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

Some may get a kick out of how over-the-top and pulpy Shadow in the Cloud is, but what’s on display here is so abrasive and so bombastic that it begins to sap the life out of you, ultimately leaving a bad taste in your mouth when all is said and done.

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.

The film may end on a bleak note, but there's some levity mixed into the very batter.

The film occasionally has trouble balancing the two subjects, with the more personal side of the doc occasionally getting lost in the archival clips and photos of the Hollywood fervor Spaz stirred up with his innovations. But it's still fascinating, insightful, and certainly entertaining.

The frenetic pace may keep kids hooked, but parents will appreciate the sequences when Elio hits the pause button and allows audiences to sit in the silence — of complicated ideas, of emotionally challenging conversations, and of the wonders around us we too often fail to appreciate.

Despite its formulaic nature and its somewhat predictable beats, The Way Back extends beyond the typical sports drama by acknowledging the fantasy of it all: that one basketball game triumph becomes the easy solution to his problems that Jack is dreaming of. The road to recovery is hard work, and as The Way Back reveals, the work is never over.

Vivo is plenty colorful, with a bright pastel palette both when the film’s action takes place in Cuba and in Florida, though the backgrounds are far less detailed than would be ideal. It’s good, but not good enough. The same is true of the story, and of the songs.

Blair made a movie that feels built to amuse himself. And I'm glad it exists. It feels like he got away with ... something.

While the film does struggle a bit with some jumbled tonality, the latest work from the famously prolific French filmmaker strikes a new and surprisingly stirring combination of steamy and sweet thanks to the love story at its core.

A kitchen sink drama, a pulpy crime movie, and a bloody revenge tale all held together by one hell of a performance.

Last Night in Soho, with all its warts and wonders, shows you can teach an old dog some new tricks. Wright shows he still hasn't hit his ceiling as a filmmaker, but's heartening to see him stretch and reach rather than just keeping his artistic ambitions planted on the floor.

It’s a love letter, full of scribbles and crossed out words, and parts of which are more eloquent than others. And while Tigertail is a messy and somewhat incoherent love letter, it’s one filled to the brim with that a sincere love and emotion nonetheless.

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

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

Even with a runtime twice as long as the typical "Monk" episode, "Mr. Monk's Last Case" has the same breezy pacing — mostly.

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.

Face the Music is just so overwhelmingly nice. It’s a cheesy, dopey, pure comedy about people who care a lot — maybe about trivial things, maybe about the wrong things — but boy do they care. And they just want to share their joy for the things they care about (namely rock ‘n’ roll) to the world. So sit back, don’t think too much, and party on, dudes.

Drunk Bus straps you in for a semi-wild, uplifting ride out of somber darkness and into speedy reclamation.

Pound for pound, segment for segment, death for death, this is everything we could possibly want from a horror anthology.

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

If you hand Paul Feig a good script, he becomes a better director. With "The Housemaid," he doesn't just explore his characters well, but wisely delves into themes of class. The dishonesty of the rich dangles over "The Housemaid," pointing out how wealth is a moral trap. It's alluring and dangerous. Wealth is practically a living creature. It seems to be dazzling and charming and seductive, but hides its true intentions, fangs secretly in its otherwise perfect smile.

Sometimes, you just want to watch a handsome guy try to get out of trouble while taking care of an ornery, fluffy cat. We could use more modern movies like Caught Stealing.

Unlike some movies that feature a group of urban teens inspired by a teacher and their lessons, it doesn’t make it seem like merely winning a chess tournament will make all the problems in their lives go away. It’s one victory that might make everything else feel less overwhelming, at least for a little bit.

A triumphant, inspiring movie about the heroism of human decency, Ironbark is a rock solid spy drama that, if it came out 20 years ago, would have easily become a mainstay on TNT or TBS. Hollywood doesn’t make movies like this very often anymore, and if does prove to be part of a last gasp of character-focused period thrillers, at least the genre is going out with some style.

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.

Most of all, it’s empowering to watch Swift finally come into her own. To realize she doesn’t have to give a fuck about making everyone in the world like her anymore as long as she’s found a way to like herself.

Twisters has its fair share of clunky dialogue, an endless amount of indiscernible technobabble (honestly, it's kind of impressive), and even a smidge of contrived melodrama, to be sure, but it balances out these shortcomings with a relentless sense of earnestness and heart that's difficult to resist.