Movies, Netflix, and Disney+

Wicked

I absolutely love the musical so I wasn't sure whether the movie version would do it justice. Thankfully, it absolutely did! It is such a fantastic film. Its run time is 2 hours and 40 minutes long and it's only the first act so one could think that it might be dragging or too long but it didn't feel that way. It was fast-paced and incredibly engaging. People had all been talking about the "Dancing through life" scene which was explored more here in the movie and I have to agree, it was very powerful. I had written about how much I love Wicked before and all that still holds in the film version. Cynthia Erivo and Ariana Grande both killed it in their respective roles as Elphaba and Glinda and I am definitely looking forward to part 2.

The Wild Robot

This was an enjoyable movie and a good way to relax and get away from the daily stress of work. I kinda like how the Wild Robot becomes a part of island that it finds itself in and builds relationships with the animals there, including one goose in particular. It was a good film with a lot of positives. While I somehow didn't connect with the characters in a way that I do with some of my other favorite animated films, there were quite a few scenes there that did make me cheer.

On Netflix, I finally watched my first k-drama: Itaewon Class. I decided to watch this because a couple of my friends said that they actually prefer this show to Crash Landing on You, which is like the gold standard among k-dramas. As it turns out, I am NOT the target market of Itaewon Class haha. I like the permise, the story, and the many twists and turns for the most part but there is one particular character in it - a protagonist at that - that I strongly disliked. I think my dislike for that character soured my enjoyment of the show haha. I now need to find time to watch Crash Landing on You.

On Disney+, I am finally caught up on 9-1-1, which is one of my favorite shows. I'm quite happy that on its current 8th season, the latest episodes become available on Disney+ almost immediately after they are released in the US. Cool! The show is on a winter break right now and the second half of season 8 will start in March. I can't wait!

I also finally finished all eight seasons of Castle. I started watching this show because I knew it was a light and fun crime-fighting show so it would be easy to watch and help me relax. That said, I am now in my Criminal Minds phase, a show which is certainly not light and fun haha. I used to watch Criminal Minds when it was still being shown on cable - it hasn't in a long time - so now that I have access to its first 17 seasons, I thought I would start watching it. I am now in season 9 and I still love this show.

My recent trip to Kenya also reminded me that Disney+ includes National Geographic so I started watching animal and wildlife shows. One series I had just completed is a show called Savage Kingdom. As its name suggests, it shows the brutal war that predators in Africa wage against each other. It can be tough to watch but it is really well made and watching this show really reminded me of my family's safari adventure in Kenya.