Marvel

Freeze Frame: “Maria” (R), “Queer” (R), “Kraven the Hunter” (R), “Carry On” (PG-13)

Angelina Jolie's stunning performance is the main draw of filmmaker Pablo Lorraine's "Maria," a Netflix biopic about the last tragic days in the life of famed operatic diva Maria Callas. A fading Callas shares some intimate memories of her life and career with a journalist...who appears in only her imagination....

FREEZE FRAME: “Bob Marley: One Love” (PG-13), “Madame Web” (PG-13), “The Taste of Things” (PG-13), “This is Me…Now: A Love Story” (PG-13)

“Bob Marley: One Love” is both entertaining and disappointing at the same time. The late reggae icon's music propels what is otherwise a very bland reenactment of segments of his life. You can't blame Kingsley Ben Adir who is fine in the title role and the soundtrack is engaging, but...

Freeze Frame: “Mean Girls” (PG-13), “American Fiction” (R), “Lift” (PG-13), “Echo” (TV-MA)

Tina Fey's hit 2004 comedy "Mean Girls" was adapted into a popular Broadway musical. The new movie is a cinematic version of that play. Angourie Rice leads the cast in the tale of a teen who rubs a nasty A-list student the wrong way when she falls for a certain...

Freeze Frame: “The Marvels” (PG-13), “Journey to Bethlehem” (PG), “Quiz Lady” (R), “Albert Brooks: Defending My Life” (Not rated)

The superpowers of Captain Marvel, Ms. Marvel and SABER astronaut Monica Rambeau become mysteriously intertwined in the action opus "The Marvels." Brie Larson, Iman Vellani and Teyonah Parris play the potent trio who are forced to work together to save the destabilized universe. "The Marvels" is silly stuff, incorporating wacky humor along...

Freeze Frame: “Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse” (PG-13), “The Boogeyman” (PG-13)

While it's long, frenzied and slings more plot webs than it can reasonably control, "Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse" is an impressive, visually extravagant sequel to the 2018 Oscar-winning animated feature “Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse.” Teenager Miles Morales is back as the new Spidey in a mind-bending adventure that pits our...

Freeze Frame: “Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania” (PG-13), “Sharper” (R), “Winnie the Pooh: Blood and Honey” (R)

"Ant-Man and the Wasp: Quantumania" is the third stand-alone Ant-Man movie featuring our size-shifting Avenger hero, played by Kansas City’s own Paul Rudd. Evangeline Lily, Michelle Pfeiffer, and Michael Douglas reprise their roles from the previous “Ant-Man” entry. Ant-Man and his crew inadvertently shrink to the quantum realm only to...

Freeze Frame: “Black Panther: Wakanda Forever” (PG-13), “My Father’s Dragon” (PG)

The highly anticipated sequel "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" is a sprawling, action-packed and overlong Marvel epic, redeemed by filmmaker Ryan Coogler's vision that serves as an earnest salute to the late Chadwick Boseman, who initially played the title character. It’s also a thoughtful commentary on colonialism. Laticia Wright takes the...

Freeze Frame: “Thor: Love and Thunder” (PG-13)

When comedian Taika Waititi wrote and directed the 2017 Marvel epic "Thor: Ragnarok," he injected the Avengers series with a playful, irreverent twist, emphasizing humor as well as action. He made Thor a bit of a goof. Still heroic, but also flawed and fearful. Watiti employs that same template with...