September 2026 [7-13]
Aporia, Finding Emily, Wild at Heart, 13 Going on 30, Don't Say Good Luck, Descendants, Descendants 2, Descendants 3, High School Musical, High School Musical 2
- Aporia [2023] - 88
Aporia, from near first-time writer/director, Jared Moshe, is far more excellent than its paltry IMDB score of 56 would suggest. This small-budget scifi does what small-budget scifi does best: It makes you think. Telling the story of a woman who’s willing to do whatever it takes to save her husband from the drunk-driving incident that kills him, Aporia is thoughtful, thought-provoking, and… A little wooden at times. As with anything small and indie, there’s elements of this film that you have to just let breathe in order for the larger narrative to unfold and envelop you; A task well worth the effort here. While it’s certainly no The Swerve or Arrival, the events and thought-experiments that Aporia puts forward are not only moving and interesting, but well executed and brilliantly concluded. You have to be in for the slight clunk that some of this film’s origins bring, but your time will not only be well spent, but well rewarded too.
- Finding Emily [2026] - 78
A romantic comedy about missed connections and self discovery, 2026’s Finding Emily probably isn’t going to be anyone’s favorite movie if they’ve seen a number of these things… But it is going to be a lot of people’s favorite movie who only watch a couple a year. What Alicia MacDonald and Rachel Hirons have constructed with this legally-distinct version of 10 Things I Hate About You is charming, mostly effective, largely funny, and a little too off-kilter to be considered truly great… But that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth your time. I like a lot of both what Finding Emily has to say and how it says it, it just flops some its landings in a few key ways that really stand out to me even now, writing this almost exactly a month after watching. As something fun and frivolous and sweet, Finding Emily is all stars. If you want a little more substance or depth with your romance and/or comedies, however, you may want to look elsewhere.
- Wild at Heart [1990] - 71
Finally getting around to watching something by David Lynch other than Twin Peaks, Wild at Heart is… Fun? I don’t know. It’s best when it’s being especially Lynchian, and it isn’t really much at all when it isn’t. An oft-used line around here: It isn’t that there’s anything particularly bad with Wild at Heart, it just doesn’t have a whole lot that’s good either. Cage and Dern are predictably fun to watch, the plot is predictably a little wacky and messy, and the overall experience is predictably kind of what you wanted and kind of not that at all. I’m glad I finally made time for this movie, but it’s also definitely one that I’d put firmly in the “I wish I saw this when it was relevant” bucket as well.
- 13 Going on 30 [2004] - 70
At the behest of a friend, I tossed this movie on following a conversation about how it both did [and didn’t] age well. Turns out, he’s absolutely right in every way. There are parts of 13 Going on 30 that still feel and play super sharply here in 2026, while other parts… Definitely feel a little dated. It is a ton of fun to watch baby Jennifer Garner, Andy Serkis, Mark Ruffalo, and Judy Greer [who also stars in this week’s top watch, Aporia, funny enough] do their various things onscreen here, while much of the editing, score, and cinematography are hugely interesting time-capsules of the early 00’s. This film does mostly still work, and it provides an interesting lens through which to view adult life; It only really flounders during its conclusory moments — handing both the audience and characters a sort of “yes, this was the plot all along” wrap up, rather than something truly meaningful. If you haven’t seen this in a hot minute, it’s certainly worth your time, and its final scene is something that I unironically have never stopped thinking about since I first saw it as a teen back in ye-old year of our lord, 2004.
- Don’t Say Good Luck [2026] - 74
Telling the story of a young girl trying out for her school’s production of Waitress amidst her mother’s failing health, Don’t Say Good Luck is a recipe baked and broiled to confection… It’s also one that leans really heavily on the legwork done by the musical around which it centers. Much of my emotional investment with this story came from both my experience with Waitress itself [“She Used to Be Mine” specifically], and the film’s near emulation of 2004’s heart-crushing drama, Finding Neverland, rather than anything it did on its own. Everything from performances to story beats are plenty solid, it’s just that none of them stand out as specifically unique or thoughtful. A moment towards the end in particular had me preemptively in tears… For something that never happened, because the plot took a different [and much softer] turn that weakened the impact of the whole production significantly. I’ll still watch whatever it is this team does next, this one just feels like it knew it was standing on the shoulders of giants, so it didn’t do a whole lot to earn the view.
- Descendants [2015] - 72
On the suggestion of a friend from when I watched Descendent a handful of weeks ago, I tossed on the Disney Channel original movie: Descendants. A tale centered on the children of some of the company’s biggest villains, this film is actually… Surprisingly thoughtful and insightful. The whole thing is a total production nightmare with an audio mix that sounds more like a mistake than an intended release, but the story itself offers some really interesting messaging around writing your own story, changing your future for your past, and standing up to people [even family] who treat you poorly. I wouldn’t say the film is anywhere near on par with some of the classics, or modern animated adventures like Arlo the Alligator Boy, KPop Demon Hunters, or Turning Red, but I was genuinely surprised by some of the conversations and outcomes of Descendants’ various plots and characters. A really easy recommendation for tweens, or DCOM fans of any age.
- Descendants 2 [2017] - 62
Being somewhat impressed with the original, I figured I’d jump right into the sequel [Oops]. Though Descendants 2 still has some real bangers in terms of songs, its plot really loses… Well… The plot. While the first film centered around being yourself and not letting negative influences [whether past or present] drag you down to their level, the second movie is just sorta about… Something? It doesn’t really know what it wants to be in the same way the first one does, and that really shows during most of its runtime. It’s still plenty entertaining — lines like “Never learned how to count, ‘cause I’m #1” sure help — but even some of the series’ most atomic choreography can’t quite carry a story that mostly doesn’t make sense or matter. Oh well, at least I didn’t immediately jump into the third movie…
- Descendants 3 [2019] - 57
Well… I did actually. And it’s uh… It’s really not any good. Not only does the third film retcon/ entirely erase elements of the second, it also just sorta undoes a lot of the work of the first one as well, leaving the entire situation feeling really hollow and lifeless. The characters you know are still there, and a lot of the singing has certainly improved… But there’s just no real magic or purpose to this one, and the only reason to watch it is because you sorta already are. There’s not a ton to say about Descendants 3 except that it’s the third movie and there’s two more after it that I actually didn’t watch… Though I have listened to the soundtracks… And they kinda slap so… Who knows what the future holds.
- High School Musical [2006] - 60
A DCOM girlie through and through, I’ve been meaning to watch High School Musical for several years at this point, never getting around to it for really no reason at all. Turns out it’s… Fine? I can definitely see how this would have been a real banger for 2006 me, and I do think there’s elements of this story that still sing [heh], but overall its just another DCOM production mess that’s better listened to than viewed. It’s a ton of fun seeing faces that I now know from several other things, and some of the songs really are catchy, but I just don’t think that there’s much in the way of merit or growth within this faculty luncheon plot to really warrant memory. It’s all plenty fun and very memeable, but this is likely the kind of thing that features in the sort of floating middle-zone come my end of year rankings.
- High School Musical 2 [2007] - 63
Finishing out the week with the sequel because it auto-played before I could turn off my TV and I have 0 free will, High School Musical 2 is slightly better than its predecessor, while also being a lot sillier and more confounding. The biggest issue with this one is that it centers around a group of high schoolers and their summer job that… The film never establishes a real need for them to have, so it’s weird that they stay when their boss is a total dweeb — something the plot simply needed them to do in order to fuel all the drama thereafter. It’s got a little bit of confusing messaging kind of throughout, but it also has some real good[?] tracks to go along with it so… This was worth the time enough for me.
