Don’t be surprised if you hear the title “Manchester by the Sea” being bandied about a lot at awards time. Filmmaker Kenneth Lonergan’s heartbreaking drama about loss and grief is a skillfully written and impeccably acted ensemble piece. Casey Affleck …

Earnest performances and good intentions don’t always lead to good movies. “Man Down” is a case in point. Shia LaBeouf gives a solid turn as a U.S. Marine who, upon his return home from serving in Afghanistan, discovers that his …

Harry Potter fans who mourned the end of his book and movie franchise, take heart. J. K Rowling has revived that universe with her original screenplay, “Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.” Eddie Redmayne plays an English wizard who …

“Arrival” is a science fiction opus that walks a razor’s edge. It could be hokey in the extreme or profoundly moving. Luckily, it mostly keeps its balance thanks to skillful direction from Denis Villeneuve and a touching performance from Amy …

The 14th film from the Marvel Universe is easily the trippiest, yet. Benedict Cumberbatch plays “Doctor Strange” in a visually spectacular origin story about Marvel’s Sorcerer Supreme. While you may not be able to make heads or tails out of …

Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard may have gone to the well one too many times with “Inferno,” their third entry in the Robert Langdon “Da Vinci Code” series by novelist Dan Brown. This time out, our intrepid Harvard symbologist …

“Jack Reacher: Never Go Back” could be described as “’The Last Samurai’ with a Pistol.” Tom Cruise reunites with “Samurai” director Ed Zwick in Cruise’s second go round as Lee Child’s backside-kicking ex-military policeman turned lone vigilante. While it has …

“American Honey” is the Shia LaBeouf drama that that was shot largely in the Kansas City area and won this year’s jury prize at the Cannes Film Festival. It’s an unusual coming of age drama about a hard-partying group …

“The Birth of a Nation” is Nate Parker’s controversial but powerful film about the educated slave Nat Turner who became a pastor and led an ill-fated slave revolt in 1831. Parker wrote, directed, produced and stars as Turner in this …

Disney’s “The Queen of Katwe” may be the sunniest view of Uganda you’re likely to see. David Oyelowo, Lupita Nyong’o and newcomer Madina Nalwanga star in the true story of a brilliant young girl who escapes her difficult circumstances when …