The Accountant - 3/5

This is a perfectly servicable (and forgettable) action movie. With a more gripping script and a method actor in the lead role (think Leonardo DiCaprio), this could have beccome something like the new Jason Bourne franchise. Oh well, still enjoyable and if you're wathing it I'll watch it with you.

Shane (1953) - 4/5

This is a classic old western so the pace is slower than modern films tend to be, but it adds to the mood and the movie's better for it. Nice slow build of tension and stakes, so that it's much more of a drama than an action piece. Some spotty acting in various places, and the argument about why the heroes do what they do was unsatisfyingly off the mark. But I can certainly see why Logan referenced it so heavily.

Life - 3/5

This is a fascinating mix of interesting ideas and problematic elements. It's very well filmed and acted, and it's a great new(ish) concept they explore. All the deaths are very painful-looking and there's lots of suspense (and a surprising amount of blood). So if those elements aren't really your thing, then definitely skip this one. I was expecting it to feel like a cross between Alien and Sunshine, but it just ended up feeling like The Mist.

Kong: Skull Island - 3/5

It was a pretty fun action movie, but quite a few of the motivations didn't make a lot of sense and if you know a decent amount about guns then there are several plot type things that may bug you. Several of the scenarios seem motivated only by trying to set up gratuitous cinematography, but the result is gorgeous. If you want a beautiful movie with giant monsters fighting each other and tiny people getting sqashed, you could do a whole lot worse than this.

Logan - 5/5

First off: it's ultraviolent, it's sometimes depressing, there one 2-second "gentlemen, avert your eyes" blip, and there's lots of swearing. But it's the best movie I've seen in a while, and it's certainly the best X-men movie to date. And the little girl is awesome!
It's a very emotional and emotionally mature movie that takes its subject matter seriously and delivers on the payoff in heart-pounding, tear-jerking realism.

The Great Wall - 4/5

Hahaha! Ok, so, it's not that the movie is that 'good' that it's a 4/5, but it's so much fun that I will definitely be seeing it again, probably more than once. This is a great '90s adventure movie. It knows what it is, and it does that very very well. It also doesn't do anything above that. It feels a lot like The Mummy (1999), without all the horror bits.

Birdman - 3/5

This movie's strength is in its moviemaking. It is shot to look like it's all one continuous, unbroken take, using very clever invisible cuts to make it possible. There are also quite a few mirrors in the film but never the camera reflected in them, a feat which I'm still not sure how they were able to accomplish. The story is pretty weird, though, and there's a lot of sexual dialogue and situations that don't actually add anything to the film. Also the ending undercuts itself. The film could have been going one of two directions, basically, and has an unclear ending that doesn't come down on either side. Instead of making both interpretations meaningful and valid, it only serves to make neither of them interesting or satisfying. If you like dissecting film-making techniques it's really cool, but otherwise I'd skip it.

John Wick - 5/5

It does so many things right. Great action flick with amazing choreography and one of the best performances from Keanu Reeves ever. At the end of the third act the pace drops and there isn't a clear motivation as to why the last fight takes place. The two main combatants have only moderate motivation that's been set up beforehand as to why they're fighting, since they could have fought before but chose not to. But that's light criticism, all things considered.

Rogue One - 4/5

Ok, it's good. It's really good. Don't let the trailers fool you; several shots in the trailer aren't in the film at all. Definitely go see it.
There were 5-6 lines that were modern colloquialisms and I thought the female lead was the weakest part of the film. She was much better than I thought she'd be, though, and it just feels so much like Star Wars that I'm still giving it a very good ranking. It's almost a 5, but not quite

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them - 3/5

The visual effects are great, so if you are going for them or you're already a Harry Potter fan then definitely go see this movie; I'm sure you'll love it. For me, there were several things that didn't work plot-wise and each spell they cast really only raises more questions, like "Why didn't they do this sooner?" or "Why don't they do this all the time?". I didn't really like any of the characters except one. He was fantastic and definitely put the movie up to a 3 for me.

Arrival - 4/5

It's very close to 5/5, I just didn't come away from the theater excited. This is the best hard sci-fi movie to come out in a while, though, so if you like sci-fi definitely go watch it. Of course, if you've seen the trailers I don't have to tell you it's more 2001: A Space Odyssey and less Independence Day. The pacing is very slow, but it's so that you can think about what they're telling/showing you. Also it's got great cinematography.

Doctor Strange - 4/5

It was visually impressive, lots to like about the story, acting, etc. A few ways they break the Show Don't Tell rule are mostly what keep it from being truly great. There is an incredibly inventive fight scene at the end and don't forget to stay for 2 scenes after the credits.

Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children - 3/5

Don't get me wrong, it's good-ish, and if you like this sort of thing then definitely go see it. But it's less Tim Burton-y and more Horror than I was expecting. Also, it goes a bit wonky when they get to the carnival. It's a shame, too, because it starts off as a 5/5, then slowly declines to somewhere around a 2/5. The concept and some aspects of the execution are better than the overall execution.