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meant for little ones, but the films so often turn out more like Psychology 101 class, delving into an adult’s hunt for purpose (“Soul”) or the functions of the human brain (“Inside Out”) with the goal of making nostalgic millennials cry.

Lin-Manuel Miranda has done it again! Again!The “Hamilton” creator’s blissful new movie “In the Heights,” which is based on his Tony Award-winning 2008 musical, is the best film of the year so far. It’s also easily the best movie-musical since the Oscar-winning “Chicago” from way back in 2003.

“Conjuring” franchise.

“Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron” horse franchise — which has mindbogglingly been in existence for 19 years — is “Spirit Untamed.” It’s closer to a state fair pony ride than a rousing Western adventure. A general criterion for a kids movie is that you should be able to remember the villain — their voice, look, catchphrase. Well, right now I can more easily picture the cashier at Trader Joe’s than the baddie of “Spirit Untamed.”The entire plot is just as bland.

Joker” of Disney. Like the pitch-black Joaquin Phoenix film, it explains the origins and psychology of an infamous villain — this time, Cruella de Vil from “101 Dalmatians.” How can we possibly come to understand and like a person who’s best known for plotting to skin adorable puppies and sew them into a coat? Who a lyric once described as “like a spider waiting for the kill?”It’s actually quite easy, because the wondrous Emma Stone plays her.The two-toned villainess wasn’t always Cruella,

Paramount+ sometime in July.)The hugely enjoyable second entry doesn’t lift the franchise to new artistic heights, a la “The Empire Strikes Back,” but “Part II” is every bit as good and scary as its predecessor, and the characters, especially the kids, go to deeper and braver places.Here’s a quick refresh. For more than a year, Earth has been overrun by animalistic aliens who are hypersensitive to sound.

Zack Snyder’s 4 hourslong “Justice League.”) And so the best aspects of “Army of the Dead” are hindered by undue excess.Running time: 148 minutes. Rated R (strong bloody violence, gore and language throughout, some sexual content and brief nudity/graphic nudity).

A.J. Finn’s novel, is here, and it sure is dusty.Said glass pane belongs to the cavernous New York home of Anna (Amy Adams), an agoraphobic child psychologist who’s currently separated from her husband.

Jason Statham is the Baryshnikov of badassery. In “Wrath of Man,” the actor’s character, called H, breathtakingly kills 10 people like he’s doing a chassé into a gloriousgrand jeté onstage at Lincoln Center. (Look it up, you rubes.)H is one of many brusque fellows who work for Fortico, an armored-car company that moves millions of dollars in cash and jewels daily for reputable clients.

David Oyelowo’s debut as a director, “The Water Man,” is a very nice movie that’s a lot like a bunch of other very nice movies. Gunner’s mom (Rosario Dawson) is dying of cancer, and the awkward young bookworm is determined to save her.

Billy Crystal plays Charlie Berns, a renowned writer of TV, films and Broadway plays whose heyday was in the 1970s and ’80s. Now, he’s a respected old fogey with a gig writing for a cable sketch show called “This Just In.” It airs on the “Funny Channel” — a misnomer if there ever was one.No wonder the overlong movie directed by Crystal doesn’t get laughs, because “Here Today” is also a dementia drama.

“A Quiet Place,” speaking out loud in Pawling gets you slaughtered by aliens. In “I’m Thinking of Ending Things,” an innocent visit to a boyfriend’s parents’ Fishkill farm traps you in a psychological nightmare.

stars Michael B. Jordan as John Clark.

Nomadland,” Frances McDormand never once slices open a four-armed Hulk so his innards spill out onto the pavement. In “Mortal Kombat,” that’s one of the less gratuitous scenes.

Running time: 96 minutes. Rated R (bloody violence, language, some sexual material and drug use).

Colin Farrell, barely awake). The kids gulp a Dixie cup of blue goo each day, which suppresses their emotions and libidos. The government naturally would prefer its specimens produce offspring in the un-fun laboratory way, rather than allow a bunch of sex-crazed young people to go loco on an expensive spacecraft.

deWitt’s novel, and there has been very little effort put into making his literary creations resemble actual humans.“Did you drink to the brink of sound reason?” she asks Malcolm, a poorly served Hedges, at the breakfast table.

is a real, century-old institution in Philly’s Strawberry Mansion neighborhood. The majority of its riders are black, and many of them act in the film alongside Idris Elba.Elba plays Harp, a local cowboy whose life is dedicated to these majestic animals.

Godzilla: King of the Monsters,” a film darker than a Russian wake.Running time: 113 minutes. Rated PG-13 (intense sequences of creature violence/destruction and brief language).I was a bit concerned at the start of the new one, though.

Mein Vater ist Deutscher.” (It means what you think it means.)We meet Ilse (Carla Juri), an uptight German professor and full-fledged Nazi, and a few Brits who are Hitler sympathizers trying to thwart Miller’s mission. The story is a compelling one.Still, a more effective thriller would juxtapose the worldwide catastrophe the adults all know is about to be unleashed, and carefree young kids who are unknowingly at the center of it.

Rudy Giuliani into a Midtown hotel room for a bogus interview is a tough act to follow. It’s one of the many news-making moments that prove the man behind the “Borat” series is the undisputed King of Pranks.“Bad Trip,” meanwhile, is from a mind more like the Earl of Pranks.

drop a reported $70 million to redo a four-year-old film that now lasts 1/6 of a day? Why does this wayward world of ours do anything? Social media. Four years ago, Snyder was unable to finish his flick in post-production and handed the reins to Joss Whedon.

Running time: 91 minutes. Rated R (language throughout).

Chadwick Boseman, Delroy Lindo, Riz Ahmed), Anthony Hopkins ranks high for his seismic turn in “The Father.” The 83-year-old legend plays a man suffering from dementia, during the terrible moment when he’s starting to lose his grip on reality. Stories about the aging mind have grown in popularity as the population has been leading longer lives, and now too many of us can connect to this traumatic experience.  But what French director Florian Zeller attempts to do here is show the horrific

Disney’s “Raya and the Last Dragon.”Hollywood loves a scaly scamp. There’s “Game of Thrones,” “Dragonheart,” “Pete’s Dragon,” the much better 2016 remake of “Pete’s Dragon” and the gold standard of fire-breathers, “How To Train Your Dragon,” one of the best CGI family films ever made.There’s something so whimsical about a pet that can destroy all your enemies without lifting a claw.“Raya,” which has a lot going for it, is not as emotionally involving as any of those other  films or TV shows.

“Coming 2 America” darn near copies its predecessor, down to specific cherished bits: attractive royal servants emerging from the bathtub, Fresh Peaches the rapper, an arranged marriage where the bride-to-be’s favorite food is “whatever you like.” It’s all here in director Craig Brewer’s movie, for better or worse.And the repetition doesn’t end there. The comedy is once again about a fish-out-of-water man facing a dilemma about his future.

Wine Country,” and she still can’t tell an engaging story with panache. A frustratingly bland young-adult feminist comedy without good jokes, “Moxie” is a cross between a hokey ’90s family sitcom and a vastly superior teen film, such as “Lady Bird.” Visually, the movie is not so much simple as it is routine. Emotionally, it’s catatonic.

The Iron Lady” or “Judy” is “The United States vs. Billie Holiday,” director Lee Daniels’ movie about the celebrated singer of “Strange Fruit.” The stunner is Andra Day, a musician who is almost totally new to acting.

has been ravaged by addiction and desperately needs help.Until then, though, these scripts will keep getting churned out, and we’ll keep tuning out.

not,” and you’ll get a taste of this imitation crab stick “Blithe Spirit.”  If your experience with the British playwright is limited — or nonexistent — try the 1945 film version starring Rex Harrison.

who’s nominated for a Golden Globe for the part (putting this in the “comedy or musical” category is a stretch), is well cast here. She brings along those vacant “Gone Girl” expressions that mask a killer instinct.

controversy surrounding the music-driven movie’s depiction of autism (well deserved!). But this is not a case of a few tut-tutters’ finger-wagging tarnishing an otherwise great work of art.

her directing debut, however, is its soulfulness. Her character, Edee, isn’t some spoiled brat stranded in the woods like Tea Leoni in “Six Days Seven Nights”; she is a traumatized woman trying to rebuild her life from the ground up.Edee’s reality has been shattered by a family tragedy, so she packs up the car and leaves the city behind for a cabin deep in the Wyoming wilderness far removed from civilization.

Get Out” in 2017, and he hasn’t let up since. His performances in “Black Panther” and “Queen & Slim” were every bit as forceful as his horror hit, but he’s topped them all with this one.

first films that was made during the pandemic, so the one-location shoot and tiny cast make a lot of sense.) Anger and resentment quickly bubble to the surface, leaving you wondering how or why these two have stuck together as long as they have.

maaaan, it’s pretty hard to root for storming the Capitol these days.It’s a challenge to rally behind anybody here. Lauren and Co., including an old activist-scientist named Joan (Grace Zabriskie) and a gorgon (think Medusa), race to recover the Bakku before it’s too late, but their journey is monotonous.“Cryptozoo” is, from start to finish, a pothead’s pastime.