NEW YORK. “The Art of Racing in the Rain” (PG, Fox 2000), an otherwise benign drama about a man and his dog, adapted from the novel by Garth Stein, is marred by a treatment of reincarnation that prevents endorsement of it for impressionable viewers.

NEW YORK. Advances in moviemaking technology allow a story that could only previously be told as a cartoon to be enacted, so to speak, by animals. And so we get “The Lion King” (PG, Disney).

NEW YORK.  Just how good are the hotshots behind “Toy Story 4” (G, Disney)? So good that, by the time the closing credits roll, moviegoers will likely feel more emotional connection to an animated spork than they have to the vast majority of live-action human characters they’ve ever seen on screen.

NEW YORK. Lessons about overcoming fear and helping those in need are featured in “The Secret Life of Pets 2” (Universal).

Given that they come amid generally amusing antics that unfold at a lively pace, returning director Chris Renaud’s follow-up to his 2016 original rates as an entertaining cartoon suitable for all but the youngest kids.

NEW YORK. Though the magical tale of Aladdin is centuries old, it’s probably best known to contemporary audiences through two relatively recent products of pop culture: the 1992 animated film with Robin Williams and the Broadway musical derived from it, which continues a run that began in 2014.

With “Aladdin” (PG, Disney), director and co-writer Guy Ritchie serves up a spirited live-action take on the same material. The result is a thoroughly enjoyable musical fantasy that’s suitable for a wide range of age groups.

NEW YORK. The hard-hitting, fact-based drama “Unplanned” (R, Pure Flix) dares its viewers to confront the reality of what happens when a baby is aborted.

That’s an effective strategy on the part of co-writers and directors Chuck Konzelman and Cary Solomon, not least because the peculiar institution of our day thrives on  concealment, muddled thinking and Orwellian euphemisms. But it also means that this emotionally unsparing film is not for the casual moviegoer of any age.