Clouds of Sils Maria
Binoche, Moretz, and Stewart do some of their best work to date
Movies
John Wick
Not much of a plot; mostly, it’s Reeves shooting people
The Age of Adaline
Meager emotional payoff for the great suspension of disbelief required
Insurgent
Nothing happened in this Divergent sequel, at least while I was awake
Survivor
Actioners don’t get any less original
The Captive
A lumbering misfire and waste of a strong cast
Magic Mike XXL
This bachelorette party of a movie is Showgirls with the F-bomb
Starred Up
Brutal but deeply humane look at the life of inmates
What We Did on Our Holiday
Bit sitcom-ish but well-written and directed
Fantastic Four
The world’s longest pre-credits sequence
The Intern
Good schmaltz, worth catching for the two Oscar winners
Pitch Perfect 2
In a word: a-ca-rappy
Fathers and Daughters
More depressing than anything else
Finding Vivian Maier
Documentary on an undiscovered American talent
Altman
Few film directors have been as admired (and emulated) as the late Robert Altman
Good Kill
Ethics study of the American use of drone strikes in the Middle East
A Most Violent Year
A well crafted, atmospheric, and believable film for grown-ups
Passion & Poetry: The Ballad of Sam Peckinpah
Definitive, exhaustive, and overlong
Ant-Man
A cliché-ridden Marvel second-stringer
Quoth the Räfven
The Swedish klezmer band’s Martin Nurmi on bringing back the dinos
Two Raging Grannies
A touching and relevant documentary
Yūwaku Yūjo: Sora to Shido
“Pink eiga” releases from OP Pictures
The Voices
Whimsical yet witless little creepshow
That Awkward Moment
A male Sex and the City; ’nuff said
Kingsman: The Secret Service
Well-made and superbly cast
Boychoir
Uplifting but unworthy of its great cast
Pixels
Adam Sandler is amazing in how he appalls
San Andreas
A disaster on a gargantuan, bloated scale
Tokyo PR Woman
Unremarkable flick, but Mizuki Yamamoto shines
Danny Collins
A hilarious and heartfelt story of an aging crooner
No Escape
Skillfully made, but logistically illogical and generally reprehensible
The Face of an Angel
A rambling look at the Amanda Knox trial
The Giver
Appealing young leads and veterans raise the level
Learning to Drive
A modest and warm feel-good film
Wild
Worth seeing for the scenery
Ted 2
Most enjoyable for guys who will never, ever have a girlfriend