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Adam Driver is back to barking in an Italian accent after the heinous “House of Gucci,” only this time he sounds a lot less Russian and thankfully did not take Lady Gaga along for the ride.Running time: 124 minutes. Rated R (some violent content/graphic images, sexual content and language). In theaters Dec.

the popular 2018 original.DC heads Peter Safran and James Gunn are hard at work on revamping the entire stumbling franchise, starting with a shiny new “Superman,” but first they had to waste precious time finessing the problem-plagued and oh-so-five-years-ago “Aquaman 2.”Adding to their headaches, the studio was forced to deal with Amber Heard, who played A-man’s girlfriend, Mera, in the first film, but is now best known for her pass-the-popcorn Johnny Depp defamation trial. What did director James Wan do? He kept Heard, but gave her character a sidelining injury within the first 40 minutes.The lazy “Lost Kingdom” is built on such compromises and dodges.

the 2005 Broadway musical and a perfect 2015 revival of that same stage show.Running time: 140 minutes. Rated PG-13 (mature thematic content, sexual content, violence and language).

see my happier list for those), to find them, I had to sift through piles and piles of dirt.Here are some of the films released in 2023 that had me typing “bars nearby” into Google Maps afterwards.The power of Christ compelled me to give this film one star. There have been bad “Exorcist” sequels before — “II” is right up there with the worst movies ever — but I held out hope for this one because “Believer” was directed by David Gordon Green, who expertly revitalized the “Halloween” franchise. Big mistake.

Oppenheimer”).During the simultaneous Screen Actors Guild and Writers Guild of America strikes, the sagging box office was boosted, like NFL ratings and the economy of East Rutherford, New Jersey, by Taylor Swift.Marvel Studios, which used to be the surest thing in Hollywood, began to underperform (“Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania”) and then downright flop (“The Marvels”).And DC was revealed to actually stand for Dud Central, with all of the studio’s comic-book films of 2023 (“Shazam! Fury of the Gods,” “The Flash” and “Blue Beetle”) turning out to be financial failures.In a win for Gen Z, studio execs determined Zendaya’s star wattage is so huge now that two of her movies — “Dune: Part 2” and “Challengers” — were delayed a year due to the strikes, so she can promote them to her hoards of fans. And baby boomers were dinged by the big-time tanking of the nostalgic “Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny,” starring a now 81-year-old Harrison Ford who schlepped around New York and Europe.Despite all the madness — and a sea of schlock — some excellent films hit theaters this year.

Emma Stone was a sex comedy MVP.The “La La Land” actress got her start in raunch-fests such as 2008’s “The House Bunny,” in which she played the leader of a sorority that invited a retired Playboy Playmate to be its house mother, and she took on the part of a teen outcast who faked hooking up with nerds for a quick buck in “Easy A” in 2010.Running time: 141 minutes. Rated R (strong and pervasive sexual content, graphic nudity, disturbing material, gore, and language).

Hugh Grant) has been reworked into a crafty, chatty, upper-crust Brit, obviously to erase those pesky imperialism critiques about previous portrayals of the captured Loompaland natives.And, while there are plenty of shady adults, there are no frightening Dahlian lessons for kids about the perils of bad behavior, a la “The Witches,” “Matilda” and “Charlie.”“Wonka” is its own, totally unchallenging confection. A Nestle Crunch bar of a movie.

“Mary Poppins” and “Peter Pan,” the reason being that it’s a nostalgia trip for the studio’s 100th anniversary. Well, as far as birthday celebrations go, “Wish” is about as special as throwing your “I’m a century old!” bash at a rest-stop Arby’s.Will young kids enjoy themselves? Of course.

Jacob Elordi, on a roll), a handsome member of the upper crust.And so do we. Sure, he’s a bit vapid, flaky and self-absorbed. Who cares? Let’s give Felix the benefit of the doubt, because he is attractive and rich!When Felix’s bike tire blows, smitten Oliver graciously lends him his ride, and a hot-lava friendship commences.

Cruella,” “Joker” and “Star Wars: Episode I — The Phantom Menace,” only strewn with young-adult corpses, silly clothes and Roman names.The trouble is that by the end of the over two-and-a-half-hour movie, directed by Francis Lawrence, viewers still can’t quite put their fingers on why Coryo (Tom Blyth) picks the nasty path he ultimately does. Is it a basic lust for power? A lightbulb realization that survival is more important than morality? Who knows? A lot is shoved into a long and anticlimactic third act, but we’re left hungry for a meatier conclusion.“Songbirds and Snakes” is set during the 10th annual Hunger Games — a televised battle to the death that pits 24 low-class kids against each other in an arena — 64 years before the events of the first film.

Excusez-moi?Earlier, when the strategic genius is frustrated by rival Britain’s naval might, he whines like a little boy who’s been bullied at recess, “You think you’re so great because you have boats!”Depicting one of the most consequential figures in all of European history as a sourpuss clown who crazily rattles off nonsense is a brow-raising choice by Scott, screenwriter David Scarpa and the always peculiar Phoenix.After all, a person can’t very well forge a half-million-square-mile, multi-continental empire by being a total moron.But that’s what this Napoleon is — a fool. Viewers spend most of the two and a half hours (Scott says his Apple TV+ cut will be a merciless four) laughing mockingly at the guy who commissioned the Napoleonic Code.

Eternals” and “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” were low points for the limping Marvel Cinematic Universe, strap in for the ride to abject misery that is “The Marvels.” The interminable movie, barely directed by Nia DaCosta, is not so much the story of Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and Monica Rambeau as it is a sad study of the downfall of America’s favorite screen franchise. Running time: 105 minutes.

“It’s Complicated” with Meryl Streep and Alec Baldwin or “Something’s Gotta Give” with Jack Nicholson and Diane Keaton, both directed by Nancy Meyers. Even the recent “Trouble in Paradise,” with Julia Roberts and George Clooney, has the slightest edge on this one.

a dismal 23% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes after 40 reviews.That’s a lower rating than some far worse, borderline unwatchable Netflix comedies such as the Jennifer Aniston/Adam Sandler torture instrument “Murder Mystery 2” (45%) and the corked bottle of pinot that was Amy Poehler’s “Wine Country” (66%). Why must the movie mafia so mercilessly pick on this one? Could it be that “Old Dads” is nothing more than a mischievous bit of fun whose naughty jokes butt heads with the increasingly scolding, schoolmarmish cultural gatekeepers? The film’s polar-opposite 88% audience score, a real flip of the bird to my colleagues on the aisle, would suggest so.

“Practical Magic” was released in theaters 25 years ago on October 16, 1998 — and Alice Hoffman can’t believe it either.The author, who brought the story of the Owens sisters to life in the 1995 novel of the same name, says it “feels like it was yesterday” that the film was being made.“I think the reason why is because it’s more popular every year,” she tells the Post. “It’s kind of become a cult movie. And I think it’s a movie that really matters to people.”“Practical Magic” was directed by Griffin Dunne, starring Sandra Bullock and Nicole Kidman as witch sisters Sally and Gillian Owens, respectively.

the notoriously long “The Irishman.” Runtime, of course, was the at-home audience’s No. 1 beef with the Netflix gangster flick.

“Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever,” (G.P. Putnam’s Sons).

Baz Luhrmann’s “Elvis” did last year. The eccentric manager is only mentioned in passing.

his 2018 “Halloween” reboot with Jamie Lee Curtis. And, on paper, his plan doesn’t sound so bad. Running time: 121 minutes.

casual open-mouth kisses, for one). Still, the actor works so hard it hardly works. Nothing Cooper does is organic or authentic, and his show-off performance is always stilted.

according to IMDB’s Box Office Mojo.“The Nun II” is the ninth installment in the “The Conjuring” franchise, the highest grossing horror franchise of all time. Collider called the latest flick “an effective, gory, and impressively scary addition to the “Conjuringuniverse” that also stands as a solidly on its own.

Hollywood, by and large, portrays bars as the most fun and chummy places on earth. At “Cheers” and “Coyote Ugly,” everybody knows your name and you can grow into a better person by sexy dancing.Even Moe’s Tavern from “The Simpsons,” with all its seasoned boozehounds, has a base level of respectability and camaraderie.

I was the poor schlub who was about to be killed. But, while “Murder On The Orient Express” and “Death On The Nile” were hack-job excuses to force as many disparate and ghastly celebrities onscreen as possible, “Haunting” is an actual, surefooted film with strong performances and a luxurious-yet-frightful tone.Running time: 103 minutes. Rated PG-13 (some strong violence, disturbing images and thematic elements.) In theaters Sept.

the atomic bomb, a revisionist doll and CGI Harrison Ford have gobbled up our attention, for better or worse, but not because any of those varied titles have much heart.Then there’s the “The Holdovers,” directed by Alexander Payne, which is set during frigid Christmastime at a Northeast boarding school that’s nearly empty of students. The lovable dramedy, which just screened at the Toronto International Film Festival, is blanketed in snow and ice — and it’s the warmest cinematic experience you’ll have all year. Running time: 133 minutes.

Jodie Comer bulldozed through Broadway with her Tony Award-winning turn in the play “Prima Facie” as a lawyer whose life is thrown into chaos.Now, the brilliant “Killing Eve” actress is back with the survival movie “The End We Start From,” which premiered Saturday at the Toronto International Film Festival, and again her strong-willed character has her entire existence dramatically called into question. Running time: 96 minutes. Not yet rated.

the viral YouTube video of an old man learning on live TV that the studio audience around him is made up of people he rescued from the Nazis as children. If you haven’t, give it a watch.

Air” and “BlackBerry” made the genesis of the Air Jordan sneaker and the world’s first smartphone seem weighty and epic — not to mention a lot of fun.The same cannot be said of the tedious “Dumb Money,” which premiered Friday at the Toronto International Film Festival. Running time: 104 minutes.

a true-crime story about a serial killer, but a new movie directed by Anna Kendrick does a number on that familiar genre. Rather than being about the monster himself, or even one of his victims, the film is centered around a person he did not murder — someone who got away.Running time: 89 minutes.

his last flick, “The Wind Rises,” and it’s assumed he won’t churn out another after this.However, should this be the end of the road for him, take heart that the Japanese director’s visual majesty and uncontrollable imagination are as fully present as ever. And so is his unparalleled understanding of what makes children tick. A filmmaker rarely goes out with his head held so high.“Heron” is not as perfect as some of Miyazaki’s past movies.

Belíssimo.Italian organized crime makes a weightier match for deadly Robert McCall — a Godzilla vs. Mothra of the world’s seedy underbelly.