Top Gun: Maverick (2022)

Top Gun is among those movies that has been part of my life for a long time. I first heard the soundtrack during karate class when we did various relay exercises. Later on, I got my own copy and saw the actual movie.
The rest, as they say, is rock n' roll history.

Much ado about sequels

When the news came out about this sequel, I was excited but honestly skeptical. Firstly because I love this movie so much and secondly, most sequels tend not to pay off. The few trailers I saw looked kind of intense and I heard a few times how they were pushing the limits with what they could do with the camera work and the stunt work. 
I believe in the original movie, none of the actors did their own flying. Someone else was always the pilot and they were the rear onboard. As legend has it, Anthony Edwards (Goose) was the only one who didn't puke while shooting these scenes.
Fast-forward nearly 40 years later, Tom Cruise has since become infamous as one of those actors that always does their own stunts, no matter how extreme. In at least one case while shooting a Mission Impossible movie, he injured/broke a few ribs during one of those rooftop-to-rooftop jumps. 
Naturally, in this movie, he did all of his own stunts. Including flying some of his own planes. Back when James Corden had his late night talk show, there was an episode where Tom Cruise took him up flying in some of his planes, including a P-51 Mustang. That particular plane was the type my mom's dad flew while serving in World War II. 

Essentially, this sequel (and however many there will be down the pipe) happened because Tom Cruise was so passionate about coming back to this project. And his passion definitely shined through.

So back to the whole sequel thing:
As a sequel, was it a good one? Yes
Does it stand well enough on its own that it would've been successful on its own merits?  Depends on who you ask... I can definitely see both sides of that argument. 

For me personally, I'm happy that this movie got made and I enjoyed it. But I wouldn't miss it if it hadn't existed at all. The biggest takeway for me was how it honored the memory of the first movie really well and that letdown I've come to expect for sequels didn't materialize. 

Premise

The movie begins with Maverick (Tom Cruise) heading out to his current naval assignment. (Don't know if this was intentional or not, but not counting the opening credits recapturing the "Danger Zone" intro of the original movie- the movie doesn't have a single line of dialogue until two minutes in it... it was an odd choice).

For this assignment, Maverick is testing a plane that his superiors hope will reach a speed of Mach 10. He'd gotten up to 8 thus far but when he gets word the admiral in charge is about to pull the plug, he does what he typically does: defying orders. He gets to 10 but inevitably overshoots the mark and it's a miracle he didn't get himself killed. 
There's a lot of discussion about drone technology and this particular general (played by Ed Harris) wants to ground all pilots and use remote-operated aircraft for all military operations. Maverick, of course, is against this, not just for himself but all of the employees that work for the military.

The end result: Maverick gets the call to return to Top Gun to instruct a crew of young pilots. Their assigment is to destroy a depot of nuclear material in a nameless hostile country before the facility becomes operational. 
Among them is Bradley Bradshaw, Goose's son. As if the assigment weren't already tricky enough... not only does Maverick still struggle with the guilt over Goose's death but he knows Bradley resents him for another reason. Essentially pulling his application to the academy and setting his career back a couple of years. Supposedly this was his mom's dying wish, but a lot of this resentment could've been avoided if he was honest about that part. 

We get to know a couple of the other young pilots through the film, but they're not as well developed or memorable as Bradley (call sign "Rooster"). Except for maybe Phoenix being the only girl and Hangman because he's a bit of a jerk. Yet despite being a jerk, Glen Powell started getting a bunch of acting gigs because of this movie. Then again, it worked well enough for Miles Teller after being the jerk in the Divergent series. 
One plus that came out of that: Glen Powell got to do the voice of Fox McCloud in the latest Mario movie and he was perfect for the part. 

Another thing from the past Maverick confronts is a former girlfriend.
In Top Gun, there was a random line about Maverick buzzing multiple air-control controls and one admiral's daughter. 
Here, we get to see Penny Benjamin in the flesh. She owns her own bar and her character reminds me a bit of Vera Farmiga in "The Judge." A pretty bad-ass enterpeneur.
There's not quite as much steam between them as there was with him and Charlie and while there's the underlying question of "will they/won't they", it's a minor sub-plot compared to the other one.

As an instructor, Maverick gives his students a lot of hell. Mainly, they do training exercises together and he shows them all up in epic fashion. Then we get a fun new version of the beach volleyball scene where everyone plays football on the beach and it's a teamwork exercise. The song playing in the background is no Kenny Loggins anthem, but it's suitable for the scene.
And to no one's surprise, Maverick proves to everyone that this mission can be accomplished and he becomes one of the four pilots to actually take part in it. 

Of course none of this would have been possible without Ice-Man, the current director of Top Gun. Aka the late-great Val Kilmer. Several of their interactions in the movie were through text messages and the humor comes through really well.
With Val Kilmer's recent passing, the one scene he has on screen hits even harder than it did seeing the movie the first time. We'd all heard about his recent health struggles and expected this might be the last time we'd see him... but we also didn't expect his passing to come as soon as it did. 

Jon Hamm plays one of the guys at the academy that Maverick reports to. He makes a few periodic appearances ranging from "you weren't even on the list but you're here because Ice-Man asked for you" to "looks like I'm putting my job on the line so you can do this mission."

The third act is the mission and much of it focuses on Maverick and Bradley finally hashing it out and finding common ground.
All starting with Maverick getting shot down by the enemy and Bradley going back for him. And how does he thank him? He shoves him :P then he asks "what the hell you were thinking?" and Bradley throws one of his major lesson points back at him "You told me not to think!"... well, gotcha there, dude.

Maverick hyped up the mission as needing miracle 1 and miracle 2 to happen. Two perfect shots to blow open the site.
The biggest miracle of the movie was that the two of them found an old F-16 at the site to fly home. The same plane he flew in Top Gun. 

Theatrical Review: Forgotten Island

Date- Saturday, September 26 2026
Time- 11:10am
Party- 2 (my sister and I)

Introduction

The way this movie came across my radar was kinda special. Definitely unique. It was the first time I came across a skippable ad on YouTube for a movie and I didn’t skip. Not just because it wasn’t some random horror movie I had no interest in seeing- they also did them for Inside Out 2 and other animated movies.

But the moment they started playing the Breakfast Club theme in the ad, I was hooked. I made the reminder note in my iPhone calendar back in, I wanna say June. It was long before the movie and tv trailers.

The last time close to this where I found about a movie this way was The Intern with Anne Hathaway. That more than lived up to the hype.

And I’m extremely pleased to say this movie did too.

I came in with certain expectations about what this movie was going to be about, as you do. Some of those expectations were met and others were surpassed. In some ways I didn’t anticipate and the overall experience was the better for it.

The first trailer was how the two best friends met and growing up together and they somehow find this island they’ve only heard stories about.

Subsequent trailers revealed some of the supporting cast and the magic of the island. Namely, the longer time you spend there, the more you forget. So I thought maybe it was going to be along the lines of Neverending Story Part 2- where Bastian loses one memory every time he wishes for something. In that regard, my summation of the plot was incorrect. Maybe I misinterpreted the trailer or they were slightly deceptive because they did say mortals forget themselves the more time they spend there.

Anyway…

Movie Discussion

The first 15-20 minutes is all backstory and character building. Jo does a presentation about the island for a family history report. Then she winds up at the principals office because she lets loose on a guy who called her out. Then Raissa is sent next because she goes out of her way to defend her.

Then the rest is sort of history. They hit it off and go onto to establish one of the most fun friendships I’d seen in any movie. They have tons of fun experiences and each gets a charm added to their bracelet to commemorate it.

Jo’s grandma, who’d been to the island herself and passed on her stories to them, is another cool character. She gets a similar amount of screen time as Moana’s grandma and leaves just as much impact.

The art style of this movie is very bright and vivid, even before we get to the island. And it’s very snappy and humorous, almost like a manga brought to life at points. Add in the fact they include some great 80s songs- Never Tear Us Apart by INXS winds up becoming the most significant.

Yeah, the more this movie went on, the more I felt like it was tailor made for me. Anytime you include the Breakfast Club theme in something and I’m sold. And it did come up in the actual movie, not just the trailers.

Fast forward a decade or so later, Jo and Raissa are all grown up and their friendship is about to hit some choppy rapids. Raissa, being the genius she is (she makes a highly sophisticated bottle rocket at some point!) gets accepted to Caltech (aka the “Big Bang Theory” university) and is moving to America.

Another reason this movie has been fun is that it sprinkles nuances of Filipino culture in a story that could be considered as universal. I’ve read a number of books at the library the past few years that’ve done similar things and all but one are books I’d definitely love reading again. Other than the occasional inclusion of karaoke, the other big standout is a catchphrase Jo and Raissa say to one another before they go ahead and do something crazy together- tayo na- which means “let’s go” or “we’ll go together, I’m not doing this without you”. Even without the translation, it was enough to figure out with the context.

Jo and Raissa have one final night together before Raissa leaves for school. Naturally this night winds up lasting much longer because after years of searching for a way to the island, it finds them.

Then somehow the movie winds up becoming an animated version of The Hangover- the two of them wake up on the beach, 12 hours had passed, they’re missing the key needed to get home and Raissa has wings for some reason… while all this step retracing was going on, I started to feel slightly underwhelmed. Because this wasn’t the kind of movie I came in expecting. The thought actually crossed my mind- “now that we’re finally at the island, I’m not sure if I like it anymore”- because I thoroughly enjoyed everything else so far.

It took some time but I finally got on board with the plot. The island is full of all kinds of magical creatures and realm with more colors than you can imagine. The travel party that forms consists of a merman (his name is pronounced Mer-mon), some sort of demon baby and a boy/dog named Raww.

I’ll still say this movie felt tailor made for me even with the plot points that took some getting used to… the only thing I’d change is some of the gross-out effects. No bodily fluids thankfully but Bungi the demon baby doing baby things and his cord literally being cut before he joins the adventure plus the talking starfish attached to Merman’s chest being like his version of Ariel’s seashell bra… was that really necessary?

Once the adventure does get going, it’s an absolute blast. The characters are quirky and fun to spend time with. The scenery in place is jaw dropping. It’s so gorgeous. Part of me started to wonder “ok, does this movie have an actual villain?” Because this has been a growing trend in recent years. Even bad guys have good in them or are just misunderstood.

There is a baddie, the great Manang , who is able to split her body in half and can fly even though Raissa somehow took her wings in the course of those 12 missing hours. (Those wings are a little like Doctor Strange’s cape- they have an interesting personality all their own). Fun fact- her voice was done by Lea Salonga- best known for singing Disney princesses. And there is a tribe of critters they run afoul of but they’re too cute to be genuinely threatening.

One of the most interesting creatures is the memory demon Batiba. She trades memories to send wayward mortals back home but she’s also agoraphobic and afraid to leave her cave. At some points, she’s innocent and others she’s more threatening than Manang.

Once Jo and Raissa get their memories back of the last night, their friendship is in freefall. I’ve seen enough movies to know what to expect. That they’ll be ok in the end but it’s disheartening to see them at odds like this because they’d already been through so much.

Most of the standout visuals from the trailers- the charms and the memories and how they’re all connected- not surprisingly, they all stack up during the climax of the movie. It was visually stunning like the rest but there were some emotional spots I didn’t expect and I teared up a bit.

The ending shows how they wind up doing a few years later. We all kinda know Raissa is going to be successful no matter what she does but Jo was the big question mark. She’s a talented artist but she winds up doing various menial jobs she’s not particularly good at. So it’s really satisfying to see her finally finding success doing something she loves. I won’t give away what it is but it was yet another “this movie was made for me” type of thing.

Cue credits and omg, I’m still crying. I mean, it wasn’t perfect but I enjoyed this movie so much. And I think part of me was sorry for it to be over. It’s great that they’re still friends and are able to go back to the island whenever they want. Sometimes I swear I cry more about happy endings than sad ones.

They also had a really good song for the end credits. Throughout the movie, Jo would stamp post-its saying “BRB” before running off somewhere or, in the case of those wings, running off with something. The song is actually called “BRB” and is sung by the two lead actresses, Liza Soberano and H.E.R. (I noticed one of the charms was a guitar pick with H.E.R. written on it, I had no idea it was this direct of a reference).

Also, the credits are full of Polaroids showing the cast and crew and Polaroids were another big thing in the movie.

Another thing I just found out- this movie takes place in the 90s. The Polaroids and the mixed tapes and the boombox should’ve been dead giveaways. And supposedly the island includes a lot of aspects of Filipino folklore. And since I’m a sucker for mythology, that might be something I’ll look more into in the future.

Everyone is assuming Taylor Swift is a lock for best original song and Toy Story 5 is a lock for best animated film at the Oscars…

After seeing this, I dunno… there might be some serious competition to look forward to.

If Forgotten Island stole some of those awards, I don’t think I could be mad but I’d still be conflicted.

Trailers and final remarks

As for trailers…

I don’t really wanna do my usual thing and list them all with comments. I was hoping to at least see one for the next Hunger Games but other than Sense and Sensibility, most are animated movies I’d mentioned in previous posts.

Although the trailer for Wildwood struck me as odd- the advisory sticker with the PG13 rating mentioned brief nudity and suicidal content… granted, it’s being compared to Coraline with the animation style and supposedly it’s going to be the longest animated movie ever at 132 minutes. I have no interest in it but I’m wondering what the hell kind of movie is going to be. Animated movies usually don’t have all that dark stuff in them.

The theater was maybe half full and some people were engaging with it but I’m not sure if they got as much out of it as I did.

Also, the theater gave us 3D glasses charms with our “tickets”. Ticket stubs are no longer a thing, apparently, but that’s a neat little extra.

One last thing before ending this- our mall lost FYE earlier last year. We just found out yesterday that our local GameStop is gone. Almost no stores are carrying dvds anymore.

How long is it going to be when I’ll no longer be able to own movies? I’d love to see Forgotten Island again and have the freedom to see it whenever I want, waterworks be dammed. Part of me is just terrified that there’ll come a time when I’ll never get to see movies more than once because physical media is being done away with.

Grade: a solid A (97/100)

Robin Williams tribute post

[I wrote most of this post back in January. Hence why a lot of the references are somewhat dated]

After Sunday's football game, I turned the TV to ABC as we often do before shutting it off for the night. "Mrs. Doubtfire" had an hour left and as soon as I started watching, I knew I wouldn't be able to resist watching the rest of it...

I have no real reason for wanting to write this post. It's not anywhere near his birthday or the anniversary of his passing. Maybe it just occurred to me in that moment that I never did a tribute post for him back in 2014 and he very much deserves one.
Despite how annoying it is for him to always be #1 on Watchmojo videos when they revolve around celebrity voice actors, he is #1 for a reason.

I was born in the 80's so I'm very much a fan of John Hughes movies and the kinds of artists you'd find on MTV- back when it was about music.
However, I grew up in the 90's so Robin Williams was someone I became familiar with very quickly. "Aladdin" was the first movie I saw in a movie theater and "Mrs. Doubtfire" was one of my favorite movies as a kid. Both still hold up to this day, very much thanks to his depth of talent.
Later on, I saw 'Dead Poets Society"- another grade A performance. "Good Will Hunting" I'll have to revisit because it didn't leave much of an impression, most likely because I saw it on cable with too many commercials.

We all have those moments where we remember where we were when we found out certain celebrities died.
I just remember getting the news that morning at work and it was the strangest thing. That day, it felt like the air got sucked out of the room or some joy was lost from the world... that feeling I remember more than anything else about that day.

It's even harder when someone dies by suicide and you're left with more questions than answers. He's one of three names I could list where the news came completely out of nowhere and something felt like it had been lost. And you can't help wondering if it was something recently that broke them or it had been ongoing for a while.
In his case, it came out later that he'd suffered from health issues that were affecting his ability to be what he's best known for: being funny and able to improvise at the drop of a hat.

One particular quote that's come up multiple times in social media and otherwise was him saying:
"I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know what it's like to feel absolutely worthless and they don't want anyone else to feel like that."
When Twitch (runner up on So You Think You Can Dance long before he became Ellen's sidekick on her talk show) was reported to have died by suicide, this quote felt so relevant. He also brought joy to a lot of people doing what he's known for and being an overall sweet guy. It's sad to think how you don't know until it's too late what some people struggle with.

For Robin Williams, his comedic chops and ability to improvise were like his superpower. So it had to have been terrifying and debilitating to consider the reality of not having that anymore.
As funny as he was, though, I think what resonated the most with me was how his heart showed in everything he did. I may not have seen a lot of his work but I've seen enough to see his heart shine through every role.

In Good Will Hunting, I just know he was the supportive mentor character and he won the Oscar for it.
But it was probably similar to his role in Dead Poet's Society, but multiplied by a million.

Dead Poet's Society overall is a good movie... up until the last half hour. Sure, Peter Keating left his mark but it was still unfair that he got fired. I don't know if it was because Neil's family paid endowments to the school or other parents had raised complaints of him "corrupting the youth" or some sort of BS.
I'm not sure if this is true or not, but from what I've seen in movies since where a teenager has unsupportive parents when they want to pursue their own path... every time, they come around at the end and all is right with the world. I'd read somewhere how there's an unwritten rule in movies that bad guys do not get away with their misdeeds and "It's a Wonderful Life" was the reason for it. It wouldn't surprise me if a similar doctrine wasn't passed after Neil's suicide. All things considered, I'm kinda surprised I enjoyed That 70's Show because Kurtwood Smith's role in that movie did not make me a fan.

I don't know if Robin Williams was the person who created the "unconventional teacher changes students' lives" archetype but he's definitely one of the first to do it.

Honestly, if it's reprehensible to help students to think outside the box and to give them support when they don't feel supported by their own families, people like Peter Keating are too good for this world and we don't deserve them.

What makes "Mrs. Doubtfire" stand out among all the roles I'd seen him in on screen... I cannot see anyone else doing this role and making it not only believable but make it enjoyable and all the other emotions that come with it.
If you look at it with today's sensibilities where people are just too oversensitive about so many things, sure, it has its problems. But I'll always choose to look at it the way I did back then. Heck, I find even more to enjoy about his performance because I'm old enough to appreciate where he's coming from.

[Some present day comments to add]

Speaking of "Mrs. Doubtfire." we recently came across a clip on YouTube that further exemplified what an amazing person Robin Williams was.
Sally Field was on Kelly Clarkson's show talking about her different roles. With this movie, she talked about filming the court room scene where Daniel loses custody of his children. That day, she found out her dad had a stroke and she had to make the decision to stop life support. She hadn't told anyone but Robin Williams approached, intuitively knowing something wasn't right. She explained the situation and he asked the filmmakers to let her go home for the day.
That was just one of those huge wow moments...

We recently watched "Good Morning, Vietnam" this year. It was my first time seeing it.
While it wasn't a straight-up comedy, Robin Williams did his thing with this role. He played a DJ who worked at a Vietnam-based radio station for the US troops. The person was a real guy but I'm sure a lot of creative license was taken so Robin Williams could put his unique spin on it.
Two things I found interesting. This was at a time where rock n' roll music was still somewhat taboo and it was slowly being integrated into the rotations at this station.
But also the extent of censorship going on. There was a bombing in town that he was present for and the army forbade him to bring it up on the radio station. Naturally, he found his own way to talk about it and it wound up getting him fired. Unlike Dead Poet's Society, at least that was somewhat justified.

By the time I'm getting back to this and finally posting it- the 12th anniversary of his passing is a week from today.

Theatrical Review: Moana (2026 live action version)

Date: Saturday, July 11th 2026
Time: 1:15pm
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Review/Discussion:

Going to be completely honest... I'm not going to have much to say about this. Because I already reviewed this movie before on this blog when the animated version first came out. 

Was this remake necessary? Not really... 
Is the issue the fact this came out a little too soon after the original version? That's definitely part of it. 

When this project was originally announced, I was extremely skeptical because of how soon it was. And of course the big question was going to be who would be cast in this version. 
The moment it was revealed that Dwayne Johnson would be back to play Maui IRL, I was sold on seeing it again. 
Too soon or not, it was going to be a guaranteed good time because of how much we enjoyed the story and the characters. 

The only other concern I had was whether there'd be any major differences from the original that would be to its detriment.
Like I said, I hadn't seen it in a couple years and I'd only seen Moana maybe 3-4 times including the theater trip nearly 10 years earlier. But to me, they didn't really change anything. Except for a few extra scenes on Motunui where we get to see more of Moana's village and a few lines changes here and there, it was almost a carbon copy. 

First off, one neat extra they added was a slight change to the Disney studio intro graphic. They added Maui's fish hook in the stars. The native Hawaiian voices singing in stereo also sounded like it was something new that the original didn't have. The surround sound aspect of seeing this in a theater was a nice little bonus.
As good as the animation was, the visual effects for the live action version were one of its biggest highlights. 

As far as comparing the two versions, deciding which one you like better comes down to line delivery. Certain lines of dialogue were just a lot funnier animated. Catherine Laga'aia did a really good job stepping into the title role but there were a few moments where her acting maybe felt a little wooden. I don't know. It's hard playing a live version of an animated character where a lot of the personality comes off in the animation and most attempts to deliver dialogue in the same way would've made her seem over the top. 
It was great that they incorporated Maui's animated tattoos in this movie as well but again, that translated better when everything was animated. 

It was fun re-experiencing this movie knowing what was coming up next. I gave the "Shiny" song a lot of grief the first time I saw it, but I was admittedly excited when it got to be that time... just to see how it would translate to this version and it was just as good if not better. 
The one change I didn't like was the crab asking more than just "did you like the song?" There were one or two extra lines after that felt unnecessary. Jermaine Clement was the only other actor who came back to reprise their role and he also nailed.

And yes, Dwayne Johnson did Maui great once again. You can tell he really enjoyed doing this role. My dad read somewhere on the internet that he got a custom watch made special for him with a face plate that was inspired by Maui's tattoos. So clearly, it's something that meant a lot ot him and still does. 

In the legion of Disney live action remakes, this was one of the better versions because they didn't mess around with it or try to do anything extra to appeal to some sort of agenda. It didn't necessary need to exist, at least not so soon after the original, but it's a good movie to see in a theater and get lost in the visuals. 

One last cool thing they added was a new song from Lin-Manuel Miranda (who did the other songs in the movie) for the end credits. It's a duet between both Moana actresses, a nice way to include Auli'i Cravahlo in this project when she couldn't reprise the role in person.

Grade: B+ (I gave the original an A-)

Trailers: 

At least there's no more Minions trailers because that movie is out now. 

But it'd only been a couple weeks since we saw Toy Story 5 so there were a lot of repeat trailers. Paw Patrol, Not Alone, Hexed and the Gatto teaser... Hexed looks like it might be fun. 

There was also a new trailer for Forgotten Island where they've introduced a new character with dog-like characteristics. I also realized I'd made a mistake and had been calling it "Forbidden Island" on all the other reviews... I'll go back and fix that soon. 
Can't believe how much I want to see this movie and I'd been getting the name wrong for months :facepalm:

They teased a new Ice Age movie Boiling Point... really, it's just all the characters getting blasted toward the audience, including what appears to be the offspring of Scrat, the prehistoric squirrel that's been obsessed with the same acorn since 2002.

The two new ones were a new Cat in the Hat... I never saw the Mike Myers version (refused to, more like), so hopefully this one is better. 
This version looks like they're taking the old story and flipping it on its head.

And the one non-animated trailer was for a new Fockers movie called Focker In-Law.
Whoever made the decision to include this trailer clearly forgot that Moana is a kid's movie. The whole joke about the guy's name is that it sounds like a word kids shouldn't know until they're old enough.
Here, Ariana Grande plays the perspective In-Law who's engaged to Greg's son. Apparently she has ties to the CIA just like DeNiro's character so naturally he likes her a lot. Given her whole persona and the kinds of characters she usually plays, this seems like a good departure for her. 
I think I just saw the first two movies in the Focker franchise and it's been years...

Theatrical Review: Toy Story 5

Date: Sunday June 28, 2026
Time: 10:30am (the actual movie started at 10:57)
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Review:

Introduction

It's kinda shocking to think I wasn't initially considering going out to see this movie. We all grew up with the Toy Story movies. Even though my sister and I only saw 3 in theaters, it's another of those Disney franchises we've known and loved a long time. Not so much Toy Story 4 for me because it felt unnecessary after how great 3 was. There'd also been a couple of seasonal shorts they did for Halloween (Toy Story of Terror) and Christmas (Toy Story that Time Forgot) we enjoy returning to every year.
When 5 was announced, I was skeptical as I'd been for 4. As much as we love these characters, what's left for them to do to keep things fresh, interesting and overall fun?

The Taylor Swift effect

No surprise- the thing that tipped the scales for me was Taylor Swift getting involved. There'd been billboard sightings for months that Swifties had attributed to the soft-launch of the Taylor's Version of her debut album. I even heard whispers of her being the first person in a while to win an Grammy and OSCAR in the same year. I'm here thinking "wait, what do you mean Oscar? I know she did that song for the Cats movie everyone trashed"... but nope, they were talking about this. 
"I knew it, I knew you" played on the radio station at work the day it came out... unfortunately while my hearing is good enough to pick out that atrocious KPop Demon Hunters song from a mile away, I wasn't able to hear this song clearly other than it being Taylor's signature style. Including today, I've listened to it with full focus and zero distractions three times and at some point, I may have to purchase the mp3 so I have it readily at my fingertips. I'm also long overdue to purchase the other Midnights tracks that were only available digitally, but that's beside the point.

The point is Taylor got us to this movie. And we owe her a big thank you. It was a really fun movie with our favorite characters and the all-too-relatable emotions at its core. It brought back all the feelings we've had watching the previous movies and gave us some new things to ruminate on. 
Actually, the movie was so good I completely forgot until the credits that her song was in it. There's a post-credits scene or two but it's worth sticking around a few extra minutes for the charming animations that accompany her song. 
I haven't fully absorbed the song yet but I agree with all the comments- it definitely shares the same folklore with "Betty" and solid proof that her country roots are never too far behind. 
And the fact that "Karma" happened to be playing on the mall's PA system on our way to shop at JC Penney's afterwards... to borrow from another Midnights track, no way was that accidental...

Movie Discussion with potential spoilers

If you asked anyone who'd seen Toy Story, any of the movies, which moment stood out to them the most, their answer is likely to be one of two things. Either Andy's farewell at the end of Toy Story 3 or "When She Loved Me" from Toy Story 2.

Can I just say I'm so grateful that this movie only brought back that song's heartbreaking melody and none of Sarah McLachlan's vocals? There's numerous emotional moments in this movie, some hitting harder than others. If her voice came in singing any of it, I wouldn't be able to get through without crying hundreds of times. All of us still remember that first time hearing it and the gut punch that was in the movie.
It makes me all too happy to report that after the emotional rollercoaster Jessie has had throughout this franchise, she finally gets some much needed closure regarding Emily. It takes a long while to get there but the payoff... I won't give away exactly what but it was beautifully done. 

The much-hyped up central conflict of this movie was the whole Toys vs. Tech debate. How devices and screentime have taken over the lives of kids and teenagers. They do a really good job of making LilyPad a formidable enemy, including her not-so-subtle way of removing the toys from Bonnie's room so she can take over. 
But if there's one thing I've learned from this franchise, the baddie is never the first person you expect. Oftentimes, it's the last person you expect and when it comes out of nowhere and it hits you, it hits you. The two characters are extremely different and while I only have the first Inside Out to go by, Riley and Bonnie go through a lot of similar things. Struggling with the changes that come with growing up. 
Mind you, Inside Out had me sobbing almost through the entire movie. It was a lot- the twist at the end about how Sadness is just as valuable as an emotion as Joy helped make up for it in the end. But if we didn't have the toys in the spotlight doing their thing and this movie solely focused on Bonnie's struggles, it would've been a much sadder movie to get through. 

We saw a little of this in TS4 when the one "friend" she "made" was a talking spork she named Forky, but her difficulties making friends is still very much front and center. Her character is only 8 but it's hard not to see a little of myself in her. Making friends has never been one of my strong points... 
Toy Story 5 did a really good job of balancing all of the different emotions and showing off how many dimensions all of these characters have. Woody makes a reappearance to pitch after leaving at the end of the previous movie and he and Buzz Lightyear still have that great chemistry. But Jessie is clearly the star of this movie. Her with her trusty steed Bullseye and some new friends she meets along the way. 

Along with the main storyline, we also have a few interludes featuring a bunch of Buzz Lightyear toys. They emerge from a shipwrecked shipping container and get into various situations before intersecting with the main story. Let's just say they're full of surprises, which they should considering that they're the latest model of the toy.

Easily the highlight for me was the play aspect. Whenever the toys are played with in this series, the imagination of these kids is always a wonder to behold. My favorite was when Jessie is brought into playtime along with the early-gen devices she meets. I can't give away what happens but seeing the plot twists that play out and how much fun they are to watch... it reminds us all what attracted us to these movies in the first place. It brings that kid in us back to the surface. 

All that's left to say is if you're one of those people who skipped out on TS4 or have skepticism about coming back to this 30 year old franchise.... please reconsider. The proof is in the cinematic picture but if the behind-the-scenes special on ABC that aired a few weeks ago was any indication, the people at Pixar love what they do and it's reflected in their work. 
It still blows my mind to think that one of the writers was born the same year the original Toy Story came out... not because it makes me feel old but the fact that opportunity came and she was able to take it and make something amazing... it doesn't get much better than that.
Also, I can't remember the last time I watched any movie and was so absorbed that I didn't check to see how much time was left.

Grade: A (can't quite give it an A+... maybe 97 or 98 out 100... one storyline could've wrapped up a little bit sooner)

Trailers:

We need to stop getting to the theater so early because all of these ads and commercials are so annoying...

I know that Toy Story is technically a kids' movie but it was a little awkward having to sit through all these kiddie commercials.

Of course we had the trailer for Minions and Monsters and latest Paw Patrol movie.
And Moana again... hopefully our next time to the movies will be to see it because it still looks fun. 
At least to their credit, the minions trailer was funny. I have it in my notes as "death by Lego."

There's a new Spider-Man movie subtitled Brand New Day... I know I hadn't watched any of the new ones since Endgame. To the point I think I've flat-out refused to see this series without Tony Stark. But it feels like I definitely missed something because Peter didn't seem on familiar terms with Bruce Banner or Mary Jane. Is it a multi-verse thing or amnesia? No idea... but I don't really care enough to find out.

There's a teaser for Pixar's next movie, Gatto. Where it's two cats interrogating another and they all get distracted by the swinging lightbulb.
Hexed is another Disney movie coming out this fall. It's about a teenage girl who discovers she has magical powers and winds up in a magical world. I wonder how all of the die-hard Owl House fans feel about it, whether they'll support another Disney property about a magical world or they'll just bemoan the fact their beloved show was unceremoniously put out to pasture before its time. I didn't see much of that series but I saw enough that I did enjoy it and I feel bad for the fans for how it ended.
(I googled it- there is a thumbnail for a video connecting the two so yeah, it's still a sore spot)

The two non-Disney animated movies were Forgotten Island (which I still very much want to see in the fall) and Wildwood.
Wildwood, I'm still figuring out what it is. They say it's by the same people who brought us Coraline so it has to be magical but also a little creepy and weird. 

Theatrical Review: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Date: Sunday, May 24 2026
Time: 10am
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Review:

My sister suggested we go see this. And honestly, it was a no-brainer. 

As long as I’d been alive, we’d gone out to see every Star Wars movie that hits theaters. My first was the re-release of the original 1977 film in the 90's. All thanks to my mom’s fandom, which she owes to my dad for taking her to see the original on a date. He jokes that he’s regretted it ever since, lol

We may not keep up with the plethora of streaming series but we'd seen every movie.

In case anyone was wondering, because I know I was, you're not going to be completely lost watching this movie if you'd never seen The Mandolarian series. There are some easter eggs and references but you won't miss out on any enjoyment if you happen to be a Star Wars fan who'd never streamed anything. And in terms of continuity, this supposedly takes place between the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy. So after the death of Darth Vader but before Poe met Finn and The New Order filled the void left by the Empire.

Right off the bat, we see the titular duo on a mission and the Mandalorian kicks some major ass. It sets the movie off on a good tone. The only one that maybe disagrees with this was Ward, played to perfection by Sigourney Weaver, who's less than pleased that the man they were after wasn't brought back alive. 

Can I just say how cool it is how Sigourney Weaver has essentially become the queen of sci-fi franchises? Starting with Alien, then Ghostbusters and of course, Avatar. Even though she died in the first movie, she remains a part of the franchise playing the daughter of her character.
Only major one she hasn't done yet is Star Trek. Seeing as they've leaned into streaming as well and their last movie was over a decade ago, it's not likely to happen anytime soon.

The main mission the duo takes on for this movie is to bring home the Rotta the Hutt, who was supposedly being held prisoner in Shakari. Rotta is the son of Jabba the Hutt- the notorious gangster Han Solo had worked for in the original trilogy. The alliance was asked to do this by his cousins, a pair of Huttas referred to as "the twins". 

Once we got to Shakari, that was the moment I really locked into this movie and things started to get really good. I thought maybe it was the same city-like planet that was featured in Episode II so I did a little research. It is not, but I came across a line saying how Shakari drew influence from prohibition era Chicago. I don't know if it was because it reminded me of Coruscant (the Episode II location) or it reminded me of a location I'd played through in a video game (Kingdom Hearts II or Jak II), but it quickly became one of my favorite Star Wars locations ever. Possibly my favorite. Especially once the awesome music kicked in.

As much as we all love John Williams- the man is a fricking legend when it comes to movie scores, including this franchise- I'd read a lot of hype about Ludwig Göransson as well. 
I looked up whether this movie had a post-credits scene and the result on Google confirmed no. However, it mentioned how those who do stick around will be treated to more of Ludwig's score from the Shakari scenes as well as a little Easter egg in the cast credits. 
While Shakari is a hot bed for crime and criminals, it was a really cool place to spend time in. We got a fun little cameo from Martin Scorsese, who does the voice of a street vendor the Mandolarian keeps getting information from. 

Then we have the arena where we find Rotta the Hutt. He's employed by one of the city's top gangsters, if not the biggest gangster, as a fighter. Thanks to this experience, Rotta has become possibly the most buff Hutta in the whole galaxy. I mean, the dude's a slug with a six-pack. That's impressive! He's also a character you can't help rooting for. He'd worked hard to get out of his brother's shadow and thanks to the voice acting of Jeremy Allen White, he has a lot of humanity to him. (Just looked him up- he's the star of that critically acclaimed FX series, The Bear). Although he's happy to be at the end of his tenure as a hired fighter, he makes the Mandolarian's life difficult by being the one prisoner who doesn't want to go back home. 
This leads us to a great fight scene in the arena where Rotta's employer reveals the only way his employment is going to end is in one final match where he's doomed to fail. He and the Mandolarian have to team up to deal with the other creatures, including a couple that I recognized from the "it is unwise to upset a Wookie" scene in the original movie. 

The main reason why the Alliance agrees to do this rescue mission for the twins- they have information on a notable member from the remnants of the Empire. This person winds up being Rotta's employer and the Mandolarian catches him and brings him back to the Alliance to face justice. And he ultimately agrees not to bring Rotta back to his home planet.
BUT if we'd learned anything from Han Solo, the Hutts are a race you do not double-cross. Unfortunately, the Mandolarian has to learn this the hard way and the results are catastrophic.

Up to this point in the movie, Grogu doesn't get to do much. He's cute and feisty and gets into a little bit of mischief. He's very likable and fun to watch, but he's just kinda there for most of it. For much of the third act, though, the Mandolarian finds himself incapacitated for a bit and Grogu finds himself on a mission to save him. If there was any doubt as to why he shares half of the movie's title, this section puts that to bed.

We have a few good battles to end the movie, including a flight sequence with Sigourney Weaver as one of the X-wing pilots, and that's basically it. 
All of us really enjoyed it and had a good time. Compared with the other movies, it was better than the Han Solo movie and Rogue One... I hadn't seen the prequels recently with the exception of Episode II for May the 4th, but I liked this better than those. And maybe a little more than the recent trilogy we got. I'd probably have to see all the movies again to be sure, although we'd be hard pressed to find anything that'd top Episodes IV through VI. 

Also, a quick shout-out to Jon Favreau for directing. He had been heavily involved in the Star Wars streaming series as a creator/director/producer. But in terms of sci-fi, this was probably his best work. 
His debut in this genre was Zathura back in 2005. I'd never seen the movie, but in some interview, I remember him saying how that movie didn't get the kudos it deserved because it was up against the 4th Harry Potter movie in the box office. Of course his biggest claim to fame was Iron-Man and how that launched him and RDJ into the stratosphere. But I can't help but consider him thinking about his younger self and the disappointment over Zathura's reception and how thrilled that person would be now with him putting out a damn good Star Wars movie. I don't know why but something tells he'd been a fan of the movies for a long time and getting to put out something like this had been a dream come true.

Grade: A-

Trailers:

Minions and Monsters
- a slightly longer, different trailer than we'd seen previously 

Supergirl
-the same trailer we'd seen a couple times already

He-Man- Masters of the Universe
-with all the hype that's been leading up to this movie, I just hope it's good for the sake of the fans who'd been waiting for something like this. One of my cousins was a HUGE collector of the action figures growing. All I know about it is a couple characters, including Skeletor. He looks really cool in the trailers, but it's a little disappointing that his voice is different from what I'd heard in passing. I guess they opted for this change to make him more threatening as a villain.

The Odyssey
-Again, I hope this winds up being half as good as it's being hyped up to be. This is the first full trailer I've gotten a chance to see. It took me a few seconds to recognize Tom Holland as Telemachus, son of Odysseus and it's kinda disappointing to see Robert Pattinson, again without a British accent and as a bad guy. It'll be interesting to see Matt Damon in this huge role. As good as he was as Jason Bourne, this is his biggest role yet.
-My only concern is the runtime.... I know it's a fricking epic, but if it's over 3 hours, I'm waiting until it comes out on cable. A big reason why the source material is so long, in my opinion, is that there are sooo many instances where a character is introduced as "the son of this person who was the son of that person." Who cares?! That's why I went to Cliff Notes after every chapter- to make sure I was keeping up the story in between all of that unnecessary padding. Unfortunately, the way these movies go and how Christopher Nolan tends to operate, they'll find ways to extend this way longer than is necessary. 

Disclosure Day
-once again, Steven Spielberg is doing something involving aliens. I think it's about making the public aware of aliens and that Area 51 exists and so on. But it's not the kind of thing I'm interested in

The Dog Stars

-it's based on a book, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and the main character is an ex-marine. The book came out in 2012 and apparently went into production a couple years ago. Based on the implications behind this apocalypse, I thought maybe it got sidelined for a couple years because of 2020. Although that the books like the Andromeda Strain became very popular around that time, so who knows?

Moana live-action
-unless something else comes up, this will probably be our next trip to the movies

Theatrical Review: The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Date: Saturday, April 4 2026
Time: 11am
Party: 2 (my sister & I)

Feels like just yesterday the first movie came out. I don’t think anyone expected it to be the big success it was. And when it became the success story it did, there was no doubt there’d be a sequel.
Now there are endless possibilities for potential sequels. I’m just hoping Nintendo movies don’t become the next MCU and we end up drowning in sequels a decade from now.

So far, though, they’re two for two with Mario movies. My sister thought this was better than the original. I’d say they’re both really good in different ways.


I just had one minor nitpick- Rosalina needed more screen time.
Back when one of our favorite YouTube gamers played the game this movie took inspiration from, it was maybe my favorite Mario game from the play throughs we’d watched. The worlds were really imaginative, varied and graphics looked AMAZING. I liked Rosalina right away as Mario’s guide on his journey to rescue Princess Peach from Bowser. But part of it was because her whole look and demeanor reminded me so much of Elsa from Frozen (which came out a few years before that playthrough was uploaded).

In the movie, Rosalina got some good setup and got to show off what a badass she can be. Unfortunately it’s not enough to prevent her from being kidnapped. I’m sure someone online will calculate this but I’m pretty sure Luigi got more screen time in the previous movie during the time he was kidnapped.


For maybe the first half hour of the movie, I was enjoying it but it oddly felt too predictable. The way Rosalina is kidnapped, how the Bros. meet Yoshi… plus we get a fun but silly montage of Mario and Luigi looking after the Mushroom Kingdom while Princess Peach and Toad go off to save Rosalina.
Then we get to Gateway Galaxy and things finally start getting good. Although I’m sure some people will say they borrowed a little too much from Star Wars in terms of plot points… I made this connection right away but I didn’t mind. These moments included Peach’s fight scene in the casino (a den of villains much like Mos Eisley) and the scene before that reminded me of a scene from one of the prequels where there’s a chase scene in flying vehicles in a city at night.
But most notably- casting Fox McCloud as the lovable rouge Han Solo character. (I wasn’t a big fan of Glen Powell’s Top Gun character but this role suited him perfectly!!) It was a stroke of genius and his scenes had many callbacks to Star Fox 64, including barrel rolls galore. If he gets his own movie, we can only hope it includes his comrade Falco quipping “hey Einstein I’m on your side”- which he says when you accidentally shoot him too many times in the game.
The major plot point of the movie and why Rosalina is kidnapped… Bowser Jr. wants to power his own Death Star, which he calls his “boomsday device”, and plans to blow up all the galaxies so he and Bowser can regain their reputation.

At the end of the previous movie, Bowser is essentially removed as a threat. No worries, though, he does get restored to his former glory and Jack Black does his thing if not better than the first movie. No musical numbers, sadly, although “Peaches” would be hard to top.

Just like with the first movie, there are tons of Easter eggs and references. Characters from different Mario games and Nintendo franchises. One character fills a similar role to the sloths in Zootopia and somehow makes it even funnier. Another winds up participating in the final battle against the Bowser duo. I don’t know what franchises they’re from but both are playable in Super Smash Bros.
Which makes me wonder if a movie based on that game is on the horizon. The look Fox and Mario give each other before teaming up gave the impression they were remembering a previous life they weren’t on such friendly terms.

By far my favorite parts were whenever the art style changed and was just as impressive to watch. One included actual 8-bit game play while the characters went through obstacles.

As a foe, Bowser Jr. is very formidable and it’s almost more terrifying than dealing with Bowser himself. Then of course Kamek is back as a doting minion.

The trailer showed a scene where the Bros. are babies and I wondered if time travel was involved, which would be a reference to the Partners in Time game, or they simply got transformed. Either way, it leads to a crucial moment where Toad finally gets over whatever jealousy he felt toward Yoshi when he joined the group.

Overall, it was another enjoyable theater trip. The room was maybe half full and people were into it. One moment that stood out was right before the heroes win and a girl shouted “yes!” a second or two before they dealt the finishing blow.

Grade: B+


Then with the trailers… it’s almost like the theater realized “wait a bunch of people are going to see this movie, let’s preview EVERYTHING that’s coming out this year.” It had to have been 20 minutes of trailers and maybe one or two movies will be any good.


Supergirl

• this takes place before the recent Superman movie and it looks like John Wick except in this case, the dog doesn’t die but Kara still goes on the war path to save Krypto
• There’s also a story about a girl whose family is killed by villains or something and Kara tries to talk her out of seeking revenge
• This looks like it might be better than the Superman movie last year but I’m not holding my breath

Paw Patrol: the Dino Movie 

• my sister is still tuned into shows like this so she knew the title before it came up

Sonic 4

• coming next year and this was more of a teaser

The upcoming Mandolarian movie 

• my mom and I are big Star Wars fans but we don’t have Disney+ and only saw this series the one time ABC showed it. So, we may or may not see this

Minions and Monsters 

• I think I’d rather wait for this to come to cable

The live-action Moana remake 

• all that mattered was that Dwayne Johnson was still playing Maui. Now that that’s been confirmed, we’re definitely going to see this one. 
• Also, didn’t Moana just come out? That was 10 years ago?!

The Breadwinner

• again, hard pass

Animal Farm- a cautionary tale 

• so I just read the book a year ago for the first time… I liked it to a point and then it just kept getting worse and I hated the ending. So while an animated version looks promising and entertaining, I’m going to look up spoilers when this comes out. Unless they change the ending, I have zero interest.

Forgotten Island

• I sat through a two minute YouTube trailer for this, possibly the one time I didn’t hit the Skip Ad button ever. It opened with the song from the Breakfast Club- how I could say no? Long story short, I’m definitely interested in seeing this one later in the year when it hits theaters