Richard Linklater's latest effort, Last Flag Flying, is a somber twist to the road film that comes across a little flat and too forced. It's not without its moments, but unfortunately they're spread pretty thin, and as far as Linklater films go, this one just doesn't stack up, especially in the context of the quality of films we've seen so far this year.  

Sean Baker serves up a strong and poignant follow up to Tangerine with The Florida Project. The film is an ode to the magic of childhood and is a profoundly entertaining celebration of the people living day-to-day to make ends meet. Its'a a rare gem that is sure to warm even the coldest of hearts, and it proves that Baker is one of the most humane filmmakers working today. 

Besides having one of the longest titles, Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri is one of the best films of the year. The story is pitch black, yet McDonagh and cast manage to find the humanity in even the most despicable of characters, making the fictional town of Ebbing feel all the more real. The film walks a fine tightrope between tragedy and comedy with flawless ease, jumping between sharp comedy and even sharper calamity and back again, never losing focus on the bigger picture and showing us different shades of our colorful characters along the way. 

Sometimes an artist just hooks you. Like a band whose albums you listen to on repeat, never once wanting to hit the “skip track” button. Maybe it’s because of what you were exposed to before, maybe you have a similar sensibility with the creator, or maybe its content just drives straight into your soul like a diamond bullet.

Battle of the Sexes is the latest film from directing duo Jonathan Dayton and Valerie Faris, who gained critical acclaim with their delightful indie comedy debut, Little Miss Sunshine. There latest effort is their most ambitious work to date and captures the 70s era with flawless ease. Perhaps, though, it's most stunning feature is the realization that the misogynist nature rampant in the era is still booming just as much now as it was in '73. 

Matt Reeves closes out one of the most spectacular contemporary trilogies with War for the Planet of the Apes. Like the previous films in the series, War shares some similarities the original Apes series (specifically Battle for the Planet of the Apes) but isn't a direct remake. The film draws from the familiar in authentic ways, at some points taking on the vibe of Apocalypse Now and The Great Escape, but it always manages to pack boatloads of humanity for a movie about a buncha damn dirty apes. 

It Stains the Sands Red is a spin on the zombie horror genre that draws its suspense from a one-on-one chase between a woman and a lone stalking walker. Directed by Colin Minihan, who also co-wrote the script alongside Stuart Ortiz, the film proves it can do a lot with a minimal budget, but ultimately, it’s not enough to maintain interest with a stretched thin premise better suited in a shorter format. 

Mother! is a psychological thriller from writer/director Darren Aronofsky that is well deserving of its exclamation point. Ripe with biblical allegory and surrealist flourishes, the story is designed to breed a multitude of interpretations, but on the most basic surface level, it's the tale about a tortured artist and his muse. With subtle notes of Rosemary's Baby and Buñuel's Exterminating Angel, it's far and way Aronofsky's most insane cinematic symphony. 

David Leitch's Atomic Blonde has some great style, stunning cinematography and technical gusto, but it’s drawn out to the point of yawn and is so dull story-wise that its visual chic, lean direction, technical shootouts/fights, and killer soundtrack can’t save it. In the end, it lands a mediocre blow, with the exception of a scene or two that will really drop your jaw, and I'm not talking about the girl-on-girl scene. In short, it's not nearly as explosive as its name suggests. 

Brad's Status is the latest film written and directed by Mike White and stars Ben Stiller in yet another mid-life crisis role. The film centers on Brad (Stiller) as he takes his son, Troy (played by Austin Abrams), to tour some elite colleges. This landmark event in his son's life causes Brad to reconsider the events of his own life and how he ended up where he did, in the upper middle class instead of the wealthy aristocracy like his college chums. Feeling unfulfilled with his life and mulling over where exactly it all went wrong, Brad may just find the answer he's looking for as he courts his son around his old East Coast collegiate stomping grounds. 

Tucker & Dale vs. Evil writer/director Eli Craig's latest made-for-Netflix effort proves to be charming and enjoyable, but isn't without its problems. Similar to Craig's first feature, Little Evil succeeds in its genial nature, but still feels like a sketch premise stretched to feature length. Where Tucker & Dale managed to twist the cliché, Little Evil spends a majority of its time pandering to the referential without much revelation. Luckily, the comedy sticks the landing. 

Luc Besson's passion project Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets was met with an onslaught of negative criticism upon its mid July release. The fact that it was based on a French sci-fi comic series (Valérian and Laureline) not many people were familiar with pretty much guaranteed the film's non-success in America, but after catching the film at the 2nd run theater in town, I feel like the initial negative backlash made Besson's vision out to be worse than it actually is. It's by no means Fifth Element good, but it's also not prequel Star Wars or Jupiter Rising bad; it sits somewhere in between, and I think that it'll find its place among the cult world over time garnering a core of enthusiasts.  

The Lure is a grimy, beautiful, bizarrely erotic mermaid horror musical, and it's the debut film from polish director Agniezka Smoczynka. It's a splendidly dark and bizarre take on The Little Mermaid, leaning a little closer to the novel of the same name by Hans Christian Andersen, than it does the Disney adaptation. Equal parts hypnotic and horrifying, the film is bursting at the seams with vibrant energy, character and musical numbers, all culminating into an oddly fun experience.

Doug "THE THUG" Glatt returns to theaters in Goon: Last of the Enforcers, which finally made its U.S. release. The film was released early this year in Canada to disappointing reviews from critics and fans of the original 2011 cult classic. However discouraging the reviews may've been, stateside fans still maintained their hype and hope for a fun sequel.

Movie fans are going to walk out of the theater floating after watching Andrés Muschietti’s IT. This movie is striking with the iron smoking, red hot. Stephen King is back in the public's thoughts after several adaptation announcements, and the Dark Tower release. To add to that, Stranger Things is becoming a cultural phenomenon and tapped into our nostalgic memories of old Spielberg and King movies. Mark my words, this film will become a massive success with mainstream audiences.

Wind River is the latest film from Taylor Sheridan, which marks his return to the director's chair (following 2011's Vile). The film is a snow-covered thriller about a rookie FBI agent (Elizabeth Olsen) and a local game hunter with a haunted past (Jeremy Renner). When a local girl is found dead on the Native American reservation, the two team up in an attempt to solve her murder. Sheridan's always been a very good screenwriter with little fat to trim from his narratives, and Wind River is no departure from what we've already become accustomed to, but the real question is: how does he fare in the director's chair? 

As a massive shocker, Death Note fans despise the American live action adaptation of their beloved anime. Fans claimed when they pressed "play" on their Netflix app that they were going into the film with an "open mind" and a "non-pessimistic attitude." Regardless, once the end credits rolled they were distraught at how this adaptation could go so wrong.

Ingrid Goes West is a comedy-drama directed by Matt Spicer starring Aubrey Plaza as Ingrid Thorburn. Following the death of her mother, Ingrid curbs her loneliness by obsessively using Instagram. She starts following a photographer/influencer with a seemingly perfect life named Taylor Sloane, who is played by Elizabeth Olsen. Without family or friends to discourage her from making rash decisions, Ingrid is dead set on befriending this stranger and decides to move to Los Angeles to do just that.