The Peanut Butter Falcon (2019)

I hadn't heard of this feature until it got prominently advertised recently on Netflix. It turns out to have been a sleeper hit. Not sure what to expect, I picked it mainly so I wouldn't spend long deciding.

In the present South, young adult Zak (Zack Gottsagen) has been restricted to an assisted living facility, because he has Down syndrome and his family lost patience caring for him. After several attempts, he escapes, hoping to make his way to a faux-wrestling school run by "the Salt Water Redneck" (Thomas Haden Church) as advertised on old videotapes, despite having no money. While Zak hides in a motorboat, Tyler (Shia LaBeouf), a crabber who has committed enough offenses to make serious enemies of his rivals (John Hawkes and Yelawolf), takes the boat for a getaway before noticing Zak. Since the school is en route to Tyler's destination, he grudgingly allows Zak to travel with him. As you probably guessed, the grudge passes.

Atlantis: The Lost Empire (2001)

After a drama whose visuals failed to grab me, I felt like seeing a fanciful animation. Alas, it's getting hard to think of promising ones I haven't seen yet. As usual for late-'90s or early-'00s Disney, this one underperformed a bit upon release but still gets mentioned positively in my circles now and then. Would I join the cult fandom?

In 1914, adorkable archaeologist Milo (Michael J. Fox) is disrespected even in scholarly circles for obsessing over the possibility of finding the legendary ruins of Atlantis. He finally gets a break when a rich man (John Mahoney) who knew Milo's grandfather finances an expedition, with Milo serving primarily to read instructions in an ancient language. To the entire party's surprise, Atlantis is still populated, and Milo grows pretty close to their princess, Kida (Cree Summer). But most of the explorers are in it just for wealth, and the less scrupulous among them, especially Commander Rourke (James Garner), are willing to steal the very crystal that allows Atlanteans to live in their air pocket space: the Heart of Atlantis.

Phantom Thread (2017)

The main reason I kept putting off this Academy Best Picture nominee is director Paul Thomas Anderson. I hadn't enjoyed There Will Be Blood and didn't know any of his other works until Licorice Pizza. But after seeing it on my Netflix list enough times, I decided to get it over with.

In 1954, an elite London dress designer with the unlikely first name of Reynolds (Daniel Day-Lewis) talks waitress Alma (Vicky Krieps) into modeling for him. For the first time in his life, he develops feelings for a woman, and they are largely mutual. But his overbearing insistence on routine and lack of distraction from work makes him hard to live with, and Alma cooks up a nasty way to turn the tables on him....

Charlie Bartlett (2007)

This relatively inexpensive flick still suffered a net loss at the box office, and both critics and general audiences had mixed opinions of it. Why did I check it out? Because someone left the DVD lying around. I can be easy to influence that way.

Spoiled rich Charlie (Anton Yelchin) has been expelled many times, most recently for selling fake IDs. His mom (Hope Davis) finally enrolls him in a public high school, where he stands out as the only student to dress formally. He gets the idea to fake out his many psychiatrists, acquire prescription drugs, and sell them to classmates in apparent need, in addition to offering his own advice. He becomes quite popular and even makes a business partner out of the guy who first physically bullies him (Tyler Hilton). But Principal Gardner (Robert Downey, Jr.) is leery of such a shady character, especially one who starts dating his daughter (Kat Dennings).

Uncut Gems (2019)

I previously expressed a minor interest in this picture, but I kept putting it off because it looked dark. I'd also learned that it had the fourth most instances of the F-word, right behind The Wolf of Wall Street, which is no plus in my book. Still, its popularity cannot be denied, and when I saw that it would stop streaming on Netflix May 8 (sorry if you're reading too late for easy access), I tarried no longer.

In 2012, New York jeweler Howard (Adam Sandler) imports a large black opal from Ethiopia. He hopes to auction it off and pay his multiple debts to impatient lenders, not least Arno (Eric Bogosian), his soon-to-be-ex-brother-in-law. But superstitious NBA star Kevin Garnett (himself) borrows it for luck, and getting it back in time for the auction isn't easy....