D23: So Many Trailers From The Weekend

D23, which his essentially Disney’s version of Comic-Con or similar pop culture brouhahas. It was a massive unveiling of news, trailers, casting, release dates, and all the related accouterments. As usual, it was a lot; some of it interesting, some of it less so. But we did get our first glimpses at a bunch of stuff that will dominate the bulk of the conversation for the next few years. 

'Jungle Cruise' (2021) Movie Review

One thing I did not expect was for Disney’s Jungle Cruise, their latest cinematic adaptation of one of a classic theme park rides, to begin with an orchestral arrangement of a Metallica song. But here were are, and that’s as edgy as this movie ever gets.

'Cruella' (2021) Movie Review

The first hour of Cruella, Disney’s latest attempt to retcon an iconic villain from one of their classic animated films into a sympathetic character, is actually pretty fun. Full of over-the-top costumes, elaborately staged heists, and adorable puppers, it’s a campy Goodfellas by way of The Favourite. (Favourite scribe Tony McNamara worked on the script, so that makes a great deal of sense.) It’s energetic, visually arresting, and, despite being completely unnecessary and awkwardly forced, does a marginal enough job of humanizing Cruella de Vil, the two-toned, dog-hating antagonist from 101 Dalmatians.

'The Mandalorian' Trailer: The First Look At The 'Star Wars' Bounty Hunter Saga

“Bounty hunting is a complicated profession, don’t you agree?” So says the only dialogue spoken in the first trailer Disney+’s upcoming The Mandalorian, delivered with laconic, laissez faire style by the one and only Werner Herzog. And that’s all it needs. And I am all the damn way in. Check it out below.

'Moana' (2016) Movie Review

Diversity and empowerment took a swift shot recently, which is why Disney’s latest animated offering, Moana, couldn’t have arrived at a better time. But it’s also more than just a welcome respite from the ugliness currently popping up with alarming frequency outside. It’s also an epic adventure, the type that girls and young women—and young people in general—everywhere are sure to imagine themselves embarking on.

Movie Review: 'Zootopia'

Disney Animation’s Zootopia is a gorgeous, brightly colored visual spectacle; a sweet, moving tale of friendship and acceptance; a shadowy, noir-style crime story; and some of the greatest on-screen world building in recent memory. Oh yeah, it’s also a sharp, pointed, timely indictment of systemic racism and deeply ingrained, largely unspoken intolerance in our society. All told through adorable, relatable, anthropomorphic animals wearing clothes and acting, at times, uncomfortably human. There is so much more going on here than just another “cute” animated feature—cute is also something of a racial slur in the world of Zootopia.

'Tomorrowland' Movie Review

As much a I love dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and otherwise bleak science fiction—that’s kind of my jam if you missed my giddy excitement for Mad Max: Fury Road—the darkness and weight can get overwhelming from time to time. So I certainly understand where director Brad Bird and writer Damon Lindelof are coming from with Tomorrowland, trying to provide a more hopeful vision of the future. Unfortunately, I wish they’d stayed where they were instead of developing this smarmy, too-proud-of-itself movie.