My expectation is that Harry Brown will find its strongest adherents among those who remember Caine in The Ipcress File and Get Carter and are fascinated to explore his take on how that sort of character might have aged.

Despite its deliberate pacing, it moves quickly, in large part because of the extraordinary way that Kubrick builds and deepens the sense of dread. Even seemingly normal and innocent moments - such as Danny tooling around the corridors of the hotel on his Big Wheel (with the sound of the wheels echoing on hard wood and muffled on carpet) - are overshadowed by an encroaching sense of the ominous. Technically, The Shining may be one of the most perfect motion pictures I have seen. It's too bad that the same level of excellence doesn't extend to the performances and screenplay. The Shining is well worth experiencing, but it does not rank as a member of Kubrick's top echelon of cinematic achievements.

The Nest is an autopsy of the disintegration of the middle-class dream and its impact on those for whom it becomes a nightmare. It’s a rumination about the fragility of happiness. It’s a modern-day horror film with a spooky mansion, a body that refuses to stay buried, and demons that haunt not the benighted halls of the house but the unsettled corridors of the psyche.

Thus far, the 2021-22 roster of Disney/Marvel post-pandemic titles has struggled to advance the series beyond Thanos in a meaningful fashion. Although it’s questionable whether Thor: Love and Thunder changes that, it has a helluva lot of fun trying.

Anyone who enjoys well-executed romances will find a lot to like about this film, but it lacks the strength of originality evident in those movies that inhabit the genre's top echelon.

While this curious clash between a near-modern setting and the much older source material might seem confounding, it actually serves to energize the play, as well as making it more palatable to present-day audiences.

This more lenient attitude toward the original 1998 film has allowed director Niki Caro to be less reverent in her approach. The result is satisfyingly fresh. 2020’s Mulan follows the same general trajectory as its predecessor but numerous changes – some small, some large – have given it a unique identity.

It's a little along the same lines as "Ocean's 11" in what it achieves and, like that film, there's plenty of Oscar power among the actors - a combined 15 nominations, to be precise.

Although director Jason Reitman (son of Ivan, who made the first two) has done a solid job of satisfying multiple needs while turning out a passably amusing and affecting story, the limitations of the Ghostbusters formula are apparent. Ultimately, however, nostalgia remains the main selling point and viewers attending for that reason won’t be disappointed.

The film lingers, not because it’s enjoyable, but because it refuses to let go. It’s the sort of movie you admire for its daring and endurance but would never want to watch a second time.

While Muriel's Wedding has its moments of exhilarating humor, it is, as often as not, downbeat and even mean-spirited.

The pieces and parts assembled herein are familiar, but the manner in which Affleck puts them together results in an engrossing two hours of cinema.

Saint Judy has a serious agenda and, in service of that, it eschews action scenes, thriller elements, and conventional contrivances. It tells a worthwhile story and provides a primer on aspects of immigration law without becoming didactic.

Understands baseball and the men who play it, and, for a film about the sport, that's half the battle.

Not everything in City Island works - some of the secrets are obvious plot devices - but, in terms of feel-good, undemanding entertainment, this is as good as anything I have seen thus far in 2010.

It’s a step up from 28 Weeks Later but it remains to be seen whether Nia DaCosta is able to bring this chapter across the finish line.

The film makers understand that it's possible for a romantic comedy to appeal not only to the heart, but to the mind as well.

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.

Like a time-travel movie, but without the time travel, The Mothman Prophecies delights in playing with cause-and-effect relationships.

The white hats are stained dark gray as if by ashes and soot. The villains are twisted, cruel, and vile. The heroes aren't much better.

The Book of Life represents Guillermo del Toro's most hands-on foray (to date) into the realm of family friendly entertainment; this is closer in tone and sensibility to one of Tim Burton's offbeat animated films than one of Pixar's more "vanilla" productions.

The film is unusual not so much because of its content - the man vs. nature story has always been a popular one, whether in print or on film - but in its restraint. Putting an actor, even an accomplished one such as Redford, alone on screen for more than 90 minutes is a risk.

Paranoid Park is a rare breed: a movie about teenagers in which the characters talk like real teenagers, act like real teenagers, and are played by real teenagers.

While the movie will play as well at home as in a theater, it offers the kind of heart-warming, thoughtful, and occasionally amusing story that’s badly needed in troubled times.

Oozes atmosphere. The humor keeps it from becoming too creepy, but there are still a few chills to be had.

Living Out Loud is not a monumental motion picture. In fact, in many ways, it's quite the opposite - a quiet, unassuming story of friendship and love that uses richly-developed characters to charm its audience.

Unfortunately, the generic bio-pic structure of 42 prevents it from ever becoming something great.

Max is a throwback of sorts - a movie about the relationship between a boy and his dog. Lassie springs to mind as the genre classic, but this has a closer kinship to Rin Tin Tin. Although its sensibilities are old-fashioned, the movie offers a modern look and feel.