Every week at SiftPop.com, we challenge our writers to choose what they think is the best movie under a certain topic related to a recent release. So this week, with the release of Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, we’re counting down our favorite movies with an ampersand in the title! Let us know @SiftPop what your ranking is!
Lilo & Stitch released shortly after the turn of the millennium as one of Disney’s last hand-drawn animated films before fully transitioning into computer animation. It captivated audiences by telling a powerfully human story about family, while being about a quirky and unruly alien. It charmed audiences all over and still remains a favorite to many. Though I often find the parts of the movie where it follows the aliens who are hunting down Stitch to be quite tedious, all of the parts of the movie that take place on Earth, with Lilo and Stitch becoming best friends, and Nani trying to keep everything together, to be incredibly endearing. Plus, “Hawaiian Roller Coaster Ride” is a banger of a song. If you’re in the mood for a lovable Disney flick, look no further. (Heath Lynch)
The first time I watched Queen & Slim, I was not prepared for the journey I was about to go on. In the United States, police treatment of African Americans has been in the spotlight for quite some time, but this film tackles the topic head on with a sophisticated and modern lens. When it was released, it was before George Floyd was murdered by cops in Minneapolis, but there were still countless other instances of African American brutality at the hands of the police. What Queen & Slim provides us is a beautiful love story that also doubles down as a way to show just how bad the relationship is between African Americans and the police is in this country. A chance Tinder date between Queen (Jodie Turner-Smith) and Slim (Daniel Kaluuya) sets events in motion that cause them to go on the run after a fatal encounter with a cop during a traffic stop, an all too familiar issue. Turner-Smith and Kaluuya are electric together and churn out amazing work. Queen & Slim is also worth checking out for the dynamite directorial debut of Melina Matsoukas, who catapulted herself to the top of my list of directors to watch out for. If you’re looking for a story with an important message, amazing performances, and timely and important messaging on current events, Queen & Slim is one to check. (Mike Hilty)
One of the most well-known movies with an ampersand in the title is Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory, a movie from many people’s childhoods. This adaptation of the famous Roald Dahl novel tells the story of Charlie Bucket (Peter Ostrum), who hears of infamous candyman, Willy Wonka (Gene Wilder), finally reopening his chocolate factory, but to only five lucky golden ticket winners. It perfectly captures the feel of this story, and has since made me wish there was a tame, safe theme park version of this factory. As a kid, I never really liked the earlier scenes of this movie. I just wanted it to get straight to the tour of the factory. But as an adult, I have come to appreciate this film. I find myself singing the songs and marveling at the set pieces and all they are able to accomplish in a 1970s movie. (Austen Terry)
Planes, Trains & Automobiles is one of those U.S. classics I’ve been hearing about since I got into films, but I didn’t watch it until a few years ago. I was afraid (a bit), as many of these classics just don’t hit me the same way (either because they are films “of their time” or I guess I am not American enough to enjoy them). Not this movie, though; it is a hilarious ride from start to finish, featuring Steven Martin in the role he was born to play (a guy who is slowly getting fed up with everything and everyone around him) and John Candy in what is possibly his best role. What separates this movie from any other “silly” comedy is the ending bit and message about family, time, and how precious those things are. John Hughes knew how to write movies like that, and we desperately miss somebody of his talent in Hollywood today. Planes, Trains & Automobiles is a certified classic that not only holds up, but it also doesn’t matter whether you grew up watching it or you watched it for the first time when you were 28. You will almost certainly love it. (Luke Burian)
Who is the greatest musician of all time? This is an impossible question to answer, but some will throw in the name of Brian Wilson. This virtuoso was one of the greatest creative forces at the height of his time with The Beach Boys. But mental health issues and a predatory manager caused so much damage. Sounds like it would be a great story to put on the big screen… and they did! Director Bill Pohlad brings this story to life on screen in the form of Love & Mercy, which boasts a duo performance as Wilson. Paul Dano is incredible as the young version of this creator, injecting so much pain, creativity, and empathy, and John Cusack does a fine job himself bringing the older Wilson to life. But in the great vein of so many evil managers in musical biopics, Paul Giamatti is quite the villain for this story. Elizabeth Banks comes in and delivers a good performance herself. Top it off with style and the music of The Beach Boys, and you have yourself quite the little biopic that is certainly worth your time. (Shane Conto)
When trying to decide whether the Academy Award-nominated animated feature Ernest & Celestine is for you, there is a very simple test you can take. Simply ask yourself one question: “Do I like feeling joy?” If the answer is, “Yes,” then do I have a film for you! Based on the Belgian book series by Gabrielle Vincent, the story follows the unlikely bond between a mouse, Celestine (Pauline Brunner), and bear, Ernest (Lambert Wilson), who have to go on the run after leaving a trail of destruction in their wake. At its heart, it’s a story about overcoming biases. As this society is taught, bears live above, the mice below, and each are indoctrinated to be terrified of each other. The adorable friendship that develops between this pair that society says should hate each other is sure to melt your heart, as Celestine is one of the cutest characters ever to be put on screen. As the cherry on top, every frame literally looks like a painting. It’s an underseen gem that rivals another movie with an anthropomorphized bear when it comes to its ability to inject serotonin right into my veins. (Jake Bourgeois)
I typically don’t like choosing BEC movies that I’ve never seen before, but there was something inside me that knew it was time to break that habit. Wallace & Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit was my first experience with the franchise, and I am pleased to report that I will be revisiting it again very soon. Wallace and Gromit are working as pest control for their town to keep all the rabbits away from everyone’s luscious gardens in anticipation of the big vegetable festival/contest. But when one of Wallace’s inventions results in an unexpected monster terrorizing the town, it’s up to Wallace and Gromit to put things right and save the town. It saddens me to think that I slept on the Wallace & Gromit films and shorts for so long. This is one of those franchises that I am kicking myself for all the lost time having finally seen the potential. My kids and I had a blast with Curse of the Were-Rabbit, whether it be the cleverly hidden adult humor, or the slapstick and crude humor meant for the kids, there was something for everyone. I particularly enjoyed how clever the movie was, from the comedy to the way they structured the mystery. If you are like me and waited far too long to check this duo out, or if it’s just been a while, I highly recommend you seek out Wallace and Gromit! (Nick Ferro)
In Thelma & Louise, the cinematography is stunning, and Ridley Scott knows how that makes films look good no matter what they are about. It’s also one of the few films where I notice how good the score is, and I’m surprised Han Zimmer didn’t even get an Oscar nomination for it. I’ve heard some say that this is a feminist story. I’m not sure about that myself. The two leading women in this are hardly role models for any young women to strive to be like. Sure, the guy they murdered, an act that sets the plot in motion, is horrible, but she kills him in cold blood just for being a jackass towards them. On top of that, the women in this aren’t exactly the most intelligent characters when dealing with the difficult situation they find themselves in. I have always seen this as an antihero story where the main characters do what many people probably wish they could but know they can’t because it’s morally wrong, and they won’t do it because they know they’d never get away with it. The latter isn’t even true in this story unless you want to argue that they somehow survived that fall, were assumed dead, and started a new life in Mexico. But even if you don’t buy into that, you can still argue that they lived a fulfilling life while on the run. They may not have survived, but they lived a fulfilling life and died knowing they hadn’t given up. (John Tillyard)
Oftentimes, we seek out film to help facilitate a particular mood or feeling. You can watch a sports film to feel motivated and pumped up, or a psychological thriller to feel a sense of exhilaration, but if you want to feel warm and fuzzy inside look no further than 2005’s Pride & Prejudice. Set in late-18th Century England, this adaptation of Jane Austen’s novel of the same name tells the love story of Elizabeth Bennet (Keira Knightley) and Mr. Darcy (Matthew MacFadyen). Knightley is delightful in her Oscar-nominated performance, bouncing off the screen with her wit and charm, while MacFadyen foils her with Mr. Darcy’s aloofness. The score, written by Dario Marianelli and performed by Jean-Yves Thibaudet, is a piano-centric composition full of whimsy and is one of my favorites ever made (no seriously, it’s been the number one album on my Spotify Wrapped the past four years). While it may be seen as melodramatic or overly saccharine to some, Pride & Prejudice is a perfect warm blanket of a movie for me; it’s always nice to put on when you want to feel happy after a bad day. (Jake Hjort)
The ampersand brings the intrigue in Secrets & Lies, as it connects two concepts already separated by a thin line. The best of many films written and directed by Mike Leigh, you can really feel the influence of him being an accomplished playwright here. The multi-layered family drama feels built for a stage performance, but it is also shot beautifully to make the most of the film medium. Marianne Jean-Baptiste leads an ensemble cast and nails the nuanced emotions while starring as Hortense, a Black optometrist who was adopted and seeks out her biological mother, who she discovers is white and a factory worker with a dysfunctional family. Brenda Blethyn steels the spotlight in this role as Cynthia. Her overbearing and manic behavior toward her other daughter Roxanne (Claire Rushbrook), her brother Maurice (Timothy Spall), and her sister-in-law Monica (Phyllis Logan) is powerful and earned her Golden Globe Award for Best Actress. Her performance was also a crucial component to Secrets & Lies winning the Palme d’Or at the 1996 Cannes Film Festival. After opening on a funeral, a melancholic score carries that atmosphere throughout the film. The drama is offset by just the right amount of dark comedy and dry British wit. (Jason Mack)
Stan & Ollie
One of the recent Hollywood trends that appears to be for the better is biopics largely becoming more focused on a specific time or event. One of the most charming (and, sadly, largely overlooked) examples of this is 2018’s Stan & Ollie. The film follows the Hollywood giants, more commonly known by their surnames — Laurel and Hardy — after their golden era has passed as they toured halls around post-war Britain. Through the use of intermittent flashbacks, it’s a great look at one of show business’s great relationships and its ups and downs. A lot of the reason this film works is the charismatic performances of Steve Coogan and John C. Reilly in the titular roles. They’re able to either warm your heart or moisten your eyes, depending on what the scene requires — sometimes both simultaneously. Particularly for someone whose classic comedic experience was more in The Three Stooges’ direction, I appreciated this look at one of Hollywood’s most iconic duos. (Jake Bourgeois)
The Old Man & the Gun
If you’re like me and were mostly aware of David Lowery as it pertains to The Green Knight and A Ghost Story, you could be excused for thinking he really had a vibe he continuously goes for. The Old Man & the Gun proves nothing could be further from the truth. Based on the true story of Forrest Tucker (Robert Redford), an elderly man who escaped prison and went on a spree of bank robberies, the movie is a lot more interested in his relationship with elderly woman Jewel (Sissy Spacek) than it is in the morality or overall implications of his line of work. Much different to Lowery’s more known films, then, this is a movie that does not take itself too seriously at all, and for its subject matter is almost whimsical. Casey Affleck’s performance as the cop who’s trying to solve this string of robberies is probably the most dramatic character in the movie, but there are shades of Tom Hanks and Leo DiCaprio in Catch Me if You Can in their relationship that underline how lighthearted the movie’s intended to be. Some people really only know how to do one thing, and The Old Man & the Gun is a prime display of that. (Chris Bakker)
Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey
It would have been so easy to paint-by-numbers a sequel to Bill & Ted’s Excellent Adventure: find the duo needing to pass yet another final exam, requiring them to collect different historical figures this time around and watch hilarity ensue. Though the sequel we got, Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey, might stand as the most wholly original follow-up of all time, surpassing its predecessor in almost every way. Originally titled, Bill & Ted Go To Hell, the movie is only briefly bookended by time travel, with its main conceit seeing the titular teenagers killed early in the story by their evil robot doppelgängers from the future. Now history, the two encounter the Grim Reaper (William Sadler), a reference to The Seventh Seal’s version of Death, and are eventually sent to a Hell resembling something out of Tim Burton’s nightmares. Bill (Alex Winter) and Ted’s (Keanu Reeves) commitment to obliviousness is endearing, and as an audience, we want to see them earn their way back to earth by defeating Death in a series of challenges including Twister and Battleship. Bill & Ted’s Bogus Journey is impressively bonkers with trips to the future, to Heaven and Hell and back again, all in a bid to fulfill their destiny as the great unifiers of all the known universe through song with Death (now a member of their band, Wyld Stallyns) playing bass. (Jonathan Fedee)
Walt & El Grupo
Can you imagine anyone being such a big deal that schools and businesses close down just to celebrate their arrival in town? That is the type of unprecedented, worldwide popularity and excitement that Walt Disney generated following the release of Snow White in 1937. Harder to believe is that this all took place almost 20 years before the gates of Disneyland would open and absolutely blast his popularity into the stratosphere. Given his success following the world’s first feature length animated film, the United States government approached Walt Disney to become a goodwill ambassador to Latin and South America in an effort to elicit support in the coming war effort. Walt & El Grupo follows the adventures of this legendary group of artists as they traverse idyllic landscapes while documenting and experiencing the people, customs, clothing, and traditions they encounter along the way. Press footage, home movies, letters, interviews, and most impressively, the paintings and sketch books used to document this trip are explored. These paintings, drawings, songs, and photos would later serve as reference material for Saludos Amigos and The Three Caballeros, and for some, serve as a springboard to a career in Imagineering. Even if you’ve never seen the movies this trip inspired, Walt & El Grupo is an amusing time capsule filled with spectacular visuals as well as some fun insight into how much travel and communication has changed. (Patrice Downing)
Me, Myself & Irene
A very underrated Jim Carrey comedy that seems to have been forgotten is Me, Myself & Irene. The film tells the story of Charlie (Carrey), a man who has been pushed over by everyone in his life to the point he breaks mentally and forms an alternate personality, Hank. After having his mental breakdown, Charlie/Hank is given one final assignment before he is forced off the police force, to escort Irene (Renée Zellweger) to upstate New York for her surrender. This film which contains an ampersand in the title may not be the best or most known of Carrey’s comedies, but it’s not one to overlook. The psychology community didn’t know a lot about these types of mental disorders back when it was made, but that doesn’t take away from your enjoyment of the film. This ever-winding story will hold your attention for its nearly two-hour runtime. (Austen Terry)
Angels & Demons
Have you had a relationship with religion at all? If you do, then you may already be familiar with portrayals of the Catholic Church in director Ron Howard’s Angels and Demons. The film is based on Dan Brown’snovel The Da Vinci Code,and it puts all kinds of subjects together, like religion, science, politics, history, and academics. The Pope has passed away, and the Cardinals are locked inside the Vatican while trying to find the Pope’s replacement. To make matters worse, the potential candidates are kidnapped, and the kidnapper hides an anti-matter bomb. It’s all up to Robert Langdon (Tom Hanks), a professor of symbology for Harvard, to find the kidnappers and the bomb. This film is shot beautifully, it stays strong with pacing, and Hanks steals the show with his humor. If you are a big fan of twists and turns, then you will want to watch this mystery thriller film. There are so many things going on to show that this film is a race-against-time thriller. The setting is very beautiful, and is well shot to give a good look at Rome; its almost as if Rome is the MVP of the film. (Christian Grullon)
Fast & Furious
Ready? Set? FRANCHISE!!! Love it or hate it, the Fast franchise has lasted two decades, jumped the shark, and is still making bank. The humble beginnings of this saga is where things surely peaked for our heroes. With Paul Walker leading the charge with his charisma and charm, and with Vin Diesel providing the tough but lovable attitude, this movie is fun as can be. Instead of jumping cars through buildings or launching them into space, they are just drag racing! Huh! Imagine that. You make a movie down-to-earth and with relatable protagonists and people actually like it, instead of just watching it for the spectacle of it all. (Sam Nichols)
Also See: Pain & Gain, A Very Harold & Kumar Christmas, McCabe & Mrs. Miller, Withnail & I, Marley & Me, Julie & Julia