Rating: ««« out of ««««

Running Time: 122 minutes

If any scientists out there are planning on embarking on building a lab in space, they might want to check out the new sci-fi drama Ad Astra. It may compel them to think twice about bringing a very specific mammalian species along for the ride. For the rest of us, this is a low-key, but tense and engaging space drama that effectively combines thrills with personal introspection on the meaning of life and, to a lesser extent, dealing with family grievances.

The film is set in the future with Earth under dire threat due to a series of cataclysmic electrical storms coming from Neptune. Not long after, the military approach and...

Welcome back to another look at highlights arriving on Blu-ray and DVD. This edition has fewer Hollywood features, but there is a big film hitting stores, and plenty of smaller choices, too. So if you can’t make it out to the movies this week, be sure to give one of these titles a try!

Big New Releases!

Above the Shadows - This unusual drama involves a young woman who was once a tabloid photographer, but who now lives on the fringes and avoids personal contact. She unexpectedly encounters and befriends an ex-MMA fighter and realizes that one of her pictures ruined his career. The lead decides to try to make amends for her past, so that she can move on. Reviewers were split on this...

Writer and Director Haroula Rose, of Lincolnwood, Ill. will be at the Gallup Film Festival September 12-14.  Her film, Once Upon a River, based on Bonnie Jo Campbell’s New York Times’ 2011 best selling novel of the same name, will be screened at 6 pm September 14.

The film features actor Kenadi DelaCerna, who plays Margo, a young 15-year-old girl whose uncle, “Cal” lures her into a situation in which he takes advantage of her in a small river town along the Kalamazoo River near Lake Michigan. Margo’s father Bernard Crane is played by Tatanka Means, who comes to his daughter’s aid and defense as a fatal quarrel ensues with Uncle Cal.

“There was something about the...

Rating: «« out of ««««

Running Time: 149 minutes

It must be especially daunting to try to adapt a Pulitzer Prize winning novel to the big screen. As a result, The Goldfinch already has the deck well stacked against it. The film is well shot and features a couple of good performances and a few interesting moments. Unfortunately, it is also a little bit stiff, awkwardly plotted, and by the close, doesn’t make the emotional impact it needs to really wow viewers.

The story follows Theodore Decker (Oakes Fegley), a young boy visiting the Metropolitan Museum at the worst possible time. A bomb is detonated in the building, killing his mother and leaving him an orphan. He’s...