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Raised to be fair, just, and kind Princess Snow White (Rachel Zegler) is cast out of her kingdom by her evil stepmother Queen (Gal Gadot). Now, hidden deep in the woods she must find her strength to lead a band of outcasts and thieves to reclaim what’s hers. But, finding that inner strength will take the help from an unlikely group of dwarfs, seven of them to be specific, can she do it, or is it already too late? Adapting the work of Disney’s 1937 animated classic, based on the writings of Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm and present day Erin Cressida Wilson, and Directed by Marc Webb, this lightly re-imagined tale brings a sense of self empowered strength and independence to what audiences have been familiar with for nearly 88 years, a damsel in distress in need of being saved. And, while the film makes strides to entertain with new music in addition to the familiar classics Hi-ho, and Whistle While You Work, the newer songs by and large serve to move the narrative but lack the necessary hook to make them truly memorable despite remarkably strong vocal performances from Zegler and Gadot. Meanwhile from a visual perspective, the production choice to go with CGI dwarves as opposed to live actors has certainly been a point of controversy off screen; still the overall look of the film is visually consistent across the board. All this is to say, for all of its merits, there are often equal or slightly stronger de-merits to accompany throughout the film. Now, in the shadow of Wicked the high bar has been set, and Snow White doesn’t quite contain the same oomph to match or exceed. Yet, for families of young ones, don’t let the off screen banter dissuade you from a “pretty ok” film. Running one hour and forty nine minutes, Snow White is rated PG.

Assistant bank manager, Nate (Jack Quaid), in his early 30’s has already outlived many with his medical condition, that is, Nate can’t feel pain; but now, after living a life of caution, the woman of his dreams, Sherry (Amber Midthunder), stands to turn all that upside down when she’s kidnapped by bank robbers. Now, using his disability as a super power, Nate will slog ahead from one brutal experience to the next in order to save Sherry, can he make it before his body gives out completely? Written by Lars Jacobson and Directed by Dan Berk and Robert Olsen, this action adventure turned on its ear delivers the fun in heaping helpings of bone chilling thrills, chills, and spills, boldly crossing the lines of taste, horror, and action in ways that seem all too plausible given the human body and its fallibility. All too often we see the hero escape from peril with but a scratch, Hollywood stunt performers to thank for the heavy lifting and suspension of disbelief, but what if we took that suspension away? Black eyes, and broken bones, Novocaine delivers the laughs and winces with comedic flair and a joke/gag that’s just long enough, teetering on too long, but still packs the punch necessary to cross the finish line with a thumbs up and a smile. Quaid’s charisma carries the load and plays nicely into archetypal design of the common man turned hero. Running one hour and fifty minutes, Novocaine is rated R.

Some time after Steve Rogers, the first Captain America, passed his shield, suit, and duties to Sam Wilson (Anthony Mackie) to take the reins as Captain America, Wilson finds himself taking orders from a president (Harrison Ford) he doesn’t fully agree with politically. Conflicted on his principles and the strains of nation states wrestling for power, keeping America in good grace on the international stage may prove to be too much, especially considering the fact that the string pullers appear to have stacked the deck against all odds. Written by Rob Edwards, Malcom Spellman, and Dalan Musson and Directed by Julius Onah, this post snap and Endgame continuation makes its best efforts to impress but instead comes up short with tired writing tropes, lack of originality in its antagonist development, and clunky choreography action set pieces. Further, less than impressive CGI lacks the luster and polish fans have come to expect in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. That is to say, the film’s failures aren’t in the hands of its actors, rather, it’s everything else around them that falls apart as Marvel fights its own uphill battle of viewer fatigue and set up for another sub-franchise without really advancing the overall MCU narrative much at all. On the positive, the film’s scoring brings a roaring orchestra back to the front providing a rich soundtrack to bounce viewers from start to finish, props to Composer Laura Karpman for creating a bold and rich soundscape. Running one hour and fifty eight minutes, this can wait for the small screen, Captain America: Brave New World is rated PG-13.