The movie has a magnetic quality that’s all the more welcome because of all the weighty issues forming its foundation. It’s a tremendous debut effort for Hall, whose work seems more like that of a seasoned veteran than a first-timer.

I could easily list a half-dozen movies about famous artists/authors that fall into the same general category as this one. Excepting Cumberbatch’s performance and the strong visual sense, there’s not a lot to separate this from any of them.

For what we get, Dune: Part One is a great ride.

Those expecting an action film may be disappointed by what The Last Duel offers. While the climactic battle is rousing, suspenseful, and suitably brutal, the majority of the film is more about dialogue, perception, and character interaction.

Halloween Kills is one of the better sequels (put it alongside Halloween 4 and H20 and a shade below the 2018 production) and contains all the elements to make it popular among horror film lovers regardless of their ages.

The result, for those who can overcome the substantial “suspension of disbelief” hurdle, is engrossing and unsettling. As ridiculous as the premise might sound, the film is not easily forgotten. It lingers.

The film’s occasional overreaches aren’t always a negative; the high points are very high and, when it’s all over, most viewers will remember them.

If nothing else, The Many Saints of Newark recaptures the feel and aesthetic of David Chase’s The Sopranos, the TV series that was frequently cited as the best television had to offer during the eight years when it was on (and off) the air.

The Venom sequel checks all the generic comic book movie boxes and, if all one expects from a film adaptation is a straightforward translation with motion and live actors, it’s hard to knock Let There Be Carnage. But, in an era when most superhero productions are becoming increasingly complex, challenging one another for greater depth and storyline intricacy, the shallowness of both Venom movies stands out in an unflattering fashion.

It’s generic but not so bad that it becomes unwatchable.

here’s a dissonance between the film’s darker subjects and its seeming desire to offer something uplifting at the end. The coda feels dishonest and makes it as difficult to root for the film’s success as it does for the main character.

After a slow-burn first hour, the movie cranks up the octane with plenty of blood, guts, and bullets. The final 20 minutes feel a little sloppy, with one twist too many and an unfocused ending that may be optimistically hinting at a sequel, but everything else is solid.

Blue Bayou channels plenty of anger and passion and the narrative lynchpin is sufficiently compelling (despite a tendency toward melodramatic manipulation) but Chon’s capabilities as a writer don’t match those as a director and an actor.

A lively, crowd-pleasing story with heart to go along with the glitter and glitz, it’s better than a lot of what’s currently available.

As a chance for Isaac to re-familiarize viewers with his serious side after spending three films in a galaxy far, far away, it’s effective. But as a character study, it’s flawed and as a narrative, it’s erratic. There are too few high cards in the movie’s deck for it to be considered a winning hand.

I hated this movie. Hated hated hated hated hated this movie. Hated it. Hated every simpering stupid vacant audience-insulting moment of it. There. That just about sums it up.

As a stand-alone movie with no connections to anything else, Shang-Chi is an engaging piece of comic book art. It remains to be seen how it will fit into Marvel’s overall plan.

Undemanding movie-goers on the lookout for a movie featuring pretty people in a vapid rom-com that might find this movie to their liking. For everyone else, this is decidedly not “all that.”

This is one instance in which the return of a horror icon has a greater purpose than the exploitation of a recognizable brand. Would that more genre films were as thoughtful and thought-provoking, mixing substance with splatter in a fashion that builds uneasiness on more than one level.

Although Reminiscence is made with care and competence and features a strong underlying premise, the film as a whole is forgettable.

This is a creepily effective excursion into terror that, if watched alone in the dark, may generate post-movie jitters. It’s a quietly intense alternative to generic horror movies that provides its share of scares without the need to splatter the screen with blood and viscera.

Annette dares to be different and, at a time when so many movies feel like cookie-cutter representations of better past tellings, there’s more than a little virtue of taking an offbeat and oddball path, even if the detour is too long and has a few too many potholes.

While it’s easy to quibble about the choices of omission and inclusion made by screenwriter Tracey Scott Wilson and whether a more adventurous, unconventional approach might have been a better fit for the central character’s personality, Hudson renders such criticism moot. Her performance as Aretha Franklin is more than worth the price of admission.

Reynold’s charisma and some solid gags hold things together for a while but the movie ultimately comes up short despite its promising premise.

With The Suicide Squad, Gunn shows that there are ways to keep things edgy while at the same time offering enough humor and action to maintain the crowd-pleasing elements.

Although Oda’s debut offers glimpses of a potentially gifted director, the project feels unfinished and fails to match his impressive vision with an equally compelling story.

While a majority of the movie is a rambunctious road trip with a few call-outs to Studio Ghibli (Michael Rooker’s Lutador the giant python would likely earn a smile from Miyazaki), there’s heart in the evolving relationship between Gabi and Vivo and a solid emotional payoff at the end.

They Shall Not Grow Old isn’t just a compelling motion picture; it’s an important slice of cinema.