In my review of DisneyNature’s Tigers and Tigers on the Rise two years ago, I covered my past experiences with watching nature docs. I also noted:

After a long absence from the nature doc game, Disneynature was founded in 2008. Since then, their documentaries have been made by a variety of filmmakers, narrated by celebrity voices, and honored the True-Life Adventures tradition by assigning human names to animals.

Since then, DisneyNature released Sea Lions of the Galapagos, which I have not seen yet, but I’m glad that I was offered an advance screener for their latest, Orangutan, which begins with a very familiar song from Disney’s The Jungle Book (1967).

(Naturally, I won’t spoil it here, though I’m sorely tempted.)

Directed by Mark Linfield, an experienced filmmaker who also made Tiger, Elephant, and Penguins, among many other nature documentaries, Orangutan follows a family of animals in Southeast Asia as one of them leaves the nest for the first time. Obviously, we’re most interested in the titular creatures, but what I always love about these type of documentaries is that they observe the environment in which the orangutans live, and then follows as they scamper up and down trees, across trees — by flying — and then up, up, and away from danger.

After all, the orangutans are not predators, though the ants and other insects they eat may not agree! They are happy creatures who get along with the other animals, and work together (sometimes), with the goal of peaceful coexistence. Nonetheless, director Linfield does not hesitate to show that the animals do not always cooperate together; they are subject to human weaknesses, such as selfishness and a self-centered sense of being, that are challenging to overcome, to say the least.

Even so, it’s rather marvelous to sit back and watch the wondrous abilities of various creatures to make their way through the world without the interference of humans.

And if, like me, you’ve missed some of the past documentaries in the series, Disney Plus has collected them together into a special section on the streaming service, which is a mighty nice resource to tap into with your children. Or your child-friendly friends and family members.

In Theaters: Finishing second among last weekend’s new releases, per Box Office Mojo, exceeding expectations, per The Numbers, Sony’s new animated comedy, GOAT, no doubt benefited especially from having Monday’s holiday included in its totals, with children attending along with their adult guardians, whose own interest may have been piqued by the NBA’s All-Star festivities this past Sunday, with a new format and new broadcast network, which combined to send the ratings soaring.

Speaking of a new format, GOAT was inspired by NBA star Stephen Curry; his production company closed a deal with Sony Pictures Entertainment and reportedly wanted to make something with an “underdog spirit,” and so the filmmakers came up with a narrative that mirrored Curry’s career as a relatively short player -- by modern NBA standards -- and the challenges and expectations he had to overcome.

Standing 6 feet and 2 inches, Curry is hardly short among non-professional athletes. Yet watching him in a game this season, it’s quite easy to lose track of him among all the other, taller players; what distinguishes him is his shooting ability and talent at elevating the play of his teammates by his passing and defense.

(Full disclosure: For what it’s worth, I skipped the early advance screening because I’m no longer obsessed by the modern NBA, and didn’t think I’d enjoy an animated movie about the sport. I attended an afternoon screening on Wednesday, and was the only person in attendance, so I’ll be interested in seeing if audiences will return this weekend.)

In any event, GOAT revolves around roarball and ROAR, not basketball and the NBA. Roarball is defined as “a high-intensity, co-ed, full-contact sport dominated by the fastest, fiercest animals in the world,” while, per the official site, “ROAR (Regionally Organized Animal Roarball) is a global league made of 6 teams that each represent a different biome. Each arena demands high-stakes play, with terrains and obstacles constantly evolving in-game, giving a whole new meaning to “homecourt advantage.”

As devoted sports fans know, GOAT is also an acronym for Greatest Of All Time. Director Tyree Dillihay and the film’s writers have fun with the acronym by making their protagonist a goat named Will (Caleb McLaughlin), with another character, a black leopard named Jett Fillmore (Gabrielle Union), as a candidate for the greatest player in league history, even though she has never won a league championship with her team, Vineland, which is also Will’s hometown.

Will has grown up idolizing the Vineland Thorns, especially Jett Fillmore, and dreams of becoming a professional player, but his size limitations meet with constant discouraging talk. His single mother, Louise Harris (Jennifer Hudson), always champions him, however, encouraging him in every way as a waitress in a diner, where she ekes out a living. Will’s fortunes have taken a tumble since he moved out on his own; his gerbil landlord (Wayne Knight) is chasing him for his rent due, since the landlord has (literally) hundreds of mouths to feed (his own family).

The Vineland team, owned by a warthog named Flo Everson (Jenifer Lewis), consists of just four players, besides Jett: Modo Olachenko (Nick Kroll), a komodo dragon; Olivia Burke (Nicola Coughlan), an ostrich; Lenny Williamson (Stephen Curry), a giraffe; and Archie Everhardt (David Harbour), a rhino. They are coached, nominally, by Dennis Cooper (Patton Oswalt). Knowing that her team is struggling and that her own career may be coming to an end after 20 years, Jett demands that owner Flo find her another player.

Flo settles upon Will, more as a publicity stunt than anything else, since Will is the first “small” animal to join the league. He came to her attention in a pickup game against two-time league champion horse Mane Attraction (Aaron Pierre); even though Will got dusted in the game, it brought him instant notoriety, thanks to social media.

Will’s new teammates do not take to him kindly, though, and he struggles to get any playing time. Until something happens, and everything changes.

From there, much of the narrative is consumed by the roarball games themselves, which are inherently less interesting to me; mostly, it’s a lot of noise and movement, which is custom fit for children whose attention span is limited.

For adults, the clever touches -- for example, Stephen Curry as the voice of a giraffe -- as well as the call-outs for devoted sports fans -- see the film’s general narrative, the ‘bigs’ vs ‘smalls’ argument, the attitude and actions of rich owners -- may be sufficient to maintain interest.

(Full disclosure: I dozed off once. I failed to order coffee with my meal, so my bad. But I don’t think I missed anything substantial.)

Even though I am not in the target audience for GOAT, I can certainly see the appeal, and found that watching it was a satisfying experience. Your mileage may vary.

Now Streaming: I didn’t grow up watching the Muppets.

Our family’s television antenna blew off the house, as I recall, and so we relied upon set-top antennas, which could not pull in the UHF frequencies of Channel 28, the local PBS station in Los Angeles. So, my introduction to Jim Henson’s characters came, not on Sesame Street, but on the first season of Saturday Night Live, on which the Muppets behaved for an adult audience as part of The Lord of Gorch skits.

Following that, The Muppet Show debuted in September 1976 in the UK, and spread outward from there, establishing itself as a variety show, with a different guest star in each episode. The shows’ success led to a series of films, beginning with The Muppet Movie (1979), which I remember seeing and enjoying during its initial theatrical release. I have also watched and enjoyed (most of) the films that followed in its wake.

Earlier this month, The Muppets Show debuted on Disney Plus as a one-time special. (To be honest, I thought it was the first episode of a series, so it did gain my immediate attention.) Watching the special now, with special guest star Sabrina Carpenter, who started as an actress in a Disney TV show and, more recently, has shown a knack for skit comedy on Saturday Night Live, and also featuring guest stars Seth Rogen, one of the executive producers, and Maya Rudolph, was a completely enjoyable experience, though not transcendent, as it may be for people who watched Jim Henson’s original series back in the day.

Yet it’s the kind of concept that would certainly be welcome as a weekly series. Staying (nearly entirely) within family-friendly boundaries, the show features many, many muppets in the variety show format, freshening it up with sharp writing and a willingness to poke gentle fun at the characters.

Until Disney decides to wise up and bring the Muppets back on a more regular basis, this will have to do. It’s certainly worth watching, even if you were not a Muppets kid. [Disney Plus]

Refreshingly modest, absent any intergenerational conflicts, parental discord, or youthful rebellion, and with nary a human in sight, Tafiti: Across is happily free to follow its titular protagonist as he makes an epic journey in search of salvation for a member of his family.

The oldest of three meerkat children, Tafiti (voiced by Cosima Henman) listens to his aged grandpapa tell him and his two younger siblings that ‘all animals are dangerous,’ except, of course, meerkats. It’s a common warning that is routinely given by human parents to their young children, and very sound in principal, especially, one imagines, for all meerkats living in the African Savannah, where mortal dangers abound.

Still, Tafiti is old enough to be allowed by his grandpapa to explore the territory nearby on his own, with a kind yet stern reminder to ‘always be on the watch.’ With this in mind, Tafiti heads out for a day’s exploring. Coming across a friendly bush-pig (red river hog) named Bristles (voiced by Steve Hudson), Tafiti is determined to heed his grandpapa’s advice, which comes true as Bristles is snatched by an eagle (Jeremiah Costello).

As a kind-hearted meerkat, though, Tafiti cannot help but come to Bristles’ aid, which leads to Bristles meeting Tafiti’s family, inadvertently putting them into danger from a snake that bites grandpapa with poisonous venom that will surely kill him, unless Tafiti can find a legendary blue flower that can only be found across the not-so-nearby desert.

Based on characters in a 23-book series by German author Julia Boehme, the screenplay is credited to Boehme and Nicholas Hause, who has considerable experience in writing for younger audiences. Their script dispenses with the necessary exposition early, focusing on Tafiti and Bristles’ journey, and situating them into a richly wonderful variety of locations -- not just the Savannah and the desert, although those locations play a prominent role, but also locales both wet and dry -- that enables a slew of animals and insects to figure into the action.

Thus, young audiences won’t get bored, since they will not just be watching two animals making an endless journey across endless sands, but instead meeting creatures of all types: creeping, crawling, leaping, walking, and flying. The only thing they have in common? They all talk.

The great variety of backgrounds are beautifully rendered and lovingly detailed, while the foreground animals are playfully animated. Without the juvenile snark commonly manifested by young characters in Hollywood studios, there is no need for ‘smackdowns’ and no room for insulting or belittling ‘jokes.’ Instead, these young animals show respect for each other, no matter their species, and -- shocker! -- respect for their elders.

And Tafiti: Across the Desert is not just for children; I found myself frequently smiling in amusement and occasionally laughing at loud. The film is filled with recognizable behavior that is a pleasure to behold, making it easy to recommend for all ages.

The film opens Friday, January 30, in select theaters nationwide, via Blue Fox Entertainment. Visit the official site for locations and showtimes.

In movie theaters right now, Disney’s Zootopia 2 rules, having earned more than $1.4 billion (?!) dollars since its November 2025 release. This month, however, the new years brings two less-heralded animated adventures to movie theaters.

First up from Viva Pictures on January 16, Charlie the Wonderdog stars Owen Wilson in an urban tale. Officially: “When Danny’s best friend is mysteriously abducted by aliens, Charlie returns home with incredible abilities and a mission to protect the people he loves. But when the world needs him most, Charlie learns that true heroism isn’t about strength… it’s about courage, kindness, and believing in yourself.”

The trailer features plenty of animal action, as well as a smattering of the expected human behavior.

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Set for release by Blue Fox Entertainment in Canada and the U.S. on January 30, Tafiti: Across the Desert is based on a popular German children’s book series. Per the official synopsis: “Young Tafiti embarks on a desert quest to find a magical blue flower that can save his grandfather, with an unlikely companion—Bristles the bush pig—who shows him that adventures are better when shared.”

Have a look at the trailer below, where much of the action is set in the beautiful outdoors, and nary a human is glimpsed.

I’m hoping to have coverage of both films later this month. Make your plans now!

Instead, she constantly fights with her younger brother, Elliot (Elias Janssen), who, frankly, is annoying, and her parents (Simu Liu and Cristin Milioti), who have problems of their own. Mom has been offered the prospect of a job, but it’s in another state. Dad fights this idea, but he’s not been able to provide materially for the family.

Against this strained backdrop, Stevie wishes for her family to return to how she remembered it: calm, peaceful, and loving. Of course, memories are never 100% accurate, but it’s what Stevie wants, and she dreams about a happier life. What is that could come true, though? And what about this legendary Sandman, who is reportedly — according to People Who Know These Things — able to make one’s dreams come true.

Now streaming on Netflix, In Your Dreams purports to answer that question by sending Stevie and Elliot on a wild journey through their own individual dreams. Directed by Alexander Woo and co-directed by Erik Benson, the film is based on their original screenplay, which makes it stand out amidst all the IP adaptations that float the worldwide animation boat.

The dreams of children are fertile territory for imagination, and the film is replete with wild, implausible ideas that are conjured up by the children. Initially, they keep scaring one another with bad dreams, nightmare visions that prompt them to wake up instantly, for fear that they might die in real life in they dream it so. Of course, that’s nonsense, and the children soon realize that, and try their best to move forward on their goal of making their dreams come true.

Never fear: the children will get to where they want to go, but first they must learn some important Life Lessons — oh, and learn to appreciate their parents and each other much more than they do. The lessons are taught with a kind and gentle tone, which makes it easy to absorb, both for children and adults.

As an adult without children, In Your Dreams is pleasantly filled with dreamy visuals and near constant action, which makes for a satisfying watch and an easy recommendation.

Now Streaming: As an adult without children, I have skipped watching any of the films and TV shows that comprise the Lego Star Wars franchise, which includes "over 928 Lego building toy sets, 1389 Lego minifigures,^[2] an eponymous video game series containing six games, and multiple animated short films and television series," according to Wikipedia.

Since one of the purposes of this newsletter is to investigate such shows on behalf of readers, however, I accepted the offer of advance screeners to watch all four episodes of Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Piece of the Past and was, frankly, shocked that I enjoyed it so much.

In my childhood, I cannot recall ever having Lego building blocks to play with; I believe they were out of my family's price range. In any event, I have always been familiar with the idea that Lego could enable children to build whatever crazy buildings or vehicles or people their little hearts desired. Lego movies and television shows that I have watched take some of that inherent wonder away because they are themed to whatever licensed property they can exploit; they represent the licensed characters and worlds in familiar ways -- only with Lego building blocks.

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Thus, the success of an individual movie or television show depends upon the imagination of the writers, directors, and all the below-the-lines talent -- much like any live-action or original animated production. And in this, Lego Star Wars: Rebuild the Galaxy - Piece of the Past succeeds, thanks to the lead taken by writers Dan Hernandez and Benji Samit, and director Chris Buckley.

The show takes place in an identifiable Star Wars world, following brothers Sig and Dev Greebling as they deal with a new threat in the galaxy. What makes the show wildly funny is not the specifics of the plot or how the brothers vanquish the threat. Instead, true joy emerges from the show's underlying strength as an action adventure that is constantly in motion throughout its four episodes, none longer than 25 minutes.

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Even though the show is broken into four episodes, it's very easy to binge all four episodes and watch it as a feature-length motion picture. Beyond its strong narrative, the show continually interjects humor into the dialogue, much of it filled with gentle mocking of Star Wars conventions; they make fun, but never derisively. The humor is more along the lines of 'we all know that is silly, yet we very much enjoy it anyway.'

In a very favorable manner, the show reminded me of the classic Looney Tunes cartoons, in that they are made to be enjoyed by children, while also including material and references designed for adults. So it's very easy for me to recommend the show to adults of all ages. [Now Streaming on Disney Plus.]

Now Streaming: In 1977, the idea of a body-swap comedy sounded fresh and new. 

It's true that Disney's first film adaptation of Mary Rodgers' novel, itself first published in 1972, was very much a product of its time, both in the broader cultural sense and also in its sensibility as a Disney live-action family-friendly movie. It may not have been the first body-swap movie -- that honor probably applies to the 1916 British silent fantasy Vice Versa -- but the winning performances by Barbara Harris and, especially, emerging star Jodie Foster helped to make it a modestly charming comedy that remains quite enjoyable. 

The following years were awash in body-swap movies, though, so by the new century, they seemed like an old hat: familiar and worn, yet comfortable and somehow reassuring. We knew what to expect, the basic trajectory of the narrative, and the (quite likely) happy ending. Perhaps because of that predictability, I skipped seeing a new version of Freaky Friday, released in 2003. 

The 2003 version was directed by Mark Waters, who made a splashy debut with his indie comedy The House of Yes in 1997 and followed that up with romantic comedy Head Over Heels (2001) and Warning: Parental Authority (2002), which he made for VH1 and was based on a true story. Adapted by Heather Hach and Leslie Dixon, the script was smartly updated for the 21st century. 

Dr. Tess Coleman (Curtis), a psychiatrist, has been raising her two children alone since her husband died. Teenage Anna (Lohan) is a singer in a garage rock band, and younger brother Harry is simply irritating. 

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Tess is preparing to marry fiancee Ryan (Mark Harmon); Anna is delighted when her band is offered a chance to audition that may advance the band's career. The initial conflict is that the audition is scheduled at the same time as Tess and Ryan's pre-wedding celebration, which the entire family is expected to attend. 

The night before, Tess and Anna argue at a Chinese restaurant, prompting the restaurant manager's mother to work some "Asian voodoo" (?!) and give the twosome fortune cookies that cause them to switch bodies the next day. Hence, it will be a "freaky Friday." 

Jamie Lee Curtis showcased wonderful aptitude as a comic actress, adroitly handling physical comedy, as an older woman in a teen's body, and adjusting her delivery of dialogue to sound like an adult trapped with her daughter's voice. 

Lindsay Lohan is stiff in playing her own mother, but that fits the character! It's exactly how a younger person would imagine an older person talking. By aging the daughter up, from 13 to 17, more comic possibilities were opened up, and the film took full advantage of them. Lohan also showed surprising tenderness in her dramatic scenes.

For director Mark Waters, this was the first of a terrific one-two punch: he next helmed Mean Girls, which was released the following year, and has become a reliable director, mostly of comedies, but all skillfully woven. 

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For Jamie Lee Curtis, the film was another high point in her career. She downshifted to supporting roles for some years, until the new version of Halloween (2018) renewed the industry's interest in her, leading to her Academy Award-winning performance in Everything Everywhere All At Once (2022). 

For Lindsay Lohan, she starred in Mark Waters' Mean Girls, which continued her winning streak. All streaks come to an end, however, and for Lohan, the disappointing returns on Just My Luck (2006) pointed her to supporting roles, independent films, and then the wonderful world of television. In turn, that eventually led to a deal with Netflix and starring roles in Falling for Christmas (2022) and Irish Wish (2024). 

Watching Freaky Friday for the first time this week, I was pleasantly surprised to be thoroughly charmed and entertained, Perhaps it was my non-existent expectations. Or perhaps it's just that it's a good movie? [Disney Plus] 

Now Streaming: First published in 2015, Aaron Blabey's Australian graphic novel The Bad Guys has spawned 19 further episodes over nine years. Intended for junior readers, Blabey's books have spent some 120 weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. 

DreamWorks Animation purchased the film rights in 2017. Etan Coen, who co-wrote the live-action comedies Idiocracy (2006) and Tropic Thunder (2008) before co-writing the animated family films Escape From Madagascar 3: Back to Africa (2008), wrote the screenplay for The Bad Guys. 

In the years between writing animated family films, Coen scripted Men in Black 3, then followed that by writing and directing the semi-crime comedy Get Hard (2015) , which starred Will Farrell, grossed more than $100 million worldwide, and yet is nearly entirely forgettable, as well as and Holmes and Watson (2018), a more assured mystery comedy that I found more enjoyable, yet it grossed just $40 million worldwide.

In adapting Aaron Blabey's book for the big screen, Coen created an effective framework, efficiently introducing the handful of criminals who make up the titular gang -- voiced by Sam Rockwell, Marc Maron, Awkwafina, Craig Robinson, and Anthony Ramos -- as well as several key supporting characters, voiced by Richard Ayoade, Zazie Beetz, Alex Borstein, and Lily Singh. His dialogue is efficient and sometimes witty. 

Pierre Perifel made his directorial debut, after spending years at DreamWorks Animation working on a variety of films in a variety of capacities. On the audio commentary, available on the Blu-ray and DVD editions of the movie, and featuring multiple BTS talent, the point is made that the film is an homage to classic crime films, not a parody or a spoof. The director and other key talents isolated and identified specific moments and scenes that are tributes to special crime films, which makes for a fascinating listen, even as seems every sequence is somebody's "favorite"! 

The plot follows the veteran, larcenous gang as they are caught after their latest elaborate heist, promise to "go good" and become The Good Guys so they can be absolved of guilt, freeing them to complete their interrupted heist again, and then must prove themselves and their true intentions when yet another criminal is framing them so he/she can get away with the crime. 

The film was released in movie theaters in April 2022, during the global pandemic, and I did not see it until distributor Universal Studios sent out the Blu-ray/DVD package later in their as part of their FYC (For Your Consideration) awards campaign. I watched in and enjoyed to some degree, though I didn't feel like it rose too far above the average. 

Watching it again, I appreciated the film's style more. It's in a much more illustrative style, as the filmmakers talk about on the commentary, and is meant to be more in the style of classic film noir, only in color and suitable for family audiences, so, overall, it's much brighter and takes place more often than not in outdoor locations. 

Still, there are certain sequences that are animated with more contrast and more shadows than is normal. The film is set in and around modern-day Los Angeles, and, as a native Angeleno, I could better appreciate the animated version of real-life locations, especially during an opening chase sequence. (Yes, Los Angeles has hills! Many, many hills!) Watching it again also increased my appreciation for the extremely clever heist scenes, which, yes, are intentionally reminiscent of any number of live-action crime caper movies. 

Perhaps because my expectations were lowered, I enjoyed The Bad Guys more on a second viewing than I did on my first, which makes me more eager to see The Bad Guys 2. [Now streaming on Peacock TV.]

Now Streaming: This past weekend, Elio crashed and burned, box-office wise. This coming weekend, F1 The Movie hopes not to do the same. So let's revisit an animated adventure that could be considered the spiritual father of both films: Cars, released in June 2006. 

The seventh and final film independently produced by Pixar, which was purchased by Disney in January 2006, Cars was directed by company head John Lasseter, with Joe Ranft credited as co-director, his only such credit before his untimely death the year before. Sandwiched between Brad Bird's superb one-two punch of The Incredibles and Ratatouille, it must be admitted that Cars suffers by comparison. 

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Still, even if it falls down narratively, Cars stands out for its dazzling animation, as well as a story featuring original characters and stories, as opposed to the sequels that would beset Disney Pixar in the subsequent 20 years, dominating its release schedule to the point that originals like last year's Elemental and this month's Elio feels like outliers, rather than what's to be expected from the hybrid studio. 

Frankly, Cars did not appeal to me at the time of its original release, which, as a confirmed fan of movies that feature car chases and/or automobile racing, I can only blame on my own snobbish tendencies. I did rent it on home video; unfortunately, I never truly synched with the anthropomorphic cars. 

Putting all that aside, I wanted to revisit the film to see if nearly 20 years had changed my perspective, especially after watching Elio and F1 The Movie last week, and now that Cars is  available to stream in 4K on Disney Plus. And I was surprised to realize that the film shares certain similarities with F1 The Movie. 

(First, though, let's get this out of the way: since I can't get it out of my head) 

Back to Pixar's Cars. 

The animation looks super awesome! It shares that with F1 The Movie: both are superb to gaze upon, especially during the racing sequences, which are entirely enthralling. Both also share a story in which a rookie race car driver seeking his first win ends up with a reluctant, aging mentor, who is a past champion race car driver. Lessons will be taught, resisted, and ultimately accepted, leading to eventual triumph. 

As the story develops, however, Cars becomes more of an ensemble piece, with Larry the Cable's Mater, a tow truck, eating up much more screen time than I remembered. (His Southern redneck character and humor do not age well). The same goes with other citizens of Radiator Springs, the fictional desert town where the speedy Lightning McQueen ends up spending a few days, against his will. 

I wish there had been more time spent between McQueen and Newman, perhaps because I'm aware that this was Newman's final voice performance in a fictional feature. (Indeed, the film feels haunted by death, starting with Joe Ranft's death in an automobile accident during production.) 

This might have saved the film from the awkward courtship between cars -- in this case, Lightning McQueen and Bonnie Hunt as a blue Porsche named Sally. Not to be indelicate in discussing a family film, but how exactly do cars have a happy marriage or, er, produce children? Perhaps best not to ask. (Talk about factory rejects.) 

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Where the film does ring true is in its commentary on the real-life Route 66 towns that were bypassed by the national interstate system of soulless highways. Changing times and all that, but Cars truly seems to understand the sad song of towns that (mostly) withered up and died, all in favor of speeding through the endless expanse that sows the country together. 

At the box office, Cars grossed some $60 million on its opening weekend, on its way to $244 million in the U.S. and nearly $462 million worldwide. It also spawned two sequels, two spin-offs, and two television series. [Disney Plus] 

Now Streaming: Nine years old and intimately acquainted with all kinds of saints, Damian (Alex Etel) moves with his older brother Anthony (Lewis Owen McGibbon) and their father (James Nesbitt) into a newly-built neighborhood. 

Their new home is lovely, and spacious enough that each brother gets their own room for the first time, but the community is sparsely-populated, and Damian finds greater kinship with the imaginary company of Catholic saints who keep appearing to him than with any human. Coupled with his keenly-felt grief over the death of his mother, the lad feels quite lonely. 

One day, a big sack of money arrives, flying through the air and destroying the cardboard house he's assembled by the railroad track that runs through their neighborhood. Damian thinks it's a gift from heaven and sets about distributing it to the poor. 

At least, that's his initial intention, which keeps getting sidetracked by Anthony and everyone else who gets a whiff of the hundreds thousands millions of pounds -- the exact amount doesn't matter, it's a lot -- in the big sack. England will soon be converting to the Euro, and pounds in cash will be worthless, which adds a welcome degree of urgency to the entire affair.

As laid out in the charming original screenplay by Frank Cottrell Boyce, Damian is a pure child: sweet, innocent, guileless, and wide-eyed, he's always smiling and always thinking of others before himself. His dead mother is constantly on his mind; he asks every saint who appears to him about her -- have you seen her yet? -- and he has not yet been corrupted by the world. 

Older brother Anthony may not have been thoroughly corrupted by the world, but he's a few years old and far more worldly-wise than the well-meaning Damian, who is ripe to be ripped off by the world and all its less savory citizens. Their father is always working and never around, it seems, so it's up to Anthony to look out for Damian. But he can't follow him everywhere, and so Damian keeps trying to give the money away, as he uses his limited knowledge of the world to give money to people he thinks are "poor" and probably deserving of a little cash. 

I first saw the movie on videotape around the time of its initial release in the U.S. in April 2005, though I remember it was either under consideration or actually screened at AFI Fest in 2004, during my two-year stint as a festival screener there. It lodged in my mind as an enjoyable film, though at the time I had not yet seen all of Danny Boyle's films up to that point, which included Shallow Grave (1994), Trainspotting (1995), A Life Less Ordinary (1999), and The Beach (2000). \

Indeed, Boyle's previous film was 28 Days Later (2002), which is being revived this week with the release of his sequel 28 Years Later. Boyle's next film after Millions was the decidedly-for-adults Sunshine (2007), and he's continued in the 'decidedly-for-adults' vein with nearly every film thereafter, with the exception of the soft-tempered Only Yesterday (2019). 

His films are not always jammed with piercing violence, horrific violence, zombie violence, and arm-separating violence, of course; it's just that he has invariably been drawn to adult themes handled without compromise. Even Millions takes a brief, dark turn in its third act, and it surprised me -- as it was undoubtedly meant to do -- because it felt genuinely scary and made me fear for the character in danger, especially after the bulk of the film is told as a lighthearted saint-minded fable.

Millions may be an anomaly in Boyle's career, but you wouldn't know it from watching the film today. It's made with care, precision, and Boyle's usual upending of narrative conventions, in part through his constantly varied choice of perspectives and framing, which keeps the manner of storytelling from ever diving into tried and true 'family film' waters. 

As a consequence, Millions feels unlike nearly every other family film of its time. It's sweet and inviting. Damian is such a wonderful kid that you can't help but root for him and worry about him and his family. As things turned out, neither Alex Etel nor Lewis Owen McGibbon continued acting for very long, which means that Millions remains a repository for two extraordinary performances by young actors who are entirely endearing and feel authentically juvenile. 

James Nesbitt remains active, giving lovely, measured performances, mostly in British television shows for the past decade. Boyce and Boyle remain active, with their last collaboration coming at the London 2012 Olympics opening ceremony. 

Those who love horror and zombies will undoubtedly be eager to hear about 28 Years Later, which is press screening locally tonight ahead of its world premiere in London tomorrow and its wide theatrical release on Friday. For the rest of us, we'll always have Millions. [Disney Plus]

Arriving in 2009, near the midpoint of director Wes Anderson's career to date, his animated adaptation of Roald Dahl's book caught many of us by surprise. With his new film, The Phoenician Scheme, arriving in area theaters this week (after landing in New York and Los Angeles this past Friday), I decided to prepare by revisiting Fantastic Mr. Fox. 

His first animated film was also his first PG-rated film and also his first based on a book by Roald Dahl. He would make another animated movie nine years later (Isle of Dogs, 2018), other films rated PG-13 (Moonrise Kingdom, 2012; Isle of Dogs, 2018; Asteroid City, 2023; The Phoenician Scheme, 2025), and four short films based on Roald Dah's stories (The Wonderful World of Henry Sugar and Three More, 2024), all of which were rated PG. 

At the time, I'd seen four of Anderson's previous live-action movies -- though it took me a while to catch up with Bottle Rocket -- and was growing tired of them, because, frankly, his precise designs and emotional approach felt too precious for my taste, and I felt I'd see what he had to offer after watching Rushmore, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou, and The Darjeeling Limited. I concluded that, perhaps, he simply wasn't for me. 

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The opening scenes in Fantastic Mr. Fox turned me around, however, and I've been a steady follower of his subsequent six films, if not an uncritical devotee. I believe Fantastic Mr. Fox is the first of his film that I've rewatched in full and, again, the opening scenes, which feature multiple LOL moments, are what got me back on board.

Somehow, the film feels like a Wes Anderson film and, simultaneously, a parody of a Wes Anderson film -- not unlike the Saturday Night Live short broadcast in 2013 -- as well as a juvenile version of a Wes Anderson film, complete with "cuss" and its variations in the dialogue, in place of adult profanities. 

I have very pleasant memories of watching it in a movie theater during an advance press screening, prompting the following review, published in November 2009 by Screen Anarchy, and reprinted with permission below: 

Wes Anderson's funny, fabulous Fantastic Mr. Fox feels like a book that's been missing from his library, an all-ages comedy with tender life lessons gently imparted by lovable characters. For all I know, Roald Dahl is spinning in his grave, but the British author's book has provided Anderson with a badly-needed spark that reignites his creative juices. 

Not that Anderson's post-Owen Wilson collaborations with Noah Baumbach have been complete disasters. Somewhere alone the line, though, perhaps midway through The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou and all the way through The Darjeeling Limited, it felt like Anderson's playfully twee tone wore thin. His characters, who have always teetered on the brink between self-absorbed and self-pitying, fell hard toward the irredeemably murky end of a perpetual personality crisis. 

It made you downright concerned that somebody might really kill themselves.

All such thoughts are happily banished in Fantastic Mr. Fox. Reformed chicken thief Foxy (voiced by George Clooney) is contently entwined with his beloved wife (voiced by Meryl Streep). Twelve years ago he gave up his wild animal lifestyle when Mrs. Fox got pregnant. Their son Ash (Jason Schwartzman) is "different" -- not "different" like his athletic father, still wildly imaginative and popular, but "different" as in confusingly weird. In reality, he's the fox equivalent of an adolescent boy entering puberty and dealing with all the associated issues: What kind of fox will I be when I grow up? 

Ash's desire to follow in his father's footsteps are hampered by the arrival of cousin Kristofferson (Eric Anderson), the kind of young fox who can make a perfect high dive into a tub of water while barely making a splash or mussing his hair. Mr. Fox treats Kristofferson like the long-lost son he never had, which definitely makes Ash feel threatened. Furthermore, Kristofferson also threatens to lure away Agnes (Juman Malouf), a fetching young classmate who Ash fancies.

Mr. Fox is dealing with his own life crisis. After 12 years of living in a hole with his family and working as a reporter for the local newspaper, he's hearing the call of the wild. Against the advice of Badger (Bill Murray), his lawyer, he buys a treehouse in sight of three huge farms belonging to the evil Bean (Michael Gambon), Boggis (Robin Hurlstone) and Bunch (Hugo Guiness). Mr. Fox cannot resist temptation and recruits his friend Kylie (Wally Wolodarsky) in a caper that eventually endangers not only himself and his family, but the entire local animal kingdom.

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This is very much a Wes Anderson picture, self-aware, somewhat self-conscious, the characters' neuroses, nervous mannerisms, and unexplained tics all fully on display, along with the director's predilection for sequences driven by grandiose classic rock and pop music (this time including a guest appearance by Jarvis Crocker, formerly of Pulp, as a musician named Petey). Yet everything is in service of the story, which makes for a glorious melding of sensibilities as twee meets Gee! Or, in the parlance of the movie, "What the cuss are you talking about?"

And it's the funniest flick that Anderson has made, with absolutely stellar work by the crew members who brought to life Anderson's very different vision of what stop-motion animation could be. Even though there are moments that are clearly computer-driven, everything else feels very handmade, which helps make the characters more endearing, more vulnerable to the vicissitudes of life.

Smart, energizing, and never condescending to its characters or the audience, Fantastic Mr. Fox is a complete delight. 

The film is now streaming on Disney Plus and also on Hulu.

Now Streaming: Springing from the mind of animator Chris Sanders in 1985, Stitch is roughly analogous to a baby from outer space.

In Lilo & Stitch, released in 2002, co-writers and co-directors Chris Sanders and Dean DeBlois introduce a diminutive monster on another planet, so scary and frightening to its inhabitants that it's sent into exile, with the hope that it will perish when it overcomes its captors and lands on a planet that is covered (nearly) entirely with water, where the creature has no hope of survival. 

Of course, the alien crash-lands on a tiny island, compelling Grand Councilwoman (Zoe Caldwell) to send the creature's creator, mad scientist Jumpa (David Ogden Stiers) to retrieve it, accompanied by the meek, ill-suited, and entirely disposable Pleakley (Kevin McDonald). 

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On the island where the creature lands, young Lilo (Daveigh Chase) lives with her older sister Nani (Tia Carrere), who is struggling to care for Lilo as her legal guardian. The sisters are grieving the death of their beloved parents. Lilo is acting out, aggressively, while Nani threatens to kill her -- not really -- as she is overwhelmed by a full-time job and a young girl who is out of control. 

On a visit to an animal shelter, Lilo encounters the creature and instantly falls in love with the batty little thing, renaming it Stitch. The collision between Lilo and Stitch is a marriage of opportunity: Lilo needs a best friend and companion, and Stitch needs somewhere to hide out from Jumpa and Pleakley. 

Delightful and charming, the story unfolds along traditional narrative lines, and is told in an unhurried yet steady pace. The characters are enjoyable, the relationships are relatable, and the jokes are funny. The 2D animation looks gorgeous, and holds up well after more than 20 years, which is true of the film as a whole, which I watched last week. 

It was the second of three films made primarily at Disney's animation studio in Florida -- the first was Mulan (1998), the third was Brother Bear (2003) -- the film earned more than $273 million worldwide (on a reported $80 million budget), earned an Academy Award nomination, and spawned three movie sequels and three spin-off series, which are all streaming on Disney Plus. 

The film holds up well as family entertainment that is sufficiently charming to entertain adults too, single or otherwise, more so than the new live-action version, which chugs along gamely but falls short of the original's charm. If the advertising for the new film has caught your attention, however, now is a good time to revisit the original. [Disney Plus] 

Now Streaming: Closely resembling a child placing two photographs together and making them kiss, photo-realistic computer animation will never be funny. Or romantic. Or truly dramatic. 

Admittedly, though, photo-realistic computer animation looks amazing, especially in 4K on a decent-sized monitor. Frequently, while watching the woebegone Mufasa: The Lion King on Disney Plus, I was struck by how good it looked: the lions looked like lions; the white lions, who are the villains of the piece, because everything white is evil, of course, looked like white lions; the birds and the fishes and the mammals looked like real-life animals; and the wilderness looked absolutely gorgeous. 

Be that as it may, I have no idea what story director Barry Jenkins intended to tell. Of course, I admire his artistic intention and/or heartfelt desire to provide financially for his family and loved ones. 

Yet, Mufasa: The Lion King, whose script is credited solely to Jeff Nathanson, is a prequel that resembles The Lion King (1994) and its official remake The Lion King (2019), whose script was also credited solely to Jeff Nathanson, in its narrative arc, and even in some of its story details. So was this a case where Nathanson decided to borrow gobs of script pages from his own earlier script and just change the details a bit? 

Early on, for example, Mufasa is nearly swallowed up by an unexpected flood that comes rampaging through a canyon. His father dies saving him, but the floodwaters sweep Mufasa away to a distant land where he must find himself before returning to save his kingdom. 

So you're telling me that young Mustafa nearly died through circumstances that later repeated themselves years later when he needed to save his son Simba from animals that were rampaging through a canyon, only to be thwarted by his brother Scar and killed by the animals, whereupon Scar gives Simba a massive guilt trip, blaming him for the death, and propelling Simba into a distant land where he must find himself before returning to save his kingdom? 

Wow! Screenwriting is easier than I thought. 

Frankly, it's only in reconstructing the narrative above that I realized why the film confused me so much as I was watching. The title itself doesn't make sense to me: weren't the original film (1993) and its direct remake (2019) meant to be about the true king of the lions, namely, Simba? Now I see that I've had the wrong idea for more than 30 years: The Lion King is meant to be about the position, not the person. 

(Like the long after-the-release retitling of Star Wars (1977), I have a feeling that Disney is planning a series of releases, all with different names at the beginning of the title. So we can expect a prequel to the prequel with Masego: The Lion King and a sequel to the remake entitled Kiara: The Lion Queen. Will the inevitable Disney Plus series roll with Tales of the Pride Lands? Time will tell.)

Young Mufasa has been swept by the floodwater into a distant land, where he is rescued from hungry crocodiles by Taka, the young son of royalty. Take further bonds himself with his new friend Mufasa by throwing a footrace to him, which allows Mufasa, a stranger in a strange land, to stay in his new home.  Mufasa and Taka become bosom buddies. 

Attacked by vicious white lions, part of a pride known as the Outsiders, Mufasa (now voiced by Aaron Pierre) defends Taka's mother and kills one of the attacking Outsiders, raising the ire of the young lion's father, Kiros, leader of the Outsiders, who vows revenge against Mufasa. (By the way, in an eyebrow-raising explanation, the Outsiders were ostracized because of the color of their skin, which turned them all vicious and murderous. This may also explain why Kiros is voiced by the supremely evil and very white Mads Mikkelsen) Kiros starts by killing Taka's family, which means Mufasa and Taka (voiced as an adult by Kelven Harrison Jr.) must go On The Run. 

While On The Run, Mufasa and Taka meet the comely Sarabi (Tiffany Boone), who is traveling with the wisecracking bird Zazu (Preston Nyman) and wise yet wacky mandarin Rafiki (Kagiso Lediga). Naturally, both Mufasa and Taka are attracted to Sarabi -- she's the only lioness around, after all! -- but Taka opens his mouth first, and so Mufasa is honor-bound to deny his feelings for her and constantly put Taka forward as her mate-to-be. Sarabi, of course, like any female, know her own feelings: She doesn't want Taka, she wants Mufasa, and that's that. 

Taka, of course, like any male, is insanely jealous of the feelings that quickly develop between Mufasa and Sarabi, and so he is quick to betray them both when he ends up in the company of the truly evil Kiros. Naturally, however, Taka knows that this movie is a prequel and that Mufasa must live, so he saves his life a couple more times, for his trouble, gets slashed in the face and renames himself Scar so he can one day soon be voiced by Jeremy Irons. 

For reasons unknown except the Disney intellectual properly attorneys, the entire story is told by old Rafiki (John Kani) to old Timba and Pumba, perhaps to make room for white actors Seth Rogen and Billy Eichner. Periodically, the story pauses so Timba and Pumba can make jokes like late-night comedians, more fitting for the modern day than anything else, which breaks whatever spell is being spun by the the story of young Mufasa, but hey, gotta make room for white voices in the room. 

The creative team also includes multiple songs, none of which come to mind to me now as I write this, three days since I saw the film. Put the blame on me, though, since I am older and my memory is not so great; I'm sure they're all fantastic and utterly hummable for your kids (?!). 

If only the photorealistic animation could sing! And talk! Maybe then the movie would come to life, instead of just laying down limply on screen, waiting to be admired by onlookers. [Disney Plus] 

Now Streaming: Coming eight years after the original, Moana 2 feels completely adrift from its original inspiration. 

Developed by veteran animators Ron Clements and John Musker and released in 2016, Moana tried hard to be "fresh and modern," as I wrote back then for another outlet, "but it doesn't quite get there." Instead, the movie ended up inverting "the expected paradigm; Moana is not a hero's journey, it's a sidekick's journey. The young girl Moana learns practical things -- how to sail -- while slowly becoming a supporting character to Maui, a male demigod who needs to learn Important Life Lessons. What may have been intended as an inversion of gender roles instead ends up reinforcing them." Coming straight from the Mouse House, the film's big budget was amply rewarded by the public at large, earning nearly $650 million worldwide, per Box Office Mojo. 

The sequel, released this past November, easily outperformed the original, raking in more than $1 billion dollars at the box office worldwide. So, the company's faith in its own intellectual property was rewarded, which also explains why the film is just reaching the studio's streaming site this week. 

I missed the original theatrical release, due to an overcrowded work schedule, yet even at home, the film looks spectacular in 4K, the rich range of colors bursting out of the screen and the details looking mighty clear. Unfortunately, the higher density also reveals that every character looks like they are skinned in plastic, betraying absolutely no imperfections and resembling blow-up dolls for children. 

Which, after all, sounds appropriate: the movie is designed and targeted at youthful audiences, after all. Even so, the best films intended for youthful audiences, animated or not, never make the mistake of talking down to their audience. Children, even very young children, can quickly grasp the meaning behind facial gestures and body languages, even if they can't understand the words that are spoken. 

In Moana 2, a plethora of people are constantly acting much sillier and more juvenile than their fictional ages, explaining everything over and over again. When Moana decides to embark on another grand adventure for a MacGuffin or two, she decides to bring along a group of friends who are absolutely no help to her. If anything, they serve as a distraction to Moana, who must then spend time saving them from their own foolishness or worrying about them as they foolishly and/or needlessly put the lives of themselves or others in danger. 

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The demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson), formerly all powerful? Now he's not much use to himself or anyone else. He's the one in need of rescue by Moana, who has grown into a fine leader, although she too needs reassurance from smiling dead relatives who rise from the afterlife to cheer her on. 

The narrative itself, which has something to do with uniting the world somehow through its ocean people, is rambling and incoherent. To some extent, all sequels are remakes, especially one released eight years after the original; the original featured Moana setting off to find herself, only to be overcome by her association with Maui. The sequel revolves around Moana again setting off on an adventure, though its purpose remains curiously uninteresting.

It's difficult to discern any creative or story-driven purpose behind the sequel. Like a high-priced DTV release, Moana 2 is all tarted up for no good reason except Disney's bottom line, and has precious little to recommend for adult viewers, except for hard-core feature animation fans. [Disney Plus]

Now Streaming: Voting for the 97th Academy Awards concludes today. The winners in all 23 categories will be announced live on ABC (broadcast television) and simultaneously streamed live on Hulu (streaming service) on Sunday evening, March 2, 2025. 

It's the first time the awards will be streamed live, so to get in the spirit and/or catch up with any of the nominated animated feature films, here's a guide to where all five are streaming. It's a good bunch, and, now that I've seen them all, I can recommend all five to varying degrees. 

Flow 

Now streaming on Max.  

My personal #2 pick among the nominees is a captivating tale about a cat who must survive in a world devastated by disaster. Told without dialogue by Latvian director Gints Zilbalodis, it is a truly universal tale that is animated gorgeously and conveys beautifully every beat of its story, which is heartfelt and affecting. 

Inside Out 2 

Now streaming on Disney+. 

The sequel to the studio's Inside Out picks up two years later, as the film's protagonist enters puberty, which provides the setting for a rich set of relatable comic and emotional experiences. As I wrote in my review: "Inside Out 2 is clearly informed by the personal experiences of writer Meg LeFauve and director Kelsey Mann -- LeVauve and Mann are credited for the story, while LeFauve and Dave Holstein are credited for the screenplay -- yet broadens out, aiming for the universality of adolescence."  

Memoir of a Snail 

Now streaming on AMC+. 

This was the last of the five nominees that I watched and -- surprise! -- it surpassed them all. I love stop-motion animation because every frame has a palpable human touch. More than that, I was touched by the story, in which the very human Grace (voiced by Sarah Snook) recalls her life, why she has always related to and cared for snails, and why she feels like one. 

It's poignant and piercing in its emotions. It's also the nominee that is most clearly intended for adults, who will appreciate the weighty sentiments that they film conveys, without ever becoming needlessly sentimental. 

If I voted for the Academy Awards, this would be my pick. 

Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl 

Now streaming on Netflix. 

I love Wallace & Gromit, and I love this movie. Read my review if you need to know more before watching. Or just watch and enjoy. 

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The Wild Robot 

 Now streaming on Peacock TV.

The ad-supported version requires watching all the advertisements before the movie begins, which then plays uninterrupted, which is great. Peacock TV also streams in 4K, which is a great way to enjoy the intense color scheme. 

Filmmaker Chris Sanders has a great track record in animation -- Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, The Croods -- and here he pulls out all the stops in telling the story of a robot that shipwrecks on an island and must make its way by bonding with the local animals. It's very cute, very colorful, and very corny. It also pulls on a lot of predictable heartstrings, which means its sentimental approach will ring true for many family heads. 

Now Streaming: Harkening back to an earlier era -- kinda like X-Men '97 -- yet decidedly modern in its setting and technology, Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is the latest animated entry in the ever-increasing Marvel Universe. 

Debuting on Disney Plus, the series kicks off musically with direct quotes from the iconic theme song for the original animated show, Spider-Man (1967) -- something that Sam Raimi's Spider-Man (2002) included in its closing credits -- before plunging into the multicultural world of today's Queens, New York. Introducing Peter Parker as a fledgling super-hero, with the ability to spin webs organically with far greater power than ordinary spiders, the new show surrounds him with a supporting cast that features a couple familiar names -- Aunt May and Norman Osborne -- along with characters who are less immediately familiar. 

The original 1967 show introduced my generation to Peter Parker, Spider-Man, the theme song, and the catch phrase "Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." Because of his name, I considered Peter Parker to be my superhero, an otherwise insecure, skinny kid with great powers. (I will be humming that theme song throughout all eternity.) I watched the show faithfully on our 13-inch black-and-white television and bought Spider-Man comic books whenever I had a spare quarter available, which wasn't very often. 

Created by Jeff Tramell distinguishes the new show from the previous nine animated series that preceded it by setting the show in an alternate timeline. After Peter Parker (voiced by Hudson Thames) gets bitten by a spider in the opening sequence, we flash forward a bit to his freshman years in high school. 

Peter lives with his widowed Aunt May (Kari Walhgren) and attends school  with his best friend Nico (Grace Song). He yearns for his slighter older schoolmate Pearl (Cathy Ang), but before he can ask out his one-time babysitter, she becomes entangled with football star Lonnie (Eugene Byrd). As it turns out, Lonnie is super-friendly with Peter and asks for his help with schoolwork. 

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Meanwhile, Peter's heroic inclinations lead him to help a young man under attack from bullies; the young man is Harry Osborn (Zeno Robinson). The first episode concludes with the introduction of Norman Osborn (Colman Domingo), who offers Peter an internship at his company, which occupies the second episode. 

The first two episodes pass by briskly and pleasantly, even though it doesn't feel like anything momentous is in the offing. As to the animation, reportedly, "the 3D cel-shaded animation pays homage to the art style of early The Amazing Spider-Man comic books by Steve Ditko and John Romita Sr., with animation provided by Polygon Pictures and CGCG, Inc."

From the teaser trailer alone, I wasn't certain what to expect of yet another off-shoot from Marvel, but the show feels less indebted to the past than X-Man '97, and much more sprightly. I'm also quite intrigued by the presence of Colman Domingo, an Academy Award nominee for Sing Sing, who bolsters the solid voice cast with his ability to slide between warm humanity and cold menace. 

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The show's approach offers up a few very familiar characters, mixed in with new (to me) characters. And, in harmony with its title, the action feels very friendly, eschewing hostile intentions and putting the emphasis on protecting the neighborhood from troubles both within and without. Recommended. [Disney Plus] 

Now Streaming: After watching the first two episodes of Skeleton Crew, created by Christopher Ford and Jon Watts, I wrote in my review: "Its vibe is that of a suburban tween comedy, as the four young leads are introduced and then brought together on an adventure that launches into space." I was wrong. 

I also wrote: "So far, the series is very appealing to adults (to me, anyway), largely because it doesn’t take the Star Wars legacy too seriously." I was wrong (again).

On the basis of what I'd watched, the next two episodes appeared to be following a narrative track that I expected, and so I placed it on the back burner over the holidays. It was only because of reading Alan Sepinwall's column last week that I decided to catch up with the final four episodes, and boy howdy! I'm glad I did. 

The esteemed Mr. Sepinwall described the show as "not particularly ambitious or complex, but well-crafted, satisfying all-ages entertainment." My opinion was even higher than that, in large part because episodes 5 through 8 made it crystal clear why Jude Law signed on for what was, essentially, a supporting role: Mr. Law can convincingly teeter between good and evil, between charming and sinister. 

To give away any plot points would venture too far into spoiler territory, so I'll just mention that it's entirely worth watching the final four episodes, even if you haven't seen the first four episodes. Bryce Dallas Howard, Lee Isaac Chung, and Jon Watts directed the final three shows, which each built upon the reveals in the previous episodes. 

The show never turned entirely to the Dark Side, but it definitely took advantage of all the gorgeous visual effects produced by Lucasfilm, which, combined with Jude Law's edgy performance, turned a number of scenes into non-diabolical menace, which is my favorite kind of menace. All in all, I agree with Mr. Sepinwall that the show falls short of the first seasons of Andor and The Mandolarian. and never rises to the level of "drop everything and watch it this instant," but it is better than I expected. [Disney Plus] 

Just a few months ago, director David Lynch announced that he had emphysema.  

"Ladies and Gentlemen,

Yes, I have emphysema from my many years of smoking. I have to say that I enjoyed smoking very much, and I do love tobacco - the smell of it, lighting cigarettes on fire, smoking them - but there is a price to pay for this enjoyment, and the price for me is emphysema. I have now quit smoking for over two years. Recently I had many tests and the good news is that I am in excellent shape except for emphysema. I am filled with happiness, and I will never retire. 

I want you all to know that I really appreciate your concern. 

Love,

David"

And now he’s gone. In celebration of his life and artistry — and because I cannot concentrate on anything else today, here is the remainder of my review from August 2024. Sincere condolences to all his friends and family members.

Lynch, now 78, completed Twin Peaks: The Return in 2017, and has kept busy with other artistic pursuits since then. Smoking has always seemed to be a part and parcel of his work, which is not terribly surprising. He grew up as part of a generation that admired smoking and idolized smokers. 

Still, the news sparked my own fond remembrance of watching David Lynch's sole family-friendly film, The Straight Story (1999), bookended by the decidedly non-family friendly Lost Highway (1997) and Mulholland Drive (2001). It was part of a decade of his work that included Twin Peaks (1990-1991)  which is surely the most subversive series to ever air on broadcast television, intended for a broad audience.  

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Like Lynch's Blue Velvet (1986) and several of his other films, The Straight Story begins with a shot that initially seems incongruous with the action that follows. In this case, we start with a starry, starry night, which slowly transforms into a bucolic morning, somewhere in Middle America. As the camera pans down to a large farming vehicle, slowly motoring through the empty main street of a small town, wild dogs run free, barking. 

The scene changes to a couple of pleasant-looking, if unremarkable houses. Outside one, a woman gets up from her lawn lounger, returning with a bowl of food to munch on while she stretches out in the sun. In the interim, the camera pans by the exterior of the neighboring house, where we hear a loud "thud."

Soon, we learn that the thud-ee is Alvin Straight (Richard Farnsworth), who has fallen in his kitchen and needs help to get up. Reluctantly, he visits the only doctor in town. After a brief examination, the doctor informs him of his diagnosis. 

Alvin appears to be in the early stages of emphysema.

That gave me pause. I'd forgotten that diagnosis in the movie. It added a layer of sadness, because I realized that David Lynch knew perfectly well that smoking can cause emphysema and other diseases. And he kept on happily smoking. 

At the time of filming, director David Lynch was 53. Actor Richard Farnsworth was 79; the following year, suffering from terminal cancer and in a great deal of pain, he died by his own hand. 

Now that I'm aware of all those things, and now that I am in my 60s, watching The Straight Story felt like soaking in an elegy for past time, and coming to terms with the consequences for a lifetime of actions. 

In 1994, military veteran and widower Alvin Straight traveled 240 miles on a riding lawn mower from Laurens, Iowa, to Blue River, Wisconsin, in order to visit his ailing brother. The film, written by John Roach and Mary Sweeney, follows the outlines of the true story. 

Alvin, after hearing that his estranged brother has suffered a life-threatening stroke, decides he must visit him so as to resolve personal issues that arose between them. Because Alvin suffers from poor eyesight, no longer has a driver's license, and is disinclined to ask anyone else for assistance, he decides to drive his riding lawn mower, towing a trailer loaded with supplies, to make the trip. 

Filming along the same route that the real-life Straight took just a few years before, Lynch and his creative team, notably master cinematographer Freddie Francis (Lynch's Dune and Blue Velvet), editor and producer Mary Sweeney, music composer Angelo Badalamenti, costume designer Patricia Norris, and production designer Jack Fisk (aka Sissy Spacek's husband), weave a tale of shimmering beauty and quiet splendor, capturing the lonely roads, freshly-harvested fields, and friendly people, who invariably offer to help, yet are never pushy or meddlesome. 

Sissy Spacek, as Alvin's concerned daughter Rose, who is also a smoker, and Everett McGill (Twin Peaks), as a John Deere farm-equipment salesman, are the most familiar faces in the supporting cast, though they blend easily into the background, part of the seamless mosaic that Lynch and his team created. 

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It's an ineffably gorgeous film, which becomes more affecting with every viewing, all the more so in view of the recent news about David Lynch. It's a film to watch with family and friends. It's a celebration of what was and what will be. [Disney Plus]

Nostalgia can kick you in the head. Or warm your heart. 

I have never laughed so hard and so continuously as I did during the train chase scene in The Wrong Trousers. 

Early in the 1990s, friends in New York started telling me about the Wallace & Gromit short films, which were available to watch here in the States via public broadcaster PBS on an occasional schedule. When I finally got to watch them (in order, of course), I enjoyed A Grand Day Out, but I adored The Wrong Trousers, featuring the villainous diamond thief Feathers McGraw, which made me a die-hard fan, which continued through A Close Shave.

Their first feature-length film, The Curse of the Were-Rabbit (2005), prompted a review by Todd Brown, Screen Anarchy's founder and editor, who wrote in part: "The film is absolutely fantastic from beginning to end and isolating any one thing that makes it so is well nigh impossible. Wallace and Gromit, you see, doesn't work because of any one particular moment, or gag, or approach but because of the way all of the elements fit together so incredibly well, so flawlessly, to create an all-encompassing world." 

Reading Todd's review again after watching Vengeance Most Fowl, starring Wallace and Gromit, made me think hard about nostalgia. Three decades of reflection have not diminished my love for Ardman's past masterful work with the characters, and I have long since arrived at a point where I don't care what anybody else says or writes about this movie, which is absolutely fantastic, to borrow Todd's descriptive phrase.

Vengeance Most Fowl picks up where The Wrong Trousers left off, with mute penguin Feathers McGraw locked up behind bars, where he belongs, but already plotting his revenge against bumbling Wallace and silent Gromit. 

Now voiced by Ben Whitehead, since original Wallace voice Peter Sallis passed away in 2010, the "new" Wallace sounds very much like the old Wallace. (Whitehead's voice can also be heard in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit and A Matter of Loaf and Death, as well as various Wallace & Gromit video games.) Whitehead captures the character nuances that Sallis brought to the endless inventive, perpetually positive Wallace. 

Since the bakery business folded after A Matter of Loaf and Death, Gromit is keenly aware that Wallace's continuing inventions are not able to keep up with the bills. Wallace's latest invention is a so-called "smart" gnome -- similar to a gnome glimpsed briefly in a neighbor's garden in The Curse of the Were-Rabbit -- which becomes an instant sensation after Wallace demonstrates it in his own backyard, much to Gromit's dismay. 

The neighbors, all peeking over their fences, are amazed, however, and all want to hire Norbot, the gnome, which prompts Wallace to establish a new business, which is a hit with the neighbors. That is, until Feathers McGraw catches wind and devises a devious plan to transform the smart gnome into an Agent of Destruction -- and to make many more gnomes, too! 

Having watched all the shorts and features multiple times, what strikes me about the latest is that it celebrates the brilliance of invention, while simultaneously warning about the dangers involved in plowing forth without due consideration. It's that wise caution that feels very British to me -- and I hope that doesn't sound reductive, because that's not what I mean. I mean that in the best sense possible: yes, yes, we're going to do this or that, but for heaven's sake, let's also think about and plan for unexpected elements, like a penguin disguised as a chicken. 

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Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl is very, very funny, and marks a welcome return for the beloved friend to the biggest screen possible, even if that's only in your home. Come to think of it, they fit very well at home, since home is where the heart is, and also where most accidents happen. 

And it's where Wallace and his dear friend Gromit can settle in, relax, and think up brilliant new inventions and how to deal with them. [Netflix]

Review originally published on Screen Anarchy on December 30, 2024. 

Now Streaming: To make up for missing an advance press screening for Barry Jenkins' Mufasa: The Lion King, opening today in movie theaters everywhere, I consoled myself by returning to Disney's original version, directed by Roger Allers and Rob Minkoff. 

(Frankly, I wasn't enthusiastic about seeing the sequel to a remake that I slipped almost entirely out of my consciousness, even before I saw that the remake is currently earning an approval rating of only 56% on Rotten Tomatoes. I'm sure that it will still make a billion dollars at the box office, so it doesn't need my dollars.) 

My original impressions upon seeing the original film in 1994 were entirely positive. It was a high point in Disney's animated renaissance, when it felt like every Disney film was an experience that could be shared by children and their parents, as well as adults without children. I've seen the film since then, perhaps twice more, on videocassette and then DVD. 

Watching it in 4K, even on a streaming service, was a huge step up from DVD. I revelled in the glorious colors, which truly looked stupendous, and noted that two sequences in particular that were bathed in red looked disturbing, and more menacing than I recalled. (It's also something that Jon Favreau's remake couldn't possibly approach in its visuals.) 

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Another benefit from 4K that I've come to increasingly appreciate is the sound. On a 4K disc, the benefits of the higher-quality audio become especially noticeable in the sound for older films; I have 4K discs of movies from the 1950s through to the present day, and the older films sometimes benefit more from 4K mastering in the audio, even if the visuals are not drop-dead gorgeous. 

Thus, James Earl Jones' voice  r u m b l e s  d e e p l y  as the noble Mufasa. Jeremy Irons' voice  c o i l s  a n d  s l i t h e r s  Mufasa's brother, the duplicitous Scar. They are the standouts in the voice cast, but it's also a joy to hear Matthew Broderick and Nathan Lane, seven years before they teamed up on Broadway for Mel Brooks' musical-comedy The Producers, as unlikely friends. 

The songs by Elton John and Tim Rice, and the original musical score by Hans Zimmer, are  magnificent and, dare I say, manifest uplifting emotions. And I love the comic riffs on "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" and "It's a Small Word."  All the music and songs bolster the primary narrative, which soft-pedals the moral message that's woven into the fabric, without weakening it. 

And all this in 94 minutes! The 2019 remake ran 118 minutes and its sequel is timed at 120 minutes. Personally, I think your time may be better spent watching the 1994 original again. [Disney Plus]