The Wild Robot (2024)

With no home Net connection last night, I could think of no better way to pass time than by going to a movie theater. And no other showings at that time tempted me. The premises of this one didn't sound particularly creative, but the reception has been magnificent, even if I happened to have the theater to myself.

An accident in transit leaves a commercial robot, ROZZUM Unit 7134 (Lupita Nyong'o), stranded on a forested, seemingly North American island with no human residents. She studies and masters the language of the animals but still gets no takers on her offer of assistance. She prepares to signal her manufacturer, Universal Dynamics, for pickup, but then an orphaned gosling runt (Boone Storme, later Kit Connor) imprints on her, effectively assigning her to raise him until he can migrate. The gosling, eventually called Brightbill, becomes almost as much of a misfit as his widely feared "mom." But as the task requires protocol overrides, "Roz" learns to care about him as much more than an obligation, and Brightbill can't resent her for long.

Us (2019)

Another Monkeypaw Production already. I didn't set out to do this; it was simply the next horror I found on Netflix. And it got a somewhat better reception.

Adelaide Wilson (Lupita Nyong'o, getting top billing for the first time I've seen) is reluctant to go with husband Gabe (Winston Duke) and their children, teen Zora (Shahadi Wright Joseph) and preteen Jason (Evan Alex), on vacation to Santa Cruz, because that's where she developed childhood PTSD from an encounter with an identical girl. Her anxiety increases as she notices coincidences. Gabe doesn't take any of this seriously until around the midpoint, when doubles of the entire family show up -- with murderous intentions.

Black Panther: Wakanda Forever (2022)

The writers of this Marvel Cinematic Universe entry had their work cut out for them with the passing of Chadwick Boseman. I'm not surprised that the general reception has been middling. Still, I've enjoyed superhero flicks with lower ratings, and this one has and is in the running for a lot of awards. I decided to stream it in between my viewings of pictures that don't promise much fun.

A year after her son dies of an unspecified illness, Queen Ramonda (Angela Bassett, up for an Oscar) has not kept his promise of sharing Wakanda's seemingly unmatched tech with the rest of the world, because national governments aren't exactly proving themselves trustworthy. Brilliant MIT undergrad Riri Williams (Dominique Thorne) develops a vibranium detector, and U.S. operatives use it to find some in the sea -- only to get massacred by aquatic mutants from an even more secretive and xenophobic kingdom, Talokan. The Talokan king, familiarly known as Namor (Tenoch Huerta), demands that Wakanda capture Riri for him or face his wrath. Not keen on his idea of justice, Princess Shuri (Letitia Wright) and General Okoye (Danai Gurira) set out to protect Riri. It becomes clear that Namor plans war against surface dwellers around the world but perceives enough commonality to offer an alliance with Wakanda. Shuri strongly disagrees with his campaign, but she has her own anger issues to work through soon enough.

Star Wars, Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker (2019)

Boy, how unpopular does a modern Star Wars movie have to be for me to wait more than two years to check it out? This isn't even a stand-alone; it's the conclusion of the numbered series, and I'd hate to end my knowledge with the unresolved prior episode. Well, what finally spurred me to watch it was a set of diminishing options for passing time on my flight. Most of the remaining movies were either unknown to me, even more panned, or not suited to my mood at the time.

One of the first things we learn is something I never saw coming: Emperor Palpatine (Ian McDiarmid) is back, and not as a ghost. He claims credit for directing the First Order behind the scenes and corrupting Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), whom he now bids kill the last Jedi, Rey (Daisy Ridley). As impressive as Rey was before, she feels that she has a lot to learn before taking on Palpatine. Good thing she still has plenty of allies, old and new, and Kylo isn't as committed as he once was.

The Jungle Book (2016)

Being between disc deliveries and aware that this movie would stop streaming soon, I gave it priority. I hadn't been sure I would ever see it, since I'm not keen on Disney (re-)remaking its own classics. But it does get online ratings to rival if not best the 1967 full animation, and it didn't look like a total retread in ads.

Not that it's much if any closer to the Rudyard Kipling story collection either. The focus remains on pre-adolescent "man cub" Mowgli (Neel Sethi) living among wolves until semi-guardian panther Bagheera (Ben Kingsley) compels him to leave for a village before misanthropic tiger Shere Khan (Disney favorite Idris Elba), thought to be a match for the entire pack, can hunt him down. After some trouble separates Mowgli from Bagheera, he meets sloth bear Baloo (Bill Murray), who wants him to stay in the jungle as a comrade, lest he become just like other humans. Further complicating the question of what to do is Shere Khan's threat to the wolf pack if Mowgli should escape for good.

Black Panther (2018)

Two years ago, I would've had reservations about an adaptation of a character who clearly came out of the blaxploitation era. Thankfully, not only did his screen debut in Captain America: Civil War show how promisingly cool he was, but TV's Luke Cage reassured me that Marvel blaxploitation could avoid looking like old-fashioned moderate racism.

Although Prince T'Challa of Wakanda (Chadwick Boseman) had already donned the royal stylized catsuit, only in this movie does he officially become king and take the Black Panther title, along with a substance that enhances his physical abilities. Soon afterward, he learns of a murderous international museum heist that put secret Wakandan technology in the hands of smuggler Klaw (a hammy Andy Serkis), and he assembles a team to recover it at a rendezvous intended for a black-market sale. Naturally, a mere illegitimate businessman could hardly be the main villain in a work like this; he has a temporary partner with a vision for the global future....

Star Wars, Episode VIII: The Last Jedi (2017)

So yeah, we've made a family tradition of watching current Star Wars movies on Christmas. Never my mom's first choice, but it beats our previous tradition of dark musicals in my book.

Picking up right where Episode VII left off, Rey (Daisy Ridley) has found the hiding place of Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) and wants him to train her so she can contribute better to the war. But Luke has grown bitter and disenchanted with Jedi ways and dreads the possibility of creating another Vader-esque Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), who has some Force-related connection to Rey. Meanwhile, despite its previous victory, the Resistance is weakening and struggles to retreat from a First Order bent on eradicating it.

Queen of Katwe (2016)

Ads for this movie jumped out at me because, for the first time to my knowledge, Disney was portraying native sub-Saharan African humans. Specifically set in Uganda, with a number of authentic Ugandans, tho they had to settle for South African backdrops and cast members much of the time. I appreciate that most of the actors, regardless of age, had little to no prior experience, so they probably gained a bit. And we the viewers lose nothing from it.

The story covers in brief the adolescence of real-life Phiona Mutesi (herein played by Madina Nalwanga) from 2007 to 2012. Coming from one of the poorest families in one of the poorest regions of an overall poor country, she doesn't expect to make much of her life. Then missionary Robert Katende (David Oyelowo) discovers her talent for chess and encourages her to compete as far as she can. Of course, in true Disney fashion, her mother (Lupita Nyong'o, evidently employed only by Disney nowadays), not without reason, does not readily see the value in having her stray from her assumed position in the world. And Phiona herself repeatedly doubts her worth.

Star Wars, Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)

I considered skipping this review, because it's quite likely that you've already formed your opinion from multiple other reviews if not the movie itself by now. But it's also quite likely that you'll take more interest in this subject than in my usual fare, so why not? And it's not like I never read what other people say about what I've already seen.

In a way, TFA is inherently sad from the get-go: Only a generation after the end of the Empire, the galaxy faces an equal if not worse threat called the First Order. General Leia (no longer going by "Princess") naturally leads the Resistance, but Luke Skywalker has lain low for so long that many think him a mere legend, Han Solo and Chewbacca have been up to their old smuggling and other shenanigans more than heroism, R2D2 has been inert in Luke's absence, and C3PO is only so useful without R2. Taking more of the spotlight now are Rey, who resembles a young female Luke with a bit more fire; FN-2187, nicknamed Finn, a rookie stormtrooper disenchanted with the First Order's cruelty; BB-8, a diminutive droid carrying an important map; and Poe, a pilot and BB-8's master. The most prominent villain for now is Kylo Ren, an open Darth Vader wannabe who may actually outdo Vader's command of the Force. Where is the Jedi who can hold his or her own against him?