Sing (2016)

A notice that Netflix would stop streaming this animation at the end of the year inspired me to prioritize it. I'd been uncertain because the ad campaign didn't appeal much to me, but the decent ratings and slightly more popular sequel got me interested.

Slightly corrupt producer Buster Moon (Matthew McConaughey) is on the verge of losing his live theater after a string of flops. He decides to host a sing-off, but his elderly secretary (director Garth Jennings) accidentally overstates the prize money in the flyers. His only hope is to impress a rich, haughty retired diva (Jennifer Saunders/Jennifer Hudson in youth) with the talents of amateur finalists.

Bears (2014)

My gosh. I never reviewed a nature documentary on this blog before. The only one I recall watching after 2007 was obscure and in Spanish, so I opted out of writing about it. Yet I usually enjoy the subgenre when I give it a chance. Maybe I should stock up.

Speaking of stocking up, that's largely the focus herein. A brown bear, whom the makers dub Sky, takes her two new cubs on a long trek across Alaskan wilderness to find enough food to get them all through hibernation. Obstacles include an avalanche, a flood, a tenaciously prowling wolf, and even adult male brown bears who don't have a code against cannibalism. Can the whole family beat 50% odds?

Stan & Ollie (2018)

I'm a little disappointed at how many adults today seem ill-acquainted with Stanley Laurel and Oliver Hardy. Granted, I haven't watched any of their work since childhood. Their only (barely) feature-length film that I've seen is Way Out West (1937), whose making, incidentally, kicks off this story.

At the peak of their world-famous careers, Stan (Steve Coogan) and Ollie (John C. Reilly) are nearly broke, thanks to a series of divorces and bets. Their different approaches to pursuing more money in the face of an obstinate Hal Roach (Danny Huston) lead to the comedy duo splitting up. When reunited in 1953, they do a series of live performances in the U.K. to generate hype for an upcoming movie. Alas, their stage producer (Rufus Jones) has had trouble booking good venues, and Stan has trouble contacting their movie producer for details...and hiding his worries. Tensions rise, both between Stan and Ollie and between their respective wives, Ida (Nina Arianda) and Lucille (Shirley Henderson). It doesn't help that Ollie has gotten no healthier in his early sixties.

Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018)

I liked Wreck-It Ralph so much that I was almost disappointed to learn of a sequel -- because it might negate my fanfic in the works! Nevertheless, I understood why not everyone thought highly of W-IR. The complaints I've read mostly trace to the same problem: the difficulty of making a family movie about video games. Disney sought to appeal to children, adults, boys, girls, old-school gamers, new-school gamers, and non-gamers. This meant dilution, so some viewers wanted more pandering to their demographic than they got. Thus, I was not surprised that the sequel chose a new titular focus that promised to be more universally relatable, and I was only marginally surprised that both my parents came with me.

Six years after the events of W-IR, Ralph (John C. Reilly), hulking designated villain of early-'80s game Fix-It Felix Jr.; and Vanellope (Sarah Silverman), a player character from relatively modern kiddie racing sim Sugar Rush, maintain a sibling-like close friendship, hanging out together when the arcade's closed for the night. (Apparently, her inability to leave her game has been fixed, even if she still glitches.) When Sugar Rush has a hardware malfunction, all its characters must look for new lodgings and vocations. Ralph and Vanellope hope to save the game (NPI) from a permanent shutdown by entering the Internet and buying a replacement part on eBay. Of course, they need to raise money online fast, whether by gaming or making viral videos. Amid this strain, friendship also gets strained. And as the title implies, Ralph's tendency to wreck things whether he wants to or not still causes trouble.