NEW YORK (CNS) -- "Live simply so that all may simply live." That's a saying often ascribed to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. If the attribution is accurate, the founder of the Sisters of Charity would likely have appreciated the surprisingly evocative documentary "The Minimalists: Less is Now."
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- As if to demonstrate that something even worse than a pandemic could befall humanity, along comes the apocalyptic action drama "Greenland" (STX). A steady focus on the believable characters who populate it elevates director Ric Roman Waugh's engaging film above the status of a disaster movie. But the positive values displayed along the path of the quest for survival he and screenwriter Chris Sparling chart are offset by the disturbing nature of the mayhem they unleash.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- It's no lie to say that "Pinocchio" (Roadside), Italian director Matteo Garrone's live-action version of Carlo Collodi's 1883 novel -- which he also who co-wrote with Massimo Ceccherini -- is scrupulously faithful to the grotesqueries of its source material. As such, it falls well short of what anyone might regard as straightforward family entertainment.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Everyone's favorite Amazonian princess returns to save the planet in "Wonder Woman 1984" (Warner Bros.), an entertaining follow-up to the DC Comics superhero's 2017 outing. Director Patty Jenkins is once again at the helm, and this time has co-written the screenplay with Geoff Johns and David Callaham. Naturally, the plot is silly, at times preposterous. But that's not unexpected for an old-fashioned popcorn movie, a Saturday-matinee serial writ large.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Vengeance-driven vigilantism is the order of the day in "Promising Young Woman" (Focus). The sad result is that writer-director Emerald Fennell's cinematically impressive, black comedy-tinged drama wastes its opportunity to make morally legitimate points about a genuine social evil.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- The ethnic, sectional and economic tensions of the Reconstruction era are explored in the epic adventure "News of the World" (Universal). So, too, is the redemptive bond uniting its two main characters, both victims of personal tragedy.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Don't wait for any explanations while viewing the video game adaptation "Monster Hunter" (Screen Gems) because none will be forthcoming. Director Paul W.S. Anderson, who also wrote the screenplay, has constructed a film made up almost entirely of action sequences untrammeled by exposition.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Nearly 35 years have passed since scorned Glenn Close terrorized adulterer Michael Douglas (and boiled a bunny in the process) in "Fatal Attraction." That film's distant cousin -- a poor relation in aesthetic terms if ever there was one -- has arrived with "Fatale" (Lionsgate), based on a similar premise but with a much higher human body count.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- You may never eat bacon again after watching "Gunda" (Neon), filmmaker Victor Kossakovsky's compelling documentary about life on the farm for the eponymous sow and her piglets. Unlike "Babe" and "Charlotte's Web," there's no dialogue and not a human in sight. Instead, what unfolds over 93 minutes of glorious black-and-white cinematography is as unexpected as it is mesmerizing. Hidden cameras capture the intimacy and simplicity of the daily routine of a porcine family, revealing a surprising intelligence and a range of "emotions," including joy, anger and sorrow.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Long reviled as a pale afterthought compared to its two predecessors, 1990's "The Godfather Part III" (Paramount) is now available in in a recut version, "The Godfather Coda: The Death of Michael Corleone," from director and co-writer Francis Ford Coppola.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- In 2015, engaged Canadian couple Jenn Carter and Solomon Chau gained notoriety when their friends and family sponsored a crowdfunding campaign that raised over $50,000 with the aim of salvaging their forthcoming nuptials.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- The comedy "Half Brothers" (Focus) feels half-baked. Though director Luke Greenfield's odd-couple road trip movie produces the occasional laugh, it's effectively undercut by the fact that neither of its lead characters is a believable figure.
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