NEW YORK (CNS) -- The tedious sci-fi parable "Voyagers" (Lionsgate) seems designed to prove that in space, no one can hear you yawn. While acceptable for grown-ups, writer-director Neil Burger's flat thriller, an exploration of the positive and negative aspects of human nature, has little to say on that topic that hasn't been better expressed before.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Clever but morally misguided, "Nobody" (Universal) is a bloody action flick that's suitable for no one. When thieves break into his suburban home, mild-mannered accountant Hutch Mansell (Bob Odenkirk) gets the drop on the intruders but fails to follow through on the advantage he's gained. As a result, his already distant wife, Becca, (Connie Nielsen) seems more disappointed in him than ever and his teen son Blake (Gage Munroe) disdains him as a coward.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- In recent years, documentarians have increasingly relied on dramatic reenactments to breathe life into an old, and occasionally staid, genre. Such scenes rarely feature dialogue or notable actors. Instead, they're generally pantomimed.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- A musical romance with an evangelical Christian twist, "A Week Away" (Netflix) could be described as "High School Musical" meets summer camp. Written by Kali Bailey and Alan Powell, the streaming service's first faith-based film is directed by Roman White.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- "The Father" (Sony Classics) has nothing new to say about the challenges of dementia. Yet, in adapting his play with co-screenwriter Christopher Hampton, director Florian Zeller does succeed in presenting the difficulties resulting from that illness in an innovative way. His drama portrays the mental confusion of a man in his 80s by keeping the viewer off-balance as well.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- There's nothing cheery about "Cherry" (Apple TV+). This harsh screen version of Nico Walker's semi-autobiographical 2018 novel -- set primarily in the early 2000s -- deals with such regrettably relevant topics as combat-induced post-traumatic stress disorder and opioid addiction. But it does so in a morally unsteady manner and with a surfeit of seamy elements.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- It's easy to sympathize with mom and dad, Allison (Jennifer Garner) and Carlos (Edgar Ramirez) Torres, two of the main characters in the family comedy "Yes Day" (Netflix). As flashbacks show us, in their younger years, they were both adventurous and fun-loving, willing to try new, sometimes crazy, things and live life to its fullest. In fact, that's how they met and fell in love.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- It has been more than three decades since Prince Akeem (Eddie Murphy), heir to the throne of the fictional African nation of Zamunda, set out to seek a worthy consort in the New York borough of Queens.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- "If you could read my mind, love/What a tale my thoughts could tell." So mused Canadian singer-songwriter Gordon Lightfoot in a hit song from a half-century ago. The downside of such a situation bedevils the hero of the dull dystopian science fiction drama "Chaos Walking" (Lionsgate). He inhabits a world where men's thoughts -- though not women's -- take audible and sometimes visible form, and thus can only be concealed with great difficulty. While that proves troubling for him and those around him, the effect on the film's audience is nothing short of torturous.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- The lively and colorful animated adventure "Raya and the Last Dragon" (Disney) teaches viewers that trust is the necessary basis of peaceful coexistence while showcasing the ills produced by greed and aggression. Yet it also includes quasi-religious behavior that might confuse impressionable viewers.
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NEW YORK (CNS) -- Sports films often try to inspire through a fictional story the same enthusiasm raised in the stands by whatever real-life pastime they happen to be portraying. So it's somewhat surprising that the basketball-themed drama "Boogie" (Focus) registers as more sullen than rousing. The movie's streetwise tone, moreover, makes it a gritty experience even for grown viewers.
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