I know I'm a Johnny One-Note on this, but I think that when we get done with raining anathemas on Disney or Hollywood in general, which is shooting fish in a barrel, we should pause to point out the good films that are still being made. We can at least support the saving remnant who aren't just woke sock puppets and who still endeavor to make honest films. So for the record, here is my current working list of "new" films that freepers have endorsed/recommended on recent movie threads. My definition of "new" here is flexible because some films premiered in festivals in 2021 but aren't reaching audiences until this year. So these are 2021/22 freeper favorites.
I've not seen them all, and a couple I didn't care for personally, but enough freepers have endorsed them that they merit mention. None of them are highly or obnoxiously woke; the filmmakers may be personally liberal, but if they tell honest stories without putting a cheating thumb on the scale, they can still make good movies. There may be a gay character here and there, but none of them are gay propaganda films. And everybody keeps their clothes on, with an asterisk for Drive My Car, which has two(?) scenes with nudity early in the film before moving on to an otherwise fully clothed movie. Drive My Car, of course, is a Japanese film and was a surprise breakout hit. A surprising number of freepers have seen it, and as far as I know, all of us who have seen it seem to like it. The nudity is fairly tame by current U.S. television standards, but it stands out on this list in contrast to the other films.
With no further ado: NEW "freeper endorsed" films, listed by date of release: The Dig: CODA; I'm Your Man; After Yang; Stillwater; Drive My Car; Free Guy; Old Henry; The Last Duel; Montana Story; The Most Reluctant Convert: The Untold Story of C.S. Lewis; West Side Story.
I don't think any of these are Disney films.
I think that all of these are now streaming on various platforms except Montana Story, which is still playing at festivals. Bleeker Street has announced a May 13 release date. If you want to beat the lines, it is available online right now through the Seattle International Film Festival: Montana Story It's an indie family drama, entirely character drive, well written, and brilliantly acted. If you think that sounds like indie navel gazing, it may not be your cup of tea, but it involves decent, attractive, responsible, and thoroughly relatable characters dealing with real (and unfortunately all too common) life issues, as opposed to freakshow weirdness or dysfunctional, self-destructive behavior. And everyone is dressed appropriately throughout for Montana weather in October; there is no nudity or sex.
Other suggestions? NEW movies (2021/22) that you enjoyed enough to recommend?
Oh, yeah: %^$#@( Disney. Who needs Disney? Watch the films listed above if you're sick of a steady diet of streamer filler.
P.S. Montana Story will win this year’s Oscar for Best Use of Dante’s Inferno in a feature film (they somehow make the circles of hell work naturally in dialogue in a modern film). And maybe a second Oscar for Best Product Placement (for Verizon Wireless). I’m guessing the Verizon mention reflected the filmmakers’ on-location experiences with dead spots in rural Montana.
And dinner doesn’t come from the frozen food section at the supermarket. A chicken made the ultimate sacrifice. It’s probably only a matter of time before PETA starts protesting, although PETA will also have to deal with the fishing boat in CODA.
I should also mention Don't Look Up. A lot of us were immediately put off by all the woke jabberwocky from several of the filmmakers that it was a parody/parable about global warming. So we tuned it out.
As several freepers have pointed out, correctly, the film actually does not say ANYTHING about global warming. That is all self-indulgent projection from the filmmakers, who are so deep in their own echo chamber that they assume their neuroses are self-evident truths. But ....
The film itself says nothing about global warming. It is, however, a fairly funny parody of social media, celebrity culture, feckless politicos, and reckless big tech. If you can unremember what the filmmakers have said about their movie, the thing in and of itself can be enjoyable. Anyhow, I'm adding it here because several freepers enoyed the film, generally with the caveat I've just mentioned.