Freeze Frame

Pulling off a screwball comedy is as difficult as pulling out the last block in Jenga. There’s always a good chance the whole thing will come toppling down. The goofy farce “Game Night” somehow remains standing even though it’s not …

Pulling off a screwball comedy is as difficult as pulling out the last block in Jenga. There’s always a good chance the whole thing will come toppling down. The goofy farce “Game Night” somehow remains standing even though it’s not the most stable of structures. Jason Bateman and Rachel McAdams lead a gifted cast in the wacky story of a husband and wife who are very active gamers. They meet weekly with some of their friends for spirited evenings of intense competition.   One night, Jason’s hotshot businessman brother, played by Kyle Chandler, invites the group over to his mansion for a murder mystery party. Going all out, he hires actors to break in and kidnap him. The first couple to rescue him gets a shiny red Corvette Stingray. Problem is, real kidnappers pull of the dastardly deed before the fake thugs arrive. The gamers gleefully play along unaware of the real dangers afoot.   John Francis Daley and Jonathan M. Goldstein, the writers of Bateman’s hit comedy “Horrible Bosses,” take the director’s chair this time out, and the results are chaotic. Thankfully, Bateman and especially McAdams show sharp comic timing and likability, keeping us engaged even as the proceedings…

Marvel’s superhero “Black Panther” finally gets his proper feature-length movie introduction and it’s a rousing, involving adventure. The fact that most of the folks in front of and behind the camera are black makes it all the more compelling. Chawick …

Marvel’s superhero “Black Panther” finally gets his proper feature-length movie introduction and it’s a rousing, involving adventure. The fact that most of the folks in front of and behind the camera are black makes it all the more compelling. Chawick …

Marvel’s superhero “Black Panther” finally gets his proper feature-length movie introduction and it’s a rousing, involving adventure. The fact that most of the folks in front of and behind the camera are black makes it all the more compelling. Chawick Boseman plays the king of a mysterious, highly advanced African nation who must rise to the occasion and save his country, and the world, from a rival cousin, played by Michael B. Jordan. The cast is solid, the story has interesting social implications and Ryan Coogler displays a deft hand as director. While it runs a bit too long for its own good, “Black Panther” is a worthy addition that enriches the Marvel Universe. “Early Man” is the latest stop-motion animated farce from Aardman, the folks behind Wallace and Gromit. It purports to relate the origins of soccer, pitting cavemen against the Bronze Agers. It’s all very silly, but good fun for the little league set. The final days of Oscar-winning actress Gloria Graham provide the background for the low-key drama “Film Stars Don’t Die in Liverpool.” Annette Bening and Jamie Bell star in this story of a May-December romance between Graham and a young and struggling British actor. The…

The final chapter in the big screen adaptation of E.L. James’ kinky S&M bestseller “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy finally hits theaters this week. Like its predecessors, “Fifty Shades Freed” isn’t bad enough to be campy fun and is about …

The final chapter in the big screen adaptation of E.L. James’ kinky S&M bestseller “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy finally hits theaters this week. Like its predecessors, “Fifty Shades Freed” isn’t bad enough to be campy fun and is about …

The final chapter in the big screen adaptation of E.L. James’ kinky S&M bestseller “Fifty Shades of Grey” trilogy finally hits theaters this week. Like its predecessors, “Fifty Shades Freed” isn’t bad enough to be campy fun and is about as erotic as a cold shower. Dakota Johnson and Jamie Dornan are back in this absurd wish-fulfillment fantasy that’s just a gaudy soap opera dressed up with snappy production values. The best thing to say about “Fifty Shades Freed” is that this is actually the last installment. The 90th annual Academy Awards take place the first weekend of March. “The 2018 Oscar Short Film Programs” celebrate this year’s nominees that represent best the genre has to offer. There are three separate showcases, “The Animated Program,” the “Live Action Program” and the “Documentaries Program.” As always these compilations are a mixed bag, but there’s plenty of creativity and artistry on display. And speaking of Oscars, the latest film from Oscar-winning Austrian filmmaker Michael Haneke is “Happy End.” In this French language offering, Isabelle Huppert and Jean-Louis Trintignant play members of a self-absorbed French bourgeois family. “Happy End” is a dark social critique about the indifference of the elite towards the masses. It’s…

February is “Black History Month,” and people have asked me to put together a list of movie suggestions to commemorate the annual observance. So, here are some films that are, I believe, apt viewing choices.   “12 Years a Slave” …

February is “Black History Month,” and people have asked me to put together a list of movie suggestions to commemorate the annual observance. So, here are some films that are, I believe, apt viewing choices.   “12 Years a Slave” won the Best Picture Oscar for 2013. Inspired by a true story, it tells the harrowing tale of a free man, played by Chiwetel Ejiofor, who was captured and sent into slavery on a Louisiana plantation in the 1800s. It’s hard to watch, but packs an emotional wallop.   David Oyelowo gives a stirring performance as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the 2015 film, “Selma,” about the 1965 civil rights march from Selma to Montgomery that was met with a violent crackdown by local authorities. The event helped cement passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.   The 2013 film “The Butler” provides a historical overview of social change seen through the eyes of a butler named Cecil Gaines, played by Forest Whitaker, who served in the White House beginning with the Eisenhower administration and lasting through the Reagan years. It’s restrained but dignified.   Sidney Poitier’s Oscar-winning performance propels the sentimental1963 comic drama, “Lilies of the Field.”…