A Minecraft Movie

Posted on April 2, 2025 at 4:11 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for violence/action, language, suggestive/rude humor and some scary images
Profanity:	Some schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Fantasy peril and violence, some scary creatures
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	April 4, 2025

“A Minecraft Movie” is a lot of fun. Fans of the game will enjoy a lot of touchstones and to its dedication to giving players “where anything you imagine you can create.” Those who don’t know anything about the game will appreciate its good spirits, off-beat humor, and appealing characters.

“Napoleon Dynamite” directors Jared Hess and Jerusha Elizabeth Hess (working together under his name) brings their love for off-beat small-town America and the “Velvet Mischief” signature scent. They reunite with his “Nacho Libre” star Jack Black. There’s also an appearance by their “Gentlemen Broncos” star Jemaine Clement and tater tots, reminiscent of the “tots” in “Napoleon Dynamite.”

Black plays Steve, whose dream as a child was to be a miner. When he grew up, he left his humdrum job selling doorknobs and was transported vis “this thingy and that cool thingy” into the world of the game, where he met his beloved wolf, Dennis. The chance to create and explore with his devoted companion was everything he ever wanted until he entered the Nether and was captured by its witchy evil queen Malgosha (Rachel House) and put in prison by her pig-soldiers.

Back in the real world, more specifically the small town of Chaglass, Idaho, the Potato Chip Capital, we meet some characters who are struggling. One-time world video game champion Garrett Garrison (Jason Momoa, also a producer and clearly having a blast) is having a hard time accepting that he is no longer successful. His business, Game Over World, is failing and no one is impressed by the high scores he had in the 90s that inspired his GAMR 89 license plates. Natalie (Emma Myers) and her younger brother Henry (Sebastian Hansen) have just moved to Idaho after the death of their mother. Their warm-hearted realtor, Dawn (Danielle Brooks) welcomes them, but explains that she has had to take on several other jobs, including a traveling zoo. Natalie takes a job doing social media for the local potato chip company while Henry is bullied on the first day at his new school.

Then they find themselves transported into Minecraft where they meet up with Steve. Like Dorothy in Oz and Alice in Wonderland, Garrett, Natalie, Henry, and Dawn spend the rest of the story trying to get back home but learning some lessons and developing some friendships along the way.

There are a lot of adventures along the way, too, as the group travels throughout the world of Minecraft to get to the MacGuffin, which in this case is the glowing thingy and the cool thingy that will allow the humans to return to their world. By the way, in this square-ified voxel-built world, a glowing cube thingy is referred to as an orb.

It’s a looser, lower-key, goofier version of “Jumanji,” with Momoa substituting for Dwayne Johnson, with Iron Golems, a chicken jockey, some great eyebrow action, zombie skeletons riding giant spiders and shooting flaming arrows, a talent show, a tot launcher, and surprise! instead of an English accent, the villain has a New Zealand accent! Plus Jennifer Coolidge as the school principal who has her own adventure with a Minecraft creature, briefly but hilariously voiced by Matt Berry.

It’s called “A Minecraft Movie” instead of “The Minecraft Movie” to pay tribute to the game’s possibilities, with every player creating a unique experience. The movie does not have that luxury; it is the same for every viewer. But its appreciation for the endless potential of imagination should be more likely to inspire viewers to try to play the game or even create their own.

NOTE: Stay all the way through the credits for a mid-credit scene AND a post-credit scene.

Parents should know that there are some scary monster and characters are in extended peril, but there are no serious injuries, mostly slapstick including a crotch hit and a scene of two men tightly strapped together. Characters use some schoolyard language.

Family discussion: How does Garrett change and why? If you play Minecraft, what makes it different from other games? What’s your favorite place in the Minecraft world and your favorite way to play?

If you like this, try the “Jumanji” movies, also with Jack Black

Moana 2

Posted on November 26, 2024 at 6:37 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for action/peril
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Toxic darts
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended fantasy peril and violence, scary monsters
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	November 27, 2024

MOANA 2 – © 2024 Disney Enterprises, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

“Moana 2” is colorful and exciting, often beautiful to watch, with some catchy songs. But the storyline is overcomplicated and it does not have the heart (or the Lin-Manuel Miranda bangers) of the first film. It is episodic, with a complicated array of different places, characters, and stakes, evidence of its original version as a series for Disney+. The mid-credit scene is a cliffhanger that makes the entire film seem like a teaser for what comes next, most likely a series that keeps the story going.

At the end of the first film, Moana (Auli’i Cravalho) came home in triumph having — with the help of demigod Maui (Dwayne Johnson) — restored the balance of the universe by returning the heart of Te Fiti and removing the curse that was blighting her island. You don’t need to worry about whether you’ve seen the first one or not; there’s a recap.

Three years later, Moana has grown up a lot. She has the same adventuresome spirit and is proud of being a “way finder,” but has more confidence and skill, as we see her maneuver her boat, handling the ropes and sails like a seasoned salt. She adores her little sister, Simea (Khaleesi Lambert-Tsuda) and her loving parents are very proud of her vision and leadership.

As in the first film, Moana sets off on a journey. The first journey was to reconnect with the history of her people and remove the curse on her people. This time, she is in search of other people from other places and cultures. She assembles a crew. Moni (Hualalai Chung) is a Maui fanboy, a storyteller tied to the legends of the community, and very enthusiastic. Loto (Rose Matafeo) is the gear-head everyone needs on a voyage, filled with ideas about how to make everything work more smoothly. But her most valuable assets are her unquenchable enthusiasm, quick problem-solving, and her ability to turn disastrous damage into something that will still get the group where they need to go. The most unexpected addition to the crew is Kele (David Fane), a grumpy elder whose speciality — farming — and lack of enthusiasm seem like impediments, at least at first.

Of course no Moana journey would be complete without her animal sidekicks, the scrawny rooster Heihei (Alan Tudyk) and the little pig Pua (left behind in the first film but along for the ride this time).

Moana and the crew land on an island of the Kakamora, cute but fierce coconut creatures (think the Ewoks except they are either wearing or made of coconuts). They have paralyzing darts (children will enjoy where the toxic gel comes from) but they also have the antidote, a large, green, jello-like creature. One of them joins the voyage.

They also have an encounter with a mysterious woman whose song has an unusual message for a wayfarer. Her name is Matangi (Awhimai Fraser) and her advice is to “get lost, cut loose, and lose your way.” She is friends with bats. She captured Maui. And she seems to be a captive herself, all of which should make Moana (and us) a suspicious. Is Matangi trying to help Moana and her crew or is she trying to help herself? Moana takes it as permission to worry less about finding the right way and allow herself to enjoy the freedom of not knowing exactly where she is going. And once Maui is on board (literally), giving him a chance to spit some rhymes in the lickity-split fast “Can I Get A Chee Hoo” you can expect to hear children rapping non-stop.

The visuals are as Disney-sublime. Water wishes it could be as water-ish as the water in this movie. Songwriters Abigail Barlow and Emily Bear created good, singable songs that help tell the story. The mechanics and rigging are superbly imagined in the musical numbers and the action sequences with characters and pieces of the boat flying in every direction. The new characters are welcome additions, especially Loto, but they are thinly imagined and we do not get enough time with them to form a connection. So much was happening and the mythology underlying it was so complicated, I kept wishing for a better balance between story and action. Also, it takes much too long to reunite Maui and Moana. Johnson, who also produced, should have made sure his energy was boosting the first third of the film.

So, this is not top-level Disney, but Moana remains an appealing character and if she gets a bit lost in this chapter, we will wait for her to find her way.

Note: stay for a mid-credit sequence that sets the stage for the next chapter

Parents should know that this movie has some scary monsters and some gross-out humor. Characters are in peril. Moana has contact with her ancestors, including her late grandmother.

Family discussion: How do you learn who you’re meant to be? What do you think Matangi will do next? What would you like to ask your ancestors?

If you like this, try: “Moana” and “Lilo and Stitch”

The Wild Robot

Posted on September 25, 2024 at 5:31 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for thematic elements, action, and peril
Profanity:	Some schoolyard language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Sci-ff/cartoon style violence, shooting, off-screen deaths including death of a parent and a mentor
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	September 26, 2024

A plane delivering high-tech equipment flies into a storm and a crate falls out, landing on an island inhabited only by animals. Inside the crate is a super-intelligent, ultra-capable robot programmed to complete any task a human might require. The contrast between the natural world of the plants and animals and the metal and programming of the robot is the premise for this story, based on the book series by Peter Brown, told with humor and heart by specialist in “opposites attract” stories director Chris Sanders (“How to Train Your Dragon,” “Lilo & Stitch.”

On one side, fur, feathers, and scales. On the other side, metal and code. The robot, identified by the corporation that created it, is called ROZZUM unit 7134, is a kind of souped-up Swiss Army knife. One of the movie’s greatest pleasures is the way its infinitely adaptable parts and appendages are deployed. Nothing in the robot’s programming has prepared it for the island. But it is capable of learning and adjusting to its environment, so after failure to get a satisfying answer to questions like, “Are you my client?” and “Do you need assistance?” she (we will use that pronoun because the robot has the sweet voice of Oscar-winner Lupita Nyong’o, takes the local next step. She sits down and observes her new environment to learn how to communicate with her fellow inhabitants, which enables us to hear what they have to say, thanks to the brilliant voice work of Pedro Pascal as a fox named Fink, Bill Nighy as a goose named Longneck, Ving Rhames as a falcon named Thunderbolt, Mark Hamill as a bear named Thorn, and Catherine O’Hara, hilarious as always, as Pinktail, a mother opossum covered with her babies.

Roz (as she will ultimately be called) could hardly be more poorly fashioned for this environment. It is funny to see her expect the animals to feel rewarded when she follows her programing by giving them stickers, promotional material for the company that made her, followed by a burst of confetti, even more out of place in the lush natural world than she does. The animals at first consider her a monster.

The early scenes about their unfitness for each other leads organically to interest, understanding, respect, and ultimately a very heartwarming sense of family. A turning point is Roz’s rescue of an orphaned goose egg, left alone after an accident and stolen by Fink for a meal. Roz does not understand what it means to care for the egg, and then, when it hatches and the little gosling imprints on Roz as its mother, she has a task at last: to teach the bird to eat, swim, and fly, so that it can be ready to migrate before it gets too cold. “I do not have the programming to be a mother,” Roz says. “No one does,” Pinktail correctly observes.

Roz develops what can only be described as feelings for the little goose, named Brightbill (Kit Connor). She loses some components and breaks down a bit, from pristine and shiny to scuffed and mossy, with a prosthetic calf made from a log.Is she mirroring what she sees around her? Is she creating the programming necessary to give a child a sense of security and the knowledge he is special to someone? Or is there some way for a machine to develop a soul? Or is it just a reflection of all of the damage to her mechanics? Possibly all of the above. But it is a smaller reach than one might think from being programmed to be of service to placing meaning and purpose on that imperative.

A lot more happens, including some parent-child estrangement (adolescents!) and a lot for Brightbill to learn from his fellow geese, as well as Fink becoming less “fox-y” and all of the animals learning to help each other. The action scenes are dynamic and involving but it is the gentleness of the lessons the characters learn about kindness that will make this film an endearing family favorite.

Parents should know that there is some sci-fi-style shooting. A character is killed off-screen sacrificing himself to save others and a character’s family is discreetly killed in an accident. Another character appears to have been eaten but is not. Characters use some schoolyard language.

Family discussion: What was the most important thing Roz learned and how did she learn it? If you had a Roz, what would you ask her to do? Do you think we will have machines like that?

If you like this, try: the books, and “The Iron Giant” and “Wall-E

Inside Out 2

Posted on June 12, 2024 at 2:43 pm

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	4th - 6th Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for thematic elements
Profanity:	Mild schoolyard language
Violence/ Scariness:	Some peril and chaos, plus teen angst
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	June 14, 2024

Okay, Pixar, you got me. I cried and laughed within the first ten minutes of “Inside Out 2,” an adorable, heartwarming and fully up-to-the-original sequel to the beloved story of Riley and her middle school emotions. And then I cried two more times and laughed many times. Okay, maybe there might have been a little PTSD about being an adolescent and living with a few, but this movie is so brimming with empathy and understanding, I think there was some healing, too.

In the midst of the colorful, endearing characters and witty screenplay of the first film, there was the kind of insight it could take years of therapy to discover. The characters were the emotions Riley feels: Joy (Amy Poehler), Anger (Lewis Black), Sadness (Phyllis Smith), Fear (Tony Hale replacing Bill Hader), and Disgust (Liza Lapira replacing Mindy Kaling). What they learn, so we do, too, is that what may feel like disturbing or negative emotions are necessary to keep us safe and help us understand the world around us.

As the movie begins, Riley is feeling like she has it all together. She’s gotten a lot taller. She has braces and feels confident about herself and her friendships, getting really good at ice hockey, invited to a three day elite hockey camp by the coach at the high school she will be attending. She’s a teenager now, blowing the candles on her 13th birthday cake. If she doesn’t know what’s coming yet, her face does. There’s a pimple coming on her chin. And for the first time, she wakes up feeling insecure and under too much pressure.

But then the console inside her head suddenly has a big, red, button labeled “Puberty.” And a group of very unsettling new emotions arrive: Anxiety (Maya Hawke), Envy (Ado Edibiri), Embarrassment (Paul Walter Hauser), and Ennui (Adèle Exarchopoulos). I absolutely love the idea that this movie will inspire a bunch of 8-year-old to tell their parents they are experiencing an emotion usually associated with characters in novels by Sartre or Sagan.

Joy is very distressed by the new emotions, especially Anxiety, who seems to think she should be in charge. She explains that while Fear makes Riley afraid of what she can see, Anxiety makes her afraid of what might happen, and indeed, later in the film, we see an entire bullpen sitting at desks like those of the old-school Disney animators, imagining everything that might go wrong.

As they did before, Pixar has personified and made literal an array of internal and abstract concepts with wit, charm, and telling detail. Erik Erickson and Karl Jung would be impressed. The stream of consciousness is an actual stream. That hallmark of this stage of development, sarcasm (sorry, parents, try to think of it as an emblem of developing appreciation of layers of meaning), is an actual chasm. Nostalgia is a patient, elderly woman (June Squibb) who has to be told to go back to her room until she is needed, after “a couple of graduations and a best friend’s wedding.” Construction workers arrive for “demo day” to take out the old console, a moment that rivals the dissolving of Bing Bong in the first film. Memory, buried secrets, beliefs, sense of self, are all brilliantly imagined. The emotion characters zoom in on Riley’s friends’ faces to decipher their expressions, the kinds of details a younger person might overlook. We also get to see a hilarious “Blue’s Clues” or “Dora the Explorer”-like cartoon character from Riley’s early childhood, named Bloofy (Ron Funches), who asks the audience to help him solve problems.

And as in the first, the voice talent is superb. Poehler is just right for Joy’s natural energy and ebullient enthusiasm, sometimes masking her own anxious feelings about keeping everyone confident and happy. Hawke’s slightly husky voice is perfect for Anxiety, who gives us a glimpse of her own confidence and even joy in giving Riley the tools she needs to navigate the challenges of adolescence. We can see the anxiousness in Joy and the joy in Anxiety as Riley moves toward integration of the emotions, with a very sweet moment as both the hockey players and the emotions move toward teamwork. It is a treat to hear Paula Pell as the anger inside Riley’s mom and Pixar completists might recognize the voice of “Inside Out’s” director and this film’s executive producer, Pete Docter, as Riley’s Dad’s anger. The reference to his home state of Minnesota is another nod.

Screenwriters Dave Holstein and Meg LeFauve and director Kelsey Mann were advised by a teams of experts, including psychologists and the real experts, teenage girls. This film is an exciting adventure of the heart and spirit and I look forward to happily crying through it again.

NOTE: Stay ALL the way to the end of the credits for an extra scene

Parents should know that this film has a lot of teenage angst and some mild schoolyard language. They should also know it will have a powerful impact on the parents as they remember their own adolescence and consider the emotions they fell over their children growing up.

Family discussion: How do each of the emotions help Riley? Ask members of the family how they learned to solve problems.

If you like this, try: “Inside Out” and “Everybody Rides the Carousel”

The Fall Guy

Posted on May 1, 2024 at 10:00 am

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for action and violence, drug content and some strong language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Alcohol, jokes about getting tipsy, drug use, including hallucinations
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended real and fictional peril and action, fights, guns and other weapons, characters injured and killed
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	May 3, 2024

“The Fall Guy” is a love letter to movie-making, to all of the work, all of the heart, all of the expertise from hundreds of people that goes into telling our stories. It is a love letter to the audience, filled with action, romance, comedy, impossibly gorgeous, magnificently talented ,and endlessly charismatic performers, and with joy. Most of all, it is a love letter to the unsung heroes who do the crazy daredevil stunts that make the world’s most beloved movie stars look athletic and courageous. It is pure popcorn pleasure and I cannot wait to see it again.

There’s just a tincture of the 80s television series that lends its name, its theme song, character name, and a brief cameo from its star, Lee Majors). This is the story of stunt man Ryan Gosling as Colt Seavers, who is the long-time substitute for one of the world’s biggest Hollywood action stars, Tom Ryder (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) when the script calls for anything that might be dangerous. The job of the stunt performers is to do the crazy things that make audiences gasp and cheer: cars rolling over, falls from great heights, fighting with fists, feet, and weapons, dangling from helicopters, racing speedboats. Basically, they get paid a minuscule fraction of what the star is paid to get all of the bruises, burns. and broken bones, do to it over and over, to make sure their faces do not show and ruin the illusion, and to give a thumbs-up to show that they are fine after every take.

Colt has a crush on a cinematographer and would-be director, Jody Moreno (Emily Blunt). But when Tom insists on a re-do of a fall from the top of a skyscraper atrium because he thinks too much of Colt’s chin was showing, something goes wrong and Colt is badly injured. Over the next 18 months, as he slowly recovers, he works as a parking valet and his relationship with Jody ends in hurt and disappointment.

And then Colt gets a call from Tom’s long-time producer, Gail Meyer (“Ted Lasso’s” Hannah Waddingham). Tom is making a huge sci-fi film in Australia and Gail wants Colt to do the stunts. He says no. She says Jody asked for him. He says, “Get me an aisle seat.”

Once he gets to Sydney, Gail tells Colt that Tom has disappeared and she wants Colt to find him. He also finds out that Jody did not ask for him because (1) she is surprised to see him and not happy about it and (2) she fires him. Literally. Like, she has him do a stunt where he’s on fire and gets slammed into a rock — three times.

There is so much more I’m longing to tell you about what happens next but I want you to have the pleasure of discovering it all for yourselves. I will just say that Gosling and Blunt have chemistry for days and are clearly having a blast perfecting the balance between action, comedy, romance, and mystery, there are dozens of sly jokes about Hollywood and filmmaking, Winston Duke is a dream as the stunt coordinator (if you have not seen him in “Black Panther” and “Nine Days” and “Us,” three roles that could not be more different, watch them!), there’s a stunt dog who only understands French, and while you may expect the stunts to be amazing, they are amazing times amazing. Real-life stunt performer-turned director David Leitch likes to take Hollywood’s handsomest leading men (Brad Pitt in “Bullet Train,” Gosling here) and make them scruffy and in need of a comeback, always a choice choice. Be sure to stay through the credits for behind the scenes footage of the real stunt performers and an extra scene.

Parents should know that this is an action film with extended real and fictional (stunt) peril and violence, with guns and other weapons, fight scenes, characters injured and killed, drinking and jokes about being tipsy, drugs, and some strong language.

Family discussion: What’s your go-to karaoke song and why? Why is it hard to apologize? Would you like to see the movie Colt and Jody are making?

If you like this, try: “The Stunt Man” (some mature material) with Peter O’Toole as the director of a WWI movie who impulsively hires an escaped convict as a stunt performer, and stunt-filled films like “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and “Fast X” and another movie from this director, also with Taylor-Johnson, “Bullet Train”