Reviews

Pummels suspension of disbelief into something murky and tiresome until the lingering effect is only exhaustion.

The kind of hopeful movie I want to believe in.

Recommended only for people who think “American Beauty” has aged great, or stream nothing but Prime and are too lazy to scroll two inches down from new releases.

Syrupy can have its comforting appeal, but “Goodrich” is less like what you put on pancakes and more like what you drain out of a fruit cup.

A stirring depiction of a predator who doesn’t want to play fair and his target who will fight back in any way possible.

Yes, it’s better than “The Shape of Water,” as most movies and some headaches are.

A nice diversion, and then on with your day.

Hinges so remarkably on the impossible alchemy of each essential piece of a band that carves the groove, chugs through it, floors it off the tracks, and leaves smoke and rainbows in the dust.

Treats proximity like destiny and strands excellent actors in a movie that’s — pun only sorta intended — below them.

Jumbles its chronology as misdirection from its hollowness.

The cinematic equivalent of settling for someone you don’t want.

Fun and challenging, rewatchable and impactful, accessible and specific. Love it, think about it, struggle with it, appreciate it.

There’s drama and sadness in the subject matter, of course, but that’s not a free pass to manipulate and bore. At worst, that’s offensive; at best, it’s precious time poorly spent.

This affecting 81-minute effort is about the lights dimming on a creative life, pitting internal satisfaction against external validation and then, when the room has nearly emptied, asking, “How did I think I was going to feel?”

The way the central couple’s relationship unfolds is uncomfortably close to Apatowian for a movie supposedly edgy enough to be called “Nightbitch.”

Anyone who’s seen one “Law and Order” episode or spent eight seconds considering the limitations of the legal system will sometimes find “Juror #2” accidentally funny and often find it only slightly less painful than a gavel to the knuckles.

Intros for these lists are pretty unnecessary. So let’s just say that it turned out to be a solid year for movies. Fun!

The filmmaking is electric, and the story is almost entirely unplugged.

Instead of thinking about it, “The Substance” just bloody goes for it, which will frustrate/horrify some and drive cackles in others.

It’s that thing you want and think we can’t have: entertainment with brains, a comedy with surprise, a love story with guts.