She-Ra, Star Wars, and the Road to Redemption

Trust is hard to win and easy to lose.

Been thinking about that in various shapes for a while now - can't imagine why - but trust is a thing as worth earning as it is easy to break. Inherent dangers of oversimplification accepted, I feel like this comes pretty close to a universal truth for multiple contexts, because it happens with things as well as people. Just ask any Star Wars fan how they feel about various trilogies in the saga and their journey to looking forward to (or not) new films over the years, and what percentage of that may or may not relate to "fixing" issues with previous installments (The Force Awakens literally opens with the line "This will begin to make things right."). Losing trust isn't always an ending, but it means you have to do the work of getting it back.

So, how does this relate to the kids cartoon about the magic sword lesbians?

Like the title says, it's a road.

EMMA. - Make Me a Match

Ang Lee's Sense and Sensibility. Joe Wright's Pride and Prejudice. Amy Heckerling's Clueless. And now, Autumn de Wilde's Emma.

Yeah, it's that good.

ONWARD - Highschool Fantasy

Me: "Well, I don't think there's any more abstract or inanimate object left for Pixar to make me cry over."

Pixar: "Here's a pair of magic pants."

Me: "Oh SUNUVA-"

WEATHERING WITH YOU - The Kids Are Alright

. . . Ok, so sometimes - just sometimes, mind you - I like anime.

Other times, I freakin' love it.

The Yearly Countdown: Fantastic Films of 2019

Tired reference to how the previous year was garbage, at least on a macro level, much like recent years before. Familiarly sarcastic observation that the coming year likely won't prove that much better, tinged with hope that we can make some kind of substantive change this time around. Obvious segue into how trying times leads us to take solace in the potent art of our times, which - in this case - includes a lot of movies.

Half-deprecating and half-heartfelt praise of the number of very good-to-great movies that released last year in spite of the festering problems of late capitalism on the film industry. Disclaimer that I've not seen all the movies I "ought to have" because of lack of time (sorry, The Farewell) or uncooperative release rollouts (see you in a couple weeks, 1917), but I don't feel like waiting until mid-spring to take stock.

All caught up? Cool. Let's talk about the movies of 2019 that kicked serious booty. Because there really were a lot of them.

STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER - Stumbling At the Finish

Endings are hard. Ask anyone who's invested in a long-running TV show or book series or, yes, film franchise. Stories like The Lord of the Rings or even the Harry Potter series are usually the exception to the rule, especially when you're dealing with a franchise spread across four decades being helmed by a half-a-dozen directors and a small army of writers, script doctors, and editors who had major hands in shaping the story.

Unfortunately, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker lands closer to The Dark Knight Rises than to even the original trilogy's Return of the Jedi. It's not bad, but it's over-stuffed and unfocused and winds up selling some of the dramatic turns of the previous two films short. It's rousing and exciting in the moment, but leaves little of substance after it departs.

Like I said, endings are hard.

FROZEN II and Letting Go of the Disney Princess

In 2013, Walt Disney Animation's Frozen, a long-in-development loose adaptation of "The Snow Queen," directed by Chris Buck (Disney's Tarzan) and Jennifer Lee (one of the lead writers on Wreck-It Ralph) debuted in theaters and hit its target audience like a nuclear bomb. The film became the House of Mouse's highest-grossing animated film of all time, grossing over 1.2 billion dollars (supplanting titans like The Lion King and Finding Nemo and Toy Story 3) and catapulting Queen Elsa of Arendelle to the status of "Most Beloved Disney Princess" of the modern age.

So, obviously, a sequel was not only inevitable, but it was sure to be the safest possible bet for the Walt Disney company. Right?

Well, yes.

. . . But also, not really.