Nine years after giving us a perfect ending to the Toy Story trilogy, the creators at Pixar have decided the story is not over. Toy Story 3 did not end with the cliche, And they lived happily ever after, though we could have believed that. Instead, in Toy Story 4, we see that while Bonnie promised Andy she would take good care of Woody, he often is not picked for playtime. She simply plucks his sheriff badge off his chest and gives it to Jessie, leaving Woody feeling rejected with the old toys in the closet.
With little playtime and no longer the leader (that’s Dolly’s role in Bonnie’s room) Woody is struggling with his purpose. Then he has a hand in Bonnie creating Forky, a spork figurine, so Woody feels responsible for him. Especially when Forky keeps throwing himself in the trash. When Forky gets lost, Woody takes it upon himself to find him and ends up meeting new adversaries and old friends in an antique shop and a traveling carnival.
From the promos, we all know Woody finds his old flame, Bo Peep, and I love how her story has turned. The beginning of the film, shows us how she left Andy’s house on a sad rainy night. We find out that years later she decided that instead of wasting away in the antique shop for someone to take her home, she became a lost toy, traveling around the park and sandbox in an RC car disguised as a skunk. She’s come a long way from her bonnet wearing days playing the damsel in distress in Andy’s room.
While there’s a lot to think about in this film, one of the best things about it is how comical it is. Forky flinging himself into the trash never gets old. Buzz’s way of discovering his inner voice is perfect for his character. Duke Kaboom’s backstory and posing is hilarious. Ducky and Bunny (voiced by Key and Peele) are wonderful new characters that add some seriously silly moments (especially in the credits). And my favorite laughs came from how the toys left in the RV keep stalling for time and eventually try to navigate the car, without Bonnie’s parents figuring them out.
To be really honest, I thought there was too much Forky and not enough of our old favorite characters. I mean what’s going on with Buzz and Jessie these days? There was so much with them in 3. But this isn’t their story, it’s Woody’s journey, and Forky is a big part of helping Woody get there. I get it, sorry, but I felt like we were left hanging, like that Combat Carl looking for a high five.
There’s a lot of meandering around with Forky to get to the heart of the matter in this story. It’s all about dealing with rejection and finding purpose in your life, even if it’s not quite how you imagined it. Forky wasn’t on board to be a toy at first, but with Woody’s help comes around to the idea. Accepting new roles will come for other key characters as well. And while the ending is not quite the amazing tear jerker 3 gave us, it’s still wonderfully bittersweet.
“I can’t let you throw yourself away.”
These days, most people with access to a movie theater use, rely and basically live on the internet. I know I do. And you wouldn’t be reading this without it. However, a lot of children have a much more limited access to all that is out there on the internet and you may be wondering how in the world could Disney make a film that engages kids when it is about and takes place in the internet. But, come on, it’s Disney. They figured that out. 
In this sequel, Vanellope (voice by Sarah Silverman) has lost interest in her game world, so like a good friend, Ralph (voiced by John C. Reilly) tries to help by making her a new track. But like everything Ralph does, it’s a wreck that ends with the arcade game’s steering wheel broken. With no wheel, the game gets unplugged and all the characters from Sugar Rush are homeless. To try to save Sugar Rush, Ralph and Vanellope venture into the newly plugged in wi-fi and venture across the internet in search of a replacement steering wheel on Ebay. After winning the auction, they hit a snag realizing they need money (not just the big number they shouted out). They embark on a quest trying to earn money playing video games in racing game spliced with Grand Theft Auto, Slaughter Race, where they make a strong ally and decide to make money by getting likes on the Disney fictional brand of YouTube. Along the way, Ralph and Vanellope question their friendship and… you guess it, Ralph breaks the whole internet. 
I took my four year old son to see the movie and was curious how he would react to it. His knowledge of the internet is limited to the few cute videos and Facebook posts I show him, so basically nothing. Yes, many jokes sailed over his head. But when I asked him about the story, he understood it as well as a kid his age could. He described YouTube-land as “the place where people give hearts to videos” and OhMyDisney as “Disney World”. 
Since the trailer dropped, everyone has been waiting for the big princesses scene. Vanellope, unaware that she herself is a technically a Disney princess, glitches her way into where they all hang out. It’s fun to see so many classic and loved characters all together and their individual personalities shine in this little bit. Best of all, meeting the princesses helps propel Vanellope on her character arc. It’s not just a cute gimmick for little girls, it actually moves the story forward, and I expect nothing less from Disney these days.
Never have I seen a film like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. The animation style is like nothing I had ever seen before. It’s so exciting and refreshing, yet hard to describe. It looks a little like the creators took inspiration from the style in A Scanner Darkly, made it a whole lot better and then gave it some comic book and graffiti art embellishments. I didn’t see the film in 3D, it’s not my preference, but I bet it would work great, especially how some images that are supposed to be out of focus have a 3D style on them. Like I said, it’s so hard to describe the visual brilliance of this film, so I highly suggest you run out to the theaters and see it. 
This fun, kid friendly Spider-Man movie focuses on a young teen from Brooklyn, Miles Morales (voiced by Shameik Moore). Though he’s a bright kid at a new fancy school, he focuses on his graffiti style art, slapping stickers where he thinks his dad, a cop, won’t notice. His uncle is more encouraging of his art. After Miles is bitten by a strange spider and given super powers he freaks out and runs into Spiderman who is trying to shut down this crazy, huge inter dimensional portal blaster collider thingy. Before he can, Spider-Man DIES! (I know, right?) And leaves Miles with the task to shut the portal collider down for good. But Miles is just a kid who doesn’t know how to use his powers yet. Thankfully, that portal gun opened up a few other dimensions and brought other Spider-people into his universe. They’ll have to work together to destroy the portal collider.
Of all the Spider-Man movies I’ve seen (which is all in the past 20 years except the Andrew Garfield one), this is the most fun, charismatic and visually striking. Miles is such a relatable kid that we love him throughout his whole origin story. I think the older-sadder-sweatpants wearing Spider-Man is a great addition for laughs and keeps adults more invested. Spider-Gwen adds some girl power. And when dark and angsty Spider Noir (Nicholas Cage), Looney Tunes inspired Spider-Ham and anime style Peni Parker come in, they work together to well for being so hilariously different. I loved the running rubix cube joke. 
But the thing that makes Spider-Verse so great is the way it shows us that anyone can be behind the mask. With infinite spider-verses, there are so many chances to be the hero. The fact that this story focuses on an African-American Puerto Rican kid from Brooklyn is wonderful and I’m so happy that my little boy gets to see so much diversity in film at an early age. 
In Monster House, DJ lives across the street from Mr. Nebbercracker (voiced by Steve Buscemi), the creepy old man on the block, and his equally creepy house. Whenever a ball lands on his lawn or a little girl veers her tricycle off the sidewalk, Nebbercracker runs out yelling, “Get off my lawn!” and takes the toy, scaring the kids away. Lately, DJ has been watching his every move. 
The unique design used in Monster House sets it apart from most other animated films. The characters are a slightly stylized out of reality but not created to be overly cute, like in so many other animated films. Nebbercracker and Bones are both wonderfully creepy characters in very different ways while DJ and his friends are lovably dorky kids. Even better, the imagination and style used to turn a creepy house into an all out monster works great here. Little details go a long way, from the way shingles ruffle and the porch contorts to teeth to the interior’s dark and cavernous appearance. 
Monster House is a lovably creepy film perfect for Halloween that will engage the whole family. Some themes might be a bit much for very young kids, but the older ones will appriciate a cartoon that isn’t watered down too muh. And while you may think you know how this story is going to go (duh, the house is a monster) there is more here than you would have expected. Way back when I first saw this film, my brother and I really enjoyed the major revelation and how it became a very redeeming factor. That and the high caliber animation helped seal the film’s Oscar nomination for best animated feature. I suggest enjoying this film as a family before trick-or-treating. 
It’s been fourteen years since we first met Pixar’s family of superheroes, yet their story picks up from the moment the first film ended. It opens with the Parr family springing into action to stop The Underminer, while they juggle babysitting Jack Jack, and it ensures us that this film will be full of fun, family focused, fast paced action. 
However, the day does does not end well for the Parrs, as superheroes are still illegal. The agent who has been helping them stay undercover for years can only offer them two weeks in a motel before they’re on their own. So when a wealthy, nostalgic benefactor hoping to make supers legal again offers Elastigirl a job, complete with a swanky high tech house for the family, the Parrs take it. Soon a new villain rises, targeting Elastigirl and could jeopardize the plan to legalize supers. 
One of the funniest scenes shows Jack-Jack fighting his first enemy: a raccoon in the yard. Many of his powers are revealed as Jack-Jack moves through the glass door, morphs into his monster-baby form, bursts into flames throwing lawn chairs and splits into multiple clones, chasing off the hilariously bewildered raccoon. And when Bob finds him, the excitement about his baby’s new powers is soon met with the insurmountable task of keeping him safe. Thankfully, Edna is willing to help, in her own fabulous way. 
One thing I want to warn viewers about is the fact that the film uses a visual effect similar to a strobe light in multiple parts of the film. For those sensitive to such visuals, beware or wait to watch the film at home. It was pretty intense in a dark, crowded theater. 
Once the Oscar nominations were announced, there was a sudden backlash against The Boss Baby. How could such tripe be nominated for Best Animated Feature over popular franchise gems like The Lego Batman Movie or Cars 3? In my opinion, easily, like taking candy from a baby.
You see, Dreamworks’ The Boss Baby isn’t about a baby in a suit hungry for power. Not really anyway. The real story is about an imaginative seven-year-old named Tim and how he processes the news that he is going to be a big brother. As soon as his parents gently ask him if he’d like to have a baby brother, we are launched into Tim’s fantasy about where babies come from, how his new brother would arrive and how it would take over and change his family and his life. And the whole thing would be because of a big conspiracy, where a corporation of babies are competing for love against their rival: puppies.
For my growing family, The Boss Baby has become a favorite lately. It came on Netflix not long after my husband and I told our three-year-old that he’s going to be a big brother. While he has his own questions and worries, watching a story about a kid learning to love and accept the new baby, and his new role as a big brother is helpful. Sure, they have a rocky start, as I expect my son and his future sibling will, but my son always ends the movie with his hand on my belly, asking if the baby can feel him yet. It’s helping him bond already and the film’s message about love is strong enough that a three-year-old gets it.
