Covenant face hugs us with ample alien-tertainment and reacquaints us with the angst and slapstick suspense of our favorite teen horror comedies of the past. These nostalgic connections open the hatch for an enjoyable ride while sealing off thoughts of an inconsequential and repetitive film. And we are just fine with it.

Our gullible pioneers respond to a John Denver tune emanating from a seemingly habitable planet. Oram (Crudup) sees an obvious opportunity for colonization especially after their forced early awakening from stasis. It is here where the film overtly grasps for aspects of its predecessor and its successor at the same time leading to predictable but thrilling chaos.

We want to believe in Ridley Scott even though he leads us away from human character development as this film is clearly about the droids, David (Fassbender) and Walter (Fassbender). Their interactions, motives and experiences guide Covenant in a strange and robotic manner. But Tennessee (McBride) and Daniels (Waterston) fall into their supporting characters nicely.

The glaring lack of catch phraseology, especially considering McBride’s epic history with a Daewoo Lanos, was disappointing. Although watchable, Covenant misses a close encounter with the Film Clas elite with only 2.98 napkins out of 5.

The Center guides us right into the middle of an early life struggle of actualization and truth and, throughout the film, we are anxiously suspended; understanding the appeal of The Center but believing its projected reasoning to be greedy gibberish. And writer/director Charlie Griak does wonderfully in allowing us to relish this confusion.

Ryan (Cici), a part-time copywriter, consistently exploited both in the office by his nudge and wink boss and at home by his softening commitment to his sister Allison (A. Einan) and mother (Razielli), finds an exit before the dead end. Through intermittent television snow, he stumbles upon an infomercial from which an influential voice symbolically emanates. Vincent Alexander (J. Einan), The Center’s leader, is a stylish and practiced orator with an alluring construct and grabs Ryan’s naive and ductile ear. Ultimately, we find Vincent and Allison both competing for what is best for Ryan but hope his own resilience will ultimately shine.

Griak displays his incomparable artistic finesse with beautiful directing, sharp editing and a stunning score. We couldn’t be more excited for our friend as The Center discovers all the answers in the rarefied air of the Film Clas elite, visualizing 4.99 napkins out of 5.

Vol. 2, the sophomore effort from our band of oddball galactic custodians, is a worthy compilation of riffs from the original backed by even more irreverent and humorous jams. And Baby Groot is immeasurably cute.

As our pals are earning praise as defenders of the cosmos, a certain rebellious trash panda cannot help but breach contract. This introduces us to the fantastic ineptitude of all facets of the Sovereigns under the guidance of Ayesha (Debicki). These bungling beings certainly advance the comedy of Vol. 2 and become a welcome ingredient to a narrative jambalaya started with a familiar familial roux.

Amidst the zany leadership of Quill (Pratt), an alternative comedic interaction of Drax (Bautista) with Mantis (Klementieff) emerged, complementing the interplay of Quill with Gamora (Zaldana) and Rocket (Cooper) with Baby Groot (Diesel) and everyone else. Yet, as much as we enjoyed this film, we questioned the casting of Russell (without an eyepatch) as Ego thinking the role deserved the curly locks of Robert Plant to strengthen the musical thread woven throughout the franchise.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2, and its spectacular imagery, defends 4.1 napkins out of 5, which includes our automatic 0.5 napkin deduction for prominently featuring a Cat Stevens tune.

Your Name illustrates the signature charm and imaginative storytelling that we adore in, and expect from, this mystical genre. And like most fantasy, a malleable perceived reality and open-mindedness will allow for an incredible experience.

The allure of Shinkai’s piece (the highest grossing Anime film, topping Miyazaki’s masterpiece, Spirited Away) might be best spoken via the language of the movies: imagine the fascinating confusion and amnesiac communication of Memento with the cosmic interplay of a better version of Interstellar. That’s plenty of Chris Nolan so fold in the intelligent youthful angst of The Edge of Seventeen to ground the film and foster a credible teen drama.

The first half is humorous as we oscillate between our country girl, Mitsuha, and our young man in Tokyo, Taki. As the story presents in beautiful and geometric imagery, we are filled with balancing amounts of hope and fear as the conclusion draws near. Early on, the weaving of ceremonial braids suggests a singular flow of time. However, as this race to remember unfolds, we are consistently pushed to believe otherwise.

Your Name simply represents the joy of great stories. Taki and Mitsuha leave each other reminders on 4.84 napkins out of 5.