Movie Reviews and Ratings
Strays
It remains to be seen how much the audiences for gross-out comedy and talking dogs overlap, but “Strays” provides a decent amount of laughs with the right expectations.
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Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem
“Mutant Mayhem” wants “Super Mario‘s” returns and “Spider-Verse‘s” respect, but it deserves neither.
Theater Camp
Instead of aiming for mass appeal, “Theater Camp” digs deep into its subject matter, ending up with a film that its target audience will absolutely love but is unlikely to impress anyone without some kind of stage or backstage experience.
Haunted Mansion (2023)
The laughs outnumber the thrills, but that’s in line with the Disney ride and in 2023 it’s simply nice to encounter characters and a story you don’t already know from a better animated movie made decades ago.
Oppenheimer
With this ambitious, gripping epic, Christopher Nolan finds plenty of ways to breathe vitality into what could easily be a stage play.
Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning, Part One
Tom Cruise is sixty years old and both he and this saga should be long in the tooth and well past their prime. But they’re not.
Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny
The “Attack of the Clones” to “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”‘s “Phantom Menace”, Indiana Jones’ underwhelming send-off’s greatest effect may be in making the public reassess the hero’s widely-loathed prior outing.
No Hard Feelings
It’s hard to believe that Jennifer Lawrence, a leading lady upgrade from Cameron Diaz in every way imaginable, could somehow end up in a far less entertaining version of “Bad Teacher“, but that’s what happens here.
Asteroid City
Although it looks like Wes Anderson at his most Wes Andersoniest, “Asteroid City” is an improvement over the director’s last two efforts, which by default makes it his best live-action film in over a decade.
The Flash
Fun, imaginative, and only somewhat derivative, “The Flash” is the most enjoyable movie from DC since Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy wrapped up.
Elemental
Pixar’s history of excellence urges us to judge them harshly, but “Elemental” gives us much of the weakest writing to ever bear the animation studio’s name.
The Boogeyman
To the pile of Stephen King adaptations that have fallen flat in translation, we can add “The Boogeyman“, a limp curiosity that no one will be talking about within a couple of weeks.
Transformers: Rise of the Beasts
No amount of nostalgia for the 20th century’s fondly recalled final decade can fully pull attention from the glaring creative shortcomings of “Transformers: Rise of the Beasts.”
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse
“Across the Spider-Verse” has its sights set on the kind of acclaim reserved for the rarest of sequels. You know the type. “The Godfather Part II.” “Toy Story 2” and “3“. Sequels that expand and enrich the mythology established in the original film, without simply repeating beats.
The Little Mermaid (2023)
Perhaps it is unfair to expect this inevitable remake to improve upon Disney’s animated masterpiece in any way, but it absolutely does not.
About My Father
The father-son dynamic provides enough humor and heart to make the movie go down smoothly with an appealing old school vibe somewhere in between the "Fockers" trilogy and Steve Martin's two '90s "Father of the Bride" movies.
Fast X
While this tenth entry in the Fast saga has no shortage of busy set pieces, international filming locations, and, for some reason, Academy Award-winning actresses, the thrills are minimal this time out.
Book Club: The Next Chapter
Venice and Tuscany are as photogenic as ever and that helps to cushion the blows of this sequel's broad, sitcom-esque inanity.
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3
This third and supposedly final entry is the kind of flashy fun we've long come to expect from Marvel at the beginning of the summer movie season.
Guy Ritchie’s The Covenant
Guy Ritchie's "The Covenant" is a solid drama that the director can be proud to have his name literally attached to.
Air
Movies are rarely this great at any time of year. Ben Affleck's clever, diverting "Air" is a crowd-pleaser that will stand the test of time.
Renfield
While there will no doubt be far worse mainstream studio movies put out this year, Renfield disappoints more than most because of the promise it holds.
The Super Mario Bros. Movie
Super Mario Bros. is certain to extend Illumination's streak of lucrative returns on minimal pleasures. It's just too bad that there is virtually nothing in this movie to justify those financial delights.
Murder Mystery 2
There’s no doubt that Adam Sandler can dazzle at will when teaming with higher caliber auteurs, as the still very vocal fanbase of Uncut Gems will attest to. But sometimes the Sandman just wants to goof around in Paris and get paid.
Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves
The admirable instincts of writing-directing duo John Francis Daley and Jonathan Goldstein turn an aspiring spring tentpole that from all appearances looks like another misguided IP franchise nonstarter into a genuinely enjoyable crowd-pleaser.
A Thousand and One
By centering on a quiet, underprivileged black youth at three stages of his upbringing, A Thousand and One invites inevitable comparisons to Moonlight, 2016’s Academy Award winner for Best Picture, that it cannot favorably withstand. Still, there is enough substance to qualify this as a compelling debut for a promising new voice.
