Movie & Television Reviews

“Lightyear” (Disney) blasts off in cinemas with controversy in its wake.

The six-episode drama “Hotel Portofino” presents viewers with an unequal mix of banal storytelling and relevant social commentary. The series’ picturesque setting in the namesake Italian resort, moreover, fails to mask the amoral maneuverings of the titular hostelry’s inhabitants.

It’s been three long years since Maggie Smith’s tart-tongued matriarch, Violet Crawley, Dowager Countess of Grantham, got off one of her memorable zingers. So it must be time for “Downton Abbey: A New Era” (Focus).

There’s some good news about the evangelical comedy “Family Camp” (Roadside): Predictably, it’s almost squeaky clean and thus appropriate for a wide range of age groups. But that’s, alas, where the glad tidings about this leaden production cease.

The award for the most appropriate film title of 2022 goes to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (Disney). Truly, this is a maddening, multidimensional, decidedly strange, yet typically “Marvel”-ous movie based on the comic book series.

Set at the turn of the 10th century, the Viking epic “The Northman” (Focus) seeks to immerse viewers in the Nordic culture of that era.

The heist genre gets a fresh burst of frenetic energy with the animated comedy “The Bad Guys” (Universal). This high-octane, older-kid-friendly caper is veteran animator Pierre Perifel’s feature debut — and the neophyte director nails it.