I’m not going to make the case that Scouts Guide to the Zombie Apocalypse was some unsung, underappreciated horror-comedy classic that was wrongly dismissed by critics and audiences during its initial release back in November of last year, it isn’t and it wasn’t. But the movie does make me laugh, and I can’t help but like the cast and find myself amused by a number of their antics. Also, the gore effects are relatively inspired, and that in and of itself make this one a-okay in my book. So there.

Cherry Tree is the pits, and there’s little more to say other than that.

If only The Forest wanted to be more than it is, attempted to explore the more interesting interpersonal emotional tangents it continually hints at wanting to look at yet infuriatingly never does, then maybe it could have been something glorious. Instead, the film feels more like an expertly crafted missed opportunity, a suspense opus filled with some solidly intriguing ideas that for some reason it refuses to investigate.

Deathgasm is a hoot, holding up beautifully on repeat viewing filled with a number of creative delights not necessarily noticed on first viewing. Howden shows a lot of promise with this debut, and while I’m not automatically excited about him tackling a reported sequel next and not something different, considering the talent he shows here I’m more than willing to keep an open mind.

[45 Years] is a tale with no heroes, no villains, just one filled with life, loss, understanding and, most of all, love, Kate and Geoff’s journey towards their anniversary party as universal and as human as any that has ever graced the screen.

As handsomely composed as Concussion (2015) is, there is a rudimentary staleness difficult to get beyond, the film never rising to the same heights as 2015’s other major procedural, Tom McCarthy’s close to brilliant Spotlight.

Daddy’s Home is too inconsequential and slight to matter, the fact it does so little with its primary female character only augmenting my feelings on this front a substantial amount. Ferrell and Wahlberg remain a potent comedy team; I just hope the next time they join forces it’s in a better movie than this one ultimately, and sadly, proves itself to be.

If American Hustle was Russell’s Martin Scorsese meets Sidney Lumet movie, than Joy is where he’s stomping into Billy Wilder meets Preston Sturges meet Robert Altman territory with gleeful conviction. A sprawling cast of characters, over-the-top narrative arcs, larger-than-life bursts of emotional exuberance, a cacophony of voices strung together like a symphonic operetta, the director is reaching for the stars in much the same way as his protagonist is.

Both a celebration of the human spirit as well as an emotional wallop as patriarchal prejudices conspire to deprive five sisters of their seemingly unbreakable familial bond, this is a remarkably prescient story that feels as if it were ripped from the headlines, it’s last moments darn near close to perfect.