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To the extent that there’s a difference between “big screen cartoons” and “animated features,” The Secret Life of Pets 2 comes closer to the former than the latter on the spectrum of non-live-action motion picture entertainment. The ...

For a while, it seems like Serenity is going to a be a fairly routine neo-noir thriller. That’s not necessarily a bad prospect with a scraggly-looking Matthew McConaughey playing a down-on-his-luck free-spirit and a blond Anne Hathaway as the...

Shaft (2019) is the third film to bear that name, following a 1971 movie and a 2000 reboot/sequel. It’s the fifth film in a series of sorts (there were a total of three movies in the 1970s to go along with a short-lived TV series), but the S...

In Shazam!, the positives outweigh the negatives. The film’s fresh aspects are strong enough to keep the stale ones at bay. With this 2019 feature, one tiny corner of the DC Extended Universe has finally embraced the concept of “humor,” ...

Sound of Metal, a 2019 Belgian-American drama from director Darius Marder, achieves its life-affirming aim in such a way that it never feels cloying or preachy. Featuring a forceful central performance by Riz Ahmed (best-known as either one of...

This review contains significant spoilers for “Avengers: Endgame” and minor spoilers for “Spider-Man: Far from Home.”Spider-Man: Far from Home works best when viewed as an epilogue to Avengers: Endgame (and, by extension, the entire MCU...

All animated films are not created equal. Some aspire for greatness, seeking to bring wonders to the screen that live-action can’t fully capture. Others exist for purely commercial means – cynical brand-management put together not to touch...

Back in 1983, burned-out after completing the original Star Wars trilogy, George Lucas opined that he might be done. 22 years later, with the release of Revenge of the Sith (and after being pilloried by “fans” about the prequels), he said ...

Stuber is as bland and generic a mismatched buddy action-comedy as you’re likely to find. The screenplay, credited to Tripper Clancy (no relation to Tom), is less a fully formed story than a series of checked boxes. Movies of this sort norma...

Two strangers meet and spend a day wandering around a city – talking, exchanging meaningful looks, and enjoying being with each other as they see the sights and fall in love. Later that night, they cuddle together in a park under the stars a...