Life-Size

Sometimes you just need a reminder to shine bright, shine far and be a star. “Life-Size” is precisely that reminder.

For a long time, this was one of the Wonderful World of Disney movies that could only be found on physical media, usually hiding in a thrift store. It finally hit Disney+ last November, and there are still some people who haven’t realized it’s there. Now would be the time to remedy that.

For those unfamiliar, “Life-Size” centers on Casey (Lindsay Lohan), a young girl dealing with the loss of her mother. She’s withdrawn from her friends and passions, desperately seeking a way to bring her mom back from the dead. Eventually she finds one, but unknowingly performs the spell on her Eve doll (Tyra Banks) instead of her mom. What follows is a very sweet 90 minutes.

Admittedly, there are a few early 2000s “jokes” in here that aged poorly, but in general, this is still a feel-good watch. RIP Eve, you would’ve loved Greta Gerwig’s “Barbie.”

13 Going on 30

Have you just finished binging “The Five Star Weekend” over on Peacock and now want more Jennifer Garner in your life? That’s real. And of her catalogue, “13 Going on 30” is the most feel-good of them all.

Here, she stars as Jenna Rink, a freshly 13-year-old girl — though her tween self is played by Christa B. Allen — who desperately wishes that she could be 30 years old and living her best life. 30, flirty and thriving, as she says. But when that birthday wish comes true and she wakes up in her Jennifer Garner self, Jenna has to figure out the kind of person she’s turned into.

Spoilers: it’s not an awesome one. She quickly realizes that after she hunts down her childhood best friend Matt (Mark Ruffalo), who reveals they are definitely no longer friends, and haven’t been in years.

It’s hard not to smile during this movie, whether it’s at the soundtrack, the perfect performances by everyone in it, or the fashion. “13 Going on 30” is currently streaming over on Netflix.

Tag

As we get older, we tend to naturally stop playing the games we did as kids, and often lose touch with old friends. That can be pretty depressing, but “Tag” is the perfect antidote to that. In fact, it might inspire you to find your inner child again.

The film follows a group of five men who have been playing the same game of tag since they were kids. As adults, they designate the month of May to be tag month, and literally chase each other across the country, as life has taken them all in different directions. When the one friend who’s never been It threatens to retire though, the game becomes more important that ever.

Yes, it’s goofy, but at it’s core it’s really sweet, and comes with a bittersweet twist. What makes it even more fun is that “Tag” is actually based on a real-life group of friends. You can watch it now on HBO Max.

Corrina, Corrina

I’ll let you know up front on this one, the runtime is longer than it needs to be. But overall, “Corrina, Corrina” is a very sweet film.

It stars Whoopi Goldberg as Corrina, a housekeeper who takes a job with a family that recently lost its matriarch. As a result, the couple’s daughter has gone temporarily mute, and her father (Ray Liotta) needs to go back to work to continue providing for her.

Corrina and the little girl develop a friendship thanks to Corrina’s silliness combined with her genuine empathy, which helps the little girl grieve. Admittedly, there is an underlying story thread about race which isn’t quite given the attention it deserved, especially given the runtime, but that’s arguably the only real problem with this movie.

It’s a great reminder of just how good Goldberg is as an actress, considering we don’t see that side of her nearly as often these days. “Corrina, Corrina” is now streaming on Tubi and Plex for free.

Angels in the Outfield

We are still very much in the thick of baseball season, and if you need a little hope for your team, “Angels in the Outfield” should do the trick. If you just need a cute story with a surprisingly stacked cast, well, it’ll still do the trick.

“Angels in the Outfield” centers on Roger (a young Joseph Gordon-Levitt), a foster child whose biological father promises that they’ll be together as a family again “when the Angels win the pennant.” So, Roger prays for his team to win, and sure enough, actual angels start helping them out. Unfortunately, Roger is the only one who can see them, so he sounds crazy. But he manages to get the Angels’ head coach to believe him, which leads to its own set of problems.

Like we said, this movie also has a surprisingly stacked cast, from Danny Glover to a young Matthew McConaughey in a small role. “Angels in the Outfield” also boasts the late Brenda Fricker in its cast — at the very least, you can watch this in her memory.

“Angels in the Outfield” is now streaming on Disney+.