2020 and 2021 has so far left us with a wide variety of movies to consume and obsess over. From wonderful nostalgic Bill & Ted Face the Music and Sonic the Hedgehog, to somewhat disappointing Wonder Woman 1984, there’s more than enough movies to fill your free time and cure your boredom.

But let’s take a step back, back when quarantine wasn’t in place and COVID was unheard of and you could walk into a theater and sit uncomfortably next to some stranger who was chewing popcorn a bit too loudly. Here are a couple of movies that should definitely make their way into your watchlist,

1. Howl’s Moving Castle
   This movie was released in 2004 and is full of the iconic Studio Ghibli charm. It has beautiful landscapes and scenes, as well as moments that are bound to make you cry. The story starts off with Sophie, a dainty hat-maker who’s prone to talking down about her physical appearance and is one of our main characters. Sophie undergoes trials and tribulations, and despite the hardship of it, she remains loyal to the people she loves and to what she believes in. This movie has many twists and turns, as well as some magic and curses, to keep you interested.

1. The Croods
   Ever wanted to see Ryan Reynolds, Emma Stone, and Nicolas Cage all in one movie? Well, if you said yes, then the Croods is for you. This is a story about a caveman family being introduced to a whole new world after their old one crumbles away. Nicolas Cage plays a father who wants to keep his family safe and tries to do that as they navigate throughout the movie. Emma Stone plays the daughter who wants to see the world for herself and has a habit of rebelling but stays true to her family in their time of need. Ryan Reynolds plays a loner who essentially gets stuck with the cavemen family and is adaptable to new situations. An inventor, and a thinker, his character helps the Croods out in more ways than one. It’s a heartwarming movie that presents how to handle change and being afraid of new things.
   
   3. Invader Zim: Enter the Florpus
   To all those readers who grew up watching Danny Phantom, American Dragon and My Life as a Teenage Robot, you’re sure to be aware of Invader Zim to some degree. A humorous tv show that aired on Nickelodeon, Invader Zim followed along an alien, named Zim, rejected to planet Earth and tasked with, well, invading Earth for his species. However, Zim was known to be a bit of a troublemaker before his mission, and isn’t aware that he was sent to Earth to be forgotten about. Despite the semi-sad underlying plot, Invader Zim has a lot of laughs and interesting inventions. The movie continues on a few years after the show’s ending, and shows Zim and his ‘arch nemesis’ combining their powers to save Earth. 

4. Paranorman

From the creators of Boxtrolls, Coraline, Frankenweenie, and many more, here’s a stop-motion horror movie about zombies, ghosts, people who can communicate with the dead, curses, and also the epic highs and lows of highschool. Norman Babcock is our hero of the story this time, and has a knack for communicating with the dead that aren’t tangible and can’t exactly move onto the next life, unlike our favorable antagonists, the zombies that begin to rise after a curse from an ancient witch takes hold of the town. Paranorman helps people realize that it’s okay to be different, to fight for what you believe in, and that friends come from the unlikeliest places.

All animated, and all in good fun with strong messages behind them, those were a couple of movies that should be on your ‘to watch’ list for Spring Break.