I freely admit the main reason I went to “The Flash” was with eager anticipation for the return of Michael Keaton as Batman. So be it, but as “The Flash” and its time- and universe-bending plot undertook its twists and turns, I found so much more to enjoy than Keaton being back in the bat-saddle as the Caped Crusader. For his performance, I (and, it must be said, the entire preview audience) was enraptured and cheering—but this is a Flash movie

Beginning with an intoxicating narration that sets the story on its path (and even sneaking a quote from Leonard Cohen into the first few minutes) “The Secret Kingdom” (helmed by former visual effects artist turned writer/director Matt Drummond) does something special, it takes viewers through a sweet but exciting tale that takes its audience seriously. Twelve-year-old Peter (a very natural Sam Everingham)

With the documentary “Playing with Fire: Jeannette Sorrell and the Mysteries of Conducting” Oscar-winning director Allan Miller explores the career of a woman who bleeds with a complete love of music and works to bring the vibrancy and stories of classical music to life.

When she was young Jeannette Sorrell was told by the Juilliard School and The Cleveland Orchestra that no orchestra would hire

In mid-19th century France, Eugénie has worked for twenty years alongside the famous gastronome Dodin. She’s an expert at preparing French dishes, poring over the writings of Antonin Carême, a pastry chef from the same era, preparing her foods, adding a touch of novelty and carefully choosing radishes and carrots from the vegetable garden outside Dodin’s home. Over time, a passion develops between the two of them and from their

My other favorite this year along with “The zone of interest” is “Anatomy of a fall” (“Anatomie d’une chute”), directed by Justine Triet. It’s a courtroom drama around a writer's sudden death at his chalet. His wife (Sandra Hüller) is also a writer. The disorder of their relationship, their child, who became blind following an accident that the father agonizes over, the woman’s need for space, her liaisons. At first considered a suicide

“Asteroid City” is a visual feat of a movie with little in the way of substance, in fact, this might be the most contrived Wes Anderson film I've watched. Scarlett Johansson, Tom Hanks, Liev Schreiber and Adrien Brody star in it, which adds heft but the photography is helliciously rendered in saturated pastels and so it's weird.

This film brought a sense of emptiness in me. During its two hours’ running time

Jessica Hausner takes concepts such as workaholism or dieting and makes them into extremes. In her 2019 film “Little Joe” a scientist became so engrossed in cultivating her indoor plants that she would choose them over her children. “Club zero” takes place in a high-school in a non-descript city. Ms. Novak (Mia Wasikowska), a nutrition teacher just joined the school, she comes with her own branded weight-loss tea, it has her face on the package.