Even with a terrific soundtrack naturally dominated by The Smiths, Shoplifters of the World is a flat, emotionally inert coming-of-age drama that never worked for me.

In the Heights is an epic celebration of humanity I’ll be thinking about for the remainder of 2021.

Spirit Untamed is a lot easier to respect than it is to enjoy, and unlike its predecessor, this isn’t a piece of feel-good animation I’m likely to revisit anytime soon.

Wrath of Man is an ambitious head-scratcher, and whether that’s a recommendable compliment or an indictable offense I leave it up to you to decide.

“What I would really like is for audiences to spend an hour and 40 minutes with these characters and feel close to them. To look at them on the screen and relate in ways they are not expecting.”
– Ben Sharrock

Limbo sticks with you long after the screen fades to black.

Can a 30-second scene right at the tail-end of a motion picture derail what had been up to that point 90 minutes of solidly creepy, emotionally authentic old-school haunted house fun? The Banishing sure made me ponder that exact question.

Dench is the Six Minutes to Midnight’s not-so-secret weapon.

Something of an interstellar Lord of the Flies, after a somewhat rushed and lumpy start Neil Burger’s science fiction thriller Voyagers rights the ship and ends up traveling to an emotionally satisfying place.