Movie & Television Reviews

A serious, even lugubrious, tone and a top-flight cast add heft to the ecclesiastical melodrama “Conclave” (Focus). Yet the film is fundamentally a power-struggle potboiler kept roiling by attention-grabbing plot developments — the last and most significant of which Catholic viewers will likely find uncomfortable at best.

As scripted by Mark Bomback, “White Bird” effectively tugs at the heart by showcasing altruistic heroism in the face of dire evil.

The insensate botch of “Megalopolis” (Lionsgate) is structured like a fable, pitting the self-doubt and moral descent of a tortured modern-day architect against the debauchery of ancient Rome.

Cast aside any concerns about the dangers of artificial intelligence — “The Wild Robot” (Dreamworks) has arrived, a Mary Poppins bot ready to chase your cares away in this warm and fuzzy animated adaptation of the bestselling children’s book by Peter Brown.

Capsule reviews of theatrical movies available now for streaming or scheduled for broadcast on network or cable television as well as notes on TV programming for the same week.

“The Killer’s Game” (Lionsgate) is a potentially entertaining, albeit ridiculous, action comedy. Unfortunately, the criminal mayhem the movie lightheartedly showcases involves stomach-churning images of gore and dismemberment that quickly cancel out any fun that might be had from it.

Any connection between the animated adventure “Transformers One” (Paramount) and the great Catholic historian Lord Acton may seem unlikely. Yet director Josh Cooley’s film is a cautionary tale that fully vindicates the Victorian scholar’s famous observation that power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.