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.