Laika Entertainment, the Portland-based and Phil Knight-backed stop-motion animation studio that brought you “Coraline,” “ParaNorman, and “The Boxtrolls” have outdone themselves with their newest effort. “Kubo and the Two Strings” leaps off the screen with an original foreign folk tale that employs a rich originality and builds a strong base of emotional connection that rivals its Disney/Pixar contemporaries. Everything about its surface is finely crafted and creatively awe-inspiring. Who and what lies behind this film’s skin are its most egregious flaws that keep it from being a justifiable, full-fledged classic.

DOCUMENTARY REVIEW: Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You

The adjectives "titan" and "humble" are not commonly found together. Famed television producer Norman Lear is an iconoclast in every way. His successful shows and the waves they created are forever chiseled into that industry. Away from the his seat as a creative czar, the man remained a hard-working and vigilant self-made man of activism and integrity. In his 90s, Lear has crossed unimaginable measures of impact and history. The new documentary "Norman Lear: Just Another Version of You" stylishly chronicles his vast contributions.

MOVIE REVIEW: Star Trek Beyond

The toothpaste is out of the tube, so to speak, for this current “Star Trek” franchise stewarded by J.J. Abrams. Seven years into a reboot of erasure, there’s no going back. This new cast and new timeline is here to stay. If the die-hards haven’t dealt with it by now, they likely never will. Those who arrived in 2009 with wide eyes and a fresh heart have not been disappointed. “Star Trek Beyond” pushes a stellar and steady progression of shiny and modern blockbuster filmmaking with the right salutes to beloved nostalgia that warm from within.

SHORT FILM REVIEW: The Gun Equation

Short films have the unenviable creative and artistic challenge of time limitation. By design, they have a brief window to cut the BS, grab your attention, spin its narrative, and create resonance. Simplicity is key and nuance takes over for sprawl. A razor sharp example of a short film that checks those boxes with raised eyebrows and quick captivation is local Chicago filmmaker Matthew Weinstein’s “The Gun Equation.” His short film plays at the 2016 Blue Whiskey Independent Film Festival which runs from July 24-31 at the AMC Randhurst 12 theater in Mount Prospect, Illinois.

MOVIE REVIEW: Fathers and Daughters

Cynical critics and audiences will likely pontificate a headline of “Russell Crowe Goes Soft!” after watching his lead work in his new film “Fathers and Daughters” from “Pursuit of Happyness” director Gabriele Muccino. Watching the “Gladiator” Oscar winner play an ardent father of a heavy ensemble drama is a role that does not require the temperamental violence that normally fronts for the inner honor and heart we know resides inside many of the Australian tough guy’s most memorable roles. For once, he lets love do the talking instead of his fists.

MOVIE REVIEW: Hunt for the Wilderpeople

Cinema aficionados will quickly point fingers towards a few familiar comparisons for director Taika Waititi's New Zealand-based festival favorite, "Hunt for the Wilderpeople." The trouble is they will be shoehorning the film into an unshapely and narrow box where many containers are needed. "Hunt for the Wilderpeople" is rich and broad film with a charm and a sprawling ambition that will ping more that a few of your favorite film sensibilities. Broken into ten cheeky episodic chapters and boasting beautiful natural beauty shot by cinematographer Lachlan Milne, you will find a fun experience that may feel familiar, yet is wholly unique.

MOVIE REVIEW: Swiss Army Man

As ambiguous as this sounds, your love or hate of the new film and Sundance favorite, “Swiss Army Man,” will say something about your inner quirkiness, mindset, and, most of all, your heart. Packed with detail and imagination beyond belief, this film defies classification and destroys the hyperbole, pretense, and comparative euphemisms that normally define films about friendship, the genre of buddy movies, and even unconventional screen love stories. Movies that tug our heartstrings with a smile normally kill us with kindness. The polarizing “Swiss Army Man” kills us with weirdness. This film lets its WTF freak flag fly and encourages you to do the same.

MOVIE REVIEW: The American Side

There's room for film noir that can inhabit real places and plausible people while still having all the necessary ingredients to make them as cool as the genre demands. With a deep homage to noir coupled with a big dose of 1970's-esque conspiracy thrillers, director Jenna Ricker, in her second feature film, presents "The American Side" starring her Greg Stuhr and a notable ensemble cast. Using upstate New York, Ricker has created a living and breathing seedy side out a wholesome American city and tourist destination. As a film, "The American Side" is satisfying and a constantly engaging throwback detective story that surpasses its glitzy and more expensive Hollywood peer "The Nice Guys."

MOVIE REVIEW: Finding Dory

Unless the title begins with "Toy Story," Disney/Pixar has not had very good luck with effective sequels. "Cars 2" aimed too high for a bigger international stage and "Monsters University" failed as a bonding origin story prequel. Thirteen years after the original, "Finding Dory" changes that weak trend with a winning flourish. Teeming with plenty of vibrant energy and anchored by Pixar's signature punch of finely tuned emotional storytelling, this sequel will delight audiences young and old and earns its mature place as a companion piece to the classic "Finding Nemo."

MOVIE REVIEW: High-Rise

"High-Rise," starring Tom Hiddleston, is a strongly constructed blend of experimental science fiction with colossal political and social commentary. The layers of symbolism, analogy, and allegory are as tall as the building itself. There is a richly disturbing and dark fascination in observing how all of this frivolity comes crashing down in unpredictable and unlimited disaster.

MOVIE REVIEW: Elvis & Nixon

Combine the oft-used expression "a picture is worth a thousand words" with the idiom "a fly on the wall," and you will have the contagious vigor that is "Elvis & Nixon." The most famous loose collar in the land meets the most-buttoned up Commander-in-Chief of this generation in a comedy of jovial possibilities. There is better-than-good chance that not a lick of "Elvis & Nixon" is true, but that doesn't ruin the fun of examining a documented moment of star-crossed brevity.

MOVIE REVIEW: Louder than Bombs

"Louder than Bombs" is the English language debut of Norwegian director Joachim Trier and his writing partner Eskil Vogt, best known for their 2006 Academy Award-nominated foreign language film "Reprise." Their newest work was a competitor for the Palme d'Or at the 2015 Cannes Film Festival, Norway's first since 1979. Possessing a compelling rotation of inner monologues, the heavily dramatic film observes a fractured family of men dealing with the overhanging aftermath of losing their iconic matriarch.

EVERY MOVIE HAS A LESSON

by Don Shanahan

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