Spotlight is an understated film. It’s not flashy, it doesn’t have a constantly peaking score begging you to feel, and the actors aren’t trying to steal every scene they’re in. Instead, director Tom McCarthy created a film that shares the same journalistic spirit as its lead characters. For most of its runtime, it feels as impartial as it could possibly be, intent on getting to the bottom of things without manipulating the viewer emotionally. It lets the facts speak for themselves, and keeps us engaged with the thrill of the chase.

Visually, it’s all fairly old-school. It employs lots of wide shots and the takes are typically longer than your average 2015 release. But again, this is very appropriate for the film. Set in 2001, this particular story about the discovery of the Catholic church’s institutional child abuse centers around a method of journalism based on researching, building a story, and not publishing until it’s ready. It’s the kind of vital reporting that used to be the cornerstone of the profession and is sadly disappearing today, with the desire to be the first to break a story on the internet outweighing the need to research and fact-check. The film rarely outright decries the coming pitfall of journalistic integrity, but it does subtly hint that we are watching the end of the era.

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The Hateful Eight is Quentin Tarantino’s most indulgent film yet. Depending on how you feel about his past films and idiosyncrasies, such a statement can be read as either a strict warning or a raving endorsement. Personally, I really like Tarantino’s voice as a writer and his distinct directorial footprint. Despite jumping between genres with almost every picture, his presence is always notable in every aspect of his films, from the writing, to the performances, to the staging, cinematography, and even soundtrack. So if his indulgences are the key to making his films unique and enjoyable, The Hateful Eight should be a sure-fire success in my eyes.

And yet, Tarantino’s inclinations and his willingness to fly by the seat of his pants do get in the way of The Hateful Eight at times. There is A LOT of content in this film that, at 2 hours and 47 minutes, probably could have been trimmed down or cut altogether. Lots of plot and character backgrounds get repeated in different conversations throughout the movie, subplots are included with no bearing on the central conflict, and an entire chapter of the film is ultimately insignificant because the same information is passed on in a few lines of dialogue in the next chapter. Hell, an entire character exists solely because Quentin Tarantino had a killer monologue that he wanted Samuel L Jackson to deliver that necessitated his presence.

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Before I get into this, let me say up front that I have no intentions of discussing The Force Awakens without some spoilers. If you haven’t seen it yet and you enjoyed the original films in any way, GO SEE THE FORCE AWAKENS NOW!!! It’s a terrific movie and a great piece of fan service. And if you somehow haven’t seen the original Star Wars trilogy, then that’s a huge cultural blind spot and you should really seek them out and see them anyway. THEN see The Force Awakens. And do what you can to not spoil anything for yourself! This film plays much better if you are discovering the characters and the story for the first time, so stop reading this review and come back when you’re done.

Still here? Seen The Force Awakens? Okay, let’s talk.

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(The following review is spoiler-free)

There’s something to be said for a franchise entry that doesn’t play it safe. Considering how many sequels and reboots are greenlit solely for brand recognition or continued recognition, an installment that actually tries to re-envision its source material and add new twists to its story deserves some commendation. On that level, let’s give Terminator Genisys its dues. The movie contains plenty of twists and surprises (many of which were ruined by the trailers) that offset the conventions of the series, and it acts as both a continuation and a new entry point for the franchise.

Unfortunately, most of my praise ends there. The plot, which follows JJ Abrams’ Star Trek by being both a reboot and a sequel, is woefully convoluted and never fully explained. Unlike Star Trek, which has had a mostly-linear continuity and was not significantly affected by time-travel before the Abrams films, the Terminator films are already burdened with a complicated (and, if we’re being honest, inconsistent and illogical) history of time-fuckery. By adding yet another layer of time-travel complications and alternate timelines onto a series with already-questionable continuity, the inconsistencies in time-travel logic and the overt complexity of the plot proves too much to handle.

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(This review covers both parts of the Mockingjay film adaptation. It does contain spoilers)

The Hunger Games series proves that the book isn’t always better. By removing all of the inner-monologues and allowing Jennifer Lawrence to imbue Katniss with a sense of gravity and maturity that her written character lacks, the films present a more consistent portrayal of their world. As they continue, they become more confident in changing details and expanding on the universe. While Catching Fire gives us some glimpses behind the curtains to see what the Capitol is up to, Mockingjay Part 1 benefits the most from this change-of-perspective.

Mockingjay was by far my least favorite of the books. If I were to choose one reason, it’s that it’s a story about a wide-scale conflict told entirely from the perspective of a character who is not especially involved. Because Katniss is relegated to creating propaganda for the war and rarely in the field actually fighting, most of the successes and failures of the war effort are relayed to her by other characters, bypassing the most significant drama of the series. Instead, we’re left with Katniss constantly mulling over her feelings for Gale and Peeta while the actual culmination of the series occurs off-page.

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