Tropic Thunder (2008)

Initially, I put this title off because I felt like I'd already learned all there is to know about it. Then I put it off more when I learned that Ben Stiller starred and directed (he's even more of a red flag for me than Will Ferrell) and Jack Black was among the highest billed. But recently, I heard an interview in which Robert Downey Jr. reflected fondly on it. Maybe it would be worth a viewing after all.

The production of a modern Vietnam War epic is going slowly and over budget, apparently because the director (Steve Coogan) doesn't know how to work with prima donnas. At the advice of the gritty writer of the book being adapted (Nick Nolte), he sends the five main actors deeper into the jungle for a more authentic experience. Little does any of them know that this jungle is home to a strong gang of heroin manufacturers, who mistake the fake soldiers for Drug Enforcement Administration officers (do they have international jurisdiction?). The actors, in turn, take a little while to realize that the criminals aren't other actors.

How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World (2019)

After how much I enjoyed HtTYD2, I decided that if the threequel was any good, I would not wait long to see it -- this time in a theater. This being an evening show, I avoided the noisy brats who detract from some family features while still getting reinforcement of positive reactions from older viewers.

There's less of a time jump from the second movie than there had been from the first. Hiccup (Jay Baruchel), now 21 and chief of Berk, leads successful viking raids on dragon captors' ships. This presents two problems: Their isle is running out of room for newcomers, and they've gained the attention of powerful enemies. When the most accomplished dragon hunter, Grimmel (F. Murray Abraham), demonstrates how dangerous he is, the Berkians pull up stakes. They want to make their next camp their new permanent home, but Hiccup has designs on reaching the fabled hidden world his late father (Gerard Butler in flashbacks) spoke of, where dragons should be safest. Unfortunately, his personal alpha mount, Toothless, gets distracted by the first female of his species to appear in ages, which is what Grimmel has in mind.

How to Train Your Dragon 1 & 2

I was going to review only 2 here, since I saw 1 four years ago. But this sort of sequel seems hard to evaluate without making many references to the original.

DreamWorks continues to move up in my estimation. The HtTYD film series is not its most original effort, but both entries to date hold their own against at least half the output of Pixar. They are more likely than anything else to make viewers, young and old, male and female, want a pet dragon.