Minions & Monsters

Posted on June 30, 2026 at 2:57 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Cartoon mayhem, peril, and violence, with some comic but graphic moments including a beheading, plus scary monsters
Diversity Issues:	Deaf character
Date Released to Theaters:	July 1, 2026

It was about the time that tourists on a history of Hollywood tour walked past an animated George Lucas in a glass case, speaking with the ACTUAL VOICE OF THE ACTUAL GEORGE LUCAS that I said, “Okay, my critical faculties have been officially shut down and I am just a happy fangirl at this point.” “Minions & Monsters” continues the origin story of the little yellow guys in denim overalls and now adds in the origin story of the movies, plus a robot voiced by Jesse Eisenberg and some love for the fanboys. That’s a quintella of irresistableness and I did not even try to resist.

In a present-day prologue, tour guide (Alison Janney) tells a group to take a seat so she can give them the full story of the two minons who changed everything in movies, history, and the world. We go back in time to see them on their quest to find and serve the most evil master in the world. Unfortunately, the minions keep accidentally destroying their “big bosses.” First there is a “scary, burly, and super-mean”gigantic one-eyed ogre, then a wizard with a book of arcane spells, and a despotic king.

Then, they see another promising bad guy, an old West train robber riding a galloping horse. The minions end up taking over the train, which crashes through the city of Los Angeles circa early 1920s (the history dates here are pretty wobbly, but go with it). This gives us a glimpse of iconic silent film characters and settings including Charlie Chaplin in “Modern Times,” Buster Keaton in “Steamboat Bill Jr.,”and Harold Lloyd in “Safety Last.” That train robber? An actor, in a film the minions have just disrupted to the frantic consternation of a dashing monacle-sporting, tweed-knickers-wearing director named Max (Christoph Waltz). But it turns out the brothers who run the movie studio (both voiced by Jeff Bridges) love the chaos of the minions and soon they are big stars, living in an enormous mansion, adored by fans, and selecting what will become their iconic look: denim overalls.

Like many other stars of the silent era and unforgettably depicted in “Singin’ in the Rain,” things change dramatically for the minions when the sound era begins. The minions do not possess the ability to produce intelligable speech. Most of the minions go off in search of another “big boss.” A few, including James, Henry, and Ed, who is Deaf decide that they need to make a monster movie. And so they use the wizard’s book of spells to call up a friendly little green monster (Trey Parker) who promises to bring them to some scary but cooperative monsters.

Meanwhile, a nerdy robot named Dort (Eisenberg) proves unexepectedly adept at fighting bullies at a sci-fi convention and starts seeing a sweet suffragist named Debbie (Zoey Deutch). Dort is a great new character, with a wonderful retro design and a hilarious, slightly unbalanced walk.

It is exciting and very funny and in love with movies. It even begins with the old Universal logos and the Eadweard Muybridge images that led to the very first development of movie technology. Above all, like “Toy Story 5” (and “Toy Story 4”) this film is a tribute to the joy of imagination. The two new minion characters, James and Henry (like the other minions, voiced by director Pierre Coffin) grew up creating stories and characters. The people who made this film did, too, and they want you to see how exciting and fun and important that is.

Parents should know that this film includes a lot of cartoon comic mayhem, peril, and violence including scary monsters and sharks, chases, punching and slapping, a character’s head is cut off, and another dissolves into dust. There is some rude humor including a character who sits on a toy. A new minion is Deaf and his friends quickly adapt to using sign language.

Family discussion: Why do brothers Frank and Ernest have such different responses? Which of the minons are better at adapting to changing circumstances? Which of their “big bosses” is the scariest?

If you like this, try: the classic movies referenced in the film and the other minions and “Despicable Me” movies

Anaconda

Posted on December 24, 2025 at 6:15 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for violence/action, strong language, some drug use and suggestive references
Profanity:	Strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drug use (played for comedy)
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended peril and violence, guns, explosions, scary giant snakes
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	December 25, 2025

If you are in the mood for a movie that is self-aware but still cheerfully and unapologetically stupid but in a very funny way, I’ve got good news. “Anaconda” is here.

You may wonder if this is a remake of a legendarily cheesey 1997 creature film called “Anaconda,” and the answer is, sort of, part reboot, part meta-commentary. If you have no idea that there even was a movie starring Jon Voight, Jennifer Lopez, Ice Cube, Owen Wilson, Danny Trejo, and Eric Stoltz, consider yourself lucky and don’t worry about it because everything you need to know to appreciate this film will be recapped for you as the four main characters talk about why they want to do a remake/update. And by the way, if you have never seen the 1997 version, this one might just inspire you to give it a try.

The four main characters, friends since childhood, are Doug, a wedding video photographer who would rather be making something more challenging (Jack Black), Griff, a Hollywood actor better described as unsuccessful rather than struggling, though he was in three episodes of “SWAT” (Paul Rudd), Kenny, once fired by Doug as a videographer because he was high (Steve Zahn), and Claire, a recently divorced lawyer looking for something to feel excited about (Thandiwe Newton, sadly underused as essentially the Wendy to the Lost Boys of the group). Griff tells the group he has obtained the rights to the 1997 “Anaconda” and proposes a 3-week shoot in the Amazon rainforest with him as star and Doug as director.

All four are at that mid-life point where they need to feel that they have not given up their dreams and so, with a screenplay by Doug and some modest financing from Claire, they are off to the rainforest. There they meet up with a snake wrangler named Santiago and his beloved anaconda, Heitor, and set off to film, having no idea that Ana, the person driving the boat (Daniela Melchior), is on the run from some scary-looking guys.

That’s the set up for a lot of meta-jokes about filmmaking, the process and the business, as well as various antics as many things go wrong in making their film, Ana’s pursuers keep pursing, and, perhaps needless to say, there are actual anacondas, well, CGI, but in the world of the movie, these are what Jon Voight called in the first film, “perfect killing machines” that “hold you tighter than your true love. And you get the privilege, of hearing your bones break before the power of embrace causes your veins to explode.”

The action and comedy, much of it extremely silly, are well balanced and keep things moving briskly. I might come down on the side of a little less carnage, but perhaps that is taking this more seriously than it is fair to expect of us. And some surprises near the end and during the credits are genuine delights.

Parents should know that this movie includes extended peril and violence including scary giant snakes, guns, and explosions. Characters are injured and killed. It also includes alcohol, drugs (portrayed for humor), and some strong language.

Family discussion: What project would you like to do with your friends? If you made a movie together, what would it be about?

If you like this, try: the original “Anaconda” film and “Tropic Thunder”

Rental Family

Posted on November 20, 2025 at 8:54 pm

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, some strong language, and suggestive material
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol
Violence/ Scariness:	Sad death, family conflicts
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	November 21, 2025

“Rental Family” written and directed by a Japanese woman who goes by the mononym Hikiri, is one of the most heartwarming and humane films of the year, with wise and touching insights into the connections that make life meaningful and the fear of being hurt that holds us back from trusting each other. It is a festival favorite, with audience awards that include a narrative feature award at the Middleburg Film Festival.

Brendan Fraser plays Phillip, an American actor who is adrift in Japan, still living there years after his most popular role in a toothpaste commercial. His most recent role was a tree. He lives in a tiny apartment, eating take-out dinner and looking at the neighbors in the high rise across the street, “Rear Window”-style and has occasional encounters with a sex worker, to have some semblance of human contact.

His agent calls him with an offer. All he knows about the part he is to play is “sad American.” He discovers that it is not the kind of performance he is used to. He is a fake mourner at a fake funeral the fake corpse has purchased to see if the affection and respect he might get after his death is enough to make him want to continue to live.

In the US, if someone is having suicidal thoughts, we would expect them to see a psychotherapist or other counselor. But in Japan, where cognitive therapy and other psychological resources are not as accepted or available, an alternative has served the same purpose: “rental” family members to do what their customers wish they could get from the people in their lives. It’s not as different as we might think, especially in the emerging opportunities of parasocial and AI “relationships.”

Just as a therapist can sometimes be a stand-in for characters who create conflicts in the life of a patient, the rental family can be a way of accessing the support or even the conversations that a struggling person wishes for.

At first, Phillip turns down an offer to join a rental family company. But the money is good and it is kind of an acting job. His first “role” is fiancé to a young woman who needs a Caucasian man from North America she will call Brian to go through a wedding ceremony with her so she does not have to tell her parents the real reason she is moving to Canada. Then he has to pretend to be the father of a young girl who needs both parents to apply to a special school.

Each of his jobs begins to open up a part of him that he did not realize he had closed off. The sympathetic sex worker (who makes a delightful surprise appearance in another context later on), is only half teasing when she tells him they have the same job, paid intimacy. Phillip cannot help first being interested, then concerned, then invested, and then committed to the people he is being paid by. This is ideal casting for Fraser, uncomfortably large among the much smaller Japanese, his deep, expressive eyes showing us the way he slips from closely observing for “yes, and” improv-style purposes to finding depths of compassion and connection. His scenes with the little girl are endearingly natural, and the look on his face when the initially hostile and wary child falls asleep with her head on his shoulder is infinitely moving. This is a lovely tribute to the people who pretend to be part of someone’s family and an even lovelier one to the people who take the risk of letting themselves truly connect.

Parents should know that this film includes a sad death, some strong language, a non-explicit sexual situation with a sex worker, drinking, and smoking.

Family discussion: Which job was the most difficult for Phillip and why? What do people get from renting someone to be their family or friend?

If you like this, try: the Japanese film “Departures” and “Local Hero”

Good Fortune

Posted on October 16, 2025 at 7:44 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Rated R for language and some drug use
Profanity:	Very strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking, smoking, drugs
Violence/ Scariness:	Comic peril, no one hurt
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	October 17, 2025

If you could trade places with someone, who would it be? Going back to Mark Twain’s The Prince and the Pauper (this is the best movie version), the idea of switching lives with someone who seems to have a more comfortable, secure, happier existence has been an appealing fantasy. The stories usually end with the discovery that the original life was better, harking back to the old Indian aphorism that you should never judge someone until you have walked in his moccasins. We’ve seen that play out in Hallmark movies (the “Princess Switch” trilogy and “Switched for Christmas”), with focus on family in “Freaky Friday” and all of its many remakes and variations, and, sometimes with more commentary on class and economic issues, as in “Trading Places.”

Aziz Ansari’s “Good Fortune” draws from all of the above with a smart, fresh, and funny take on the switched lives fantasy that has some punch in its depiction of the gig economy, the people who struggle with it and the people who profit from it.

Keanu Reeves is well cast as an angel named Gabriel, first seen in a nod to Wim Wnders’ “Wings of Desire” as he stands on top of a skyscraper, gazing down at humanity with a serious but patient and benign expression.

While other angels are responsible for big, life-changing, highly satisfying tasks, like showing a despondent man the value of his life (Stephen McKinley Henderson as Azrael), Gabriel is relegated to “texting while driving” duty. All he does is ride invisibly in the back seat of cars and touch the shoulder of the texting drivers to remind them to pay attention. He may be saving their lives but he is not involved in their lives. He complains to his supervisor, Martha (Sandra Oh) that he wants to save lost souls, but she tells him that is a complicated and demanding task and he, with the small wings of a trainee, is not ready.

Writer-director Ansari plays Arj, living in his car as he tries to stay afloat with an assortment of gig jobs, assembling furniture, waiting in line, delivering food. He lies to his father about having a new apartment as his father tells him about the success of his cousin Nuveen who works for Microsoft.

A wealthy venture capitalist named Jeff (Seth Rogen) hires Arj to clean up his garage. Arj offers to stay on as his assistant, and Jeff agrees to a one-week trial. It goes very well at first but when something goes wrong, Jeff fires Arj.

Gabriel, who has been watching Arj, decides that he has found a lost soul. And he decides that the way to make Arj appreciate all he has to live for is to switch him with Jeff. Martha asks what Gabriel is doing, and he says, “I tried to show him that wealth wouldn’t solve all his problems. It seems to have solved most of his problems.” Arj is having the time of his live in Jeff’s fabulous house and also enjoying Jeff’s having to learn what it’s like at the bottom of the socio-economic hierarchy.

We get to enjoy our own wish fulfillment on both counts, and the movie is packed with jokes that are shrewd as well as hilarious, with specifics about the details on both sides. Ansari’s range as an actor is limited but he mitigates that by writing around those limits. Rogen keeps getting better and Reeves is well cast, especially when Martha takes his wings and makes him a human, so he gets to try human pleasures like burgers, milkshakes, “chicken buggies,” and dancing for the first time. Reeves can have a blank quality that works very well in roles like John Wick, Neo, and Ted Logan. Here, though looking gaunt with his beard and long hair, it helps convey Gabriel’s innocence. The three of them have excellent chemistry. And there is the always-wonderful Keke Palmer, bringing endless warmth, grace, and good humor to give life to an underwritten role as a big-hearted co-worker who wants to organize a union and becomes Arj’s love interest.

This movie reminded me of Ken Loach’s “Sorry We Missed You,” a devastating look at the corrosive, dehumanizing, exploitive impact of the gig economy, with its faux “you’ll be our partner, not an employee” bait and switch. This film has the same impact, taking on the small indignities, dispiriting invisibility, and shattering hopelessness of the working poor with the same specificity in a highly comic fantasy/comedy. Ansari wants to make us laugh because he likes being funny, but he also wants to make us laugh because he knows that is how unsettling realities bypass our defenses.

Parents should know that this film has very strong language, smoking, drinking, and drugs.

Family discussion: What did Arj learn from living Jeff’s life? Who would you like to trade places with? What should qualify an angel for a higher-level responsibility?

If you like this, try: “Here Comes Mr. Jordan”

The Italians

Posted on April 10, 2025 at 5:58 pm

B-

Lowest Recommended Age:	High School
MPAA Rating:	Not rated
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol
Violence/ Scariness:	A scuffle, sad death
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	April 11, 2025

“The Italians” is a messy movie about a messy family. It begins as farce and ends as, well, no spoilers but it ends as something more serious.

Director Michelle Danner stars as Angelina, a middle-aged mother of Nico (Matthew Daddario) and wife of Vincenzo (Rob Estes). She is very Italian. Exaggeratedly Italian. Meaning that she has very strong views and is very open about expressing them: everyone should be Italian, Italians should only marry church-going, previously unmarried Italians who are eager to have babies, and feeding everyone Italian food is much more important than having conversations about feelings or finding compromise. Even her husband calls Angelina sterotypical.

The movie begins with Nico, Angelina, and Vincenzo going to confession with Father Joe (Luca Riemma). They begin to tell him the story we will soon see unfolding, about two family dinners.

The first is when Nico brings his girlfriend, Lily (Abigail Breslin) to meet his parents. She is not what Angelina had in mind. She is not Italian. She is an atheist. More disturbing, she does not eat meat, she has been married before, and she is not sure whether she wants to have children. All of a sudden, a previous girlfriend of Nico’s, known in the family as Geena the Hyena (Olivia Luccardi) for her loud, honking laugh, is looking better. At least, she is Italian. Angelina invites her to the second dinner without telling Nico. Things go even more badly, and Lily leaves in the middle of the meal.

The Italians trailer

We think we know where we are at this point, a relatable romantic comedy about culture clash and family pressure. But even with the flashback from the confession booth structure and the heightened tone, it never captures the rhythms of comedy and lurches when it should zip. The actors seems to be in different movies; their performances are tonally out of synch.

And then the movie shifts in subject and tone to focus on marital issues between Angelina and Vincenzo and then shifts abruptly into sentimental drama. Somehow by that point we still feel connected to the family and the conclusion is genuinely touching.

Parents should know that this film includes discussions of infidelity, family conflict, and illness and a sad death.

Family discussion: Does your family blend more than one culture? If so, did it create any conflicts, big or small? If not, do family members feel pressure to stay within the culture?

If you like this, try: “Moonstruck”