Reviews

Lazy critics sometimes like to rave “A great time at the movies!” No one will say this about “Echo Valley.” It’s a bad time, and not worth it.

An extremely average thriller in which nothing is complicated and nothing much is concealed.

A classic bar conversation and a movie destined to be remembered by no one.

The kind of big swing that either leaves viewers cold and annoyed or totally transfixed on its wavelength. Or, like I was, both, landing somewhere in the middle.

It’s not great when after just 10 minutes a main character causes the words “awkward weird pathetic creepy sad exhausting” to run through your head.

Comedy needs a spark, and drama needs impact, and “Babes” comes up short in both areas.

Too funny to dismiss while also being too spotty to endorse beyond the mildest of mild enthusiasm.

Congrats — you now have the answer if you’ve ever wondered “What if ‘Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade’ totally sucked?”

Isn’t a fun genre mash-up so much as a chance to give half the effort and require twice the suspension of disbelief.

Very much like “Frances Ha” or “Bridesmaids” with all the laughs and personality and wisdom taken out.

A pretty decent twist can’t rescue a narrative that ultimately just features a terrible couple being horrible parents.

More seductive than smart, “Black Bag” is a classy diversion about how every relationship finds a certain rhythm, and the bizarre ability for a word like “traitor” to apply in wildly different contexts.

I don’t often describe something as a good yarn, but “The Last Stop in Yuma County” is one.

Pummels suspension of disbelief into something murky and tiresome until the lingering effect is only exhaustion.

The kind of hopeful movie I want to believe in.

Recommended only for people who think “American Beauty” has aged great, or stream nothing but Prime and are too lazy to scroll two inches down from new releases.

Syrupy can have its comforting appeal, but “Goodrich” is less like what you put on pancakes and more like what you drain out of a fruit cup.

A stirring depiction of a predator who doesn’t want to play fair and his target who will fight back in any way possible.

Yes, it’s better than “The Shape of Water,” as most movies and some headaches are.

A nice diversion, and then on with your day.