Ammonite (out Jan 14) reminded me of Céline Sciamma’s Portrait of a Lady on Fire... except the characters are less interesting and their development is more stilted. It wants to be a moving 19th century British love story between two women, nicely played by Kate Winslet and Saoirse Ronan, but the opening two acts are slow and it's a long wait to get the film's emotional punch. Grade: B.

Buddy Games (out Jan 7) is a lowbrow comedy about a group of super-competitive friends who reunite to compete against each other in a series of idiotic challenges. It’s like a weaker version of Jackass with boring characters and a dumb script. Not good. Grade: C-.

Promising Young Woman (out Jan 7) is the story of a 30-year-old woman who, following the death of her best friend several years ago, seeks vengeance against sleazy men. It's loaded with interesting, provocative ideas but the contrived nature of the storyline makes it difficult to fully buy into. That said, kudos to writer-director Emerald Fennell and actor Carey Mulligan for creating such an intriguing character. Grade: B.

Summerland (out Jan 7) would only be believable if a true story... but sadly, it’s not. It’s a contrived drama (featuring flashbacks with a flashback) about a cranky English writer to reluctantly cares for a child during World War II. With subplots involving unrequited love and fantasy islands, the film doesn’t come together. The love story is the weakest element. Grade: C+.

Spread Your Wings (out Jan 7) is based on actual events and is the French tale of an environmentalist who teams up with his reluctant 14-year-old son to save endangered geese. Similar to 1996’s Fly Away Home, the film has some nice interactions between father and son. A warm-hearted, likeable adventure. Grade: B+.

Dreambuilders (out Jan 7) is Inception for kids. It’s a Danish animated feature (dubbed into English) about a young girl who finds a way to change dreams. The film is pushing well-worn themes but I like the way they’re presented. Grade: B.

Monster Hunter (out Jan 1) features an increasing number of monsters and a dwindling number of hunters. I liked the scenario (humans sucked into a parallel universe) but the action scenes become familiar and tiring as the film progresses. Grade: B-.

Dragon Rider (out Jan 1) is both mimicking and mocking the How to Train Your Dragon franchise. This German animated feature, dubbed into English, is about a dragon who teams up with a human to find a mysterious land. Grade: B-.

Pieces of a Woman (out Dec 31) opens with a 23-minute unedited scene of a young woman giving birth (all before the opening title) and then transforms into a character study centered around a tragedy. There are clunky elements (eg the legal case) and too many subplots but Vanessa Kirby’s lead performance makes it a film to remember. Grade: B+.

Soul (out Dec 25 on Disney+) is an animated feature about a middle-aged music teacher who falls down a pothole, travels to the afterlife and then must find a way home. This is deep, creative and beautiful. The kind of movie you could love as a 10-year-old and then love as a 40-year-old for completely different reasons. Grade: A.