Family Friendly
“I think the kid’s movies in 2024 [were] what really banked, and I think it was the year of the kid’s films,” social science teacher Brandon Burmeister said. According to Forbes, “Inside Out” made $859 million in 2015 while “Inside Out 2” made $1.699 billion in 2024. “Inside Out 2” is the heartwarming and family-friendly sequel to “Inside Out”. “Inside Out 2” continues to follow the story of Riley and her life as a teenager and all the internal emotions she experiences. The new emotions — Anxiety, Embarrassment, Ennui and Envy — were incredibly relatable for the first movie’s original audience who are now teenagers. The film accurately portrays the daily experiences of Gen Z, with characters like Anxiety who is bright orange and has a huge smile, big eyes and crazy hair. Anxiety’s chaos and energy was displayed perfectly and describes many teenagers’ brains,
especially when balancing school, sports and social lives. While the new characters were relatable the original characters brought a sense of nostalgia to the movie. “My favorite character [of the second movie] was Joy because even though the times were worse she’s still happy,” sixth grader Noor Barakat Mèndez said. Barakat Mèndez was not yet in kindergarten when the first movie came out.
Horror
The exciting sequel of “Smile,” “Smile 2” is a movie about Skye Riley, a musician who is about to begin her journey returning to the stage when she gets cursed by the disease and has to re-experience the traumas from her past. With intense plot twists, it is a movie that never fails to shock you; never knowing whether the disease is what she is imagining or reality makes the story exciting at all times. Also, the gruesome way each death happens is surprising, and knowing the death is coming leaves each character full of suspense. With a stomach-turning ending, it leaves an insane cliffhanger, which increases the anticipation for “Smile 3”.
Musical
“Wicked” is the movie adaptation of the well-
known and celebrated Broadway musical, with striking musicality, strong actors and whimsical themes. Elphaba is a girl who has always been ostracized for her green skin color. While attending Shiz University she meets Glinda, who is the total opposite of her, and they become best friends until an unexpected letter from the Wizard of Oz changes it all. “Wicked” opens up a deeper discussion about the mistreatment people experience. While the songs are catchy and modern they still stayed true to the original Broadway soundtrack and become popular. This movie paves the way for more musicals to continue to be turned into movies.
“I think two to three hours is the perfect time frame to encapsulate the story,” Burmeister said. “A very special quality [of movies is] when you can engage the senses in a different way, and film gives you that visual stimuli.” While the 3-hour movie was interesting and intriguing it should not have been made into two parts, especially coming from a two-hour Broadway musical.
Historical
“Six Triple Eight” is a movie based on the assignment of the African American Women Corps during World War II. The mission they were given was to sort 17 million pieces of mail in six months and successively mail it. The mission was thought to be impossible in such a short amount of time and proved to be even harder when the pieces of mail were damaged. This movie was a historical masterpiece that spread awareness about a branch of the Army Corps that was previously un-
known. They were fighting in World War II, but they were also fighting significant levels of racism and gender stereotypes. This movie shed light on the hardships that these women experienced. The movie is based on true events and The Six Triple Eight’s leader, Major Charity Adams, became the first Black leader in the United States Army to have a fort renamed after her. Without this movie, this branch and what these women fought for would have never been known by the average person. The movie vividly captured the emotions of the soldiers.
