Los Angeles Times

Mistakes make people grow. The pressure to make precisely the right choice — or else — is what’s gotten society’s bedsheets in a twist. This is not a movie about healthy intimacy but Araki does suggest how people can find it: Sex doesn’t have to be a life-or-death thriller. It can be, as it is here, a comedy.

Although the film is a somber examination of violence, it can also be dryly funny in its depiction of what Murashige must endure.

Cretton must shoulder an overburdened franchise. His film is likable as heck but never quite achieves liftoff.

In a glutted genre, The Devil’s Mouth offers a clever twist, a powerful setting and, through Sara, enough character transformation to give it a toehold in Joseph Campbell’s hero-journey territory. Which is pretty good for a shark film. More important, it’s great fun to watch.

There’s so much to chew on in David Alvarado’s portrait of life, art and activism that “American Pachuco” plays like a joyful challenge to those searching for their own voice or meaning.

There is such a temporal quality to theater, a shared moment in time and space. This production feels like a fleeting moment — a reunion of friends and collaborators retelling a myth that is recounted over and over again.

After a familiar setup, the movie stubbornly refuses to go in compelling new directions or offer fresh observations. The film may be set in the future, but Kore-eda’s ideas feel outdated.

A eulogy that also serves as an apology, a reckoning and a confession, Remake is filled with moments that are crushing because of how understated they are.

This is a simple story executed with singular panache, and while Horsegirls follows expected narrative beats, it’s in the moments of surprise that it works best, often thanks to Carrier and her straightforward line deliveries, which help the tone pop.

Nolan’s “Odyssey” engraves marvelous images onto the ancient oral poem. One of the most haunting shots is Odysseus sprinting out of Hades chased by an army of the dead who regret following him into battle. In turn, Nolan has sacrificed Odysseus himself to serve his own needs, scrapping the character’s prickly personality to Trojan-horse a message about how empires collapse.