“This is not going to end well.”

I can’t tell you how telling that quote was for me. At least the movie has a catchy opening song in “Everything Goes With Blue,” courtesy of Smurfette, a.k.a. Rihanna, who voices the character. Interesting detail: all Smurfs movies from the 21st century have had Smurfette voiced by a famous singer. In The Smurfs (2011) and its sequel The Smurfs 2 (2013), Katy Perry voiced the character. In Smurfs: The Lost Village (2017), Demi Lovato provided the voice, and in this 2025 reboot, she is voiced by Rihanna. Another interesting detail: this marks Rihanna’s second animated movie she has lent her voice to, with the first being Home (2015), which was released 10 years earlier.
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“Again, history repeats itself. And, uh, I mean, let’s talk about 1956. Let’s talk about the number 56 for just one minute. In California, Jesuit-educated Gavin Newsom. And he said to California, as he became the first governor to lock down his state, he said, “56% of you will get Corona in eight weeks”. Which is exactly 56 days. Of course, they keep looking at that lab in Wuhan, China. And if you look at that lab in Wuhan when it was established, it was 1956. Of course, that’s the year Tom Hanks was born, the first celebrity with the virus. Mr. Sleepless In Seattle. By the way, Jenny Durkan was the mayor of Seattle when it became the first city in the world outside of China to have someone get the virus. And she was the 56th mayor.” 

Remember COVID 19? remember all the crazy theories that went around? Remember the circular logic? In so many ways the months of the pandemic and lockdowns, social distance, mask mandates, and debating if going to religious services is considered essential activities — all of that feels like it was a million years ago in some dark prehistory. But then it feels so raw and tender even now. Hell, I still encounter people wearing masks out there, and I think the National Teacher’s Association still isn’t sure we should be letting our kids go to school.
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“I like it when people underestimate me. It gives me an edge.”

Much like the current thinking about our universe, it all started with The Big Bang Theory. The breakout character there was Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons. For 279 episodes, television fans just couldn’t get enough. That was until Parsons asked for a huge boatload of cash and the show ended. The character was not finished. A spin-off called Young Sheldon debuted with Ian Armitage starring as a very young Sheldon, as the name implies. It’s pretty much an origin story. Parsons returned, but only to provide the show’s narration in a The Wonder Years kind of presentation.
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“It wasn’t a dream; at least that’s what I believe. The thing is I felt hurt and plenty sad, and there were times when I thought I couldn’t go on. But I know I’m not the only one suffering. I want to protect everyone’s future. I need to keep pushing forward. I feel that more every day.”

Ultraman is a huge part of Japanese culture and pretty much has been since the original live-action show in 1966. Perhaps Godzilla started the ball rolling, but Ultraman brought us these monsters on a regular basis. In Japan, Ultraman is like our Superman. He’s an iconic hero and a huge part of the pop culture. Since the 60’s he has appeared in many forms, most of them animated. But it is this 1966 series that made a ton of us kids fall in love with him and an entire genre. Yes, there were many from the era: Space Giants featured a giant fighting robot who fought monsters and sometimes converted into a spaceship (yes, before transformers were ever thought of)
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“There are no industry secrets. We can always meet our life partner out in the wild or swiping on apps, but the happy ending to a first date is not the second date. It’s changing each other’s diapers and burying each other. You’re looking for a nursing home partner and a grave buddy. Who our partner is, it determines our whole life and how we live not for one, two, ten years, but forever.” 

Celine Song delivers her second feature film from the director’s chair. She returns to basically the same themes of a woman trying to decide her romantic destiny between two men, but this isn’t the same film as Past Lives. Materialists is a much more serious film, while still playing in the same gene pool as the rom-com. I don’t think you’ll find yourself laughing in this one, and it’s a rather clever way of presenting those same themes and ideas. In Materialists, we’re introduced to romance being distilled down to a mathematical equation
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“Since 1970 a rogue group known as UFO Sweden has been investigating unexplained phenomena. This story is inspired by that determination to answer humanity’s ultimate question: Are we alone?” 

Watch The Skies was originally released in Sweden, and it wasn’t in English. The filmmakers discovered there was a process out there that could make their film more globally accessible. Many foreign language films find their way to film critics, and while we might have a better tolerance for subtitles, it can still take away from the experience. While dubbing can also be very much a distraction, I find that if I must read the dialog, I’m not able to notice the subtleties of filmmaking such as cinematography, performances, production design, and other elements that build atmosphere and make many of these films the great gems they might be.
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So, I don’t want to make this film out to be more than it was intended to be, a movie intended to capitalize on the nostalgia of Pitch Perfect fans by bringing together three of its stars (Rebel Wison and Anna Camp of the original trilogy, as well as Gigi Zumbado appeared in Pitch Perfect 2) in what amounted to a lackluster comedy. In addition, the film was to capitalize on residual popularity of Rebel Wilson, who won over so many with her quick wit and unique brand of humor. However, the film came off as more of a mash-up of already-seen Rebel Wilson movies, specifically Bridesmaids and The Hustle. And while I commend Rebel Wilson’s nunchuck skills as well as most of her own stunts in the film and her commitment to filming despite getting injured on the final day of filming, this wasn’t a movie that really did it for me. There wasn’t enough originality to keep my interest. The plot essentially felt like a rehash of another average wedding flick that shotgunned a hostage situation. Even with the addition of Justin Hartley and Stephen Dorff, this film felt like more like a direct-to-streaming movie than a theatrical release.
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This episode collection was all right with me, but in the eyes of my son, it could do no wrong, and as he is the one actually in the age demographic, this will be the one time where I defer to the opinion of a three-year-old. In this ten-episode collection, Marshall takes charge and leads the pups from everything from a blaze at a lemonade stand to saving a lost penguin. This disc marks the first time that my son has willingly sat through the watching of something from start to finish. It’s not all that surprising, as he was a fan of the series before this disc, but I still found it significant, because he does remain selective about which episodes he watches. Fortunately, Marshall is among his favorite of the crew, especially now that Rubble is off doing his own thing. Luckily, Rubble also featured in this episode collection, so my son got the best of both worlds.
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In 1887, readers of the popular periodical Beeton’s Christmas Annual were to receive quite a special treat. There wasn’t much fanfare or hype to the event. Inside the pages of the magazine was a story called A Study In Scarlet. It was a detective story, perhaps like many published before, except for the detective himself, a certain Mr. Sherlock Holmes. Together with his faithful companion and chronicler Dr. Watson, Holmes would win the hearts of those holiday readers. It might have been an ordinary day, but the world was about to change. Sherlock Holmes would become the most famous detective in the world. His stories would remain in print nearly 130 years later. Over 100 films would be made featuring the character. There would be television shows and cartoon spoofs. No other character has appeared in more productions.
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