Dominic Griffin

Minions & Monsters is a big, bright, flashy cartoon meant to pacify children and manipulate their parents into purchasing merch, but within that framework, it houses so much genuine adoration for the art of cinema.

Few artists worth making movies about have led lives that can fit neatly within the confines of a feature film's runtime, but Michael Jackson's in particular feels too Herculean a task to undertake, given the complexities and challenges of his history. Yet "Michael" is an exuberant and entertaining film that sends the viewer home happy, salivating for another installment to stretch the foregone conclusion of its own success. 

Shelter aims higher than typical Statham fare by taking itself more seriously, but in doing so, it misses the mark on what makes his best work so enjoyable in the first place.

Marty Supreme is more than just a vehicle for one of this generation's most vital stars to ball out and push his personal brand. It is one of the most impressive films of the year, an ambitious and exhilarating effort whose biggest sin is fumbling a bit in the finale.

The Running Man is such an enjoyable race while you're running it, but once you make it past the finish line and start reflecting on the experience, it leaves too much to be desired.

Though it may sound like a fascinating sci-fi rumination on the intersection of technology and human life, "Ares" works best as a rollicking action picture with some strong visuals and incredible soundscapes. It lacks the acting acumen and depth of writing to achieve much more. 

Him is a decent time at the movies and possesses an impressive sense of execution. It's just that the vision its putting forth feels like one we've seen a lot of in recent years, and some pretty pictures and scene stealing moments from the performers can't overcome the sense we've been here before.

While the movie does a fine job sending off the Warrens, it lacks some of the charm of its predecessors, and in the end, feels more like a comforting rerun than an exciting new horror effort.

The film is not exactly exemplary or paradigm shifting, but it is entertaining, heartfelt, earnest, and largely unashamed of its comic book origins.

Eddington is a fascinating film whose high points are sure to grow in the public estimation with the distance of time, but whose murky themes and punishing runtime have more in common with advanced torture tactics than with traditional cinematic expression.