What's so great about Brain Candy is what's great about every classic comedy: it's thoroughly quotable, infinitely watchable and so rich with detail that you'll be laughing at something new every time you watch it.

Megalopolis is so chock-full of ideas that Coppola’s melding of time periods eventually buckles under its own weight in a controlled demolition that initially confounds, but eventually shatters the screen in thrilling fashion. The film ends up not only being a cautionary tale about the end of empires, but one that likens the Hollywood system to empire as well (or a tyrannical extension of it).

The glee that director James Wan clearly has playing in the world of Aquaman is infectious. He’s made a movie for both types of 10-year-olds: literal kids and those who are 10 at heart. Aquaman is one hell of a popcorn movie.

Violent Night might take a hot minute to find its footing and keeps plucking low-hanging wordplay sugar plums, but at full strength, nobody's stopping Santa from making this year the reddest Christmas imaginable.

Though it starts out as a promising slasher throwback, Clown in a Cornfield struggles with a jokey tone and a political message that lacks teeth.

Though the visual effects aren’t always the best and the third act is a bit overwhelming, strong performances and a refreshing earnestness keep The Flash on track and running circles around many of the recent DC Universe movies. If this is the truly last stop on the Snyderverse express, then it’s a respectable way to go out.

Even Ryan Reynolds and Will Ferrell aren’t charming enough to redeem AppleTV+’s humbug musical adaptation of A Christmas Carol.

Zombieland: Double Tap is a riot, and a lot of that is due to Zoey Deutch and her character, Madison. While it doesn’t quite achieve classic status in its own right, when it comes to sequels that do the original film justice, it is up there. It’s worth the wait, your time and your money.

This is a movie for anyone who has ever loved baseball and for anyone who enjoys the American Graffiti/Stand by Me style of narrative. Highly recommended.

Even though the use of one particular plot device ends up feeling unnecessary and Will Forte can often appear miscast in the lead role, A Futile and Stupid Gesture still conjures up enough real emotions and inventive moments to feel like a worthwhile addition to Hollywood’s often tired biopic subgenre.

While The LEGO Ninjago Movie does venture into overly cliched and cheesy territory at times, the performances of its actors and excited attitude of the material keep it from ever going stale.

Director Jon Favreau's The Lion King is a worthwhile reimagining that relies on nostalgia over risk-taking.

he Secret Life of Pets 2 is a fast-paced string of mostly mediocre jokes that younger audiences will enjoy, but aside from a few centerpieces, there's not much here to capture the attention if you're older than the intended audience.

Two years after triumphing with the Audrey Hepburn masterpiece Breakfast at Tiffany's, Blake Edwards directs this crossed-wires ensemble caper, which stars David Niven as Sir Charles Lytton, a lothario and master criminal pursued by the bumbling Inspector Clouseau (played by Sellers).

Though Jessica Chastain delivers a heartfelt performance as Tammy Faye, her faith in the filmmakers can’t save this drama from falling flat.

Bardo speaks the language of dreams, but it also speaks the language of explaining those dreams in the most boring and literal ways.

The Adam Project is a thoughtful, witty mash-up of all the movies from my childhood. It’s Back to the Future meets The Last Starfighter with a slew of wonderful performances from a cast that clearly loves the concept as much as I do. Ryan Reynolds is on top form as Adam, while Walker Scobell matches him punch for punch with a great debut performance.

Hellraiser is a reinvigorated reboot that gets the blood pumping, starting with Jamie Clayton’s worthy Pinhead performance that sets a fresh tone with immense reverence paid to Clive Barker's works.

Don't Make Me Go features excellent performances from John Cho and Mia Isaac, but it stumbles big at the finish line.

While hardly high cinema, Kickboxer: Retaliation is an enjoyable fight epic with some awesome fighting, great cameos, and hugely impressive stunts.

It takes a little while to get going, but once it does, it never lets up, proving a cathartic anti-authority picture driven (both literally and figuratively) by Howard.

Iron Lung has terrible pacing and very low energy from the start. The scenarios that Fischbach has put his character in just aren’t compelling enough to watch unfold, with scenes that drag on and on.

Another Simple Favor takes its tongue-in-cheek momcore satire to new visual heights by moving the action to coastal Italy. All the best parts of the original are also present here, including Lively and Kendrick’s sparkling chemistry and killer costume design. Not every attempt to expand on the concept is successful, but as a piece of escapist entertainment it’s more clever than most.

Osgood Perkins’ latest dark trip has a powerful Tatiana Maslany performance and cool aesthetics to thank for keeping Keeper from getting completely lost in the woods.

While Beast certainly does little to innovate in the survival thriller genre, it does serve decent fun for fans that want to see Idris Elba fighting a giant, man-hunting lion.

Black Crab has all the ingredients to grab you and take you on a thrill ride -- and at times it achieves this -- but it suffers partial collapse by the end because of its need to land a little loftier than necessary.

After a strong first act, The Conjuring’s intended finale disappoints, keeping its central duo of Ed and Lorraine away from the action for too long.

Spiderhead is loaded with original sci-fi ideas, and while it may not stick the landing, it makes for an intriguing experience.

Zack Snyder’s Justice League is a surprise vindication for the director and the fans that believed in his vision. With a mature approach to its superhero drama, better-realized antagonists, and improved action, Snyder’s version of Justice League saves the movie from the dustbin of history.

Doug Cockle’s return as Geralt of Rivia is a casting coup worth celebrating. Too bad the movie he stars in is so boilerplate.

The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim is a fascinating idea with a lackluster execution, more interesting as a concept than an actual retelling of one of Middle-earth’s famous legends.

At the end of the day, the movie works. It's funny, it's charming, it's sweet – all elements that make it a more accessible comedy than Meyers' later work, which is generally aimed to a more specific audience. It's certainly worth rewatching and holds up well to retrospect, and while it might not be the laugh-a-minute spoof that was the original Austin Powers, it's an amusing – and at times hilarious – look back at the beginning of one comedian's superstar career.

Goodbye Christopher Robin is a good example of how far a film can go with just the talents of its actors and director, even when the script can feel jarring or emotionally uneven.

When it works, it's engaging and there’s just enough to keep you entertained but you can’t help feel the heroes deserve something meatier.

Bad Boys: Ride or Die provides a much more entertaining package than what came before, with thrilling and inventive action direction from Adil & Bilall. Yes, it’s as over the top and silly as ever, but it’s done with more panache and genuine wit than before, proving these Bad Boys, even at their older age, can still deliver.

The filmmakers definitely go for it in the gross-out gag department, with jokes about droppings and marking and red rockets. But beneath the vulgar laughs, this is a comedy nearly as formulaic and sentimental as the sappy tearjerkers it's lampooning. Its bark is worse than its bite.

While trying to hit the basic markers that have come to define a Purge film, The First Purge comes up empty when mining real-life tragedies as the backdrop for a summer movie.

There is a good story to further the violent adventures of Snake along; this is far from it. There are awesome, in-joke-with-your-friends guilty pleasures, and then there's Escape From L.A..

M3GAN 2.0 hotswaps horror for sci-fi/action to mixed results, but M3GAN’s absolutely heinous wit and killer moves leave her, and not the new genres, the star of the show.

An atmospheric, affecting science fiction flick with big ideas, slick execution and a message that will stick with you.

There may be a sort of cutesy premise, and the message about fixing problems without violence might seem a bit innocent these days, but Spies in Disguise is absolutely charming.

I absolutely love the first half of this film. Lister-Jones recaptures the magic of the original by welcoming the audience into a cool coven with warmth and radiant leads. It's a pleasure to tag along with this dynamic squad, whether they're dabbling in telekinesis, flirting with a crush, or taking on the forces of evil and misogyny. Slow-motion of moments awkward, lusty, and celebratory envelop us in the overwhelming emotions of the heady time that is teendom. Sadly, this spirited and powerful path is abandoned to lay the groundwork for a sequel that is -- as far we know -- not a certainty. Such plotting bogs down the rich and rewarding story of friendship, self-acceptance, and growth. Still, that franchise-forward choice aside, this sequel is wickedly fun and bewitching.

Orphan: First Kill doubles down as a prequel about Esther but manages to feel so uniquely standalone thanks to some supreme storytelling swings.

War Machine has just enough juice to prevent it from being a Snore Machine.

It’s gory, fun as hell, packed with hilarious grotesque kills and over-the-top characters, and at 90-ish minutes, it’s paced near perfectly and never overstays its welcome or overdoses on the joke.

Nicolas Cage’s live-wire performance fuels a compelling, if predictable, crime thriller.

It’s not without its charms, but its slow, rote genre elements yield no rewards, robbing Echo Valley of its thrills in the process.

Actors Tom Blyth and Rachel Zegler are brilliant additions to the franchise with equally magnetic takes on their very different characters, but aren’t given enough time to fully flesh them out.

It’s disappointing to see a triad of talented actors like Denzel Washington, Rami Malek, and Jared Leto wasted in The Little Things, a straightforward and seldom surprising murder-mystery.

Even with a strong cast led by Clive Owen and Amanda Seyfried, Netflix's Anon struggles to tell an engaging story.

Tim Miller’s film deftly builds upon what worked in the first two James Cameron-helmed entities while bringing in a new host of characters and circumstances to challenge the course of humankind. While there’s definitely some frantic leap-frogging involved in terms of accepting why some characters have evolved the way they did, Terminator: Dark Fate ultimately succeeds in serving as both a suitable closing chapter for the original two films and a possible gateway to exciting new chapters ahead.

Sam Mendes assembles a creative dream-team for Empire of Light, but ends up with one of the most soulless prestige pictures in years.

A boring, weightless revenge experiment that quickly goes awry, Silent Night features none of the charm or visual panache that made John Woo one of Hong Kong and Hollywood’s foremost action stylists.

In the end this is arguably Jarmusch's first popcorn movie and it's a pretty good one at that.

A Wrinkle in Time is ambitious, hopeful, and imaginative, but it’s also messy, overwrought, and oddly paced.

Conan the Destroyer is not an awful follow-up, just a mostly unnecessary one.

A semi-confusing script and heavy-handed direction from David Ayer muddle the proceedings, but enough inspired pizazz and Statham’s earnest delivery of lines like “I protect the hive” just barely bring it all home.

Thanks to slick screenwriting, stylish art direction, and a sparkling lead performance from Blake Lively, It Ends with Us tackles difficult subject matter with maturity, tenderness, and just a dash of whimsy.

Wrinkles the Clown is a documentary that frequently entertains, but lacks true insight into the viral phenomenon.

You know exactly what brand of “weird” to expect from Nicolas Cage and Sion Sono, but what you might not expect is how much the film feels like a death dream about movies.

Swallowed is an LGBTQ+ thriller that trades complexity for intimacy over a drug run gone horribly wrong. It's intense and thrilling at the right moments, capitalizing on authentic body horrors.

Alita: Battle Angel is Robert Rodriguez’s best film in many years. It’s an ambitious, impressive, visually spectacular production with great performances that make its strange world seem real.

A deeply misguided act of worship, it starts out as a hilariously bizarre showreel of strange visual effects, before devolving into a distant, disconnected retelling of the highlights of Dion’s life.

With a tone consistent with the original trilogy, a straightforward premise that creates space for fresh faces without disrespecting the main character, and a well-paced mix of comedy, action, and silky smooth synth riffs, Beverly Hills Cop: Axel F is a highly watchable return to form for Eddie Murphy.

Once Upon a Deadpool is a cute idea that doesn't live up to its potential, leaving audiences with little more than a less interesting version of a better movie they might have loved.

There's Something Wrong With The Children is an energetic but expected kiddies-gone-killer tale that wades into some murky waters.

Despite a stellar performance from Willem Dafoe as a contemplative art thief, Inside lacks the smarts and visual panache to make good use of its single location.

For as much love, passion, and nostalgia is evident in this movie, it’s also a film very palpably made from a place driven by fear of disappointing the audience, and that anxiety fuels a lot of the story’s curious creative choices and unwieldy execution.

Project Wolf Hunting goes for broke in terms of exquisite beatdown violence in the pursuit of primal genre happiness. Writer/director Kim Hong-seon executes like there’s a going-out-of-business sale on fake blood, and we reap the benefits as showstopping displays of action-horror devastation take center stage.

The scares are ridiculous, the plot makes no sense, and you’ll probably spend the whole running time wishing someone would spill a drink on their keyboard and erase the movie's hard drive.

Annabelle Comes Home offers more humor in addition to the supernatural terror the Conjuring franchise is known for.

Taken for what it is, Logan's Run delivers a fun ride and a glimpse at another era, even if it's probably not the time frame the producers had in mind.

Destroy All Neighbors is a horror-comedy with a fun premise and creative effects but it’s messy in too many ineffective and wrong ways, like listening to a 20-minute jam session that never finds its hook.

Trolls Band Together hits its chosen notes with its trademark glitter-drunk energy and some bonkers visual invention, but its mashing up of shiny pop hits (not to mention past Trolls movies) approaches exhaustion.

While Smith does fine work, how reliant this Genie is on Smith’s personality does make you wonder if an actor pushing farther out of their comfort zone would have gotten us closer to the boundless creativity that made Robin Williams’ performance so memorable.

Killing Gunther is an astonishingly unfunny film considering the level of sheer comedic talent involved in it. Its lack of energy or character development keeps the film from ever finding its groove.

The dystopian fantasy elements of the saga are now at their thinnest, painting a cinematic world that may hit too close to home for some. Ultimately, it's a solid entry that can either act as an ending or a new beginning.

There’s plenty to giggle at throughout, and even a few moments that might just give you goosebumps. Those qualities alone, despite the film’s flaws, make Ma an almost endlessly entertaining watch.

While Race with the Devil is a bit slower, it's a haunting, unforgettable experience.

In the hit-and-miss subgenre of horror anthologies, V/H/S/85 is a shining beacon. Filmmakers are given the space to explore a gamut of ideas, none of which feel restrained to fit a specific anthology mold.

We Have a Ghost is a mostly bland movie, elevated by a few good performances and an intriguing premise that doesn’t go as far as it seems like it should.

Lilo & Stitch is one of the stronger results of Disney’s non-stop remake campaign, taking the emotional core of the original and amplifying it in a stirring manner.

If you're able to suspend disbelief, the film's strengths outweigh the many weaknesses. The action sequences are a lot of the fun. The adventure is exciting. And the story perfectly replicates the style and tone of a classic adventure or Saturday matinee serial.

While the movie's points are clear, they're also cliché – as is the movie's horror. The director's ambition exceeds his grasp, telling a story about characters who are not well-drawn enough to feel either universal or specific. The result is a fraught romance that should be nerve-wracking but instead is mostly dull.

Landscape with Invisible Hand is brimming with ideas and storylines, but they never come together as a satisfying whole.

Less neurotic than Woody and more fun than the average Sandra Bullock flick, it's a guy flick disguised as a chick flick.

As is often the case, what makes this film so enjoyable is the cast.

Renfield makes a mess of its story at times, but does a good enough job getting gorgeously gruesome with its vampire action sequences to win us over with cartoonish gore – and Nicolas Cage's Dracula is one for the ages.

The Halloween monster mash iconography is incredibly strong and the cast is excellent, but Goosebumps 2 is in far too much of a hurry – and perhaps too eager to be widely accessible – to be actually scary or wholly effective.

Despite its limited scope and predictable plot, The Magician’s Elephant succeeds at being a quaint animated film with a positive message.

The Tender Bar is a coming-of-age dramedy that sails on the backs of the exceptional ensemble cast.

Silent Night, Deadly Night is rare reboot that manages to be naughty and nice.

Though The Devil Made Me Do It is a smart recalibration for The Conjuring series, its successes have little to do with its strengths as a standalone horror movie. Ed and Lorraine Warren's investigation may be an engaging mystery, and their opponent is a franchise-best, but the scares are just not as potent in part because half of them center on a possession victim who’s really not easy to root for.

Hypnotic, starring Ben Affleck, is a sci-fi thriller by Robert Rodriguez with few hints of sci-fi, thrills, or Robert Rodriguez.

Deep Water aspires to be a boundary-pushing erotic thriller but is stuck treading water in the kiddie pool.

Smith’s character gives the story an emotional weight and Reynolds delivers an endearing comedic performance that’s closer to his subversive Deadpool schtick than you’d expect. While video game movies haven’t had the best track record, this movie is by and far the best example of how to do one right.

Malcolm & Marie is a well-acted but frustrating exploration of art and bad romance.

After five great seasons, Luther’s feature film adaptation proves to be a major let down, robbing the title character and his loyal fans of the little delights that made the series work.