John Candy: I Like Me (2025)

A portrait on the late actor who starred in 43 films in his 43 short years. Still remembered fondly by fans and all who knew him, he was larger than life, but known for his kind heart and gentle nature. If you're looking for dirt, you won't find it here. No one has nary a bad word to say about him. His only demons were the ones he was battling in silence. A lot of his story is told in his own words, as well as through his SCTV castmates, and especially his collaboration with John Hughes. He resists being typecast as the fat man, while seeming very secure in who he is, which remains relevant 30 years after his death. Like John Belushi or Chris Farley, he appears to live on with each new generation.

3 smiles through the pain out of 5

Note: Hearing Catherine O'Hara give John's eulogy hits doubly hard now. R.I.P.

Zootopia 2 (2025)

Sequel to the popular Disney film about anthropomorphic animals, featuring the unlikely partnership of Judy Hopps (sexy bunny) and Nick Wilde (sly fox) on a slithery mystery adventure that threatens to expose the origins of their storied utopia. Not quite as enchanting as its predecessor, in some ways, this feels like The Bad Guys all over again, except these are clearly the good guys. It's cute, it's cuddly, it's colorful, it's innocuous. No one is changed for it.

And I'm just going to come right out and say it. I want to fuck that rabbit. 

2 gateways to furryism out of 5

My Girl (1991)

It's 1972, and Vada Sultenfuss is an 11-year-old girl whose mother has died and whose dad is preoccupied by running a funeral parlor in the basement. She's a hypochondriac who is obsessed with death and tries to find meaning by joining a summer writing class and hanging out with her friend Thomas J. Meanwhile, her dad begins courting a new romance which reopens some old wounds.

I suppose a lot has to do with when you were born and your memories of growing up, but this film arrived at a perfect point in my formative years where it affected me throughout my life. To the point where I can almost transpose my own memories of childhood onto this film. Vada represented everything I looked for in a girl and Anna Chlumsky brings enormous charm and heart to her performance. Even now, I can still remember how I felt watching this as an easily impressionable kid. It doesn't hurt that I also saw myself in Macaulay Culkin at that age. This is a movie with real soul which contemplates some deep truths, especially for a coming-of-age film.

4½ mood rings out of 5

Home Alone 2: Lost In New York (1992)

Just as the first one was hard to review, this one is equally difficult because it's essentially the same film. But that didn't keep me from loving it at 10, and I'm still the same immature kid I always was. Okay, so it's really improbable that the family would lose Kevin again (this time, as the title suggests, he's got the whole city to himself), but it's actually pretty fun and charming if you open up to it. You'd have to be a real Mr. Grumpy Pants to not get any basic enjoyment out of this film. That being said, I enjoy the gags, derivative as they may seem, and it's all quite goofy and harmless when you get down to it. There aren't many kids movies that feel the same way.

4.5 pairs of turtle-doves out of 5

Home Alone (1990)

This is a tough one to nut. It's one of those movies that critics love lambasting, but it's also an essential part of my childhood. So this review is clearly slanted. Honestly, how could you be 8 years old at the time and not identify with the plight of poor Kevin McCallister? Invisible to his family, just wanting a whole cheese pizza to himself, and wishing he was left alone (oh god, I got it in spades). The booby traps in the latter part of the film are so much fun, I think it inspired a genre of children's film in itself. And of course, it all ends up being touching and tear-worthy at the end of the day (with one final note of laughter). This is just an awesomely fun movie period, and I'm proud to count it among my yearly Christmas celebration.

4.5 extremely violent Wet Bandits gags (repeat) out of 5