This Time It's Personal Again: The Shallows, reviewed.

Blake Lively v. Shark.

My NPR review of The Shallows, a Blake Lively-versus-sharks movie from Non-Stop and Run All Night director Jaume Collet-Serra, arrives just when it is needed. I am sorry I did not name the cinematographer in this review of a film about a woman trying to avoid becoming a shark's meal, because the cinematographer's name is Flavio Labiano. 

While I'm being crude, Iet me point out that Collet-Serra cuts directly from a shot of Lively reading a text message from her friend that says meeting up with that cute guy from last night; don't wait up for me to a shot of crabs scurrying along the beach.

Spy School Confidential: Central Intelligence, reviewed.

Kevin Hart and Dwayne Johnson (Claire Folger/Warner Bros.)

My NPR review of the not-great-but-plenty-good-enough-for-the-drive-in comedy that I keep thinking is called National Security but is in fact being released under the equally bland title Central Intelligence is up now.  You are alerted.

Bonfire of the Vanitas: De Palma, reviewed.

1987's The Untouchables exhibits director Brian De Palma's dazzling skill, but not his (or screenwriter David Mamet's) obsessions. It's probably the least challenging film he's made, but I love it still. (Paramount)

For NPR, I reviewed Noah Baumbach and Jake Paltrow's documentary De Palma, wherein the man behind Carrie and Dressed to Kill and The Untouchables and about three dozen other features walks us through his long, idiosyncratic career. This film won't change anyone's mind about the guy, but it's a candid, briskly edited retrospective. I enjoyed it.

Something Borrowed, Something Blue. X-Men: Apocalypse, reviewed.

Apparently that's Oscar Isaac under there. (Twentieth Century Fox)

I've enjoyed these last couple of period-piece X-Men movies, but with the 1980s-set Apocalypse, the DeLorean may at last have run out of Plutonium. Here's my NPR review.

Wanna see a terrific movie this weekend? I recommend The Nice Guys or, if you've got the constitution for it, The Lobster.

Air-Conditioned Fun in the Summertime 3: Presenting My Third Annual Village Voice Summer Movie Want-List

The Nice Guys, which I expect history shall remember as my favorite film of the summer of 2016, came out last week; Captain America: Civil War, probably the best of the Marvel bunch, is old news. But Memorial Day weekend is still the traditional start of the summer movie season. Here, for the third consecutive Memorial Day weekend, is my Village Voice list of summer movies I want to see. Light up a phone in any of these and you'll hear from me.

Enjoy those X-Men, everybody! I'll be observing the holiday at the AFI, taking in Spartacus in its 212-minute entirety.

Bucky (and Everybody) with the Good Hair: Captain America: Civil War, reviewed.

Robert Downey Jr. and Chris Evans try to talk it out. (Marvel)

For NPR: The 13th Marvel movie/third Captain America movie/third Avengers movie/fourth Iron Man movie/exciting Spider-Man & Black Panther teaser trailer is as good as you've heard. The first notices went up after this screened a month ago (not in DC), so all I could do was try to write the Blade II of Marvel movie reviews.

The lack of memorable music in these films is a stubborn and inexplicable problem, though. Yo, Kevin Feige: Hire Michael Giacchino or somebody. You can afford him. 

Captain America: The First Avenger, set during World War II, had a stirring theme. I suspect Feige or someone deemed it too old-fashioned to be retained for Cap's present-day adventures. Too bad. 

Pop Culture Happy Hour No. 288: Batman v Superman and Objects We Desire

Ben Affleck's Bruce Wayne remembers his fallen partner Robin in Batman v Superman (Warners).

I was happy as always to join Linda Holmes, Stephen Thompson, and my Pal-for-Life Glen Weldon on this week's Pop Culture Happy Hour, wherein we perform an autopsy on the rotten corpse of Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, which I was expected to defend but could not. The precedent for this was my defense of Man of Steel on this show three years ago.

Since none of us liked this film — in fact we all disliked it so much that the controversial issue of Henry Cavill's height never even came up — we decided to broaden the topic to try to pin down the elements that make a would-be action blockbuster work or not work. I forgot to say so on the show, but I wrote about this for Linda two summers ago after helping the staff of The Dissolve, may it rest in peace, to determine the 50 Greatest Summer Blockbusters.

Blockbuster Patient Zero: