The Muppet Movie (1979)

Made at the height of their television domination, the Muppets' first foray onto the silver screen is all at once funny, heartwarming, weird and magical. This "origin story" of sorts is a musical road trip buddy comedy adventure where Kermit the Frog must make his way from the swamps of Florida to Hollywood, while he meets the rest of the Muppet crew along the way. Having recently experienced it in a movie theater, I can attest it still delights audiences five decades later. This movie persists because of the partnership and endless chemistry between Jim Henson and Frank Oz, who inhabit their felt characters with humanity and wit. Full of fun cameos from movie stars of old, this film still feels timeless 50 years later. While it may not be "perfect," it's still a joy to behold from beginning to end. For the lovers, dreamers, and like-minded.

5 rainbow connections out of 5

Spy Hard (1996)

A spoof of the spy genre (particularly James Bond/007), which also jam-packs other popular films of the time, like Speed, Sister Act, Home Alone, Rambo, etc. Leslie Nielsen portrays Special Agent Dick Steele, aka WD-40, while Nicollette Sheridan does a serviceable job as second banana Agent 3.14. Directed by Rick Friedberg, and written by nepo baby Jason Friedberg & Aaron Seltzer, who are credited with the demise of the spoof genre and gave them a bad name during the 2000s stretch of parody films. The movie was famously meddled with by Disney, who dumbed it down for audiences to try and (poorly) imitate the ZAZ style and hacked it apart by about 20 minutes. The latter half suffers for it and we're denied a proper denouement, but you can tell the potential is there and there are a lot of fun visual gags that are still memorable to me 30 years later. As usual, Nielsen carries the entire thing on his shoulders. I still enjoy it more than all the other films Friedberg & Seltzer became associated with later on.

2½ unlucky joggers out of 5

Dog Day Afternoon (1975)

A film about a bank heist that doesn't go to plan probably won't seem like much of an original concept to a modern audience weaned on QT, but Dog Day Afternoon sells itself as being true, which is unusual. I've no idea whether it's as factual as it claims to be, but it's an enjoyable journey, nevertheless.
Al Pacino's rifle-wielding character is a kind of likeable rogue that somehow manages to turn amateur hour at the bank into a public media extravaganza, morphing a desperate hostage situation into one that highlights a number of social problems. His partner in crime (John Cazale) is more reserved but leaves a dent all of his own in viewer sympathies. Things increase at length, but Dir.  Sidney Lumet's no-frills approach keeps the heart of the story to the fore.

3½ state-employed con-men out of 5