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!
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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.
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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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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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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 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 (2005)
I can’t believe I’m doing this. Not just reviewing a Barbie fairy movie, but singing its praises.
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Madeline & Cooper (2018)
When Cooper Raiff’s debut feature-length film, Shithouse, won the Jury Prize at the pandemic-truncated SXSW festival in March 2020, it represented the kind of meteoric rise to stardom that young filmmakers dream of.
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The Bad Guys (2022)
Over the past ten years, major American animation studios (mostly excluding Walt Disney Animation Studios) have finally realized that the path forward to improving their visual language was not enhancing the photorealism of their animation.
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Apollo 13 (1995)
Space is cool.