Those who enter “Haunted Mansion” (Disney) in search of laughs will likely come away from it more satisfied than those who go in seeking eerie chills.

Life in plastic may be fantastic but the tedious ideology-driven comedy “Barbie” (Warner Bros.) is not. Although genuinely objectionable elements are relatively few, moreover, this is distinctly not a movie for the age group to which the figurine of the title is primarily marketed.

The onset of overlapping strikes by the Writers Guild of America and the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists has put Hollywood on hiatus.

If writer-director Christopher Nolan’s impressive but uneven portrait “Oppenheimer” (Universal) is anything to go by, famed theoretical physicist J. Robert Oppenheimer was a highly complex man.

The 160,000 actors and 11,500 screenwriters involved in the action against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers are concerned about two interrelated threats to their livelihood.

In a timely move, the folks behind the slick, vibrant espionage thriller “Mission: Impossible – Dead Reckoning Part One” have added an experimental Artificial Intelligence project run amok to their roster of villains.

A pilgrimage to Lourdes provides the framework for the tender drama “The Miracle Club” (Sony Classics).

Hollywood has decided that Asian American women deserve their very own raunchy road movie. And so viewers are invited along for “Joy Ride” (Lionsgate). They’d do well to skip the trip.

The latest title in a franchise that’s been going strong since 1997, “Diablo IV” (Blizzard) sees an epic confrontation between a rogue angel and a fugitive demon, with the fate of humanity hanging in the balance.

In theory, the tale of a shy but enthusiastic high schooler who is really a sea creature rather than a human might make for a pleasant diversion. But the major feminist and minor gay agendas that underlie the animated adventure “Ruby Gillman, Teenage Kraken” (Universal) spoil any potential fun the film might offer.