Was that guy on the top There? (CREDIT: DreamWorks Animation; Greenwich Entertainment/Screenshot)

You Had to Be There

Starring: Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Dave Thomas, Victor Garber, Andrea Martin, Jayne Eastwood, Paul Shaffer, Avril Chown, Gilda Radner

Director: Nick Davis

Running Time: 98 Minutes

Rating: Unrated

Release Date: September 18, 2026 (Theaters)

Forgotten Island

Starring: H.E.R., Liza Soberano, Kailey Crawford, Kayla Teruel, Dave Franco, Manny Jacinto, Jenny Slate, Lea Salonga, Dolly de Leon, Jo Koy, Ronny Chieng, Kevin McCann

Directors: Joel Crawford and Januel Mercado

Running Time: 109 Minutes

Rating: PG

Release Date: September 25, 2026 (Theaters)

Memory plays a pretty big role in a couple of movies that I saw recently. In fact, that theme is right there in the titles: Forgotten Island, and You Had To Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (In a Canadian Kind of Way). The former is an animated flick that draws upon Filipino folklore as two best friends fight to preserve their memories of each other in a land that threatens to make them forget forever. And the latter is a documentary examining a legendary 1972 production of the musical Godspell that starred a cast of iconic pre-fame entertainers, but no official recordings exist of that production, so we must rely on the players’ memories for it to endure. I appreciated both of these movies a fair deal, probably (at least partly) because I enjoy having a good memory. It’s now how I define myself, though, it’s just one of many attributes that it’s nice to have. Similarly, I wouldn’t want to live in these movies’ locations forever, but I was certainly happy to visit them.

Grade: I Shall Remember Them