Departed Embrace 

The Franke kids seemingly lived a normal life, until their mom met the infamous Jodi Hilderbrandt.

This year, in light of the pandemic and the inability to gather with our loved ones, a few of our staff members reviewed their favorite holiday films with the hope of recreating some of the sentimentality that reminds us of home.

With mismatched eyes, a willingness to experiment with hair color and style, and a rail thin frame, Bowie always drew attention. But he shunned gendered attractiveness, creating his own space somewhere in between. This hallucinatory and often nonlinear 2022 documentary is a perfect salute to David Bowie’s life and career. Rather than interviewing those that knew Bowie, the standard convention for biographical portraits, director Brett Morgen mostly lets the artist’s images, performances, videos, and words speak to capture the essence of the artist. Bowie was more than just a pop star. He painted, sculpted, acted in films, and was a thoughtful and articulate person who gave sincere answers to even the most shallow interview questions.

The story is a moving sentiment of letting go of the past and putting trust and faith into others. Though you come into this world alone, surrounding yourself with others that support you and want to help is the greatest gift life could ever give.

Emma Stone (Estella and Cruella) and Emma Thompson (the Baroness) did not come to play around in Cruella. They embodied the perfect balance of sinister and sincere. Estella went through a great hero's journey, and what a journey it was!

Swapped combines comedy, adventure and emotional growth while delivering one of the biggest plot twists in animation history.