Ursine O' the TImes: "Paddington in Peru," reviewed.

A bear in his natural habitat. (Sony)

My Washington Post review of the jungle-action three-quel Paddington in Peru is here.

Ouch: "Love Hurts," reviewed.

Ke Huy Quan and Ariana DeBose play ex-lovers in “Love Hurts,” but their chemistry is not Gram-and-Emmylou grade.

The House that Wick Built is on shaky ground. My Washington Post review of the dismal action comedy Love Hurts is here.

The Power of the "Dog Man"

Squirrels and criminals beware. (Dreamworks)

Look, I didn’t hallucinate the ALIENS and Die Hard quotes in Dog Man; they were really there. The only thing that came out of my draft of my Washington Post review was where I pointed out that the bloodless canine-human head-trade in this PG-rated movie reminded me of the cranial swap in the original 1958 version of The Fly.

Girlfight the Power: "The Fire Inside," reviewed.

Ryan Destiny and Brian Tyree Henry as Claressa Shields and Jason Crutchfield. (MGM/Amazon)

If you don’t wanna take your folks or your grandma or your kids to Nosferatu (it’s good!) or Babygirl (haven’t seen it yet), and you want something more uplifting than A Complete Unknown (it’s good!), I endorse the boxing biopici. My Washington Post review is here.

Ninety-Six Puppeteers: "Life of Pi," reviewed.

Understandably the Paper of Record did not use my suggesed hed, —Ninety-Six Puppeteers — but my review of the touring production of the stage adaptation of Yann Martel’s Booker Prize-winning 2001 novel Life of Pi at the Kennedy Center through the holidays is in The Washington Post.

After the Tornado: Talking with Gillian Welch for WaPo

David Rawlings and Gillian Welch (Alysse Gafkjen)

I spoke with the great Gillian Welch about one of my favorite subjects — setlist-making — and about how she and David Rawlings put a (great) song called "Hashtag" on a (great) album otherwise populated by (great) tunes with titles like "Lawman," "Turf the Gambler," and "Howdy Howdy." For The Washington Post.

"Moana 2" is a Sea-Plus Musical Sea-Quel

Maui and Moana return in Moana 2, a film as inspired as its title. (Disney)

The Disney musical sequel Moana 2 is, like David Lynch’s surreal adult masterpiece Mulholland Drive before it, a repurposing of material originally intended for the small screen. My Washington Post review is here.

The Resilience of Laughter: "Dance Like There's Black People Watching," reviewed.

Jillian Ebanks, Breon Arzell, Max Thomas, Tamieka Chavis, and Arlietta Hall. (Teresa Castracane)

The Second City’s first show at Woolly Mammoth, Barack Stars, from those heady first months of the Obama Administration, was the subject of one of my first reviews for the Washington City Paper. My Washington Post review of their latest, offered in more dire times, is here.