Review: “Jungle Cruise”

I was in the audience at the Walt Disney Studios panel at the D23 Expo in 2019 when some of the first footage from “Jungle Cruise”—an adventure film based on the Disney Parks attraction of the same name—was premiered. But it was less the trailers themselves that made an impact, and more the surprising and […]

Review: “Black Widow”

Regardless of your feelings on the dominance of the Marvel Cinematic Universe on the film industry, it does feel like a signal of some normalcy returning seeing an MCU film in the movie theaters for the first time since 2019’s “Spider-Man: Far From Home,” which immediately followed the franchise’s massive “Avengers: Endgame.” But what makes […]

Review: “Luca”

Considering that the last released Pixar film, “Soul,” dealt with the most complicated and adult themes of any of the studio’s movies to date, their newest animated film, “Luca,” is a complete 360. But the simplicity of this sweet coming of age story is in some ways more beautifully realized than some of Pixar’s more […]

Review: “Cruella”

Something really strange happened to me while I was watching “Cruella,” the latest animation to live action Disney prequel/remake. Disappointed by Disney’s recent installments in their series of nostalgia cash grabs and not impressed with the trailers for this one, I was fully prepared for “Cruella” to not be a good time. But less than […]

Review: “Raya and the Last Dragon”

When we first meet Raya, she is alone—alone, with the exception of her giant roly poly friend, Tuk Tuk. This image of a lone warrior traveling through a desolate landscape on a quest is an iconic one (the familiarity of which the Raya immediately acknowledges), but the endgame is not that Raya remains a mysterious […]

Review: “Soul”

What is your purpose? What is the meaning of life? What do you do when you haven’t gotten all you want to out of your life? Those are some of the big questions posed in Disney Pixar’s “Soul.” The animation studio’s latest film is made for adults more than any of its previous work, and […]

Streaming Movies: December, Part 1

Wow, what a busy month! Despite widespread theater closures and release date delays, awards season and the holiday movie season are both definitely in full swing. I’m presenting some mini reviews of some of the new movies that have been released on streaming services this month so far, including potential awards contenders “Mank” and “Sound […]

Review: “Mulan” (2020)

Warning: this review contains spoilers for “Mulan.” I will never forget watching the animated Disney movie “Mulan” in the theater when it was first released in 1998, and the sense of elation I felt walking out of the auditorium, the Stevie Wonder/98 Degrees tune “True to Your Heart” blaring over the end credits. It’s still […]

Streaming Movie Recap: June 2020

June was a pretty busy month for movies released on streaming platforms, particularly as several films originally intended for theatrical release made their debut on demand or on streaming services like Disney Plus instead due to the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve already reviewed some of those films (and I’ve linked my reviews below), but you can […]

Review: “Artemis Fowl”

I’ve been waiting for an “Artemis Fowl” movie for almost 20 years. I picked up the first book in the fantasy series by Eoin Colfer when I was in middle school and immediately became an avid fan, devouring each of the subsequent seven books in the series as soon as they were released. But whether […]