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.

As far as Netflix movies go, Day Shift is inoffensive enough for your viewing pleasure. But I wanted more.

Fall doesn't break the mold, and there are a wealth of one-location thrillers that are much better than this. But when you're climbing that tower with Becky and Hunter, you can't help but follow along, nervous, but still exhilarated by the journey. Watching "Fall" on a big screen and experiencing the nerve-shredding vertigo that comes from the proceedings is the kind of pulpy fun that memorable late-summer movies are made of.

Laal Singh Chaddha is hardly a Terrence Malick-like contemplation of pacifist philosophy — it's ultimately a broad, sentimentalist opera designed to have audiences reaching for their handkerchiefs — but it does have a more complex and gentle point of view than the film it's remaking. Despite how corny it is, Laal Singh Chaddha it unexpectedly disarming.

Every joke in Easter Sunday lands with a thud, every emotional beat falls flat. It has the sense of humor of a bad TikTok video, and the emotional resonance of that TikTok commercial playing right now where wide-eyed people declare, "I learned it from TikTok!" Visually, it looks like a network TV reject or that one Netflix movie that you put on in the background while doing laundry.

Though Mija finds a powerful emotional core between these two young women, it feels somewhat incomplete.

There's just so much ineptitude running (or rather, leisurely walking) through They/Them — from a lack of fright, not a single interesting character, wooden performances, and no discernable plot — that one would assume this project came from a first-time writer-director.

Trachtenberg and company have put together a crackerjack monster pic, full of clever new approaches to old material. Those looking for the familiar will recognize plenty of callbacks to other "Predator" films . . . while anyone searching for new thrills will get a kick out of the film's genre mash-ups.

The premise of Luck — what if good and bad luck were engineered? — is too thin to make either element feel fulfilling. Instead, the film's most imaginative qualities feel flattened, while its attempts to lend a fresh, modern edge to these old-age concepts feel unsharpened and bland.

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.

The movie's direction is whip-smart and gives the film a great paranoid tone, constantly whipping us back and forth between characters and through rooms in time with a pulsing score. The film plays with light in a way that also aids in elevating and unnerving the audience — you're always wondering what's around the corner, and when the movie's "monster" will show its face.

Anything's Possible perfectly captures the idealized fantasy of teen movies without ever insulting the intelligence of its audience, and finally gives us a feisty, relatable, and lovable trans girl to add to the teen girl movie canon of greats.

The otherwise low-stakes drama is so invested in their emotional state that the lows are bottomless, while the highs have no ceiling. Haapasalo plucks this tiny three-week period from the ether and every filmmaking trick in her quiver allows us to relish in it.

Glorious might not save the world, yet it's still a wonderful way to pass the time while humanity as we know it is devoured by threats we'll never comprehend.

On its own, DC League of Super-Pets is a tolerable, painless, sometimes mildly clever summertime experience, but comparing it to other DC animated fare only highlights its more meager aims.

Thirteen Lives is a film that truly orients itself around a grounded cinematic approach to story, one largely told without big, grandstanding emotional speeches but instead focused on visually capturing subjectivity, demonstrating tension, and highlighting the life-or-death weight of the characters' choices.utm_campaign=clip

Shephard's steady direction and clever script allow things to hit exactly the right note. Deutch, O'Brien, and Isaac are all terrific, and "Not Okay" is one of the most pleasant surprises of 2022.

Nope may not be Jordan Peele's best movie to date, but it is his most enjoyable. A true summer movie spectacle meant to be writ large across the screen, giving us thrills, chills, laughs, and that most precious of things: movie magic.

Good Madam takes its time to linger on subtle and chilling notes before unveiling its fantastic finish. The only drawback to the film is it hints at more supernatural events than we ever see play out on-screen.

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.

The Gray Man exists "in the gray" of Hollywood action movies — not jaw-droppingly incredibly, not astoundingly bad, just there. It's a movie that's made to be half-watched on Netflix while scrolling on your phone. Its greatest disappointment is that it knows what it has — Gosling, a great cast, a lot of money — and it still ends up being less than the sum of its parts.

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 problem with "Persuasion" is it doesn't know what it wants to be. Is it a bold, revisionist take on Austen with progressive colorblind casting and cutesy contemporary slang? Or is it a sentimental period romance that wants to get its audience's hearts fluttering as they sigh over the pining glances shared between Johnson's Anne and Cosmo Jarvis' (an endearingly awkward bright spot in the film) Wentworth? The result is a half-assed attempt at both, which only makes it all the more insulting.

As hard as the cast and Taika Waititi try, though, it just doesn't work. "Thor: Ragnarok" felt effortless. "Thor: Love and Thunder" is working very hard, and not getting a lot to show for it.

It's romantic escapism at its finest, a brief diversion from our grim reality that is just novel enough to make it worth our time.

The Man From Toronto struggles throughout the entire film to establish a consistent tone.

Vengeance manages to balance its self-effacing and sentimental tones in a way that is extremely satisfying and entertaining to watch.

It's been 26 years, but Judge hasn't missed a beat. The movie pokes fun at the ridiculousness of our modern world without ever making overt political statements or heavily referencing pop culture, making it a refreshing little escape from our own real-world stupidity.

Flux Gourmet is an enjoyable romp that pushes buttons, defies conventions, and makes you see food in a whole new light. I'd like to think that was exactly Strickland's goal, no matter the film's ultimate genre.

This is a glorified OVA (Original Video Animation) with an accelerated recap of the show and a few cute Kyo-Tohru scenes stuck on to justify the feature film designation — but the thing is, they only serve to make the whole thing weaker. Because buried in between that messy recap and nostalgia-baiting prologue scene is an imperfect adaptation of one of the best things Natsuki Takaya has written.

Next Exit is a moody and haunting character exercise, centering around the terrific central performances by Katie Parker and Rahul Kohli, but a little underbaked otherwise.

Laugh out loud funny, strangely charming, and a truly unique endeavor, "Nude Tuesday" is exactly the kind of movie you love to discover on the film festival circuit, and it deserves to find an audience on the big screen, even if it's just for the indie crowd.

It's really a movie about a couple reconnecting with each other and with their kids through the power of the lottery. It's very silly, yes, but the movie at least seems to sincerely believe in this.

The result is a movie that's as fun as it has things to say, a true animated blockbuster that could play like gangbusters in multiplexes (if there is any indication from the world premiere at the Annecy International Animation Film Festival, where the crowd went wild towards the climax of the film), and lingers on your mind long after the credits roll.

Don't Make Me Go is at its strongest when Cho and Isaac are onscreen together, reflecting back the kind of tense, but loving, father-daughter dynamic which is so lovingly familiar and relatable to many of us.

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.

Lightyear may not reach the heights of the great sci-fi movies that it pays tribute to, or even the "Toy Story" movies themselves. But it's a visually impressive, escapist riff on the sci-fi epic that, at the very least, might become the favorite movie of some kid, somewhere.

Spiderhead is a movie that defies conventional genre labels, and while Kosinski isn't always successful in balancing the various elements, I have to admit: this is one hell of a ride.

Cruz is the film's MVP as Lola, kookier than she's ever been, and playing well into the character's question mark of a persona — is she a true auteur or a hack? You never really find out, but watching Lola become increasingly disillusioned with the whole project makes her the closest we get to a relatable character in this whole heightened satire.

The documentary makes an effort to drive home just how much harm illegal abortions cause — but in terms of the presentation, more could have been done to highlight the horrific and tragic nature of the real history.

The new trilogy ends frail whimper rather than a T-rex-worthy roar.

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.

Fire Island is every bit the hilarious and semi-meta rom-com you expect, packed with quips and well-timed jokes, but also makes ample time to continue the pursuits of Austen's story, exploring the emotional nuances of overcoming judgment for love.

Benediction" is true to its title, offering up a blessing — not to the Church, rather, but to those whose lives were never able to be lived to the fullest. The film is more than a beautifully performed, masterfully directed piece of entertainment. It transcends, offering hope to any person yearning for more. It is in equal turns lively, devastating, funny, hopeful, and heartbreaking.

Close is a story about growing up and losing those wondrous childhood relationships forever, but it's far more than that. It's a tender glimpse of loss on an unimaginable scale, told through the lens of a young boy trying to make sense of it all.

One thing's for certain — R.M.N. is by no means a pedestrian affair, with Mungiu's mastery of the Transylvanian landscapes the perfect backdrop for the exploration of some heavy issues. There's a lot to unpack by the time the credits roll. But it's deserving of every stray thought you'll return to in the days after watching it.

Broker is another showcase of empathy from Kore-eda, a movie about found families and finding a home with each other, about the small acts of kindness that can truly mean the world to someone. Though its tone doesn't always work and its runtime is excessive, it is an emotionally devastating and life-reaffirming movie that is hard not to sympathize with.

Crimes of the Future is Cronenberg in his comfort zone, which is a zone choked with things both repulsive and fascinating. It's not quite as nasty as its pre-release reputation suggests, nor is it even the most graphic film Cronenberg has directed. But it's rife with the filmmaker's signatures and quirks; his fetishes and his dreams; his obsessions and his amusements.

This is a brutally honest look at a community seldom portrayed on screen with care or honesty, with a simple story that may not pack much in terms of plot, but packs a whole lot of authenticity and empathy, with a stellar cast of mostly first-time actors.

You simply don't know how you're going to handle a situation until you are in it; until you've dug yourself a grave you can't get out of. In God's Creatures, this inquiry, and the way it forces the audience to look at themselves as harshly as its characters, is not only the film's sturdy foundation but its greatest emotional asset.

Lee does a commendable job as a first-time feature director, with a confinement sense of pace and framing that keeps "Hunt" thrilling and engaging despite its 131-minute runtime. ... Though "Hunt" does not break the spy thriller mold, it does provide plenty of thrills that should play like gangbusters.

The end result is a slow-burn romantic thriller that's so slow it doesn't really seem to go anywhere.

Elvis is the Baz Luhrmanniest film Baz Luhrmann has made yet, a compilation of his greatest filmmaking hits, all employed for a film as excessive and grandiose as Elvis himself. Though the framing device doesn't always work, Austin Butler's stunning performance, lavish production design, and comic book-like editing make for a movie not unlike one of Elvis' own — full of personality, kind of empty, but undeniably enjoyable.

Holy Spider shines a light into the murky corners of a society that emboldens its aggressors. In that sense, the film is essential viewing. Even if it is completely devastating.

Skolimowski's close camera work and gripping story keep us alongside EO every step of the way. We're all rooting for him. And even when scenes veer ever more into the surreal side of things, we can't help but feel connected to the little donkey that could.

The best and most profound parts of Moonage Daydream are when we just get to hear Bowie share great quotes about his creative process, how he loved to challenge himself by traveling to unknown places to grow as an artist, and how he learned to embrace life and be curious about everything.

This is not as surprising or innovative as director Park's earlier work, but it is still a fascinating and exquisitely directed film about desire, regret, and love. The final moments will likely be talked about and discussed as much as any of his other work.

The Bob's Burgers Movie is a little overlong. It takes a while for the plot to kick in, and by the time it does, it drags out the conflict, heightening the stakes to ludicrous degrees. And while it could've just been an episode of the show, it justifies its existence with its surplus of joyful musical songs and its surprisingly dark turns — which really only emerge in the last half hour of the movie. But mostly, it justifies itself by reaffirming why we always come back to the Belcher family. They're the sweet, emotional core of the movie, the meat of this mystery burger that we want to order over and over again.

Tringle of Sadness is an utterly hilarious satire told in three acts, each more ludicrous than the last.

Three Thousand Years of Longing tells a fantastic and poignant story about storytelling, longing, and love. It's about the art of telling smaller, intimate stories at a time when big stories seem to only be valid. A fairy tale with more in common with "Babe" than "Mad Max," this movie reaffirms George Miller as one of the great magicians of cinema working today.

Armageddon Time suffers from an overly long runtime and from hitting the audience in the head with its commentary, but at a time when nostalgia reigns supreme in filmmaking, this is a rare and very welcome interrogation of the past.

When "Final Cut" works, it's mostly because it just repeats what "One Cut of the Dead" did, and as ill-conceived as this film is, the jokes still land. Of course, that only says more about the success of the original film than this one. The problem is that, outside of the French market, it is hard to recommend this movie to anyone.

Chip 'n' Dale: Rescue Rangers is a proudly very daffy and strange movie.

There's a difference between intentionally misleading the audience and cleverly setting up, then subverting, expectations. Ultimately, "Monstrous" does the former, leaning far too heavily on expository dialogue that fundamentally contradicts everything the audience is seeing.

Firestarter isn't offensively bad. It's not likely to make you angry, or have you calling it the worst dang thing you've ever seen. But it is aggressively average, bordering on mediocre. There's nothing fiery here. It's lukewarm at best.

Cruise once referred to the '86 film as "an amusement park ride ... a joy ride [which] shouldn't be looked at beyond that," and for audiences who can watch "Top Gun: Maverick" through that lens and appreciate it as a piece of propulsive action cinema, this could end up being one of the most crowd-pleasing and satisfying movie experiences of the year.

Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks is an insightful, celebratory, uplifting, and uproarious documentary that celebrates some of the best and brightest comedic talents.

No matter how you end up feeling, you will leave "Men" with questions; questions you'll have to draw your own answers to. There's something exhilarating about a new movie that dares to leave us groping in the dark, wondering where the hell we're going to end up.

Spring Awakening: Those You've Known hits the majority of the marks you'd want it to. It's nostalgic and brimming with warmth, funny and heartbreaking secrets are revealed, and the archival and reunion footage of the show transports you to the emotional peak akin to the kind of highs you might've experienced watching it live, either back then or if you were lucky enough to see the reunion concert in the flesh.

Paired with Danny Elfman's fizzy score, Raimi elevates "Multiverse of Madness" from the bridge-building bit of IP it so transparently is. While he doesn't quite elevate it to the "madness" that the film promises, he does, for a few brief, shining moments, show the kids how those superhero movies could be done.

"A New Era" is two hours of charming, breezy escapism that made me happy to see this ensemble learn to grow beyond the roles they've been given to play. Only time will tell if "Downton Abbey” continues this streak of progress, or further settle into its opulent creature comforts.

An endlessly charming, funny, and delightfully lo-fi British comedy.

"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.

Marvelous and the Black Hole is a satisfying showcase from Tsang, who really draws from her animation background to show these moments of intense emotion from Sammy, but its broad strokes are a little...broad.

Ultimately, writer-director Sigal's issue lies within his script more so than his directorial eye.

The routine genre elements are forgivable blips on a technically gripping journey through one woman's fight for survival in a world whose perils, like ours, are increasingly impossible to maneuver.

The film adaptation of Aaron Blabey's series of kid-friendly graphic novels maintains a welcome visual flair and features a game voice cast while treading extremely familiar ground.

Islands is a poignant and engrossing reminder that you're never too old to start living. It's never too late to develop a lust for life.

It's a solid Friday night spookshow with solid bones and a divisive finisher — harmless horror entertainment that at least strives to be better than ordinary.

It's when the film meets between these two modes — the mythic and the realistic — that it's at its most thrilling.

Ambulance is unlikely to convert those who loathe Michael Bay and all he creates. But if you're on board, you're in for one hell of a ride.

At the end of the day, however, one will walk away satisfied with the characters and moved by a bleak and tragic ending, but left with little to carry in their memory. Ironically, a film about the painful suspicions of the past and the aching nature of memory is largely unmemorable. 

"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.

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.

Morbius is the type of movie that fails to justify its own existence.

This is a sweet, friendly, low-key affair that often feels less like a story and more like a home movie Linklater collected to share with his grandkids.

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

There's a goofy sincerity to the movie even as it sends up better movies that came before it (complete with corny needle drops), and it retains that old Hollywood screwball spirit that gives it a timeless feeling. It's nothing new, and lord knows it's nothing groundbreaking, but boy, is it fun.

The point of this documentary is not to dig into Birkin's life and oeuvre, the point is the discovery of a mother.

Truthfully, there's a shorter iteration of "Slash/Back" that I'd adore — but I still like what premiered at SXSW. You can't help but want to champion the film's trademark sweetness, shining a light on badass little girls who take on their entire community's enemies.

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

Every aspect of the production is nearly flawless, from the production design to direction to the performances, and it all builds to an absolutely perfect ending that's hinted at from the very beginning. If you're looking to get your heart rate up and your mind racing, there are few better ways to spend an afternoon inside than by checking out Windfall on Netflix.

Gillian Jacobs doesn't necessarily break new ground with More Than Robots, but the film is still a lovely look at some promising kids from all walks of life getting the chance to spread their wings and find a community of like-minded peers who make them feel a sense of belonging and purpose.

This is the definitive chronicle of Tony Hawk's incredible rise to become the face of modern skateboarding. ... Though the documentary could have been tightened up a little bit, "Tony Hawk: Until the Wheels Fall Off" is still a thoroughly captivating film about one of the most famous figures in sports.

Despite its many twists, The Outfit is a fairly straightforward thriller, buoyed by its sharp narrative turns and a quietly subversive Rylance.

Those craving some gloomy, unforgiving post-apocalyptic drama might get a kick out of what's on display here. Everyone else might want to scurry away. You know, like a crab in the dark.

Cheaper by the Dozen, every time it tries to walk down a thornier path, seems to be guided away by executive fiat to ensure that nothing gets too dicey. There was potential here, but it goes unrealized.

Ryder is honestly the only shining light here. ... But she deserves better than the murky slog that is "The Cow."