As with all of Berg’s films, Patriots Day does an excellent job with sets and locales and is compulsively watchable.

The Mission is beautiful to look at, features impeccable period and setting detail, and offers a fascinating and tragic backstory, but it falls short in many simple human qualities. Overall, it's an impressive motion picture, but lacks the epic greatness sometimes associated with it.

The Man Without a Past is a modern fairy tale. It certainly is divorced from reality. Despite this -– or perhaps because of it -– it's a satisfying motion picture.

This isn’t a hard-edged or particularly nasty film. Its political satire is even-keeled, attacking the system as an entity rather than either party in particular.

While Palm Springs doesn’t stray too far from the idea introduced by "Groundhog Day," it’s the first derivative film to be more deserving of a commendation than derision. Or, to put another way, it feels more like an homage than a rip-off.

A Man for All Seasons offers an engaging, if somewhat dry, history lesson leavened with enough low-key drollness and powerful acting to keep it from ever becoming boring.

Lovers of Dahl's book will almost certainly appreciate what Burton has wrought.

It's hard to imagine a D&D-branded movie doing a better job than this one of bringing the game to a cinematic platform.

This is a funny movie. It delivers plenty of laughs, but it isn't in the same league as "Clerks." I left that movie holding my stomach from laughing so hard.

Mank may be Fincher’s most technically challenging production to-date but it suffers from what some might consider to be the director’s Achilles heel: his laser-focus on perfection results in a tepid emotional temperature. It’s hard to feel much of anything for (or about) any of the characters, even the title one.

It’s solidly entertaining, contains an element of emotional resonance, looks and sounds great, but isn’t special.

Clockwatchers offers a perspective of the American corporate office that is both viciously satirical and depressingly accurate.

The movie is at its best when the audience is in the dark and, because our perspective is June's and she doesn't know what the hell is going on until well into the proceedings, that's when things are the most entertaining.

Disconnect is by turns frustrating and fascinating.

For the briefest of moments, someone not paying attention might mistake Lantana for a mystery. -- Lantana is actually an examination of human interaction.

The way Levine has structured Black Bear turns the possible interconnections between the stories into a puzzle for which there is no ironclad solution. That’s part of the fun – speculating what it all means. For those who prefer a more passive experience, Black Bear offers a dollop of frustration but, for those willing to brush aside the web-like strands entwining the first story with the second, it’s an engaging double-feature.

Despite narrative issues, the film is overall affecting and effective with Ben Affleck’s powerful performance being a driving force.

Oscar's life has the potential to become a Greek tragedy, but Winick keeps things light enough that it resolutely stays a comedy.

Godzilla Minus One isn’t just a good Godzilla movie. It’s an excellent Godzilla movie – arguably among the best ever to grace the screen.

Turns out to be the funniest hard-R comedy since "The Hangover."

It rewards patience not only in the way it crafts its central character but develops the era in which it transpires.

Unlike last year's disastrous "Pinocchio" with Roberto Benigni, this movie proves worth the time, effort, and money to get the whole family to a theater.

As Nina, Aniston not only displays a surprising capacity for both comedy and drama, but she shines with the kind of star quality that only a handful of current performers exhibit.

Free Fire isn’t a “Reservoir Dogs for the 2010s” but there are enough similarities in approach, tone, and style to warrant a comparison. The violence, the cavalcade or profanity, the testosterone & adrenaline – they’re all present and accounted for.

With its underworld violence and straightforward narrative, Shanghai Triad may be Zhang's most accessible film to date. It is not, however, his best work, having neither the epic scope of To Live nor the quiet emotional power of Raise the Red Lantern. Yet there is still much to like about Shanghai Triad, not the least of which is the production's gorgeous look (credit the director and his cinematographer, Li Xiao). Shanghai Triad overflows with memorable imagery and atmosphere. And, as this film verifies, a weak entry by Zhang is often far more engrossing than a strong entry by many other directors.

Viewers will discover that the film has something to offer nearly everyone, whether they are a novice or a black belt in kung fu cinema.

Co-writers Phil Lord & Christopher Miller bring their trademarked unconventional approach to the story and that helps the movie stand-out in what is quickly becoming a wasteland of superhero sameness. But it’s tough to call Across the Spider-Verse “great” without seeing whether the final chapter sticks the landing or falls on its sword.

It's a solid, entertaining monster movie that, at its best, recalls not only its three decades-old namesake but Alien as well.