Rumble: Directed by Hamish Grieve. With Geraldine Viswanathan, Will Arnett, Stephen A. Smith, Terry Crews. In a world where monster wrestling is a global sport and monsters are superstar athletes, teenage Winnie seeks to follow in her father’s footsteps by coaching a loveable underdog monster into a champion. Amazing animation, somewhat uninspired music, and a story that’s equal parts Pacific Rim, Real Steel, Blues Brothers, and is completely predictable, but it’s still a fun ride. There’s a few voices that you’ll obviously recognize, but Viswanathan sounds exactly like Tawnie Newsom from Lower Decks, to the point that it’s distracting and...

Turning Red: Directed by Domee Shi. With Rosalie Chiang, Sandra Oh, Ava Morse, Hyein Park. A 13-year-old girl named Meilin turns into a giant red panda whenever she gets too excited. It’s Pixar, so do you need me to tell you that it’s an enjoyable emotional roller-coaster that made me cry a few times? Nah, but I’ll tell you that anyways. The animated is top notch and they’re definitely marketing to a very clear and specific audience, but I’m happy to enjoy it even though I’m not remotely in that cohort. It’s out on Disney+ right now. Buy On Amazon!

Cryptozoo: Directed by Dash Shaw. With Lake Bell, Michael Cera, Alex Karpovsky, Zoe Kazan. Cryptozookeepers try to capture a Baku, a dream-eating hybrid creature of legend, and start wondering if they should display these beasts or keep them hidden and unknown. This is a weird one to review: it’d be super easy to pick apart the animation style and the sheer weirdness of the idea of having a zoo full of cryptoid taken from various parts of the world, which on the face of it seems like something we’d see on a made for TV late night special starring actors...

The King of Staten Island: Directed by Judd Apatow. With Pete Davidson, Bel Powley, Ricky Velez, Lou Wilson. Scott has been a case of arrested development since his firefighter dad died. He spends his days smoking weed and dreaming of being a tattoo artist until events force him to grapple with his grief and take his first steps forward in life. There’s a line in this film that really stuck with me: “I’m only 25 and tryin to figure myself out.” I remember being 25 and thinking that, assuming that it would eventually ‘just happen’. Then 30, then 35, then...

Yesterday: Directed by Danny Boyle. With Himesh Patel, Lily James, Sophia Di Martino, Ellise Chappell. A struggling musician realizes he’s the only person on Earth who can remember The Beatles after waking up in an alternate timeline where they never existed. The basic premise is pretty well laid out in the synopsis, but what they don’t mention is that The Beetles aren’t the only missing things from the world that the musician finds himself in. There’s a significant amount of drama involved in his absolute paranoia that this is all an elaborate joke that his friends are playing with him,...

The Birdcage: Directed by Mike Nichols. With Robin Williams, Gene Hackman, Nathan Lane, Dianne Wiest. A gay cabaret owner and his drag queen companion agree to put up a false straight front so that their son can introduce them to his fiancée’s right-wing moralistic parents. One of Robin Williams absolutely best dramatic comedy roles, but Robin isn’t even the best part of this film. The interaction between Nathan Lane and Gene Hackman is absolutely delicious, and right when you think it’s about to get stale, boom, the impossible happens and the movie moves into it’s finale. Has there been a...

Mother/Android: Directed by Mattson Tomlin. With Chloë Grace Moretz, Algee Smith, Raúl Castillo, Linnea Gardner. In a post-apocalyptic world rocked by a violent android uprising, a young pregnant woman and her boyfriend desperately search for safety. It’s sad, it’s depressing, and it’s post-apocalyptic, so not a great outlook for anyone in the film. It’s a great movie though, just not exactly what I was looking for at this point in time. Buy On Amazon!