“Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle” is fun, hilarious, and much better than you’d expect. Trust me.

 

I saw the teaser trailer for the “Jumanji” sequel and thought, “WHAT?! WHY?!” But that’s the nature of teaser trailers. Just a taste to leave you wanting more. After the Internet exploded with hatred and vitriol, I did what everyone should do and READ ABOUT IT first and saw what the premise actually was and was intrigued. Knowing that, I went into the theater with an open mind and low expectations. And surprise, surprise, I LOVED IT.

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“Coco” is a beautiful, magical journey into the Land of the Dead

Disney-Pixar have done it again. Since they began to focus on more culturally-specific films such as Norwegian and Scandinavian culture in “Frozen”, Scottish folklore in “Brave”, and Samoan legends in “Moana”, they have hit the ground running telling stories from other lands that can appeal to a universal audience.

“Crisis on Earth-X” crossover event is star-studded and action-packed fun

I look forward to the CW DC TV show crossover event every year. I’ve been a fan of “Arrow” since my best friend bought me the season one DVD. With each new show’s introduction starting with the Flash being introduced on “Arrow”, then “DC’s Legends of Tomorrow” spinning off from that AND “Supergirl” moving to the CW from CBS, I’ve been watching the entire lineup with varying degrees of success and regularity, with “The Flash” being the most constant.

“Voltron: Legendary Defender” season 4 raises the stakes to the next level

While I’m about a month behind on reviewing the latest season of “Voltron: Legendary Defender” on Netflix, it was well worth the wait. This latest season ramps things up perfectly to continue the already thrilling through-line of the animated series. Down to only six episodes from last season’s seven and the previous two at 13 each, I get the impression this is really the latter half of season 3 in the grand scheme of things.

“Voltron: Legendary Defender” season 3 tackles big topics, delivers big action and fun

“Voltron: Legendary Defender” is easily one of my favorite animated series. Each season develops new and more complex conflicts and character dynamics that elevate what could easily be just a campy Saturday morning cartoon to a respectable, nuanced series great for kids and adults alike.

“Despicable Me 3” (2017) continues moneymaking machine, but in the best way

“Despicable Me” was actually the reason I started these reviews in the first place. I watched it with my nephews at least three or four times in a row before finally convincing them to put on literally anything else. Since then, there’s come “Despicable Me 2” and “Minions”, and now in theaters is “Despicable Me 3”. As I sat in a nearly empty theater and enjoyed the film, all I could see were crates upon crates of Minion-themed merchandise en-route to stores near you! And it took me out of it…

“Spider-man: Homecoming” (2017) is tour de force for web-slinging hero

Hello and welcome to the new home of ANOFP! First up for the new page is the latest big screen outing of Peter Parker in “Spider-man: Homecoming”.

Spider-man has now been on the big screen seven times: six stand alone movies and in “Captain America: Civil War”. I will admit, I was a Sam Raimi-purist heading into this movie and hadn’t seen the Andrew Garfield reboot or sequel (even though I was an extra in it). Tobey Maguire was my Spider-man and even though “Spider-man 3” was garbage (even Raimi admits it; he didn’t want to make it), I still entered the theater ready to dismiss “Homecoming” as yet another reboot/sequel made purely to put cash in Marvel’s pockets. And I was wrong!

And Now Our Feature Presentation: “The LEGO Batman Movie” (2016)

Finally got to see “The LEGO Batman Movie” flying home from vacation recently. I had meant to see it in theaters, but movies don’t hang around too long in the theaters here and I had heard a fairly lukewarm review from a friend who’d seen it, so I figured I’d wait for it to be streaming. As soon as it began, I was smiling from ear to ear. Will Arnett (“Arrested Development”, “Bojack Horseman”) is back to reprise his role as the Dark Knight after voicing him in the “LEGO Movie” from 2014. But midway through the first action sequence, there was something missing. Something hadn’t clicked the way it had for me watching the first film.

And Now Our Feature Presentation: “Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie”

George and Harold are two imaginative elementary school kids fond of pulling pranks. They also created a comic book superhero named Captain Underpants from another planet where everyone just wears underpants and has super powers. Their principal, Mr. Krupp, is always trying to find a way to punish them for their antics, with his ultimate plan being to put them in separate classes and destroy their friendship. Diabolical, right? After being called to the office yet again, George pulls out his 3D Hypno Ring he found in a cereal box and accidentally hypnotizes Mr. Krupp (“I didn’t think that would actually work!”). After making him perform as various silly animals, the boys decide to make him be Captain Underpants! Trouble is he really thinks he IS Captain Underpants and runs off to fight crime!