Spider-Man: Brand New Day

Posted on July 28, 2026 at 4:43 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sequences of action/violence and some language
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended comic book action and violence, characters injured and reference to sad deaths
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	July 31, 2026

We’ve been warned even more than ususal not to allow any spoilers in our reviews, so this is the best I can do while leaving the best surprises in “Spider-Man: Brand New Day” for you to discover.

I can remind you that in the last episode, “No Way Home” Peter’s beloved Aunt May (Marisa Tomei) was killed by the Green Goblin and to protect the rest of the people he loved he caused them to lose all memories of him.

We’re brought up to date with a terrific montage of Spidey capturing one villain after another, including Scorpion (Michael Mando). Headlines congratulate him for just about eliminating crime from the city.

Now, Spider-Man (Tom Holland) is an adult and dealing with being utterly alone by spending every waking moment fighting crime and pretending he is not being crushed by loneliness. He brings flowers to Aunt May’s grave. He misses his best friend, Ned (Jacob Batalon) and the love of his life, MJ (Zendaya) and watches their Instagram posts about their time at MIT. His only real human contact is with an appreciative Detective Jean DeWolff (Liza Colón-Zayas).

The strain takes a toll. “Sometimes Spider-Man does the right thing even if it breaks Peter Parker’s heart.” Being full-time Spider-Man without any time for Peter may be a factor in some changes that are occuring in his spider-powers. We will see other characters struggle with the duality of their super-ness and their humanness, a theme of the film.

And then a new villian seems impossible to find, much less stop. Someone is able to “jump” into the minds of just about anyone, and breaks the Scorpion out of prison. The government Damage Control department led by Bill Metzger (Tramell Tillman of “Severance”), which adapts bad-guy technoloy for good-guy purposes, asks him to track the mystery villain down. With some guidance by three familiar characters from the MCU, he gets a little closer.

Director Destin Daniel Cretton handles the drama and the action well, especially a great fight with The Hand, evil, red-cloaked ninja assassins.

Spider-Man and Tom Holland have come a long way. Peter Parker was just 14 when we first saw Holland play a small role in “Captain America: Civil War” and 15 as lead in “Spider-Man: Homecoming.” He was gone a few years in the Snap, but came back as a 16-year-old. Both he and Zendaya have gracefully grown with their older but wiser characters and their performances are thoughtful and as grounded in a way that balances the heightened tone of any story that involves a person swinging on spider-webs can be. It is sweet to see chemistry of the real-life newlyweds and impressive to compare their performances (and one other actor’s) to what they did a couple of weeks ago in “The Odyssey.” Clearly, they not only treat both with seriousness and commitment, but they also give each genre and its fans the respect it deserves.

Now, who’s ready for “Avengers: Doomsday!”

Parents should know that this is a comic book movie with extensive peril and action. Characters are badly injured and dealing with two very sad, off-camera deaths. There is also some strong language.

Family discussion: Did you catch the Gandolf reference? How do you know what is a big potato and what is a small potato? Do you agree with Spider-Man’s decision about who to help? Which character’s powers would you most like to have, and how would you balance your superhero (or supervillain) life with your human life?

If you like this, try: ALL of the Spider-Man movies, so you can compare the Tobey Maguire, Andrew Garfield, and Tom Holland versions.

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

Supergirl

Posted on June 25, 2026 at 6:08 pm

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for for sequences of strong violence, action, language, and smoking
Profanity:	Some strong language
Alcohol/ Drugs:	Drinking and drunkenness, cigar smoking
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended comic book violence, graphic and disturbing images, parents killed, home destroyed
Diversity Issues:	Diverse characters
Date Released to Theaters:	June 26, 2026

Last year, “Superman” gave us David Corenswet as an optimistic, trusting, honorable Boy Scout of a superhero, one who said that that was the real punk rock. And in a scene in the credits, we saw that his cousin Kara/Supergirl (Milly Alcock) is a complete mess and also very attached to superdog Krypto.

Now, in “Supergirl,” that is where we start, with Kara celebrating her 23rd birthday with an inter-planetary pub crawl. Every night is a different planet and a different bar and every morning is the same hangover. Throughout this film, Superman will try to get in touch with Kara and encourage her to come “home.” But she does not see Earth as home. We will learn more about her grief and the source of her trauma later. Unlike Superman, who was sent from the exploding Krypton as a baby and found a loving home on Earth, Kara was a teenager when she lost her home and parents and has severe PTSD.

Those who know the backstory of the refugees from Krypton will remember that one of the sources of their superpowers on earth is our yellow sun, instead of the red sun on Krypton. So when we see that she is getting drunk on a planet with a red sun we know that she does not have the super-strength, invulnerability, or laser vision she has on Earth or any other yellow sun planet. But, we will learn, she likes to drink on yellow sun planets because without superpowers she is more susceptible to the effects of alcohol.

I always say that superhero movies, and really most action movies, depend more on the bad guys than the good guys, and in this case our bad guy is the genuinely terrifying Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts) an inter-planetary brigand with a face covered with studs who specializes in senseless violence, not so much because he enjoys it but because it is meaningless. We see him kill a modest man who is a legendary crafter of swords, along with his wife and son, even though they made no effort to keep him from stealing their cache of weapons. The young daughter, Ruthye (Eve Ridley) hides and sees it all. She is determined to kill Krem, so “True Grit”-style she goes to a bar full of rowdy, cut-throat outlaws to find someone to help her. This is not “Planet Hail Mary” so no one cares about details like whether the gravity and oxygen and language/communication and technology on other planets are all as easy to reach as the next stop on the subway and pretty much the same, aside from some “Star Wars” cantina-style creatures in the bar scenes.) Also, like Mattie in “True Grit,” she has an oddly formal, old-fashioned way of speaking, plus, for some reason, a British accent.

One of the bar creatures steals Ruthye’s sword, and Kara, drunk, without her powers, but perhaps identifying a little with the girl goes after the thief. It’s always good to see a fight scene that has a little extra zhuzh to it, and seeing Kara fight a gigantic, scary-looking guy without her powers and with impaired judgment adds interest. There’s nice zhuzh in some of the the other fights, another one with Kara impaired and especially when Kara fights three maurading women who have technology that enables them to disappear briefly and re-appear in another nearby location.

Even though Kara keeps telling Ruthye she will not help her, circumstances keep pushing them together. Krem takes Kara’s ship and shoots Krypto with a poison that takes three days to kill. This gives her a mission and a deadline. They also meet up with cigar-chompin’, motorcycle-ridin’, now it’s a party all-purpose ruffian Lobo (Jason Momoa) who shows up now and then, not to rescue Kara or Ruthye, just to join in.

It’s a little messy. But so is Kara, and her path to being a bit less messy by the end is worth watching.

NOTE: You do NOT need to stay to the end of the credits. No exta scenes.

Parents should know that this is a superhero film with constant comic-book-style action, peril and violence with many characters injured and killed and some graphic and disturbing images. Two young women lose their families. Young women are kidnapped with the intent to rape and impregnate them. Characters use strong language and Supergirl/Kara drinks to get drunk and numb her pain.

Family discussion: How did Ruthie change Kara’s ideas about herself? What is the difference between being nice and being good. What is the meaning of the moment when Kara decides to wear the uniform Superman gave her? Why is it SuperMAN and SuperGIRL?

If you like this try: “Superman” and the “Supergirl” television series.

Toy Story 5

Posted on June 18, 2026 at 11:16 am

A-

Lowest Recommended Age:	Kindergarten - 3rd Grade
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG for some thematic elements and rude humor
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Cartoon-style peril and action, no one badly hurt
Diversity Issues:	A theme of the movie
Date Released to Theaters:	June 19, 2026

The toys are back in town! Thankfully, we may grow older, but they stay the same. Well, almost. It’s been 36 years since “Toy Story,” the first feature-length computer animated film, dazzled us with its technical brilliance but was unforgettable because of its heart and wit and irresistible characters. Remember that the reason Pixar’s first feature was about plastic toys was that smooth, shiny surfaces was pretty much the only thing they could create in those early years of digital animation. Even then, right at the very beginning, Pixar addressed the complications of changes in technology, in the potential replacement of a beloved cloth-covered cowboy toy who had a pull-string with a plastic space adventurer who had wings and a light-up wrist weapon. And even then, in what would become one of Pixar’s most perceptive and meaningful themes, the bittersweet changes that come with growing up. Endearingly, it is also about the beauty of imagination, with the series itself a perfect exemplar. I love Pixar’s love for the weirdos because they are the ones who grow up and create magic.

One of my favorite details from the first film was the difference in the way Andy wrote his name on the boots of the two toys. He got Woody (Tom Hanks) when he was younger, so the N was backwards. But he had learned more when he received Buzz, and wrote his name correctly. And one of my favorite details from the series overall is that the first film begins with a painted sky on Andy’s ceiling. Then, when he leaves for college, having given his toys to Bonnie, we see him leaving, with the real, endless sky above him. These show the care that goes into every detail and the vision that extends beyond each film.

Every move toward independence and adulthood means leaving something behind. The “Toy Story” series has served as something of a meta-measuring stick to help us consider our own changes, with the children who saw the first one in theaters now bringing their own children to part 5. And through the magic of animation, they are able to appreciate that Tom Hanks and Tim Allen may get older, but they are still our Woody and Buzz.

Now in the fifth episode, it is all about new technology, this time as a central theme, explored with insight, adventure, and hilarious jokes. At 8, Bonnie still loves playing with her toys, and the movie begins with a hilarious “wedding” between Forky (Tony Hale) and Karen Beverly (Knifey, voiced by Melissa Villaseñor) that is disrupted when the maid of honor, Rex the T-Rex (Wallace Shawn) is poisoned.

Two new children have moved in across the street, but Bonnie is more comfortable with imaginary friends than real ones and is too shy to ask them to play with her. Her classmates have given up toys to play with LilyPad (Greta Lee), and Bonnie’s parents think she might be able to connect with them virtually, so they get one for her.

At first, it seems to work well. Bonnie is accepted into the virtual friend group and loves playing games so much she all but forgets her analog toys. She is delighted when she is asked to a slumber party, but the girls make fun of her for bringing her Jessie (Joan Cusack) doll. Bonnie wants to be a part of the group so she pretends to be too grown-up for toys, leading to one of the best movie lines of the year. Rex says, “Extinction! Not again!”

The toys are devastated, and the story allows Woody and Duke Kaboom (Keanu Reeves) who in the last epsiode were off on their own, to come back for support. Jessie is the heart of this epsiode, though, and with her trusty horse Bullseye, she is the one who figures out how to get Bonnie a friend and leads the rest through their adventures. She also learns some important lessons that help her understand her value and heal some past hurts.

There are some new characters, including discarded toys with once state-of-the-art tech that is now charmingly nostalgic. They include a potty-training aid called Smarty Pants providing some poop humor (Conan O’Brien), a hippo-shaped map toy named Atlas (Craig Robinson), and a camera toy with pixels almost as big as a postage stamp called Snappy (Shelby Rabara). Even though we see him only briefly, I have to mention the plastic slice of pizza with sunglasses because he is voiced by Super Bowl superstar Bad Bunny.

Even Buzz gets an tech upgrade as we meet crates-full of new and improved Buzzes that have some cool new functions but just as much existential confusion as Buzz in the first movie.

As often happens in “Toy Story,” the characters get separated from their child and each other, so there is a lot of adventure along the way. And there are new human characters, including a horse-loving girl named Blaze (Mykal-Michelle Harris) who could also use a friend who shares her love of imagination. Past “Toy Story” villains have included Sid, who loved to take the toys apart and blow them up, and Al, who saw the value of toys only in what he could get from selling mint, never-played-with versions. The threat here, from LilyPad, who begins by feeling threatened herself by the analog toys and committed to helping Bonnie “reach all of her developmental goals,” is tempered by a thoughtful, nuanced exploration of what it means to be useful, and recognition that it is difficult to lose a child to aging out of the toy stage, but what you give them helps them forever.

NOTE: Stay through the credits for extra scenes.

Parents should know that this movie includes peril and action, with no serious injuries, as well as a sensitive exploration of issues of agency, identity, and loss. And some poop humor.

Family discussion: What is or was your favorite toy and why? Which is your favorite of Bonnie’s toys? When do you use your imagination?

If you like this try: The “Toy Story” series and all of the Pixar films

Star Wars: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Posted on May 21, 2026 at 5:22 pm

B +

Lowest Recommended Age:	Middle School
MPAA Rating:	Rated PG-13 for sci-fi violence and action
Profanity:	None
Alcohol/ Drugs:	None
Violence/ Scariness:	Extended sci-fi action, peril, and violence, sci-fi weapons, blasters, swords, explosions, very scary monsters
Diversity Issues:	None
Date Released to Theaters:	May 22, 2026

If the words “Mandalorian” and “Grogu” are unfamiliar to you, but you like sci-fi/action movies with a warm heart and visual imagination plus exciting fight scenes and crazy monsters are more important than “Project Hail Mary”-style scientific authenticity, you will enjoy “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” If you are a fan of the Star Wars universe and have watched every episode of the “Mandalorian” television series, you wil really enjoy “The Mandalorian and Grogu.” I’m somewhere in the middle and I thought it was a lot of fun.

A quick refresher for those who are unfamiliar with this part of the Star Wars universe: Mandalorians are kind of like Jedis (with whom they were once at war), but with a wider range of fighting skills and an honor code rather than The Force. They are a clan-based warrior culture from the planet Mandalore. They share some qualities with ninjas, some with knights, some with Western heroes like the Lone Ranger. They wear armor from an impenetrable metal, including helmets that cover their faces at all times. Having their faces exposed is a very deep dishonor.

The three seasons of the television series take place five years after the Empire has been defeated and the democratic regime called the New Republic is in its early stages. The title character is a Mandalorian bounty hunter named Din Djarin (Pedro Pascal) who was sent to capture someone who turned out to be an infant of the same species as Yoda. Instead of completing his mission, Din rescues the baby, named Grogu and they have various adventures together. By the time of this movie, Grogu is still quite young, not talking but learning and mastering his powers, including levitation, and they are closely attached.

This film begins with a fight scene as Din takes on and takes out a cell of pro-Empire conspirators and a series of Storm Troopers, filmed like a first person shooter game, introducing newcomers and reminding fans of his extraordinay skills with every possible kind of weapon, plus being able to dodge every one of a barrage of bullets, along with cool gadgets many of which are a part of his armor. Including a jet pack.

“It got messy,” he explains to his boss (Signourney Weaver, fabulous as always). She sighs and gives him a new assignment: the twin siblings of the late giant evil slug, Jabba the Hutt, need Din to rescue their nephew, Jabba’s son, Rotta the Hutt (voiced by Jeremy Allen White) has been kidnapped, and they’ve agreed that if Rotta is returned to them, they will reveal the location of one of the New Republic’s most wanted criminals.

The ensuing adventures include a variety of different settings, from a “Blade Runner”-style decadent city with a four-armed food truck cook amusingly voiced by Martin Scorsese to some cute, gremlin-like tiny mechanics. Grogu is adorable. The contrast between his solomn expression, extraordinary powers, and childlike perspective — wait until you see him try to hit all the buttons on the navigation console of the spaceship — is charming. And when he tries to hide Din from the bad guys, he does something very smart and also very funny. Note the villians here, more like drug kingpins and petulent but cruel bureaucrats than the powerful and scary Darth Vadar and Darth Maul.

Director and co-screenwriter Jon Favreau gives Din a bit of an Iron Man set-up, with his built-in jet pack and cool built-in gadgets. He balances the heart, humor, and excitement effectively and the action scenes are well staged (please, see it in IMAX) and paced. Pascal somehow makes a character in full-body armor and a face-covering helmet feel human, or humanoid, whatever they are on that planet. It’s not especially memorable, but it is fun.

Parents should know that this is a sci-fi action movie with many fight scenes and scary monsters. There are guns, knives, swords, hand-to-hand fights, robots, and explosions.

Family discussion: Din has to choose whether to save another character knowing he is putting himself at great risk. What would you do and why? Colonel Ward decides to help one enemy to defeat a more dangerous enemy. Do you agree?

If you like this, try: the television series, “Andor” and all of the Star Wars ouvre, especially the first three films