The destination, frankly, is probably less compelling than the journey. But Frye's wide web of contacts offers a compelling window into not only her past, but the very specific cultural moment when it all unfolded.

Like other self-referential horror/comedies (the “Scream” franchise come to mind), the film ably delivers on its premise, mining enough life from its satirical concept to deliver plenty of crowd-pleasing moments.

The Idea of You will likely be most satisfying for those who choose not to sweat the details, enjoying the scenery and fantasy wrapped up in it. Think of it as one of those movies that really reinforces the adage there are no new ideas, just fresh versions of old ones set to different beats.

A "Rashomon"-like tale that tells its story from different perspectives, this fact-based adaptation of Eric Jager's book is muddy, bloody and grim but too drawn out in filtering 14th-century feudal norms through a modern prism.

The resulting movie, however, hits the wrong notes, repeating mundane lyrics without uttering the words that keep coming to mind, which are "precious" and "pretentious."

Tesla even more aggressively incorporates documentary-style techniques and weird anachronisms into the drama. His story is essentially narrated by Morgan's daughter, Anne (Eve Hewson), in a way that gives the movie a decidedly off-kilter spin. At one point, Hawke even sings a few bars of the 1980s song "Everybody Wants to Rule the World," recorded decades after Tesla's death.

Long Shot is a movie somewhat at war with itself, seeking to combine political satire with crude (in the mode of many Seth Rogen movies) romantic comedy. Both elements work in fits and starts, but they tend to offset each other, yielding a film more enjoyable for individual moments than any sort of cohesive whole.

In the parlance of Olympic diving – a good analogy for blockbuster movie-making – Black Panther: Wakanda Forever faced an inordinate degree of difficulty, addressing the tragic death of Chadwick Boseman. That the movie manages to strike that somber chord and still deliver as Marvel-style entertainment represents a major accomplishment, though the tension created by those two forces grinding in different directions can’t entirely be ignored.

Simply in terms of presenting a draft of history through his earlier work and scalding commentary via his more recent endeavors, Souza's aim has been true.

Because profiling and modern criminology were greatly influenced by this period, there is an intellectually stimulating side to all this that No Man of God mines.

Oxygen won't quite leave you breathless, but it should leave you thinking -- and surprised. For this sort of movie, that's perhaps the most precious fuel of all.

Although it's nice to see the show's creative team afforded one final swing, it's too bad they don't knock it out of the park.

Blackpink: Light Up the Sky manages to offer a welcome reminder that even for K-pop's reigning queens, all that glitters isn't always gold.

Missing doesn’t try to reinvent the concept so much as recycle it, and the more the audience is willing to just roll with that, the more they’ll enjoy it. Yet even making that allowance, it should be taken as a cautionary note to any plans for future sequels (or reboots) that this sleuthing-by-computer thriller is already beginning to run in low-power mode.

There's one clear reason to watch The Life Ahead, but for those who appreciate cinematic history, it's a good one: Sophia Loren, still striking at 86, starring in this Italian-language film directed by her son, Edoardo Ponti.

The result is a humanizing look at a woman often reduced to cartoon caricature, while occasionally feeling too conspicuously like a licensed product.

Mulan is big, sumptuous entertainment. It's good, but not great, transforming the story associated with the 1998 animated musical into a song-free, live-action movie that's more adequate than transcendent -- a perfectly reasonable family-viewing investment that's worth seeing, but not necessarily a must-buy.

Strange and more than a little sad, You Cannot Kill David Arquette -- a documentary about the actor's adventures in wrestling -- derives most of its strength from the discomfort associated with watching it. As the son of a showbiz family, the fact that Arquette is reduced to this cry for attention more than anything reflects the enticing lure of the spotlight.

Thanks to the cast (which also includes Ben Mendelsohn, near-unrecognizable as the villainous De Guiche), Cyrano is worth seeing, either now or later. But it's a relatively modest addition to the title's storied history, one where the music subtracts at least as much as it adds to the story's inherent poetry.

Judy is well worth seeing, if not necessarily rushing to a theater to experience, thanks to Zellweger's uncanny ability to replicate Garland's quirks and still locate the humanity and fragility within her.

Wonka only sporadically conjures cinematic magic, and most of those moments owe an oversized debt to tying directly into the earlier movie based on Roald Dahl’s story, as opposed to carving its own path for a new generation.

Pretty easy to tune out.

Dumb Money might lose a little nuance and complexity in corralling all its facets into movie form, but boiled down to what will please an audience (in theaters, or more likely later at home), the smart money says most people won’t care.

This latest addition surpasses expectations, honoring the source while building a muscular and even thoughtful adventure around a very ape-centric concept.

The inherent contradiction in Becoming, Netflix's documentary about Michelle Obama, is repeatedly articulated by the former First Lady herself: How can someone reclaim a semblance of a normal life when you are one of the world's most recognizable figures? The latest project under the Obamas' Netflix production deal doesn't fully answer that riddle, but it's an interesting contemplation of the question.

Do Revenge isn’t about stretching conventions but rather simply finding another wrinkle on what has become an established formula. It does that, but for a movie where the characters speak often about their Ivy League aspirations, creatively speaking it lands more in the safety-school category.

A sweet if slight love story.

Overall Last Night in Soho's way-back machine delivers a thrilling trip, one that niftily brings a bit more Taylor-Joy to the world.

Funny, sentimental, and anchored as always by Tony Shalhoub’s “defective detective,” it’s a worthy follow-up that goes beyond just being a nostalgic exercise.

Another adventure in nostalgia that nobody really needed and yet, if not excellent, manages to be good-hearted and reasonably fun.

Making the most of its extensive access to Giancarlo Granda, the figure at the center of it all, Hulu’s “God Forbid: The Sex Scandal that Brought Down a Dynasty” pulls back the curtain on a salacious tale of sex, lies, hypocrisy, and political intrigue – for streaming purposes, a divine cocktail if there ever was one.

The film thus operates on multiple levels, playing like an old-fashioned caper as well as a window into history. And like its inspiration, if there are hiccups here and there, when the smoke clears it's hard to consider this delicious "Operation" anything but a rousing success.

Anyone with a taste for Cold War dramas will find an intriguing addition to their cinematic library with The Courier, a fact-based story featuring Benedict Cumberbatch as a Hitchcockian everyman who becomes the unlikely conduit to a Soviet leaker of secrets in 1960. It's the kind of historical tale that, after the closing crawl, will likely send more than a few viewers running to Google to read more.

Still, the madcap nature of the exercise -- and narrative road map that the earlier movie provides -- can't help but make this incarnation feel less inspired, for all its colorful irreverence, before rallying a bit at the finish.

Taylor Swift details the process that lead her to speak out politically in Miss Americana, an uneven documentary that provides behind-the-scenes insight into the singer's upbringing and awakening, while occasionally feeling like the kind of celebrity reality series you might find on E! or Bravo.

A vehicle with roughly the weight of a stiff breeze.

What sets Bully. Coward. Victim. The Story of Roy Cohn apart is the personal connection for director Ivy Meeropol, the granddaughter of Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.

Because the first movie generated such a bracing gust of enthusiasm, Frozen 2 will inevitably be nitpicked and judged against those lofty standards. Still, there's plenty to enjoy for those willing to chill out, and yes, let the past go.

West mixes some wit in with the gore here, even if the payoff, alas, doesn’t rise to the level of the buildup. By then, though, “MaXXXine” has delivered enough nostalgia regarding its genre to merit a walk down its alleys, and not incidentally, the showcase and sendoff that Goth’s character deserves.

The game is afoot (again) in Enola Holmes 2, a wonderful showcase for Millie Bobby Brown that this time manages to work the character’s famous brother, Sherlock, more organically into the mix. Throw in fact-based underpinnings about horrid working conditions during the time and you have the makings for a very polished sequel – one that makes the whole thing look elementary, and a whole lot of fun.

The movie does contain an empowering message thanks to its gender distinction, which is thrown into sharper focus by the period. Yet while it's a welcome landmark, Marvel and Disney's ambitious plans will almost surely reduce that status to a historical footnote.

How to Survive a Pandemic is a poor title for a mostly fascinating documentary, whose flaws reflect its slightly fragmented nature. Yet at its core this HBO presentation captures the race to produce a vaccine amid political pressures imposed by a president preoccupied with his reelection, offering fly-on-the-wall access to many of the key players.

Confess, Fletch doesn’t possess a whole lot of heft, but it manages to serve as an old-fashioned and playful star vehicle, carving out a version of the character that’s distinctive from Chase’s broader, more slapstick-oriented take.

Park and Wong are both innately likable, which makes the movie pleasant enough to watch, but also a bit of a slog given the ostensible inevitability of where it's heading.

Wolfgang nicely demonstrates how its namesake fundamentally impacted the world of cooking – and especially how high-end food is perceived – while carving out a pretty sweet life for himself in the process. For that alone it’s worth watching, even if, as documentaries go, it’s less a main course than an appetizer.

What Bombshell briskly details is how and why Fox News -- and those who possessed the grit to stand up -- came under that unwelcome spotlight, one brick, and abuse, at a time.

"Elvis” has entered the theaters, but in a package that often recalls the excesses associated with his Vegas-residency years: Looking bloated, gaudy and at times bordering on self-parody. Those missteps, courtesy of director Baz Luhrmann and an ill-used Tom Hanks, squander Austin Butler’s brilliant moments in the title role, which deserve a much better movie.

The film, while technically superb, feels like it wins several battles but doesn’t entirely qualify as a success in terms of the overall war.

In hindsight, the most unlikely hit among Marvel’s parade of them was all about the unlikeliest of families. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 drives home that point, with a boisterous and often emotional sequel that feels very much like a true conclusion, fueled in no small part by writer-director James Gunn having migrated his talents over to rival DC.

A warm if somewhat flat trip back in time that approximates the feel of the show's Christmas specials, only over-sized, and as cozy as a seat by the manor's fire.

Greyhound is kind of an odd duck -- another World War II tale courtesy of Tom Hanks, who wrote and produced the film through his company in addition to starring in it. Old-fashioned and relatively small in scale, it's a sturdy if unspectacular depiction of the Battle of the Atlantic, streaming ashore via Apple TV+ instead of a planned theatrical release.

While the film traffics in thoughtful ideas as well as spectacle, it doesn’t complete the vital emotional connections between its head and its heart.

Richard Attenborough's cast is stellar (including Anthony Hopkins, Laurence Olivier, Sean Connery, Dirk Bogarde, Ryan O'Neal and Robert Redford) and his pre-CGI achievement staggering. [28 Mar 2007]

The Guilty is a taut, remarkably spare thriller.

The story plays like a rather tired excuse to redo the first story with a few cosmetic tweaks, hoping to tap into adult nostalgia while potentially attracting a new generation of kids.

While “Honk for Jesus” isn’t a perfect movie, give it praise for at least being an interesting one.

Elegant, occasionally adorable and at times quite emotional, series creator Julian Fellowes still knows how to pluck the right strings – upstairs and downstairs – to play a symphony with his sprawling cast.

Economically told and cleverly calibrated to maximize its claustrophobic setting, it’s among the most effective films the director has delivered since his mid-career slump, making this a door well worth opening.

More an examination of human nature than a thriller, the space-faring movie deals with weighty issues but doesn't possess much pizzazz or gravity, making Netflix the logical home for its launch.

This is, admittedly, a strange time related to how and where people will wind up consuming this type of small-boned movie, but there's always room for another good one. "Let Him Go" might not be super, but it's definitely a trip worth taking.

Mostly, the documentary premiering on Amazon serves as a social-studies lesson in how campaigns operate, with the most candid moments coming from those other than the candidate.

“Scoop” juggles so many timely balls it’s a bit of a shame the film doesn’t accomplish that task with more dexterity.

“A Haunting in Venice” continues a brand of breezy entertainment that suggests whatever the detective’s goals, retirement doesn’t appear to be in the cards.

While ‘Resurrections’ again offers a choice between the red pill and blue pill, the one thing that won't be necessary -- especially for those choosing the home-viewing option -- is a sleeping pill.

Placing a trans teen at its center adds some heft to material that would in an earlier era would have been presented as an after-school special, but the uplifting and timely messaging can’t completely elevate this earnest but thin Amazon movie.

Call Jane is a good example of how a few questionable choices can muddle an otherwise-powerful story, with the recent HBO documentary version of these events, “The Janes,” outshining this fictionalized dramatic account. The portrait of an underground abortion network pre-Roe v. Wade is obviously timely, but its slightly askew focus blunts the overall impact.

Young Woman and the Sea is an exercise in the simple power of a well-told story, the kind that can wash over and uplift you all at once.

Cats Don't Dance is a blast.

Not Okay isn’t the kind of movie that’s going to amass a vast audience (hence its debut via Hulu), but it is one of those of-the-moment ideas that makes you take inventory of where we are, and the manipulation that can play into who commands the spotlight.

Free Guy is a cleverly programmed wedding of star (Ryan Reynolds) and subject matter, in a movie that's silly, handsome-looking and a great deal of fun, in roughly inverse proportion to how much one sweats the details. Traveling inside videogames doesn't always end well cinematically, but this "Guy" braves that familiar scenario and comes out ahead.

Sly possesses value as a pop-culture record, letting an influential talent tell their story to those weaned on their work. Compared to the best of that fertile genre, though, it’s more of a lightweight than a genuine contender.

Granted, the overall exercise feels more efficient than inspired, but there’s something to be said for that sort of workmanlike ethic in an old-fashioned “B” movie fashion. Those attributes don’t necessarily merit rushing out to buy a ticket, but wherever and whenever one ends up boarding this flight, taken on its terms, it’s not a bad trip.

Even in a boom time for musical profiles, this HBO presentation shines brighter than most.

A dual attempt to breathe life into the vampire and haunted-house genres, “Abigail” could have been called “Don’t Tell Mom the Kid I’m Babysitting’s Dead.” The simple premise, however, turns into an effective little horror movie, a bit strained toward the end, but until then a clever and inventive take on six people literally just trying to make it through the night.

Tapping into the twin markets of A) lovers of rom-coms and B) recovering English majors, “Rosaline” promotes a fleetingly mentioned “Romeo and Juliet” character front and center, then builds a very clever and breezy movie around her. The result is a welcome starring showcase for Kaitlyn Dever more likely to prosper in the hamlet of Hulu than it would have fared in the province of theaters.

Despite a stellar cast and showy moments (given who’s involved how could there not be?), the writer-director’s sprawling, messy, three-hour-plus endurance test isn’t ready for its closeup.

In her director’s note, Chinn explains that while considerable liberties were taken with the details of her experience, “The emotions are real.” However dark the premise might be, that part of Suncoast shines through as bright as day.

Peter Pan & Wendy wants to conjure magic but turns out to be low on fairy dust, yielding a dreary live-action adaptation of the 1953 movie that transforms Neverland into what vaguely feels like a discount version of Pandora.

Sorry/Not Sorry takes issue with both the supposition that nobody was really victimized by Louis C.K.’s actions and the mentality of first looking the other way amid what the comic initially dismissed as “rumors,” then welcoming him back.

Earnest to a fault, Respect spells out a handsome tribute to Aretha Franklin, with Jennifer Hudson and her peerless singing pipes as its formidable anchor. Yet this biography never fully sparks to life, as the Queen of Soul fights in episodic fashion to establish and later protect her musical legacy from the domineering men in her life.

Pixar's enviable track record with original animation is a mixed blessing, creating sky-high expectations for each new movie. Onward, an undeniably emotional and imaginative concept, joins that rich tradition, without reaching the upper rungs of the ladder set by its predecessors.

The simplicity of the premise puts more pressure on the animation, which is crisp and occasionally beautiful, but not especially imaginative in its design.

Blue Beetle tends to fare best in its smaller moments, which merely reinforces the concept’s limitations thanks in part to the sheer glut of similar fare driven by streaming. The cultural specificity is also an asset but feels rushed in a format that, unlike the pacing of a series, creates a greater imperative to get to the next battle.

Starring Taron Egerton, this Apple TV+ movie, like the game, is colorful and engaging enough that it’s hard to take your eyes off the screen.

There's a lot of teeth-sinking, bordering on scenery-chewing, in this latest film from writer-director Dan Gilroy, which reunites him with Gyllenhaal and real-life spouse Rene Russo after their collaboration on "Nightcrawler."

If the last “Scream” movie made noise by wedding the old with the new, Scream VI reinforces how shrewd the producers were in casting the next generation, with Melissa Barrera and Jenna Ortega ably carrying this chapter of horror’s most self-referential franchise. Throw in a new venue and the same old thrills and kills, and Paramount should be slashing all the way to the bank.

A sort of welcome throwback, a horror movie cleverly designed to be more spooky than truly grisly. That leaves it, however, in a bit of a no-man's land, as this PG-13-rated film is still too scary for the tweens that might be drawn to the challenge and not jarring enough for older horror buffs accustomed to far worse.

In "Suicide Squad," Margot Robbie's Harley Quinn was the best part of a bad movie. That's true again with Birds of Prey, which moves the Joker's sadistic sidekick front and center, then proceeds to assault the senses in much the way its protagonist wields a baseball bat.

It's the uninspired writing, more than the general template, that keeps the movie from finding its stride.

“Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” might be the most insanely Marvel movie ever, for good and ill. Unleashing the infinite possibilities of the multiverse throws open the studio’s toybox, but the anything-goes aspects of that can be alternately thrilling, disorienting and occasionally, a little silly. All told, this sequel proves highly entertaining, if not quite worthy of the pent-up demand for it.

The Many Saints of Newark turns out to be a credible and rewarding film. But with a bit more seasoning and time in the oven, like its HBO predecessor, it actually might have risen into a truly sensational TV show.

Always meta in its nods to the genre's quirks, the latest "Scream" is so self-referential as to risk swallowing its own tail. Yet this quarter-century-later "requel" (a term specifically explained in the movie) turns out to be a great deal of fun, cleverly wedding familiar faces with new stars in what isn't exactly a remake or reboot but rather plays like a refresh.

The most interesting aspect of "Lightyear" is dispensed with in the first 15 seconds, when it's explained how and why you're watching a movie devoted to the action-figure character from "Toy Story." After that, the movie works primarily as a fairly likable action vehicle mixed with a familiar rumination on what defines a life, without rising into that top tier of Pixar fare its predecessors occupied.

The love showered on Brendan Fraser out of film festivals inflates expectations for “The Whale” wildly out of proportion, in a movie based on a play that occurs almost entirely within a lone apartment. Weighted down not by its morbidly obese protagonist but rather its stick-thin supporting players, Fraser deserves praise for his buried-under-makeup performance, but that’s not enough to keep the movie afloat.

Anchored by an impressive performance from Matt Damon, Stillwater confounds expectations in mostly frustrating ways.

While there are some visually striking action sequences as Diana and her new super-powered foe square off -- and Gadot remains extremely appealing in humanizing the character -- the last act devolves into a bit of a mess.

Although the movie is visually impressive, the Chinese-American co-production suffers from a too-thin story, built upon a heavy-handed message soaked in that oldest of Disney tropes: a dead mom.

Coffy is undeniably entertaining and perhaps one of the best films of its kind. [26 Dec 2001]