Not an indictment of the Catholic Church as a whole, but a thought-provoking look at what can happen when decent individuals are seduced by the power of their position.

Like many entries into the genre, Jagged Edge works best when it's watched with a minimum of analysis. There are a fair number of gaffes, flaws, and other assorted problems, and the plot looks progressively less substantial the more closely it's examined. However, the bottom line is that the crux of the story - whether or not Jack is guilty - is engrossing, and it isn't until we know the answer that the movie really seems to let us down.

In terms of humor, See How They Run is more amusing than outrageous. Outside of the few instances of slapstick and physical comedy, it is designed to generate smiles (rather than provoke belly laughs). The script is clever and silly at the same time. (That may seem contradictory but it’s not.)

Kill the Messenger is compelling material but the recognition that the core of the narrative is based on true events gives it additional power.

It feels incomplete and the ending is entirely too convenient.

One of those pleasant movie-going experiences that doesn't offend, excite, or challenge anyone. There are all sorts of likable things about it.

Wolfs is a pleasant enough experience. At 108 minutes, it’s not too long and, putting aside the aggravating manner in which Watts ends the story, it goes down easily.

Put The Angry Birds Movie 2 into the basket of sequels that no one was asking for.

With this cast, this director, and this source material, I expected to be swept away on a wave of enchantment, but nothing close to that happened.

The Clearing is being positioned as "adult counter-programming" for the summer season, but the benefits of seeing this movie may not be worth the patience necessary to get through it.

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 film’s biggest problem is its uneven pacing.

This film is aesthetically pleasing but not emotionally satisfying. It's occasionally erotic but rarely dynamic.

On the whole, it works although perhaps not as well as it might have if the central relationship had more carefully established.

The film has lofty goals, but comes across as leaden and pretentious. It's a character study in which the lead participant is the least interesting person in the movie.

If there's a serious disappointment, it's the villain. Ma-Ma, despite being played with over-the-top zest by Lena Headey, isn't a very impressive foil for the mighty Judge Dredd, even when she calls for "back-up."

Perhaps the most surprising thing about The Adjustment Bureau is that, irrespective of the misdirection of the trailers and T.V. spots, this is more of a romance than a science fiction thriller.

If Scream is intended to re-start the franchise, things are off to a rocky start. This is what happens when Hollywood refuses to give up on a series that has run its course.

Had there been more to Lightyear than a retread of sci-fi cliches with a beloved character, I would have been less disappointed.

The film gets frequent laughs from its raunchiness but, underneath it all, there’s an emotionally resonant story of how children confront the demons of youth that guard the gates to adolescence.

In the Land of Saints and Sinners is a clear, unqualified improvement over such recent Neeson-led thrillers like Retribution and Blacklight. And, although one can argue that his once-prodigious talents are wasted in cash-grab projects of this sort, at least the movie provides 90 minutes of entertainment rather than turning into a by-the-numbers slog.

It's not bad enough to walk out on but neither is it good enough to walk into.

The cynic in me believes this movie may have been constructed primarily for end-of-the-year plaudits because there doesn’t seem to be another compelling reason for it to exist.

It wants to be funny, charming, scary, and dramatic. It ends up being a little of each but not successful as any one.

Crawl is an old-fashioned B-grade monster movie made with 2019 technology. In short, that means plenty of gore and jump-scares to go along with creatures that no longer look like puppets or men in rubber suits.

The overall package, despite suffering from some third-act narrative problems, generally goes down easily and boasts a strong, lived-in performance by Shannon Purser (Barbara from the first season of Stranger Things).

McFarland USA, like "Hoosiers," makes characters a priority. The film, directed by New Zealander Niki Caro, focuses on the people involved in the drama. The narrative doesn't saddle them with cliché-riddled subplots; it makes them and their concerns real.

This movie desperately wants to be liked. The problem is, there's not much here to like -- at least nothing that's new or interesting.