Freeze Frame

Do you miss the good old “Death Wish” days when Charles Bronson took the law into his own hands and meted out vigilante justice against all manner of bad guys? Well, Jennifer Garner essentially has stepped into Bronson’s shoes in …

Do you miss the good old “Death Wish” days when Charles Bronson took the law into his own hands and meted out vigilante justice against all manner of bad guys? Well, Jennifer Garner essentially has stepped into Bronson’s shoes in the new thriller, “Peppermint.” Garner plays a woman whose husband and daughter are killed by an LA drug gang. When the justice system lets them all off the hook, Jen goes into full-fledged super ninja mode and wreaks horrible vengeance on everyone who wronged her. “Peppermint” is a violent wish-fulfillment fantasy that stretches credibility to the limit. If you can get past the movie’s regressive social elements and borderline racism, then this might be your cup of peppermint tea. I was really rooting for the new family drama, “God Bless the Broken Road.” This faith-based feature from the folks who gave us “God is Not Dead,” tells the story of a young woman, played by Lindsay Pulsipher, whose life is upended and faith sorely tested when her soldier husband is killed in Afghanistan. Although its heart is in the right place, the plot is riddled with clichés and the dialogue is hokey. Plus, Jordin Sparks, Robin Givens and LaDanian Tomlinson…

Audiences always say they want something different from Hollywood. “Searching,” a tense thriller with a unique gimmick, fills the bill. All of the action takes place on a computer screen. John Cho and Debra Messing star in the story of …

Audiences always say they want something different from Hollywood. “Searching,” a tense thriller with a unique gimmick, fills the bill. All of the action takes place on a computer screen. John Cho and Debra Messing star in the story of a father who uses the internet to frantically search for his missing daughter. The story is involving, so the gimmick works. “Kin” is an action drama mashup of sci-fi, family disfunction and road movie themes. Newcomer Miles Truitt is an appealing teen hero who is pursued by numerous folks after finding an alien ray gun. “Kin” almost works, but the filmmakers throw so many ideas against the wall that too few of them stick. “The Bookshop,” based on Penelope Fitzgerald’s novel, tells the low-key story of a widow, played by Emily Mortimer, who opens a bookshop in a small English village in the 1950s. She’s opposed by the local village matriarch, played by Patricia Clarkson who wants the site for an arts center. Although it generates some gentle charm, the film’s deliberate pace works against it. Domhnall Gleeson and Ruth Wilson star in “The Little Stranger,” a meandering and slow-moving ghost story filled with characters that are very hard to…

Some foul-mouthed puppets behaving in degenerate ways provide the gimmick in the one-joke movie, “The Happytime Murders.” Jim Henson’s son, Brian Henson, takes his puppetry skills into the R-rated realm with this raunchy and vulgar comedy. Melissa McCarthy plays a …

Some foul-mouthed puppets behaving in degenerate ways provide the gimmick in the one-joke movie, “The Happytime Murders.” Jim Henson’s son, Brian Henson, takes his puppetry skills into the R-rated realm with this raunchy and vulgar comedy. Melissa McCarthy plays a police detective who reunites with her former puppet partner to find a serial killer targeting stars from a 1980s TV puppet show. The shock value quickly wears thin in what is basically an overextended TV sketch. “The Happytime Murders” is under-stuffed. The prison escape adventure “Papillon” is based on the bestselling autobiography and the classic 1973 movie version that starred Steve McQueen and Dustin Hoffman. Charlie Hunnam plays a French safecracker who is sent to Devil’s Island on a trumped-up murder charge. He befriends a forger, played by Rami Malek, who comes to depend on him. This sweeping and harrowing story is well produced and skillfully acted and vividly portrays the brutality of the old French colonial system. For those unfamiliar with the original, it’s a workmanlike, if uninspired survival story. “Puzzle” is an extremely low-key romance about a repressed housewife, played by Kelly Macdonald, who breaks out of her rut by exploiting her jigsaw puzzle skills. She meets and…

You’ve seen it all before, but not like this and not with this cast and not at this locale. “Crazy Rich Asians” is a very likable Cinderella story, a romantic comedy that seems fresh due to its engaging all-Asian cast, …

You’ve seen it all before, but not like this and not with this cast and not at this locale. “Crazy Rich Asians” is a very likable Cinderella story, a romantic comedy that seems fresh due to its engaging all-Asian cast, feel-good vibe and amusing script. It’s a sweet wish-fulfillment fantasy, the positive Ying to “Fifty Shades of Grey’s” negative Yang.   “Alpha” is a visually spectacular pre-history epic from writer-director Albert Hughes. Kodi Smit-McPhee plays a young hunter who becomes the first to develop a cooperative relationship with man’s best friend. It’s a family-friendly survival saga.   Mark Wahlberg stars in the ultra-violent and morally ambiguous action-adventure, “Mile 22.” Wahlberg plays the leader of a CIA special ops team that must make a dangerous 22-mile trek through an East Asian city to help a valuable prisoner escape. In spite of some well-staged action sequences, this noisy thiller ultimately outfoxes itself.   “The Miseducation of Cameron Post” is about a lesbian teen, played by Chloë Grace Moretz, who is forced by family to attend a Christian conversion therapy camp. Although the cast is fine, Moretz’s character is just too enigmatic and unfocused.   “Scotty and the Secret History of Hollywood” profiles…

If it weren’t true, you might not believe it. “BlacKkKlansman” tells the remarkable true story of a black Colorado police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Director Spike Lee, who co-wrote the screenplay with KU professor …

If it weren’t true, you might not believe it. “BlacKkKlansman” tells the remarkable true story of a black Colorado police officer who infiltrated the Ku Klux Klan in the 1970s. Director Spike Lee, who co-wrote the screenplay with KU professor Kevin Willmott, recharges his career with a film that is funny, incendiary, thought-provoking, unnerving and oh-so relevant in contemporary America. John David Washington plays detective Ron Stallworth and Adam Driver is the Jewish officer who provided his face when confronting the Klan in person. It doesn’t all work, but “BlacKkKlansman” is a powerful, dynamic and timely Spike Lee joint.   Couldn’t get enough of Shark Week? Well, Jason Statham is here for you. “The Meg” is a goofy thriller about a 75-foot prehistoric megalodon that terrorizes a scientific crew when it is inadvertently released from its deep-sea trench. This by-the-numbers aquatic adventure is no “Jaws,” but is B-movie Saturday matinee fare that may appeal to the 7-year-old in you.   Maybe the best thing you can say about the family-friendly canine comedy “Dog Days” is that it’s harmless. Vanessa Hudgens and Adam Pally lead a likable cast in the story of some LA folks whose paths cross due to their…