But the three main actors have trouble delivering performances I could even somewhat feign interest in, while the script itself is a compendium of clichés and boneheaded lunacies that grew increasingly tiresome as the narrative progressed. The Bye Bye Man just doesn’t work, and the likelihood I’ll think or say this unremarkable film’s name again anytime soon is nominal at best.

Live by Night, for all its technical genius, even with such a strong, electrifying cast, just isn’t very good, and as such watching it shoot so many blanks for over two full hours is nothing short of a colossal waste of time.

Young kids with a fondness for Nickelodeon and Disney Channel high-concept comedies will undoubtedly be elated, and if they’re inspired to creative endeavors after watching this that’s at least one good thing to come out of all this madness we all can applaud. Monster Trucks is dumb, that goes without saying, but it isn’t terrible, and as January victories go that’s hardly insignificant.

Patriots Day, even with its shortcomings, is a strong reminder that terror and fear will continue to fail as long as everyday people stand up and fight for the rights of their neighbors to live their lives as they see fit, the greatest act of resistance nothing more complicated than that.

This 20th anniversary edition of Jerry Maguire completes any Blu-ray library. Like the movie itself, it’s pretty much perfect, and there’s no reason to write a giant mission statement because those four words sum it all up rather nicely as far as I’m concerned.

The Dressmaker is a great film that only gets better with each viewing. While the Blu-ray isn’t overflowing in extras, the technical presentation is superb, thus making this haute couture Australian barnburner astonishingly easy to recommend.

I got a kick out of Underworld: Blood Wars. It’s a step up from the last entry in a lot of major ways, Foerster showcasing solid directorial chops that helps give this fifth chapter an added infusion of energy and excitement I wasn’t anticipating…If there is a final chapter, I’ll be there to see it opening night, happily paying for a ticket alongside other fans eager to see how Selene’s story comes to its end.

Beautiful, sincere and emotionally pure, there’s a lot more going on in J.A. Bayona’s powerful gothic melodrama A Monster Calls than initially meets the eye…There is nothing pandering about the director’s adaptation of Patrick Ness’ novel, he and the author joining forces to bring to life a motion picture that pulls at the heartstrings with an effortlessness that’s extraordinary.

Hidden Figures is a revelation. Not just because of the story, one that had been seemingly forgotten, if not buried, for over five decades, but also because of the subtle sincerity that drives the narrative forward, the film itself an inspiring tale of intelligence, perseverance and achievement that in lesser hands easily could have become a facile melodramatic slog and not something utterly glorious