movie & Television reviews
Television Review: ‘Grotesquerie,’ streaming, Hulu
Catholic viewers will naturally be interested in a TV show that features a nun as one of its principal characters. In the case of “Grotesquerie,” however, they’ll tune in, to use an obsolete term, only to be turned off — both by a welter of gore and by a treatment of the church that degenerates from mere ignorance to outright hostility.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon
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.
Movie Review: ‘Piece by Piece’
There’s much to like and even admire in the animated biography “Piece by Piece” (Focus). Most significantly, as a Lego version of singer, songwriter and music producer Pharrell Williams explores his past via an extended interview with director and co-writer Morgan Neville, the film highlights its subject’s Christian faith.
Movie Review: ‘Conclave’
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.
Movie Review: ‘White Bird’
As scripted by Mark Bomback, “White Bird” effectively tugs at the heart by showcasing altruistic heroism in the face of dire evil.
Movie Review: ‘Joker: Folie a Deux’
The upshot is a long, grim, ultimately unrewarding slog made suitable for few — more by its gritty atmosphere than by an accumulation of objectionable ingredients.
Movie Review: ‘Megalopolis’
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.
Movie Review: ‘The Wild Robot’
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.
Movie Review: ‘Never Let Go’
As allegorical horror films about woodland isolation complicated by demon-infestation rate, “Never Let Go” (Lionsgate) checks off all the unpleasant boxes.
Home viewing roundup: What’s available to stream and what’s on horizon
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.