When a sports drama fails to generate any real sense of exhilaration, whether in its protagonist’s climb back to the top or in the stakes surrounding his personal life, it ultimately falls short of its intentions. There is some fleeting satisfaction in watching a punch connect, aided by sound mixing that gives each blow a sense of weight, but beyond that, there is little here that truly lands.

Mermaid, despite its flaws, is enjoyable enough for its unique depiction of mermaids and its portrayal of a “Florida man” come to life. Sure, the title is unoriginal, but its presentation is not. Of course, it’s nowhere near as good as “Splash,” but it doesn’t need to be.

Anyone seeking something with more depth will not find it here, but there are still worthy stories to tell.

Bunnylovr is another attempt to examine the melancholy that is especially prevalent among the young. What it gleams is an intriguing portrait, but it is also inconsistently engaging.

This is a thoroughly enjoyable mixture of period drama, romance, and a coming-of-age story that’s extremely rewarding in its thoughtful central theme of the connection between past and future.

What’s most frustrating about Lee Cronin’s The Mummy is how tonally inconsistent it becomes. Yes, it finds a way to inject some delightful horror imagery that’s captivating, at least in the way that repulsive acts of over-the-top carnage can appease those sickos out there. However, this story does not come across as if that tone was top of mind.

Perhaps “Lorne” entertains more than it informs, but somehow, that feels exactly right.

Lowery, clearly fascinated by the plight of the modern pop star, has made “Mother Mary” with both the fervor of a fan and the insight of a fellow artist. The questions the film asks about the identity of pop stars as well as the ownership of their music, their image, and their very souls don’t all have answers, and Lowery doesn’t provide them. He does, however, provide plenty of food for thought as he asks these questions, interrogating the relationship between artists and their audience and what each owes the other.

It provides the thrills, but leaves the audience hungry for a story with actual depth to its waters.

Outcome has good intentions, aiming to show the real side of Hollywood, but odd choices muddle its results. It wants to have all these emotional moments and still be a funny take on Hollywood, but often one is frustratingly sacrificed for the other. It’s a shame considering all the comedy and showbiz experience Hill can bring to this project.

You, Me & Tuscany has all the right ingredients; the recipe’s just a little off. Throw in a little more spice and add some depth to the central romance, and the next time Page and Bailey do this together, they might just make a classic.

Despite being well shot and slickly constructed, “Faces of Death” doesn’t successfully bring the decidedly not-good but undeniably captivating spirit of the original film into the 21st century.

With a film called Fantasy Life, one might expect it to contain a romanticized version of reality, where the characters’ conflicts are magically solved, and their journeys are wrapped in a neat bow. Endearingly, Shear’s version is messier and far more grounded. While the characters live extremely privileged lifestyles and aren’t quite operating in the real world, the film simultaneously touches on the compelling subject matter of personal disillusionment and its impact on mental health struggles.

With a movie like The Serpent’s Skin, the accomplishments of the whole outweigh the nitpicks of its parts. The vibe is so, so right. Anyone looking for an empowering, forward-thinking, and trippy watch will feel right at home slipping into this movie’s, well, skin. It’s quite literally spellbinding.

Although the story only gets more and more unsatisfyingly perplexing as it goes on, the filmmaking tools used to tell it are exceptional.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is inarguably fun, built for fans of the long-running franchise. For lifelong fans of this universe and young kids experiencing it for the first or second time, this is a Mario fan’s dream. There’s enough here to leave a mass audience satisfied, even if anticipation grows for the next film to level up. For now, good enough is simply enough.

Can we, as a society, radically accept someone for who they are today, despite who they were? This is a fascinating question, a ripe one to ask in a narrative, and, for the most part, Borgli succeeds in addressing the multiple sides of the query that will entice many heated post-movie conversations.

Anya Taylor-Joy brings a dynamic playfulness and personality to her character. While Miles Teller doesn’t quite match Taylor-Joy’s level of screen presence, the two manage to create fun chemistry and make the most out of an unfocused concept.

Picture This may not be the most unique story, nor does it reach the pinnacle of the rom-com genre. But the film finds enough moments of freshness and earnestness in the protagonist’s journey to stand out in a sea of generic rom-coms. Ashley’s incredibly charming performance is the most compelling highlight of the film.

While director Stephen Chbosky and writer Liz Maccie have the heart in the right place with Nonnas, honoring generations of family tradition, a formulaic approach limits how far this inspiring story can go creatively.

Jane Austen Wrecked My Life feels destined to become a quintessential Austen-adjacent classic. The film lives up to its playful title with a thoughtful blend of the author’s sense and sensibility.

Campanella’s suspenseful direction makes for an emotionally resonant (and at times very upsetting) watch about enduring love, pain, and the evasiveness of true justice.

In a heightened depiction of the hyper-privileged, “Succession” drew parallels to the real world. The balance between absurdity and glimmers of sympathy in such morally corrupt characters made the show an irresistible watch. A feature-length doom scroll from the perspective of out-of-touch, not-so-sympathetic billionaires is a little harder to digest.

KPop Demon Hunters slays as a mystical, action-packed musical full of surprises, and it deserves to be played in theaters.

While the structure can be a little too unfocused, Coixet’s subtle depiction of love and loss goes a long way, building to a memorable conclusion.

At times, the roundabout structure of “Couture” can make for a plodding watch, and leaves some character development to be desired. But there’s a spellbinding quality to Winocour’s direction; she glides from one woman’s perspective to the next somewhat obliquely. In doing so, she unearths gems of inner conflict in characters who are withholding so much about their personal lives just to do their jobs and get through the day.

You don’t watch a movie like this for character or dialogue, you watch it to see fierce, strong young women twirl, kick, and stab their way through a pack of mobsters to the sound of Tchaikovsky. On that front, Pretty Lethal delivers. Brava, ladies!

Given how well “Brian” works, it’s tempting to call it a miracle of a movie, simply because this humor shouldn’t play this well. But that’s not a miracle, that’s just everyone working on a film being perfectly aligned on how to tell the story they’re telling.