Blue Giant (2023)

This title is better known for a manga series. Indeed, the film adaptation doesn't get its own Wikipedia page; it rates merely a few paragraphs on the manga's page. Nonetheless, it enjoys high ratings on IMDb and Rotten Tomatoes, so I got curious.

At 18, Dai (Yuki Yamada) moves in with long-time friend Shunji (Amane Okayama) in modern Tokyo, hoping to succeed as a largely self-taught saxophonist. He discovers Yukinori (Shotaro Mamiya), a same-age yet mature jazz pianist who started taking lessons at age four. They take to practicing together, and Shunji joins in as a complete tyro of a drummer. Despite Yukinori's misgivings, they perform publicly as a trio called JASS. (Hey, it's Japan, where many adults have never heard jazz.)

Are You There, God? It's Me, Margaret. (2023)

Judy Blume's classic was one of my favorite assigned reads in junior high. My sister probably liked it better still, and my mom has looked forward to seeing the movie. As it stands, I remembered enough to notice a few minor deviations, mostly to save screen time.

Margaret (Abby Ryder Fortson) is unhappy to move from New York City to New Jersey right before sixth grade begins, partly because it puts distance between her and her favorite grandma (Kathy Bates). In no time, classmate Nancy (Elle Graham) inducts her into a secret club with two other members (Amari Alexis Price and Katherine Kupferer). They mostly talk about matters of puberty, whether bodily changes or a growing interest in boys. Margaret also has a growing interest in religion, having been raised without one by a lapsed Christian mom (Rachel McAdams) and a lapsed Jewish dad (Benny Safdie). But it's hard for her to keep praying civilly when things don't go her way.

Thunderbolts* (2025)

When I first saw an ad for this, I didn't realize I already knew the teammates as prior supporting characters: Yelena (Florence Pugh) and the Red Guardian (David Harbour) from Black Widow; Bucky Barnes (Sebastian Stan), most prominently from the Captain America outings; Ghost (Hannah John-Kamen) from Ant-Man and the Wasp; and U.S. Agent (Wyatt Russell) from The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Most of them have only slightly enhanced abilities, and all have been jerks if not villains, but that didn't mean they wouldn't be fun to watch.

Another previous low profile comes to the fore as Val de Fontaine (Julia Louis-Dreyfus) is on the verge of losing her CIA directorship due to growing, justified suspicion of unethical activity for "the greater good," like a smilier Amanda Waller. She tries luring Yelena, Ghost, U.S. Agent, and Taskmaster (Olga Kurylenko) into a death trap to hide incriminating evidence. This scheme does not account for Bob Reynolds (Lewis Pullman), who initially appears to be a mere forgetful stoner mysteriously in the wrong place but has actually survived Val's otherwise abortive Sentry Project to attain untold powers. The gang shakily comes together in order to escape. Then they realize that with the Avengers scattered, they're the best hope for protecting Manhattan from Val's new wild-card superweapon.

Friday (1995)

Another movie starring a rapper already. It is the source of several memes and quotes I've known -- more than I realized, in fact. "Bye, Felicia" may be the most overrated line ever, but I still hoped to get something worthwhile out of the viewing.

In South Central L.A., Craig (Ice Cube) has just been fired, supposedly for an offense he didn't commit. Before he starts looking for work, his buddy Smokey (Chris Tucker) encourages him to relax for a day, partly with weed. This is a mistake, not least because Smokey, an ostensible dealer, has been using up his merchandise, and supplier Big Worm (Faizon Love) threatens to kill them both if he doesn't get $200 compensation in a matter of hours.

The King of Kings (2025)

Modern movies with a biblical focus tend to be either reputedly dippy or heretical if not blasphemous. From what I read, this would be neither. It gets high audience scores and mixed critic scores; Metacritic currently puts it below A Minecraft Movie. I figured I should watch it during Easter season, not knowing where it might stream later.

Charles Dickens himself (Kenneth Branagh) is reciting A Christmas Carol when his backstage family, especially King Arthur-obsessed son Walter (Roman Griffin Davis), accidentally causes disruptions. Wife Catherine (Uma Thurman) later talks Charles into telling Walter the story in a book in progress, The Life of Our Lord -- basically the Gospel packaged for children -- in lieu of punishment. The telling starts shortly before the birth of Jesus (voice in adulthood by Oscar Isaac) and ends right after the Resurrection, with brief interludes to explain the Fall and Passover.

Udaan (2010)

This is about the same length as my previous viewing, which makes it quite short as Indian movies go. It's also about as dramatic as my previous Indian viewing. Only afterward did I learn that the title means "Flight" in Hindi.

Upon expulsion from a boarding school, Rohan (Rajar Barmecha), 17, returns to widowed father Bhairav (Ronit Roy), whom he hasn't seen in eight years. Bhairav's minimalist annual letters had failed to mention his second marriage, the subsequent divorce, or Rohan's six-year-old half-brother, Arjun (Aayan Boradia). Rohan is jealously hostile to Arjun at first, but they bond in the shared crisis of their father's nastiness.

Apollo 13 (1995)

When I saw this in a theater at 13, I didn't like it much. It's big on crisis but not on visual spectacle, apart from a brief nightmare sequence. (The impressiveness of shooting in low gravity goes only so far.) Yesterday, I finally mustered the nerve to give it another try with adult eyes.

In 1970, Jim Lovell (Tom Hanks), Jack Swigert (Kevin Bacon), and Fred Haise (Bill Paxton) attempt to be the next men on the moon. They're not superstitious about the mission number, but Lovell expresses concern about Ken Mattingly (Gary Sinise) being swapped out for Swigert at the last minute because of a positive test for rubella. At first, the voyage is too plain for TV coverage. Things start going wrong on Day 3, when an oxygen tank explodes. Under flight director Gene Krantz (Ed Harris), NASA abandons hope of a lunar landing, and even getting them home alive looks highly improbable.

Entergalactic (2022)

I found this non-sci-fi's seemingly irrelevant title confusing, until I learned that it shares the name of the Kid Cudi album that provides the soundtrack. Clearly, this is not my usual scene. I chose to watch for the sake of something different.

New York graffiti artist Jabari (Cudi) is about to get a comic book line for his signature character, Mr. Rager (Keith David), tho his excitement is tempered by the publisher's desire to tone down the darkness. Taking more of his attention is his new partying apartment neighbor, Meadow (Jessica Williams). Neither acknowledges their level of mutual attraction until friends egg them on. Alas, Jabari's ex, Carmen (Laura Harrier), is discontent to be just a friend....

Out of Africa (1985)

Of the 92 Academy Best Pictures I've seen, this was the one I remembered least -- mainly just that Meryl Streep's fake accent was so thick the DVD had subtitles on by default. You may take that as a reason not to rewatch it, along with its reputation as perhaps the weakest link in the weakest decade for Best Pictures. (Those who praise '80s cinema usually don't have award-winning dramas in mind.) But I wanted a refresher, especially now that I've visited the same area of Africa myself. This time, I forwent the subtitles, without trouble.

In 1913, Danish future writer Karen Dinesin (Streep) marries Swedish baron Bror Blixen (Klaus Maria Brandauer) for convenience, planning to start a dairy in the Nairobi region of British East Africa. Bror alters the deal to a coffee farm without consulting Karen, unaware of the difficulty of growing coffee at high altitude. This is one of many signs that they will never fully love or trust each other. As Bror is rarely home and Karen finds undeniable signs that he sleeps around, she herself strays to his fellow hunter, Denys Hatton (Robert Redford).

Moana 2 (2024)

I would have seen this in a theater if only it had a better reception. Nearly everyone deems it not on the same tier as its predecessor, and some make it out to be borderline rotten. But since I enjoyed Frozen II for all its flaws, M2 looked like a fair bet for me.

Moana (Auliʻi Cravalho), now 19, retains popularity on Motunui as a successful wayfinder, but she won't rest on her laurels. A mystical message tells her to search for Motufutu, an ancestral island that storm god Nalo (Tofiga Fepulea'i) sank out of sheer spite. As soon as a human touches it, the curse will be broken and many Polynesians can unite there. Since divine hero Maui (Dwayne Johnson) isn't exactly on call, Moana sets out without him at first, albeit with a lot more company than before: Moni (Hualalai Chung), a Maui-idolizing young historian; Loto (Rose Matafeo), an enthused engineer who seems to have been born in the wrong century; and Kele (David Fane), a reluctant elderly curmudgeon who doesn't trust anyone else to keep the edible plants for the crew. Eventually, they'll go where the sentient ocean can't protect them.