LEGO Star Wars Summer Vacation wraps up the trilogy of sequel character specials with an emotional conclusion and some very funny summer riffs on beloved characters.

Terrifier 2 rips, tears, hacks, shreds, butchers, disembowels, decapitates, devours, pulverizes, tenderizes, slices, dices, skewers — I'm missing plenty — and knock-em-out-dead eviscerates the current competition when it comes to low-budget slasher effects.

The Nun II is a marked improvement on its predecessor, as the winning duo of Taissa Farmiga and Jonas Bloquet reward the faith of Conjuring fans with a scarier, meatier boarding school nightmare that makes great use of Valak the Demon Nun, even if the mythology-heavy plot specifics get a little lost along the way.

GoldenEra charts the rise of GoldenEye 007 in a documentary that should thrill those still holding onto their love of one of the N64’s most iconic titles.

Tilda Swinton serves up an emotionally invigorating double turn in Joanna Hogg’s moving biographical relationship drama, laced with heart and wit through an atmospheric, Gothic lens.

The best Disney live-action remake in a decade (not that that’s a particularly high bar to clear), Snow White adapts the broad strokes of the 1937 original, while fleshing out its themes of kindness. Rachel Zegler crafts a remarkable, melodic version of the classic princess who leads with her heart, even if her CGI co-stars are difficult on the eyes.

V/H/S/99 understands the ‘90s assignment and crafts low-budget chaos that delivers a unified anthology slathered in guts, heavy on nostalgia, and with a punk-as-hell attitude.

Spirit Halloween dodges the bargain bin by opening its doors to a proficient gateway horror tale that plays like Goosebumps Lite in a seasonal decoration store.

Deadpool & Wolverine is an outrageous, consistently funny superhero comedy that succeeds largely thanks to the contagious enthusiasm of leads Ryan Reynolds and Hugh Jackman, and a surprisingly classy perspective on superhero movie history. Wade and Logan’s profanity-laced adventure forces the MCU farther out of its comfort zone than it’s been in years, even though old and increasingly frustrating issues like forgettable villains and a barely there plot show that breaking the fourth wall isn’t always enough to solve a movie’s foundational problems.

Cartoon Saloon's latest animated film may disappoint those waiting for a new movie with the level of brilliance of Wolfwalkers or The Breadwinner, but My Father's Dragon still entertains with its tale of friendship aided by two great performances.

Blood Relatives is a warts-and-all brand of vampire indie that gets by with a bit of help from tremendous actor chemistry.

A Wounded Fawn is an artfully chaotic descent into bloodlust, monstrous misogyny, and euphoric comeuppances of the most punishing pleasures.

Before Infinity Pool loses its way toward the end, it proves to be an enticing work of depravity that explores money and privilege through horrifying, violent excess.

Dash will leave viewers behind based on the virtue of its obscure construction, yet should excite those seeking alternative character studies based on gig culture, second lives, and the unfaithful depths humans will plummet before telling a simple truth.

Its few hints of flair may not cement it as a genre classic, but they’re enough to make it momentarily fun.

80 for Brady is a surprisingly sweet and sentimental comedy led by four stellar performances — especially by Lily Tomlin, who’s never been more radiant.

It’s a good movie too chronically polite to achieve anything like greatness.

Eileen is a nifty little shapeshifter of a thriller made of tremendous parts, just lacking a bit of steam upon exit.

The Boogeyman is a capable creepshow built for mass appeal that gets the job done because at the end of the day, scary is as scary does.

Air is an underdog crowd-pleaser with a standout ensemble cast sharpened to a point. As both director and co-star, Ben Affleck finds a balance between comedy and explanation that remains accessible to all audiences.

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

Leo looks like the kind of standard big-studio animation Netflix has been regularly knocking off, but it’s far funnier, and more unexpectedly sweet, than the average kid-targeted cartoon. In fact, Robert Smigel, Adam Sandler, and their collaborators have made one of the funniest movies of the year that doubles as a love letter to the complexities of teaching kids, in or out of the classroom.

Marrying a tight and effective script from Andrew Kevin Walker, smart performances from Michael Fassbender and Tilda Swinton, and sharp editing, this assassin odyssey is one you’ll want to watch again and again.

With a steely reserve and killer instinct, Extraction 2 thrives as a buffet of brutality that plays back the mercenary thriller hits with a fresh coat of camouflage paint.

In its portrait of a perennially prickly novelist (Thomas Schubert), it gets at tough and sometimes funny truths about the nature of writers.

Perpetrator wavers between absurdity and gravity when it should just pick a lane, but thanks to a scene-stealing performance from Alicia Silverstone and some good gory gags, it’s a worthy addition to the booming world of unhinged-teen-girl horror.

Flamin' Hot is a charming and funny rags-to-riches story with a strong cast, some clever editing, and good use of narration as comedy that make up for its superficial depth.

As a historical epic, Napoleon is handsome but a little impersonal – you can really feel the absence of texture lost in getting it down under three hours. But between the textbook bullet points, a very funny anti-Great Man biopic peeks through, thanks largely to Joaquin Phoenix’s performance as a Bonaparte who’s more boy than man.

Ethan Coen goes solo – sort of – with Drive-Away Dolls, a raunchy, dizzy road-trip comedy that’s a little too slick for its own good.

Insidious: The Red Door is a satisfying conclusion to the Lambert family’s long nightmare journey into The Further, even if it starts to rely too heavily on jump scares by the end.

Alas, The Edge is a film that, quite ironically, loses it.

Godzilla and Rogue One director Gareth Edwards returns with an original (albeit derivative) science fiction vision: the story of a future war between man and machine, as told through the bond that develops between, well, a man and a child-sized machine. As pure spectacle, The Creator is often jaw-dropping in its imagery, its relatively frugal special effects, and the detailed depth of its futuristic design. It's shakier as drama and sci-fi – and in its sentimental depiction of synthetic humans just trying to live their synthetic lives, a bit out of step with the anxieties of our increasingly AI-dominated age.

Returning to cinema with a heartfelt look at the creative process, Michel Gondry dives back into filmmaking without a safety net, channeling all his artistic angst through an onscreen alter ego.

This grim, acclaimed Chilean Western will dazzle your eyes, even as it crushes your spirit with its true story of genocide.

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

It mixes the throwback feel of an old-school spy story with an engaging scenario about a tech-savvy CIA analyst thrust into the field for decidedly dark reasons. The direction and a strong cast help sell this vibe and make for an entertaining time, even if it comes to a less-than-satisfying conclusion.

A quick, funny victory lap for anti-establishment Redditors and stonk enthusiasts.

Leaning away from blood-pumping thrills and towards family drama, Ferrari benefits from another great turn by Adam Driver and a handful of masterfully choreographed race scenes but is ultimately too risk-averse.

Almost 20 years into the franchise, Saw X showcases an emotional depth that manages to take one of these stories higher than ever before. Make no mistake, though, the traps are still on full display and Jigsaw still has full intent to showcase the true evils of humanity.

Totally Killer may not reinvent the wheel, but its blend of Scream meets Disney Channel Original movie gets the job done quite admirably. The cast and the story’s heart makes up for any technical missteps, and while it definitely falls into the usual time travel traps, it makes fun of itself while doing so!

A passionate, well-intentioned deviation in style, Hamaguchi Ryusuke’s Evil Does Not Exist doesn’t quite hit the mark with its meditations on nature. However, in its best moments, it’s another entrancing dramatic piece from the Japanese maestro, whose strengths lie less in observing natural environments, and more in observing people’s nature.

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.

An affectionate take on a much-romanticized subculture, The Bikeriders purrs along rather than zips, but its stellar cast ensures a smooth ride as Jeff Nichols offers some insights into the highs and lows of a legendary motorcycle gang.

You’ve likely never seen a movie that tackles the specific loneliness many gay men still face today, and this one is laudable for that alone. However, All of Us Strangers airs on the side of saccharine, especially towards the end, and it would benefit overall from some more human ugliness.

Eli Roth finally adapts his fake trailer into a real slasher movie – and it’s not without its nasty charms

A super-charged genre throwback that obscures its meaning but has an alluring visual texture, Divinity is completely unique in its conception of sci-fi dystopia, for better and for worse.

Society of the Snow humanizes the gruesome tale of a group of rugby players trapped in the Andes.

Mean Girls is a winning, entertaining reworking of Tina Fey’s 2004 comedy. Featuring a collection of strong original songs and a successful updating of the story and messages, it's a musical reimagining worth watching.

The setup is forgettable, but Stopmotion builds to a grotesque and darkly beautiful finale that’s a great showcase for stop-motion animator Robert Morgan.

While Anyone But You isn’t a bold new take on traditional romcom formulas, it becomes an infectiously sincere and easily watchable movie featuring a charming ensemble cast and great situational comedy.

French creature feature Infested delivers the creepy-crawly kicks promised by its title, although its human elements don’t really go anywhere.

Concrete Utopia is a polished disaster drama with a bleak and brutal view of human nature.

Not as memorable as the ’80s and ’90s high-school romps and creepshows it pays tribute to, there's still lots of gory fun to be had with director Zelda Williams’ feature-length debut thanks to Newton's electric lead and the sparks she throws off opposite Cole Sprouse’s game portrayal of a reanimated corpse.

Starve Acre is a rousing addition to the British folk horror tradition with intensely emotional lead performances that takes viewers on a nostalgic journey into pagan ritual.

A self-reflexive love letter to Hollywood stunt work, The Fall Guy is the perfect vehicle for Ryan Gosling’s comedic timing – not to mention, his romantic charm alongside an equally dialed-in Emily Blunt.

While its chaotic new cast serves a clear purpose, Inside Out 2 is more metaphor than meaning. It explains plenty about the confusing emotions associated with puberty, often in intelligent ways, but it rarely lets them be felt or experienced, the way its predecessor did.

If the animation is nothing special, the script is better than what drives most animated movies aimed at a young audience. And you can certainly feel Kaufman’s neurotic touch on the material.

Not a deeply probing Hollywood documentary but filled to the brim with fun behind-the-scenes footage. The Boy Who Lived is a likable, grounded, and heartfelt portrait of a Harry Potter stuntman whose career was cut far too short.

Isaiah Saxon’s adventure fairytale ends up unique and beautiful, much like the adorable animatronic foundling of its title.

It's a frequently fascinating and often moving film despite its many, often glaring, flaws.

Tim Burton allows the cast of Beetlejuice Beetlejuice to have fun, even if they're all off in separate movies that barely overlap. Its story is intentionally robbed of dramatic weight, but this makes way for the goofy, imaginative practical effects of Burton's early days, resulting in a small-scale legacy sequel that doesn't take itself too seriously (because it doesn’t need to).

The Ministry of Ungentlemanly Warfare is a solid Guy Ritchie take on World War II that tells an incredible, sort-of-true story that’s plucky, punchy, and quite entertaining.

There are moments when Longlegs feels like a movie you’ve seen before, but with an evil filter laid over it: This is both a weakness and a strength, as Perkins’ horror surrealism renders the familiar strange, and the strange familiar.

While it sometimes leans too heavily on its ickier aspects, Cuckoo has just enough sense of its own absurdity to remain disgustingly fun.

Spy X Family: CODE White captures the series’ appeal in microcosm, its stylish action, heartfelt found-family dynamic, and incredibly silly comedy all working in entertaining harmony.

A good cast and Collet-Serra’s energetic staging elevate the kind of straight-down-the-middle entertainment Hollywood has mostly, sadly stopped bankrolling. It’s not quite Die Hard, but close enough.

Demon Slayer: Kimetsu no Yaiba - To the Hashira Training is a visual delight which will please the series’ biggest fans.

Sting is a creature feature that tinkers too much with familiar horror/sci-fi concepts but has plenty of heart to make it memorable.

Oddity is an elegantly constructed tale of supernatural revenge that’s full of spine-tingling atmosphere.

A new Wes Anderson movie is always an event, but the writer-director’s latest whirligig comedy, The Phoenician Scheme, might be his slightest in a couple decades.

Justice League: Crisis on Infinite Earths – Part One knows what it is and strives to do right by its source material. There's no depth, no moral murk, no optional profundity for the insight-hungry. Just good, clean, marginally sensical fun.

Idea Man is a lively if shallow journey into the mind of Muppet maestro Jim Henson.

Outside of watching modern Trump characteristics being absorbed from the worst influences around him, it rarely has the insight you’d hope for from a biopic centered on one of the defining political figures of the 21st century.

More unsettling than outright terrifying, The Woman in the Yard is smaller-scale horror that works as a return to fundamentals for a talented filmmaker, and is further proof of Danielle Deadwyler’s immense skill as a lead performer who knows how to pull off the psychological ramp-up required for a movie like this.

Black Phone 2 is a template for how sequels can reach further and push for standalone appeal, bringing us as close to Freddy Krueger as we'll get until there's another A Nightmare on Elm Street.

Drop is a tightly plotted and unpretentious thrill ride.

Mel Gibson’s Flight Risk manages to entertain despite goofy dialogue and the equally goofy concept of a U.S. Marshal and the prisoner she’s transporting finding themselves onboard a tiny plane with a killer. The character types are familiar and the story is simple, but there’s enough panache to keep it in the air right up until its explosive ending.

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.

Smile 2 doesn’t quite match its sadistically effective predecessor in the scare department, because once you’ve seen one phantom doppelganger grinning like the Cheshire Cat, you’ve seen them all. But the movie works as a nasty portrait of the downside of music-biz fame, and it builds to an ending deserving of every crooked smile it earns.

Heretic’s slow-simmering first half is much better than its second, but the movie keeps you on your toes throughout. Most of its deranged charge comes from Grant, finding darkness under the pleasant hallmarks of his aging-star persona.

Though Skincare’s script lacks bite or balance, Elizabeth Banks gives a riveting lead performance with assistance from Lewis Pullman as her sketchy sidekick.

Even if it doesn't quite stand with the 36th Chambers and King Boxers, Last Hurrah for Chivalry is a very good movie, both because it features a great many well-executed fight scenes and explores the early days of Woo's cinematic style.

It's a faithful devotee to the sports-movie formula that’s kept from greatness by a few too many unnecessary components and a finish line that maybe should’ve been closer than two and a half hours away. But in spite of that, it’s still a hell of a ride.

Ford v Ferrari's James Mangold takes his hands off the steering wheel for A Complete Unknown, resulting in a Bob Dylan biopic that takes unpredictable turns. Rather than connecting the dots between how the world influenced him (and how he influenced it in turn), the film frames his enormous musical sea changes as personal drama for his peers. It’s formally straightforward, but its focus on the characters in Dylan’s life – rather than the musician himself, played by Timothée Chalamet – turn him into an enigma, for better or worse.

It’s a self-consciously juvenile pizza party of a movie that's lots of fun if you don’t take it too seriously.

Freakier Friday clumsily juggles way more plotlines than the original, but the movie shines bright when it focuses on the original duo.

Hamnet is not without a few flaws, but it ultimately comes together as a strong dramatic showing for director Chloé Zhao. Anchored by a fantastic performance from Jessie Buckley, Hamnet simultaneously works as a family drama and as an exploration of how personal experience manifests in artistic expression.

Although Apartment 7A's chills are mild, this decades-late Rosemary’s Baby prequel gets by on atmosphere and strong performances.

Tim Robinson’s first movie-star role is like an extended I Think You Should Leave sketch with fancier camera work and a guest appearance by Paul Rudd.

The live-action How to Train Your Dragon can feel hemmed in by its faithfulness to the animated original, but it’s re-creating that film’s sense of heart and soul as well as its entire plot and most enduring images.

The Bad Guys 2 provides more of what made its predecessor great, but doesn’t improve enough on its predictable plot.

Even when The Gorge disappears into generic run-and-shoot action, it benefits from the colorful confidence of Derrickson’s staging and a ’50s-inflected sci-fi score from Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross. At its worst, this solid genre exercise still looks worthy of the theatrical release Apple didn’t grant it.

Grafted makes a patchwork of its ideas but manages to be an entertaining, mindful, gore-saturated charge through social hell.

It has a wacky premise involving a woman swapping places with a chair, but the uncompromising consumerist satire By Design is more performance art than camp classic.

The Ugly Stepsister’s torture-porn take on a classic fairy tale is told from a teenager’s point of view, but the grotesque elements are appropriate for gorehounds of all ages.

Although this psychological thriller can be uncomfortable to watch at times, the performances – combined with the disturbing puppet imagery – bring a lot of life and imagination to a story about a petty dictator and an unlikely rebel.

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.

There’s plenty to flinch (or even gag) at when directors Danny and Michael Philippou spill some blood , and Sally Hawkins and young Jonah Wren Phillips commit to the intensity of their roles, but the decidedly unanswered questions posed by the plot contribute to some dissatisfaction