Abominable (PG, 1 hour, 37 minutes) Prettily animated and gently told, this pleasant and often witty family oriented adventure concerns a mild-mannered baby Yeti that has escaped from a research lab and winds up on the roof of an apartment building in Shanghai. After being discovered by three teenagers who name him Everest, the resourceful youngsters take on the challenge of getting the creature back home to an anxious family in the Himalayas. Their efforts are challenged by the need to evade the clutches of a curious zoologist and a wealthy and very resourceful Yeti hunter. Sure, it's predictable -- most animated kids' movies are -- but charming nonetheless. With the voices of Chloe Bennet, Tenzing Norgay Trainor (grandson of the Sherpa who, along with Edmund Hillary, first scaled the summit Mount Everest in 1953), Sarah Paulson, Eddie Izzard; directed by Jill Culton and Todd Wilderman.
Rambo: Last Blood (R, 1 hour, 29 minutes) From the franchise that never gives up, Sylvester Stallone returns to take on another revenge-motivated mission involving the kidnapping of a friend's daughter and a rascally Mexican cartel. It's racist, sadistic and generally offensive; about what you'd expect. But despite its title, don't count on this mediocre actioner to actually end Rambo's adventures. With Paz Vega, Adriana Barraza; directed by Adrian Grunberg.
Trick (not rated, 1 hour, 40 minutes) Nothing new here, nor does any of it make sense, but there are few dull moments in this horror tale of a creepy guy who murders his classmates at a costume party, gets arrested, then escapes but not before getting shot five times. Apparently he survives, because he persists in showing up on Halloween every year thereafter to kill some more. With Jamie Kennedy, Tom Atkins, Omar Epps; directed and co-written by Patrick Lussier.
Overcomer (PG, 1 hour, 59 minutes) No ambiguities here; everything is spelled out loud and clear --too much so -- in this Christian drama in which a high school basketball coach, challenged to carry on when the town's manufacturing plant shuts down, eliminates loads of jobs and forces families to leave, encounters a would-be athlete who renews his faith in himself and his community. With Alex Kendrick, Ben Davies, Elizabeth Becka; co-written and directed by Kendrick.
American Woman (R, 1 hour, 51 minutes) Honest, realistic, empathetic and well-performed, this is an unusual domestic drama about a blue-collar 32-year-old Pennsylvania woman who is suddenly tasked with raising her infant grandson after her teenage daughter (and mother of the child) goes missing. With Christina Hendricks, Aaron Paul, Sienna Miller, Amy Madigan; directed by Jake Scott (son of Ridley Scott).
Spider in the Web (R, 1 hour, 53 minutes) Ben Kingsley (known around my house as "Sir Ben") makes this slow-moving spy drama succeed in a role as a worn-out Mossad agent traveling around Europe with a younger operative who's secretly been sent to keep an eye on the older guy's ambiguous behavior toward his own government. With Monica Bellucci, Itay Tiran, Makram Khoury; directed by Eran Riklis.
MovieStyle on 12/20/2019