Bubble is an effervescent piece of heartfelt sci-fi that’s as refreshing as its cast and concepts.

Memory is a well-made if uninspired action flick that forges an interesting new take on the genre… then forgets all about it.

The Bad Guys is a fun, family-friendly caper that’s bursting with action and brimming with laughs.

The real heart and soul of the picture is Cage’s on-screen bromance with Pedro Pascal’s Javi. Their chemistry carries the movie into far more memorable territory, and more than makes up for a few of the film’s less-interesting elements.

We’re All Going to the World’s Fair is a moody, slow-burn horror drama about loneliness online.

While not necessarily the very best of this genre, it’s a solid character drama benefiting from strong performances by a top-drawer cast.

The Cellar has a cool and creepy set up but then fizzles once the answers start arriving.

Choose or Die boots up a retro-style survival horror that will muster up a few delightful scares for the generation of gamers who grew up with Zork and The Valley of the Minotaur. But beneath this terror-filled glimpse of the ‘80s lies not much more than a bog-standard horror flick.

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.

Metal Lords is earnest with metal but sloppy with character and story. It delivers a rousing finale but the journey there is uninspired and half-formed.

It looks drab and feels like it was made by people who want to leave its magical premise behind, even though the series refuses to have anything resembling grown-up politics or perspectives.

Cole Sprouse and Lana Condor are a fun duo, capable of feeling human and endearing in the midst of cosmic turmoil. The movie's not a full home run, but it's surprisingly silly and shrewd.

Morbius is unspectacular in ways that waste the potential of what could be an intriguing hybrid of sinister horror and superhero thrills.

The Contractor may have an underwhelming conclusion, but the journey to get there is an emotional one, with a strong performance by Chris Pine.

You Are Not My Mother effectively mixes folk horror, family drama, and slow-burn scares to deliver an unsettling story elevated by some fantastically nuanced performances.

Bodies Bodies Bodies’ great ensemble and delightfully chaotic script make for a tense and laugh-out-loud funny film.

Cooper Raiff dances around complex emotions with the smoothest of steps in Cha Cha Real Smooth, sliding into the definition of feel-good filmmaking.

The Lost City is a decent action-comedy that coasts on the presence of its stars.

Zach Braff and Gabrielle Union are great pillars here, though the film itself isn't consistent enough with its tone, snapping back and forth between sweet sentiment and cheap gags.

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.

Windfall is a tight, smartly constructed thriller that succeeds on the strength of its performances.

Umma isn’t scary, but the themes behind it are terrifying as it deals with generational trauma and guilt. Though the cultural references run deep, it’s overstuffed with symbolic imagery that is never fully explained. Though Oh and Stewart give solid performances, the tone and tension of the story ends up being choppy and underwhelming.

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

While its gnarly payoffs eventually peter out, X is filled with fun and intense setups that harken back to classic slasher fare.

Linoleum is a heartfelt story about making every day seem like something fantastic.

It walks a tightrope with its topics, but Williams is delicate and confident with every step — his performers following close behind, dominating the screen.

Marcel the Shell With Shoes On suffers from an aimless plot that feels stretched too thin, but it provides one of the most endearing and adorable animated characters since Paddington Bear. It delivers enough heart, laughs, and innocence to forgive its shortcomings.

Richard Linklater’s animated Apollo fantasy is scattered, but sweet.

Everything Everywhere All at Once is a complex film that encompasses a variety of subjects, but it does justice to each of them with a carefully written script, marvelous performances, and a healthy dose of bizarre humor to counter its bleak story. Michelle Yeoh in particular gives a powerhouse performance in a story that puts a fresh, welcome spin on the idea of the multiverse.

Jujutsu Kaisen 0 manages to work as both a standalone introduction to the anime and also a satisfying prequel to those familiar with this world. With stunning animation, complex and memorable characters, and a healthy dose of horror imagery, this is one of the best shonen anime films in a while.

Fresh delivers a full-course meal with dazzling cinematography, disturbing imagery, and one of the best horror performances of the past few years. Sebastian Stan joins the pantheon of horror psychopaths as this delightfully gory movie explores the world of modern dating.

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.

A story of magical transformation as a metaphor for personal and cultural change, Turning Red (from Bao director Domee Shi) is Pixar’s funniest and most imaginative film in years. It captures the wild energy of adolescence, uses pop stars as a timeless window into puberty, and tells a tale of friendship and family in the most delightfully kid-friendly way.

A work of shattering empathy, Drive My Car makes you stare long and hard at people’s withholding exteriors as it carefully chips away at them, revealing how they patiently bear their burdens, working without rest.

Matt Reeves’ violent, thrilling, darkly beautiful take on The Batman more than justifies its place in the franchise’s canon.

The Duke sets up a hilarious social satire under the guise of a comedy crime caper, with buckets of British humor.

Studio 666 features fun performances by the Foo Fighters, but its “kitchen sink” approach leaves it open to unfavorable comparisons to the movies to which it pays homage.

Texas Chainsaw Massacre is a sloppy and gratuitous killing spree with standout deaths but a poorly written story that ruins the experience.

This should be effective in introducing the world of Uncharted to people who are meeting Nate and friends for the first time, although the changes it makes can be inexplicable and jarring to those of us who’ve spent many games with these characters.

Hook's Dante Basco and his brothers deliver an outrageous comedy about love & family in The Fabulous Filipino Brothers.

With a simple but effective script and some fun visual experiments, it's an entertaining conspiracy thriller set in (and very much about) the post-pandemic world.

It takes Death on the Nile far longer than it should to reach its most impactful moments, but actor-director Kenneth Branagh cares deeply enough about Detective Poirot to make it work.

Moonfall makes its big ideas feel small and unimportant.

The fourth (and hopefully final, for the sake of its cast) Jackass is a nostalgic laugh riot.

A film with sights and sounds you’ve never seen or heard, it’s an intriguing watch with catchy, energetic numbers, even if it doesn’t always land emotionally.

It may not always succeed, but it arrives with an energy worthy of the TV comedy legends.

Led by moving performances from Julianne Moore and Finn Wolfhard, the film takes a roundabout approach to its drama, resulting in a realistic portrait of a relationship in stasis.

Writer-director Riley Stearns transforms depression and disappointment into a hilarious confrontation of death and a peculiar tale of self-image in an uncanny film with a precisely bizarre lead performance.

With a layered performance by Regina Hall as the university’s first Black dean of students, the film plays with familiar tropes and images from American horror, but re-fashions them into an unexpected, subdued story with a chilling emotional payoff.

With melancholy performances and an eye for natural beauty, Kogonada’s second feature film draws from masters of the past to create a glowing and moving future.

The Worst Person in the World is a concentrated emotional dose of living through the last half-decade of uncertainty.

Only Kaya Scodelario rises above the mess, working hard to try and craft an earnest and accomplished heroine that is by far too interesting for the rest of the boring dolts in the story.

Belle is a gorgeously animated, futuristic interpretation of Beauty and the Beast that combines dazzling song and eye-popping visuals for a well-meaning yet meandering modern fairy tale. Unfortunately, its heartfelt message is muddled by perplexing plot holes, occasionally grating characters, and a bloated runtime.

The latest addition to the Scream franchise expertly blends reverence for the source material while creating something that feels almost completely new. All of the performances are pitch-perfect as the new generation of Woodsboro teens step into their futures, the kills are gnarly, and no version of toxic fandom is left unmocked.

Parallel Mothers is a really engaging watch with plenty of unforeseen story turns that seem incredibly random at first, but ultimately come together in a very intentional way. Penélope Cruz gives a powerful and beautifully relatable performance as a woman navigating some very messy life choices with wisdom and empathy.

Mother/Android tries to bring an emotional heart to the robot uprising genre, but it’s so laden with tropes and short on personality that it’s hard to care about the characters. What little novelty exists comes far too late in the long, slow movie.

Swan Song is a beautifully acted near-future exploration of self, technology, and the soul.

As a musical, only a few songs really stand out, which is always problematic. There’s also a staginess to the whole endeavor that feels awkward and ham-handed when transposed onto the big screen. But director Joe Wright does get excellent performances from his whole cast, and creates a lush and beautiful period piece playground for the characters to exist within.

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

The Lost Daughter is a stunning and unflinching portrait of a woman swimming against the tides of social expectation.

Sing 2 is more of the same, which is dandy.

The Matrix Resurrections is a bunch of really good ideas stacked together to make a bad — and sometimes ugly — film.

The King’s Man’s triumphant action and epic performances are dragged down by a confused story and overlong runtime.

Spider-Man: No Way Home bounces from hilarious to hurt with ease as both the darkest and funniest MCU Spider-Man entry to date.

A film about so many different things that it ends up about none of them, Aaron Sorkin’s Being the Ricardos is visually inert, and features an emotionally stifled performance from Nicole Kidman as the lively Lucille Ball. Javier Bardem brings energy to Desi Arnaz, but it isn’t enough to pick the disjointed pieces up off the floor.

Encounter is a tense, and stylish thriller with some excellent performances, but it’s dragged down by a lack of focus and pointless tangents.

Despite a bit of an imbalance between its first and third acts, Nightmare Alley delivers a delightfully meaty neo-noir packed with solid performances from its impressive ensemble.

Steven Spielberg’s West Side Story is a dazzling complementary piece to the original.

The Humans is a thoughtful and brilliantly acted meditation on family and humanity.

The Summit of the Gods is a standout tale in both story and animation technique.

What Anderson doesn’t give us is the inner lives of anyone in the film.

Bruised is a good outing for Halle Berry as a director, though a better reminder of her as a star. Aside from that, however, the story progression is light on impact.

Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City sticks admirably closely to its source material, but an overly stuffed story and rushed third act hold it back.

House of Gucci starts with such promise as Adam Driver, Lady Gaga, and Al Pacino give performances that bring out the emotional complexity of the historically dysfunctional Gucci family. But then Ridley Scott becomes infatuated with tracking the fall of the corporation and its familial machinations instead of zeroing in on the more compelling personal implosion of Patrizia and Maurizio. Too much of the narrative is given over to side characters and scenes that are overindulgent, which lessens the potency of the tragic story and our investment in where they all end up.

Lin-Manuel Miranda tries to turn Jonathan Larson’s one-man show into a traditional musical, but ends up getting stuck halfway in between. However, Andrew Garfield delivers a tremendous, running-on-fumes performance as the real-life Broadway mainstay, whose impending 30th birthday pushes him to his creative and emotional brink.

Zeros and Ones uses the spy genre as a thin mask for a fever dream that evokes nightmarish uncertainty.

Black Friday proves to be a winning combination of gloppy scares, well-crafted characters, and wise commentary.

Encanto is a vibrant, visual delight that’s just as magical as the family at its center.

Despite the inherent ugliness of watching a rich kid diabolically dig into a mom and dad who are just trying to save their home for the sake of their own children, Home Sweet Home Alone has some decent wit and heart to it. Archie Yates is good as the new precocious protector of his lair, but it's Rob Delaney and Ellie Kemper who anchor the film and give it something resembling a soul.

Clifford the Big Red Dog is a sweet if shallow kids offering that sometimes soars higher than expected.

Writer-director Mike Mills gets the very best from Joaquin Phoenix by pairing him with the young Woody Norman. Their pitch-perfect chemistry enlivens this quiet road drama about the perspectives of our youth with emotionality that won’t leave a dry eye in the house.

Love Hard isn’t reinventing the wheel, but Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang are adorable to watch in this feel-good Christmas rom-com.

Three A-listers globetrot and double-cross each other in Red Notice, a derivative action film that should be much smarter and sexier than it ends up being.

Kate Siegel does her best to elevate a simplistic thriller that follows all the same beats you're accustomed to.

Last Night in Soho’s biggest strengths and weaknesses come from the same place: its attempts to replicate much better psychological horror from decades past. However, despite everything that doesn’t work, its musical energy keeps it fun.

My Hero Academia: World Heroes' Mission boasts the franchises' best animation yet, as well as a dark and menacing villain straight out of an X-Men comic. It all results in a compelling and thrilling adventure that, sadly, suffers from being an isolated non-canon story.

While not without charm, the biggest factors working against Army of Thieves are a confused hybrid of horror and heist genre stories and an approach making it unclear which audience – other than the most ardent of Zack Snyder fans – it’s aimed at.

Eternals is beautifully shot and terrifically acted, but it bites off more than it can chew in its third act.

Antlers is a satisfying, unsettling, and rather bleak horror movie when it focuses on its main creature. It’s also a thought-provoking character drama when it deals with parental neglect, but the two never properly mix, keeping it from being as great as it could’ve been.

The Black Phone mixes the supernatural with relatable horrors in ways that will leave you both terrified and hopeful.

Despite a great cast, Needle in a Timestack lets the fuzzy logic time travel tropes trample the characters and our care for them and their plights.

Jane Campion serves up a nervy psychodrama set against an astonishing cattle country backdrop with impressive performances from Benedict Cumberbatch and Kirsten Dunst, but an obvious plot trajectory that dulls the storytelling impact.

Belfast is a love letter to both a city, and the ghosts of Kenneth Branagh’s past. There’s clearly soul-searching going on as he re-examines events from his childhood, and how they affected those he loved, and the decisions they made.

King Richard is a simple tale of triumph over adversity. The supporting cast shines, Will Smith excels, and while this might not be the full story, King Richard nevertheless works as both character study and feel-good sports movie.

Ron’s Gone Wrong is a weird, quirky family comedy that pushes all the right buttons. Unexpectedly poignant, it asks some big questions about growing up in the age of social media.

Torn between the avant-garde and the traditional, Todd Haynes’ The Velvet Underground is an intentionally fragmented documentary that’s less about facts, and more about the feeling of being alive in a specific time and place. While more accessible to those in the know, it’s still hypnotic enough to be inviting.

Night Teeth's winning lead trio and its glossy, electronic buzz save this Collateral clone from sinking into full nonsense. The film's usually interesting, though it never truly strikes with malice or meaning the way it wants to

Director Jason Reitman does his father and fans proud with a funny, sweet, and spooky family movie that proudly takes on the legacy of Ghostbusters, while also introducing something exciting and new.