I might be biased because it came out a few days after my 16th birthday, but Spider-Man 2 is perhaps my favorite popcorn movie of the 21st-century
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Spider-Man 2 (2004)
Author: Dan Stalcup
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The Boss Baby: Family Business (2021)
I am totally amped about the increased stylization and experimentation of all mainstream American animated films, especially Dreamworks movies, but this is the first one where it feels like the obsession with visual energy and innovation completely outstrips any consideration for the narrative. (Trolls 2 is also bananas, but determinedly so.) Anyways, I felt like I’d eaten a bowl of candy after I watched it, but I am still encouraged by it (if this is what the oddball stinker looks like for Dreamworks in the 2020s, how far they’ve come). That’s not the same as saying it’s good, but it’s close.
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Barbie Fairytopia: Mermaidia (2006)
Probably even better than the first one, though for largely the same reasons the first one was good, so the thrill of the surprise is gone. The tension between Elina and Nori is out of control — I love the bizarre chemistry of the characters in this and the barely-veiled queer vibes.
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The Blues Brothers (1980)
What makes Blues Brothers work is that its mantra “we’re on a mission from God” is not an ironic eye-roll but a genuine mission statement. John Landis and Dan Aykroyd understand that this material only works if the film can communicate the deep awe and worship of the music that inspired it. That’s what makes this, in spite of its draggy runtime and shaggy comedy, a Great Film.
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Cool Runnings (1993)
Thoroughly entertaining family sports flick that holds up well. Good flavor, fun script, nice execution of the tropes.
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Clifford the Big Red Dog (2021)
More like Clifford the Big Red Dud, amirite? If you’ve read the books, you know Clifford is supposed to be a ungodly force of nature, not a big cuddly CGI fella. There are some weird themes in this movie, like a biotech CEO who wants to use Clifford’s genetic mutations on humans (or something), and the author, Norman Bridwell, as a possibly-immortal in-universe character, that add a fun sense of strangeness to keep it from being too dull.
The kind of movie I feel more obligation to like than actual enthusiasm. It’s undeniably well-made and -acted, though — the kind of prestige journalistic thriller that keeps you hooked. I think my biggest issue is that the story itself isn’t quite as rich and dangerous as the best of the genre — The Washington Post wasn’t even the paper that broke the story in question!
A lovely, bespoke little drama that uses the Mister Rogers and his show as a vessel to convey how hard it is to be a good person. Tom Hanks can do anything.
There’s really only about 40 minutes of worthy material here, the detailed reconstruction of the fateful plane almost-crash. But those 40 minutes are really damn good, so I don’t mind forgiving all the padding, which not even Tom Hanks can elevate.
Far too much of a biopic cliche and a corporate pat on the back to be truly great, but also much better than the worst version of this could have been. It helps tremendously to have Emma Thompson and Tom Hanks as leads.