Maybe going through and watching critically acclaimed movies is actually working for me. I’m mostly just plugging in the movies that are well-liked by critics into Criticker and watching anything that Criticker agrees I’ll like. This is working better than it usually does.

Marcel the Shell with Shoes On: B. I’m not much of a fan of animation. Or kids’ movies. This is… maybe only sort of either? It’s live action, except that the main character is an animated shell. And while there’s nothing in this movie that’s inappropriate for kids, I’m not sure it’s a kids’ movie? It’s not paced like a kids’ movie, and it doesn’t feel packed with the obnoxiousness I’ve come to expect from, say, Pixar. Instead, it’s a careful look at the modern world from the perspective of an innocent, well-meaning shell. The good humor is good, but even the dumb humor is somehow endearing. It’s like nothing else I’ve seen before (though it did remind me slightly of the Everything is Alive podcast), and that’s perhaps the best thing about it. The plot is not strong–it exists only to let a shell show us how he see the world, and that’s fine.

The Duke (2020): B. So British! Worth it for the old married repartee. Which is really good since it’s worth watching just for that, but otherwise this movie doesn’t have a lot to offer. The plot is predictable (literally old news!), the character development ranges from non-existent to uninteresting, but the acting and dialog is fantastic.