Thunderbolts* (2025)

When I first saw an ad for this, I didn't realize I already knew the teammates as prior supporting characters: Yelena (Florence Pugh) and the Red Guardian (David Harbour) from Black Widow; Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), most prominently from the Captain America outings; Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) from Ant-Man and the Wasp; and U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Most of them have only slightly enhanced abilities, and all have been jerks if not villains, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be fun to watch.

Another previous low profile comes to the fore as Val de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is on the verge of losing her CIA directorship due to growing, justified suspicion of unethical activity for "the greater good," like a smilier Amanda Waller. She tries luring Yelena, Ghost, U.S. Agent, and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) into a death trap to hide incriminating evidence. This scheme does not account for Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman), who initially appears to be a mere forgetful stoner mysteriously in the wrong place but has actually survived Val's otherwise abortive Sentry Project to attain untold powers. The gang shakily comes together in order to escape. Then they realize that with the Avengers scattered, they're the best hope for protecting Manhattan from Val's new wild-card superweapon.

Dune: Part Two (2024)

Wow, when was the last time a new movie had this much up-front popularity? Going by both IMDb and general social circles, I'd say 2003, with The Return of the King. Of course, it's been released only a week in the states, so I don't assume lasting momentum. But between its initial reception and my appreciation of the first part, I saw fit to check it out almost ASAP.

In keeping with where we left off, young adult Duke Paul Atreides (Timothée Chalamet) now walks among the desert-dwelling Fremen, with his clan's killers initially uncertain whether Paul still lives. He and the Fremen are warring to stop House Harkonnen from taking over spice operations on Planet Arrakis. His mom, Jessica (Rebecca Ferguson), and Fremen leader Stilgar (Javier Bardem) look forward to Paul awakening as the prophesied messianic Kwisatz Haderach, but most Fremen don't believe it. And Paul hopes to avoid it, because his own spice-induced visions appear to foretell consequent mass devastation more than salvation.

Oppenheimer (2023)

I knew my dad and I would have to see this while it was still in theaters. Not only is it popular, but it loses something on a smaller screen. Not that nuclear explosions, "real" or imagined, make up much of the three hours.

The story covers the life of J. Robert Oppenheimer (Cillian Murphy) from his doctoral student days in 1926 to his receipt of the Enrico Fermi Award in '63. His key work on the Manhattan Project and reactions to its aftermath tend to dominate the focus, but there's more to it than that. He hangs out with communists too much for the comfort of authorities, and two party members, eventual wife Kitty Puening (Emily Blunt) and codependent Jean Tatlock (Florence Pugh), become his love interests.

Puss in Boots: The Last Wish (2022)

I had liked the 2011 Puss in Boots better than anything else associated with Shrek, so I was a little disappointed at its reception. The Netflix series, which has the same IMDb rating at the moment, didn't sustain my interest for long. When TLW came later than any other DreamWorks sequel, I had to wonder why it was so much more popular. So I finally got the gumption to go to a theater again.

When the Zorro-like feline bandit (Antonio Banderas) loses his eighth life, he finally starts to fear death -- which, indeed, approaches him in the form of a red-eyed, sickle-wielding wolf (Wagner Moura). He decides to live like a normal cat for a crazy cat lady (Da'Vine Joy Randolph), until Goldilocks (Florence Pugh) and the Three Bears (Ray Winstone, Olivia Colman, and Samson Kayo) come hoping to enlist his help in swiping a magic map to the legendary Wishing Star in the dreaded Dark Forest. Rather than join them, he sets out to claim the one wish for himself so he can gain extra lives. But the Bear crime family aren't his only rivals. Kitty Softpaws (Salma Hayek Pinault) returns, still sore at him for jilting her. And then there's insatiably greedy magnate Big Jack Horner (John Mulaney), who has no special abilities of his own but has hired a Baker's Dozen of minions he regards as expendable and purchased an impressive array of fairy tale accessories.

Black Widow (2021)

While my mom enjoyed Wonder Woman and Black Panther, she was only half-interested in this woman-led superhero feature. If Dad and I had decided to go to the theater instead of using Disney+, she wouldn't have watched. Hey, it has only a marginally better reception than Captain Marvel at present. But I still didn't feel like waiting any longer to see it.

I knew this was a prequel, but I didn't realize that most of the plot took place in the wake of Captain America: Civil War, when Natasha (Scarlett Johansson) is hiding from the U.S. government for being among the rebel Avengers. She's not actually the only "Black Widow," just the most public; there's quite an army of thusly dubbed hitwomen trained from childhood under General Dreykov (Ray Winstone). Yelena (Florence Pugh), a Widow who had basically been Natasha's foster sister for a few years, finally makes contact again out of desperation: Dreykov has been controlling the Widows' actions via a chemical compound, but a special gas in a small supply of vials can counteract the effect instantly, completely, and indefinitely. To distribute the gas as needed, Natasha and Yelena will need to learn the location of the base of operations, known as the Red Room, with help from their past ersatz parents, Melina (Rachel Weisz) and Alexei (David Harbour). Of course, they'll be up against a lot of similarly skilled women, including an intimidatingly armored elite whom Wikipedia identifies as Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko).

Little Women (2019)

I saved this for last among 2019 Academy Best Picture nominees because I had already seen the 1994 adaptation twice, albeit long ago. I was not very fond of that one, leaving me of two minds about seeing the reputedly best version.

For those who aren't up on the Louisa May Alcott classic literature, the title characters are four sisters in 1860s Massachusetts, traditionally supposed to spend much of the story as teens (and one briefly a tween) but herein played strictly by twenty-somethings. From oldest to youngest, they are Meg (Emma Watson), Jo (Saoirse Ronan), Beth (Eliza Scanlon), and Amy (Florence Pugh). Jo gets the most focus, being an aspiring author with little regard for contemporary gender expectations, including marriage. More broadly, the sisters struggle with poverty, what with their father (Bob Odenkirk) away at war and neither any of them nor their mother (Laura Dern) in a good position to make money. They also face scarlet fever, a harsh teacher, and jealousy, not least with regard to the generosity and affection of comely male neighbor Laurie (Timothée Chalamet).