The result, as hinted earlier, is a high-end B-movie that would have been in heavy rotation on cable television’s TNT or USA Network as a wallpaper movie in the ’00s. And there is something genuinely fun about filmmakers wanting to dip their toes back into those waters. But, for that genre to work, it needs to be less bloated than this and, more importantly, not end by teasing a sequel.

From Ground Zero isn’t a hopeful film by any measure. In fact, it’s a painful and upsetting watch that nevertheless does find some semblance of optimism in the filmmakers and the work that was made. By putting these stories on camera — whether they be nonfiction or scripted — these filmmakers are nevertheless shedding light on a conflict that many would prefer not to see.

With its short runtime and heady mix of styles, scenes, and ruminations, it’s still a fascinating refraction of one of the most interesting filmmakers working today.

Sonic The Hedgehog 3 feels like a darker, the-end-times-are-near blockbuster in the vein of a big “Avengers” Marvel movie, and it’s unclear how being like everyone else serves a franchise that has been perfectly content to be its weird, wacky, lovable little self.

Mufasa: The Lion King could have been a very great and worthy ‘Lion King’ successor, but thanks to the perceived requirements of what this franchise demands, it’s only just a good one, which is a shame, given its regal and majestic potential.

Carry-On works because it keeps it simple, because of its no-fuss-no-muss approach and two actors who can really elevate compelling material. Sometimes that’s enough.

Chandor and Aaron Taylor Johnson deserve better, frankly, but they also both read this screenplay and still signed on. They push beyond the boundaries that have been set up for them, but they can only do so much because a bright and shiny polished turd is still mostly a turd, no matter how much campy lion mane costuming you try and bedazzle it with.

Mangold has crafted the definitive portrait of this era and the poetic, aspiring, rebellious kid who refused to be pigeonholed, held down and defined.

Rohirrim is told with great fervent conviction, and no true ‘LOTR’ fan will complain about that.

While it’s nice to see Toni Colette and Chris Messina face off both in and out of the courtroom and Zoey Deutch gives a strong dramatic performance as Ally, even the best acting can’t make Juror #2 make sense.

The haunting atmosphere of The Girl with the Needle lies in equal measure with the acting masterclass that serves as the film’s primary source of fuel.

Day of the Fight does not break the mold of the boxing movie, but it does not set out to do so. An homage to a kind of cinema that isn’t made much anymore, it signals a director who understands that a filmmaker does not need a huge budget or a complicated story to make a good film.

Too much of Moana 2 is simply far too familiar to make it anything more than a convenient escape.

An admirable effort with just enough charm to keep audience interest where it needs to be with an unfortunate handful of shortcomings that ultimately relegate this film to the realm of average.

Even if the film threatens to bustle over with ideas, the Soundtrack to a Coup d’Etat format deftly juggles several narrative threads, making history feel more alive — and in sync — than many other documentaries of its kind.

Bloodcurdling to the last delicious drop, Nosferatu is extraordinarily compelling, one of the best films of the year, and an unforgettable, phantasmagoric experience for theaters that will astonish.

It’s unclear if Steffen & Flip believe in a hell for their characters. But their 85-minute torture device disguised as a movie proves they believe in one for their viewers. Not even cheese ‘n’ rice can save this dismal enterprise from doom.

A chronicle of a group of animals, sure, but Flow is really about the best aspects of humanity as seen through the lens of these creatures. How living things learn to trust, share, and protect the weakest among them represents the best ideas of life on this planet, and it is what Zilbalodis is interested in here.

There’s too much good here that doesn’t deserve to be overlooked, and this is where the film misses the mark.

Chu’s film is a triumph. An all-around delight. A colorful concoction sure to satiate fans, new and old alike. The film delivers both winking nods to the original stage production and finds novel ways of making its iconic numbers sing on screen, all while making the best use of live singing in recent memory.

Even if not exploited for all its nuance, Mescal’s affinity for conveying tumultuous emotions, plus his chiseled physique here, serves Scott’s tale well, and successfully introduces the Irish actor into the realm of major Hollywood productions.

Awash in the chaos is a real sense of life continuing as it’s always been, even amidst the bodies at which Gutnik isn’t afraid to point the camera or the sad reveal of how the Ukranian tongue has been suppressed.

It’s a quiet film in every sense of the word. One that relies on the expressions of its actors over the words that they are saying, but it’s also one of the more compelling debuts in some time and a film that’s well worth seeking out.

Contrarian so-bad-its-good specialists with PhDs in advanced irony once hailed the “Venom” films as entertaining campy classics and tongue-in-cheek antidotes to the more conventional superhero genre, but you will not be surprised when none of those scholars pipe up in support of this grueling cinematic slog that further underscores just how bad the entire affair was all along.

Terrifier 3 is the Gwar of films. The story isn’t very good. The antics are pushing the limits of silliness. But if you can look past that, then holy sh*t, you better brace yourself for some of the bloodiest, most gruesome things you’ll ever see in a film. This is not for the faint of heart.

Vermiglio is rich in textures and tactile pleasures and is performed with conviction by a cast mixing professional and non-professional actors.

Caddo Lake is an, at times, hypnotic ride. Taut with tension, it has audiences constantly searching for answers in the emotional wreckage of these characters’ lives.

On the whole, there is an old-fashioned grandness to Blitz, charged by a cumulative sense of civic toughness and rebellious spirit that always spreads itself over a people, a city, or a country when they are collectively faced with unspeakable tragedies they have to endure.