One of the universal truths in life is that movies based on video games will never work, and it's a lesson Disney learned well with their attempt at adapting PRINCE OF PERSIA: THE SANDS OF TIME. It's hard to pinpoint exactly where they went wrong first, but somewhere between not really thinking the plot through and casting all white actors in a movie set in Persia and about Persian royalty is probably a good guess. That's not to say there's nothing of value here - Jake Gyllenhaal dipping his ripped toes into the role of an action hero, Alfred Molina's ostriches, and...erm, parkour I guess; are all pretty great. But the rest sort of slips by, like to many grains of sand. 

What is there to say about Disney's SUMMER MAGIC? A teenage Hayley Mills moves to the country and does some light home renovations; Burl Ives commits mail fraud and sings a song about bugs set over nature documentary footage; an easter egg from previous We Want The D episode The Barefoot Executive is revealed...and that's more or less it, really. For some (or one of our hosts) that's enough. For others...well, there's some meandering stories that even the charms of Hayley Mills and the songs of the Sherman Bros. can't save.

Funny how different people have different definitions of what constitutes a miracle. For many, it's an act of God - fishes and loaves, water to wine and whatnot. For others, it's when a hodgepodge of college hockey players are physically and psychologically abused and manipulated by their coach so they can beat a team of professional-level soviet players. Such is the story of Team USA at the Lake Placid Olympic games, as depicted in the Disney film MIRACLE. And if you're wondering what kind of twists and turns that story might take, or what kind of comradery may have been forged between team and coach alike...well, prepare to be disappointed cause this is basically as straight-ahead a story adaptation as you can get. That's right, it's a Disney movie about playing a game of hockey that involves, in the words of another Disney sports coach: "Zero fun, sir!"

Disney often confounds us with the stories they chose to tell in their feature films, and no more so when they lean heavily into the genre of war movie. But VALIANT turns that confusion up to eleven with its decision to focus on the, erm, brave pigeons who served as messengers during WWII. As always, it's not just the concept but the execution; why make the birds so ugly? Why are all doves girls? Why does that Nazi falcon have a blond flat-top? This movie raises so many questions, so of course Vicky, Nolan and Jill are here to provide answers, diving deeper than any of the film makers probably did - business as usual here on We Want The D.