Movie News

NEW YORK – Director Pierre Coffin's animated comedy "Despicable Me 3" (Universal) – the second direct follow-up to the 2010 original – turns out to be something of a disappointment, falling short when compared to its predecessors.

NEW YORK – Grown-ups who yearn to connect with their inner 11-year-old boy are given a two-and-a-half-hour window of opportunity to do so in Transformers: The Last Knight (Paramount).

QUEBEC CITY – Faith and films have been lifelong obsessions for director Martin Scorsese, obsessions that he said have given him moments of peace amid turmoil, but also challenges and frustrations that, in hindsight, he will accept as lessons in humility.

NEW YORK – The clumsily fashioned horror flick "The Mummy" (Universal) turns out to be anything but tightly wound.

NEW YORK – Close to eight decades ago, William Moulton Marston – whose name seems more suited to a stodgy novelist than a writer of comic books – created Wonder Woman. In the years since, the character has, of course, become a staple for DC Comics.

CANNES, France – When films by Fellini and Rossellini topped the list of Pope Francis’ favorites, it should have been clear that, when it comes to cinema, this is an unusually discerning pontiff.

NEW YORK – Iconic and eccentric buccaneer Capt. Jack Sparrow (Johnny Depp) hoists the black flag for a fifth time in Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Men Tell No Tales (Disney). The result is a flashy but ultimately unsatisfying journey for the theme park ride-based franchise that first set sail in 2003.

NEW YORK – Once you've seen one vicious extraterrestrial gnaw its way out of a human body from the inside, you've seen 'em all. Or so at least the jaded – or squeamish – moviegoer might be tempted to think.

Somehow I managed to miss the film Jackie during the Christmas season, but I watched it, twice, on recent long flights to and from the East coast. Like many others, I was struck by its moody, more “European” style, the high quality of the acting, especially on the part of Natalie Portman, and its historical verisimilitude. But what particularly impressed (and surprised) me were the scenes between Mrs. Kennedy and a sympathetic priest.

NEW YORK – Early on in "King Arthur: Legend of the Sword" (Warner Bros.), the audience is treated to the sight of magically generated giant elephants swinging boulder-size wrecking balls at the ramparts of Camelot. It's an apt visual considering how ponderous this action fantasy turns out to be.