Between the hustle and bustle of moving into a new house, raising two young daughters, and shoveling a mountain of cobble, I am attempting to fit in a few movies—new and old—during the cool, summer nights. Here are a couple of capsule reviews of my viewings thus far. Feel free to share your opinions and current summer viewings as well…
Inside Out (2024) **** out of *****
I have to hand it to them: It’s pretty difficult to introduce new emotions (Anxiety, Embarrassment, Envy, and Ennui), supply their generalized context, execute the reasoning behind their decisions in a Disney-sculpted premise, and entertain kids and adults alike as a continuation of our beloved Riley Anderson’s life.
Inside Out 2 checked all the entertainment boxes in our packed theatre and made my 3-year-old daughter laugh. The panic attack emulation was spot on and empathetic, and although some conceptions didn’t work (Ennui=Boredom=Sarcasm?), and some of the settings become circularly monotonous, I connected with this one more than its predecessor and even cried a little. (Unlike my sister-in-law, I didn’t cry when Bing Bong kicked the bucket.)
Love and Death on Long Island (1997) **** out of *****
An odd duck of a 90s indie drama that works better as a comedy the more serious it becomes. Themes of documented imagery obsession, ambiguous sexual tendencies, and quirky yet hilarious naïveté play strong supporting roles to an already solid lead in John Hurt. There’s even an unintended Clerks (1994) reference for guilty pleasure. Mind the pun, but the “straightforward” in Gods and Monsters (1998) actually proves quite banal compared to this one. I was pleasantly surprised by the satirical (and elusive) vision of first-time director, Richard Kwietniowski. He would later direct the wonder, Owning Mahoney (2003), and that’s it. If anything, both films are brilliant studies of empathy in unlikely places.
Have you seen either one of these? What did you think?
Reely Bernie
Reely Bernie 
A great review once again. I recently had a chance to compile a list of my favorite Pixar movies and thought I would share it here. “Inside Out 2” made the top 10. However, there were certain celebrated movies like “Monsters Inc” which didn’t make my list. I chose movies resonating on a personal level with me.
Here’s a list of my favorite Pixar movies:
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My kids want to see two movies: the latest Bad Boys and Inside Out 2 both which I have turned down…lol
But your review of IO 2 makes me think I may have been too harsh. It’s just that I’m sick of frickin big bockbuster animation movies and ’emotions’ ruling the roost and yada, yada, yada. I swore after seeing the mash of sh&t which was the Mario Bros film and Sonic Boom I would not yield again to their latest whim if I in turn didn’t think it worthy of investing in.
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Believe me, Matt, the only reason I’m seeing these animated cashgrabs is because of my daughters. It’ll be a new part of my moviegoing experience, and I’m okay with it only because it brings somewhat a wholesome addition to my life. I went all in on rated-R, horror, wretchedly dark indie dramas during my bachelorhood. Marrying a Disney-raised wife and raising kids on Marry Poppins has been quite refreshing, actually. The thing is – there is still animated shameless crap out there, and I’d say between all the titles you mentioned (Sonic?! Mario?! Jesus), Inside Out 2 is probably your best bet. Also, it’s not as woke as it could have been, haha!
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I just read how Inside Out 2 dethroned Dune 2 as the biggest box office hit this year so far. I see what you mean by going through movie-viewing phases in your life and how changes can be wholeseome.
Oh well, I guess I’ll give the kiddies what they want since you mentioned this one would probably be my best bet and it’s not too woke. Super! haha
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I just read that too! I was just overjoyed to be in a sold out, respectful theatre crowd post COVID. It was refreshing and hopeful. Feel-good movies are necessary sometimes 🙂
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Looking forward to Inside Out 2 … loved the first one … must do a rewatch to refamiliarise the brain cells. 😀
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Love and Death in Long Island is good stuff, nice to see Hurt given a substantial role and the mood is great.
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I figured you’d know and appreciate this one. This was on the Blockbuster Video new release wall when I was working there back in the day, but I didn’t get to it until just now. Loved it.
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A great review. “Inside Out 2” is definitely one of my most anticipated movies of the year. I was a huge fan of the first film which raised the bar for animated films. It proved that animation was a powerful medium which could be used to portray human emotions. It was one of those rare animated movies appealing to children and adults alike. This sequel certainly has a lot to live up to, but I’m hopeful it succeeded.
Here’s my thoughts on the first film:
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Thank you for reading, Huilahi! What does “Huilahi” mean? If you don’t mind me asking 🙂 I hope you like the sequel as much as I did. I look forward to reading your review of both!
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Thanks for the feedback Bernie. Huilahi is simply a short form for my full name Hassan Usman Ilahi. I just got out of the theatre and admired the film. Another winner from Pixar which is a studio that never seems to disappoint me. I’ll definitely share my review when I’ve written it.
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Excellent! Yes, Pixar is always strong—certainly beating out the MCU these days, if you ask me! Glad you liked it!
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Thanks for the feedback. I had a chance to finish my writeup for this film and I thought I would share it. I thought it was a spectacular sequel which managed to improve on the first film. As someone with severe anxiety, I connected to it deeply.
Here’s my thoughts on the sequel:
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