Recently Reviewed Movies

Hadn't seen it in ages. Walks the line between charming comedy and existential horror well. It never occurred to me, but before this movie people wouldn't have described time loops as Groundhog Day experiences, which is something I've always just taken for granted.

It's sort of wild how this movie mixes a spectacularly raunchy comedy with a truly touching story about family and friendship. I'm not convinced it wouldn't be improved by focusing in on one or the other, but both of its disparate halves are excellent. There's just a bit of whiplash swapping between them.

A feel-good classic. Though, and maybe I'm just getting old, it's sort of crazy how irresponsible everyone in this movie is and how it all gets waved away because of how good their concert is. Unreal casting though, especially with the kids.

Leans heavy on the cheese and is a little crowded, character wise, but felt more coherent than the last movie. Definitely sticks with the theme of "makes sense until you think about it too much" but I enjoyed it for what it was. The little heists were fun and everything was beautiful and smooth in motion.

Absolutely rocks. Strikes the perfect balance between self-aware and genuinely fun plot. They make a great team.

Gets a little too caught up being clever about its structure and not enough time on magic and character development that makes sense. It's a fun ride when you want to relax though. Has a couple of super memorable moments, especially the nutty vault scene. Also markedly less of a "wealth distribution" theme than the first one, which is a shame.

All flash and little bang. It remains a fun watch, you just can't think about the plot points too much. Instead, sit back and enjoy the ride for what it is, not what it could be.

Murderers row of a cast, but the storylines were underbaked to fit everyone. I like Garry Marshall schlock, but even this was a little heavy handed.

Doofy premise, but honestly a cute time. Performances are great for a budget this size. Not especially Christmas-y though

Has pleasant farce elements, pretty good actors, and a fun Christmas message. Funny concept, too. Pleasant all around!

Cheesy, but cute. Lots of funny little lines that remind me of Lord and Miller gags. The wolves steal the show

The music is catchy and the dancers are great, but the thing that clicks with me the most is how you see how much behind the scenes for the haunt. It's the same thing I like about the game Portal. Just fun worldbuilding.

Not terrible, but is a little too cheesy for its action movie positioning. Huge budget well spent though. Doesn't forget what it's there for and has some decent jokes. Fairly forgettable overall, but a good time.

A sharp farce with amble wordplay, swashbuckling, and a standout performance from Kaye. A holiday tradition!

An irreverent take on a classic story. I've always loved how naturally they make everything go wrong while being in perfect control. The ending is a little less focused than most of their work, but lands on a very cute note. I just love this theater company.

Great watch that balances plot with laughs effortlessly. The leads all kill it and there's a satisfying ending to cap it off. Another Christmas classic!

A lackluster outing overall, but amazing performances out of both kids. Plot was exactly what you'd expect and doesn't end up being all that fun.

Everyone (rightfully) remembers this movie for its trap-laden climax, but most of the runtime is actually a touching family comedy with relatively few hijinks. The cast is great and though Kevin's line deliveries are pretty stilted, it's such an iconic cadence that it's hard to really mind them. Really does earn its spot as a Christmas great. Some good messages about forgiveness in there too. Honestly feels like two movies in one.

Adored it. It's saccharine, but it's heartfelt and consistently cute and funny. Great soundtrack, too!

It's easy to rag on the over reliance on CGI comic relief animals, but there's a really kind core to this movie. It really nails the Christmas spirit without a hint of irony. Just good vibes and the belief that there is good in the world.

Great familial ensemble comedy (with a killer cast). Leans hard into familial disfunction as a part of the holidays. Some usual decisions by the characters that they sort of gloss over, but it's both hysterical and touching which makes for a great time

Has a stronger first half than second, when it starts feeling disjointed. Good theme of wonder and Santa belief though. The person who cast all the kids knocked it out of the park.

While every joke doesn't land, Buddy's absolute sincerity buys this movie a lot of leeway. It nails the "Christmas Spirit" part of the assignment more than most movies and I adore it for that.

Was a passable heist movie (eventually) but totally lacking in Christmas cheer and chemistry between its leads.

There's a really interesting, prescient plot about whether machines can make decisions. Unfortunately, it's buried under a pair of leads that lack chemistry and a bunch of characters decisions that make no sense. There is some cool 80s phone phreaking, but there are also a lot of long shots of light bulb panels. It's fun for what it is, there are better computer movies out there.

Rian Johnson strikes again! I liked the core mystery a ton. The ensemble was well-cast, but the supporting characters were pretty underbaked. But the parts that work (which is most of it) REALLY work. It's both deeply religious and very tied to 2025, which is fascinating. It's also shot beautifully, as all of his work is. Brolin, O'Connor, Close, and (of course) Craig all hit absolute home runs.

Hammy supporting cast and a pretty good pair of leads. Story was silly, but cute. It's a fun watch.

Forgettable characters and a derivative script made this more of a slog than I hoped for.

The gold standard for legacy sequels. Pacing was a little slow, but the story was pretty decent and they clearly had a great time with it. And well-acted as always! And killer cameos, top to bottom. We had a nice time with it!

Great performances and a touching, if trite, climax. Bring on the next one!

Still an all-timer. Beautiful fight choreo, a great message, and genuinely funny jokes. The full package.

Killer cast and a fun little plot. A worthy adaptation that manages to be both sweet and fun.

There was both too much and too little superhero stuff. Like, the scenes they had were only ok, but the rest of the movie felt like a lot of chatting and planning with no action. The characters were underdeveloped even if the casting was great. And they made some BONKERS choices that didn't make any sense for how smart they were supposed to be. The production design was killer though. Not a bad watch, but doesn’t feel like it’ll stick with me.

Enjoyed it overall! As farces go, it did well. There are some killer jokes and the requisite number of subtle visual gags. I think it was about 10% too silly (jokes for jokes sake instead of using them to advance the plot) but it was a worthy outing nonetheless.

A schlocky retread of the first one?? That makes two sequels Anna Kendrick is in that are basically the same plot as the first one. The cast is good and there are some fun performances, but the twists were fairly predictable. Balanced the tone a little better than before, at least.

Infectious style and presentation. Story is pretty good, but falters a little near the end. Music is catchy. Generally liked the messaging. Little animation touches were great- there are a ton of silly little faces and moments. It's a fun watch!

Felt like a return to Marvel form (finally). The villain is a little underdeveloped going into the third act, but the action is good and the writing is coherent. It's a good (if crowded) ensemble that play off each other well. Great casting all around.

Watched the Keira Knightley / Jack Davenport audio commentary, which was fun and silly. There's some fun trivia in there, plus a lot of talking about where things were filmed.

A fun watch. A little all over the place tonally, but it keeps its core while staying weird.

A great documentary about one of the greatest raw athletes of all time. Just an interesting dude. Nicely put together!

Mackie does a decent job trying to drive the emotional core of the movie, but it feels scattered and emotionally unfocused. Carl Lumbly turns in the only noteworthy performance and he's hardly in the dang thing. There are 3x the characters they need and none of them have enough depth. And basically everything going wrong being explained by magic mind control makes for an unsatisfying plot. There are 5 credited screenwriters and it shows. The fight scenes are neat, but it spends the whole time trying to cash in on a series of emotional payoffs it hasn't come close to earning.

Is there some troubling masculinity on display here? Sure. But it's also a pretty fun concept with a great set of performances driving the whole thing. There's a lot of great jokes while still delivering a pleasant, if well-trod, story.

Cool documentary about the making of The Emperor’s New Groove. Very Sting-focused, since his wife made it. It’s funny though, since I don’t think of hims as basically part of that movie at all. Interesting to see where they started vs where they landed. Wish we got a little more about the film itself, but seeing into the creative process is always fascinating. Centering the narrative around Sting, who is sort of an outsider to the whole process, is a pretty good angle.

Does a great job developing the relationship between Jim and Silver. Not to mention the stellar cast- I don't know how they kept putting these together! Also an extremely Martin Short performance. Beautiful animation, to boot.

Besides being funny with an unreal cast, I'm always impressed by its intricacy. Every little joke, every visual gag, every little reference. The whole thing is a delight.

Cast, especially Anna Kendrick, kills it. But the tone is all over the place, so each of its vibes (thriller and goofy comedy) water each other down so only mush remains. The costume department must have had a blast though

Charming overall, but runs pretty long. Great cast and more songs than you remember. Still a good message, but could be edited down without losing much.

Hadn't seen this since I was a kid. It holds up pretty well! The animation and fight choreo is great (save some spotty CGI) and the story is light but fun. Great cast and a fun soundtrack. Great for what it is!

Utterly original execution. Hijinks that really pick up steam after the first third of the movie. Runs a little long, but goes to some truly unexpected places. I think some of what makes Looney Tunes so perfect is their short duration. This is a ton of them stacked together, which loses some of that brevity. Still a cool time though.

Cheesy but fun.

Stronger first half than back half. Some clever writing and a tropey story make for a cute, if predictable outing.

Awesome, over the top action, a big ensemble, and some fun characters moments make for a great time.

A nicely done documentary about the importance of the Coast Redwood. Does a good job justifying why the trees are important to their ecosystem and the people (both native and otherwise) of California. I liked the information about the history of the trees and how their parks came to be. Has some good interviews with subject matter experts, but leans a little heavily into people forming emotional connections with the trees themselves (which is fine for them, but made for a less convincing argument). There's also some interesting social science around these trees and the effect of Awe, which was neat, but maybe hard to replicate.

Absurd and irreverant while having a great heart at its core. Lots of moving pieces, but the narrative comes toegther well. Light and fun, just like summer should be.

I've really got a new appreciation for it after watching the documentary. They took a classic story, mixed in some pretty heavy emotion, plenty of laughs, and a killer soundtrack to make something truly special.

A spy thriller with little action, mostly dialogue. Great cast, with a good mix of stars and lesser known folks. Tense, but engaging. Has just enough spy tech that it's interesting, but not so much that the plot really relies on it. Fun to unravel who's behind it all.

There are definitely some rough edges, but it's much more charming than I expected. How much they care about each other really got me in the end. You do need to look past some dated jokes though

Old timey and charming. A little tough to tell some of the characters apart and the stunts are pretty dated, but the cast is good and the mystery is fun. The leads have good chemistry. Whole thing was much funnier than I expected it to be, too. I can see why it started a series!

A great dive into the production of a great movie. Plenty of cast and creator interviews, plus a step back to look at the film's impact on people of a certain age. It's a fun watch!

It’s mostly a schlocky 90s action computer thriller, but it does make some precient points about how much of "truth" lives in computers and how badly that can go if they start lying. Ther eare better hacker movies and Sandra Bullock never really plays it convincingly, but it had its tense moments.

It’s basically "Wet Hot American RomCom". I loved its commitment to subtle (or not) absrudity and it’s wildly large ensemble. Tightly written too, no lines were wasted. Perfectly captures 90s NYC romcoms.

Pitt and Clooney carry this dark action comedy hard. The story is simple (and makes a little less sense the closer you squint), but it didn't stop me enjoying the ride. The cast is focused (good!), the shootouts minimal (also good; more time for dialogue!), and the runtime 20 minutes longer than it needed to be (oops!). Great to see them both back together though.

A chilling adaptation of a great book. broadly focuses on the right things. Every casting is perfect and Rosamund Pike is superbly unsettling.

If you can look past the central joke is all about prison rape (a big if), you're rewarded with a genuinely funny movie. Dense with jokes across a variety of topics. Kevin Hart doesn't do a _lot_ to break out of his small-loud-sidekick role, but he has some good acting moments.

As a comedy of errors, leans more heavily into errors than comedy. There _are_ a wild series of errors though, so the writing gets a plus. They come relentlessly though, which makes it sort of an exhausting watch up until we reach the film's classic ending which saved the whole thing.

Has great heart. Silly, but not in a way that detracts from the story. Sort of more fun on the second viewing- you get to sit back and let it wash over you.

Always a classic. Curry is a champ.

Funny, british, and charming. Great leads and a fun supporting cast. A classic for a reason.

A well-produced concert with a good mix of laughs, weird things, and great performances. Pleasant time all around.

I don't usually think much about the musical performances on SNL. But this was a thoughtful documentary about how impactful they've been over the years and the careers they've launched. Great performances, interviews, and editing.

Charming, yet more modern feeling. Lots of great jokes. Pacing was a little slow and the story was less focused than it could have been. That's what happens when you translate 30 min movies into a 90 minute one. Felt like they could have tightened it up a fair bit.

A bit more story paired with the same great animation is a winning formula

Great little villain and some impressively expressive eyebrows. It's always cool how much they say without dialogue.

Very cool animation. Does a lot with a little.

Holds up remarkably well for as old as it is. Jokes land, there's more plot than you'd expect, and the costuming is very cool. It's also stuffed to the gills with cameos, which is pretty fun.

Plot wise, it’s like a really wet Jurassic Park? I didn’t love the really slow first half and unremarkable characters. Some good action pieces and some good cast members though.

No one does spectacle like John M Chu. Does a great job exploring and expanding the story without straying too far. Costumes and sets were beautiful and the whole production just oozed vibrancy.

Pretty dumb, but goodhearted and not too overwrought.

Continues to be a fun twist on Christmas Carol. Great cast, catchy music!

Wild to think that they made a novelization of this Christmas classic. Seriously though, Caine acts his butt off.

A charming premise supported by characters who are very patient and good sports about it all. Weird lack of chemistry between the leads, but not a bad time!

A decent premise that was never quite fun enough to be truly fun. Wasn’t much christmas magic. Chenoweth is great as always and it’s nice to see Lohan doing things again.

Lovely fight choreo, music, and a touching story make this a worth follow up to one of the world’s greatest movies.

A delightful comedy of errors with a blast of an 80s cast. Fun to see ZAZ write/direct something with a single plot running through it.

Does psychologically unstable yet relatable villains better than any other superhero film.

Campy and fun, with a great cast and pretty decent story. Always a blast.

Exhausting theater kid energy. Had some interesting perspectives on everyone's journey through their art and the paths that can take. But, felt disjoint, with too many characters. It also just seemes like drama for drama's sake- they just kept throwing bad things at these kids and everyone seemed miserable. It's ending was especially unsatisfying- it's a song where the ensemble pretends like everyone is fine when all evidence from the film points to the exact opposite. Whole thing was a real slog.

Cute concept and some nice social commentary, but felt fairly formulaic otherwise

Incredibly charming. Nicely paced, great cast, touching story. Captures the Christmas spirit better than any other

Tense and well acted. Fun inside look to the way NYC trains work. Heavy action, but keeps it moving. Could have maybe done more with the characters (and thinks about it) but it still works as a mostly-action outing.

It's a fun premise and a decent cast, but the lack of chemistry and an odd but not-fun performance out of Milligan left us out in the cold.

Maybe the world's foremost Thanksgiving movie.

Tight, funny, and densely packed with classic gags. Some of the references don't resonate today and a few of the jokes are bumpier than I remembered. But, it has such a good nature that I couldn't help but grin the whole time.

Cheesy and contrived, but has good bones. Occasionally tense, some goofy lines, and generally good performances. It's remarkable how much of Airplane! came straight from this.

Has some good gags, but the pacing felt off. Some segments are dense, but others are more air than joke. Most of the time, it felt silly for silly's sake. You can see the inspirations for Airplane, but it definitely wasn't there yet.

Surprisingly touching. Mixed drama and comedy well. Good performances out of a young cast. Had low expectations, but really enjoyed it.

Watched with the director's commentary podcast, which was fun! Annoying to keep in sync manually, but had some good bonus trivia.

Timeless, clever, silly, and delightful as always.