Funnier, stranger, and more beautiful than I remember. The astonishing Technicolor, all-time soundtrack, and world-class production are grounded by Judy Garland’s humane role as Dorothy (at age 17!)
Category: Capsule
A post-Wes Andersonian end-of-high school comedy that’s simultaneously charming and a bit dull, despite a lean sub-90 runtime. Cast is full of winners but led by a blank slate.
The script and story are flimsy in comparison to the visuals, which are rousing. Epic action sequences and world-building, with some apocalyptic moments. Heavy Avatar: The Last Airbender vibes. Enjoyed but wanted more.
A bizarre documentary about pet cemeteries that manages to be both hilarious and perhaps the most probing look at the human condition that I’ve ever seen.
The animation is astoundingly beautiful, the story epic and Shakespearean, the Zimmer score aggressive but stirring. The politics are wonky and the protagonist uninspiring, but the overall product is still mesmerizing. Near-masterpiece.
Noisy, dumb, and bloated — but phenomenal spectacle. The broad characters work just well enough, and the effects that matter (the exploding buildings) are real good.
This Australian coming-of-age flick is far too quirky and disjointed, proud of its satire and flipping of tropes, but certainly unique and powerful in moments. Leads are quite good and non-generic
Baymax steals the show, and the grief is handled seriously, but the characters lack depth and the story is a bit by-the-numbers as a comic book adventure.
New peaks for Swanberg’s naturalistic direction and Johnson’s flawed-heroic charisma (though not quite my favorite). The story of a recovering gambling addict stuck in a bad situation is tense and empathetic.
The ending is downer drama for the sake of it, but otherwise it teases out the dramatic synergies of teenage angst and time loops marvelously.