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The Super Mario Bros. Movie was everything I thought it would be, but at the same time, it wasn't. I wasn’t really expecting a lot but… man, it still ended up being a disappointment. This really felt like an hour and a half commercial for Nintendo products. The plot is as thin as a string, and the characters are surface level. The only great thing about it was Jack Black and his performance as Bowser. He was legitimately the best part of the movie. But sadly, he doesn’t make it worth it. The music was honestly the worst part. Any time you see a visual reference to something from the game, the original theme associated with it blares at full volume (there’s a particular reference to Mario Kart that definitely bothered me). There also are 80’s songs that are randomly selected to play at random times, which was extremely grating. And the song choices aren’t even clever. They just play the most generic 80’s songs you could think of. And to top it all off, of course Illumination shoved a Minion into it.

Howl’s Moving Castle has always been a Ghibli film that I appreciated but I could never understand why so many people love it. While there is plenty to admire about the film, there is also plenty of elements that make it a disjointed and confusing experience. I’m going to alternate between positives and negatives. The other times I’ve watched this movie, I’ve never found Sophie to be an interesting character. She felt empty and emotionless and her old self felt completely different. But now that I actually pay attention to dialogue, her arc is so much more relatable and sweet. Growing out of her insecurities feels very natural and the fantasy element is a very strong motivation for her progression. After all this time, I can say with confidence that she is a very good protagonist. Howl, unfortunately, does not receive the same level of attention. His personality feels as bland and pale as his complexion. Many of his relationships with the other characters are left to interpretation, as well as his motives. Out of nowhere, he has a tantrum about his looks. It felt extremely abrupt. Princess Mononoke does an excellent job of developing both sides of its romance but Howl’s severely struggles to establish and maintain it. In the end, it feels like Sophie puts in all the effort for it. It’s not very fulfilling. The animation in this movie is gorgeous. While Miyazaki’s previous work in Spirited Away is more memorable, Howl’s Moving Castle certainly displays its merits. The European-inspired designs are very aesthetically pleasing, and Howl’s castle is an impressive example of steampunk style. You can always find beauty in a Ghibli movie. My other major issue with this film is the anti-war subplot. It feels ham fisted and random. In context, the war is started and ended for flimsy reasons. Who cursed the prince to be a turnip scarecrow? Why? If the king is actually disregarding the lives of his citizens, why is he running the country? What relevance does Madame Suliman have? There are so many questions and none of them are answered. A lot of this is pertinent information that should be given to the audience. The reveal of the prince’s identity at the end of the movie has massive “Somehow, Palpatine returned” vibes. I deeply respect Miyazaki, but maybe he should have let Takahata do this. He has a good sense of what an anti-war film is. And it is never subtle either. The war is always called “dumb”, “idiotic” and “pointless”. I have hands. I can eat this pie myself, thank you very much. Joe Hisaishi’s score is excellent as always, and might be one of his best. It’s hard to decide, since he has never made a bad score, but this one definitely stands out in a very different way, which is a good thing. In the end, rewatching this made me understand the appeal. I see it now. I appreciate it. But I personally would pick four or five other Ghibli movies to watch before I picked this one up again.

The Batman was a film that I anticipated for a long time, ever since that first trailer. And I must say, it lived up to my expectations. Matt Reeves is one of the most consistent directors working today and he was a great choice to direct the movie because he just knows how to make one properly. There is a lot of in-camera action and movement, the special effects and CGI are used as supplements rather than crutches and the action sequences are well-choreographed. Robert Pattinson is terrific as Batman, so quit trash-talking him. Twilight was forever ago and I'm just more surprised that people keep talking about it. Pattinson brings a lot of emotion to Batman from just the way he looks, moves and reacts to things. While I would have liked to see just a little more of him as Bruce Wayne, this is understandably a Batman movie and it knows that. If you still don't like him after this... I don't know what to tell you, maybe just don't watch any Batman movies for a while. The rest of the cast brings amazing performances to the table as well. Zoe Kravitz is wonderfully mysterious and coy as Catwoman, Paul Dano is intimidating and terrific as the Riddler, Jeffrey Wright plays the best Gordon ever (yeah, it's true), Andy Serkis brings a soulful and somber Alfred into the light and Colin Farrell completely vanishes behind prosthetics and voice to become the Penguin. You won't even remember that's him until the credits. This was a real, genuine movie from beginning to end. And hopefully Hollywood will take notes, because The Batman is the kind of movie I want to see more of.

Discovered this gem while playing Death Stranding, a very atmospheric and thoughtful song

23. Earwig and the Witch 22. Tales from Earthsea 21. Ponyo 20. Ocean Waves 19. Pom Poko 18. Howl’s Moving Castle 17. My Neighbors the Yamadas 16. Arrietty 15. The Cat Returns 14. When Marnie Was There 13. Porco Rosso 12. From Up on Poppy Hill 11. Grave of the Fireflies 10. Castle in the Sky 9. My Neighbor Totoro 8. The Wind Rises 7. Whisper of the Heart 6. Princess Mononoke 5. Only Yesterday 4. Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 3. Spirited Away 2. The Tale of the Princess Kaguya 1. Kiki’s Delivery Service My ranking of the Ghibli films

What If...? is beginning to frustrate me. I've really liked the premises and execution of Episodes 6-8, but (especially with the Killmonger and Thor episodes) it seems the show's favorite thing to pull is a cliffhanger and/or letdown. My prediction has turned out to be correct, nothing surpasses the Doctor Strange episode in my mind. And that's really disappointing. I've enjoyed the episodes so far and I like a lot of the ideas in them, however the show has an odd way of building up those ideas. This is very much the case with the episode "What If...Thor Was An Only Child?". This story was goofy and kind of insane but I really enjoyed how different some characters were, and I really liked the development of Thor and Jane Foster's relationship. The episode decides to end with a tease of next week (now this week), with "What If...Ultron Won?" and this is where the flaws of the show really start to shine. I knew that the show was building up to some kind of crossover climax, it's been hinted at. But when the teases for said climax contradict the story and ruin what could have been a standalone bottle episode, I'm gonna be a bit annoyed. To discuss this further, we're entering spoilers. So I ranted a bit more than I wanted but What If...? is unfortunately proving to be a letdown. It's not terrible and I really like the ideas we are shown. But it's not up to its true potential. Things I liked in the past episodes:

Episode 5 of What If...? was ok. It wasn't anything super special, though it could have been. The element that really drags this episode down is the comedy. It is just way too light-hearted for something as dour as this. Having the Wasp die a heroic death only to be followed by Paul Rudd cracking a pun every half-second was really dragging. (Ant-Man makes way too many jokes in this situation). Similarly, Happy yelling "Blam!" over and over again as he is dragged to his death does not work. Also the Watcher literally says, "Oof." ....what??? Now that's not to say every joke didn't land. They just should have toned it down. I particularly like Bucky's jab at Falcon after Okoye splits the zombified Sam in half. And Spider-Man receives better writing here than he does in his own movies. Marvel finally mentioned Uncle Ben. Good things do happen. I also really like that they upped the gore in this one, even if it's just zombies. Now I'm also confused by some spoilery elements too.

When it comes to Marvel movies, I've developed a critical eye for them because most of them follow a standard formula. Most of them have a weak villain. And they don't have anything of significance to say about the world around us. So when I say Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings is one of the best Marvel movies in years, I don't say that lightly. I think Shang-Chi succeeds where Black Panther falters. It's not bogged down by its existence in the MCU, its themes and message are clearly developed and shown and all of the characters have some sort of importance to the story. I wasn't sure how I felt about this movie leading up to its release. I think I was afraid it would be another misstep like the aforementioned Black Panther or Captain Marvel, movies that Marvel insisted were going to be culturally significant but were held back by the Marvel formula. Shang-Chi proves that Marvel needs to give more creative freedom to its creators like Destin Daniel Cretton, who was obviously given a lot of freedom to tell the story he wanted. This film feels more like a Chinese martial arts film that is given a Marvel twist rather than a Marvel film given an Asian twist. The fights are extremely well-choreographed and well shot, making them look great to watch. The visuals are also very good, and there are some shots that look amazing. You can tell a lot of care went into this production and a lot of care went into the story as well. Every major character in this movie has something to do and a great character arc to match it. Every one of them is relatable. Simu Liu puts a lot of energy into his performance, which is also helped immensely by the fact that he did most of his own stunts and fights. Tony Leung is great as Wenwu (or the Mandarin, but even the characters in the movie don't call him that) and I would hesitate to even call him the antagonist because he is much more complex. Meng'er Zhang also is great as Xialing, Shang-Chi's sister. I think I enjoyed her arc the most in the movie. The biggest risk in this movie is Awkwafina. She's a great comedian but she's given a lot of the overbearing Marvel humor, which makes her character seem less interesting. But being an Asian-American myself, I related a lot to her position and her struggle in life. I think her arc is a great message for Asian-Americans but the film should have put more emphasis on it rather than the humor. She does have some funny lines, but they could have toned it down. The only other issue I have is the amount of exposition in the film. Because Shang-Chi is introducing a new world and part of this universe, there's a lot of explaining that it has to do. Fortunately, a lot of information is presented in a good way, but there are just a couple of scenes that could have used some work. If you like movies like Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon, chances are you'll like this film. It has a lot to appreciate and a lot that Hollywood can learn from. It is a wonderful representation of Asian culture (a good 30-40 minutes in total is completely spoken in Mandarin) and has many things that can entertain international audiences. Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings gets a 9/10 from me and you should go watch it in a theater, on the biggest screen you can.

Free Guy is a movie in theaters now and it was fine. I found it funny that one of the screenwriters, Zak Penn, also helped write Ready Player One, a movie that is essentially a worse version of this. Free Guy wisely does not try to take itself very seriously and its humor is especially funny. I would say that is the strongest thing about this movie. Ryan Reynolds is delightful as always and a lot of the best jokes are either his or involve him. Jodie Comer is also very good in the movie and I hope this means she'll be in more movies now and not just Killing Eve. Taika Waititi didn't feel very genuine to me and unfortunately, he is not very funny nor threatening as the villain. There are also a lot of cameos in this movie and some of them work and some of them don't. Tina Fey and Channing Tatum have absolutely hilarious cameos. But several YouTubers and streamers like Jacksepticeye, Pokimane and Ninja appear in the film and they were all super distracting. And they weren't very entertaining either. It's a fun movie to watch with friends and it's very entertaining overall. It's no masterpiece but it's pretty good for what it is. 7/10

There were two quotes in my mind as I watched the most recent episode of What If..?: "What is grief, if not love persevering?" spoken by Vision and "The things I do for love..." spoken by Jaime Lannister. To really understand, you're going to have to watch the episode yourself because the events that take place are nothing short of incredible. Episode 4 has literally broken the Marvel formula. To discuss, I must talk spoilers. This episode is in another level entirely from the others. I seriously doubt they will top this one.

Episode 3, in short, lived up to my expectations.

IMO, Episode 2 was way better than Episode 1 in every way. Chadwick Boseman really put everything into this performance, and I really enjoyed seeing him as Star-Lord. And here's just a list of things that were great about this episode. - Nebula having hair, having a complete opposite personality than she does in the movies and her more familiar relationship with Thanos - Thanos being a good guy. Everything they did with him, I was totally on board with. I also like how he still insists that his plan to help the universe still has merit - Yondu, Kraglin, Taserface, Korath, they were fun. Korath especially since he turns out to be a huge Star-Lord fan - The Drax and Howard the Duck cameos My only complaint is with the Collector. They give a really interesting concept here but I don't he was as threatening as he should have been. You can see that he not only has weapons from Malekith and Hela (two powerful villains) but Cap's shield and Mjolnir as well. With those victories in mind, the fight he has with T'Challa and Yondu should have been longer. And yeah, the Nebula/T'Challa ship is a little bit hard to get used to.

So I went through all (specifically Cosmere) and gave each book its own anime opening and ending. I looked up the lyrics and went through the song before I approved each one. I would love to hear thoughts but also I would love to see other's additions or suggestions! Fire away! And we don't need to keep to just music either, let's talk about what scenes would look great as an anime or what voice actor would be best as a certain character or even what studio could be a good choice for a particular series. But here's my list of openings and endings. (Links included) Elantris OP 1 - Sirius by Eir Aoi OP 2 - The Day by Porno Graffiti ED - STYX HELIX by MYTH & ROID Mistborn Season 1 (Final Empire Arc) OP - the world by Nightmare ED - Utsukushiki Zankoku na Sekai by Yoko Hikasa Mistborn Season 2 (Well of Ascension Arc) OP - Red Swan by YOSHIKI feat. Hyde ED - Wareta Ringo by Taneda Risa Mistborn Season 3 (Hero of Ages Arc) OP - Shinzou wo Sasageyo by Linked Horizon ED - Koi wo Shita no Wa by Aiko Warbreaker OP 1 - Sakura Nagashi by Hikaru Utada OP 2 - One Last Kiss by Hikaru Utada ED - Is There Still Anything That Love Can Do? by RADWIMPS The Stormlight Archive (Kings Arc) OP - Colors by Flow ED - Lost in Paradise by Ali feat. AKLO Mistborn Season 4 (Alloy of Law Arc) OP - unravel by TK from Ling tosite sigure ED - The Real Folk Blues by The Seatbelts The Emperor’s Soul (OVA) OP - Sincerely by TRUE ED - Fukashigi no Carte The Stormlight Archive (Radiance Arc) OP - Gurenge by LiSA ED - Memories by Maki Otsuki Mistborn Season 5 (Shadows of Self Arc) OP - Duvet by Boa ED - Alumina by Nightmare Mistborn Season 6 (Bands of Mourning Arc) OP - Trigun ED - Kiri by Monoral Mistborn Season 7 (Secret History Arc) OP - Redo by Konomi Suzuki ED - Shunkan Sentimental by SCANDAL White Sand OP - Believe by Folder 5 ED - Grand Escape by RADWIMPS The Stormlight Archive (Oathbringer Arc) OP - Kaikai Kitan by Eve ED - One more time, One more chance by Masayoshi Yamazaki

Hello, everyone. (If anyone cares) Some years ago now, a friend of mine and I created a hive mind account for this forum titled "Captains Domon". We had a lot of fun discussing various Sanderson topics and other things with all of you. Then we both graduated and went our separate ways for a while. Now one of us has returned to manage the account. I'm excited to get back into the Cosmere after a two-year absence (I have not read Rhythm of War yet and I highly anticipate it) and I'm glad for the next step!