The concept was a good one and the trailer had me intrigued, but this “buddy detective” style dark comedy fell sadly flat of its potential. The two daughters, Nic and Ping, of life-long friends and partnered detectives are thrown into the seedy underworld of trying to find out why their fathers met an untimely death…

A common dictum of storytelling is “show, don’t tell.” With his new documentary about brothers Ron and Russell Mael, self-professed superfan Edgar Wright can’t resist doing a whole lot of both when it comes to Sparks, his favorite band. It is an indication of their relentless productivity that two and a half hours is barely enough time to scratch all the surfaces of a lifelong musical collaboration with roots in another band they formed back in 1967 as undergrads at UCLA all the way to a present day re-discovery and revival.

There are a handful of films that you can say, without a doubt, are absolutely brilliant. From the precise presentation of its visuals to the delicate construction of its story, Les nôtres is one of those films. For reasons that will become abundantly clear, it also is an incredibly difficult one to recommend. However, it is one that, no matter how painful, must be experienced.

A portrait of both a life and the history that its subject lived through, Rita Moreno: Just a Girl Who Decided to Go for It is the rare type of documentary that manages to capture the story of a central figure while never losing sight of the world around her.

As theaters re-open, I wondered how long “the magic of cinema” would add its shine to new releases. I was on the edge of my seat for A Quiet Place: Part 2 and was thoroughly dazzled by the choreography that filled the screen with magic realism throughout In the Heights. I am sure that more than a small part of my exuberance for those films was seeing them projected in a dark room with a good sound system and a receptive audience. Could that spell extend to an unnecessary sequel to a pretty bad action comedy? Alas, it’s a no from me, dawg.

A film that is as gloriously expansive and intricate as the community it portrays, In the Heights doesn’t always set every foot right though it still proves to be an engaging portrait of a people as told through music.

A film that once seemed lost to time, The Amusement Park is by no means the best work from the great director George Romero though it remains an enthralling and interesting look at what it means to age.