🎬 ~ Miraculous: Ladybug & Cat Noir, The Movie

rating: 9.5/10

listen: the music caught me offguard in the beginning, but otherwise, we're golden. when i first saw the trailer, i was honestly expecting this to be a one-off cash grab (which i'm probably sure it was), BUT IT WAS ACTUALLY VERY GOOD?? 

first of all, the animation: the lighting, the set designs, especially those of the high school—LOVED IT. the scene with the butterflies while adrien and gabriel hugged was so pretty. 

secondly, the characters: loved how the personalities, conflicts and motivations of the characters were well established. hawkmoth was so cartoon and campy but it was cool how they showed the way it wore gabriel down (also gabriel w long hair is hilarious and lowkey gives zeke jaeger). 

let's get to the main show: the bug and the cat. marinette and adrien's meet-cute in the library was >>>> i loved it sm. i found it cool that we got more personal moments and one-on-one banter between ladybug and cat noir. also, the humor and cat noir's puns are funny, and careless whisper playing the moment cat noir gets a crush on ladybug? hilarious. also adrien is literally so down bad and dramatic (like father like son)—the world is literally on fire and this boy is in his room sulking while listening to careless whisper. and it is ironic how marinette plays the recorder and he keeps listening to that song (remember the meme audio?).

this movie had to have been sponsored by volkswagen. the plot was good, the characters were good, loved how they turned the ladybug theme onto its head. and the creators can jump off a cliff for that cut to black ending. i just KNEW it deep down. they know who they're playing with Imao. overall, a solid movie. i don't entertain any haters go cry at the wall.

📺 ~ Secret Invasion

rating: 4.75/10

boy, i am really disappointed w this one. i came in expecting nick fury and maria hill to go full spy squad along with ross and rhodey on the skrulls, with good moral dilemmas and the dread of the ones who are closest to us being the real traitors. instead, what i got was a half-baked plot with nick fury's character basically doing nothing that makes him nick fury, maria hill being fridged within the first episode, ross being just a small cameo coz he's a SKRULL, and rhodey also being a skrull????? the timeline is awful. make it make sense. i don't even properly know how exactly this is supposed to contribute to the overarching story because this show just felt like a filler episode of an anime. onto a brighter note, olivia coleman was great. her line delivery, character and absolute badassery was cool af. emilia clarke's character felt meh. don't rlly have any strong opinion. talos and fury's friendship was cool tho. but they destroyed that later too. sonya and fury bickering was funny. all-in-all, it was a mid, lukewarm show.

🎬 ~ The Flash

rating: 5.25/10

it was a cool movie. visually stunning. nic cage's superman caught me offguard lol, even george clooney's cameo as bruce wayne. the plot on the other hand... eh. there was a lot of potential to do something here tbh. but this movie didn't manage to hit it. kara was a very interesting character. i heard she'll be back in some other project so i'm looking forward to that. also barry x kara were vibing fr i NEED them to be together—the sparks and chemistry were off the charts.

🎬 ~ Barbie

rating: 10/10

in greta gerwig we trust. ladies and gentlemen, she has done it yet again: delivered an absolute banger of a movie. her career best so far (edit 2025: arguably that's little women too). campy at first and not to be taken seriously, the story evolves and manages to give a truly wonderful message. the theme regarding womanhood lands perfectly; it doesn't idealise, doesn't shy away from reality, but rather embraces it. the line between fiction and reality blurs to give this magnificently done story. i absolutely loved ken discovering patriarchy, the fourth wall breaks, the backhanded jokes, the bitter truths that shine through the glittery cracks. this is a once-in-a-lifetime movie that immaculately lays down a story that is bound to touch the heart of every girl who has ever wanted to be barbie. and the ending with barbie with her original name going to see her gynecologist, wanting to be a mother instead of the stereotypical independent woman she is marketed as, because it is HER CHOICE—BRILLIANT. i love this movie. truly wonderful filmography. also allan is my favorite character and if anyone disagrees, i'll fight you.

🎬 ~ Oppenheimer

rating: 10/10

no question arises regarding the rating of this movie. as i said to abeer, i have never, ever so acutely empathised and felt my being be physically present in a character such as that of oppenheimer. his moral dilemmas, ambition, his conflicts; i resonated with them all. and my oh my, the note this movie ended on was absolutely magnificent—it was the perfect bow to tie it all up. to paraphrase, it was something along the lines of "remember when i showed you the calculations that said we might destroy the world?" "yes, i do. what of it?" "i believe we did." absolutely brilliant. the legend of prometheus come alive indeed. when the bomb drops on hiroshima and nagasaki and oppenheimer is so enthusiastically applauded by everyone, i could feel it, i could think it, and it was the only thing running through my head: "what have we done?" the absolute dread of it all. thousands of lives are gone because of what we made. whose fault is it really: the one who struck the sword, or the one who made it? it is this wonderfully deep exploration of morality and ambition, two themes that i frequently find myself grappling with in my own works, that makes this movie special to me. christopher nolan has done it again, folks. this is in my top 2 movies of all time as of now. this has overtaken INTERSTELLAR as my favourite nolan movie, wow.

🎬 ~ Nimona

rating: 8/10

this movie's humor is literally all my intrusive and impulsive thoughts coming to life lol. nimona and ballister are the two opposite braincells i have left in my head, and goldenloin's imaginary rant scene of what was worrying him was so relatable. loved the characters, the themes (a lot of which relate to mental health and LGBTQ+ allegory), and it'd be cool to revisit this movie again some time. it was a fun ride. metal hehe.

🎬 ~ Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3

rating: 9.75/10

you know, for once, an mcu movie has felt personal. like feet and eyes on the ground PERSONAL. from the first minute of the movie, the tone is established, the central driving force of this movie is introduced, and the cinematography already reflects a personal style. honestly, that's one of my favorite parts of this movie: the cinematography. the warm tones, the changing aspect ratios, the editing not being stagnant. idk how this movie manages to maintain that indie feel with such a high budget but it does. rocket's entire arc was wonderfully done. i was not expecting this level of heart and emotion going into this but damn it did what it came to do. the movie never sacrificed the tone for comedy. only in some parts did i feel iffy about something but that can be overlooked. my first thought the moment this movie started on my laptop was "this isn't an mcu movie" and it really, REALLY isn't. definitely my favorite movie in this franchise.

📖 ~ Red, White & Royal Blue

rating: 5/5

re-read: IT. STILL. LIVES. UP. TO. IT. YES LADIES AND GENTLEMEN U READ THAT RIGHT. I AGREE WITH MY 2020 14-YR-OLD SELF WOOHOOO. 

the movie is FINALLY gonna come out on august 11 and i wanted to be READY so i ordered the book online at 4am on a friday and it arrived on tuesday and i IMMEDIATELY started reading it and looked forward to reading it everyday for the rest of the week and TODAY on saturday i have FINALLY finished it and i LOVE it and it is very apparent in the 45 annotations and sticky notes peeking out between the pages. this book has been the highlight of my shitty week, and at first i was unsure if i was actually gonna like reading it again but then i got fully absorbed into this book after the first 10 pages or less. 

the friendship, the supercut of historical letters exchanged over emails, the relationship, the personality UGH. i did not expect to relate to alex so much considering how different he is but as it turns out, he's not that different. AND HENRY LORD WHY ARE ALL HENRYS SO GOOD AND BEAUTIFUL AND SMART AND KIND I WANT MY OWN HENRY PLSPLSPLS FJDJS. 

at some point in the third act, i was unsure if i was gonna give it a 5 coz i'm not rlly a fan of ppl being outed, i can't imagine anyone is, but looking at the aftermath, even if it wasn't on their terms, i think they came out better and happier. and that ending scene. LORD. i knew how it was going to end but the fact that all that emotion was still running through me and that last line with unlocking the door just solidified the fact that yes, undoubtedly, this is a 5 star book, no questions asked. this book never ends and yet it does and it's my comfort book and just, this BOOK. love personified.

🎬 ~ Cars

rating: 9/10

aiyaiyai HEYLOO hehe let's talk abt this beauty.

my prime motivation to revisit this childhood classic was to see if lightning mcqueen's personality would live up to his human form thirst-trap reel. and, it does tbh. going into this, i was fully expecting some turbo-esque, zero-to-hero type race car trope but, that wasn't it??? my childhood memory fails me. i didn't remember a single thing abt the plot, but watching this was an absolute treat. pixar has done it again.

mcqueen's ascent from being an arrogant and cocky i-feel-like-punching-him one-man team to being a lesser arrogant but still cocky i-have-friends-now was great. the found family trope in a small town definitely gave hallmark christmas movie vibes but it was done wonderfully tbh. it's not all about winning in this one. it's winning, but looking back to where you came from and being happy abt it and having all those ppl behind u who u are winning FOR. 

so this movie was honestly one of the better animations i've seen. it only has a 9 coz there was something missing which i can't put my finger on. who knows, the next one MIGHT be better. i definitely will keep thirsting over human!lightningmcqueen for ages to come coz dayum. he's. wow. the blonde hair suits him. the ferrarri duo were my favorite. sally was cool too hehe. let's see how the next one is.