“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” brings the wildly popular animated adventure trilogy to a satisfying conclusion.  Hiccup and his faithful dragon Toothless are forced to lead the Viking villagers to a new home when an evil dragon …

The Lebanese film “Capernaum” is a social drama about a poor boy who does the best he can to survive on the streets of Beirut. Written and directed by Nadine Labaki, the film is a nominee for this year’s Oscar …

“How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World” brings the wildly popular animated adventure trilogy to a satisfying conclusion.  Hiccup and his faithful dragon Toothless are forced to lead the Viking villagers to a new home when an evil dragon hunter brings an armada to enslave the flying reptiles. While the visuals and action are […]

Producer James Cameron and director Robert Rodriguez team up to adapt the Japanese manga comic “Alita: Battle Angel.” In a dystopian future, a cyborg with a human brain is brought back to life to become the hero in a game …

When “The LEGO Movie” debuted in 2014, it took audiences and critics by surprise…and the box office by storm! While the sequel “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” lacks the freshness of the original, there’s still plenty of creativity …

The ‘down-on-his-luck cop trying for redemption’ genre gets a gender change in “Destroyer.” Nicole Kidman goes grimy and gritty in this dark character study about an LAPD detective with a lot of personal baggage whose past comes back to haunt …

Producer James Cameron and director Robert Rodriguez team up to adapt the Japanese manga comic “Alita: Battle Angel.” In a dystopian future, a cyborg with a human brain is brought back to life to become the hero in a game of super Rollerball. While it’s an impressive visual spectacle, the story plays like a smorgasbord […]

The ‘down-on-his-luck cop trying for redemption’ genre gets a gender change in “Destroyer.” Nicole Kidman goes grimy and gritty in this dark character study about an LAPD detective with a lot of personal baggage whose past comes back to haunt her as she tries to unravel a murder mystery. Kidman goes all out in a […]

When “The LEGO Movie” debuted in 2014, it took audiences and critics by surprise…and the box office by storm! While the sequel “The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part” lacks the freshness of the original, there’s still plenty of creativity and animated razzle dazzle on display. The LEGO universe has descended into dystopia and must contend with invaders from the cute but deadly DUPLO world. There’s plenty of broad humor for the kids and cheeky cultural references for adults, but the movie is almost undone by frenetic, breakneck editing. Still, “The LEGO Movie 2” delivers all the entertainment one could expect from a 90-minute toy commercial. Each year, I get the same question. Why should I care about the Oscar-nominated shorts if I can’t see them? Well, you can. The latest compilation has arrived and it’s easy to see why these films have been so honored. There’s no question as to the artistry of these efforts, so film buffs will have plenty to discuss in their post screening coffee talks. One note of caution: Most of these films are very dark and depressing. The best of the animated lot is probably “Bao,” the Pixar film about a dumpling come to…

“Cold War” is one of the best European films of the year and is, rightfully, a contender for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar. This bittersweet tale is about the on-and-off romance between a young singer and her choir director …