Deadwyler is simply a revelation in the role, her alternately fragile, fiery, and steely performance carrying "Till" through some of its biggest lulls.

Dedicating yourself to revenge is an act of self-punishment that closes you off from a happier life. I admire the sentiment but a messy story that sometimes loses sight of Scarlet herself means it has limited resonance.

One can't help but wonder how both "The Nun" movies might've played out as original scripts without any shackles to pre-established lore ... but, at the same time, one would have to assume that neither film would even exist without those connections in the first place.

It all ends up being a touch forgettable by the time the end credits roll, but the journey to get there is never dull.

Though Chuck Chuck Baby treads familiar plot beats and offers little surprise, it's something of a feat to turn such familiar British film territory into something prominently LGBT+. Its innate understanding of queerness and female bonds allows the lesbian relationship to never feel like window dressing.

Stargirl is a slight, but cute teen dramedy.

Nostalgia is fine in limited doses, but the sequel ends up feeling like J.J. Abrams directed "Now That's What I Call Ghostbusters," undoing any of the goodwill established by the film's first two acts. The movie is trapped in the past so much that it might taint any potential future there might be to keep the franchise alive with these new characters.

The Good Nurse is strangely flat.

Madame Web does not provide a crowd-pleasing bombast. This is a pity, as this odd duck makes for a fascinating watch. This may be one of the final films of the superhero renaissance. Enjoy it before it topples over entirely. 

Just Mercy ends up being a fairly bland crowd pleaser that doesn’t pick up the momentum it should until the final act.

Considering the majority of modern mainstream fare, we can look at "Bullet Train" as a mild win, a presumably high-budgeted action film that boasts no superheroes, no extended universes, nothing like that. But though this film clears that low bar, Bullet Train is only ever mildly fun, while reminding you of movies that are often a whole lot better.

There are snapshots of something greater here; hints of a grander mystery, a bigger twist, a better climax. Alas, we can only ponder, weak and weary, over what that better film could have been.

The Shadow Strays feels more like a step back than a step forward. By the time the mid-credit coda arrived, I wanted less, not more. Still, those craving copious amounts of carnage will find plenty to dig here.

The best that can be said about everything surrounding Powell and Sweeney in Anyone But You is that they mostly have the good sense to move the plot quickly and then let the stars sparkle.

Good Boy may not exactly reinvent the haunted house subgenre, but it proves you can still teach an old dog new tricks.

The Whale" stays too intellectual in its exploration of the physical and spiritual dimensions of redemption to and from bodily captivity. This comes at the expense of the director's strengths in the visceral realm. It restricts what could have been a truly great comeback performance from Brendan Fraser into being merely a good one.

In fact, “very dumb and very enchanting” could sum up Zack Snyder’s Justice League as a whole. There was never a single moment where I bought the story Snyder was selling, but I did enjoy his attempt to create a superhero movie that rises above the din.

The film tastes like the cinematic equivalent of Clooney's tequila brand Casamigos. That is to say, The Boys in the Boat goes down smoothly, if somewhat unremarkably.

This is a frequently charming documentary, but it sprints through Henson's life like we're speed-reading his Wikipedia page. I wanted more.

As unnecessarily intricate and eyebrow-raising as the story might be, "Spin Me Round" at least feels original — it's never boring, and what unfolds is admirably entertaining enough that it's hard to downright dislike. But not unlike the Italian "cuisine" of Tuscan Grove, it still leaves something to be desired.  Read More: https://www.slashfilm.com/796873/spin-me-round-review-alison-brie-gets-embroiled-in-a-meandering-but-entertaining-comedic-thriller-sxsw/?utm_campaign=clip

When the film quite literally runs out of plot, only the filmmaker's sheer determination and commitment to the bit manage to salvage an ending that throws logic and reason out the door several times over.

There’s something here, beneath the glassy-eyed performances and the Instagram aesthetics, about class and privilege and the evils of men — and you could even make a case for False Positive being yet another effective display of gaslighting as horror — but any actual messages are too vague to parse.

Minions: The Rise of Gru will not usher in a new era of animation, nor change the way we treat prequels. What it will do is entertain kids with more Minions shenanigans, a fair number of fart jokes, and references to other characters in the franchise.

where Shaun the Sheep Movie felt comedically risky and goofy and brilliant, Farmageddon is a bit dated on arrival, making the kinds of jokes that would have felt a bit old hat a decade ago, let alone now. It’s a good thing this movie exists, even if it’s not quite up to snuff.

What Mulan does suffer from is the absence of the levity that the musical elements would have brought. Mulan is serious verging on dour, so bent on presenting itself as a serious war drama that its rare moments of comedy feel almost awkwardly slotted in.

The brothers tend not to dally much with their narratives, but even adjusting for their typical brevity, Young Ahmed feels like a cursory examination of the social issues they raise. It lacks the incisiveness of their other glances directly into the heart of Belgian society.

I don't know if I'd call this a memorable take on Dracula, but as a simple little monster movie with plenty of atmospherre, it does the trick.

The Midnight Sky is ambitious in its attempts at pathos. There’s the germ of something beautiful buried in here; a story trying to tell us that every last life is worth saving even if all seems lost. That’s something worth hearing, but The Midnight Sky fails to even get the conversation going.

Black Widow is at its best when it’s a wacky family drama between Natasha, Yelena, Alexei, and Melina, with dashes of a spy thriller. But Marvel films can’t content themselves with staying small, and Black Widow falls victim to the big bombast characteristic of the studio. The result is a disappointing solo movie that ends up burying Natasha Romanoff once again.

A Disturbance in the Force succeeds at telling the full story of how the infamous "Star Wars Holiday Special" was made. And yet, it doesn't really make the special look that bad in context.

CRSHD has some promising ideas and visually inventive ways of presenting them, but it still feels like a rough draft of a film. The humor lands, and the character dynamics offer a charming backbone for CRSHD, but this coming-of-age comedy could do with some workshopping.

Hit Man is light enough to be enjoyable, and Powell and Arjona really make things pop. However, Hit Man is also kind of forgettable, and often uninspired. The story is high concept, the execution is lacking.

Jungle Cruise is, on the whole, not quite as enjoyable as Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, and of course nowhere near as good as the Indiana Jones franchise or even The Mummy, partly because it is entirely unable to shake loose of those reference points. But it’s still a solid summer action film, or at least a solid enough entry for this specific summer

Poor conclusion aside, Him clearly indicates that Justin Tipping is a filmmaker to watch, especially if he wants to stick around in the horror genre. Best of all, though, it serves as a wonderful showcase for Marlon Wayans, who has never really been as good as he is here, turning in a performance that's both incredibly fun and undeniably unsettling. I just wish the rest of the movie could match his energy.

Heroes Rising is an impressive piece of fan-service with beautiful character work and some of the most inventive and dazzling fight sequences that the series has ever seen. But a recycled plot and villain threaten to doom the film to the lower echelons of forgettable anime movies.

It works as a loving homage to the era of slap-dash, go-for-broke ’80s horror, but it ultimately adds nothing to the conversation.

The saving grace of Murder Mystery 2 is that Jennifer Aniston and Adam Sandler have a renewed sense of charm, bouncing agreeably off each other as a married couple struggling to revive the unique magic they found in their first adventure.

As a movie, Unfrosted is weak. As a delivery system for a barrage of funny, silly jokes, it's part of a nutritious breakfast.

Devotion is far more interested in what's happening on earth rather than in the sky. It's a character drama with occasional bursts of action, and while there's certainly nothing wrong with that, the film ends up rather muddled. You can see the bones of something greater here, and Dillard remains a filmmaker worth paying attention to.

Dark Harvest is ultimately a film of style over substance, but hell, that style sure is grand.

This is ultimately a worthwhile musician biopic if only for Jeremy Allen White's thoughtful, tortured performance. He's so damn good playing Bruce Springsteen that you more or less want to forgive the movie its flaws.

Rather than the gritty drama of the first film or the delightful fantasy of the second, we instead get a dull romance with paper-thin characters, lame voice-over narration, and rather clean and puritan dance numbers, resulting in a film that feels more like an advertisement for the "Magic Mike Live" show than a movie.

Deep Water has its pleasures, some of which are of the inexplicably daffy variety . . . And when you compare Deep Water to ... well, just about every other movie available right now, either in theaters or streaming, it really does feel like a singular sensation.

There’s a certain fun to be had in Army of the Dead, but it’s the mindless, ugly fun that you wake up the next day regretting. Come to think of it, it’s kind of like a trip to Las Vegas.

Home Sweet Home Alone runs counter to whatever standard expectations any audience member would have about what to expect from a film in this franchise. To those of us who disdain the original, that actually works in its favor for the first hour. To others, this film may be alienating and perplexing. But it's a pleasant holiday surprise if you're willing to go with it.

After the empty soullessness of Fate of the Furious and the ribald nonsense of Hobbs and Shaw, F9 feels like Lin is pulling the franchise back on track. Whether that track is properly placed or not, or whether it’s actually a track that takes you off the deep end…well, your mileage may vary.

By the time Wolf Man wraps things up with an ending that's just a bit too neat and tidy, viewers will be left to reflect on the opportunities missed rather than the bold roads taken. Fortunately, even a modest Whannell misfire is well worth a watch, particularly when so much care and effort has been poured into every facet of its construction. There's still plenty of enjoyment to be had here ... as long as you don't expect this monster's bite to match its bark.

For a story as surprising and unpredictable as the true GameStop story was, it's frustrating to see Dumb Money follow such a familiar structure. What it does do especially well is its exploration of the community aspect of the situation.

Altogether, Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania is a fun MCU entry that finally starts to feel like the new Saga is pointing somewhere interesting.

Antebellum feels curiously unfinished. Rushed, even. You catch a glimpse of what the filmmakers are going for here, but never entirely buy it.

Blackk makes for a great protagonist, and Haddish gets some big laughs here and there, but the rest of the cast feels slightly lost, primarily because the story introduces them only to then have them fade into the background.

Hustle manages to get by on charm and style, and Sandler gets to remind us again that he has range. "Hustle" isn't a slam-dunk, but it still takes it to the hoop.

It's slick, solid, and filled to the brim with talented actors digging in and making the most of a not-entirely-nutritious meal.

The saving grace of the film is the performances.

Austin Zajur and Siena Agudong make for such a cute high school romance prospect that the movie doesn't feel like a total wash. Kevin Smith is still good at constructing funny dialogue and crafting characters you like to watch.

Were it just slightly more entertaining we might have something special on our hands. As it is, we have a sturdy, mercifully swift action pic that fizzles out instead of burning bright. It’s nice to have a movie as simple as this for a change, but it would be nicer if it were better.

Nobody seems to think that if it follows a paint-by-numbers Wick formula, that’ll be enough. It’s not, and that’s a damn shame, because Bob Odenkirk: Action Hero deserves better.

Despite the film's clear edict to include as many tasteless jokes as possible . . . Quasi possesses a strangely disarming, hangout quality, leaving it feeling ultimately harmless and even a little bit friendly.

It is superior in acting, lighting, pacing, and clarity. It's also raw and confrontational in a satisfying way. But it's also a glorified remake more than it is a sequel. "Platform 2" is not an expansion, but a retread, nihilistically sifting through violence and cannibalism to get to a point it repeated over and over. Second verse, same as the first. 

Whenever the film was on the verge of losing me, O'Brien's steady, remarkable performance brought me back. He really is that good here, and honestly, that might just be enough.

While Osei-Kuffour Jr. is able to conjure up more than a few disturbing moments – everything involving the mysterious twitchy man is great, aided by effective sound design full of rattling bones – Black Box loses steam rather quickly.

Paddington in Peru is ultimately a missed opportunity, but it's also a pleasant, entertaining-enough time.

The problem is that You Won't Be Alone is a film about identity that doesn't have an identity of its own. It is far too indebted to other films.

I'm all for rampaging animal movies. I'm all for ultra-silliness. I'm all for lots of gore. But after a while, the repetitive nature of Cocaine Bear began to wear me down, and the humor started to fall flat.

Willem Dafoe isn’t delivering one of his all-time performances, but he’s also not phoning it in. And these are, truly, good dogs. Togo is content in showing you those good dogs, and not much else. It’s a decent enough way to spend two hours, but only just.

In the end, Copshop is aggressively okay, and that'll probably be more than enough for most viewers. 

You might argue there's no redeeming value to any of this, and I won't fight you on that. And yet, the "everything and the kitchen sink" vibe of the whole thing renders Terrifier 2 an above-average slasher extravaganza. Watching this gives one the sense that they're watching something new, and that's a feeling you just can't beat. Whatever bloody adventure Art the Clown gets up to next, I'll be sure to watch.

Granted, the story leaves something to be desired, and it's missing one of the franchise's signature traits, but as someone who was underwhelmed by the trailers teasing Po's return, I walked away feeling adequately entertained.

Ultimately, The Marksman hits its generic target. It is the kind of film you watch on accident more than seek out, but you probably won’t regret the accident.

Bahrani's doc moves at a steady pace, but it also runs through bullet points rather than taking a deeper dive into Richard and his life.

Heart Eyes is solid enough to entertain. The jokes land, the leads are great, and the romance storyline is surprisingly sweet.

As a whole, House of Darkness is a very mixed bag of a film. The script shifts from nuanced to blunt depending on what minute you're watching, but the central performances add a layer of complexity that's often worth watching.

The Contractor challenges expectations in many ways, it just never goes quite far enough.

Song of the Thin Man is a slight improvement. It's got more laughs. And it's got an 11-year-old Dean Stockwell as an amusingly precocious Nick Jr.

The feeling persists that something is missing here. That Scott and company are merely lightly touching on things that require deeper exploration. Which brings me back again to that 4-hour director's cut.

65 mainly suffers from weak writing. Action movies don't need to be cranial to be fun, but there should be some stability in the plot. Beck and Woods really struggle to balance the tone, communicate character motivation, and generally craft a compelling story.

For the most part, Ricky Stanicky is an entertaining comedy with enough laughs to keep your attention, but ultimately, it tries too hard to pull at your heartstrings without enough authenticity to back it up.

The film is a self-serious, but consciously aesthetically pleasing, adaptation of a, frankly, silly soap opera. It doesn't rock the boat, but it doesn't plunge into the depths of womanhood, poverty, and classism as much as it thinks it does.

The Electric State is one of the most expensive films ever made, and one can see every dollar on the screen. The robots feel real, and their design, taken from Stålenhag's book, is fitfully unique. But one wonders why so much effort went into a movie that has almost nothing on its mind.

The film drags considerably — at one point I thought it was almost over only to realize there was a full hour left — but the over-the-top religious hokum is too fun to ignore.

Flora & Ulysses is, at its core, a very nice and sweet film. It’s low-key, but frankly, that’s fine. Sometimes, the stakes in life don’t have to get much higher than whether or not two struggling adults can find each other again, and whether or not a child can traverse a world without a strong family unit.

The comedy on display here is so forced and without charm that it made me wish Beckwith and company had abandoned any attempt at humor and instead tried to make Together Together more of a straightforward drama with occasionally funny moments. That’s the better version of this film, and you can see it trying to claw its way out from beneath all the quirks.

Unfortunately, no matter how hard A Christmas Story Christmas tries to replicate what audiences loved about the original, it can't help but feel overshadowed by the legacy of nostalgia that the 1983 classic inspires.

If you're looking for a creepy children horror film to watch, "There's Something Wrong with the Children" will deliver that in half-measures. But there are enough bloody thrills and dramatic tension at play here to make it a fun romp for a Friday night and bowl of popcorn.

David Coggeshall's script has more than a few tricks up its sleeve, including some jaw-dropping twists that I will confess I did not see coming. It makes sense — the first film had a jaw-dropping twist too, after all. The twist feels fresh and exciting here, and changes the entire film in a way that's wickedly enjoyable.

The film — an ensemble feature whose premise rests on the challenges of shooting an aggressively bad action movie in the middle of a pandemic — succeeds in being funny.

"The Mystery of Marilyn Monroe" too often feels like it's merely scratching the surface and not trying to go much deeper. While I understand that the research of Anthony Summers is what helped shape this doc, Summers himself is far too present here, to the point where the documentary begins to feel more about him writing the book than it is about Monroe.

It's now hard to imagine that "Unforgiven" felt very much like Eastwood closing the book on his Western era. Cry Macho is more of a slow-paced postscript to that book, but a surprisingly well-worn and welcome postscript nonetheless.

Though you can see its twists coming from a mile away, Caine and Plaza's oddball dynamic and Roessler's visually stimulating direction makes "Best Sellers" a movie that's diverting enough to cozy up with.

Chastain gets some huge, showstopping moments – her final scene is genuinely terrific, and another scene that recreates Tammy Faye's on-air conversation with gay minister and AIDS activist Steve Pieters is effective and tender – but it would've been nicer if the movie itself was more worthy of her considerable talents.

While the film gets points for bucking tradition and trying to portray its scenes of fright mostly in bright daylight (shot with sharpness by cinematographer Angus Hudson), the scares just aren’t very scary. It doesn’t help that the pacing never feels right, with long stretches of the film focusing on things that would’ve been better served by being truncated.

Reminiscence is so very, very close to succeeding. Joy has a great visual style – there’s a fight scene in a flooded room with a piano that’s genuinely stunning to watch – and the noir/sci-fi mash-up is often enjoyable. But Reminiscence never manages to feel like a memory worth revisiting.

With such a large ensemble and diversity of personalities, Happy New Year fails to flesh them out.

"The Secrets of Dumbledore" has the most competent story yet, even if it's missing some crucial details to properly flesh out new elements of the wizarding world.

Cronin and his team work overtime to make this movie gross, filled with goo and guts and uncomfortable squelching noises. A lifetime of horror movies has made me mostly immune to such things, but the third act of this film goes to such gruesome places that a woman at my screening who had inexplicably brought her very young child to this R-rated movie quickly scooped her kid up and hurried out of the theater.

The Instigators makes exceptional use of Damon, Affleck, and the rest of its impeccable roster. It's just a shame that even this cast can't make this add up to more than a movie that's, quite simply, the sum of its parts.

There’s a beating heart at the center of First Date, but unfortunately, the movie is less interested in exploring that central relationship and more amused with its zany cast of idiotic supporting characters. Good pacing can only get you so far.

While there are some truly jaw-droppingly beautiful visuals that speak to a greater imagination on Ando and Miyaji's part — they were animation directors for several acclaimed projects and have a keen eye for how to make things look good — the soul is missing. The Deer King can't help but feel like a paint-by-the-numbers riff on greater films before it.