Fans of the original Star Trek TV series get ready to be blown away. The newest film in the J.J. Abrams rebooted series, “Star Trek Beyond,” feels like vintage Star Trek with plenty of big-screen action. At the same time, the film reaffirms the franchise’s core values of embracing the best parts of flawed humanity and finding hope in people’s goodness rather than despair in our human weaknesses.

In "Captain Fantastic," Ben Cash (Viggo Mortensen) lives off the grid in the forests of the Pacific Northwest. He and his wife decided to raise their six children away from the influences of the world, providing a physical, moral, and intellectual education rarely seen today. Ben and Leslie (Trin Miller) want their kids to be philosopher kings. Intellectual debate happens around the campfire at night after daytime hours filled with rigorous physical training and hunting.

Set in a Manhattan hi-rise, “The Secret Life of Pets,” exposes what our pets do when we walk out the door for work or school. Chubby kitty Chloe swats aside her food bowl in favor of what’s in the fridge. Buddy, a dachshund, turns on a mixer and uses it to massage his back. Cute terrier Max (Louis C.K.), on the other hand, waits eagerly by the door for his owner, Katie to come back. She throws him for a loop one fine day when she brings home a brother for Max in the form of Duke, a huge, hair...

Frobscottle (noun): Giant Country’s green fizzy drink where the bubbles go down instead of up causing giggle-inducing whizzpoppers! In American English, Frobscottle is pop (or soda depending on where you’re from) which causes no-holds-barred flatulence as opposed to burps. Fans of Roald Dahl’s book can even make their own if you look up the recipe online; although I would suspect that non-movie Frobscottle’s bubbles would go up instead of down. Too bad.The BFG, the latest...

There's a new film out about nuns. And we can never have too many films about nuns, of course. The film "The Innocents" is  about a convent in Poland in 1945, at the end of World War II, where horrors have occurred. Horrors not just from the war and the Nazi occupation, but from the newly-occupying Red Army. I won't be able to go any further in this review if I don't tell you more. SPOILER ALERT: The whole film is about the fact that many of the Sisters were raped by R...

Back in 1991, I spent one week in Charleston, SC, on loan from my community in Alexandria, VA, to help out in the Pauline Book & Media Center there while other Sisters were away on vacation. Having always been a history buff, I took the opportunity to visit Fort Sumter on the weekend.  The narrative provided during the boat trip  mentioned the 1989 film, Glory, the story of which took place on nearby Morris Island. That night, I rented Glory and loved the film so much that it launc...

Pixar Animations Studios delivers another gem of a film in "Finding Dory," the sequel to 2003’s popular ocean adventure, "Finding Nemo." Maybe not as innovative as "Nemo" or as ingenious as "Inside Out," "Finding Dory" still manages to elicit loud laughs, a few tears, and some poignant moments about the true meaning of family.

Louisa, caretaker and companion to the the embittered and sarcastic Will (a young quadriplegic), eventually gets under his skin with her perpetually cheery, optimistic and endearing demeanor, coupled with her highly original fashion choices. The dialogue and gentle sparring is genuinely witty and charming. The plot machinations are funny. At one point, while the "superior" Will is trying to school Lou about life, Lou comes back at him with a knowing description of how the type of upwardly mobile...

A prayer reflection based on Scripture and the movie, "The Hundred-Foot Journey." The Cinema Divina prayer experience puts faith and culture in dialogue.

The latest film in the popular X-Men franchise falls short of its immediate predecessor, "Days of Future Past," but fans still get the satisfaction of seeing the younger versions of their favorite characters. This time around, the graduates and students of Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters band together to stave off world domination in "X-Men: Apocalypse."