Dog Man opens this weekend, and families should not miss this one. With a fun script packed with humor and written by Animaniacs writer Peter Hastings, there is something for everyone. Hear our thoughts below and stay tuned for more advance screening opportunities coming up soon from the Countdown City Geeks!

From DreamWorks Animation—creators of the beloved blockbuster franchises Kung Fu Panda, How to Train Your Dragon and The Boss Baby—comes the canine-crime-fighting film adaptation of Dav Pilkey’s New York Times bestselling literary phenomenon: Dog Man. When a faithful police dog and his human police officer owner are injured together on the job, a harebrained but life-saving surgery fuses the two of them together and Dog Man is born.

Dog Man is sworn to protect and serve—and fetch, sit and roll over. As Dog Man embraces his new identity and strives to impress his Chief (Lil Rel Howery, Get Out, Free Guy), he must stop the pretty evil plots of feline supervillain Petey the Cat (Pete Davidson; Saturday Night Live, The King of Staten Island). Petey’s latest plan is to clone himself, creating the kitten Lil Petey, to double his ability to do crime stuff. Things get complicated, though, when Lil Petey forges an unexpected bond with Dog Man. When Lil Petey falls into the clutches of a common enemy, Dog Man and Petey reluctantly join forces in an action-packed race against time to rescue the young kitten. In the process, they discover the power of family (and kittens!) to bring even the most hostile foes together.

Dog Man also stars Isla Fisher (Wedding Crashers, Rango) as TV reporter Sarah Hatoff; Poppy Liu (Hacks, The Afterparty) as Petey’s assistant, Butler; Emmy nominee Stephen Root (Barry, King of the Hill) as Grampa; Billy Boyd (the Lord of the Rings franchise, Seed of Chucky) as Sarah’s cameraman, Seamus; and Emmy and Golden Globe winner Ricky Gervais (The Office, Extras) as Flippy the fish. Dog Man is directed by Emmy winner Peter Hastings (The Epic Tales of Captain Underpants, Kung Fu Panda: Legends of Awesomeness), whose credits include the groundbreaking animated series Animaniacs and Pinky and the Brain. The film is produced by Karen Foster (Spirit Untamed), who served as co-producer on DreamWorks Animation’s How to Train Your Dragon.

The Room Next Door is a delicate melodrama about a relationship between two close friends as one of them faces the prospect of entering eternal sleep due to a terminal illness. The film is written and directed by Pedro Almodóvar and based on the novel What Are You Going Through by Sigrid Nunez. This marks Almodóvar’s feature length English-language film debut and the first Spanish film to win the Golden Lion at the 2024 edition of the Venice Film Festival.

The film features Tilda Swinton as Martha, and Julianne Moore as Ingrid. The storyline focuses on Martha’s life as a notable journalist that is battling terminal ovarian cancer and makes a controversial decision to end her life with euthanization pills. Her grave situation reaches her distant friend Ingrid, a successful author whom Martha worked with earlier in their careers.

Martha opens up to Ingrid about her choice to depart life and genuinely explains why she would like for someone to be in the next room while it takes place. Ingrid is terrified about this decision and struggles to find her emotional and mental strength to fulfill her dying friend’s wishes. It is a heart-wrenching story with mending elements that tests a friendship, even after a length of time that has come between since their last interaction.

Swinton brings out Martha’s character with a certain stoic humor to an unpleasant subject, which pairs well with Moore’s portrayal of the sweet, caring and articulate Ingrid. We also learn that Martha has an estranged daughter Michelle (also played by Tilda Swinton, which was a delight to see her in a double role). John Tuturro as the supporting role of Damian, brought a bit of the quirky flirtation towards Ingrid that brightens up the mood inside a dire topic.

Director Almodóvar brought to light the dark side of dealing with a terminal illness without a cure, and when a patient doesn’t have any family for support or close friends they can depend on. The distinguished cast, Tilda Swinton and Julianne Moore, were magnificent in presenting a sensitive and personal decision with honor and dignity. The Room Next Door might not be suitable for all mature audiences, but will touch and relate with those that understand this similar predicament.

When the ideal wedding venue unintentionally gets double booked and both wedding planners resort to a comprise, you don’t think to ask, “What could go wrong?” The comedy film You’re Cordially Invited, written and directed by Nicholas Stoller featuring Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell prove, in the upmost humorous fashion, that everything will go wrong.

Witherspoon plays the role of Margot, the perfectionist and Neve’s (Meredith Hagner) older sister. Margot takes the honor of being her sister’s wedding planner. She hysterically clashes with Will Ferrell’s character Jim, a widower and an overly attached father to Jenni (Geraldine Viswanathan). Although Jim has conflicting feelings about his daughter marrying Oliver (Stony Blyden) – a young man with big aspirations of becoming a successful DJ, Jim will go to any length to make his daughter happy.

The movie is full of comedic scenes that will surely to take you on a wild roller-coaster ride. The dramatic wedding even has an uninvited frightening, scaly reptile. Aside from all the comedy, there are some warm heartfelt moments that the audience can relate to from reconciling years of family strains to a father finding the strength to let go of his daughter so that she can live her adult life.

Surprisingly, Reese Witherspoon and Will Ferrell are a unique comedic duo that nailed every punchline – tons of laughter from beginning to end. Witherspoon is perfect projecting characters that have that uppity charm, assertive personality which we all come to adore and compliments the veteran comedian Will Ferrell. Ferrell guarantees the audience over the top entertainment with his extreme antics and his portrayal of being a silly but endearing character.

Peyton Manning and Nick Jonas also have some cameos that add continuous amusement to these dramatic weddings. They are like the icing on a wedding cake.

You’re Cordially Invited releases January 30 on Amazon Prime.