Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

Director: David Yates

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3183660

Review: A few nice ideas buried in a lot of meaningless spectacle mired particularly by a charisma-free central performance.

Watch it if: You need to devour anything Harry Potter related.

And if you liked: Doctor Strange, Oz the Great and Powerful

Check this out: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them

The DUFF

Director: Ari Sandel

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1666801

Review: A little raw in its sincerity but still delivers plenty of fun without falling into common traps.

Watch it if: You have an affinity for the high-school teen genre.

And if you liked: Sixteen Candles, Mean Girls, 10 Things I Hate About You

Check this out: The DUFF

Arrival

Director: Denis Villeneuve

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2543164

Review: Skirts a line between emotional subtlety and big ideas that could turn many off but for me, managed to tell a soulful story with grace and flair.

Watch it if: You like fairly heady science-fiction.

And if you liked: Another Earth, Transcendence, Interstellar

Check this out: Story of Your Life

Doctor Strange

Director: Scott Derrickson

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1211837

Review: Never fully engages as hard as it could but dazzles visually with some fun new ideas and approaches.

Watch it if: You're into the Marvel movies?

And if you liked: Inception, Iron Man, Thor