-by Stormy Curry. Not as good as the first one, this sequel still has a few fun tricks up its sleeve. Instead of rehashing the original, this sequel continues the narrative and spins the characters in new directions. Won’t say any more than that to avoid spoilers. If you’re hesitant because critics trashed this one keep this in mind: they also trashed the original, which ended up being one of the most entertaining surprises of that summer.

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

By Stormy Curry. How many times has Hollywood tried to do a sequel too many years after the original and failed miserably? I expected Dory to be an okay matinee with the kids…but what I found was something much more. This movie was, dare I say, as good as the first. Disney understands that to sell merchandise the product has to be great (Marvel movies, Star Wars, and Pixar) and this one is great. A new story with old and new characters, it’s funny and filled with heart…and also goes places you would not expect a kids movie to go. Another classic from a studio that’s on a roll…this one’s for kids and adults alike.

Sent from my Verizon, Samsung Galaxy smartphone

— by Jeff Schultz

For a project with Eli Roth’s name attached (as producer), this is surprisingly restrained, a little over-serious and low on gore and scares. But there is a line that gets stepped over, and it’s the fact that the victims are kids. Little kids. Who die unspeakably maimed and eaten, with what’s left of their little corpses just a bone here, a squish of red pulp there. And the victims are extra adorable, making their slaughter and defilement extra uncomfortable . The story of a father who puts on a clown suit for his kid’s birthday party and then can’t get it off, with demon-inhabiting results, is steadily developed without cheap tricks. But it really could have used more juice. Peter Stormare has the Donald Pleasance role as the demon’s scourge, the others are unmemorable, as is the movie.

— Jeff Schultz

Kind of a butt-itcher. Small children may be as lost as Dory figuring out what’s happening in this talky, slow-to-get-going sequel, which is short on big set pieces, and which only deep into the second half hits some of the emotional notes we look for in Disney animation. Although Dory and her octopus friend Hank (not to mention Nemo and Marlin from the original) are continuously having to get out of perilous situations, there’s a sameness to the “danger” and no real sense that “this time it could be curtains”. The message — that you can accomplish anything you desire if you just put your “mind” (literally, here) to it — is getting pretty shopworn; weren’t we just taught this in ZOOTOPIA? I’d add that these thoughts, coming from a cranky adult, may not apply because DORY’s target audience is youngsters, but on the basis of the showing I was at, those youngsters were more interested in walking up and down the aisle and babbling to their parents than watching the screen.

— by Jeff Schultz

Forget about the plot; it’s irrelevant, and besides, you’ve seen it a thousand times: the CIA agent on the run, the miniaturized device that everyone’s trying to get hold of, the puzzle as to who’s the good guy, who’s the bad. What you’ll go to see this for is the riffing that ricochets between Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson as the former gets sucked unwillingly into the latter’s do-or-die adventure. Hart, of course, is a proven laugh-getter, and watching his inner hero gradually overcome his outer wimp is a treat. The bigger surprise, perhaps, is Johnson, whose goofy earnestness muscles in on his, well, muscles, making him an effective foil. The story is slapdash, characters are introduced and misused or throw away — Amy Ryan’s role is especially nonsensical — but all credit to Jason Bateman for turning up briefly and walking away with his scene (although the vengeance wreaked on him at the end is sloppy and unsatisfying). And there are decent cameos from Aaron Paul and a superstar comic actress (I won’t spoil it).

— by Jeff Schultz

Funny, raucous, sweet and touching at the same time. Keeps going to the very end, and may actually get even better as it goes along. Andy Samberg has come a long way from sketch comedy. Hilariously stupid as the jokes are (and that’s a compliment), Samberg’s Conner is a fleshed-out human being, with subtle comic and dramatic “takes”— watch him read his first bad reviews — that animate his dorky handsome face and hint at a wider career ahead. Maybe even like Sean Penn after FAST TIMES. The performance is complimented beautifully by Andy’s fellow Lonely Island partner, Jorma Taccone, as the best friend Conner mistreats. (Think Bojack Horseman and Todd.) Speaking of Bojack, Will Arnett kills as Harvey Levin (officially “Main CMZ Reporter”) — leaning over a cubicle and lording it over his sycophantic staff (including a dreadlocked guy clearly meant to be Charles Latibeaudiere). There’s a timely jab at the Internet of Things with a gag about Conner’s music being installed in home appliances. Plus, an award show roster of powerhouse music producers and performers (from Nas to DJ Khaled, Mariah Carey to Michael Bolton) that gives the mock-doc heft — in a brainless and low and welcome way.

— by Jeff Schultz

Serious, steady and slow, don’t go in expecting the nasty-violent James Wan of SAW, which may be why mainstream critics are going for it (74% vs SAW’s 48%). At almost two-and-a-quarter hours, it seems stretched and at times inert — with lots of stuff you’ve seen before: the slow step-ups to doors that open revealing no one there; the shadows at the end of hallways; the toy that suddenly starts operating on its own; the kid on the ceiling. On the plus side, there’s something fascinating about Vera Farmiga’s Lorraine, partly because of her deadpan demeanor, which borders on the comic. (Carol Burnett could have lampooned her perfectly.) At times, Farmiga’s stricken, so-so-serious act bumps up against the essential ridiculousness of the plot. But she also creates most of what little atmospheric dread the movie has.  And atmosphere is pretty much it. The monster looks like Gene Simmons after entering a convent, and while its morphing mouth is a bloody kick, I’m having trouble remembering any other solid effects. Maybe the thing with the dog, but… meh.