Contributor: Paul Asay

Paul Asay has been part of the Plugged In staff since 2007, watching and reviewing roughly 15 quintillion movies and television shows. He’s written for a number of other publications, too, including Time, The Washington Post and Christianity Today. The author of several books, Paul loves to find spirituality in unexpected places, including popular entertainment, and he loves all things superhero. His vices include James Bond films, Mountain Dew and terrible B-grade movies. He’s married, has two children and a neurotic dog, runs marathons on occasion and hopes to someday own his own tuxedo. Feel free to follow him on Twitter @AsayPaul.

Bridget Jones’s Baby

Bridget Jones’s Baby wasn’t a horrible movie. It’s funny in places. But even though I laughed, it made me sad, too. Sad that the definition of integrity is now whatever we want it to mean.

Sully

Eastwood’s Sully is a deeply humanistic movie in the best possible way.

The Disappointments Room

This movie’s title is fitting: It’s a disappointment all the way ’round.

Mechanic: Resurrection

Mechanic: Resurrection is the Donkey Kong of the cinematic world. There’s not much of a plot, and what there is doesn’t make a lot of sense. But there is a girl to save, a bad guy to beat.

Hands of Stone

At its core, Hands of Stone is a movie about men pounding each other into submission, even to the point of humiliation.

Sausage Party

We need about as much nuance to review this sick flick as comedian Seth Rogen used restraint in making it. If I see a movie that’s worse than Sausage Party this year, it will be a sorry year indeed.

Florence Foster Jenkins

Florence Foster Jenkins reminds us all that, sometimes, passion trumps perfection. That what we love doesn’t always make sense.

The Little Prince

Just because the movie isn’t quite as good as the book, that doesn’t make it a bad movie.

Suicide Squad

While it’s not quite as grim as Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, it’s even more problematic, and it’s certainly not the tonic that Warner Bros. hoped it would be.

Jason Bourne

Jason Bourne, the assassin, may be a mysterious figure. But Jason Bourne, the movie, is a known quantity.

Bad Moms

It’s unhealthy to shoot for perfection, and it can damage both parents and kids. But it’s really, really unhealthy to shoot for bad—something that Bad Moms just doesn’t get.

Lights Out

Lots of kids are scared of the dark. Martin has reason to be. Shadows are dangerous in Martin’s world: The blackness under the bed. The webbed gloom of the closet. Something lurks in the lightless corners, watching, awaiting her chance. Just fanciful i …