Freeze Frame: “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” (PG-13), “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” (PG-13), “American Animals” (R)

If you haven’t witnessed the marketing blitz for “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom,” I hope you get your TV, radio and internet service back soon. The fifth film in the popular series should take in a monstrous haul at the box office but doesn’t quite live up to the quality of the last outing. Chris Pratt, Bryce Dallas Howard and the special effects magicians all return to save the resurrected dinosaurs from a volcanic eruption that threatens to wipe out their island. While certainly watchable and visually spectacular, the Jurassic plot elements may be getting a bit long in the tooth.

Was the real Fred Rogers the kindly, affable, empathetic fellow he appeared to be on his long-running PBS kids’ show “Mr. Rogers Neighborhood?” Oscar-winning filmmaker Morgan Neville’s documentary “Won’t You Be My Neighbor?” shows that indeed he was. The movie focuses on the Presbyterian minister’s back story, his motives and his passion for kind-hearted, morally instructive children’s programming. Even those who weren’t fans of his show may be surprised by just how moving this loving portrait actually is. For those who watched as kids, it’s nostalgia heaven.

“American Animals” is an intriguing hybrid movie, part documentary, part dramatic re-enactment. This skillfully made film intricately interweaves the two in its depiction of the true story of a boneheaded heist. Barry Keoghan and Evan Peters play a couple of college kids who finds out how badly things can go when you rob a library of some valuable books.  While it’s a comic crime thriller, “American Animals” is also a thought-provoking examination of memory, morality and the consequences of choice.

Also opening this week, “Izzy Gets the F*ck Across Town” is a comedy about a young woman who traverses LA to crash the engagement party of her ex-boyfriend and her ex-best friend. Mackenzie Davis stars.


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