We've had a Netflix account for years like most normal people, but recently we signed up for Disney+. For those who live in a box, basically, they are the same thing. You can stream high-quality, curated content - just like Hive except with high-quality, curated content.
I don't have a smart TV, so to watch Disney+ I have a chrome cast. Basically, it allows me to use my TV as a smart TV without it actually being a smart TV. It's also handy because when I travel, I can bring it to wherever I want, and presto ~ smart TV.
To start Disney+, you just go to disneyplus.com or download the app. Nice and easy, no messing around with illegal torrents.
Isn't this great, look at all the content. If you like Marvel or Starwars, you are probably already a member. I like those but not in a creepy fanboy sort of way. I also like Pixar, Disney (who doesn't?), and National Geographic (I like nature). I'm not sure what St☆r is, but hey, I'm still on my free trial month. I'm sure I'll love it, too.
If you notice in the banner, the show is Snowdrop. This is a controversial Korean drama.
The male protagonist is actually a North Korean spy posing as a pro-democracy student activist who infiltrates South Korea to instigate chaos and political instability.
Lots of people don't like this because of "Historical Denialism". South Korea had problems with democratic suppression in the 1980s and the military dictators blamed it on North Korean spies inciting pro-democracy movements which is nonsense.
"In the period from March 26 to April 25, a total of 226,078 people signed an online petition to the Blue House demanding that production on Snowdrop be stopped"
You know who else doesn't like "Freedom of expression"? Ironic isn't it?
Anyway, it's just a TV show and more importantly, the lead actress is Jisoo. If you don't know who Jisoo is, you're probably really old.
For the record, I haven't watched it yet. I'll wait another week until the entire thing is out like I normally do.
Disclaimer, below I mostly just give my opinions, but don't read my reviews if you are very sensitive about predictable movies and don't want basic spoilers, skip to the #Verdict
The first movie I watched was called Encanto. I prepared some microwave popcorn and some mint-choco hot chocolate and watched it with my wife. She likes Dinsey films because she isn't an Enlish native speaker and feels like a boss because she switches to English subtitles with cartoons.
Anyway, the movie kinda sucked, despite some 'rave reviews'. It's a typical Disney musical cartoon. It's lame and predictable, but with a Latin American twist that's new because 100% of the songs have a Latin twist instead of just a few as has been the trend for the past 20 years.
Anyway, the movie is about a girl who lives in a magical house and everyone in the house has a special power except her. Right at the beginning, she sings a song about this and it becomes obvious. Blah blah, she finds out she is special after all.
The part that annoyed me most was near the beginning just after the youngest family member found out about their special power. The main character (I forgot her name) freezes time and sings about how much this sucks because she still doesn't have a power. So I thought her special power was manipulating space-time which is quite the superpower, especially compared to the other people's lame powers. Nope, that's just a license Disney uses far too often when telling stories.
My favourite song was probably the one where her hot sister asked the age-old question, "What Else Can I Do?". Before you think I'm an anime-Disney princess creep, her superpower is actually being attractive. I'm not sure her age, but she's old enough to get married by Disney standards, so that's good enough for me.
For some reason, this film had a lot of controversies, far more than Snowdrop. Parts were filmed in Xinjiang, which is a nice place where the locals are happy and everything is great according to the CCP. Disney sucks up to China, the South Park episode about it, Band in China was awesome. And the lead actress, who plays Mulan, said something like "I support Hong Kong police. You can beat me now. What a shame for Hong Kong." I think she is entitled to an opinion no matter how dumb and stupid it may be.
Anyway, I thought this film sucked. The phoenix looks like really sloppy CGI, the witch was scary and weird but not in a good way, and there was too much magic.
I'm not going to rave about my hopes for the return of Shichuan hot sauce like Rick and Morty memes. McDonald's was seriously nasty in the late 1990s.
The original 1998 gender-bender film was far better, I still occasionally watch and join in on youtube sing-alongs while drunk and contemplate if a man as perfect as Mulan would make me question my own sexuality. I'm not going to lie, I would try to "make a man out of her". The same goes for Liu Yifei ~ if only she could sing.
On a more serious note, I find the critique of macho culture in the military interesting actually. Most of the highest-ranking war films for realism according to soldiers are not macho at all. That said the actual Mulan lesson is more about the four virtues - Bravery, Loyalty, Truth and family which in turn is just a dumb-downed version of the cardinal principles and virtues of Confucianism.
The animation style and storytelling of this film were definitely top-notch. It didn't follow the classic Disney narration and it wasn't a musical. However, it was magical, even more than I expect from Disney. If any recent Disney Movie starts a universe anything like Frozen, this will be it.
I think Awkwafina makes a good dragon character. She has a unique voice. I'll be honest, I didn't know her before this. I had to double-check to make sure she wasn't Sextina Aquafina from Bojack Horseman. Turns out she got famous from singing about her "Vag" and was in Crazy Rich Asians, which is a movie I haven't watched.
The movie involves going on a bunch of quests that progressively get harder and it reminds me of Zelda or Megaman. It is done well. There are so many great characters and themes. I do hope there is a sequel.
The one part I didn't like was, never mind it was all good. It's just predictable, but most children's family films are.
Anyway, I won't get into it too much ~ watch it.
Raya and the Last Dragon was my favourite out of the things I've watched so far on Disney+ and probably my favourite Disney animated film since Tangled - I like the story amd the lizard, and favorite singalong since Moana - the rock is awesome. Frozen was okay, but it reminds me too much of Canadian winters).
I guess I can say, after binge-watching Disney+ for a weekend, it's probably not worth signing up for on a permanent basis, there just isn't enough unique content. It's mostly older Disney stuff or films worth renting or buying for their own merit, especially if you have kids. However, a month here and there if you get a good deal to catch up on shows and films you haven't watched is probably worthwhile.
