Freeze Frame: “Godzilla Vs. Kong” (PG-13), “French Exit” (R), “The Unholy” (PG-13)

Thanks to its childlike enthusiasm and spectacular special effects, “Godzilla Vs. Kong” is a fun popcorn movie adventure even though its storyline and dialogue are below par. “Kong: Skull Island” is still the best of the Legendary Studios MonsterVerse series that has successfully revived the giant monster genre. Ultimately, ”Godzilla vs. Kong” is like watching a WWE smackdown with power lines and skyscrapers instead of ropes and turnbuckles. For maximum enjoyment, try to channel your inner 7-year-old and just go along for the goofy ride.

Michelle Pfeiffer’s icy smooth performance is the main attraction of the eccentric comic drama, “French Exit.” It asks that eternal question, what happens to the idle rich when the money runs out? Pfeiffer plays a New York socialite who escapes to Paris with her shiftless son as her once substantial inheritance dwindles. Once in the City of Lights, she recruits the help of a fortune teller and makes contact with her dead husband, whose spirit has inhabited the body of her cat. The tone of this film is inconsistent and its charm ephemeral. But it’s got Michelle Pfeiffer, and that may be enough for some.

It may be far too early to speculate about what the worst movie of the year will be, but “The Unholy” is probably a viable candidate. Jeffrey Dean Morgan stars as a washed up, alcoholic journalist who hopes to resuscitate his career by covering and exploiting a small-town supernatural phenomenon. A teenage girl, deaf and mute from birth, begins to speak and prophesy after supposedly seeing a vision of the Virgin Mary. Is this miracle the product of good or evil? Even though the dialogue and execution are terrible, the most disappointing thing about “The Unholy” is that it isn’t campy enough to be unintentionally funny. It’s just an unholy mess.

Your local art house theaters are offering online viewing options for a number of  intriguing movie titles. More information is available at nelson-atkins.org, Screenland.com, fineartsgroup.com and drafthouse.com.

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