🍿 It Chapter Two (2019) was a tad too long and a bit of a drag, because adulthood is a drag and we are seeing the kids all grown up. What would have worked much better is if the modern-day scenes were interspersed with the 1980s so that we learn about the story as the adults remembered it. Brilliant idea, I know.

🍿 It (2017) — the rare remake that is infinitely better than the original miniseries, and (together with the sequel) the second-best Stephen King horror story adaptation. Granted, it is not a high bar to jump over as they all tend to be stinkers.

🍿 Svadba (2026) was a competently executed, fun, and a tad crass romp. The only thing that can unite the Balkans is clearly love and mockery of corrupt transnational elites.

🍿 The Thin Man (1934) was fun to watch, even with the wooden acting from everyone but the lead characters. Nick and Nora inspired so many other murder mysteries and action comedies that a reboot is only a matter of time, and indeed Margot Robbie and Brad Pitt’s production companies were considering it. I imagine their functional alcoholism will play differently these days.

🍿 21 Jump Street (2012) was fun, but its main effect was to make me want to rewatch Hot Fuzz.

🍿 The End of the Tour (2015) made David Foster Wallace less handsome — with apologies to Jason Segel — but also less neurotic and more comfortable to watch. For comparison, here is an interview with the real DFW done around the same time the movie portrays, which I dare you to watch without cringing. DFW was an introspection machine, to our benefit and his own detriment, the self-destructed proof that the unexamined life is more viable.

🍿 Project Hail Mary (2026) was the perfect family movie that pushed all the right buttons.

• Message: good things are good, bad things are bad, knowledge is power.
• Tone: earnest friendship and collaboration over cynicism and bickering.
• Visuals: Dune-level cinematography with many practical effects and no CGI-generated characters in sight.
• Sound: I don’t know which I enjoyed more, the soundtrack or the score.

Yes, you should go see it, even if you haven’t read the book. And do bring the kids.

🍿 The Plastic Detox (2026) was too sensationalist for my liking, but you can’t escape the message: petrochemicals are all around us, and their introduction coincides with the rise of some alarming health statistics. The documentary anchors on fertility; I am more concerned about the rise in some cancers that can’t be explained away by increased screening. Regardless, it is good to know that our Oral-B electric toothbrush can come with a bamboo extension.

🍿 Blue Moon (2025) was the perfect bottle movie, save for the gimmicky way in which Ethan Hawke was shortened by 10". Mandatory viewing for fans of Broadway musicals, words both spoken and written, and of E.B. White whose scenes I particularly enjoyed.

🍿 Oppenheimer (2023) was even worse on rewatch than I first remembered: disjointed, nonsensical, wooden characters, opaque motivations, telling-not-showing. There is a capital-m Movie to be made about the making of the atomic bomb but whatever Nolan did was not it.