🎥 Movies of 2021, 8: Gremlins 2: The New Batch. I was 10 when Gremlins came out, so I saw that movie a lot. I was 16 when Gremlins 2 was released, so I think I saw it just the one time in the theater.

I can’t imagine how baffling this movie would be to someone who didn’t grow up in the 80s and who didn’t have a deep knowledege of Chuck Jones cartoons, musicals, vaudeville, Hammer horror films, Ted Turner and UHF monster hosts. People in 1990 thought this movie was bonkers. 30 years later it’s like a half-forgotten legend left behind by an ancient civilization. I got most of the jokes and I’m still somewhat baffled by it.