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Obi-Wan Kenobi Series (maybe Season) Finale (Disney+): The finale of Obi-Wan Kenobi does highlight the major issue where Reva’s story is crammed almost entirely into two episodes, making the culmination of her arc on Tatooine (alleviating concerns fans might have had that the show deviated too far from the world) feel tacked on and incomplete. Ideally, her fight against Vader would have happened in episode three instead of having Vader fight Obi-Wan and then follow her journey in parallel to Obi-Wan from that point on. The marquee matchup fight between Vader and Obi-Wan finishes in a way that is somehow less logical than the fight on Mustafar in Revenge of the Sith. At least the first time they fought when Obi-Wan leaves Vader for dead, one can make the argument that he can’t bring himself to kill Anakin Skywalker. This time when he wins the fight and leaves Vader for dead there is no excuse as to why Vader is left alive besides his appearance in the later movies, especially when killing him and then sparing Reva makes the most sense for his character arc.
Ms. Marvel Episode 3 (Disney+): At least this episode Kamala gets a chance to fight considering the show is now halfway through its six-episode run. Iman Vellani continues to shine through in the lead role and she is given a ton to do in terms of emotional acting against family. The use of graphics and other visual effects do wonders to set the show apart from the rest of the Disney+ Marvel fare. The introduction of The Clandestine being descended from extra-dimensional Djinn is an interesting new aspect of the universe with a lot of connection to Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings.
Father of the Bride (HBOMax): Oddly enough this is the second movie of the year to go direct to streaming that is the second remake of a 1950s classic that the first time it was remade featured Steve Martin in the lead. This time, Andy Garcia plays the titular father of the bride as he deals with the pageantry around his daughter’s wedding. It has great comedic moments, has heartfelt family moments, and is a worthy retelling of the classic story.
You May Have Missed:
Lilo & Stitch (Disney+): Lilo & Stitch celebrated its 20th anniversary this month and the movie is worth a revisit. Arguably one of the most successful movies for Disney of the 2000s and definitely the movie with the longest running legacy, the story throws aside the usual romantic plot in favor of a relationship between two sisters in a broken family. Combining the heartfelt story with some impressive and unique alien and character designs helped this movie stay in the public eye this long after its release. It would eventually spawn multiple sequels and a television show on Toon Disney that lasted for 65 episodes.
Pitch Perfect (Peacock): Maybe for a lot of people this is a guilty-pleasure movie, but the idea of the guilty-pleasure is outdated. The idea that one should feel “guilty” about liking a movie, television show, video game, book, etc. is silly to say the least. That said, Pitch Perfect is kind of a cult classic at this point, following Beca as she goes away to school and joins an acapella singing group and tries to bring them to victory at the ICCA Regionals. It is a great college movie with a fantastic cast and is a joy to watch.
