Movie & Television Reviews

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.

Though it comes across as somewhat unfocused, the animated comedy “Despicable Me 4” (Universal) retains much of the charm that has characterized the whole series of films to which it belongs. It’s an agreeable piece of fun that’s suitable for all but the very youngest.

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.

If the devil comes a-calling, you may need an electrician, because Moloch and his ilk have the power to make lights turn on and off at their bidding. Such is one of the primary takeaways from the often-silly horror flick “The Exorcism” (Vertical).

Raw mayhem fuels “The Bikeriders” (Focus), a fact-based drama about the rise and fall of a Chicago motorcycle gang over the 1960s and early 70s. Accordingly, only those prepared to take on challenging material should patronize this well-crafted but roisterous production.

A fact-based fish-out-of-water tale, director and co-writer Richard Linklater’s black comedy “Hit Man” (Netflix) starts off intriguingly. After some needlessly graphic forays into eroticism, however, the film’s third-act departure from the real biography of its protagonist sends a morally skewed message.

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.