Even by Nicolas Cage's now shockingly low standards, Arsenal is bad. The actor gives the kind of performance that awed directors let Brando give at the end of his career: one that's completely OTT, in a way that appears to be mocking material he knows is beneath him.
Anyone who's ever wondered how Michael Shannon would fare as a smoldering romantic lead or how Imogen Poots might handle the role of a femme fatale has their answer in Matthew Ross' engaging psycho-thriller.
Lady Macbeth begins as a biting tale of female empowerment but slowly reveals itself to be something much crueler. Period pieces rarely feel this contemporary.
A United Kingdom is well-intentioned, with impassioned performances from Oyelowo and Pike, but it's executed as drily and inoffensively as so many middling Brit period dramas.
Chances are you've not been having the best year at the cinema so far. Though 2016 has delivered some true gems, it's also seen an above average share of flops as well. Not just in terms of box office, either. There have been a lot of grumblings lately about poor box office returns - the surest sign we have of general audience opinion of the films in question - but critical opinion of the movies coming out of Hollywood has been pretty muted, too.
Credit where credit's due for Matt and Ross Duffer: together, they've created one of the most purely entertaining shows of the year so far, despite having no major credits to their name before now (save for some shorts and a few episodes of Wayward Pines). Now, with Stranger Things, the brothers are set to become Hollywood big shots - already, their supernatural Netflix original is proving a runaway success with both critics and audiences.
If we know one thing about Game of Thrones, it's that it's a fool's errand to try and predict it. This show better than any other gets how to wrongfoot its viewers. Since season one we've been rooting for heroes that ultimately didn't make it; whole plotlines, and characters who seem destined for greatness are often discarded without a second thought.
Perhaps more than any other show this decade, Game of Thrones has reveled in its ability to wrongfoot an audience. Shocks come with each new season. It's a series that's constantly trying to catch its viewers off guard, butchering and beating up its key characters mercilessly in a constant, concentrated effort to surprise.
