When reviewing a sequel in any long-running franchise -- especially one with as much time travel as the "Terminator" movies, which have always trafficked in alternate futures and pasts -- there’s a temptation, if not an absolute need, to include a brief recapitulation of where things stand before getting started. And with "Terminator: Dark Fate," the satisfyingly solid sixth installment in the sci-fi series about various Terminators (i.e., cyborg super-assassins from the future), that’s certainly true.

Jonathan Lethem’s novel about a private eye with Tourette’s syndrome, “Motherless Brooklyn,” starts with a brilliant burst of uncontrolled profanity and an explanation of its protagonist’s condition.

British actress Cynthia Erivo is relatively small in stature. In person, she is earnest and genial. In performance, the 32-year-old can appear achingly vulnerable. And if you’re not paying attention, she will bowl you over. Even if you are, she probably will, anyway.

It seems like director Deon Taylor might be the only filmmaker actively keeping the mid-budget adult thriller alive in this age of extinction. Plus, he’s prolific: His topical corrupt cop drama “Black and Blue” is his second 2019 film, arriving just a few months after his surprisingly entertaining and campy home invasion horror thriller “The Intruder.”

“Fargo” and “Legion” auteur Noah Hawley shoots for the stars in his daring leap from the small screen to the big with his uniquely existential “Lucy in the Sky.” It’s a loose adaptation of the bizarre 2007 incident involving Lisa Nowak, an astronaut who was charged with attempted kidnapping after driving from Houston to Orlando to confront the Air Force captain she believed to be involved with her lover, another astronaut. But rather than trafficking in tawdry true crime, Hawley and co-writers Brian C. Brown and Elliott DiGuiseppi use the story to explore the thematic potential of what it means to return to life on Earth after experiencing space, from a point of view of a complex, challenging woman.

For years, people have wondered why 2009’s smash zom-com "Zombieland" never had a sequel. Ruben Fleischer’s feature directorial debut put him on the map and firmly established the postmodern zombie craze as a pop phenomenon that shows no signs of stopping.

Once upon a time, a Hollywood movie didn’t have to be so many things to so many people. It didn’t have to set a new opening-weekend record, conquer multiple demographics or plant the seeds of a future franchise to be deemed a reasonable success. But times have changed and reasonable has long gone out the window. Witness the bigger-is-better aesthetic that informs even a relatively minor cultural happening like "Maleficent: Mistress of Evil," Disney’s follow-up to its 2014 hit "Maleficent," which was itself a live-action spin on the studio’s sublime 1959 animation, "Sleeping Beauty."

After years of buildup, Apple will make its long-awaited push into original programming with the Nov. 1 launch of its streaming service, Apple TV+. Its most anticipated series, "The Morning Show," starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon, might as well have been created in a streaming TV lab -- with one exception. Viewers eager to consume the show will have to pace themselves: Apple TV+ will make three episodes of the series available immediately, but the remaining seven will be released weekly.

The enduring appeal of "The Addams Family" is quite impressive. With only four notes and a couple of snaps, plus a classic black dress, one can instantly evoke the classic American Gothic clan, who are creepy, kooky, mysterious and spooky.

Legendary director Ang Lee first dipped his toe into the world of high frame rate cinema with 2016’s "Billy Lynn’s Long Halftime Walk," which was shot and shown in select theaters at 120 frames per second (as opposed the usual 24). Lee and executives hoped critics and audiences might give the new look a chance, but the bizarre adaptation of the best-selling novel wasn’t the hit that allowed the format to break through to the mainstream. Perhaps they just needed a real movie star to sell it. So for his next trick, Lee has put not one, but two Will Smiths in an action movie, "Gemini Man." Too bad everyone involved forgot about the part that actually makes you care: the script.

Kevin Smith was about to go in for heart surgery in early 2018 when his doctor informed him the odds were high he would not survive because he had what doctors call a "widowmaker heart attack." Despite assurances by the man who was about to perform the operation that all would go well, Smith began to reflect on his life.

Ruby Rose knows it’s a big deal that Batwoman is gay. She’s read the comics and has seen the clickbait headlines. But she also wants you to know there’s more to her new character than just her dating life.

With the amount of controversy surrounding it, "Joker" feels more like an idea and less like an actual movie. Could it possibly stand up to the mythology that has sprung up around it, stoked by breathless film festival hype, pre-emptive misanthropic adoration, gun control activists demanding action and some foot-in-mouth interviews by writer/director Todd Phillips? It absolutely does not live up to its undeserved hype, for better or for worse. And while that may be surprising, it also has to be expected. So what exactly is "Joker"? It’s a great trailer.

Where have you gone, Eddie Murphy? Our nation turns its cheerless eyes to you. Really. I know, Murphy didn’t actually go anywhere, but given the two decades since he’s made one of the trademark R-rated comedies that are his strength, it seems like he did. Thankfully, Murphy is back, and both his old gifts and some new ones are on engaging display in the rowdy, raunchy, inescapably funny "Dolemite Is My Name," a gleefully profane biopic and a passion project the star has been nurturing for years.

As cliched as it sounds, there’s no reason to reinvent the wheel. But if a wheel can’t be improved on, it can be made lovelier. That’s what "Abominable" does. The animated film takes a standard story and adds so much visual beauty that it exceeds expectations.

Sandra Diaz-Twine will join "Boston" Rob Mariano as a mentor for "Survivor: Island of the Idols."

Ta-Nehisi Coates’ first novel, “The Water Dancer,” has been a long and eventful journey. Begun a decade ago, his chronicle of a slave with an extraordinary memory who joins the Underground Railroad is the result of countless drafts, a shift from multiple narrators to a single voice, some needed advice from fellow writers and hundreds of thousands of words discarded. Coates’ research ranged from reading interviews with ex-slaves and consulting a 19th-century Farmer’s Almanac — books duly pictured on his Instagram account — to his numerous and revelatory visits to former plantations. And then came that call from Oprah Winfrey.

A look comes over Brad Pitt when he listens to James Gray that can only be described in one word: tickled. And a little awed. Recently, the actor and director visited Washington, D.C., to premiere "Ad Astra," a science-fiction drama in which Pitt plays an astronaut sent to Neptune to retrieve his father, who has been presumed dead. Gray conceived his idea in 2011 but it lay dormant until Pitt agreed to produce it in 2016; the film, both agree, changed profoundly in the ensuing years, becoming as much a meditation on middle-aged regret as a speculative glimpse into a space-age future.

Once feared shuttered for good, "Downton Abbey" has grandly reopened its doors, and for those who found pleasure within its magisterial walls, that is the best of news. For six seasons a pillar of appointment TV, in fact PBS’ highest-rated dramatic series of all time, "Downton" has adroitly transitioned to theaters with all its satisfying qualities -- and just about its entire core cast -- intact.

The group competed in Wednesday's live, two-hour results show, where they performed "Some Gave All" with Billy Ray Cyrus.

It’s that time of year I always look forward to: leaves crunching on the sidewalk, sweater weather, shadowy evenings and -- just maybe -- a glut of good movies at the multiplexes. Here are some of the most anticipated titles coming up this season, sorted by categories; please note that all release dates are tentative and as changeable as Mister Rogers’ cardigans.

"Hustlers" opens with a long Steadicam shot following new girl Destiny (Constance Wu) as she strolls into her own destiny, winding her way from the warm womb of a strip club dressing room, onto the club floor. With this visual nod, director Lorene Scafaria asserts just what her film is, and what it’s about. It’s not just "the J. Lo stripper movie," although it is that, and how.

Donna Tartt’s Pulizter Prize-winning tome "The Goldfinch" was a blockbuster bestseller and the toast of book clubs in 2013. The film adaptation should have been slam dunk, with director John Crowley, fresh off the acclaimed "Brooklyn," legendary cinematographer Roger Deakins, and screenwriter Peter Straughan adapting Tartt’s novel. And yet, the movie is simpering and dull, devoid of tension, an overwrought and uninvolving film that is both a personal drama and a crime mystery, but also neither of those things, and nearly, nothing at all.

It can be a cheesy thing when a novel is split up and spread out over a handful of films, but Stephen King’s “It” is not one of those books.

TV review

See how we sift and scroll through these endless TV menus and grids, scoffing at what the algorithms recommend, defaulting yet again to old sitcom reruns and an episode of "Beachfront Bargain Hunt" that we’re never quite sure if we’ve seen before. In theory we want to be swept up in something new, but we’re sometimes not very good about trying new things. Sometimes the biggest challenge is a genre bias -- to watch a show that looks unbearably hokey. Too elfy, too childish, too derivative.

David Oyelowo is a writer, director (he’s in the middle of shooting a film called “The Water Man” now), actor and producer. The classically trained British actor -- a couple of years ago, he was in an off-Broadway production of “Othello,” opposite James Bond, aka Daniel Craig, as Iago -- has five other projects in pre- or post-production, as well as a lot of voiceover work for television and more on his resume. Point is, the guy is busy, but he knows how to keep his proverbial ducks in a row.

We all agree that in writing about new films, spoilers should be kept to a minimum, right? But what about movies that are decades old — classics, whose stories are embedded in popular culture? Is there a statute of limitations on when it is not OK to openly discuss a film's secrets?

There is a certain mindless pleasure in the “Fallen” movies. Watching Gerard Butler muscle his way through increasingly preposterous obstacles as a Secret Service agent can be amusing and oddly transfixing at the same time. It’s mass entertainment that makes a courtesy stop in theaters before ascending to its true calling: Endless cable reruns. But whatever this franchise got away with in “Olympus Has Fallen” and “London Has Fallen,” it’s clear that the well has run dry on this idea and character.

The Boss meets Bollywood, and if those potent entities resonate with you, you know that combination is not to be missed. If you don’t know, you’re going to find out as "Blinded by the Light," a high-spirited film with enough potential for pleasure to get picked up at Sundance by a major like Warners, goes into wide release.

Much has been made of how "Good Boys" -- an R-rated comedy about a trio of sixth-grade nerds caught up in a misadventure involving drugs, sex toys, beer and slapstick mishaps -- looks like a junior varsity version of "Superbad," or, to cite a more recent precedent, "Booksmart," but with 12-year-old boys. Those comparisons are fair, and fairly accurate. The comedy, produced by "Superbad’s" writer/producers Seth Rogen and Evan Goldberg, hits all the expected marks for raunch and vulgarity, with the bonus that it is actually also kind of sweet.

Actress Isabela Moner says she didn’t expect so much action when she signed up for “Dora and the Lost City of Gold,” the upcoming film about the adventurous Latina explorer. Moner said she thought it would be a funny film, with Dora in a “fish out of water” kind of situation as she starts high school.

It’s two-thirds of the way through "The Kitchen" before anyone asks Kathy Brennan (Melissa McCarthy) what, exactly, she wants. It’s her son, at the dinner table. We’ve seen Kathy struggle and scrape by to survive, utterly sick of depending on and thanking men for her existence. We’ve seen her turn to a life of crime, wresting away control of the Irish mob in late ’70s Hell’s Kitchen while her husband is away in prison. We’ve seen her flourish in the brutal and bloody collections and protections "business" she builds with two other mob wives, the abused, broken Claire (Elisabeth Moss) and Ruby (Tiffany Haddish), a black woman, an outsider. But what does she really want?

"Sometimes I hate who I am." In most movies, an expression of such existential angst is to be expected from the lips of a troubled teen -- or a conflicted killer. But in the overheated (yet undercooked) melodrama "The Art of Racing in the Rain," those thoughts belong to a dog, voiced by Kevin Costner, who articulates the frustration that his character can’t communicate with the struggling racecar driver (Milo Ventimiglia) who owns him.

Like most attempts at wrangling old friends for a gathering, this one started with a group text. But those can become a graveyard of noncommitments, so to persuade their former “Beverly Hills, 90210” costars to reunite on the small screen, Tori Spelling and Jennie Garth (aka Donna Martin and Kelly Taylor) opted for a more personalized touch: They made gift bags.

The clock is ticking for two soldiers who have to stop an attack in the trailer for "1917," which is scheduled to be released in December.

It’s pretty incredible how the humble beginnings of 2001’s "The Fast and the Furious," a twist on "Point Break" with muscle cars instead of surfboards, have now spawned a nine-film franchise. And the souped-up series shows no signs of slowing down. This summer, star Vin Diesel has tossed the keys to his action superstar costars, Dwayne Johnson and Jason Statham, for their very own spinoff, the cumbersomely titled "Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw."

Lil Nas X has taken his horse to the old town road and ridden it to the top of the Billboard charts for 16 weeks, tying a record set by Mariah Carey and Luis Fonsi.

If there was any doubt that the 2019 box office belonged to the Walt Disney Co., this weekend put an end to it. Not only did its photorealistic remake of “The Lion King” devour opening weekend records for the month of July and PG-rated films, but “Avengers: Endgame” also crept past “Avatar” to become the highest-grossing film of all time.

Tom Cruise, who plays the title character, surprised audiences at Comic-Con in San Diego, Calif., with the trailer Thursday.

"The Lion King" is the latest victim in the Disney remake parade, in which director Jon Favreau dons his best Dr. Moreau cosplay and imagines a "Planet Earth" where animals spout Shakespearean soliloquies. The result of this horrific experiment, combining photorealistic animal simulations with celebrity voices, is a bizarre Frankenstein’s monster of a film that is so distressingly unpleasant it somehow manages to even ruin the original, much beloved 1994 hand-drawn cartoon version.

Kumail Nanjiani has enlivened everything from jeans commercials to Oscar clip packages, so it’s no surprise that in "Stuber," he’s able to perk up a buddy comedy that follows the "Lethal Weapon"/"Rush Hour" template so slavishly that it could be titled "Lethal Hour" or "Weapon Rush" or "Lethal Rush." You get the idea.

With "Spider-Man: Far From Home" now in theaters, it’s time to revisit our ranking of the now eight -- and counting -- Spider-Man films. "Far From Home" swings into our best three Spidey-flicks of all-time, but does it make its way to the top? Or does an animated Miles Morales put up a fight?

Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man has a new spring in his step. After the critical and commercial success of Sony’s third character reboot in Jon Watts’ "Spider-Man: Homecoming" and the hallucinatory multiverse adventure of the animated "Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse," things are looking pretty good for ol’ Spidey.

It’s a notion that would leave Beatles fans Here, There and Everywhere crying out for Help! A world without the transcendent songs of Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr seems almost impossible to imagine nearly six decades after the Fab Four changed music forever. But that’s the concept explored in "Yesterday," a new movie where everybody except one man forgets about The Beatles.

In a summer of sequels, third and fourth films in a series have to prove the worthiness of their existence, and some this season haven’t risen to the top. But while it’s easy to scoff at another killer doll film in The Conjuring Universe, the spooky franchise is stealthily successful, and always steadily consistent. "Annabelle Comes Home," the third "Annabelle" film, which marks the directorial debut of writer Gary Dauberman, could actually be the best in the trilogy.

It’s easy to question the necessity of another "Toy Story" movie, especially after the emotionally devastating "Toy Story 3." Arriving nine years later, "Toy Story 4" has to earn its relevance. It does so in spades, with astonishingly beautiful animation, smart humor and a story filled with the kind of pathos and poignancy we expect.

Aubrey Plaza was haunted by Chucky long before she ever toyed with joining the new "Child's Play" movie. The slasher film series about an evil killer doll left an impression on the actress at a young age, and now she's at the center of the franchise's latest flick -- a modernized retelling of the 1988 original in which Chucky is now a high-tech robot who learns from humans rather than a toy possessed by an evil spirit.

Commentary

As musical epithets go, it’s hard to say whether "dad rock" is more insulting to the dads or the rock. It’s a term that’s been flung at everyone from Pavement to the Eagles, and it’s most often used to describe a multigenerational swath of rock ’n’ roll that no longer feels angry enough at the world to want to change it. Or if not that, maybe it’s just mature rock music made by and for chill, white dads.

When he took up the mantle of Harlem detective John Shaft for the 2000 action reboot "Shaft," Samuel L. Jackson knew his character, John Shaft II, would need a persona of his own.

Kumail Nanjiani is the best thing about "Men in Black: International." That’s saying something, considering that the actor never appears on camera and that the character he lends his expressively plaintive voice to is a CGI alien the size of a gerbil.

"Dark Phoenix" isn’t kidding about the "dark" part. The latest, and probably final, chapter in the X-Men superhero saga is a somber, even funereal affair -- not in a stylish, Christopher Nolan-esque way, or even a la "Logan," the deliciously cynical comic-book-noir contribution to the mutant canon from 2017.

The key to the appeal of "The Secret Life of Pets" is the filmmakers understand the lovable quirks and characteristics that make our furry friends who they are. In the sequel to the animated hit, "The Secret Life of Pets 2," it’s more of the same, but with babies and toddlers thrown into the mix. If you’ve seen the first movie, you get it.

Tom King, who writes DC Comics’ flagship Batman series and other titles, hopes his work will help people understand the experiences of a generation that has spent much of their lives fighting terrorism overseas.

"Rocketman" is the first big-screen adaptation of the life and music of singer-songwriter Sir Elton John. The film, now in theaters, was executive produced by ... Sir Elton John.

The trailer for the upcoming installment of the Rambo series is set over a slowed-down rendition of Lil Nas X’s “Old Town Road.”

Julianna Margulies knew her role in the National Geographic limited-series "The Hot Zone" would give her a multitude of layers to play. She could concentrate on the medical part of the character bringing to the screen the doctor who, in 1989, recognized the first appearance of the deadly Ebola virus on U.S. soil. There were also the elements of her character being in the military while being a wife and a mother.

Growing up in England, Naomi Scott, like so many other young girls, fell in love at an early age with Disney’s animated heroines - particularly Mulan, Pocahontas and Jasmine from "Aladdin." But while those three are officially part of Disney’s juggernaut princess line of media franchises and toys, alongside the likes of Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Belle and Ariel, it wasn’t their ostensible princess-y trappings that enthralled Scott. It was something deeper.

In a Kansas farmhouse, a young couple is engaged in romantic intimacy when the woman feels the earth move. It’s the tremors from an alien spaceship (not a spoiler, it’s in the synopsis), which has deposited a humanoid baby nearby. The woman (Elizabeth Banks) has struggled with fertility problems and takes it as a sign from heaven, so she keeps it and raises it as her own.

If more than three-quarter of a million disgruntled "Game of Thrones" fans had their way, dragons would unmercifully torch the eighth season of the HBO hit, screaming an endless stream of firestorm upon the story line of the show’s final episodes.

At this point, the words "John" and "Wick" used together signify something very specific. Mostly: sharply choreographed, creatively efficient violence. We know there will be a brooding Keanu Reeves killing dozens (only because he has to). There will be eye-popping stunts and a network of sharply dressed assassins. There will be gun fu. Does "John Wick: Chapter Three - Parabellum" break the formula? It most certainly does not. Director Chad Stahelski wouldn’t dare. But you almost wish he would.

Engaging critically with Dog Movies can be a challenge for a critic. Who wants to be the crank who scoffs that the heartwarming animal movie is just too contrived and sentimental? But it can be hard to avoid, with the sickly sweet pandering pabulum of recent films like "A Dog’s Purpose" and "Dog Days." Fortunately, "A Dog’s Journey," the second film adapted from W. Bruce Cameron’s novels and a follow-up to "A Dog’s Purpose," offers up an interesting, complex story into which we can sink our teeth.

It’s an open secret in publishing that young-adult fiction has gone viral because card-carrying adults as well as younger folks are drawn to the genre’s purity of emotions and directness of action. In the cinematic universe, the "Twilight" and "Hunger Games" franchises have benefited from that phenomenon, and now the sweet-natured but potent "The Sun Is Also a Star" is poised to join the list.

The first sample that the Chemical Brothers locked down when building their new record, "No Geography," made its way into the present from the far end of a long-disconnected telephone line.

Q&A

Ryan Reynolds once envisioned himself, best-case scenario, as Wilson on “Home Improvement” or Mr. Furley on “Three’s Company.” “When I started in this business, my highest goal was to be the wacky neighbor on a sitcom,” Reynolds says. “It took a much different path.” Against his own expectations, Reynolds has emerged as one of Hollywood’s top movie stars, thanks in large part to the runaway success of his two “Deadpool” movies, R-rated wise-cracking films that seemed to unlock Reynolds’ own powers of motor-mouthed sarcasm.

Nearly a half-century after making her bones in "The Godfather," Diane Keaton is playing a cheerleader. In her latest movie, "Poms," the 73-year-old Keaton, who won hearts -- and an Oscar -- wearing ties and a fedora in "Annie Hall," dons a short skirt as Martha, a woman who moves to a retirement community as a means of facing her own mortality.

A Pakistani waiter working in a small cafe in the city of Rawalpindi says he knew nothing about the TV series “Game of Thrones” — or its antihero character played by U.S. actor Peter Dinklage.

ANALYSIS

A "Game of Thrones" fan and a military history scholar breaks down the mistakes in the epic onscreen battle. The gist? Good television; terrible military tactics.

High fantasy in film and TV is having a moment. Take the premise of the brutal home invasion thriller "The Intruder." A creative director at a San Francisco advertising agency and a journalist who writes about social justice issues for women’s magazines have a cool $3 million-plus to drop on a palatial dream home in Napa Valley. It’s a stretch to suspend your disbelief that far, but buying the property does have a catch: The former owner just can’t seem to say goodbye. Swap the H in HGTV for "horror" and you’ve got "The Intruder."

"UglyDolls" begins in a place called Uglyville, where an outcast citizenry of misshapen and otherwise substandard dolls has been exiled, cut off from the love of children because of their perceived imperfections. And who cannot relate?

The universe belongs to Marvel. “Avengers: Endgame” shattered the record for biggest opening weekend with an estimated $350 million in ticket sales domestically and $1.2 billion globally, reaching a new pinnacle in the blockbuster era that the comic-book studio has come to dominate.

If there’s a single phrase that sums up the guiding principle of the Marvel Cinematic Universe -- the interdependent series of superhero movies that, with the arrival of this week’s "Avengers: Endgame," now numbers 22 films -- it’s this: Hold that thought. (Truth be told, with "Endgame’s" running time of three hours, "hold that bladder" would also apply.)

Thirteen summers ago, Marvel Studios president Kevin Feige was asked during a relatively small Comic-Con panel whether he could ever see his company’s characters interacting on screen. "Who knows?" Feige teased. "This is a big new experiment for Marvel. But it’s no coincidence that we have the rights to Iron Man, Hulk, Thor, Cap" -- and right then, before he could finish, he was interrupted by the volume of audience glee and hopeful extrapolation. Fan imaginations leaped ahead at the possibilities.

Near the time of the 75th anniversary of the June 6 D-Day landing at Omaha Beach, the film will return to more than 600 theaters in the U.S.

Commentary

Television has become such a wildly diverse, densely populated planet that asking "What should I watch?" is like asking "Where should I go on vacation?" But ask, "What is the best show ever?' and the answer is easy: "Game of Thrones."

It’s taken Linda Cardellini almost a quarter of a century, but she’s finally returned to the genre that helped launch her professional acting career. The initial starring role on television for the star of “The Curse of La Llorona” was in the series “Bone Chillers.” There’s no way the projects could be any different, as the TV show dealt with high school students battling a wide array of monsters, while her new feature film is based on a well-known Latin American legend.

In the growing faith-based film industry, movies based on the true stories of medical miracles are ideal film fodder. They’re more accessible to mainstream audiences than Biblical tales or conservative-baiting political fiction, and in pitting faith against medical science, they present seemingly hard proof of the existence of God -- or whatever mystical forces of the universe one might believe in.