The simple beauty of the initial bits had me close to convinced Noyce and company had figured out the path to allow Lowry’s work to transition to the silver screen [but] as good as The Giver is initially the sour taste left by the final act is just too foul to easily get beyond.

Director Lasse Hallström’s The Hundred-Foot Journey is one of the better films he’s made in quite some time, probably since 2006’s The Hoax, maybe even 1999’s The Cider House Rules. At the same time, that doesn’t make it much more than harmless foodie fluff, the movie telegraphing the majority of its moves right from the start not particularly caring that it does so.

Into the Storm is still nothing more than Twister for the SyFy Channel generation, that comparison not exactly meant as a compliment.

Woody Allen’s latest is a frothy, somewhat acid-laced, yet overall quite harmless, romantic trifle entitled Magic in the Moonlight. If only Magic in the Moonlight knew what to do with itself as it comes to its fully anticipated finale.

As silly as it is, as dumb as the majority of the film might be, this new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, directed by Jonathan Liebesman, produced by Michael Bay, is hardly a total waste of time.

Get On Up is a better overall movie than The Help. For director Tate Taylor, it is a massive step forward.

Guardians of the Galaxy takes the Marvel brand into new territories and does so with grandly entertaining brio, and even if all facets aren’t quite perfect they’re still strong enough to make this sci-fi adventure worthwhile.

“It’s just one of those crazy ideas that you have,” Richard Linklater says with a smile. “I was trying to make a film about childhood, but I couldn’t find a spot to begin.”

And So It Goes is tolerable, nothing more (and thankfully nothing less), getting along as well as it does mainly because its two main stars are so agreeably pleasant.