Nothing's better than spending the weekend holed up in a movie theater, devouring the latest big-screen debuts. But how do you choose what to see? Well, that's where we come in.
Obviously, there will be certain movies throughout the year that feel like must-sees just because everyone is talking about them. But if you want to be a more discerning cinephile, you can visit this cheat sheet. Here we'll give you the lowdown on new releases — and the critics' verdicts on them. Then you'll be able to determine which one is right for you.
This post will be continually updated, so don't forget to check back!
Finding Dory
Starring: Ellen DeGeneres, Diane Keaton, Albert Brooks, Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell
Rated: PG
Tomatometer: 95%
Synopsis: Everyone’s favorite forgetful fish searches for her family with the help of Marlin, Nemo’s dad.
What’s The Word: A lovely, worthy Finding Nemo follow-up. “In a way that is both emphatic and subtle,” wrote A.O. Scott of The New York Times, “ Finding Dory is a celebration of cognitive and physical differences. It argues, with lovely ingenuity and understatement, that what appear to be impairments might better be understood as strengths.” Still, writes Ann Hornaday of The Washington Post, “ Finding Dory could never completely measure up to Nemo, whose dazzling visuals and mythic contours made it an instant, enduring classic.” The sequel features a gaggle of stars and master voice actors, but DeGeneres remains the star, as RogerEbert.com’s Susan Wloszczyna noted: “DeGeneres and her sometimes goofy, sometimes giddy persona continues to be a perfect fit for the role that provided the uplifting salt-water soul of Finding Nemo.”
Central Intelligence
Starring: Kevin Hart, Dwayne Johnson, Amy Ryan, Aaron Paul
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer: 62%
Synopsis: A high school outcast turned CIA agent pairs up with a former popular kid to complete a mission during their high school reunion.
What’s The Word: Goofy, but also too bloated to capitalize on its stars. “Johnson and Hart are performers of trustworthy charisma, but their personal appeal hits its limits when they are recruited to perform in a film that is hard to sit through,” wrote Colin Covert of the Chicago Tribune. At The Wrap, Sam Adams said their charisma can only do so much to make up for the obvious lack of laughs. “‘Jason Bourne in jorts’ sounds like a phrase right out of a pitch meeting, and Central Intelligence often feels like it never got past that initial outline,” Adams wrote. The Hollywood Reporter ’s Jon Frosh said that it’s still just some good ol’ summer fun: “[The anti-bullying message] and the mindless laughs that Central Intelligence serves up along with it are things we could use now more than ever.”
The Conjuring 2
Starring: Vera Farmiga, Patrick Wilson, Frances O’Connor
Rated: R
Tomatometer: 74%
Synopsis: Paranormal investigators travel to north London to help a single mother living with a house plagued by evil spirits.
What’s the Word: The sequel is scary! And worth it, if you’re into horror movies and paranormal frights. Vera Farmiga is reliably excellent, according to USA Today ’s Brian Truitt. “While [Patrick] Wilson is solid as the good-hearted Ed, Farmiga is [director] Wan’s true standout — her Lorraine really gets put through the wringer as she deals with the constant presence of a terrifying supernatural force, and Farmiga sells every gasp,” Truitt wrote.
At Consequence of Sound, however, Michael Roffman was less invested in the “exaggerated carnival fare" that is "slick and stylish to the point of distraction.” HitFix’s Drew McWeeney says it’s a cut above others in the horror genre: “A rare horror sequel that stands toe-to-toe with the original, possibly even improving on it.”
Now You See Me 2
Starring: Jesse Eisenberg, Mark Ruffalo, Woody Harrelson, Dave Franco, Daniel Radcliffe, Lizzy Caplan
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer: 35%
Synopsis: The illusionists are now in China working for a tech wizard and trying to clear their names.
What’s the Word: The addition of director Jon M. Chu ( Step Up, G.I. Joe: Retaliation) almost makes the sequel work, but it’s a sausage-fest with magic tricks that don’t impress. Lizzy Caplan is the movie’s bright spot, adding some much-needed humor, according to EW ’s Leah Greenblatt. “[Isla Fischer] has been replaced by Lizzy Caplan, and it’s one of the sequel’s biggest improvements. Caplan, too, has to wear a whole lot of not much, but she’s also a worthy, mouthy foil for her male counterparts,” Greenblatt wrote.
Michael Phillips at the Chicago Tribune commented on the lacking visual effects: “[It’s] insufferably old-fashioned. With so much digital-effects work guiding so many of the action scenes, the simple pleasures of sleight of hand are all but lost.” Really, the movie’s twists and turns aren’t as magical as they are just confusing, wrote A.V. Club’s Ignatiy Vishnevetsky. "True to form, the movie more or less refuses to explain the actual twist ending,” he wrote. “Up until then, it runs on a regular five-minute schedule of reversals, where nothing is ever as it seems."
Warcraft
Starring: Travis Fimmel, Paula Patton, Ben Foster, Dominic Cooper
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:24%
Synopsis: An orc shaman rebels and starts a conflict between two worlds in this video game adaptation.
What’s the Word: The revamp can’t exactly decide what it’s trying to do, which makes its plot difficult to sift through if you’re not already a die-hard fan of the World of Warcraft franchise. The movie’s biggest battle is actually behind the scenes and happening between art and commerce, wrote The Verge’s Tasha Robinson: “It's a knock-down, drag-out fight between storytelling, franchise-making, and fan service, and some casualties were inevitable.”
Collider’s Matt Goldberg praised the visuals, writing that “the only thing that feels fully crafted in Warcraft is the world. I went to see the movie with a fan of the game and she said that this is a film that definitely errs on the side of the fans.” For viewers that aren’t familiar with the complicated web of worlds and wars, Miami Herald ’s Rene Rodriguez recommends tuning out the plot entirely. “The moment you stop trying to figure out what’s what and who’s who, the movie becomes easy to follow,” Rodriguez wrote. “Because all the fancy names and references are just window dressing on a plot so simple it could pass for a children’s book.”
Popstar: Never Stop Never Stopping
Starring: Andy Samberg, Akiva Schaffer, Jorma Taccone, Sarah Silverman
Rated: R
Tomatometer:80%
Synopsis: The Lonely Island guys are back with a pop prince satire.
What’s The Word: Popstar is the Spinal Tap that our generation of memes and @mentions deserves. It’s smart but also goofy: “ Popstar is not a highbrow comedy. There are dick jokes, there’s a barfing turtle, and bird shit is practically used as a metaphor,” wrote Lizzie Plaugic from The Verge. Screencrush’s Matt Singer praised The Lonely Island team’s take on pop fame and fortune in 2016. “Samberg, Schaffer, and Taccone are astute observers of celebrity and pop culture, which provides them with plenty of raw material to work with and make fun of,” he wrote. But reality is still so much stranger than fiction, and Lonely Island's pop culture historians have a hard time getting ahead of the bizarro age we’re living in. “Even on peak form, the Lonely Island could never top the aphasia-like poetry of Kanye West’s declaration to run for president,” reasoned The Guardian ’s Jordan Hoffman.
Me Before You
Starring: Emilia Clarke, Sam Claflin, Charles Dance, Jenna Coleman
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer: 53%
Synopsis: A quirky caregiver and her cynical, paralyzed patient fall in love.
What’s The Word: It isn’t the best love story with medical complications, but it’s also not the worst. Sheri Linden at The Hollywood Reporter said that the actors — Game of Thrones ’ Clarke and Hunger Games ’ Claflin — make a formulaic plot easier to stomach. “With their charm and good looks, Clarke and Claflin give the duo’s sublimated sensuality an undeniable charge, enhanced by the honeyed light of Remi Adefarasin’s camerawork,” Linden wrote. The Wrap’s Alonso Duralde was more harsh on the film's lack of cohesiveness: “Forget art, or even craft,” he wrote. “This is the kind of movie that can’t even get its shameless audience-pandering in order.” At A.V. Club, Jesse Hassenger wrote that though the movie might bring tears, he expects they'll quickly dry: " Me Before You is a first-level tearjerker, the kind that expects people to cry when the characters are sad, not because of any unspoken meaning underneath."
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Out of the Shadows
Starring: Megan Fox, Stephen Amell, Will Arnett, William Fichtner
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer: 32%
Synopsis: Your favorite (and hopefully only?) talking turtles meet a mad scientist and his evil mutants.
What’s The Word: “Can a franchise have a renaissance if it was never that good to begin with?” asked CinemaBlend’s Doug Norrie. Perhaps it’s possible, but TMNT is not that franchise. The series’ second installment is barely an improvement on the first. Empire’s Emma Thrower said most of the film is tolerable until it collapses under the weight of its own tropes in the third act: “The slick first third may seem like a different franchise to the turtles’ 2014 outing, but Out of the Shadows soon unravels as the Retro-Mutagen cements its status as yet another uninspired MacGuffin in yet another bland final act containing yet more people looking up at the sky,” Thrower wrote.
Alice Through the Looking Glass
Starring: Mia Wasikowska, Anne Hathaway, Johnny Depp, Sacha Baron Cohen
Rated: PG
Tomatometer: 29%
Synopsis: Alice time travels through the fantastical Underland to rescue the Mad Hatter and his family.
What’s The Word: The visuals in this follow-up to Tim Burton’s 2010 fantasy are less stellar than the original, and the plot holes persist. “The saving grace of Burton’s film was his wise tendency to bask in the wonders of his gothic Underland. [Director James] Bobin — not as equipped in the visual department — merely rushes from one point to the next,” Nigel M. Smith wrote for The Guardian. Hitfix’s Drew McWeeny praised the visuals, but found every other element hollow: “The bigger disappointment here is that Tim Burton is willing to put his brand name all over something so crushingly pedestrian.” Writing for RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz said the film’s false feminism put a damper on Mia Wasikowska’s charm, writing, “She's in every scene of the movie, yet it's still a nothing part.”
X-Men: Apocalypse
Starring: Oscar Isaac, James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Olivia Munn, Sophie Turner
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer: 46%
Synopsis: The X-Men battle an ancient cyber-mutant named Apocalypse and his villainous Four Horsemen.
What’s The Word: This lukewarm X-Men installment doesn’t approach the heights of the franchise’s best. Empire’s Helen O’Hara said that Apocalypse relies too heavily on its predecessors, writing, “The more the film harks back to other X-installments, the more you’ll wish you were watching those instead.” Michael Roffman at Consequence of Sound wrote that Professor X and his gang are fun, but now have “a same ol’, same ol’ wash” that wasn’t as obvious before. Geoff Berkshire at Variety acknowledged the monotony, but was more dismayed at the movie’s squeeze on Oscar Isaac: “Apocalypse remains a one-note villain throughout, despite Isaac’s best efforts to imbue the godlike foe with authoritative menace underneath mountains of prosthetic makeup.”
Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising
Starring: Zac Efron, Seth Rogen, Rose Byrne
Rated: R
Tomatometer:64%
Synopsis: Sorority sisters mess with hapless adults.
What's The Word: This comedy sequel has a surprising and welcome feminist bent. "The Bechdel test is overly simple, yes, but a usefully blunt tool to compare Neighbors 2: Sorority Rising to its modern comedy brethren, virtually none of which have bothered to imbue female characters with the agency, humor, or actual personality that the women of Neighbors 2 deliver in spades," Katey Rich wrote for Vanity Fair. Erin Whitney at ScreenCrush noted: "Not only is it one of the best and funniest comedy sequels, it’s also the most feminist, gay-inclusive, and self-aware mainstream comedy of the year, if not ever." But Amy Nicholson at MTV News was slightly more wary: " Neighbors 2 ’s Social Justice Warrior critique would feel less sour if it weren’t written by five white guys. I guess this is still their party after all."
The Nice Guys
Starring: Russell Crowe, Ryan Gosling, Angourie Rice
Rated: R
Tomatometer:90%
Synopsis: A daffy detective teams up with a deadpan hit man to investigate porn-centric crime in 1970s L.A.
What's The Word: Shane Black's flick is an amusing, violent throwback, with a very good Gosling. Variety 's Owen Gleiberman called the movie "an ultra-violent burlesque, the sort of cheerfully hostile buddy bash that’s been a staple since the ’80s, only this one is singularly clever about its own triviality, and it offers the scruffy pleasure of seeing two great actors dial down their gravitas with style." Joe Morgenstern at The Wall Street Journal said it is "consistently entertaining, frequently violent and generally slapdash." Meanwhile, A.O. Scott of The New York Times acknowledged Black's "knack for slapstick anarchy," but also explained, "This is a dumb movie pretending to be smart, even as it wants you to believe the opposite."
The Angry Birds Movie
Starring: Jason Sudeikis, Josh Gad, Bill Hader
Rated: PG
Tomatometer: 43%
Synopsis: Birds battle pigs. You've played this game.
What's The Word: According to some, it's not that bad. " Angry Birds could be a whole lot worse," Leah Greenblatt conceded at Entertainment Weekly. The AP's Lindsey Bahr said "it's definitely not terrible and even surprisingly fun and heartfelt at times." Jesse Hassenger of The A.V. Club wasn't so forgiving. "The movie’s dialogue is so generic that Red (Sudeikis), the outcast bird with the furrowed, furry eyebrows, barely registers as angry," he wrote.
Money Monster
Starring: George Clooney, Julia Roberts, Jack O'Connell
Rated: R
Tomatometer:59%
Synopsis: George Clooney plays the wacky host of a financial TV show who finds himself at the center of a hostage crisis.
What's The Word: Though not without flaws, the movie is serviceable entertainment. It "might not be a great movie, but it is a comforting movie-movie that's still fun to watch even if it whiffed on being something more," Lindsey Bahr wrote at the AP. Variety 's Andrew Barker said it's "taut yet sporadically odd," but "hangs together surprisingly well." It does have a true fan in Stephanie Zacharek from Time, who raved: "It’s the movie of the moment, an expertly made, state-of-the-nation entertainment that also underscores just how little most of us know about the behind-the-scenes shell game the banking and finance industries are orchestrating, using our money as the disappearing nugget."
The Lobster
Starring: Colin Farrell, Rachel Weisz, Léa Seydoux
Rated: R
Tomatometer:92%
Synopsis: An exploration of love and life in a society where people have to find romantic partners in 45 days or they are turned into animals of their choosing.
What's The Word: It's an acquired taste, but it's truly brilliant. "This movie is an unusual beast, and if you can’t invest in its wild premise and starchy manners, stay home," Amy Nicholson at MTV News explained. "See it, however, and you’ll not only see one of the best movies of the year — you’ll see one of the most brutally honest takes on the knots people twist themselves into so they don’t have to be alone." The New York Times ' A.O. Scott wrote that the movie is "often startlingly funny in the way it proposes its surreal conceits, and then upsettingly grim in the way it follows through on them." Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weeklydeemed it " the most original and beautifully strange love story since Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind."
Love & Friendship
Starring: Kate Beckinsale, Chloë Sevigny, Xavier Samuel
Rated: PG
Tomatometer: 100%
Synopsis: A Jane Austen adaptation about a scheming widow.
What's The Word: If you're a Janeite in need of a laugh — or just someone who likes great movies — go. The movie "more than delivers on the comedy of manners front, but it’s also a very funny, unapologetic portrait of a diabolically clever woman," Glenn Whipp wrote at The Los Angeles Times. Peter Travers at Rolling Stone said he "can't think of a more wickedly modern romantic comedy." A.O. Scott's New York Times review declared: "It's the Whit Stillman movie that some of us have been waiting a long time for, and also a Jane Austen movie that goes some way toward correcting the record of dull and dutiful cinematic Janeism."
Captain America: Civil War
Starring: Chris Evans, Robert Downey Jr., Scarlett Johansson
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:92%
Synopsis: Cap goes up against Iron Man.
What's The Word: If you're a Marvel fan, you'll love it. Time 's Stephanie Zacharek said that it's "blessedly light on its superhero-booted feet." At Variety, Justin Chang noted that it's the "most mature and substantive picture to have yet emerged from the Marvel Cinematic Universe." A.O. Scott of The New York Times wasn't quite so sold. He called it "very crowded" and "reasonably enjoyable."
A Bigger Splash
Starring: Tilda Swinton, Ralph Fiennes, Dakota Johnson
Rated: R
Tomatometer:89%
Synopsis: Tilda's a rock star rendered quiet by a surgery. An old friend stops by.
What's The Word: Take a trip to Italy with these folks. "Here is a movie that's genuinely alive, plunging into theaters with the style of a swan dive and the impact of a cannonball," David Ehrlich wrote at Indiewire. The New York Times ' Manohla Dargis deemed it an "Italian come-on that doesn’t just want to amuse you, but also to pour you a Negroni before taking you for a midnight spin with the top down." Though RogerEbert.com's Christy Lemire takes issue with the movie's conclusion, she also wrote that director Luca Guadagnino "draws four beautiful and well-balanced performances from his excellent cast, including brash, grandiose work from Ralph Fiennes."
Mother's Day
Starring: Julia Roberts, Jennifer Aniston, Kate Hudson
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:7%
Synopsis: Women and men fret over Mother's Day.
What's The Word: Dreadful. Ghastly. All the adjectives that imply bad. Take for instance, this assessment from David Ehrlich at Indiewire: "Lifeless, ugly, and vaguely evil in its gross attempt to offer something for everyone, Mother's Day doesn't feel like a movie so much as it does a cinematic adaptation of Walmart." Jordan Hoffman, writing for The Guardian, was slightly kinder in a sort of backhanded way, deeming the movie a "trash masterpiece." Entertainment Weekly 's Samantha Highfill concluded: "If you love your mother, do not make her see this movie."
Keanu
Starring: Keegan-Michael Key, Jordan Peele, Method Man
Rated: R
Tomatometer:74%
Synopsis: Key and Peele get drawn into a world of crime as they attempt to retrieve a really, really cute cat.
What's The Word: It's worth seeing for Key and Peele. " Keanu doesn't have nearly enough story to go the distance, sputtering through an '80s-style action-comedy that follows a feline MacGuffin through an L.A. gangland misadventure," Scott Tobias wrote at NPR. "And yet Key and Peele have such a sensationally giddy chemistry together that the film's raggedness plays, in their hands, like a kind of spontaneity." The New York Times ' Manohla Dargis also thought the comedians "comfortably hold the big screen," but described the movie as "a slack, erratically amusing excuse to watch" them. According to the A.V. Club 's A.A. Dowd, "[The] pair are so consistently funny, bullshitting their way through every situation, that it’s sometimes possible to ignore how thin the movie around them really is."
Ratchet & Clank
Starring: James Arnold Taylor, Rosario Dawson, Bella Thorne
Rated: PG
Tomatometer:23%
Synopsis: An animated alien story based on a video game.
What's The Word: You can probably skip this one. Variety 's Guy Lodge described it as a "busy, clattering, soda-pop-hued toon." Over at The Hollywood Reporter, Leslie Felperin said it "represents a resolutely middling effort when compared to other cartoon films on the market." Ignatiy Vishnevetsky of the A.V. Club called it "mild as baby soap."
The Huntsman: Winter's War
Starring: Emily Blunt, Charlize Theron, Jessica Chastain, Chris Hemsworth
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:18%
Synopsis: A prequel/sequel to Snow White and the Huntsman, with Blunt as an ice queen and Chastain as a warrior.
What's The Word: All that talent is mostly wasted in this one. Entertainment Weekly 's Chris Nashawaty arrived at the verdict, "[There’s] nothing dramatically interesting or original beneath all of the spectacle. It’s the movie equivalent of a cake that’s all frosting." Stephanie Zacharek at Time declared, "there’s only one reason to see The Huntsman: Winter’s War: Gowns! Insane, off-the-hook gowns." That said, Vanity Fair 's Richard Lawson regarded the movie more favorably: "For its mix of high style and camp, butt-kicking action and fantasy majesty, and its cast of strong, admirably committed actors — many of them women! — The Huntsman: Winter’s War is, to my mind, more than respectable entertainment."
The Meddler
Starring: Susan Sarandon, Rose Byrne, Cecily Strong
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:78%
Synopsis: Sarandon plays a widowed mother who won't live her daughter (Rose Byrne) alone.
What's The Word: It's not perfect, but it's a good time. Peter Travers of Rolling Stone wrote that writer-director Lorene Scafaria "turns The Meddler into a hilarious and heartfelt tribute to mothering in the sense of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger." Variety 's Peter Debruge said that the movie "serves as a lovely valentine not just to Scafaria’s mom, Gail, but to mothers everywhere." At Indiewire's The Playlist, Kevin Jagernauth explained that "while slight, the film’s genuine feeling and overall comedic consistency has enough breezy charm to make it go down easy and pleasurably."
Elvis & Nixon
Starring: Michael Shannon, Kevin Spacey, Alex Pettyfer
Rated: R
Tomatometer:69%
Synopsis: A famous photo comes to life as the King meets the president.
What's The Word: Shannon's great, but the movie's not. Writing for RogerEbert.com, Matt Zoller Seitz said that the movie is "only fitfully entertaining or illuminating." The Guardian 's Nigel M. Smith noted that the film "falters when it veers from its titular duo to focus on the tangential ones who were along for the ride." However, Frank Scheck of The Hollywood Reporter declared the film "a hoot."
The Jungle Book
Starring: Neel Sethi, Bill Murray, Scarlett Johansson
Rated: PG
Tomatometer: 93%
Synopsis: Mowgli and friends get more real.
What's The Word: Critics are cooing over the stunning visuals. "It’s the first talking-animal movie I’ve seen where CGI seamlessly bridges the uncanny gap between fantasy and reality," Chris Nashawaty wrote at Entertainment Weekly. "It’s also one of the few 3-D movies that actually benefits from being in 3-D." New York 's David Edelstein said the "journey is thrillingly kinetic." Manohla Dargis of The New York Times was less thrilled, calling it " disappointing, partly because it feels like a pumped-up version of Disney’s 1967 animated film, with more action and less sweetness. "
Barbershop: The Next Cut
Starring: Ice Cube, Cedric the Entertainer, Nicki Minaj
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer: 91%
Synopsis: The men and women of the barbershop return to talk and tackle Chicago's violence.
What's The Word: This is the rare threequel worth your time. A.O. Scott at The New York Times wrote: "This comeback feels like the opposite of cynical, though. If anything, it seems unusually urgent." Variety 's Justin Chang deemed it "overly earnest but not-unwelcome." In The Guardian, Jordan Hoffman declared that it "is hardly subtle, but it is more nuanced than you might expect."
Sing Street
Starring: Ferdia Walsh-Peelo, Lucy Boynton, Aidan Gillen
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:97%
Synopsis: Kids in '80s Ireland start a rock band.
What's The Word: It's delightful. USA Today 's Brian Truitt said it's a " wholly appealing genesis of teenage romance and music-group therapy for one Irish boy and a instant retro classic for those still hungry like the wolf." To Rolling Stone 's Peter Travers the movie is "tender, tough and totally irresistible." Alynda Wheat of People also correctly predicted, "[You] will want the soundtrack."
The Boss
Starring: Melissa McCarthy, Kristen Bell, Peter Dinklage
Rated: R
Tomatometer:20%
Synopsis: Melissa McCarthy brings one of her Groundlings characters to the big screen as an extraordinarily wealthy entrepreneur who gets busted for insider trading.
What's The Word: McCarthy is great, but the vehicle isn't quite up to snuff. The New York Times ' Manohla Dargis called it "disposable, enjoyable nonsense." Melissa Anderson at The Village Voice deemed the movie "fitfully funny." At Variety, Justin Chang wrote that "McCarthy remains one of the funniest actors alive — a truth that frequently rescues, but doesn’t really redeem, this sloppy comedy."
Hardcore Henry
Starring: Sharlto Copley, Haley Bennett, Tim Roth
Rated: R
Tomatometer: 50%
Synopsis: You see what Henry sees in this violent, first-person movie.
What's The Word: It may make you sick. Entertainment Weekly 's Chris Nashawaty explained that it's "a hypercaffeinated first-person action flick that teeters somewhere between gonzo insanity and a nausea-inducing endurance test." Writing for The Wrap, Dave White noted that "the script... holds back, way back, on plot details and characterization, choosing mayhem and gut-shredding chaos as organizing principles." However, at RogerEbert.com, Simon Abrams compared it to "a good roller-coaster in that it does not require a complex reason to be: it's there, it's fun, you ride it, and that's about it."
Everybody Wants Some!!
Starring: Blake Jenner, Glen Powell, Zoey Deutch
Rated: R
Tomatometer: 94%
Synopsis: Baseball team bros party and practice before college starts, under the direction of Richard Linklater.
What's The Word: You're going to want to spend time with these guys. As The New York Times' A.O. Scott wrote, "[It] is impossible not to have a good time in their company." A.A. Dowd of The A.V. Club argued that the movie "reveals a stealth humanism: Shoot the shit with anyone for long enough and they reveal hidden depths." Stephanie Zacharek of Time called it a "seemingly straightforward picture that’s surprisingly stealthy in capturing the joy and exaltation of being an almost-adult but still feeling young, of messing around and messing up, of waiting and hoping for the chance to meet a guy or girl you really like."
Eye in the Sky
Starring: Helen Mirren, Aaron Paul, Alan Rickman
Rated: R
Tomatometer:92%
Synopsis: A look at the quandaries of drone warfare.
What's The Word: This intense movie is worth a watch. Stephen Holden of The New York Timescalled it one of Mirren's "fiercest screen performances." The Hollywood Reporter 's John DeFore wrote that it is "a morally serious dramatization of drone warfare that also happens to be a hell of a nail-biter." Variety 's Joe Leydon deemed the film "a rivetingly suspenseful drama." Plus, it's a chance to see Rickman once again on screen.
Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice
Starring: Ben Affleck, Henry Cavill, Gal Gadot
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:30%
Synopsis: Batman is mad at Superman, and Lex Luthor's just crazy. Havoc ensues.
What's The Word: No one wins in this exhausting movie. A.O. Scott demolished it in The New York Times, writing: "It is about as diverting as having a porcelain sink broken over your head (one of the more amusing things that happens onscreen)." Time 's Stephanie Zacharek said the movie is "so topheavy with false portent that it buckles under its own weight." Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly gave it a C+, noting "it's overstuffed, confusing, and seriously crippled by [Jesse] Eisenberg’s over-the-top performance." Eisenberg plays Luthor.
The Divergent Series: Allegiant
Starring: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Miles Teller
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer: 11%
Synopsis: This YA dystopian saga about factions lumbers on.
What's The Word: Dragging this trilogy out over four installments is obviously not doing it any favors. At Mashable, Hillary Busis wrote: "Previous split-book franchises could get by on plausible deniability; this one barely bothers to justify its continued existence." The "bottom line" of Jordan Mintzer's Hollywood Reporter review declared: "More like redundant." The New York Times ' Jeannette Catsoulis explained that the movie "offers a weak bridge to the series’ conclusion."
Midnight Special
Starring: Michael Shannon, Kirsten Dunst, Adam Driver
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:85%
Synopsis: A father and son are fleeing a cult and government authorities, all because the boy has a very special gift.
What's The Word: Jeff Nichols' sci-fi story plays like something Spielberg might have made, and many critics are high on it. "Nichols keeps us guessing in a way that evokes Close Encounters of the Third Kind," Entertainment Weekly 's Chris Nashawaty explained. " Midnight Special is a more modest, more enigmatic film than that one was, but it’s no less gripping." Peter Travers of Rolling Stone noted that "in this spellbinding sci-fi chase movie, UFOs take a back seat to identifiable human emotions." Vanity Fair' s Richard Lawson had some compliments for the film, but concluded that it "feels more like an interesting genre experiment for Nichols than it does a completely realized movie."
10 Cloverfield Lane
Starring: Mary Elizabeth Winstead, John Goodman, John Gallagher, Jr.
Rated: PG-13
Tomatometer:91%
Synopsis: A creepy guy keeps a young woman in a bunker, and there's maybe something crazy going on outside.
What's The Word: Go go go to this one. But don't read too much about it. Though it's not really a Cloverfield sequel, Stephanie Zacharek at Time wrote, "It's a better movie than its predecessor, one that at least has a sense of humor about itself and its genre." The New York Times ' Jeannette Catsoulis called it "smartly chilling and finally spectacular." Jordan Hoffman put it simply at The Guardian: "This movie, whatever you want to call it, is really good."
Hello, My Name Is Doris
Starring: Sally Field, Max Greenfield, Tyne Daly
Rated: R
Tomatometer:88%
Synopsis: Sally Field pursues a younger man.
What's The Word: Field is great in this sweet comedy. The New York Times ' Manhola Dargis wrote: "Doris has issues, mostly grief and social isolation, which Ms. Field makes movingly real with a performance that reveals its truth incrementally." Gary Goldstein of the Los Angeles Timesraved that Field "gives perhaps the year's first Oscar-worthy lead actress performance in the funny, beguiling, and affecting" film. Some weren't quite as positive on the movie as a whole. NPR's Andrew Lapin wrote that Field "carries the film through a weak script that often sells her character's intelligence far short."
Like what you see? How about some more R29 goodness, right here?
Cry Forever With The Help Of This Pixar Supercut