Author:   Francis X. Friel

The Story: Jennifer Garner goes full Death Wish after seeing her husband and child gunned down by gangsters. The Lowdown: A cool, violent, entertaining-as-hell 75-minute movie with an extra 30 minutes tacked onto the end of it.

The Story: A kid finds a laser gun. The Lowdown: Neither the kid nor the laser gun ends up being all that important (or necessary).

The Story: A robot dog soldier escapes its government facility and bonds with two teen outcasts.  The Lowdown: A silly but enjoyable movie that would have felt right at home in the VHS era.

The Story: An off-the-books intelligence mission goes wrong when the team, headed by Mark Wahlberg, realizes it doesn't have all the pieces of the puzzle. The Lowdown: Berg's and Wahlberg's worship of the military and hatred of nerds continues.

The Story: The Slender Man, summoned from an internet video, abducts and possesses a group of high school friends, forcing them to make a sacrifice that will send him back to the internet. The Lowdown: I actually have no idea what this movie was supposed to be about, but Eighth Grade, Skate Kitchen, and BlacKkKlansman…

The Story: In the wake of a mysterious epidemic that killed most of the planet's children, the surviving teens must now hide their emerging superpowers before the government hunts them down. The Lowdown: Bare-bones X-Men facsimile combines all the worst elements of recent young adult fantasy franchises.

The Story: A group of friends discovers that their friend's new laptop is linked to the dark web, while a shadowy group watches their every move. The Lowdown: A lean and mean thriller that works more often than not, but nonetheless falls victim to its own conceit.

The Story: A wide-ranging I Ching hexagram of a documentary tracing the life story of Elvis Presley against the rise and fall of the 20th-century American Dream. The Lowdown: "Elvis was a hero to most..." — Public Enemy

The Story: The staff of the Hotel Transylvania takes a much-needed vacation, boarding a cruise ship run by an "entertainment for monsters" company headed by a captain who isn't quite what she seems. The Lowdown: Fun and idiosyncratic in its classic horror movie references, this sweet and raucous kids comedy is a worthy placeholder between…

The Story: The life story of superstar Whitney Houston, as told by her friends, family and music industry insiders. The Lowdown: A loving tribute to the late singer that never truly gets to the heart of who she really was, relying on the almost Rashomon-like memories of those closest to her.

The Story: Four Kentucky college students plan to rob the campus library, with the scheme quickly spiraling out of control faster than than the first-time criminals can handle. The Lowdown: The best quasi-docu-comedy of the year so far about a gang of not-quite criminal masterminds stealing rare books.

The Story: Five friends reunite every May to play the same game of tag that's been going on for 30 years... The Lowdown: ... but this year the greatest player of all time is threatening to retire, which someone thought was a good idea for a movie.

The Story: Debbie Ocean, recently released from prison, puts a team together and sets a long-planned Met Gala heist into motion in this spinoff of the Soderbergh-directed series. The Lowdown: While the all-star cast is the best thing going for it, the film lacks the energy, style and overall sense of cinematic fun offered up…

The Story: Sheltered, 27-year-old Moll falls for scruffy woodworker Pascal, who might secretly be the serial killer the police have been hunting for the past 10 years. The Lowdown: A dark and haunting psychological thriller that figures out how to surprise while still being completely open with all the clues.

The Story: Based on real events, in 1983 a young couple are blown off course during Hurricane Raymond and spend 41 days lost at sea. The Lowdown: Shailene Woodley gives a career-best performance in a film that's both harrowing and strangely life-affirming in equal measure.

The Story: When four "friends of a certain age" read the 50 Shades trilogy as part of their monthly book club, they're inspired to make some changes in their love lives. The Lowdown: The first entry in the 50 Shades Extended Cinematic Universe brings nothing new to the table or the genre but sets up…

The Story: A mother fights to protect her two young children during a home invasion. The Lowdown: Panic Room knockoff minus all the inventiveness the director of V For Vendetta should have brought to a project like this.

The Story: A mother enrolls at her daughter's college after finding out her husband wants a divorce. The Lowdown: Your mom goes to college.

The Story: When a burglar discovers a woman held prisoner in a house he's robbing, he goes on a mission to bring the woman's captor to justice. The Lowdown: The pretty standard and otherwise forgettable low-budget thriller has only the whacked-out performance by David Tenant going for it, but that's enough (he's worth it).

The Story: An insecure woman starts living life to the fullest after a hit on the head makes her think she's the most beautiful woman in the world. The Lowdown: I feel pretty sure I've seen this movie before.

The Story: In 1982, a former U.S. diplomat returns to Beirut to help the CIA track down a missing agent. The Lowdown: The rare historical political thriller not based on a true story, made all the better for it.