This intense documentary isn't meant for kids. Employing some potentially questionable and undeniably challenging-to-watch techniques, this film offers an intense portrayal of six middle-aged men grappling to overcome memories of childhood abuse at the hands of Catholic priests. The filmmakers behind Procession put together a three-year collaborative project involving the abuse survivors and a professional drama therapist to lead them through reenactments of the scenes of their abuse. The scenes involve a child actor (Terrick Trobough) who is cast to represent all of the men, symbolizing the common thread and repetition of the abuse. Trobough becomes a kind of secondary therapist, absorbing the men's anger, panic, and sadness as he acts out terribly difficult scenes. It's hard to watch, and though the child actor seems to take it all in stride and displays a lot of emotional maturity, you can't help but wonder about him processing this all in the longer term. The steps of scouting locations, building sets, story-boarding memories, and reenacting each other's experiences are all part of the therapy. A couple of scenes are particularly charged, including when a priest is seen inside a confessional guilting the boy into silence about his abuse and the man whose memory it is can barely catch his breath outside as he watches the takes. Another scene in a bedroom has a priest in his underwear asking the boy to describe what he does when he thinks of girls; afterwards, the survivor playing the priest whispers how "frighteningly easy" it is to "manipulate" a child, and the man whose memory this is tears apart the furniture and props of the constructed set with his bare hands. The film certainly makes its case against an institution that failed to take action or protect the kids of its parishes. The men's lawyer says she has represented over 400 victims of priest abuse just in the Kansas City area. The trauma is still right there on the surface, and this film captures it in close detail; some overly-theatrical lighting and music wasn't necessary for this personal tale. It was certainly brave of the men to star in the film, and they repeat that their hope is their public revelations will prevent future abuses. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

This film would appear to have all the right ingredients for a franchise-ready adventure, yet something's notably off when the pieces are mixed together. Red Notice looks slick and boasts attractive A-list actors pulling fantastic stunts in gorgeous locations around the globe. It will find its audience. Gal Gadot is charmingly sadistic as the stunning and fierce Bishop, and she has a scene where she beats both her buff costars to a pulp. Dwayne Johnson plays straight man to Ryan Reynolds' tongue-in-cheek bad boy. But Reynolds' ironic one-liners come across as cloying, and his character grates on the nerves within minutes of the opening scene. There are a few very funny moments in the film, like a Russian guard liking a shirtless Putin pic on Instagram or when Reynolds asks Johnson's character if he knows the back of his head looks like a giant male member, but mostly the banter is more obvious than amusing. Why bother with so many international locations if the production is going to rely on stereotypes (bullfighting in Spain) and only the best-known landmarks (pyramids in Cairo, Louvre in Paris)? Similarly, the script seems to have a constant need to over-explain things. Characters detail exactly what's just happened or is about to, in case you didn't quite get it. Gadot starts one such explanation with, "At the risk of stating the obvious," then goes on to do just that. Granted, in some cases they're lying, but it still slows (and dumbs) the action down in the moment. There's a scene where Reynolds is wearing an explorer's outfit and hat while he and Johnson crack into a Nazi crypt. The reference is obvious, but the direction still has Reynolds whistle the Indiana Jones theme song. It's as if the filmmakers don't trust us to get their references or their story points. But underestimating your audience can be insulting, and a few unanswered questions aren't always a bad thing. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Formidable performances and a heart-wrenching story drive this disturbing drama from Brazil. The dynamics of the enslaved men in 7 Prisoners offer a study in human psychology. We see how slyly the foreman takes the smartest among them under his wing, slowly turning him against his own former companions. Rodrigo Santoro infuses Luca with a pulsing fury just beneath the surface, while Christian Malheiros' Mateus exudes a credible blend of cleverness and confusion. Their moods are matched by a cinematography bathed in shady blues and greens, punctuated by starkly sunlit cityscapes and junkyard scenes. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

If you like seeing grown adults getting beaten, hit, pierced, set on fire, and tossed repeatedly on their backs, the Home Alone series is for you. By this point, after no fewer than five previous features in the franchise, Home Sweet Home Alone might not have much new to offer. But the characters here have a wholesomeness to them that was missing in some of the earlier films. Less home burglars and more desperate parents about to lose their own home, Ellie Kemper and Rob Delaney are quite sweet as reluctant home invaders Pam and Jeff who play Christmas songs on bells for the elderly in their spare time and apologize to inanimate objects when they run into them. After an awkwardly-paced introduction with some clunky jokes, the film picks up when the comedy becomes physical. Kemper and Delaney are believable victims with limber frames. A scene where they struggle to help each other climb a tall wall, complete with an ill-timed fart and set in slow motion to children's choir singing, is laugh-out-loud funny. Same with the sequence of hijinks Max embarks upon when he finds himself alone at home, including iron board-ing down the stairs and building an ice cream sundae directly in his mouth. Admittedly, there's (still) something iffy about laughing along with a 10-year-old as he brutally injures adults, and some of the falls and hits feel particularly vicious. But the familiar formula has its appeal, and franchise fans will enjoy the expected echoes of earlier editions. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

This Belgian Christmas tale is pleasant without being exceptionally entertaining, and heartwarming without igniting any particularly strong feelings. Some humor falls flat in The Claus Family, especially involving elves meant to be goofy but who border on irritating. The drama in the family dynamics of a working widow and her two kids, who are still grieving their dad's accidental death, is more convincing. But the film is uneven, some dialogue and performances land awkwardly, and a subplot involving the mom's cookie-factory job feels superfluous. Special effects on miniature elves and a magical snow globe that transports Santa around the world look surprisingly old-fashioned, but the cobblestoned town setting is very pretty. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

What starts out feeling like a rehash of a dozen rom-coms you've seen before turns out to be a film that slowly, albeit unevenly, constructs its own charm. Love Hard is a feel-good, Christmas-set romantic comedy with a couple of twists, including Asian American main characters and a plot involving catfishing via dating apps. The main character, Natalie, writes a "disaster date" column. She suggests half of people like reading about disaster dates and the other half prefer storybook romances. This film tries to combine the two. Do you know how it's going to end before it starts? Pretty much. But like any good date, getting there should be the fun part. There are some funny scenes as well as some laughable one-liners, like an L.A. "6" equaling a small-town, East-Coast "10," a grandma confusing "G word" for "geisha" rather than "girlfriend," or a crack about someone throwing around cool terms sounding like she has "Millennial Tourette's." The fact that they're not politically correct is what gives these jokes their playful punch. Another, more woke riff involves a reworking of "Baby, It's Cold Outside," which one character calls the "sexual assault theme song," to make it less "rape-y." It's neither the romance nor the comedy that carries this film, though (and the fact that it's set during Christmas feels more like a marketing decision than a plot necessity). The sweetness of the characters and the background of Josh's quirky but loving family ultimately make Love Hard a likable watch. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

This Hollywood-style heist film from Germany builds an entertaining backstory to Netflix's action-heavy Army of the Dead, revolving around safecracker Dieter (aka Sebastian). Serving as a kind of European counterpart to the prior film, Army of Thieves focuses more on character than action, involves a multinational cast, and is set against gorgeous locations (much more pleasing than Dead's apocalyptic Vegas). The cast is charismatic, especially leads Schweighöfer and Emmanuel, who both exude a sweetness missing in too many American action movies. The filming aims to be stylistically interesting as well in terms of some conscientiously arty framing and lighting. A couple of getaway scenes through European landscapes are memorable, purposefully recalling Michael Caine classic The Italian Job. Set (though not filmed) across Munich, Paris, Prague, and St. Moritz, the film borrows from other heist and action movies as well, doing so in an entirely self aware way. When a character sets up a sequence announcing it's the way it "would happen" in a heist movie, we understand exactly. When character Brad Cage, self named as a nod to hero Nicolas, is described as having grown up "watching American movies," we sense a wink and nod to star-director Schweighöfer himself and also to the kind of referential cinema he's constructing here. In that sense, Army of Thieves is a perfect product for the global streaming age -- made locally but meant to appeal internationally, and shot in English. Of course, you have to suspend some disbelief: Why is everyone speaking English? Is safe-cracking really just about having a keen ear? Why isn't anyone concerned about fingerprints? But you notice this precisely because the film, which runs a tad long at just over two hours, aims for a certain amount of realism within the genre, and that in itself is commendable. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

There's an adage in storytelling that encourages writers to "show, don't tell"; this film could have benefited from that advice. Instead, A Magical Journey relies heavily on a character's recollection of events to compensate for a disjointed storyline that doesn't add up to much of anything. An oddball collection of characters moves from disconnected setting to setting, or more accurately, from soundstage to soundstage of a magical movie studio, as a young girl tries to solve a mystery by midnight. The adventure leaves nothing for viewers to grab onto -- no fully-developed characters, no hoped-for outcome. Other aspects add to the weirdness, including some poorly-dubbed actors in the English version and dismal attempts at humor (?) often involving kids getting hurt. A final fight scene made to look like an early-era video game is vexing. French veteran Jean Reno's apparition as an omniscient hologram does nothing to lift the proceedings, nor does the presence of a few other familiar faces. Take a pass on this muddled journey. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Starting exactly where the last film left off and ending with "To be continued," this sequel is made exclusively for fans of the series, from beginning to end. After We Fell doesn't even make much of an effort to interest new audiences, sticking with the familiar pattern of rotating scenes of conflict and sex. Only this time, the conflict feels even more forced than usual. Ending on yet another parent-related cliffhanger, the problems the young couple Tessa and Hardin face feel otherwise eminently solvable, revolving around geographical moves, petty jealousies, and bad dreams. Some storylines are introduced only to be dropped, and some aspects of Tessa and particularly Hardin's character are (still) hard to take seriously. One interesting theme is the way young adults can't rely on their aging parents, but it's not enough to sustain this thin tale of star-crossed lovers. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Fun was had at CineEurope: Paramount executives dressed the part to unveil a sneak peek at Top Gun: Maverick and celebrate the success to date of Rocketman, confetti fireworks exploded at the end of Disney’s product presentation and Tom Hanks made a celebrity appearance. But the event is ultimately a serious affair, as is the global film business, which finds itself in a critical moment due to corporate consolidation and technological fluctuations. Here, The Hollywood Reporter takes a look at some of the talking points from this year’s CineEurope trade show, which wrapped Thursday in Barcelona. Story continues here. See the link below for full coverage of the CineEurope convention in Barcelona, June 17-20, 2019. https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/topic/cineeurope

Madonna continues to revel in pushing boundaries and remaining original, and she promises to live to 200 in her wide-ranging new concert documentary. Madame X is a two-hour smorgasbord of theatrical performances, complex choreography involving nearly 50 performers, flashing mixed media, and elaborate set designs. A 90-second video intro on her career as a provocateur undersells the cosmopolitan and inclusive concert she goes on to give, incorporating a breadth of world musical genres, styles, and artists and a plethora of political messages and imagery. The artist mixes her classics with newer pieces made with artists from around the world. She sings in Portuguese in a makeshift "Fado Club," a nod to the concert location and Madonna's time living in Lisbon. She is accompanied on video by Colombian artist Maluma in a sexy dance number. An all-female orchestra from Cape Verde and another female group accompany her on two of the most memorable pieces, inspired by African and Middle Eastern sounds. You might want to take the two hours in doses, which is easy to do with a pause between numbers. Donning knee (and, it would appear, butt) pads, Madonna herself seems to need a pause between some numbers. She also does a handstand and dances in high heels. The icon works very hard to still be sexy in her 60s, and prides herself on her continued nonconformity, but she also comes across as quite maternal in this concert, connecting with women of all backgrounds, incorporating her adopted kids into the act, and beaming with pride as she showcases young talents from around the world. It's neat to see her interacting with the audience in a relatively small venue, where she walks onto the floor and takes a seat on a couple of occasions. It would appear, from minor outfit variations, that there's more than one performance edited into this film. But there's only one Madame X, eye patch and all. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.

Despite uneven opening and closing sequences, this family melodrama from Italy hits just enough emotionally genuine notes to make it an interesting character study. Middle-aged and older viewers will empathize with some of the issues the sibling duo faces in My Brother, My Sister, including accepting grown children on their own terms, facing the death of elderly parents, and making major life changes while there's still time to enjoy them. Well-acted and set in Rome, which is glimpsed occasionally in street scenes (including a few gratuitous Colosseum shots and a couple of attractive sequences set only to classical music), the film begins with a death and ends with a symbolic rebirth. The shady color tones used throughout craft a mood, but the film doesn't wallow in darkness or get stuck in the initial anger of the brother and sister, reunited after many years by their difficult father's death. Claudia Pandolfi and Alessandro Preziosi play well to counter-types but also convey a genuine sibling bond. Francesco Caballo embodies Seba, who suffers from mental illness, with a subtle performance punctuated by hand gestures and unreadable glances. The only scenes that feel out of place are the arrival of the irreverent son at the opening funeral and an out-of-body experience toward the end. One tries too hard to introduce disorder and the other to wrap things up too neatly. Read the full review at Common Sense Media.