NEW YORK. The award for the most appropriate film title of 2022 goes to “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” (PG-13, Disney). Truly, this is a maddening, multidimensional, decidedly strange, yet typically “Marvel”-ous movie based on the comic book series.

NEW YORK. The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry has proved to be a mine of prodigious riches for its creator, J.K. Rowling.

Yet, while tales focusing directly on its most famous alumnus, Harry Potter, have mostly been genuinely golden, other sagas arising from the academy have sometimes turned out to be mere flashes of pyrite.

NEW YORK. Positive priest characters are certainly a rarity in contemporary films. So Catholics will welcome the uplifting fact-based biography “Father Stu” (R, Columbia).

While deeply moving, however, this dramatization of the life of Stuart Long (Mark Wahlberg) is also hard-edged, particularly in terms of its dialogue.

NEW YORK. Viewers will find themselves thoroughly absorbed by “The Batman” (PG-13, Warner Bros.). Director and co-writer Matt Reeves’ reboot of the DC Comics-based franchise is a darkly powerful affair, and its script — penned with Peter Craig — plays with the interesting question whether the iconic crimefighter of the title is, in fact, a hero.

NEW YORK. In 2017, Channing Tatum and Reid Carolin were among the executive producers of the HBO documentary “War Dog: A Soldier’s Best Friend.”

The film explored the U.S. military’s post-9/11 deployment of canines trained for use in special operations as well as the deep affection that often developed between these animals and their human partners.

NEW YORK. In 2017, Kenneth Branagh directed and starred in a generally satisfying adaptation of Agatha Christie’s classic Hercule Poirot mystery “Murder on the Orient Express.” Now, he reprises both roles as the precision-loving Belgian detective encounters “Death on the Nile” (PG-13, 20th Century).

NEW YORK. “Hotel Transylvania: Transformania” (PG, Amazon) — the fourth installment in the animated franchise, primarily populated by iconic figures from classic horror films, that kicked off in 2012 — conceals no threatening fangs.

In fact, it suffers from the opposite problem; it lacks bite.

NEW YORK. “Sing 2” (PG, Universal), writer-director Garth Jennings’ follow-up to his 2016 animated musical comedy, finds that film’s ensemble of animal entertainers aiming for the big time.

As they work to fulfill their ambition, some of the dangers through which they pass are too scary for little kids. Fueled by familiar tunes and buoyed by enjoyable humor, though, their story is on target for most others.

NEW YORK. What do you get when you combine composer Leonard Bernstein, lyricist Stephen Sondheim, playwright Arthur Laurents and choreographer Jerome Robbins, then throw director Steven Spielberg and screenwriter Tony Kushner into the mix?

You get “West Side Story” (PG-13, 20th Century), the splendid second film version of the classic 1957 Broadway musical.

NEW YORK. Will viewers be charmed by “Encanto” (PG, Disney)? For the most part, the answer is probably yes, though this vivacious animated musical does include content that could be of concern for the parents of impressionable kids.