Polar Bear 

Remember when there was this amazing comedy titled "National Lampoon's Vacation"? To this day, it is a true classic of the genre and certainly put a new spin on precisely what KINDS of insanity could occur when taking the fam on the road. Then, like with so many successful films, there was the sequel (which for me was even MORE of a classic than the original!). However, the third film emerged....and then a fourth. Suddenly, the luster was gone and disappointment set in.

Netflix’s new comedy drama, Don’t Say Good Luck, is a heartwarming tearjerker as well as a love letter to the transformative power of being a theater kid. Directed by Julia Hart, Don’t Say Good Luck follows Sophie (Sunny Sandler), a theater kid who finally gets the lead role in her school’s production of Waitress - just as she finds out her mom Elizabeth (Melanie Lynskey) is dying of cancer. While the singing is by no means spectacular and Sandler’s acting is stiff, the film is grounded in the moving performance of Lynskey as a mother who wants nothing more than for her daughter to achieve her dreams, even if she can’t be there to see them.

The newest in a long line of Cinderella adaptations, Amazon’s Cinderella (2021) prizes girlbossification above the very story it tries to adapt.

It's not love. It's Obsession. The hook of this movie is the tension between wanting to be loved and the fear of being all-encompassed by that love.  It plays on men’s typical (though certainly not universal) inner-conflict

Let it Snow in a nutshell, is a warmhearted coming of age teen Christmas movie.

Tara Thorne’s film is equal parts emotional and comedic, illustrating the beauty and the pain of long term relationships.