![]() Middle school is awfully early for boys to carve a path to the N.B.A., but for Josh (Jalyn Hall) and J.B. Turning Kwame Alexander’s novel-in-verse into a TV series threatens to flatten its distinct poetic language, yet “The Crossover” does its best to preserve the rhymes through Daveed Diggs’s voice-over narration, and the series is smart about the adjustments kids and parents have to make when their plans go awry. ![]() Vincent Canby called it “one of the most deliriously funny, ingenious and stylish American adventure movies ever made.” Watch it on Disney+ ‘The Crossover’ (2023) With a comic-book World War II serving as a backdrop, “Raiders of the Lost Ark” pits Jones against the Nazis in the race to find the Ark of the Covenant, an archaeological treasure of such inestimable power that it could turn the war decisively. Scott thought the younger characters gave the film “the buoyant, high-spirited sincerity of young-adult fiction.” Watch it on Disney+ ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ (1981)ĭrawing equal inspiration from crude matinee serials and icons like Errol Flynn and Humphrey Bogart, this tomb-plundering adventure from Steven Spielberg set a new standard for the genre and offered, in Harrison Ford’s Indiana Jones, a sardonic hero with soul. Having plunged into the sea for “The Abyss,” “Titanic” and multiple documentaries, Cameron seizes the opportunity to explore Pandora’s aquatic wonders. ![]() “Avatar: The Way of Water” returns to the verdant, screen-saver splendor of the planet Pandora, which is again under attack from humans (or “Sky People”) who are using militarized technology to suppress the peaceful Na’vi. It took 13 years for James Cameron to direct a sequel to “Avatar,” the highest-grossing film ever made, but his talent for world-building and science-fiction/adventure hasn’t wavered a bit in the interim. She arrives in New York City as an overdressed fish-out-of-water, but she can still summon pigeons and rats to make dresses out of upholstery and charm a cynical single father (Patrick Dempsey) into believing in love again. Amy Adams is a delight as Giselle, a beauty who is ready to marry the dashing Prince Edward (James Marsden) until she is expelled from Andalasia by an evil queen (Susan Sarandon). The series’s combination of wild mythology and varied animation styles brings it in line with more adventurous Disney+ experiments like “Star Wars: Visions.” Watch it on Disney+ ‘Enchanted’ (2007)Īfter “Shrek” made a killing by mocking fairy tale conventions, Disney answered with “Enchanted,” a musical comedy that smartly parodies the innocence of classic princesses while suggesting that the real world could still use some of their romantic optimism. Although the “Kizazi Moto” project was initiated by the South African studio Triggerfish, the creators and shorts cover a range of different regions, from a Ugandan plain with herds of cyborg cows to a coastal city threatened by massive (yet surfable) waves. The popularity of “Black Panther” and its tech-visionary kingdom of Wakanda has helped bring the Afrofuturism of George Clinton and Sun Ra to a wider audience, as evidenced by this surprising anthology of science-fiction shorts from animators across the diaspora. Bosley Crowther admired the film’s “extravagant story-book terms, matching the romance of the fable with lushly romantic images.” Watch it on Disney+ Drawn with the visual lushness of Walt Disney in his prime, the film became the gold standard for princess stories to come, casting Cinderella as a beauty whose dreams are rooted in the humility forced upon her by an evil stepmother and two vain, scheming stepsisters. It’s hard to believe there was a time when the future of Disney animated features was in doubt, but the studio had withstood a decade of box-office disappointments after “Snow White and Seven Dwarves” before the swooning “Cinderella” reversed its fortunes. Mike Hale wrote that the series will “satisfy any viewer’s appetite for unencumbered entertainment.” Watch it on Disney+ ‘Cinderella’ (1950) Set at a moment when the New Republic has a tenuous grasp on power over the evil Empire, “Ahsoka” follows the title character (played by Rosario Dawson), a former Anakin Skywalker apprentice, and her strong-willing protégé Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) as they face a new threat from an adversary (Lars Mikkelsen) exiled to deep space. The fraught relationships between masters and apprentices have always been a major part of the “Star Wars” franchise, in which the fate of the galaxy often rests in generational tensions and partnerships cleaved by the dark side of the Force.
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