Author:   Francis X. Friel

The Story: The manager of a Florida retirement community enlists the help of a new rival when his criminal past catches up with him, while both seek the attention of a corporate auditor threatening to shut the whole thing down. The Lowdown: Scripts this bad will sometimes seem fun with enough enthusiasm behind or in…

The Story: Charles Dickens struggles with writers' block while trying to come up with his next project, ultimately leading to the creation of his classic, "A Christmas Carol." The Lowdown: A much weirder and more interesting film than you might expect, featuring a great supporting cast and beautiful photography capturing a fairy-tale-like 19th-century London.

The Story: Bo, a recently escaped mill donkey dreaming of a better life, is adopted by the biblical Mary and Joseph and accompanies them — along with his other animal friends and enemies — to the birth of their son, Jesus. The Lowdown: A weird and off-putting story conceit that doesn't add anything new to…

The Story: In 1927 New York, Rose runs away from home to see her favorite movie star on Broadway, while in 1977, Ben searches the city for details about his long-lost father.  The Lowdown: An underrated master delivers one of the best films of the year.

The Story: The bad moms (and grandmoms) are back for another round of raucous mayhem, this time while learning how to create the perfect Christmas season for their families. The Lowdown: Every time a cash register rings, a studio executive gets his wings.

The Story: Three Iraq war veterans must readjust to life at home while learning to live with PTSD symptoms. The Lowdown: A thoughtful and knowing look at the psychological toll of war.

The Story: Two detectives seek the help of forensic pathologists to investigate a new wave of murders that appear to be the handiwork of the original Jigsaw killer, thought to have died ten years earlier. The Lowdown: Fun and gruesome thought it may be, it's too little too late to save the now eight-deep Saw…

The Story: After the global severe weather safety net malfunctions, threatening to disrupt nature and wipe out life on Earth, its chief engineer must board the space station control room to figure out what went wrong while investigating a larger conspiracy back on Earth. The Lowdown: Standard action movie plotting is watchable but forgettable, with…

The Story: Madea, Bam, Joe and Hattie are back to once again suck all the fun out of Halloween for young Tiffany and her friends. The Lowdown: To avoid fainting, keep repeating "It's only a movie. ...It's only a movie ..."

The Story: Sorority sister Tree finds herself reliving her birthday on a loop, with each iteration ending in her death by a mystery assailant, and so must solve her own murder to break the cycle. The Lowdown: Turns out being a shameless Groundhog Day rip-off is not the worst thing that can happen to your…

The Story: In 1941, young Thurgood Marshall travels to Connecticut on behalf of the NAACP to defend Joseph Spell, a chauffeur accused of raping the wife of his employer. The Lowdown: Marshall deserves better than Marshall.

The Story: Three pony princesses must stop the evil Storm King from taking over Ponyville. The Lowdown: A dream of dark and troubling things.

The Story: Five medical students stop each others' hearts, or "flatline," in order to report back on their near-death experiences, with life-changing consequences. The Lowdown: A heartless remake of already brain-dead material.

The Story:  After being unfriended by a popular classmate, a loner with a dark past takes her own life in order to haunt the social media profiles of the friends who rejected her. The Lowdown: A darker, weirder film than it might appear, this is surprisingly fun low-budget horror.

The Story: Lloyd, bullied at school for being the son of a local supervillain, battles his father as The Green Ninja, part of a warrior clan led by his mentor, Master Wu. The Lowdown: The newest offering in the Lego Movie franchise is the low point of the series, dropping the ball hard by being…

The Story: Pushing 50 and looking back in anger, Brad takes an extended trip down not-so-good memory lane while his son is off on his first round of college interviews. The Lowdown: A good cast and an OK script are let down by directorial fumbling and an ending that leaves you wondering just what exactly,…

The Story: After his girlfriend is killed in a terrorist attack, a young man joins a CIA black ops mission to take revenge on the organization responsible. The Lowdown: Brainless, heartless, and all around miserable, this is typical back-to-school studio dumping-ground fare.

The Story: A graveyard shift midwife at a failing Paris clinic meets a woman from her past, throwing her life into turmoil while trying to hold it all together for everyone around her. The Lowdown: Provost delivers Ozu by way of Chantal Akerman in this razor-sharp portrait of troubled, dreary, ordinary lives.

The Story: On her 40th birthday, Alice meets and falls for a younger man who moves into her guest house while he pitches his script around LA.  The Lowdown: "Written and directed by Nancy Meyers' kid" are now the seven dirtiest words in show business.

The Story: Three couples participate in a documentary with the premise that marriage is no longer a workable system, each coming to terms with the problems in their relationships. The Lowdown: A new low for lazy romantic comedy cliches, this one is best avoided and forgotten.

The Story: In 19th-century Paris, runaway orphans Felicie and Victor try to make it big as a ballerina and an inventor. The Lowdown: Heavy-handed, hideous and humorless, the talented supporting voice cast can't do much with this tripe that even the little kids in the target audience will assuredly rip to shreds on the way…