U.S. Release Date: 2019-12-20
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Sci-fi Violence)
Genre: Science Fiction/Adventure
Director: J.J. Abrams
Cast: Daisy Ridley, Richard E. Grant, Joonas Suotamo, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Ian McDiarmid, Billy Dee Williams, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver, Anthony Daniels
The last "Star Wars" movie is the most bloated and least satisfying of all the main-line adventures.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-10-25
MPAA Rating: "PG-13" (Violence)
Genre: Drama
Director: Alfonso Gomez-Rejon
Cast: Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Shannon, Nicholas Hoult, Tom Holland, Matthew Macfadyen, Tuppence Middleton, Katherine Waterston
The subject matter is inherently non-cinematic and, regardless of how many swoops, tilts, and fast cuts the director employs, his sense of visual flair never overcomes the underplayed drabness of the narrative.
U.S. Release Date: 1984-07-20
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Fantasy/Adventure
Director: Wolfgang Petersen
Cast: Noah Hathaway, Barret Oliver, Thomas Hill, Tami Stronach, Alan Oppenheimer
The passage of time hasn’t been kind to the attempts at worldbuilding through image-oriented spectacle.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-10-18
MPAA Rating: "PG" (Violence)
Genre: Fantasy
Director: Joachim Ronning
Cast: Angelina Jolie, Elle Fanning, Michelle Pfeiffer, Harris Dickinson, Sam Riley, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ed Skrein, Robert Lindsay
Makes a conscious decision to address a subject that not many family films would touch with a ten-foot pole…then bungles the implications and the message.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-10-11
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Animated
Director: Greg Tiernan, Conrad Vernon
Cast: Oscar Isaac, Charlize Theron, Chloë Grace Moretz, Finn Wolfhard, Nick Kroll, Bette Midler, Snoop Dogg, Allison Janney, Elsie Fisher, Conrad Vernon
Lackluster and restrained, it employs a dull story to present a message about the importance of diversity and the evils of assimilation.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-10-11
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, Disturbing Images)
Genre: Horror
Director: Michael Goi
Cast: Gary Oldman, Emily Mortimer, Jennifer Esposito, Manuel Garcia-Rulfo, Stefanie Scott, Chloe Perrin, Michael Landes
"Mary" is more mediocre than bad but there’s nothing here to catch the attention of anyone serious about their horror.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-09-13
MPAA Rating: "R" (Profanity, Drugs, Sexual Content)
Genre: Drama
Director: John Crowley
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Oakes Fegley, Jeffrey Wright, Nicole Kidman, Luke Wilson, Sarah Paulson, Finn Wolfhard, Aneurin Barnard, Ashleigh Cummings, Willa Fitzgerald, Peter Jacobson
Although this stripped-down regurgitation of the story is faithful to Donna Tartt’s novel in the broadest sense of the word, it lacks elegance and depth.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-08-30
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Gore, Profanity)
Genre: Science Fiction/Thriller
Director: Jacob Estes
Cast: David Oyelowo, Storm Reid, Mykelti Williamson, Alfred Molina, Brian Tyree Henry, Shinelle Azoroh
Writer/director Jacob Estes has come to the project with a clever concept but his execution is weak, contradictory, and confusing.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-08-23
MPAA Rating: "R" (Violence, Profanity, More Violence)
Genre: Action/Thriller
Director: Ric Roman Waugh
Cast: Gerard Butler, Morgan Freeman, Danny Huston, Nick Nolte, Lance Reddick, Piper Perabo, Tim Blake Nelson, Jada Pinkett Smith
Tumbles into the lamentable category of what happens when a movie is assembled for no reason other than to make money, and when everyone involved is doing it for the paycheck.
U.S. Release Date: 2019-08-13
MPAA Rating: "PG"
Genre: Animated
Director: Thurop Van Orman
Cast: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Danny McBride, Rachel Bloom, Peter Dinklage, Bill Hader, Leslie Jones, Awkwafina, Sterling K. Brown
Anyone with an interest would be advised to wait for this to reach smart phones and tablets where it can be viewed in a medium appropriate to its content and ambitions.