Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse

Spine-tinglingly sensational cinematic experience weaves a wonderful alternate world where ground-breaking arachnimation, comic comedy, and philosophical depth can co-exist simultaneously, and even as the brilliantly genre-bending cast of characters struggle to thwart trans-dimensional fusion they introduce our less-advanced reality to futuristic concepts like… genuine diversity, moral ambiguity, and increased spider-sensitivity.

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Vice

Bale’s Dick and Rockwell’s Bush don’t rock well enough to bail out Mckay’s Big concept which falls Short as present day politics Anchor down one Man’s character study. Stylistically opposed of its titular character, Vice’s vice is its reliance on heavy-handed set-pieces to set up its inherently obvious unitary message.

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Mary Poppins Returns

Poppins attempts to recreate not innovate, generating a super-fragile remake, riding original not to highest heights, but down the drain despite Hamilton’s de-light-ful dedication. After a kite-flying, hover-nanny throwback, two-way Streep sends the story backwards, then banker-ex-machina cameos in for a patched-together pace-stopper of a conclusion that… ends… up… boring!!!!!

Aquaman

DC Drowns Collosally as Conan the Aquarian succumbs to pier-pressure in this fishy farce, blunting each plot point to maximum dullness lest they acci-trident-ally poke more holes in a story that already barely holds water. Drogo and Crimson Heard have so little chemistry that even adding H2O isn’t a solution.

Deadpool 2

Silly sequel manages the impossible, resurrecting and raising the ridiculousness of the former film without stepping over the coke-line that the former had nearly fully snorted. Invincible franchise flick pratfalls into a series of alarmingly serious moments and yet never lets the irreverent tone drown in the pool of death.

Hereditary

Collette reprises her role as a stressed-out mother dealing with a distant husband, crazy deceased parent, emotional teen son and center-of-attention daughter in this dark Little Miss Sunshine sequel. Witchy good visuals and eerily subtle camerawork lend beauty to demonically ill-paced and structurally disjointed moody horror extravaganza. Spoiler – Gabriel Burns.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom

For a film with World in the title, the second half is remarkably contained within Bayona’s Impossible Orphanage. Amazing effects manage to compliment cartoonish action to artificially stave off extinction of the franchise. Periodically leans on weaker clichés but then clever twists predictably rush in to rescue each massive moment.

Shot Caller

Felonious film Calls attention to silver lining of drunk driving, career opportunities in supportive communities with good shot at advancement. Establishes compelling suspense by gradually bridging two parallel performances, but despite frequent and enthusiastic shivvings, never quite bridges the gap between yuppie Lannister and spy kit mustache son of anarchy.

Brawl in Cell Block 99

Static wides give Vaughn a playground to portray a larger than life performance. Though his character may be shackled by circumstance and setting, the comedic titan breaks free of his typecast and embodies a brutal and believable brawler. Simple but unpredictable plot and perfect pacing keep this contained film compelling.

War Machine

Brad’s performance is uncharacteristically the pitts as he claws for his caricature of a character and fails to bring home a win in this mess of a movie. Despite deployment of dozens of additional minor celebrities neither realism nor comedy nor empathy are brought to the people of the audience.