good genre film.

It is a film that, while intelligently conceived, is in no way its own. As such, it struggles to connect with the viewer in any way beyond its aesthetics. This is, in a word, a cold film, lacking the vital spark of originality, the warmth of humanity.

Piątek’s documentary is, at times, a gauntlet of will and endurance. At other times it is a gentle rumination on coming-of-age. No matter what, the film is always incisive, and its character’s journey will linger long after the credits disappear. However, its most significant revelation is that all great things, adored as they are, come with much difficulty, both soft and loud.

Bad Press is a resounding documentary because of its quietness. It considers all the topics of the day — misinformation, government overreach, election scandals, and the list goes on. The filmmakers do so by showing that even the smallest, quietest town matters and that moral decay is always allowed to fester in the little places first.

Saltburn just goes too far, and its startling images shocked me out of the story altogether.

Going To Mars: The Nikki Giovanni Project will school you thoroughly on why this great poet is so damn important.

If you’re a fan of Godzilla, prepare to have your mind blown with Godzilla Minus One. Set your expectations high, and enjoy the ride.

Tropic is, at its core, a tale of brotherly love. It’s a wonderful experience, whether you speak French or need to read the subtitles. It’s masterfully crafted by a great cinematic team and reminds me of the glorious films of the French New Wave.

Andrea Eckerbom’s film effectively fuses fantasy with relatable issues for families during the holiday season.

The leads not only hold everything together, but they also hoist it all up in the air and twirl it around their heads. Gordon shows the richness of his comedic side; his bewilderment is infectious. Way anchors the audience’s perspective in his portrayal of what I took as a cowboy from Sweden. Gladstone is the standout. She holds a power as a western hero that creates a palpable humming sensation up your arms.

If you liked Children of Men, chances are you will enjoy this film. It has the same blend of despondency and lyricism, hope and despair, beauty and violence.

Fans of Roth will gobble, gobble this up.

As a biopic, Cooper elevates it to masterpiece level, worthy of the artistry of Leonard Bernstein. Maestro is a work of art.

Seek out The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. It’s deeply mesmerizing and engrossing. You will not be disappointed in this trip to the Districts.

For a film meant to be a milestone for 100 years of the Walt Disney Company, Wish is a monumental failure.