Maleficent:  

Angelina Jolie is superb as the evil witch from the Sleeping Beauty story who turns out to be something much different than the portrayal in previous movies and books. In fact, Maleficent starts out as a kind, caring, and giving girl, a fairy princess in an elegant and colourful world in which she is kind to every living thing.  It all changes with an invading army that threatens everything.  Maleficent is treated horribly and morphs into something much, much darker in order to fight this force.  And yes, she is the one who placed the spell on Princess Aurora … and in something of a gender-bender, she is the only one that might be able to remove it.  Voices of Elle Fanning and Sharlto Copley round out what is a magnificent cast and an outstanding story. Rated PG.

Hercules:

Dwayne (The Rock) Johnson is the title character here, half man, half god, son of Zeus, but beset by challenges and violence all his days.  Given a series of challenges that he must complete in order to be free of the entrapment by the gods, he succeeds, and now wanders the land with his small band of warriors, fighting the good fight as mercenaries.  When the King of Thrace asks him to prepare his army for a huge coming battle, Hercules does not realize, when he takes on the job, that he has been duped.  Now he must try to extricate his team from the mess that ensues.  Also stars Ian McShane, John Hurt, and Rufus Sewell. Rated 14A.   

Planes: Fire & Rescue:

The same Disney animation team that brought us “Cars” and later, “Planes” offers up a sequel in which Dusty, the former crop-dusting airplane now a champion air racer, faces big problems.  A diagnosis of engine trouble means he may never race again.  Still looking to be useful, and still hungry for action, he teams up with a gang of planes who fight fires, water bombers, rescue helicopters, and a team of Smoke Jumpers.  As always, there are no humans in the movie, only mechanical devices. Voices of Ed Harris, Julie Bowen, and Wes Studi.   Good fun!!  Rated PG.

Missing (2008):  

This is an Asian horror film shot in Hong Kong with a well-known Asian cast headed by Angelica Lee, a horror veteran in this genre.  She sees ghosts, she sees strange and dark creatures, and she is also hunted by things unspeakably strange.  You’ll really get your Netflix subscription money’s worth here as the movie seems to morph into something else each time we thing the story lines are all tied up and it’s time to move on.  But it’s just on to the next horror, the next stage.  Not for every taste for sure, but very interesting! Rated 14A.

A Promise (2013): 

Rebecca Hall (Transcendence, Iron Man 3) is a young woman in Germany just prior to World War I who is in love with Karl (Alan Rickman of the Harry Potter movies), but she is married to his boss, Frederick.  Frederick He is forced to travel to Mexico on business for two years, the war intervenes, and it looks as if they may not return … and despite the promise she made to stay true and to spend their lives together, well, it’s war, Karl is here … her husband is not.  Well-written and beautifully photographed.  Rated 14A.