Howard serves as a fitting celebration of that life and career. It's a chance for those who knew him to pause and fondly look back, in a way that merely adds to an appreciation of the parade that he helped start.

Somehow, the film manages to feel like a throwback to the action movies of old while featuring people who were seldom allowed to occupy prominent roles back then. If the finish is a bit too busy to be as rousing as intended, by then, The Woman King has made the most of its formidable arsenal.

Playing an aging star estranged from her daughter might not seem like a major stretch, but Deneuve and Japanese writer-director Hirokazu Kore-eda (whose "Shoplifters" took top honors at the Cannes Film Festival) spin that premise into a cinematic breath of fresh air.

The "important" label can weigh heavily on a documentary, but the description applies to "Final Account," director Luke Holland's decade-long odyssey to capture and preserve the memories of Germans who lived through the Holocaust, acknowledging their complicity to varying degrees. While much has been done to chronicle survivors' stories, this sobering companion belongs on the shelf alongside them.

Encanto compensates for the dearth of traditional conflict with a colorful world filled with powers and an abundance of music.

The Forever Prisoner asks the right questions regarding not just Zubaydah but the broader prosecution of the war against terrorism. As the film makes clear, it's the answers that have proven elusive.

Branagh has directed all kinds of movies over the past 30 years, from his frequent adaptations of Shakespeare to "Cinderella" and the aforementioned "Thor." It's perhaps appropriate, though, that his most personal film would also turn out to be his crowning achievement.

The images of the US turned into a war-torn country provides a sobering dystopian backdrop for an action movie that works on that level, without lingering in the mind as long as it could or should have.

Slow to start, the movie taps into a genre of “What’s behind the curtain?” paranoia that’s provocative, if a little slim on detail.

There's some gorgeous imagery along the way, and a strong payoff after what amounts to the episodic nature of Raya's journey. But the film feels too conspicuously like a work by committee than one of inspiration (the film credits four directors or co-directors, and 10 names as having contributed to the story), missing the spark that has characterized the studio's best animated fare, including Pixar's recent "Soul."

It’s a strange and intriguing but ultimately unsatisfying stew.

"Part One" represents an admirable effort to do the material justice.

Every year seems to bring some new teen comedy that breaks through the clutter, showcasing new talent, and in this case, speaking to the times in a very specific way. 2021 is still young, but unless or until something better comes along, "Plan B" lays a pretty strong claim to that mantle.

Energetic and sporadically funny, it’s a passable effort to jump-start a comic-book franchise that has enjoyed a long if uneven crawl across the screen.

Built around a predominantly Asian-American cast, it’s so determined to be crude and edgy that while its friendship dynamic lingers, its initial cleverness gets left in the rear-view mirror.

Deftly expanding the source material into a movie, the film is anchored by a sensational performance by Andrew Garfield as Larson.

At a time when journalism is often under siege, there’s value in displaying its noblest qualities and loftiest aspirations. Even with hiccups and quibbles, She Said achieves that central mission.

The Brooks-Reiner banter is so understated and natural as to basically feel like eavesdropping on one of their lunches, which practically yields more memories than insights.

An entertaining, wonderfully simple comedy with the qualities of a smooth martini -- it goes down easy, but delivers a bit of kick.

It's also a terrific showcase for star Nicole Beharie.

The movie’s earnestness can’t wriggle away from the pretty powerful temptation to tap out.

Woodstock 99 makes a compelling case that the sewage from that weekend didn't stop flowing when the music stopped, metaphorically if not literally.

Val Kilmer joins the ranks of celebrities that fastidiously documented their lives via video, then shared that in documentary form. But Val feels more deeply personal and fascinating than most, catching its star in the wake of a terrible illness and exploring the "difficult" label he bore as an actor, one whose career choices didn't always serve him well.

The American Civil Liberties Union battles the Trump administration on multiple fronts in "The Fight," an excellent documentary that captures the heady political moment for which the organization was born. Presented in a taut, tense way, it's a glimpse into what makes the ACLU tick with the pacing and stakes of a dramatic thriller.

The heartbreaking aspect of Robin's Wish lies in the fact that Williams died without knowing what was happening to him, while there's uplift in Schneider Williams' determination to set the record straight. How well that works translating that specific mission into a stand-alone documentary is, to some extent, another matter.

Whatever one’s age, there’s much to like in a movie that offers the requisite laughs and sweetness, while managing to feel quite profound.

The Fall Guy is too flat in the early going to fully meet that challenge, rallying toward the end without reaching the heights required to make a really big splash.

If only the script and story were in the same kind of fighting shape as its leads. Grounding the narrative in Adonis Creed’s past does provide a weightier foundation, but the tradeoff is an element of sluggishness in a movie that, despite its impressive cast, never feels particularly light on its toes.