As written by the brash, funny, and often vulgar comedienne Amy Schumer, Trainwreck is brash, funny, and often vulgar. Its raunchiness is a perfect match for the man who made "The 40-Year-Old Virgin" and "Knocked Up."

Not a daring film, but it is immensely likable. Every once in a while, a movie comes along that, despite traversing familiar terrain, is made with enough all-around skill that it overcomes its clichéd origins. About a Boy is such a movie.

For this homage, Emily, actor-turned-director Frances O’Connor uses speculation and outright fiction to fill in the threadbare historical tapestry. The result, although impressively mounted and passably entertaining, has the generic feel of many woman-centered 19th century period pieces.

Despite being a little rough around the edges (as is often the case with the work of maverick documentarians), This Film Is Not Yet Rated is more than just an angry diatribe against the MPAA.

Origin offers the best of both worlds: a well-developed story with a three-dimensional lead character who grows over the course of the movie and an intellectually satisfying element folded into the screenplay.

An affecting and endearing collaboration between Miyazaki and Kondo, it weds a coming-of-age story with a flight of fancy to good effect. Although often overshadowed by more popular titles in the Studio Ghibli catalog, this is as deserving as any 1990s Japanese animated film to be seen and enjoyed.

Taut, relentless, and uncompromising, A House of Dynamite’s greatest strength is its sense of plausibility.

Despite being broadly classified as a “monster movie” and featuring sequences that are as wildly bizarre as any Monty Python skit, Okja has serious messages about consumerism, ecology, and food production.

The film offers everything one could ask for from popcorn entertainment.

Not great Disney but good enough to engage viewers young and old.

Those who enjoy gritty, angry Westerns (especially those set in the Australian bush rather than along the American frontier) will find much here to their taste, none of which is in need of additional seasoning.

A pleasant dramatic comedy that overcomes its tonal inconsistencies by presenting an engaging lead character with whom its virtually impossible not to empathize.

As a satire on the media's infatuation with violence and murderers, Natural Born Killers hits the bullseye. The problem is, this is a one-note movie. It repeatedly hammers home the same point until the audience is bludgeoned into senselessness.

Consistently hits the right notes, earning both the tears and smiles that result.

Imogen Poots and Zoe Saldana add their names to the project but, although they give solid turns, their roles are secondary. The star is relative newcomer 15-year old Madison Wolfe, whose performance is note-perfect.

As a documentary, this movie has the same problems as all of those in Moore's oeuvre; as a polemic or a visual op-ed piece, it's an effective piece of filmmaking.

A compelling, thought-provoking, and unsettling drama.

Is it A Bigger Splash or A Bigger Bore? Despite a strong cast, gorgeous cinematography, and a suffocating sense of sexual tension, this movie takes far too long to get off the ground.

The humor - and there's enough of it that Tabloid could be categorized as a comedy - is unforced, arising as it does out of these truth-is-stranger-than-fiction circumstances.

This is a more personal movie for Burton than one might initially suspect. The very fact that he elected to re-tell this story after 28 years is an indication of how much it means to him. And I wouldn't be surprised to learn that, as a kid, he had a dog named Sparky.

One hell of a ride. For better or for worse, it will leave you stunned and reeling.

Bottoms achieves what it sets out to do and, in the process, provides a multiplex-friendly indie movie with breakout potential.

While Cheryl's journey is interesting, it isn't as compelling as the one embarked upon by Christopher McCandless (Into the Wild). The most arresting aspect of Wild isn't Cheryl's perambulation along the 1000-mile long Pacific Crest Trail but the memories that percolate to the surface as flashbacks.

Raya and the Last Dragon should entertain children but adults may fidget from time-to-time and the overall impression is of something that, like many middling Disney titles, will quickly be forgotten.

It’s an uneven film with a tone that veers from playful to menacing. Despite numerous simplifications of the source material, it’s long and, with only a few exceptions, the songs are unremarkable and feel more like filler than organic elements of storytelling.

The Sea Inside is uplifting. This is a movie that may cause viewers to both laugh and cry.

It's better than 90% of the animated fare of the last few years. It's refreshing not to have to qualify the movie's appeal by appending the words, "for the kids."

Despite some minor issues in presenting and pursuing the time travel episodes, My Old Ass rarely missteps and that will likely earn it a place on my end-of-the-year Top 10.