Free State of Jones

McConaughey isn’t savior enough to rescue this messy movie from the poorly paced pitfalls of its divided story. Bizarre flash-forwards only further undermine a peculiarly instituted structure that dies with the confederacy. Title cards supply documentary tedium while Ali and Mbatha-Raw struggle to serve the masters of shoe-horned in subplots.

The Dark Tower

Not only is it more forgettable than a childhood dream, but it also launches an attack on the newborn Stephen Kingdom (his cinematic universe) by lessening the impact of It and The Shining. McConaughey’s woodenness harkens back to his shirtless days, and Idris Elba certainly doesn’t kill with his performance.

Kubo and the Two Strings

Far-eastern inspired Harry Potter substitutes eye for scar and sitar for wand, but everything else remains unchanged, especially Voldemort. Impressive animation folds practical and digital together while all-star vocal cast prompts white-washing worries. Impressively adult themes and a steady string of fantastical forays fizzle out in an underwhelming final feud.

Interstellar

McConaughey masterfully pilots his space-Lincoln through a nebulous cloud of screensavers populated by irritatingly irrational men and ludicrously love-struck ladies.  Nolan proves that whether an epic spans neurons or neutron stars, all you need to confound characters and viewers is a shipload of tedious (and extremely ignorable rules).  Watch gravity?

The Wolf of Wall Street

Leo plays Gekko Gone Wild in the Goodfellas of the gadget age.  Epic over-long catalog of various debaucheries available to anyone good at greed.  Nails comedic beats with help from shirt clad McConaughey and Hill’s blinding teeth.  Pushes limits for runtime, T&A,and Fs while promoting the redemptive qualities of cocaine.