ScreenCrush

Ultimately, your mileage with Digger may vary based on how much you like Tom Cruise, and how much you enjoy contemplating his life and career as a movie star and film artist.

I’m not sure Primetime ultimately has a lot to say about this show that hasn’t already been said elsewhere, but it certainly declares that message very loudly.

Parts of Practical Magic 2 work, and others do not. But if nothing else, this long-awaited sequel definitely recreates that lime in the coconut mix, with fan service giving way to romance followed by mystical fight scenes that suggest the Owens sisters might be distant cousins of Doctor Strange. It’s a strange and unpredictable combination — which, in its own quirky way, makes it faithful to the first film.

Its monster is computer generated rather than practical, but once it appears onscreen it sucks all the air out of the theater. And then it appears and appears and appears agan, in an action thriller that unspools for 155 minutes that are somehow both frenetic and sluggish.

Some of the true events depicted here are undeniably shocking, and By Any Means has some value as a reminder of this awful chapter in American history. By Any Means is more of a superficial thriller, though, one with a mystery that’s almost nonexistent, and an investigation that’s dreary and repetitive.

At least Branagh is having a good time. And why shouldn’t he? He gets to play a Russian dude who looks like Grizzly Adams and fights like Jason Bourne. It’s a plum role for an actor who’s never really had a chance to become an action hero before, and he seizes it with relish. Once you accept the flimsy reality of the relationship between Reynolds and Branagh, it’s easy to get swept up in their lively rapport.

Scott’s direction feels a little by-the-numbers at times too. It works out to a film that’s a little better than you might expect from something released on the last Friday in August, and one that’s a little worse than you might expect from the man who made Alien, Blade Runner, and The Martian.

The End of Oak Street may not be Mitchell’s most original film to date; a lot of people probably could combine the vibes of Poltergeist and action of Jurassic Park into a single movie. But I’ve seen enough Jurassic World sequels to know: It ain’t as easy as it looks.

Yes, it does have a bunch of Marvel cameos, and a couple of times it feels like it can’t quite reconcile what its creators want with what they have to do to appease their corporate overlords and the needs of the broader MCU. But that’s not enough to ruin what’s otherwise a good story about a friendly Spider-Man and his neighborhood.

This ancient tale, familiar to everyone who passes high school English, is rendered new again by writer/director Christopher Nolan’s craftsmanship and thoughtfulness, which turns this dusty legend into a meditation on what holds civilizations together, and what tears them apart, including our own.