Even a dog lover digs A Street Cat Named Bob

You can’t help rooting for James to turn his life around for good. And for Bob to come out OK, too. Their lives become entwined, these two, for better or for worse, in the true tale A Street Cat Named Bob. It’s a little movie that could make the world feel better. James is a…

This Wonder Woman needs to conquer a world of trouble

Comic book lovers and TV viewers of a certain vintage certainly are no strangers to the powers of Wonder Woman. The Princess of the Amazon brought justice to the DC Comics world, starting way back in 1941. With Lynda Carter wearing the title costume, she vanquished villains for three seasons from 1975 to 1979, the…

Even on the artsy side, Song to Song shows a tin ear

Spot the names Ryan Gosling, Rooney Mara, Natalie Portman, Michael Fassbender and Cate Blanchett in one movie lineup, and you expect something great. See that the drama is et in the noted music scene of Austin, Texas. Hear that there are cameos from iconic craggy rocker Iggy Pop, as well as Flea, Lykke Li and…

Full disclosure about The Circle: It pushes too far

If you faithfully keep up with your social media account(s), you may sit there nodding up and down at some or many moments in The Circle. Facebook friends, Twitter followers, Instagram connections, sure the sheer weight of keeping up with your virtual world in real life can make your eyes dance in your head. In…

When A Monster Calls, the kid has to answer it

Some things in Conor O’Malley’s life are all too real. The 10-year-old has to deal with bullies and unpopularity at school. Worse yet, at home his father isn’t around, splitting from their decidedly British digs to move to sunnier skies in L.A. Even topping this, his beloved mother is sick, battling an illness that keeps…

The emotional roar of Lion stretches long

Oh, what happened to 5-year-old Saroo. He’s already living a tough life in India, trying to please his wily older brother Guddu and in turn their hard-working mother, navigating the dusty streets and mean markets to bring home a few coins and maybe a couple slim bags of milk to fill cups from them and…

The Shack brings you to places you can only imagine

Mack had things good in life. Lovely and loving wife. Three smart and connected children. A robust family dynamic that included curious talk and practice of faith that strayed just enough from the center to keep him involved and interested. And then came that fateful camping trip out to the woods. There are a lot…

The kid in the middle is truly Gifted

Frank Adler stood up when hard times came knocking. That’s what we learn early in <Gifted, the heart-tugger directed by Marc Webb from the screenplay by Tom Flynn. Six years ago, Frank’s sister ended her life, leaving a baby behind. He decided to raise little Mary as his own. She really takes after her mother…