The resulting script offers the seriousness one anticipates from McQueen and the switchbacks and turns one expects from Flynn.

With the exception of a few slow spots, Outlaw King flows briskly. It’s one of the better “Netflix originals” the service has provided and worth the expense of two hours.

The actors, especially an uncharacteristically low-key Russell Crowe, are effective in bringing the personalities to life and director Joel Edgerton (who adapted the source material and also acts) avoids the kind of extreme melodrama that could unbalance a project like this.

“Hollow cash grab” is one way to describe The Grinch. Equally appropriate would be “soulless abomination.”

Distilled to its essence, The Girl in the Spider’s Web is a generic espionage/crime thriller. Although briskly paced, the plot is far from airtight and demands a deus ex machina to reach its climax.

One of the problems with Unlovable is the uneven manner in which the tone shifts.

Time Trap is a superficially entertaining science-fiction action/adventure film that might have worked better had it focused more on the “science fiction” elements and less on the halfhearted “action/adventure” ones.

It’s the best performance of McCarthy’s career, topping the one she gave in "St. Vincent."

Designed for and targeted at prepubescent girls, the holiday-themed fantasy adventure drowns in CGI, underdeveloped characters, and a plot utterly devoid of energy and excitement.

It’s too bad no one working on the production recognized the disparity in quality between the performance/non-performance scenes or they might have leaned more heavily on the former at the welcome expense of the latter.

The compelling reason to see it in a multiplex, however, isn’t so much the advantage of a larger screen as it is the absence of commercial breaks. The full impact of the movie relies on the gradual building of momentum and any kind of interruption could break the spell.

If I wanted to be kind, I’d call Luca Guadagnino’s Suspiria remake “visually striking” and “stylish.” If I wanted to be brutally honest, I’d call it “tedious”, “pretentious”, and even “painful” (although not in a good way).

Won’t win any awards for acting or writing but generates suspense when it needs to and tells an engrossing Tall Tale.

Bleak and gripping, Galveston offers a compelling experience for those who don’t demand pure escapism and are willing to sample the darker side of cinema.

Although the movie features strong performances and contains some individually potent scenes, the film’s style keeps the viewer at arm’s length, limiting the story’s overall power and emotional resonance.

This is the sequel Halloween fans have been awaiting for four decades. With John Carpenter whispering in his ear (the original director returned in an “advisory” capacity and as co-composer), David Gordon Green has taken the series back to its roots.

This isn’t just another “cancer movie.”

Bad Times at the El Royale has problems beyond its inability to stick the ending but that’s the one that ultimately sinks it.

The Old Man & the Gun’s problems relate to a lack of balance. The movie is fine when it focuses on Redford – at least until the anti-climactic final act when it loses energy and momentum – but dead-in-the-water where the other actors/characters are concerned.

When movies address fertility problems – something they rarely do in the first place – it’s usually with something less than the honesty on display in Private Life.

Unfortunately, along with his determination to burrow into the lead character’s psyche, Oscar-winning Damien Chazelle (whose statuette came for "La La Land") fully embraces the shaky-cam handheld approach.

It doesn’t offer a story of any surprising depth or emotional strength. It’s straightforward which isn’t necessarily a bad thing but the limitations of this telling of Colette’s life is defined by a familiar quality.

Crisply paced but undercut by hard-to-swallow plot contrivances, the movie doesn’t waste much time, taking only about an hour and a quarter to unspool.

To the extent that Venom works, it’s as a comedy not an action/adventure superhero film.

All movies have a perspective. The one presented in The Hate U Give is measured but unmistakable. The film is incisive; its manipulation is covert and strategic, engendering feeling without seeming intrusive.

Cooper directs with a sure hand, never overextending himself, and Lady Gaga proves to be a natural performer (she’s more believable in the role than Barbra Streisand was 42 years ago). She and Cooper exhibit a strong, primal chemistry. The movie works because we believe in them and have a rooting interest in their star-crossed, doomed love affair.

Made for the National Geographic Channel, Science Fair was devised as a television project. As such, it’s more than worthy of the time spent viewing it. The material is strong enough, however, that for those who appreciate documentaries of this sort, it’s a reasonable candidate for theatrical viewing.

There’s a sense that, in trying to add humor and cinema-friendly “touches” to her narrative, Gleason occasionally takes us too far from reality and, during those times, the movies loses its focus on the 16-year old protagonist, Jamie Winkle (Joey King).