Freeze Frame

The term “uplifting” is often overused, but it’s apt when describing “Step,” a documentary about a step dancing team from an all-girls high school in inner city Baltimore. Don’t expect lots of dance footage, however. “Step” instead focuses on the personal struggles of several team members, all of whom face unique challenges. The film shows how the work and discipline of the dance team help the girls in their academic and personal lives.   It’s virtually impossible not to get caught up in these girls’ lives and enthusiastically root them on. That makes the climatic dance competition all the more compelling. “Step” is an involving documentary in step with the times.   Oscar-winner Brie Larson stars in the big screen adaptation of Jeannette Walls’s best-selling memoir about her difficult upbringing in a family run by two very eccentric parents. Larson is fine as the adult Jeannette, but young actresses Ella Anderson and Chandler Head are equally good as the childhood versions. How well this movie works for you may relay on your reaction to Woody Harrelson as the family’s iconoclastic, alcoholic patriarch and Naomi Watts as Jeannette’s spacey artist mom.   Director Destin Daniel Cretton takes a sincere approach, but…

One way or another, you will be disturbed by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s grim and troubling historical drama, “Detroit.” Either the police brutality and racism will rattle you or the movie’s sadistically violent depiction of it will do the trick. …

One way or another, you will be disturbed by Oscar-winning director Kathryn Bigelow’s grim and troubling historical drama, “Detroit.” Either the police brutality and racism will rattle you or the movie’s sadistically violent depiction of it will do the trick. During the summer of ’67, civil unrest gripped much of Motor City. An incident at the Algiers Motel left three black men dead and three white police officers accused of homicide.   Bigelow places the audience in the midst of the mayhem, forcing us to be witnesses and providing no relief. Some viewers may resent the relentlessly brutal, sledgehammer approach to the material, but there is no denying its effectiveness. “Detroit” takes an unblinking look at a very dark incident in our history, one that, sadly, still resonates today.   The drama, “Lady Macbeth” isn’t about Shakespeare’s villainous Scottish queen, but was inspired by her ruthlessness. Although based on a Russian novel, the action of “Lady Macbeth” has been shifted rural Victorian England in 1865. Newcomer Florence Pugh plays Katherine, a young woman stuck in a loveless marriage to a nasty landowner. Things get complicated when she has a torrid affair with a virile workman, played by Cosmo Jarvis. When…

The provocative Charlize Theron and some smashing fight choreography provide a potent one-two punch for “Atomic Blonde,” an ultra-violent adaptation of a popular graphic novel. Theron plays a British secret agent with a particular set of skills who is sent …

The provocative Charlize Theron and some smashing fight choreography provide a potent one-two punch for “Atomic Blonde,” an ultra-violent adaptation of a popular graphic novel. Theron plays a British secret agent with a particular set of skills who is sent on a dangerous mission to Germany in 1989, just prior to the fall of the Berlin Wall. This celebration of sex and violence works in spite of its herky-jerky pace and ludicrous storyline. Theron’s tough-as-nails performance and a nostalgia-inducing 80s score help make “Atomic Blonde” a decadent guilty pleasure.   The plot of the animated flick “The Emoji Movie” plays a bit like homage to “Inside Out,” but it lacks the same depth. So just what happens inside a kid’s cell phone? We discover that the emojis live in the city of Textopolis and anxiously await their chance to be called upon for a text message. Things get complicated with one emoji is too animated to maintain a single facial expression. Comic T.J. Miller, James Corden, Maya Rudolph and Sir Patrick Stewart provide the voice work for this silly but likable farce.   “A Ghost Story” is an extremely smart, thoughtful and arty entry in the genre. Oscar-winner Casey Affleck…

British actress Sally Hawkins gives the kind of performance Oscar loves in “Maudie,” a biopic about Maude Lewis, the late Canadian folk artist who gained fame in the 1950s. The story covers her struggle with crippling rheumatoid arthritis, her dysfunctional …

British actress Sally Hawkins gives the kind of performance Oscar loves in “Maudie,” a biopic about Maude Lewis, the late Canadian folk artist who gained fame in the 1950s. The story covers her struggle with crippling rheumatoid arthritis, her dysfunctional family, stark poverty in rural Nova Scotia and her awkward marriage to her boorish and sometimes abusive husband, well played by Ethan Hawke.   While it never gives us any insight into what made her great, the film’s sincere approach and the terrific performances transform “Maudie” into a touching and very warm character study.   From the other end of the cinematic universe comes “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets,” French filmmaker Luc Besson’s wacky adaptation of a sci-fi comic book series. Dane DeHaan plays Valerian, an intergalactic agent who upholds the law in multiple dimensions, aided by his partner and lover, Laureline, played by Cara Delevigne. The plot and dialogue are derivative and goofy in the extreme, but the movie’s giddy playfulness and impressive visuals should be enough to please fan boys.   “The Little Hours” is an adaptation of a couple of bawdy comedic stories from Boccaccio’s 14th century work, “The Decameron.” Alison Brie, Dave Franco, Aubrey…

It may seem absurd, but I’m not monkeying around. The franchise update of “The Planet of the Apes” series that began in 2011 may be the best Hollywood franchise reboot ever. The third installment, “War for the Planet of the …

It may seem absurd, but I’m not monkeying around. The franchise update of “The Planet of the Apes” series that began in 2011 may be the best Hollywood franchise reboot ever. The third installment, “War for the Planet of the Apes,” is a visually spectacular and riveting drama that focuses on the ongoing confrontation between two species vying for world domination.   Director Matt Reeves uses special effects the way that they should be used, to help drive a compelling story. Andy Serkis, aided by the work of a crack team of computer animators, is terrific as Caesar, the intelligent chimpanzee who became the reluctant leader of the ape rebellion. When a human colonel, played by Woody Harrelson, kills his wife and young son, Caesar goes on quest for revenge.   Like all good sci-fi, there is depth to this story. It’s layered with sly social commentary and deals with themes that seem downright biblical.  The only downside to this involving entry is its extensive length.   Apes may not really be intelligent, but the filmmakers behind “The War for the Planet of the Apes” know their audience is.   “Wish Upon” is the latest in a long line of…

Okay, so just who needs yet another reboot of the Spider-Man franchise? After all, this is the third time the story has been reworked since 2002. Well, I guess we do since “Spider-Man: Homecoming” is arguably the best Spider-Man movie, …