Minions & Monsters (2026)

I'll admit, I haven't been keeping up with the Despicable Me series. This is the 7th overall film in the series, and the 3rd prequel spinoff to revolve around the Minions. I hate these yellow assholes with a passion. However, this one takes a slightly different tack and revolves around an alternative history of cinema, set in 1920s Hollywood. Since these pee-stained pricks only speak in nonsense gibberish anyway, it essentially takes on the feeling of a silent film. However, what had such great potential as a premise (for the first 15 minutes anyway) quickly devolves into colorful, low-hanging fruit to appease small children. It's a shame because as a tribute to early cinema and with fun film references peppered in for cinephiles (including a cameo from George Lucas), it elevates it from another trash entry but still fails to break out of the mold.

2 mini Cthulhu out of 5

The Pee-wee Herman Show on Broadway (2011)

Paul Reubens at long last got a chance to reprise the popular character he was known for in a 2010 revival of the original stage show that began his career. It updates the original story for modern audiences while incorporating a lot of new Pee-wee lore, including appearances by many characters from his 1986-1990 TV series, Pee-wee's Playhouse, making it both an epilogue and reunion for many of the performers. It's a lot of fun to see Paul inhabiting the role again and fitting the grey suit like a glove without ever missing a beat. This one is mostly for the fans, but there is a lot of love and nostalgia throughout.

3 magic words out of 5