Daniel Howat

Swapped is a perfectly serviceable animated film that younger viewers will connect with. Unfortunately, despite flashes of inspiration, it suffers from dreaded forgettability; it’s too reminiscent of recent, better films with similar plots, tropes, and themes, and never quite finds the spark it needs to stand out.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is inarguably fun, built for fans of the long-running franchise. For lifelong fans of this universe and young kids experiencing it for the first or second time, this is a Mario fan’s dream. There’s enough here to leave a mass audience satisfied, even if anticipation grows for the next film to level up. For now, good enough is simply enough.

A near-perfect crowd-pleaser. Thanks to clear, confident direction from Phil Lord & Chris Miller, this soaring adaptation is bursting with creativity. Impressively crafted across the board. Ryan Gosling’s flawless turn is both hilarious and heartbreaking. Both an epic journey to save humanity and an intimate story of friendship.

It’s exactly the kind of solid entertainment, with the right mix of laughs and tears, that reminds us of the genius-level storytelling the good folks over there are capable of. It’s precisely what the animation studio needed at this time and fits comfortably alongside some of their upper-tier offerings.

It is a classic underdog story wrapped in bold animation, infectious energy, and real heart.

With stellar stylization and a soundtrack full of female-driven punk rock, it hilariously skewers the blatant sexism in the chess world while dramatizing gripping matches. A crowd-pleasing documentary.

Volpe’s direction and the stoic pace keep Frank and Louis at arm’s length, never truly letting us engage with them on a deeper level.

The Shitheads is one hell of a ride, with nonstop laughs and absurd, shocking turns around every corner.

Rare are comedies this funny and this mature. Its rich themes hit home, especially for anyone in a long-term relationship.

Wilson manages to weave in a nearly non-stop barrage of jokes into the 100-minute runtime, while still keeping the tone lowkey. Though the film starts to lose steam toward the end, feeling as though it might have struggled to fill the feature runtime, it never stops being funny.