A more apt title for The Turning would be "The Turding." It's that bad. Although visually impressive and featuring strong acting, director Floria Sigismondi's adaptation of Henry James's novella doesn't leave much to the imagination. The effectiveness of The Turn of the Screw lies in the ambiguity of whether supernatural occurrences contribute to the governess's crumbling sanity. In addition, there are problems at the script level—particularly awkward sexual tension, too many dream sequences and red herrings—that detract from the final film's emotional impact, despite some palpable scares. Because of these faults, The Innocents remains the superior screen version.

This Gretel & Hansel is different from the original Grimm fairy tale. It’s not revisionist nor retold, but refocused. The focus is now on an older Gretel, deftly played by Sophia Lillis, whose own interior may be just as dark as the original tale. There’s an excellent turn of acting by Alice Krige who plays the creepy old woman archetype. She may be sincerely creepy, or does she just seem that way to Gretel?  A little more gore is needed. The mostly excellent direction from Oz Perkins stumbles when the pacing at the end needs less telling, and more showing.

The Russian Ark of war films.  The product of the collaboration between Mendes and Deakins is a visually stunning and technically ambitious film that is edited together to look like a single continuous shot.  For those looking for more than just a technical achievement will be pleasantly surprised by the emotional pathos of the narrative.  The story (inspired by Mendes’ grandfather’s recollection of the war) follows two young soldiers as they traverse enemy territory to relay a message that could save a platoon from a trap set by the Germans.  This film is definitely worthy of its Golden Globe awards.

When the survivors of an underwater drilling crew must evacuate their site, they must fight unknown cephalopod-like organisms to reach the surface before time runs out. A strong ensemble cast led by Kristen Stewart and potent thrills provide oxygen to the otherwise predictable Underwater. While it will most likely draw comparisons to similarly plotted disaster/sci-fi/horror flicks like Leviathan or—the granddaddy of all claustrophobic creature features—Alien, Underwater contains enough genuine scares, humor, and narrative drive to propel it toward its explosive conclusion. What the film lacks in originality, it makes up for with likable characters and grit.

A prayer—stronger than injustice; louder than despair; quieter than ego; surer than circumstantial evidence; homier then a barred cell; more challenging than simple solutions; than more comforting than empty promises; more reassuring than doubt; more accepting than racism; more merciful than hate; more understanding than bigotry; more consoling than a testimony; as freeing as a wind through the pines; as deep as conviction; as fierce as unerring love; as irrevocable as hope; as definite as unequivocal truth; as reaffirming as an embrace, a word, a bond; as loving as family—answered is a sweet song for a life deferred.

Dolemite is an original Blaxploitation 1975 film. Starring  Rudy Ray Moore, it is a fun romp hitting all the usual tropes of this genre. The acting is fun but creaky, the dialogue is fun but creaky, and the martial arts are astoundingly creaky, and fun. Production shines as 1970s cars with extremely loooong hoods are a character themselves. Two-thirds into the movie there is a spoken word performance, “The Signifying Monkey”, by Moore which is stunning. Be aware, there is plenty nudity, sexual content, and the MF word is spoken so frequently it would astound Samuel L. Jackson.