A terrific, fast-paced heist thriller with Thai students stealing test answers in order to cheat.  A superb central performance and great editing in this one!

One of the five best superhero movies of all-time… which, I grant, isn’t saying very much.  However, this one has Gal Gadot in the lead, instead of some brooding, morose dude with a ridiculous self-serious voice.  “Wonder Woman” is intelligent enough not to take itself too seriously.  It is fast paced fun!

Kristen Stewart plays a “Personal Shopper” with a penchant for talking to the dead in this strangely appealing film.

A superb documentary about renowned photographer, David Bellemere, and his quest to shoot a high-end nude calendar.  Oh, and of course — bonus nudity.

Superlative performances all around in this gorgeous love story.  The cinematography is breathtaking and the script is heartfelt and poignant.

A brilliant metaphor for the Israeli-Palestinian conflict — when two men insult each other, leading to violence.  A great script and a polished film.

A riveting and intense murder mystery with Mario Casas.  This Spanish film almost achieves greatness, but I saw the twist coming.  Can you?

Jessica Chastain plays the architect of one of the biggest illegal ‘home’ poker games ever hosted.  It is a true story and a very interesting watch.

This indie-gem has elements of “Beautiful Girls” & “Lost in Translation”.  It is a quiet story with two stand-out performances in the lead roles.

The three central performances are great… with special recognition to Brooklyn Prince — a truly special find by the casting agent. 

You wouldn’t think that a documentary about steroids would be one of the more intriguing and exciting films of the year.  I was riveted.

Vince Vaughn gives perhaps his best dramatic performance as a career criminal who has to access his psychopathic side, once behind bars.

Ami Tomite is fantastic in the lead role of this subversive Sion Sono film that analyzes Japans relationship with female sexuality and free speech.

Aubrey Plaza nails her performance as a lonely Instagram stalker who takes things way too far.  This amusing little ditty gets very very dark.

A strange and moody film about a girl who accesses her psychokinetic powers to wreak havoc on her surroundings.

This is a feature film version of Peter, from ‘Family Guy’, fighting the chicken… except “Catfight” stars Anne Heche and Sandra Oh.  Darkly hilarious!

The great Song Kang-ho stars as “A Taxi Driver” in this South Korean film about the 1980 student uprising.  Starts as a comedy… Ends as a tragedy.

A classically South Korean action thriller filled with bloody revenge.  Kim Ok-bin is amazing.  The movie opens with a P.O.V. tracking shot that is sublime.

Carla Gugino is a wife, handcuffed to the bed, whose husband dies as they start to have sex.  The key is gone and no one can her screams for help.

I haven’t been a huge fan of the series so far… but this entry worked far better than its predecessors.  Silly, but entertaining.

Diane Kruger is wonderful as a woman whose family is killed in a terrorist attack.  She mourns and seeks revenge.

Saoirse Ronan is delightful in Greta Gerwig’s first film — a coming-of-age story of a bratty young teen trying to find her path.

A South Korean version of “Ocean’s Eleven”, with a cast of thieves planning an elaborate heist.  Look for Nana, as the seductress, in her first major film role.

A classically labyrinthine serial killer thriller from the South Koreans.  This one is recounted from the unreliable narration of an old man with dementia.

A true “one man on-the-run” story, set during WWII, as Jan Baalsrud evades nazis in the snowy, mountainous terrain of Norway.  Heroic and riveting.

Zhou Dongyu is probably my favorite actress right now.  Here, she shows her lighter side with a wacky and fun rom-com featuring a billionaire and a chef.

An interesting documentary about one of the more fascinating celebrities of our time.  Jim Carrey lives and breathes Andy Kaufman’s spirit.

Daniel Radcliffe is fast becoming a great actor.  The film itself is a decent one… but the performance is electric.  A true survival story in the jungle.

A young couple decides to openly court other lovers with no room for jealousy.  However, as expected, things don’t go to plan.

The early hype for this comedy was absurd.  It is a cute film with some decent supporting performances.  The script is better than the execution.

Zombie movies wore out their welcome many moons ago… but this one finds a nice new angle and completely surprised me.

The original is a sci-fi classic.  “2049” is visually gorgeous, but takes an egregiously long time to tell a less compelling story than we were expecting.

Here is a classic example of a technically brilliant film that lacks much soul.  I admired the craft of this film more than I enjoyed the story.

A murder-mystery in a snowy wilderness sounds right up my alley.  “Wind River” sets up really well, but fails to deliver a knock-out punch.  Good, not great.

Director Agnes Varda and a photographer travel through France meeting interesting people and taking enormous portraits.  Sneakily good!

Each of “The Trips” with Steve Coogan and Rob Brydon have been fun.  However, each time out, the schtick gets a little more tired.

Sofia Coppola directs an all star cast in the remake of the 1970’s Eastwood flick.  It is well made, but a tad underwhelming and unnecessary. 

Margot Robbie is superb as Tonya Harding, but the film doesn’t always navigate the shifting comedic / dramatic tones particularly well.

A cute kids film that does just enough to entertain adults too.  It is light-hearted and fast paced.  Not much else to say.

A nice little film about quiet, peaceful resistance to the Nazis in WWII Berlin.  Emma Thompson and Brendan Gleeson are typically reliable.

Idris Elba and Kate Winslet are both supreme talents, but the lack of romantic chemistry is obvious and scuppers the movie’s chances of anything more.

Fares Fares is fantastic in this gritty tale of police corruption amidst a murder investigation that takes place in Cairo’s Nile Hilton Hotel.  A solid drama.

Terrorism told from the perspective of the terrorists.  It is an ambitious premise… but the film drags too often to be more than an oddity.

I find it a little absurd that this film won so many prestigious awards.  It is a perfectly fine film with a nice cast… nothing more.

Bryan Cranston plays a man, having a nervous breakdown, who chooses to disappear from his family, his job, his life.  It is a tour-de-force performance.

This South Korean cop-mafia-gang thriller doesn’t quite live up to the country’s usual impeccable standards… but it is nevertheless worth a watch.

Another pleasant Pixar film that asks kids some deeper questions about life, memory, death and legacy.  Solid entertainment.

Lesbian nuns. Secretly witches. An escaping donkey. A debaucherous, alcoholic priest. A turtle with a candle on its back. Insignificant, but amusing.

The all-star cast felt completely ‘stagey’.  It is like a procession of cameos.  Nothing felt natural… including Kenneth Branagh’s mustache.  Mildly fun.

Aside from a terrific multi-character performance from James McAvoy, Shyamalan’s film is too bleak and miserable to be thoroughly enjoyed.

Zoey Deutch stars in a combination of “Groundhog Day” & “Final Destination”.  She holds together the ludicrous premise just enough to make it watchable.

The visuals are lovely, but Del Toro has directed a self-serious Gothic remake of “Splash” without any of the charm of the 1980’s goofball rom-com.

Based on a true-story, this movie tells the story of a hijacking gone wrong.  It lacks any memorability factor and simply exists as a decent effort.

I love 90% of Woody Allen films.  He is a genius.  However, this particular effort is weak and never captures his intent.  The script feels forced.

Hirokazu Koreeda is one of the great directors alive today, but this effort wallows in grim, overly poetic symbolism – crawling to an unsatisfactory ending.

Espionage between North and South Korea, while the threat of nuclear war hangs in the balance. Unfortunately, the tension wanes on a regular basis.

With interesting central characters and an understandable sentiment in the title / premise… this would have been better if it weren’t for a poor final third.

The visuals are eerie.  The tone is creepy.  But the film goes off the deep-end in the final act.  The seed of a good film can be found… nothing more.

Noah Baumbach is one of the great screenwriters of the past 25 years.  Unfortunately, a superb cast can’t scrape too much out of this screenplay.

A lovely premise and an important subject is utterly ruined by Tilda Swinton and Jake Gyllenhaal giving two horrifically misjudged performances.  Director Bong Joon-ho must also be held responsible for the awful and absurd tone that those two characters bring to an otherwise good movie.

Louis CK directs a Woody Allen wannabe screenplay.  The black & white cinematography seems unnecessary and the script needs a big re-write. 

Tom Hanks is barely more than a cameo here.  Emma Watson feels stiff and uncomfortable reciting a weak script with an iffy American accent.

A massive all-star cast cannot save a script that desperately wants to be more profound than it is.  Kate Beckinsale is the only light in a dull film.

This Korean flick makes the fatal mistake of trying to balance a slapstick police comedy with violent criminals harvesting organs from underage girls.

Spielberg directs Hanks and Streep — How could it fail?  Quite easily.  The talent involved is extraordinary… but the story is completely uninvolving.

“The Force Awakens” slightly redeemed the tiresome franchise… But “The Last Jedi” recalled the impotence of the prequels.  Dead Horse = Beaten!

This eerie kidnap thriller starts off with some effective scenes.  Ultimately, however, it has no idea how to close the show and becomes pretty awful.

It feels like one of those late 90’s Tarantino imitations.  “Baby Driver” is so desperate to be cool, that it entirely forgets to be any good.  Ugh.

Dwayne Johnson & Karen Gillan are typically charming.  Kevin Hart & Jack Black are typically trying too hard.  The story is intended for 7 year-old kids.

A marginally interesting premise is derailed by ludicrous twists and a bloodthirsty decision to kill off most of the people we are supposed to care about.

This feels like a 1990’s straight-to-DVD action flick with a script made with only standard cliches.  Ethan Hawke is the only thing keeping this from an F.

A top-notch cast all spew out horrific performances in a very cheap looking thriller that is not fit to play on late-night cable TV.  Utterly lame.

Charlie Sheen, Gina Gershon, Whoopi Goldberg & Luis Guzman trapped in a World Trade Center elevator on 9/11.  Unintentional laughs… no drama.

Ryan Reynolds & Jake Gyllenhaal in a pitiful sci-fi alien thriller that feels like a rip-off of a million other movies in the genre.

Three friends and I went to see “Valerian” as big fans of Luc Besson’s filmography.  Our excitement turned to utter boredom and hate for this mess.

Based on the trailer and early reviews, I fully expected “Raw” to be a Top 10 contender.  Instead, I was unengaged from about the 5-minute mark.

Imagine an even more ludicrous heist than “Ocean’s Eleven”, executed by a team of dumb-ass southern hicks, with zero humor and zero stakes.

This seemed like the perfect ‘airplane movie’ as I soared above the Atlantic.  The cool premise dwindled into a glorification of gory deaths. Awful.

A 300-second plot stretched into 90 excruciating minutes.  Halle Berry is atrocious.  “Kidnap” makes the universe dumber for having existed.