Without the finesse of Ryan Coogler, Creed II doesn’t have the power or stamina to be a true contender; however, for fans of the franchise, its time tested formula still manages to land a few solid blows.

Back from an 8-year hiatus, acclaimed Korean director Lee Chang-dong (Poetry) returns with the masterfully erected and quietly affecting Burning, an adaptation of Haruki Murakami’s short story “Barn Burning” (which was itself inspired by William Faulkner’s novel of the same title). The film paints in the gaps of Murakami’s haiku-like source material to craft a slow-burn thriller that lingers like the smell of smoke long after the credits roll.

From producer J.J. Abrams comes Overlord, an amusingly thrilling, pulse-pounding action film with a few tricks up its sleeve. Part war drama, part zombie thriller, and part Tarantino-esque splatterfest, Overlord is a B-movie executed at an “A” level that offers genre fans a high-octane, turn-your-brain-off fun.

Jonah Hill has always wanted to be a “writer/director,” and he’s finally done it with Mid90s, a coming of age film that skates moment to moment and kick pushes past the plot. Though decently crafted, unfortunately, this film doesn’t offer much substance to sink your 90s-kid teeth into.

Unpredictable and subversive, Border (Gräns) promises to be one of the most singular cinematic offerings of 2018. Filled with delightful twists and turns, this beautifully complex fantasy gem will floor you with its peculiarity and move you with its humanity.

The performances dominate in Marielle Heller's latest film, Can You Ever Forgive Me?, and Melissa McCarthy and Richard Grant burn brightly at its center. However, outside the film’s witty dialogue and wickedly good lead performances, it doesn’t have much to offer and struggles to fill the whole cup.

Joel Edgerton makes his second directorial entry with Boy Erased, a harrowing coming of age film that illuminates the hushed proceedings behind conversion therapy and how it affects the family. Not always the easiest watch, it’s an important film (particularly for parents) that doesn’t diminish the complexity of its characters or their situation, but also doesn’t probe as deeply as one might hope.

Bradley Cooper is making big waves with his directorial debut, the remake of an old Hollywood classic, A Star is Born. Essentially a story as old as time, Cooper brings it into the modern era and fills it with a heavy dosage of heart and some very catchy new tunes. If you’re familiar with the story, Cooper’s version won’t offer many surprises, but it will sweep you away in the music, the chemistry, and the tragedy.

With Hold the Dark, Jeremy Saulnier brings his craftsmanship to the icy northern climes of Alaska to deliver an ambitious slow-burn thriller with western and horror sensibilities. The two-hour journey is not without its moments of intrigue, but winds up being a brutal trudge that confounds more than it satisfies.

David Lowery is shooting four for four, and his latest film, The Old Man & the Gun, gives cinema icon Robert Redford a solid high note to sail on as he (allegedly) bids farewell to his acting career. The result is a gracefully light, devilishly charming breeze of a film that is, much like Redford himself, incredibly hard to resist.

Writer/director Shane Black (AKA Hawkins from the original Predator) makes his return to the Predator franchise with a looney, cartoony schlock fest that falls flat and never really fills the cup.

French filmmaking duo (and also husband and wife) Bruno Forzani & Hélène Cattet (Amer and The Strange Color of Your Body's Tears) break away from the giallo roots of their previous features to deliver Let the Corpses Tan​​​​​​​, a sleek and stylish western that is saucy enough to cover Sergio Leone's spaghetti style and acidic enough to satisfy Alejandro Jodorowsky's psychedelic palette. 

Alpha is one of those films that very nearly flew below the radar. Based upon it’s limited marketing, which falsely presented the production as a kids’ film and shielded its use of subtitles, it would appear that Sony didn’t have any faith in this taunt, epic adventure film directed by none other than Albert Hughes (Dead Presidents, Book of Eli). And, it’s a shame Alpha didn’t get the studio backing that it rightly deserved because it’s the summer sleeper about a boy and his dog that you’ve always wanted, even if you never asked for it.

Ethan Hawke delivers a poetic ode to country-western legend Blaze Foley, who died penniless at the age of 39 and vanished into relative obscurity. Blaze is a wild, sweetly beautiful portrait that meanders like one of Foley's drunken musings. 

The Little Stranger is Lenny Abrahamson's (Room, Frank) latest film, and it's a confounding piece of cinema that manages to cram in a lot while doing relatively little. It's a gothic a ghost story without many spooks that rings as hollowly as skeleton bones.