NEW YORK. Four and a half decades on from the bicentennial year in which it premiered, the “Rocky” franchise is still a cinematic gift that keeps on giving. Thus “Creed III” (PG-13, United Artists), the ninth film in the series, is a thinking-person’s sports drama that will appeal even to those with no particular interest in well-choreographed slugfests.

NEW YORK. The transformation of a grump into a warm and fuzzy character is a trope as old as the Hollywood Hills. So, while the drama-and-comedy blend “A Man Called Otto” (PG-13, Sony) proves generally goodhearted, it also turns out to be formulaic. Mature discernment is required, moreover, to deal with some of the film’s themes.

NEW YORK. Comedies that fall flat and films that fail to engage viewers’ intellect are so common that the 2019 release of “Knives Out” was nothing short of a delight. The comic whodunit was by turns intriguing and amusing.

NEW YORK. The untimely 2020 death of gifted actor Chadwick Boseman, aged only 43, was a blow to Hollywood in general and to the future of a potential “Black Panther” franchise in particular. As fans of that 2018 action adventure will recall, Boseman played its protagonist — so that his absence would necessarily require a significant shift of focus in any sequel.

NEW YORK. German author and World War I veteran Erich Maria Remarque’s classic novel “All Quiet on the Western Front” first appeared in serialized form in 1928. Published as a book the following year, his tale became a runaway bestseller, not only in Germany but around the globe as well.