The cast is excellent on paper, but on film, they're all over the place. Peter Dinklage is great, but everyone else is better as an idea of a character rather than an actual performance. The comedy is uneven, the tone wanders too much, and Brendan Fraser deserves a lot better than this.

Beautifully shot and courageously odd. The Coens don't really deliver on the satirical/deconstruction goal that was widely claimed of Buster Scruggs, but they still made it a good time by pointing out the silliness of the Old West. Tim Blake Nelson in particular is great fun.

A welcome return to Gotham. If you thought episode 1 was good, you're not ready for some of the others, trust me. Farrell is exceptional, Cristin Milioti is a perfect new foil for him, and Batman's city hasn't been this interesting in years.

A fine, if a little weird return to WestView that doesn't feel like an MCU show. How you feel about the show will depend on whether that's what you're looking for, but Kathryn Hahn is great as Agatha (again) and Aubrey Plaza's Rio Vidal is a joy.

Before it came out, Monsters Inc's achievements in fur animation were heralded as industry changing by still-young studio Pixar. When the story of Boo, Michael Wazowski and Sully landed, though, it couldn't have mattered less. This was Pixar at their world-building best, imagining a world through every kid's closet door, with an entire scare industry, and perfectly drawn characters. It's an odd couple story at its heart, and a very funny one - thanks mostly to the dynamic of Billy Crystal and John Goodman as the monster leads - and it has lost none of its magic since it came out.

Long before The Wolf of Wallstreet revealed the depraved world of bokerage, Boiler Room took an excellent young cast including Vin Diesel, Ben Affleck, and Giovanni Ribisi peeled the curtain back on the greed-driven industry. Ribisi is great as the morally-conflicted lead, and the story zips along with darkly charismatic caricatures making the ending deeply satisfying when it comes. It's overlooked too much, but sits well alongside Scorsese's more provocative later movie, as well as the likes of Wall Street and Glengarry Glenn Ross.

3 years after Toy Story answered the biggest "what if" mystery every kid every imagined, Joe Dante's Small Soldiers went a lot darker, adding a killer edge to his "toys come to life" story. Tommy Lee Jones is excellent as murderous platoon leader Major Chip Hazard, and Small Soldiers scores added points for reuniting the Spinal Tap lead actors (Christopher Guest, Michael McKean, and Harry Shearer) as the good guy monster toys he's determined to wipe out. It's great fun for the family, and an underrated gem that's more child-friendly than Dante's Gremlins movies.

King Ralph isn't widely considered a classic comedy, but John Goodman is great as the ordinary man who shockingly ends up on the British throne after the entire Royal Family are wiped out. He channels his beloved Roseanne performance as Dan Conner to clash against stuff British aristocracy, surrounded by excellent British talent like Richard Griffith, Leslie Philips, Peter O'Toole, and John Hurt. It's very funny, but also massively charming.