Stubs - Toy Story 5

Toy Story 5 (2026) voices Tom Hanks, Tim Allen, Joan Cusack, Conan O'Brien, Scarlett Spears, Greta Lee, Shelby Rabara, Mykal-Michelle Harris, Craig Robinson, Frank Welker. Directed by Andrew Stanton. Screenplay by Andrew Stanton, Kenna Harris Produced by Lindsey Collins, Jessica Choi Run Time: 102 minutes. Color. USA Animated, Adventure, Comedy

The toys are back in town and it’s good to see them.

Honestly, I was a little nervous about this film, based on fears that the Toy Story franchise would eventually run out of steam. But after 31 years, I’m happy to say that it can still make me cry.

Toy Story 3 (Film)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story, Toy Story 2 and Toy Story 3.

While a third entry to the popular Toy Story franchise would seem inevitable due to high box office returns, Toy Story 3 had quite a rough development. The short version is that, due to the distribution contract Pixar had signed, Disney owned the rights to all of their characters and could make sequels for any of their films, which strained the relationship between the two companies. Disney would push forward with their own Toy Story 3, to be produced by new studio Circle Seven Animation, for a 2008 release. Disney’s acquisition of Pixar, however, placed Disney Animation under new management, Ed Catmull and John Lasseter, with Circle Seven shutting down shortly after and sequel production transferred to Pixar. Pixar would craft a whole new story, which would eventually see the light of day as the final version of Toy Story 3 in 2010. Although the film would cost about $200 million to create, making it one of the most expensive films ever made at the time, it was the first animated film to make over $1 billion, even becoming the highest-grossing animated film ever until Frozen, and would receive numerous nominations and awards, including an Oscar for Best Animated Feature and Best Original Song (“We Belong Together”).

At the time the film came out, when I was in high school, I felt cautious optimism going in; optimism from Pixar’s flawless track record up to then and caution from how the third film in a series usually isn’t as good as the first two. Fortunately, it stuck the landing as perhaps the perfect ending to the trilogy (with not a dry eye in the audience by the time the credits rolled). Admittedly, I hadn’t seen this entry as much in the interim, partly due to the devastating emotional core and some rather heavy imagery, but by the time I finished watching it now, over 15 years later, I remembered why it had left an impact at the time it had come out. However, I had also forgotten how intense it could be at the same time.

Second Opinion - Toy Story

Note: This review contains spoilers for Toy Story.

Back in 1995, years before the studio tied the knot with Disney, Pixar made history with Toy Story, the first ever completely CGI animated film. Its impact on the animation industry, for better or worse, cannot be understated, as it revolutionized the medium and opened up more of its potential. The most impressive thing about the film, however, isn’t that it spawned an ongoing multimedia franchise or made a lasting mark on pop culture through iconic characters and moments, but that even over 30 years later, despite the animation showing its age, it still holds up as one of the studio’s best films and among the best that the medium has to offer.

The Super Mario Galaxy Movie

Note: This review contains spoilers for The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

The success of 2023’s The Super Mario Bros. Movie, grossing over $1 billion on a $100 million budget, would naturally justify a sequel, announced one year later and released in 2026. Despite animation studio Illumination’s track record for the inconsistent quality of their output, I still enjoyed The Super Mario Bros. Movie (in spite of its flaws) and felt growing hype as the sequel, The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, drew closer, enough that I finally played the original game that it was based on, Super Mario Galaxy. Although some skepticism and negative critic reviews popped up during the lead-in to the film’s release, I felt that I should see first-hand how it shaped up compared to the original. Unfortunately, for every enjoyable element, there is something that holds it back from greatness.

Dispatch (PC)

During the 2000s and especially the 2010s, Telltale games made a name for themselves with classic point-and-click adventure games, as well as choice-driven narratives. Unfortunately, they wouldn’t last forever and eventually went bankrupt in 2018. Although the studio would come back soon after, some of their former talent rose from the ashes and formed their own studios, one of which was the LA-based AdHoc Studio, specifically formed with those who had worked on Telltale’s The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and Tales from the Borderlands. Early on, AdHoc were hired to work on a live-action superhero workplace comedy, which got scrapped due to the COVID-19 pandemic. They didn’t want their work to go to waste, however, so they repurposed the idea into the choice-based narrative game known as Dispatch.

When I had first heard of the game at the 2024 Game Awards, the concept grabbed my attention enough that I played the demo when it released in early 2025. I loved it enough that I bought the game Day 1 on Steam, but couldn’t get around to it immediately thanks to my focus on Silent Hill f, so I didn’t get to really experience the episodic release schedule, two episodes a week for four weeks, in real time. When I did get to Dispatch, however, I thought that AdHoc had made a very strong first impression, one that can only improve from here.

Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: At a Confessional

Following the release of Rohan at the Louvre, I continued to keep up with the live-action Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan (TSKR) drama as it became available in English, and remain a big fan of it for how well it translates the world of JoJo’s Bizarre Adventure to live-action. When another film based on the series, Thus Spoke Kishibe Rohan: At a Confessional (At a Confessional) (JP: Kishibe Rohan wa Ugokanai Zange-shitsu), was announced, this time based on the original At a Confessional manga one-shot that started the spin-off manga, I was instantly hyped for it, both as someone who read the one-shot and watched the OVA adaptation, and based on how well Rohan at the Louvre turned out. This hype was instantly all but completely shattered as soon as I heard about how the music was handled (more on that later), but I still wanted to see it anyway once it became available in the US. Now that I’ve finally seen it through Amazon Prime Video, while I did think it was worth the wait to see it in English, it overall falls just shy of Rohan at the Louvre.

Elio

I hate to say this about a studio that I loved growing up, but the 2020s have not been kind to Pixar. Although they’ve had hits with Soul and Luca, duds like Lightyear and, to a lesser extent, Elemental have stood out far more than they would have in the past. This feeling perhaps contributed to my lack of motivation to see Elio, their latest release, based on both the original 2023 teaser and revised 2024 teaser, the latter of which had occurred due to a test screening in which not a single person said they liked it enough to watch it in a theater. My apathy felt justified when, despite the revised direction and positive critical reception, the film had bombed at the box office, making only $154 million on a budget of about $150-200 million. Of course, we remained undeterred in our streak of viewing every single Pixar film in some form or another and finally gave it a try when it hit Disney+. Sadly, although I did like it a little more than I thought I would, I still thought while the credits rolled that I would have felt ripped off if I had paid for the full theatrical experience.

ENA: Dream BBQ Chapter 1 - Lonely Door

In 2020, Peruvian animator Joel G released the first episode of ENA, an avant-garde comedy that mixes 2D and 3D animation with surrealist inspiration. Although I had been aware of the project since around its initial release, I never actually watched it, as I had no idea of its content and didn’t realize until writing this review that its first season not only had just four episodes, but clocked in at under an hour total. Still, I was aware of its notoriety when I stumbled across the free official video game, ENA: Dream BBQ, on Steam when it launched back in March. Once I finally had the time to play it for myself, marking my first true introduction to the series, I found myself wishing I had played it sooner, as it contained a lot of the creative energy that I’ve found lacking in the wider gaming industry and felt like it was tailor made just for me.

A Minecraft Movie

Note: This review contains spoilers for A Minecraft Movie.

What happens when you make a movie based on a video game with no story? Markus “Notch” Persson tried to find out in 2014 when his company, Mojang, struck with a deal with Warner Bros. to develop Minecraft, Persson’s creation and currently the best-selling video game of all time. As with many Hollywood projects, however, the project went through development hell for nearly a decade, surviving several personnel changes both at Warner Bros. and at Mojang, including Microsoft purchasing the company and Persson subsequently stepping down. Finally, in 2022, production finally went into full swing, with filming conducted in 2024 and the final release in 2025. Although the film received mixed reception from critics, with a 48% on Rotten Tomatoes, it still earned just shy of $1 billion at the box office against a budget of $150 million. A rather impressive feat.

Although I had some experience with Minecraft, I didn’t really watch it out of any genuine excitement. The first trailer left a bad impression between its use of The Beatles’ “Magical Mystery Tour” and editing that didn’t contain a single trace of sincerity. The following trailers did a better job with showing the actual plot and comedic tone, but did little to wash out the sour taste left by the initial reveal. Of course, when the movie succeeded despite expectations, it gained awareness not for any indication of quality, but from the memes that spawned from it, including the infamous “Chicken Jockey” trend that caused headaches for theaters and the employees who had to clean up huge messes, not helped by how director Jared Hess didn’t really discourage the behavior (he did benefit from the increased ticket sales, after all). The non-zero possibility of witnessing such chaos firsthand discouraged me from seeing in the theater, even if I really wanted to, so I didn’t consider it until I could stream it on HBO Max, free from spills, live chickens or rowdy theatergoers, if only to see what all the fuss was about. About 100 minutes later, I walked away fully convinced that such an average film’s success came entirely from memes, for better or worse.

Stubs - Caveman

Caveman (1981) starring Ringo Starr, Barbara Bach, Dennis Quaid, Shelley Long, John Matuszak. Directed by Carl Gottlieb. Screenplay by Rudy De Luca, Carl Gottlieb. Produced by Lawrence Turman, David Foster. Run time: 91 minutes. Color.  Mexico, US. Comedy, Adventure

To quote the late character actor Edmund Gwenn, who on is deathbed supposedly said, “Dying is easy. Comedy is hard.” That might have been a clue for Lawrence Turman, one of the producers of Caveman. Around 1978, Turman saw comedian Buddy Hackett in a caveman loincloth in a sketch on the ''Tonight Show'' and thought: ''Wouldn't it be a great idea to do a prehistoric comedy?''. He said: ''As a kid, I loved the film 'One Million Years B.C.' [1966] and the thought of doing a picture like that, using the same wardrobe and the same language, but played for laughs, seemed like a great idea.''

Moana 2

Note: This review contains spoilers for Moana and Moana 2.

The success of Moana in 2016 meant an inevitable follow-up. In 2020, Disney originally announced such a follow-up as Moana: The Series, a five-episode long-form musical comedy series meant for Disney+ in 2023. During development, however, the team kept getting asked about putting it on the big screen to the point that in January 2024, the project had officially pivoted to a theatrical sequel with the original cast reprising their roles. Although the final film, Moana 2, released in November 2024 to mixed reviews, it still made over $1 billion against its budget of $150 million (a massive profit unless Disney’s accountants somehow believe otherwise). Based on word of mouth, I (fittingly) waited for the eventual Disney+ release so I could see the finished product for myself without potentially wasting good money watching it in a theater. As it turns out, Moana 2 really feels like five episodes of a TV series stapled together, making it the modern equivalent to the likes of Atlantis: Milo’s Return.

Sonic Unleashed (PS3)

Note: This review contains spoilers for Sonic Unleashed.

Back in 2005, Sonic Team had conceived a third Adventure entry called Sonic World Adventure, though development wouldn’t start until after the critically panned Sonic the Hedgehog (2006) (Sonic ’06). As development continued, with no set completion date and coinciding with the creation of the Hedgehog Engine, enough innovations distinguished the game from the Adventure style, including the addition of Sonic transforming into a “Werehog” during nighttime, that the title changed to Sonic Unleashed (Unleashed). Additionally, the game saw two separate builds in active development, one for HD consoles (PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360) and one for the previous generation (PlayStation 2 and Wii). Both builds of the game would launch to mixed reception from fans and critics, with more favorable scores given to the PS2 and Wii builds, though Unleashed would gain more of a cult following over the years and now has a more positive reputation than before (though this opinion isn’t universal).

As for my own experience with the game, I remember getting excited for it after the disastrous Sonic ’06 (which I may still review in the future) to the point that I played the free demo. Upon playing it as a sixteen-year-old, however, I found myself getting stuck too often because, quite frankly, I sucked at it and had a hard time finding certain items to continue very far in the game. Seeing that the fanbase had warmed up to it more, however, made me curious enough that, right after I finished Sonic Colors: Ultimate (Colors), I gave Unleashed another chance. Now at about double the age at which I had played it initially, I found myself liking it a bit more and I could see some of what fans liked about it. However, as it dragged on, I found that the final design had also held itself back from reaching its full potential, no thanks to its technical issues in the final stretch, the Medal mechanic and, most of all, those Werehog Stages.

Stubs - Red One

Red One (2024) starring Dwayne Johnson, Chris Evans, Lucy Liu, J. K. Simmons. Directed by Jake Kasdan. Screenplay by Chris Morgan. Produced by Hiram Garcia, Dwayne Johnson, Dany Garcia, Chris Morgan, Jake Kasdan, Melvin Mar. Run time: 123 minutes. Color. USA Christmas, Action, Mystery, Comedy, Adventure

Have you ever watched a movie and wondered who the intended target audience was? That was my reaction while watching Red One, an attempt at making Dwayne Johnson into a holiday tradition, when I watched it recently on Amazon Prime. Good thing it was free to watch.

Tokyo Godfathers

Note: This review contains spoilers for Tokyo Godfathers

Satoshi Kon, arguably one of Japan’s greatest anime film directors, was an absolute master of his craft, taking full advantage of hand-drawn animation by seamlessly blending fantasy and reality in ways that only that medium can. However, even though he had primarily directed dramas and psychological thrillers, in the case of Paranoia Agent even tackling various societal issues, his third feature, 2003’s Tokyo Godfathers, stands out from the rest of catalogue. Not only does it downplay the blending of fantasy and reality, it’s actually his most grounded work and, taking inspiration from the 1948 film 3 Godfathers, is more sentimental and uplifting. Despite this contrast with other works, however, Satoshi Kon never lost his unique touch and made a film worthy of adding to a Christmas rotation.

Stubs - X-Men: Apocalypse

X-Men: Apocalypse (2016) Starring James McAvoy, Michael Fassbender, Jennifer Lawrence, Oscar Isaac, Nicholas Hoult, Rose Byrne, Tye Sheridan, Sophie Turner, Olivia Munn, Lucas Till. Directed by Bryan Singer. Screenplay by Simon Kinberg. Based on X-Men by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby, Apocalypse by Louise Simonson, and  Jackson Guice. Produced by Simon Kinberg, Bryan Singer, Hutch Parker, Lauren Shuler Donner. Run time 144 minutes. Color. USA. Superhero, Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi

What happened?

Even before X-Men: Days of Future Past (2013) was even released, the followup was already in the planning stages. According to director Bryan Singer, the next film would concentrate on the origins of the X-Men and feature younger actors in the roles of Cyclops, Jean Grey, and Storm. The idea was to complete the trilogy of X-Men films that began with X-Men: First Class (2011) and would take place in 1983, 20 years after First Class and ten years after Days of Future Past.

Filming began on April 27, 2015 with Singer back in the director’s chair in Montreal, Canada and production would last until late August, with additional filming in January 2016. The film was released on May 6, 2016 in London and not until May 27 in the U.S.

Stubs - X-Men: The Last Stand

 

X-Men: The Last Stand aka X-Men III (2006) starring: Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, Ian McKellen. Directed by Brett Ratner. Screenplay by Simon Kinberg, Zak Penn Based on the comic book series X-Men created by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby. Produced by Lauren Shuler Donner, Ralph Winter, Avi Arad Run time: 104 minutes. Color. United Kingdom, United States. Adventure, Science Fiction

Following the success of X2 (2003), it seemed only natural that there would be a third film in the series. However, the director of the previous two films wasn’t all that interested in pursuing it. Singer stated that he "didn't fully have X-Men 3 in my mind" and was more interested in making the next Superman film, Superman Returns (2006) at Warner Bros.

Finding a replacement was not easy. Hugh Jackman's contract included the approval of director, and the job was offered to Darren Aronofsky, with whom he had just finished filming on The Fountain (2006). But Aronofsky was not the last person to be offered the position. Joss Whedon, Rob Bowman, Alex Proyas, Zack Snyder, Peter Berg, and Guillermo del Toro were all approached, but had other projects that kept them from taking the job.

In February 2005, even without a director, Fox announced the film’s release date (May 5, 2006) and that production would start in July 2005. A month later, it was announced that Matthew Vaughn had been secured to direct, but family issues would force him to resign from the project. Apparently, Vaughn also wasn’t happy about the tight deadlines imposed by Fox, stating that he "didn't have the time to make the movie that I wanted to make".

Little Kitty, Big City (Switch)

Although I’m personally not the biggest Nintendo fan, their Nintendo Directs have made me aware of some interesting third-party games for their platforms. Such was the case with Little Kitty, Big City, which I first heard about through their 2023 Indie World presentation, thanks to its art direction and atmosphere. Though I played a demo of the game on PC through Steam and enjoyed it, I intended to play the full game on console, which I did when it launched for the Switch due to it having a reduced launch price on there compared with the Xbox Series X. I then got to playing the game as soon as I could, finding it overall fun in the short time it lasted.

Migration (2023)

Following the original Despicable Me, Illumination has had a very spotty track record in terms of story quality, with incredible highs with The Super Mario Bros. Movie and varying lows with films like The Secret Life of Pets and Minions. What they have consistently improved on, however is their animation quality, to the point where I had some interest in viewing their latest film, Migration, for that sole reason, preferably without spending too much money in the endeavor. Fortunately, I got the chance to watch it as an offering of free in-flight (heh) entertainment, even if the airline made me watch it on my phone (RIP phone battery). Unfortunately, while Migration is a visual step up from Illumination's usual output, the story holds it back from really spreading its wings.

Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero

Note: This review contains spoilers for Dragon Ball, Dragon Ball Z, Dragon Ball Super, Dragon Ball Super: Broly and Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero.

While Dragon Ball remains a popular franchise, due in part to the franchise’s second wind in the wake of the success of Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods, the newer films had more of a focus on the characters Goku and Vegeta at the expense of just about everyone else. This would change with Dragon Ball Super: Super Hero (Super Hero), which released in 2022 to critical acclaim and became the second-highest grossing film in the franchise, as well as the first one independently distributed by Toei following the Disney/Fox merger. Apart from a switch to CG animation in place of traditional, the film would also focus on the relationship between Gohan and Piccolo and revisit the Red Ribbon Army as antagonists. Although we admittedly still haven’t seen the original Dragon Ball (DB), we still found ourselves enjoying the film and its welcome change in focus.

Transformers: EarthSpark - Expedition

As most Transformers fans are familiar with, the franchise goes through a refresh every three years in an effort to attract new fans. 2022 saw the launch of the most recent incarnation, Transformers: EarthSpark, on Paramount+, which follows the batch release format and completed its first Season last year, with a second on the way as of this writing. As someone who has been watching it in an effort to stay current with the TV side of the franchise as much as possible, I so far don’t find it to be on the same level as Prime or Animated in terms of story, but I think it has some great animation and interesting ideas, such as the concept of the Terrans and the Season 1 antagonist Mandroid, and I’m at least curious to see what the second season will bring (that said, the Season 1 ending was a little rough).

Last year, a video game based on the cartoon was also announced called Transformers: EarthSpark – Expedition (Expedition), which caught my interest due to being what seemed more like the sort of Transformers console gaming experience I been wanting since Fall of Cybertron, though I had already tempered my expectations due to it being a family-oriented game published by Outright Games. Said expectations were met just by glancing at gameplay on display at Comic-Con that year, but I still wanted to experience it myself, eventually getting it on sale for Black Friday after it came out later in the year. Despite a PS5 version having been announced, I could not find any evidence of its availability in the US, which led me to get the PS4 version with a free PS5 upgrade. While the game did meet my already tempered expectations, I feel like it could still have been better.