Furry Road: Isle of Dogs, reviewed.

Boss (Bill Murray), a former baseball team mascot, is part of a pack of exiled canines.

It's no shocker that I loved Wes Anderson's new stop-motion adventure of Isle of Dogs. It's a mild shocker that I didn't cry watching it. Either time! My NPR review is here. UPDATE: I'm on the Pop Culture Happy Hour episode where we hash over some of charges of insensitivity and cultural appropriate that a few critics have levied against the movie, too. That's on the same page as the review, but you can hear below, too.

Ragna-roll With It: Thor: Ragnarok, reviewed.

It's way more fun than this photo would suggest. (Disney/Marvel)

Thor: Ragnarok is the best Thor movie by an Asgardian mile, but don't let that backhanded compliment keep you away. With dual villains played by Cate Blanchett and Jeff Goldblum plus a Mark Mothersbaugh score, it's a stealth The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou reunion. Lo, here's my NPR review.

ID4ever: Independence Day: Resurgence, reviewed.

Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman showed up for the 20-years-later sequel to Independence Day.

The barely-screened-for critics Independence Day: Resurgence is not by any stretch a good movie, but neither was Independence Day, a film I saw at least twice and possibly three times during the grim summer of 1996. I'd even go so far as to say I enjoyed this barely-coherent follow-up a little more. Here's my alien autopsy, for the Village Voice.

You might also enjoy the War of 1996 website, a neato but apparently unsuccessful marketing tool for the movie. It offers a fictional timeline of the last two decades in the Independence Day-iverse, a couple of primitive but weirdly addictive games, an invitation to volunteer for the Earth Defense Force, and of course, information on real U.S. Army careers that might be right for you.