BE REEL

(Courtesy IMDb )  Since the release of James Cameron’s visually gamechanging and record-breaking sci-fi epic, Avatar , sixteen years ago, it was a question of whether or not the general public would still be interested if and when more than one sequel would be made. The second installment (2022’s The Way of Water ) arguably gave the franchise its voice, in contrast to its familiar and more predictable predecessor. With this year’s third chapter, Fire and Ash , dominating cineplexes across the world, Cameron has delivered the most ambitious, emotionally-investing, and exhilarating moviegoing experience of all three films. In fact, the teaser trailer  that played before Fantastic Four in theaters this past summer had me convinced, “This may be the best one to date.”  The effects and world building in the first installment were groundbreaking, through and through, while its long-in-development follow-up was noteworthy for its expanded scope and jaw-dropping water effects. F...

(Courtesy Paramount Wiki )   It's interesting that we've been through a quarter century of cinema by this point. For one thing, that's also the same duration of time that Nickelodeon's most popular cartoon star has been around. Furthermore, the late Stephen Hillenburg's sea critter creation known as SpongeBob SquarePants has exceeded the network's baby posse of Rugrats with over 330 episodes across sixteen seasons. Ditto four feature films (2004, 2015, 2020, and now 2025, respectively), which puts the franchise in the rare cinematic league of animated quadrilogies. (Others include DreamWorks' Shrek , Blue Sky's Ice Age , and Pixar's Toy Story .) In his latest (fully-CGI) adventure, Search for SquarePants follows the childish yellow square dude as he tries to prove to others and himself (again) that he's a "big guy." After being duped into a dark quest in the dreaded undersea realm known as the Underworld, culinary boss Mr. Krabs, pet...

(Courtesy IMDb )   There’s a moment in Disney Animation’s latest inevitable blockbuster that not-so-subtly calls out the Hollywood industry’s supposed lack of originality and broad emphasis on sequels, reboots, and franchises in general. And yet, there are rare entries every so often that know how to do something fresh and exciting. Riding the coattail of Moana 2 ’s surprise run last year, a long-awaited sequel to another of Disney’s most original and ambitious projects in recent years—about an ever-expanding world of anthropomorphic animals—immediately signifies its universal and communal appeal.  Set one week after the events of it’s terrific predecessor from 2016, Zootopia 2 centers on the working relationship and friendship between bunny Judy Hopps (voiced by Ginnifer Goodwin) and fox Nick Wilde (voiced by Jason Bateman) on a new case involving a snake (voiced by Ke Huy Quan) and the centennial anniversary of the titular city’s creation. Quickly going from officers to fra...

(Courtesy Rotten Tomatoes )   (Courtesy Flashback Cinema )   This year marks more than two decades since a couple of particular Christmas movies have been part of our holiday lexicon. Both Ron Howard’s live-action How the Grinch Stole Christmas (which turned 25 last month) and Robert Zemeckis’s motion capture The Polar Express  were recently screened at Marcus Theatres  and other chains across the nation. I attended a screening of each film last weekend, and this marks the first time I’ve seen both of them on the big screen since their initial releases in 2000 and 2004, respectively. So the experience, for me, was nostalgic.  Oddly enough, both critically-divisive but crowd-pleasing blockbusters are based on popular and acclaimed children’s books from the mid-to-late-20th Century. The former is a live-action fantasy, adapted from Theodor “Dr. Seuss” Geisel’s 1957 book about the titular curmudgeon who plots to steal the holidays from the citizens of Who-ville o...

(Courtesy YouTube ) Home (2015)  During its original theatrical run in 2014, Mr. Peabody & Sherman was preceded by a 4-minute animated short  about an alien race, known as the Boov, who are constantly looking for a new planet to live on, and to run and hide from other extra-terrestrials that are apparently out to get them. The silly and humorously macabre Almost Home was based off of Adam Rex’s book, “The True Meaning of Smekday,” which was also the basis for a feature-length sci-fi adventure the following year. In fact, it turned out to be the only animated release from DreamWorks that year.  The story of Home  centers on an unlikely friendship between an outcast and neglected alien named Oh (voiced by Jim Parsons, famous for playing Sheldon on The Big Bang Theory ) and a lonely teenage girl named Tip (voiced by music artist Rihanna), who has a pet cat ironically named Pig (the second appearance of a calico cat in an animated feature that season, following Di...

(Courtesy IMDb )  The SpongeBob SquarePants Movie (2004)  After making waves on Nickelodeon for over five years, the cheerfully optimistic and eccentric sea critter known as SpongeBob SquarePants made his big-screen debut, joining the cinematic company of fellow Nicktoons like Rugrats , The Wild Thornberrys , and Hey Arnold . Recalling the character traits of Charlie Chaplin, Jerry Lewis, and Pee-Wee Herman (to name a few), I've enjoyed—since as a kid, and as a younger man—the numerous weekday adventures of the titular kitchen-looking sponge (voiced by Tom Kenny) and his supporting cast of sea creatures in the underwater world of Bikini Bottom. (The original three seasons, at least.) These include pet snail Gary (also Kenny), starfish best friend Patrick (Bill Fagerbakke), grouchy neighbor/coworker Squidward (Rodger Bumpus), greedy restaurant boss Mr. Krabs (Clancy Brown), land squirrel Sandy (Carolyn Lawrence), and the megalomaniacal but miniscule Plankton (Mr. Lawrence)....