Disney is so lost. Eliminating all of the music to create a more ~realistic~ tone, only to include little girls with ninja abilities and a shapeshifting sorceress was… a choice. What’s worse, the film doesn’t provide any adequate dramatic scenes to replace the emotional weight once carried by musical numbers, despite a bloated and extended runtime. This reveals a deep misunderstanding of musical theater in general and also of their own original movie.

In musicals, songs appear during moments of…

An intriguing take on truth, lies, and belief, but is it actually that good? I’m not sure. And can Hollywood credibly analyze religion at this point given its clear disdain for it? I’m not sure. The film is careful to more directly frame this as a critique of Mormonism than any other faith, but Heretic wants to get at a deeper critique of Christianity and the concept of faith in general. Mormonism is a disgrace for countless reasons, an assertion…

The ultimate father/son film—and one that all parents can treasure. What an absolute treat this movie is. It’s a gift to the world that loving parents can share with their kids. Right now, my baby is obsessed with the beautiful colors, but I can’t wait to truly experience this film with her as she grows.

The visuals have aged better than you’d think—honestly better than many animated films released in recent years. And the comedy is perfectly layered for both…

This isn’t Anderson at his weirdest, but it’s close. Not as magical as Moonrise Kingdom or The Grand Budapest Hotel—but few films are. I slightly prefer this to The Darjeeling Limited and The Royal Tenenbaums, resting solidly in the mid tier of the Andersonverse. It’s great to see Bill Murray in a lead role here before he settled into his later spot in Anderson’s ing ensemble. His trademark cynical narcissism is on full display, but it’s softened by a quiet,…