1. How to Rob a Bank * * * 1/2 Stars
-How to Rob a Bank is a documentary that's entertaining enough to make you feel like you're watching pure fiction (when your obviously not).
2. Lover, Stalker, Killer * * * 1/2 Stars
-Lover, Stalker, Killer is all so diverting, perplexed, and fresh, like some drawn-out episode of Paranormal Witness, Dateline, and/or Forensic Files.
3. Apollo 13: Survival * * * 1/2 Stars
-Apollo 13: Survival is a docu that would rather heighten the cinematic days of yore as opposed to just reinventing the Space Race hoop.
4. A Complete Unknown * * * Stars
-Timothee Chalamet immerses himself into character as Bob Dylan in this well-made biopic about the legendary folksinger.
4. (tie) Sixty Minutes * * * Stars
-Few films have the urgency and/or bone-crushing voyeurism of Sixty Minutes, a non-stop rinse, repeat of loud fistfights then payoff, then loud fistfights then payoff.
5. Return of the King: The Rise and Fall of Elvis Presley * * * Stars
-A tapestry of archives and probes sifted through a breezy 90 minutes as Presley's singing voice melts the airwaves like butter.
6. The Wages of Fear * * * Stars
-The Wages of Fear is The Road Warrior meets 2015's Sicario. Slick and violent and dangerous.
7. Bitconned * * * Stars
-If flicks like Boiler Room, The Wolf of Wall Street, and The Social Network were made into docus, they'd probably equal the plot line of the cocksure Bitconned.
7. (tie) Carry-On * * * Stars
-A film that fashions a new spin on the whole, terrorist airfield thing. Streamlined tension (pun intended).
8. Reagan * * * Stars
-A rather hard-nosed drama about the 40th president that contains a little dry jocularity, some biting satire, and some goofy self-deprecation.
9. The Menendez Brothers * * * Stars
-Director Alejandro Hartmann keeps the storytelling clean even if his narrative is a little long-winded and forcefully opinionated. His Menendez Brothers is a fascinating if not icky and sort of fallacious watch.
10. A Quiet Place: Day One * * * Stars
-Helmer Sarnoski gives A Quiet Place: Day One that compact, efficacious treatment, doing the best he can to make you feel all "end of the world"-ish as you jump from your seat on his paltry budget of $67 mil.
Honorable Mention: Buy Now! The Shopping Conspiracy, Under Paris, Arthur the King, The Fall Guy, Transformers One, Gladiator II
And the worst....
1. Jimmy Carr: Natural Born Killer * 1/2 Stars
-Instead of "killing" the audience with his so-called, iconic abilities as a funnyman, Jimmy Carr appears more like the poor man's Ricky Gervais, hosting an X-Rated version of the Golden Globes and bombing like the empty half pints at an Irish pub.
2. Unfrosted * 1/2 Stars
-Unfrosted is labeled a comedy but couldn't be further from it. I mean just because you have four writers (which include director Jerry Seinfeld himself) penning a bunch of jokes and quips about the conch of multinational companies doesn't mean they ain't gonna flop and die in that almighty wind.
3. What Jennifer Did * 1/2 Stars
-What Jennifer Did is not so much a docu as it is a declared-in-advance malfeasance caper with a muted conclusion. "Did" more harm than good? Oh you betcha.
4. Cat and Dog * 1/2 Stars
-Cat and Dog is a pseudo comedy I suppose and/or a harmless, slapstick action caper. This vehicle doesn't have much of a tone and it's one of those flicks where the people involved had much more fun making it than the viewer has watching it.
5. A Family Affair * 1/2 Stars
-A Family Affair is not so much a romantic comedy as it is a bipolar, dramatis personae study of three characters who'd probably be better off avoiding each other.
List compiled by Jesse Burleson
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