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.

Eventually, it had to happen: a computer-animated dud.

With an abrupt and unwelcome shift in tone and a surprisingly ordinary resolution, The Burnt Orange Heresy falls short of its Hitchcockian aspirations.

A maudlin hack-job.

Code 46 is like "Solaris" without the psychological depth and strong acting. The movie is flat, boring, pointless, and nonsensical.

The movie is unpolished, unabashedly un-PC, and takes on as many "sacred cows" as it can uncover in a slightly-too-long 105 minutes.

Despite a strong opening and riveting first 45 minutes, The Maze Runner devolves into one of the weakest post-apocalyptic Young Adult movies to reach theaters in recent years.

It's difficult to say whether the main problem with Iron Man 2 is that it suffers from too much plot or too little.

Barbarians starts out as a tense psychological thriller unfolding against the tableau of a not-so-friendly dinner before morphing into something decidedly physical and creepy.

Although it would be unfair to label Cars 2 as unwatchable, it is surprisingly tedious in parts and not as satisfying as one might expect.

With 3-D, a little goes a long way and, in the absence of a legitimate script with credible characters, the fun dries up long before the running time has expired.

While this is admittedly not lighthearted mainstream fare, the subject matter is interesting and is handled in a manner that offers a compelling and sometimes unsettling 95 minutes.

This film never believably captures the sport it portrays, and that leads to a picture that's closer to a strikeout than a home run.

Cold Pursuit has a strong current of dark humor winding through the proceedings. With a nod or two to Quentin Tarantino, he has fashioned a bizarrely entertaining ode to violence, gangsters, and heavy snowfall in the Rockies.

Unlike the Harry Potter movies, The House with a Clock in Its Walls fails to find the sweet spot for cross-generational appeal.

Sean Connery is perfect for the King Arthur role. Too bad he isn't given more to do than stand around looking regal.

The Santa Clause isn't an unmitigated disaster, but it's also a whole lot less impressive than it could be.

As a satire and an off-the-wall comedy, Bubba Ho-Tep hits the bullseye. As a horror movie, it's less successful. Maybe we're too busy laughing to be scared.

Attempts to inject a little humor via the antics of the dwarves don't work, especially since one of the little people is killed early in the proceedings. No one's going to be singing "Hi ho! Hi ho! It's off to work we go!" after that happens.

The main problem with Coach Carter can be summed up simply: too much sermonizing.

Foster's film offers its fair share of laughs, although most come at the expense of "easy mark" characters. Dramatically, however, the movie is only a step up from a flop.

Confetti is an excellent study of what happens when someone botches Christopher Guest's mockumentary format.

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 film is at its best when it is at its most goofy, at times coming close to the laugh-aloud outrageousness of Will Ferrell's "Anchorman."

The script is smart and sneaky - by never telling the audience more than is necessary, it develops a keen sense of suspense that persists until the gritty final reel.

Haggis' dialogue is virtually without clunkers, and it is delivered with the appropriate weight by a solid cast. Braff's limp performance is countered by Barrett's emotional riveting one (although he's in more scenes than she is).

The concept of conflating a heist film with a revenge thriller would seem to have a lot of promise. The problem with Wrath of Man is that, although both aspects are apparent, neither is well-crafted.

Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson bring credibility to Last Chance Harvey merely by their presence. The result is a holiday parfait.