When we are born, we are clueless about the journey ahead. What we seek as humans, even from a young age, is a purpose. We are told to pursue a path we are passionate about, but no one warns us how challenging it may be. Whether it’s struggling through medical school or struggling to write words on a page, everyone has their own Everest to overcome, not only to prove to others who may doubt them, but to prove to oneself that it is possible to achieve that goal. We believe we have to be great at any given dream or else we’re failures. But what we don’t realize is that life comes with many failures; it’s more important how we overcome them to achieve new goals. In a year notable directors have demonstrated why they’re so highly regarded (Paul Thomas Anderson, Chloe Zhao and Ryan Coogler), Josh Safdie debuts his solo directorial feature Marty Supreme. This year, his brother, Benny Safdie, went solo with the biopic, The Smashing Machine, starring Dwayne Johnson. The Safdies...
Zootopia 2 expands on its titular setting in ways that contrary to many big sequel, feel natural to the world of its story and quite visually intriguing. Though it can’t recapture the magic of Zootopia (to be fair, almost no animated movie can), this sequel is engaging, charming, and incredibly funny, despite a rushed start. Ginnifer Goodwin and Jason Bateman contribute to the great, if rocky, dynamic duo that is Judy Hopps and Nick Wilde, now partners on the Zootopia police force and looking to do some good together. Though at first it feels like Nick has unlearned much of what he learned in the first film, we soon come to understand his motivations and where their friendship goes is very heartfelt and excellently written. Fortune Feimster, Ke Huy Quan, and Andy Samberg stand out the most as new characters in the mix, particularly Feimster as a lovable new ally of the duo. The film may miss the thematic weight of the first film, but still has an interesting, if unsubtle, mess...