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

Plur1bus (season 1 on Apple+)

I think I read somewhere that this was last year’s best new series… it’s so long ago I don’t remember exactly how that superlative read. When I added it to my queue, I think the trailer said it was about one person trying to, quote “save the world from happiness” and she happens to be the most miserable person in the world.
I swear with some of these series, I add them to my “to watch” list and completely forget what they’re about by the time I get around to actually watch them.

I started watching this series a month ago. I was in a very strange headspace at the time- it’d been a rough winter with one significant snowstorm and power outage (two different events) so I was paranoid about something else going wrong.
Luckily we had the Winter Olympics to help take my mind off things. I also had this series. While I didn’t binge it all in that first weekend, it gave me enough to think about to take me out of that vicious cycle. And if this series is good for one thing, it’s making you think.

There’ll most likely be tons of spoilers so be mindful of that going forward..,

The series begins in a laboratory, which receives a message from outer space they determine to be some sort of biological sequence. Then after lots of testing and experimenting, they spread it outside the lab to all of humanity.
The end result- humanity adopts a hive mind mentality and becomes a collective. Everyone suddenly has the same degree of knowledge of all things and share in each other’s experiences in real time. They also are peaceful and nonjudgmental and happy. Individuality has all but been extinguished but they don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing.

Then we have our heroine, Carol Struka. She’s a best selling author who’s become somewhat jaded about her success but continues to show up for her fans- including the Barnes and Noble signing where we first meet her and her agent/friend/wife Helen.
Yeah, sometimes I’m still so slow. I figured out soon enough that Carol is a lesbian but I didn’t pick up that Helen was her wife until the behind-the-scenes stuff I watched afterwards.

So this new virus spreads via chemtrails and infects everyone… except Carol and, she later finds out, a dozen or so people who are somehow immune and maintain their individuality.
The first episode has so much chaos and leaves you on the edge of your seat. But I spent a lot of time with one question I was dying to have answered and it was never made clear. Helen inexplicably dies at the same time the process is infecting everyone. I kept waiting for some sort of explanation, like her body rejected the change or something. While some fan theories haven’t ruled that out for future seasons, the most accepted theory was she fell backwards and cracked her head open. It just really bugged me a cause of death wasn’t flat out explained.

So Carol gets home and “The Others” reach out to explain things. They want to look after her and while reassuring her that her life is her own, they still want to fix things so she’ll join them.
In the midst of her grieving and burying Helen in her yard, The Others send a representative to check in on her. Zosia is a dead ringer for Carol’s character as she was originally conceived before she changed her pirate character to a man. Carol spends a lot of time early on refusing help and wanting to maintain her independence. Nothing exemplifies this more than her wanting to have the normal experience of shopping at Sprouts, her favorite grocery store. The shelves are completely barren because they no longer want to waste resources, but just for her, they completely restock the shelves in perfect unison. It’s super impressive but a little eerie.

Episode 2, she meets the English speaking people who’re immune to the change like her. Of course, she wants to rally them to fix things and they’re less than arguable. This is made worse when everyone learns that when Carol lashes out at The Others, they freeze and break into seizures. All 7 or so billion of them at the same time. The first time she does this, it kills millions of people.
Throughout the series, she butts heads with Lakshmi, whose son- probably 8 years old- had changed with everyone else so it puts his life at risk. Thanks to the hive mind, she’s always a phone call away from tearing her a new one. One of the other immune folks is kinda fascinating. He’s living the high life, hanging out in Vegas and mingling with all the women. When he and the immune folks meet Carol, they all hang out on Air Force One (which is brilliantly recreated by the set designers). But he’s very easygoing and makes some compelling points for why this is a good thing. Why he doesn’t jump at the chance to join them, I’m not sure. It never comes up but maybe he just enjoys maintaining his individuality. He cites how there’s no crime and more importantly, no prejudice. I don’t remember where he’s from originally, some African country. But that’s a very good point.

The series does hit a major speed bump though and things actually screech to a halt. It lasted a little too long for my liking.
Basically Carol oversteps in her search for answers. She figures out that they know how to reverse this whole thing but they refuse to give her answers. So much so it almost kills Zosia.
As a result, The Others evacuate New Mexico and Carol gets a voicemail whenever she tries to reach out of them. We hear it so many times that it’s just exhausting to hear the whole message repeated. They send her the items she requests via drone. She figures out during this time with more investigating that their diet is a Soylent Green situation except the people being consumed died of natural causes. The Others don’t kill or harm anything… even vegetation. So basically they are on track to die of starvation in a decade or so.
Carol finds some interesting ways to entertain herself in her isolation. While it’s on par with the comedic edge this series has, there’s just way too much screen time with zero dialogue.

The one thing that helps make it more digestible, if a little, is the series shifted to another of the immune individuals. One that Carol curses out from Air Force One and lives down in Paraguay. When the series still had dialogue, Carol made videos of her findings and sent them to the other immune people. He also gets one and is inspired to make a long perilous journey to meet her. Made more perilous by his absolute refusal to accept help from any of them.
It’s hard not to give the guy props. He’s very determined and self sufficient. Plus, each time he takes anything, he insists on paying for it, including his bills when his journey lands him in the hospital.

The final episode- so much happens when these two characters finally meet. By this time, Zosia comes back and she and Carol have been doing a lot hanging out. Thanks to technology, they overcome their language barrier. But Carol decides she’d rather get the girl than save the world.
For a while, things are peaceful and happy and life is good.
Unfortunately because this is Carol and it’s almost like it’s in her DNA to refuse to just be happy, she finds a significant flaw in this new relationship. The narrative of “your life is your own” shifts to “we’re going to convince you to join us”.
She returns and joins forces with her new friend to save the world. But we’re left with one unsolved mystery- what’s in the massive box that gets dropped off with her arrival? Considering she was given a live grenade because she asked for one, it could be something else along those lines… or it could be something completely different. We’ll have to wait at least a year to find out.

Speed bumps aside and Carol sometimes being hard to digest early on- her default setting is unpleasant and cynical- this was an interesting series to watch because it makes you think and it leaves a lot open to interpretation. Plus the man behind it also did Breaking Bad and Better Call Saul, so anyone who enjoyed those series will get into this. I saw neither and I liked it. It just might be a better realized version of The Host where earth is taken over by peaceful aliens but there’s a resistance force who lobbies against them. I didn’t enjoy that Stephenie Meyer book as much as Twilight and it reads slooow at times but the whole concept is fascinating. 

The idea of peaceful aliens taking over and possibly being the key to solving the flaws of humanity... it makes you think how great it would be. At the same time, it forces you to consider what things you're willing to sacrifice for it to happen. As of this point, no sacrifice seems to be worth any of it. 

Theatrical Review: GOAT

Date: Saturday, February 14 2026
Time: 12:20 (start time was 12:36)
Party: 2 (my sister and I)

Setting the Scene

It was Winterfest in East Stroudsburg where they place unique ice sculptures in front of the various small businesses around town. It was also the warmest weekend we'd had in months. It finally peaked into the 40's after several weeks of 20's and lows as low as -6.
Needless to say, it was CROWDED in town. We took the back roads up to a point and by the time we got to the theater, it was movie time.

I'm not sure if this is going to be a common thing now, but they had a sign saying to buy tickets at concession. They have a kiosk to pay by credit card or gift card. I don't know if it's laziness or they're short staffed or it's an elaborate trap to get people to spend money on refreshments when buying tickets. But I'm not really a fan of this approach. It's also kinda hard to choose your seats on the screen when the screen is upside down.
We got in when they were already into previews. There was nothing special. They had "Hoppers" for the zillionth time. Not sure if constantly doing ads during the Olympics is convincing more people to see it or it'll have the opposite effect.
"The Breadwinner" looks like a modern remake of "Mr. Mom" but they kicked the absurdity scale up to 11. I think it could've been a halfway decent movie if they didn't make the missteps look so ridiculous or overblown.
"Minions & Monsters"- I don't know if this is a sequel or a mid-quel or what. But my sister and I had seen nearly all of the Descipable movies so we'll see this one at some point, if only on cable. 
Then they had a trailer for a non-Miyazaki animé film with a really long title that I didn't have time to write it down.

The Movie

The two of us grew up with "Space Jam" and that was part of the reason my sister wanted to see this movie. Plus we like Steph Curry, more for him being behind "Holey Moley" than his skills on the basketball court.
Actually, we're not really big basketball fans. I've been filling out March Madness brackets since 2009 but that's basically it.
That is to say- you don't need to be a basketball fan or have any idea of the rules to be able to enjoy this movie. The game is technically called roarball and each of the teams in the conference plays on fields with different climates, including volcanos and glaciers. That in itself is a pretty cool twist on the game. 

Will Harris is a small medium goat with big dreams. He loves his hometown team, the Vineland Thorns and their top player Jett Fillmore, despite them not having won a championship in 50 years. That on its own is something a lot of sports fans can relate to, being devoted fans to a home team that isn't always playing their best.

Will is experiencing some other setbacks of his own- including falling back on his rent and ultimately getting booted out of his apartment by his landlord. A gerbil (played by Wayne Knight, making this his first basketball movie since Space Jam) with LOTS of mouths to feed.
At the local court, he gets into a match with the movie's antagonist, Mane. Although he comes up short, his friends had the foresight to film the game. The resulting edited video goes viral and it catches the attention of the owner of the Thorns. Ergo, Will gets drafted to become the 6th player of the team, much to the chargin of Jett and confusion of her teammates. 

As cool as Jett is- played to perfection by Gabrielle Union- it was a bit frustrating how long it took her to give Will a chance to even play. But much of her reluctance comes down to her own struggles and not wanting to be that player who's put out to pasture before their time.

The rest of the team has their individual quirks too and they're really fun characters. Archie the rhino is a single dad and his twin girls have some hilarious dialogue. Lenny the giraffe (played by Steph Curry) has a side hustle as a rapper. Olivia the ostrich is a little high-strung from too much scrolling on social media. And Modo the komodo dragon... he's easily the most memorable of the characters in the whole movie. He's so weird and out there with plenty of moments where you're either laughing or uncomfortable or a bizarre mix of both.

There'd been a number of animated movies in recent years featuring animals with human characteristics- Zootopia and Sing come to mind.
But while characters in those franchises mostly walk on two legs, the animals in this movie stand out. They still have that anthropomorphism thing going on but when they're angry, scared or even excited, they'll get down on all fours and act as you'd expect them to act if you'd seen them in nature. Jett does some cat things, including recoiling when someone hits her with a spray bottle. And Will has those goat clichés people either love or hate, depending on whether you think they're overdone. He also has this weird superpower where his eyes turn from circles to ovals and it helps him have better peripheral vision on the court. 

I'd commented how I'm not a big fan of Gen Z lingo being slowly incorporated into movies and things like cancel culture and social media. This movie takes these things and handles them really well. Except Will getting feedback at a press conference about outrage from the cockroach community after complaining his roomate's house is full of roaches... that joke just felt like cheap and throwaway. 

For the animation, it's very colorful and lively. At times, it almost feels overwhelming how much is happening on screen at once but I suppose kids who are already hyped up on sugar and whatnot will be into it. 
Our theater had a fair amount of kids in it and there was some laughing. But easily the best moment was at the end where one kid just starts cheering and a few moments later, the movie caught up to that amount of excitement. Plus there was a short round of applause at the end. 

Steph Curry had said how this movie is partially inspired by his own story. While I wouldn't call 6' 2" short, that is considerably short compared to most basketball players. There's a few little references to him. I'm sure I'd seen his "night night" victory pose on some commercial so I recognized it when Will did it during the scene the Thorns win their first game with him playing.

Overall, yeah, it was a fun movie. I'm glad we went out to see it. It did have its setbacks and its slow points, but the action is really good and there's a lot of heart with these characters. What's not to love about that small town underdog mentality?

Grade: B+