A powerful, existentially-complex, dazzlingly-ambitious panegyric to musicianship and 9-5 vs. dreamers exposition w. the loftiest philosophical thematization ever in animation: Pixar in ~complete mastery of its craft like jazz experimentalism. 9.2/10.
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Category: Action/Adventure
Wonder Woman 1984
The perfect dosage of optimism for 2020, WW84 is a classic Golden-Age DC sequel out a time-capsule – epic ’80’s nostalgia, potency of emotion, diverse genre-mixes, valorous action scenes, allegorical complexity, & darkly-characterized villains. 8/10.
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The Croods: A New Age (2020)
Despite juvenile humor, elitist Betterman schtick, not even remote anthropological accuracy, and weirdness, Croods 2 is prehistoric fun for the family with committed voice acting & meta-gags – and some of the most beautiful animation to-date. 6/10.
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Stargirl (2020)
From its striking opening JSA scene, Stargirl breathes a pure nostalgic Silver-Age comic book lore/vibrance – boosted by classic Nebraska-set Americana, good CGI, mythology depth, youthful pop energized tone, & ablaze Brec Bassnger lead. 7.8/10.
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Da 5 Bloods (2020)
A hyper-stylized, psychedelic, energy-galvanized homage to black culture loaded with passion, war-meditation, & bold social/political commentary juxtaposed with Chadwick Boseman’s final acts: one of the best Spike Lee joints since DTRT. 8.9/10.
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Sonic The Hedgehog (2020)
One of the best campaigns the internet has ever done, the SEGA legend is here on the big screen in gloriously-CGI rendered, humorous, Easter Egg-filled majesty with 80’s-action feel, buddy-duo’s, and one of Jim Carrey’s best characters. 7.1/10.
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Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker (Ep. IX)
A course-correction after the trainwreck of Last Jedi that retcons ~all its sacrilege, *embracing* series lore instead of erasing it – with fan service abounds, viscerality in pacing, & best cinematography of SW-history – but overstuffed narrative. 7.5/10.
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Ford v. Ferrari (2019)
A pulse-rattling love-letter to the euphoria of motorsports, Ford v Ferrari is vehicular poetry – pitting the two car legends against each other in a tale of emotion, loss, gravitas, corporate-greed, egocentrism, & pure adrenaline. 8/10.
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Terminator: Dark Fate (2019)
Though improving on its unwatchable T3-Genisys kin with sharp VFX, badass Davis +Luna choreography, & Hamilton, D.F.’s a tired reboot of the same plot, miscast new lead, & Last Jedi-level self-sabotage/series-malign. ‘Hasta la vista, [franchise].’ 5/10.
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Aladdin (2019)
Although culturally dazzling, majestic in (swing-infused) score, and optically sumptuous, the live-action Aladdin suffers from a miscast Jafar, shaky romance escalation, and poorly-CGI’d WS-Genie lacking Williams’ comedic bijoux. 4.2/10.
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