Finding Nemo (2003): I needed to cleanse my palate after Alvin and went to one of my most beloved animations. I’ve always had a thing for movies that revolve around the father-son relationship, for reasons my therapist has often explained, and Nemo is one of the prime examples for that. In many ways it is a classic Pixar movie, with themes that children and adults can relate to just as easily. The characters are phenomenally memorable, both because of the way they are fleshed out and how they play into/against stereotypes, and the wonderful voice acting. I just found myself remembering the most minor of lines, although I hadn’t seen the movie in a very long time. Funny, heartfelt, gorgeous, insert any blurby adjectives here. The 2000s really were great for original Pixar content. 9
The Life of Chuck (2024): Mike Flanagan’s return to the big screen, his first movie in five years, is a successful one. It adapts another Stephen King story, of which there seems to be an endless supply. With an unusual structure, it takes a while for it to become clear what the movie is about – it sure feels very deliberate, in a way that’s both delicate and clever. The movie stars Tom Hiddleston, Karen Gillan, Chiwetel Ejiofor and Mark Hamill, alongside a handful of “Flanaganians” (actors who often show up in his shows). I think it has a few moments where it shines, especially in a life-affirming scene that just sticks with you way longer than the rest of the film does. But that’s in a sense part of the problem, because it clearly works its way towards being a big hitter, with a mysterious premise, but when it does hit, it fails to really make an overwhelming impact. There’s just a tameness which places it so squarely in a very distinctive corner of the SK universe, that ultimately reigns it in. 7
On the Count of Three (2021): Jerrod Carmichael, whom we know from the excellent stand-up Rothaniel (2022), made his directorial debut a while back. The movie, in which he co-stars alongside Christopher Abbott, is about two friends who want to commit suicide. So this is pretty much an exploration as to why that might be, how justified they are, and what this decision unlocks in them. It’s a dark comedy, or so they say. Definitely not ha-ha funny. The leads have good chemistry and the movie chugs along at a good pace. I’m not sure I was completely taken by the effort to find a clear line connecting their decision and a root cause, which felt somewhat simplistic and also very expositional in the way it is presented. But overall the movie packs a punch and leaves some thoughts on the viewer’s table. Or something. 7
Bring Her Back (2025): Follow-up to the Philippou’s viscerally enjoyable (and traumatic) Talk to Me (2022), Bring Her Back is a clever, but trope-laden possession movie. When two siblings, one of which is visually impaired, lose their father and are put into foster care, their overbearing new mother-figure immediately proves to have an agenda. It’s not too hard to see through her plans, but the movie does become uncomfortable the more it progresses. Which is part of why I liked it less than TTH. Visceral horror is replaced with acute discomfort, usually in the form of some kind of body horror, which is terrifying mostly in the sense that it is hard to sit through. It wasn’t a bad watch, but it came up short for my liking, lacking staying power. 6
Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007): Almost twenty years ago, a seminal piece of cinema history unfolded before our very eyes. The first film in the Chipmunk quadrilogy hit the screens, and boy, was it almost average. Starring the energetic Jason Lee and David Cross, who work hard to make something out of interacting with imaginary talking chipmunks, we follow Alvin, Simon and Theodore in their rise to musical fame and their harrowing experience of commercial exploitation. It’s all heavily ironic, given how much product placement targeted at children this movie portrays, but that’s part of the subtle meta. I won’t say that the chipmunks aren’t a tiny bit cute and their animation mostly works well, but this is really a flick with nothing on its mind other than making use of a well known IP in the most middling way possible. It’s bearable, but I can’t imagine what the next three films have in store. And, honestly, I don’t really want to find out. 4
tributary stu 