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[servinglemonade]

Holiday Movies 2021🎄🎬 : Festive AF or Bah Humbug?

Uhmm...hi there! I have not uploaded anything on here for so long... But I felt inspired so here we are. How are you? I hope you are doing okay, staying safe and healthy, and are having a wonderful festive season so far. Tonight is Christmas Eve!!! I can't believe we are here again, but I have been loving the festive season this year. It truly is the most wonderful time of the year. Of course, I watched a lot of Christmas movies again this year, including some new ones or old ones I had never watched before. So, it's time to play Festive AF or Bah Humbug! With these non-spoiler reviews, find out if these movies will bring you comfort and joy or make you feel like Santa put some coal in your stockings...

Love Hard (2021): Festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I watched the trailer for this and could tell where the story would go. But, it was so enjoyable and festive, I really liked it! I also thought it was quite funny with non-cringe acting. I don't want to spoil how the story plays out, in case you don't know anything about it, but I definitely recommended this one!!

The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star (2021): Bah Humbug

Where to watch: Netflix

Is it even Christmas these days without a new Princess Switch movie? I always hate giving these movies bad reviews, because I love Vanessa Hudgens, but these movies are not it. Okay, some positives: fabulous costumes, great set design (so festive and pretty), and it is not unwatchable! I felt that this time some of the story elements were just too far-fetched and ridiculous at some point, like that entire heist sequence. But, I did enjoy Fiona and Peter's relationship, I was shipping them a little, not going to lie. However, this movie has been trending on Netflix, so I am sure they will make another one. So, see you next year in Montenaro!

Christmas Inheritance (2017): Festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I almost gave up on this movie while I was watching the first 20 minutes or so, but glad I did not. I enjoyed this one, the town was very charming, and I loved the idea that the main character's father and his business partner exchanged letters for the holiday season. So the set-up was good and charming, just a rocky start.

Happiest Season (2020): Festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

Not a Netflix original, which was quite apparent from the production value. Again, I thought the beginning was a little weak, but it really came together in the end. I found the performances from the whole cast great, especially Dan Levy (what a scene-stealer omg!). There is a particular scene that involves a painting, which was so pretty, and I felt so bad about what happened to it and for the character that painted it! The house where most of the movie takes place was gorgeous!

A Castle For Christmas (2021): Festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

This was so predictable but so great! I am a sucker for a castle with Christmas decorations, so yeah I loved that. I found the story really cute and the locations made the movie oh so cozy since it takes place in Scotland, with cute inns and lots of snow! Brooke Shields is great in the role as well and I LOVED the dog, Hamish! ADORABLE! Definitely recommend! There is also a little nod to another Netflix Christmas movie in this one, so ye be warned ;) I don't why Netflix does this, pretty sure there will be a Christmas Netflix Cinematic Universe soon, where all the royals of these movies will team up.

Midnight at the Magnolia (2020): Bah Humbug

Where to watch: Netflix

Couldn't find a gif of this one (sad). Anyway, the movie started promising but became pretty average quite quickly. Although, the main character's families deserve everything! I especially loved their dads, which made the actions of the two main characters so annoying to me...

The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992): Festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+

Disney+ their holiday film of the year was a remake of Home Alone, which I did not watch because that is where I draw the line. Watched a lot of classics on there though and the Hawkeye show as it was airing (super festive!)! But, there was one classic I had not watched before and since I watched the new Muppets Halloween special this year (it was themed to the Haunted Mansion and was awesome) I thought I would watch this one! I usually love the story of a Christmas Carol anyway, but I loved the addition of the Muppets! It made it very fun like I loved how they made Gonzo and Rizzo narrate the story! Kermit and Miss Piggy's family were adorable as well (especially Tiny Tim). HIGHLY recommend this to give you a warm and fuzzy feeling 💝

So that was it for this post! I hope enjoyed it and found some new Christmas to watch (or what to avoid haha)! You can read more Christmas movies posts here and here. If you want to keep up with me, I am still on Tumblr regularly on these accounts:

@avonlixghts - posting random stuff (mostly reblogging)

@yen-stanning - where I post about all my favorite movies and franchises (disney, marvel, star wars, and more), F1 and FC Barcelona, and I upload lockscreens!! So if you are into any of that, follow me there!!

So, tomorrow is the big day, sadly we are still dealing with a pandemic. If you are not able to be with your loved ones this Christmas, I am so sorry. I hope you will be able to enjoy the holiday regardless and eat some nice food, drink some cocoa with whipped cream, watch a festive film, or do absolutely nothing. I am giving you the biggest virtual hug!

I wish you a magical and merry Christmas and holiday season!

Stay festive 🎄✨

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

WandaVision Review

BEWARE: SPOILERS FOR ALL WANDAVISION EPISODES AHEAD

Didn't WandaVision end over a month ago now? Yes. Wasn't The Falcon and Winter Soldier finale yesterday? Yes. Is that going to stop me from talking about this incredible show? No, it won't.

Hi everyone! I started writing this review while WandaVision was still airing, but got so swamped with life that I did not have time to finish it. But here we are, finally! I adore this show, it is a fresh and different take on the MCU and I personally loved every second of it. The concept should not have made sense, like Paul Bettany kept saying, it is bonkers! However, somehow, they just made it work and I just enjoyed it so much! The sitcom aspect, the different songs and score, the attention to detail, the new characters, and spending time with Wanda and Vision was just fantastic! Because at the end of the day, that was what this was all about, Wanda and Vision and their relationship! For a more in-depth and spoiler review of every episode, keep on reading!

Episode 1 - Filmed Before A Live Studio Audience

Many people expressed their annoyance with the fact that the first two episodes that aired were very slow, and yes they are. But that is not necessarily a bad thing. This is not a movie, it is a show, they are building the story, just enjoy the ride and the mystery because even the first episode left so many questions! I loved seeing Wanda and Vision as the stars of the show for once and I enjoy spending all this time with them. The production value of the whole show is amazing but the black and white episodes are something special. I have never watched the old school sitcoms they are referencing here in episode 1 (and 2) but I found it so charming and cute. The square aspect ratio, the black and white, the old school VFX, the laughing track from the audience. I thought it was really cool to see. One of my favorite moments in this episode was the dinner scene with the Harts. When Mr. Hart chocked and Mrs. Hart just kept saying stop it, and Wanda and Vision just kind of looked at each other like what is happening, was so tense. When Wanda looked at Vision and said to help him was so well done by both Elizabeth and Paul! So, I really loved this first episode.

Episode 2 - Don’t Touch That Dial

Episode 2 is where you really start to see that nothing is at it seems in this ‘perfect’ world. So, there is a talent show that day and our favorite unusual couple is preparing for their magic act. Wanda also tells Vision that is their home and she wants to fit in. Later, Vision goes to the Neighborhood Watch because of a strange sound he heard the night before, where we meet some more people from Westview and Vision’s co-workers. Vision mentions he does not eat food. However, when Herb offers him gum, he takes it but accidentally swallows it. This leads to a really cool animation that Vision might not be doing so well after eating that piece of gum. Meanwhile, Wanda hears a strange noise so she goes to check it out, and it is this little red and gold-colored drone with a logo on it... Which was later revealed to be the SWORD logo. But then who comes to visit... Agnes. She was suspicious since the beginning and we were right about that... So Wanda joins Agnes for a meeting with the Planning Committee. Here we meet, Geraldine aka Monica Rambeau, Dottie, and some more people from Westview. So, Wanda is trying really hard to fit in but is not really successful. They say the talent show is for the children but are not any children in Westview... Fishy! Then Wanda has to clean everything up after the meeting and has a really weird moment with Dottie. Someone is trying to contact Wanda through the radio which freaks Dottie out completely, the glass breaks and Dottie’s blood is red, while the rest is still black and white just like that little drone... So, when it’s time for the magic show, Vision shows up at the nick of time and appears to be acting a little weird or ‘drunk’ so to speak. So of course, everything goes wrong during the show and Wanda tries to cover it up. But everyone thought they were being funny so they won! And they go back home, and Wanda turns out to be pregnant! I thought it was a really cute reveal but it did not last long because there is some strange dude outside in a beekeeper costume coming out of the sewer and Wanda is like ‘oh hell no’ and rewinds time like it never happened. Badass.

Episode 3 -  Now in Color

In this episode, Wanda and Vision prepare for the arrival of the baby, which of course causes some trouble not just in the house but in the neighborhood of Westview too. I loved how Vision was making Dad jokes and was quite nervous about becoming a dad. Yet, Wanda was just like chill, we got this, so cute. The pregnancy goes very fast, which confuses Vision. He also starts questioning the situation they are in and how weird the citizens of Westview act sometimes. He even looks straight into the camera! So, Wanda looks a bit scared and rewinds again!! So, it was becoming very clear that Wanda is pulling the strings here and can alter what happens. Afterward, Vision runs to get the doctor and Geraldine (aka Monica) shows up. At some point, Geraldine realizes what’s up and she helps Wanda deliver her baby, or babies as we later find out. Twins! What a twist, as Darcy says in the next episode (although it was in the trailer that there were 2 babies, I just wanted to make that joke). So, everyone is very happy and as Vision lets the doctor out, Monica stays with Wanda. Now, this is where this episode gets super weird. So, Vision sees Agnes and Herb talking and they are discussing how Geraldine is an outsider since she just showed up in Westview with no home and family. Then, Herb wants to say something important, but of course, Agnes stops him. Meanwhile, Wanda and Monica are inside and Wanda mentions Pietro for the first time in a long time!!! I think since Age of Ultron. Speaking of Ultron, Monica then mentions that Pietro was killed by him. We do not see what happens next (just yet hehe) but the aspect ratio changes and we go outside of Westview where SWORD is monitoring the hex very closely...  This episode brought up a lot of questions, which is one of the things I loved about it. A scene I liked was when Wanda’s water broke and the house got all wet. So, Wanda used her powers to create some wind to dry off. She was standing there very gracefully and Vision was in the background struggling to keep his balance. I just thought that was funny. 

Episode 4 - We Interrupt This Program

Did I mention how much I love the titles for every episode, I think they are so clever. In this episode, we see the last 3 episodes but from outside the hex! So, we get a couple more answers to our questions. For example, that it is ALL WANDA! Wanda is creating a reality where she can live in a perfect world with Vision. We get re-introduced to some characters we have not seen in a while! Jimmy Woo, who has mastered close-up magic like he was practicing in Ant-Man and The Wasp! We love to see it. And Dr. Darcy Lewis, who is now an astrophysicist, just like Jane! I think it was really good to pair these two together because they had a great dynamic and quickly became such a fun duo! We also get introduced to one of the worst people in MCU history, the new director of SWORD... Tyler Hayward. The literal definition of a bastard. I mean this man is a liar and is sitting in Monica’s chair (who should obviously be the new director). This brings me to the beginning of the episode, which in my opinion is the best perspective on the Blip we have gotten so far. The VFX when Monica blipped back was incredible. I also thought that whole sequence in the hospital showed how chaotic it must have been for some places after Hulk snapped everyone back. For example, when this one guy said “Everyone is coming back, we don’t the capacity!” I think that is a really interesting angle to explore the ramifications of The Blip. But the most heartbreaking thing about that scene was Monica finding out her mother, Maria, passed away while she was blipped. That was just awful. A fun thing about this episode was that everyone at SWORD was kind of like us, trying to piece together what was going on! But the best part about the episode was, of course, seeing how Wanda took Monica out of the hex. She really looked and sounded like a villain. It was amazing, but the most creepy thing I have ever seen in the MCU was talking zombie Vision. Really good jump scare and very unexpected and dark! 

Episode 5 - On a Very Special Episode...

And we are back with Wanda and Vision living their ‘perfect’ life, trying to get the twins to sleep, which is not really working out for them. And of course, Agnes shows up to help them. Vision is kind of apprehensive and prefers if Agnes does not get too close. However, Agnes starts acting weird and asks Wanda: "Do you want me to begin from the top?" WHAT...?! I thought this sounded like she knew Wanda was in control. Wanda tries to talk some sense into her and lets Agnes do her thing. Vision starts getting really suspicious of the situation in this episode and I loved seeing that and how Wanda dealt with it as well. We catch up with SWORD and our favorite duo has become a trio!! Jimmy Woo, Darcy, and Monica! Hayward is briefing everyone about Wanda’s history, tells more lies, Monica actually sticks up for her (yas), and Jimmy & Darcy agree with the whole world that Hayward is a bastard. Back in the hex, we are introduced to Sparky the dog, and the twins age up to ten. Later, our favorite trio is on a mission to figure out what is going on. What I found most interesting about this scene was when Jimmy mentioned Captain Marvel, Monica was super dismissive... I smell some drama between those two. They then figure out if they can send something in the Hex to contact Wanda. While Vision is at work, they get a mysterious e-mail from SWORD trying to make contact inside the hex, which results in Vision waking up Norm from someone’s control!!! Such a cool scene, very well acted as well. Back at the Vision residence, Wanda has a little heart to heart with the twins about family, which I thought was very heartwarming. But then, a SWORD drone has come into the hex and Hayward actually weaponized it. And we get one of Wanda’s most badass scenes ever! She comes out of the hex and throws the drone right back at them and tells them to leave her alone since she has everything she wants. Then, she amplifies the hex with her powers and now it has this red glow around it. What I found really interesting about this was her Sakovian accent, which was so present here. The commercial for ‘Lagos’ paper towels this episode was very clever: ‘when you make a mess you did not mean to.’, which is obviously a reference to what Wanda did to that hospital in Civil War. So, Sparky is missing and they find him dead in Agnes’ hands. RIP :(. The ending of the episode where Wanda and Vision fight was amazing and SO WELL ACTED by both of them. Super tense! And of course, in the end, Evan Peters shows up as Pietro. I have never seen the X-Men movies (I know, I am sorry.), so I had no clue that he actually played Quicksilver in the FOX movies. 

Episode 6 - All-New Halloween Spooktacular!

This was one of my favorite episodes and it may or may not be because of the Halloween elements. I thought the twins talking to the audience in this episode was really cute and a great way for us to get to know their personalities as well. Wanda comes downstairs looking fabulous in her classic Scarlet Witch costume from the comics!! The kids and Pietro kind of think the costume is a bit meh, but they obviously do not know what they are talking about... Pietro then talks about trick or treating with Wanda in Sakovia and Wanda says she does not remember... Clue #1 that this Pietro is being kind of weird. Later, Vision shows up in his classic comics costume, which was funny to see him in that. So Vision tells Wanda he cannot go trick or treating with them because he is doing some stuff with the Neighborhood Watch tonight, while in fact, he is going to be doing some investigating in Westview. So Pietro joins the fam instead with his classic Quicksilver costume and Tommy has the same outfit on because it is later revealed that he also has super speed. I really enjoyed the trick-or-treating bit. So, Vision is nearing the edge of the Hex and seems as though people are either stuck in a loop but still conscious or just standing completely still. Back at SWORD, our favorite trio is taking matters into their own hands and are trying to figure out a way to go back into the hex and they find out that Hayward is tracking Vision and the decay of Vibranium. Which raised a bunch of questions for me, like is Hayward just after Vision? Darcy mentions that going in and out of the hex is changing Monica’s cells. Interesting and scary. When Vision found Agnes at the edge of the hex and got her out of the spell, she knew about the Avengers but Vision did not since he has no memory. She was acting really weird though... AS ALWAYS! The town square with all the Halloween decorations looked so cute and gave me serious Halloweentown vibes! Pietro is fishing for answers with Wanda and we get another jump scare with zombie Pietro... This was even worse than Vision. Then, we get this heartbreaking scene, where he is trying to get out of the hex and tries to tell SWORD the people need help and he is slowly falling apart and nobody tries to help him but Darcy. I really thought he was going to die again and I was not ready for that. Luckily, Billy senses his dad is in trouble and goes to Wanda. She then freezes the whole town and EXPANDS THE ENTIRE HEX. That was just crazy and what a cliffhanger. 

Episode 7 - Breaking The Fourth Wall

This is the Modern Family style episode and as a huge fan of that, this was sooooo well done! The humor, the confessionals to the camera, the camera work even. It was perfect. So, it’s not going so well in the hex. A lot of furniture and things in the house are switching between decades, like the twins’ game consoles and the milk. Wanda kept saying she was fine, while we can all see she obviously is not. Agnes suggests taking the twins so Wanda can have a little self-care time. Speaking of which, her confessionals to the camera were so funny! Vision seeks out Darcy and Darcy just thinks he wants to go on a date with her. All I kept thinking was: Vision, just take her out of the spell. Which of course he does later and Darcy says how she thought it would be fun to be on WandaVision but in reality, it was not, that was great. They then escape the circus by getting in a funnel cake truck. Meanwhile, Monica and Jimmy meet up with the engineer who turned out to be no one we knew. But she did bring a vehicle that Monica could use to get back in the hex. Which eventually did not work, so Monica literally runs in there without any protection really. But we got this beautiful sequence where Monica gets her powers and it was just stunning. She hears all these voices of her past and she is also ripped apart somehow with different versions of herself but she pulls them all together and she goes comes out on the other side in a superhero landing and GLOWING eyes, wow. Vision and Darcy are stuck somewhere in Westview like someone really does not want them to get to Wanda. Darcy basically tells Vision his whole story and he finally learns what Wanda had to endure concerning his death as well. Vision’s confessionals in front of that funnel truck were hilarious as well! Another thing I loved about that was that Darcy mentioned how she had been watching WandaVision (just like us hehe) and the love Wanda and Vision share is real, which I thought was really cute. Monica visits Wanda at home and she is NOT happy. Elizabeth Olsen is really selling the more villainous moments and Teyonnah Parris killed this scene as well, the emotion in her voice was on point. Agnes sees what happens and goes to stop it and takes Wanda to her house. Wanda sits in the living room and the twins are nowhere to be found, so Agnes says they are in the basement. Which has these really weird branches coming out of it, Wanda goes down and there are all these weird artifacts and this book, very WITCHY... And it is revealed that Agnes is Agatha Harkness, a witch!!! This leads to the instantly iconic smash hit, Agatha All Along!!! (which I am still very much obsessed with) So we see her messing with events like the talent show and it was also revealed that she was the one that killed Sparky... I had been following theories throughout the show, so some already suspected Agnes was Agatha but the way it was revealed was just iconic. 

Episode 8 - Previously On...

I loved this one too. This episode gives us some answers to our questions and a glimpse into Wanda's past. Hosted by none other than Agatha Harkness! (I love how she was giving commentary on everything this episode, Katherine Hahn is amazing!) In the beginning, we also see some of Agatha's past and I thought it was really cool, I love the magic section of the MCU and I feel like they are starting to explore it more and more. It was also a very dark scene, really great stuff. After that, Agatha is explaining to Wanda why she came to Westview, why is she is seeking her out specifically, and showcases her magic. She also explains how she brought FIETRO in the picture (cannot stop calling him that now lol). We then take a trip down memory lane. First up, Sokovia. I thought this was cute and gave us an answer to why they are referencing sitcoms. I did not expect to see the bombing that Wanda and Pietro talked about in Age of Ultron and as it turns out the bomb did not go off because Wanda put a spell on it! Then we move to the Hydra facility where Wanda and Pietro volunteered. So when Wanda was alone with the scepter, the mind stone went to her by itself, almost like it chose her or something. I thought it was really cool that it was showing her true self or her future self for that matter. Next up, the Avengers compound. I loved how when Vision entered he came through the wall, just like he did in Civil War and he is kind of confused about the sitcom she is watching. They have a little heart-to-heart about how Wanda is feeling after Pietro's death. I have to say the writing and lines here are great but Vision says this gorgeous one: "But what is grief, if not love persevering?" That is one of the best lines in the show and MCU, so beautiful. I mean even Agatha had to wipe away a tear. The last scene was incredible. So we find out that Wanda never took Vision's body from SWORD and that Hayward is a lying bastard (tells us something we do not know). I was on the verge of tears when Wanda went to Vision's body and said she could not feel him anymore. Gosh, that was sad and made me think of Infinity War. She then leaves the SWORD HQ and drives to Westview and she stops at this empty plot of land... Because Vision bought that for them to live there :( That is just so sad and Wanda her grief was so great that SHE created the hex out of nothing. On top of that, she even created a new Vision. That whole scene was so visually striking, it was incredible. So back to 'reality'. Agatha leads Wanda outside and she is wearing her costume (which looks great btw!) and her hair is blowing in the wind and she is holding the twins hostage and she tells Wanda she used chaos magic to create the hex, which makes her THE SCARLET WITCH!!!!!! SHE SAID IT! The way I screamed omg, it was amazing!

Episode 9 - The Series Finale

We've made it!! Congrats if you have made it this far, cause this a long post. Let me start off by saying that even though some people hated this finale because of all the theories that had been spread on the internet, I really enjoyed it! Yes, even I was convinced that some of them were true, particularly Mephisto and Doctor Strange showing up. It did not happen and at the end of the day, I was fine with it because they were just theories, it was not confirmed. Now, the whole Evan Peters thing... It was a bit weird that he was just a nobody, but I was honestly not that invested in that storyline, so yeah, I get why other people were disappointed. But to say it ruined the whole show, no way, it was never about him in the first place. With the mystery of WandaVision, I think we all looked too much into every single detail. WandaVision is about Wanda dealing with her grief and the love she shares with VIsion, which they delivered on in spades and I loved seeing that. Plus, it is not to say that Mephisto will never show up, there were a lot of clues here that he might in the future with all those devil references... The finale wrapped up this story and gave some teases for what is to come. It delivered some great action at the beginning of the episode with Wanda vs. Agatha and Vision vs. White Vision. I thought the little philosophy session with the Visions was so in character, it was great. Speaking of White Vision, now that he has all of Vision's memory... WHERE DID HE GO?! I am sure we will see him again. I thought the scene where the people from Westview surrounded Wanda and were blaming her for all their trauma these past weeks, which is totally within their right, was so intense and Elizabeth really sold it!! All the Wanda vs. Agatha scenes were awesome and loved seeing them use their magic in different ways. Now, my two favorite moments of this finale. I did not realize what Wanda was doing while fighting Agatha in the air, not until Agatha could not use her powers anymore... Wanda literally used Agatha's own tricks against her by casting those ruins inside the hex! Wanda accepting her destiny as the Scarlet Witch was such a beautiful moment, I had legit chills! AND HER NEW COSTUME LOOKS STUNNING! With her hair and the headpiece, omg yes queen. Also, I think we will be seeing Agatha again, they really established that her path will cross with Wanda in a future MCU project! Now, my other favorite moment. Wanda saying goodbye to her family. Some of the lines were just beautiful and the score was emotional. I thought it was chilling how you could just see the hex closing in on them, it felt very cinematic. I genuinely think it is among some of my favorite moments in the MCU. It was a beautiful ending to this story. So, what's next?! One post-credit scene was Monica being recruited by a SKRULL!! I love it when the Skrulls just pop up out of nowhere, it's great. So the Skrull tells her there is someone who wants to see her up there... That has to be Nick Fury right?! The last time we saw him he was on some sort of space station with Skrulls in Far From Home. Maybe Monica will also play a part in Secret Invasion?! I am excited about that reunion nonetheless! The other scene was Wanda settled in a secluded area in the mountains. Wanda has been confirmed for Multiverse of Madness with Doctor Strange and I am SO excited for that. This scene confirmed it too! If u listen closely you can hear a different version of Doctor Strange's theme!! I thought it was really cool and a little scary that Wanda could be awake and have her astral projection reading the dark hold at the same time! That was powerful!

So, here we are, we made it! I loved this show and I am so happy Wanda is becoming a very big part of the MCU and her future shines brighter than ever!! Thank you so much for reading this! I hope you enjoyed it :) Next up, The Falcon and The Winter Soldier! (spoiler alert: it was amazing!!!!) Hopefully, my review will be up before Loki has started ;)

PS. I loved all the songs and scores from the show so much, I put all my faves in a Spotify playlist! Check it out here

[servinglemonade]

The Mandalorian Season 2 Review

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR THE MANDALORIAN SEASON 1 AND 2

Hi everyone, it has been a while since The Mandalorian finished up its second season, and to be honest, I kind of miss waking up at 9 AM on Friday to watch this show. Now, I loved season 1 and have watched it multiple times already. I was so excited for season 2 and to see more of Mando/Din and The Child and where their story would go. I never would have thought season 2 would go the way that it did. It was incredible and even better than I thought it would be. This Is The Way. Keep on reading to find out my opinions for every episode this season!

And again, beware... SPOILERS AHEAD

Chapter 9: The Marshal (dir. Jon Favreau)

I enjoyed the first episode back in the world of The Mandalorian. The first thing I noticed about this episode was the run time. Its a 54 minute episode, the longest we have gotten so far. I liked that it was so long, since we had been waiting on the second season for about a year and the episode overall was enjoyable. Being back on Tatooine was great since it is one of my favorite planets in the Star Wars universe. I liked seeing more of the Tusken Raiders and loved that battle scene with the krayt dragon. One thing I loved from that was the change in aspect ratio! When the krayt dragon opened its mouth, the ratio changed to IMAX/full screen. That was amazing and such a good choice for it. It just made it more cinematic. And of course, who can forget that Boba Fett tease at the very end of the episode! Fun fact, I never really liked/enjoyed Boba Fett. In the Original Trilogy, he does not do much, he is just kind of there and then ‘dies’. So I never really got the hype. But, oh, I am going to talk about Boba Fett later. In conclusion, chapter 9 was a nice episode. 

Favorite moments: Mando taking out the krayt dragon like a BOSS, Mando talking with the Tusken Raiders in their language, The Child in his little pouch on Mando’s speeder bike with his ears flapping in the wind.

Overall: 7.5/10

Chapter 10: The Passenger (dir. Peyton Reed)

This episode was more of a side quest but hey, if it is nice, I do not mind. This is a fun episode but those spiders at the end... They just reminded me of those spiders in Rebels season 2/3 and I HATED those things. However, the action scene was very thrilling. I loved the beginning of the episode, where some guys try to take The Child from Din and he tricks them. The Child running into his arms again and Din messing with the guy that took his jetpack was great. The episode mostly takes place on this ice/snow planet, which I always enjoy in anything Star Wars! This episode also introduced us to Frog Lady, who was a nice addition to the gang.

Favorite moments: Din fixing the Razor Crest and then telling The Child he should help him and the final action scene. 

Overall: 7.5/10

Chapter 11: The Heiress (dir. Bryce Dallas Howard)

This episode felt like a Clone Wars or Rebels episode and I LOVED IT!!! This was so good. I was quite surprised to see Bo-Katan show up here, she was great and I enjoyed seeing her in live-action. The action scenes, on the boat and on that imperial ship, were especially incredible and really well done, so props to Bryce! There was also an important storyline here regarding Mando and his Creed vs. other Mandalorians. Since we know Bo-Katan and other Mandalorians keep removing their helmet and Din never does, I wondered why. This finally gets adressed here and I loved seeing it unfold and how this storyline kept unfolding as the season went on. And of course, at the end of the episode, we got THE ASHOKA TANO NAME DROP! Confirming that we would be seeing her this season. I am a huge Ahsoka fan and she has become one of my favorite Star Wars characters, so I was excited to say the least.

Favorite moments: Mando crash landing the Razor Crest in the water, Frog Lady reuniting with her husband, Bo-Katan, and Mando telling The Child to stop playing with his food

Overall: 8.5/10

Chapter 12: The Siege (dir. Carl Weathers)

But before we see Ahsoka, a little detour. However, a short, sweet, and fun detour, directed by none other than Greef Karga himself! Yes, this episode saw the return of season one’s Greef Karga, Cara Dune, and the Mythrol (the blue guy from season 1). Nonetheless, the star of the episode was The Child with his blue cookies haha. The beginning of the episode was so funny with Din trying to tell The Child were to put the wires in and then them eating together. Din even showed a little bit of his face, with The Child trying to take a peek, so adorable. Additionally, I really liked being back on Nevarro and seeing how Greef Karga and Cara cleaned up the town. Once again, the action here was fantastic and Carl Weathers did a great job. The final action scene was amazing and showed how great of a pilot Din is. In this episode, I also really felt the bond between Din and The Child and how much it has grown over time! OMG, almost forgot... We learn more about Moff Gideon wanted with The Child, he used his blood and the midi-chlorians to create what looked like clones?! Crazy, AND they put a tracker on the Razor Crest, which got me very anxious about the next episode.

Favorite moments: The Child and the wires (aka me in Among Us), The Child in school and stealing blue space macarons, and the trio from season 1 back together and kicking ass

Overall: 8.5/10

Chapter 13: The Jedi (dir. Dave Filoni)

This was magical. Purely magical. Dave Filoni... Oh my goodness, what a legend. He understands Star Wars in a way no else but George Lucas does. From the action, to the samurai and western infleunces, to the emotion, everything was perfect. So, in this episode Din finally finds Ahsoka Tano, one of the few Jedi that are left. The episode wastes no time to introduce Ahsoka. Her entrance in the forest was amazing, the way she uses the force and her lightsabers, just ugh, amazing. Now, I really like Rosario Dawson as Ahsoka but it took some getting used to since Ahsoka originally is an animated character. However, she looked great here. I loved the scene where Ahsoka was communicating with The Child through the force and we learn his backstory!! His name is Grogu and was trained at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant by many masters and was hidden during Order 66. The way we learned all of this was so natural and I really did not see it coming. It was great. I really like the name Grogu, it fits him haha. The little training session with Grogu was fantastic and showed how much Din cares about Grogu. Ahsoka tells Din she cannot train Grogu because of his attachements and how that can lead him to the dark side. She even references Anakin!!!!!! Omg, the feels. Mando and Ahsoka team up to fight the Magistrate of the town and this fight was fantastic. Manda and Ahsoka are both so cool and have some great moments. Then, when we thought this episode could not get any better, Ahsoka teases what is to come as she name drops GRAND ADMIRAL THRAWN!! Now, if you have not watched Rebels, this might mean nothing to you. But I gasped so loud when she said it, good stuff is coming for the Ahsoka show!!!! When Mando had to say goodbye to Grogu, I thought no... They are not going to do it, are they?! But Ahsoka sticks to her gut and says she cannot train Grogu. Instead, she sends them to the remants of an ancient Jedi temple where Grogu can choose his path. And so Mando, Grogu, and Ahsoka part ways. I just loved this episode. Also a special shout-out to Ludwig Göransson’s score. He has been fantastic for season 1 and 2, but the score at the very end of this episode, just captured the magic and beauty of this one. He is so talented! 

Favorite moments: all of Ahsoka’s action scenes, Ahsoka vs. Mando, Din learning Grogu’s name and he keeps saying it, the Trawn name drop, Ahsoka referencing Anakin, and Din and Ahsoka traing Grogu

Overall: 9.5/10

Chapter 14: The Tragedy (dir. Robert Rodriguez)

This was a short but action packed episode, oh my goodness. It just kept going at some point, which was very thrilling to watch. This episode saw the return of Boba Fett and Fennec Shand, which was surprising. Now, like I said, I have never been a fan of Boba Fett. However, we was a badass in this episode with some very cool moments! I also loved that in the bts of season 2 Temuera Morrison talked about how he brought in some of his Maori traditions into Boba’s fighting style, which was very awesome to see. Okay, back to the rest of the episode. So, it starts out with Mando messing with Grogu and his name a little bit on the Razor Crest. He actually laughed, which is something we had not seen yet. He then trained with him for a bit and told him how proud he was of him and how he is special... Sooo soft! So then, they get to the seeing stone and of course Mando is an actual rookie and has no clue what any of this Jedi stuff (as he calls it) means, which is understandable of course. But I just thought it was very funny to watch. Boba and Fennec show up, a lot of Stromtroopers show up, and they have to fight their way out of that nasty situation. It was really cool!! All of them had awesome moments.  Then, when everything has calmed down a bit, Moff Gideon’s dark troopers show up and take Grogu from Mando. I just- I can’t... Another thing that happens is the Razor Crest getting blown up! Holy shit, I was shocked. So Mando is left with no ship, no Grogu, and has to get him back. So, Boba and Fennec promise to help him. Very action packed, and tragic episode.

Favorite moments: Din knowing nothing about the Jedi, the whole bit in the Razor Crest with Din and Grogu being cute, Fennec being a badass, Boba being a badass, Grogu beating those Stormtroopers in his cell, and Moff Gideon being as vilanous as ever (gotta love Giancarlo Esposito)

Overall: 8.7/10

Chapter 15: The Believer (dir. Rick Famuyiwa)

I LOVED this episode. Rick Famuyiwa did it again!! Okay, so Mando, Boba, Fennec, Cara, and Mayfeld (from season 1) go to this Empirial base to get the coordinates of Moff Gideon’s cruiser so they can get Grogu back to his dad (yes, I said it, because it’s true!). So they want Mayfeld to come because he knows stuff about the Empire and I did not really like him in season 1. However, I thought he was really nice here. He even had some funny lines. I loved the action scene on the transport with Mando fighting those pirates they encountered. It was really weird though, not seeing him in his Beskar armor. So they inflitrate the base and Mayfeld’s old superior is sitting where they have to get the coordinates, so he cannot go in, Mando wants to go but here is the twist... It is a facial scan (insert suspenseful sound). So, he goes in, tries it with his helmet on, and that obviously does not work. So he removes his helmet. This was so powerful, he was willing to let other people see his face to save Grogu. It just shows how much he cares, and I loved to see it. The whole scene without his helmet was so suspenseful. I was stressed while watching it. Pedro Pascal is such a good actor, he was selling it! Mayfeld was so cool about it though. He had been messing with Mando having his helmet on the entire time and when he eventually took it off, he was really respectful about it. Another thing I thought was fantasic this episode was Mando treathening Moff Gideon with a little message. He basically used the same message Gideon told him last season when he was looking for Grogu, but now Mando used it on him. He even said that Grogu means more to him and Gideon will ever know. Oh my gosh!!! In conclusion, after this episode, I could not wait for the finale. 

Favorite moments: Din removing his helmet, Din realizing his blaster was jammed so he just yeeted it to the pirate instead, Mayfeld and Din talking to the Empirial guy in the cantine, Mayfeld calling Din ‘Brown Eyes’, and Din’s message to Gideon.

Overall: 9/10

Chapter 16: The Rescue (dir. Peyton Reed)

Where to begin?! Oh my goodness, SO MUCH happened during this episode. Mando adds Bo-Katan and Koska Reeves to his crew to get Grogu back. They agree, since this is Bo-Katan’s chance to take back the darksaber from him. So Boba Fett distracts Gideon’s people for the rest of the crew to sneak on board. So we had Cara, Fennec, Bo-Katan, and Koska just kicking these stromtrooper’s asses and it was stunning to see. Mando goes to look for Grogu but encounters the dark troopers and they were ruthless. I honestly thought he was going to get hurt or something. Thank goodness he had that Beskar speer, so he yeeted them out of the ship and made his way to Grogu. Only to find Gideon standing there with the darksaber. He is like just take him, I got his blood. Of course, it is a trap and he attacks Mando. We get an epic fight between Gideon with the darksaber and Mando with his speer. It was so cool and Mando wins! He then walks back to the crew with Gideon in handcuffs, wielding the darksaber, and Grogu in his hand. Bo-Katan sees it and looks shocked since she now cant get it from him since it needs to won in battle as Gideon reminds everyone (he was obviously enjoying this), which I completely forgot. Then just says I yield, take it. She cannot just accept, which makes Din the rightful ruler of Mandalore (CRAZY!!!). This was left with no answers, so I am hoping that this will be explored during season 3!!. The dark troopers get back to the ship and they need a miracle now. Out of nowhere, one single X-Wing shows up. I knew it was a Jedi, but who? Of course, Luke crossed my mind, but I was like, NO WAY. So I thought, it could be Ezra from Rebels (he also has a green lightsaber). However, there was no way someone that powerful was Ezra, it had to be Luke. I will never forget it, my heart was beating so fast, I was crying, and the suspense was just, oh my. The hallway scene was fantastic. Then the jedi reveals his face, and it is Mark Hamill back as Luke Skywalker in all his glory. The CGI was impressive, although when he started talking, it looked a little off. Anyway, now Din has to say goodbye to Grogu and he lets him see his face. This was such a beautiful moment, it made me cry even more. This show is incredible, however this just proves that when you strip away all the cool stuff and guest appearances, this show is about Din and Grogu’s relationship, which in the end, is my favorite thing about the show. It was so emotional. Grogu then leaves with Luke and R2 (!!!), and that concludes season 2! This finale was just incredible, and what made it even more emotional was Pedro’s perfromance. He is fantastic! Again, the score this season was so good but in the finale, Ludwig outdit himself! So beautiful and emotional. 

Favorite moments: the whole thing, not even going to try to pick just a few

Overall: 10/10

So that is season 2 of The Mandalorian!! I have to say, after the shit year 2020 was, Mando Fridays made it a little better. I cannot wait to see it continue. I think it will be after The Book of Boba Fett with Boba and Fennec (looking forward to that!). This ended up way longer than I intended, oh well. I hope you enjoyed reliving Mando season 2 with me! Now I kind of want to watch it again...

This Is The Way.

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Holiday Movies🎄🎬 : Festive AF or Bah Humbug?

Hi! First up, I hope you are doing okay and are staying safe. It has been a weird Christmas season, and since The Netherlands is now in their second lockdown period for 2020, it is even weirder. However, that is not messing up my festive spirit. Christmas is my favorite time of the year, and not even 2020 will mess that up for me. Something I have been doing since lockdown is watching movies (even more than usual). Including a bunch of new Christmas movies. I watch the classics as always and made a blog post for that a couple of years ago. Which you can read here. So, I decided to make a post with all the ‘new’ Christmas movies I have watched this year! So keep reading to find out if these movies will make you say Ho-Ho-Ho or No-No-No... 

No worries, all the reviews are spoiler-free!

The Holiday Calendar (2018): Festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I watched this movie back in 2018 because I love Quincy! So, I was curious about this movie. I adored it. Now it has become an annual Christmas watch. Kat Graham and Quincy have great chemistry and the plot is quite original, which I can always appreciate. It is a fun movie and very cozy!

Anastasia (1997): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+

I have been watching this movie since I was little, and I feel it so underrated! This is not a Christmas movie. However, with the winter scenery, I think it is great for the Holiday season! It’s the story of Anastasia, who may or may not be a long-lost Russian princess... The animation is fantastic, the locations are so pretty to look at, the characters and cast are amazing, and the soundtrack and musical numbers are just incredible. Yeah, there is a lot to love about this movie! Highly recommend.

The Lego Star Wars Holiday Special (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+ (if you do not have Disney+, it is on YouTube in two parts, but you did not hear that from me ;))

I have never watched the Lego Star Wars stuff but when I saw that this was coming out, I thought: yes, sign me up! I had so much fun watching this. I highly recommend it for any Star Wars fan! Does not matter if you like the prequels, original trilogy, or the sequels, this has something for everyone! It has some great humor and some GREAT character moments.  I LOVE one moment so much that I downloaded it on my phone to watch whenever I want. This will get you in the Christmas (or as they say in the SW universe Life Day) spirit for sure!

Holidate (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I watched this one with my friends through a virtual watch party and enjoyed it. It was way better than I expected after seeing the trailer. Emma Roberts is great as always and it was quite funny. However, with Christmas just 5 days away (yeah!!!!!), I recommend putting this one on your list for November/early December. Since the movie is not all Christmas.

The Princess Switch 2: bah humbug

Where to watch: Netflix

I hate to say it because I liked the first one and love Vanessa Hudgens, but this was not good. The plot got so ridiculous at some point and besides Vanessa and some others, most of the cast were quite mediocre. The outfits were fantastic though!

Operation Christmas Drop (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

I enjoyed this movie. However, I do not feel the need to watch it again. Kat Graham and Alexander Ludwig’s performances are wonderful and it has a great message. The movie takes place on the island of Guam and it was so beautiful! Even though the plot can be quite predictable, it is still quite an original story for a Christmas movie!

My Christmas Inn (2018): bah humbug

Where to watch: Netflix

Predictable and cheesy. It has all the basic beats of your regular Christmas movie. A woman with a very busy and successful job goes to a small town, usually does not like Christmas or is too busy to celebrate it. Then they usually meet the town’s most eligible bachelor, and well... You can fill in the rest. Tia Mowry does a fine job for what she has been given and the town and inn are charming.

Noelle (2019): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+

I was not sure about this one after the trailer, but I LOVED this! Anna Kendrick and Billie Eichner are so great here and the movie has so many Christmas puns... Oh my garland, right up my alley. I loved the look of the North Pole, soooo magical. Plus, Snowcone is absolutely adorable! SO SO SO festive!

Dash & Lily (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

Okay, this is not a movie, but a series. However, it is just 8 episodes that are around 20-27 minutes each and it is very binge-able! This show is based on a book. I don’t want to give anything away, but the basic plot is that this boy who hates Christmas comes into contact with a girl who loves Christmas through a notebook, which might sound really vague, but it will become clear when you watch it! It takes place in New York during the Christmas season (obviously), which drew me to the show in the first place. Call me basic, but NYC looks so festive and magical. This is what this show is too! I loved it and hope there will be a second season next year!

Jingle Jangle: A Christmas Journey (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

This movie is... INCREDIBLE. Everything about it is just magical. The cast, set design, characters, costume design, musical numbers and choreography, the story. Everything is just wonderful! You can tell this movie had a big budget which it deserves. I even forget for a minute that I was watching a Netflix movie?! You have to watch this one, you will not regret it. My favorite songs were This Day and Make It Work Again. The Usher and Kiana Ledé version of This Day is fantastic too and has been on repeat! Someone on Twitter said that this movie would make an amazing Broadway musical which I agree wholeheartedly with and someone should get on that and make it happen!

Godmothered (2020): festive AF

Where to watch: Disney+

I liked Godmothered. The plot was nice, the characters were fun and overall enjoyable. I do not know why, but I just always enjoy stories where someone who is not from our world, comes here and discovers everything in funny ways. It just cracks me up, and Godmothered has those aspects as well. I was also impressed by the special effects and CGI in this movie.

Christmas in Evergreen (2017): bah humbug

Where to watch: I watched this one on TV and it is not on Netflix here in The Netherlands, but maybe you will be in luck... or not (since the movie is not very good)

The town of Evergreen has become a running gag now in my house. There is not 1, not 2, but 3 movies that take place in this town. I-... I do not know what to say haha. I mean, just like My Christmas Inn, a very basic plot. Evergreen does have a charming, festive feel to it, so the movie has that going for it. Other than that, not a lot. One thing I found ridiculous was when the main character had a flight to catch. You would think that she has to get to the airport, yet she goes on all these side quests and I was just so annoyed by it.

Christmas Wonderland (2018): festive AF

Where to watch: Netflix

Is it cheesy? Yes. Is it predictable? Yes. Did I enjoy it? Heck yeah. I do not know why, but Christmas Wonderland is not as cringe as some of these Hallmark Christmas movies can be. It stars Emily Osment (you might know her from Hannah Montana) and she is an artist here. Overall, not a waste of time and it was fun to watch.

So that was it for this post! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe gave you a few new Christmas movies to watch! What are some of your favorite Christmas movies?

I will be back with more posts after Christmas! Maybe some of my favorite things from 2020, to end this year on a positive note!

There are just 3 days left until Christmas. 2020 has been the longest, yet the fastest year ever. I know this Christmas will be different and there will be lots of people spending it without their loved ones. If you are one of them, I am so sorry. I hope you can enjoy the day regardless. Watch a few movies, eat all your favorite Christmas treats, call up your loved ones, treat yourself with a nice face mask, or do absolutely nothing. It’s up to you.

I truly hope you have a wonderful Christmas and I am sending lots of virtual hugs your way! I wish you a very merry Christmas and Happy Holidays! XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

HAMILTON ON DISNEY+

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR HAMILTON ON DISNEY+

Hi everyone! I’m back with a very exciting post that I thought I would not be writing for a very long time. My review of the filmed Hamilton Production on Broadway with the OBC!! After the unexpected announcement that the Hamilton film would find it’s home on Disney+ instead of being released in theaters in 2021, I was ecstatic. I could not believe it! I have been listening to the album with the OBC for years now. I never get tired of it, it always puts a smile on my face and the occasional comfort whenever I need it. I have watched Hamilton four times now and I just love it so much. So let’s go...

Overall reaction

Even after watching four times now, my reaction is still the same. I truly believe that it is a brilliant masterpiece. That is high praise for sure, but Hamilton deserves it. I will never forget experiencing it for the first time on July 3rd. I was blown away and could not take my eyes off the screen. It was exhilarating to finally see this, after listening to it for years. It is the little details that you do not get to experience when listening to the album that I loved the most. So overall, I was blown away by it and exceeded all of my expectations.

Film 

I have never seen a filmed stage musical, so I do not have a reference. However, I thought this was beautifully filmed. It showed the whole stage when it was needed and zoomed in on the actors when necessary. It was an intimate experience. You get the best seat in the house, so to speak.

Cast

I already knew the cast was phenomenal due to listening to the cast album. Seeing them perform all the songs was even better than I expected! Here is an itemized list (hehe) of all the cast members, because they all deserve a chance to shine! Special shout-out to all the ensemble members, without them the show would just not be complete!

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Alexander Hamilton Favorite performance: Hurricane (so beautifully staged!!)

The man, the myth, the legend! I am a huge fan of Lin and his work (even beyond Hamilton)! I thought his Hamilton was great and very funny at times. The emotion in his performance was really good! Lin wrote this whole thing!! It all came from his mind, which is incredible in and of itself. 

Phillipa Soo as Eliza Hamilton Favorite performance: Burn (iconic)

Phillipa is so talented. She has an amazing voice and pair that with her amazing performance and it is practically perfect. Her acting and singing during the final song, Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story, was so emotional. It had me crying all the three times I have seen it. 

Leslie Odom Jr. as Aaron Burr Favorite performance: Wait For It (this is one of the songs that made me a Hamilton fan)

Leslie Odom Jr. is one of the most talented people ever. He is so amazing on that stage. Everybody always said that The Room Where It Happens is a true masterpiece and I always liked the song, but it was not my favorite. Seeing Leslie and the Ensemble cast perform it, WOW! Incredible. Leslie is the perfect Burr and had me crying and laughing many times.

Renée Elise Goldsberry as Angelica Schuyler Favorite performance: Satisfied (what else?!)

I always found Renée’s voice so damn powerful in Satisfied, which made me love the song more. Seeing Satisfied performed was magical and I will never get over how amazing that song is and how perfect Renée performs it. She is a true powerhouse whenever she shows up and confirmed that Angelica is one of my favorites in the show.

Daveed Diggs as Marquis de Lafayette/Thomas Jefferson Favorite performance: What’d I Miss (this was hard)

Daveed Diggs. Daveed Diggs. Daveed Diggs. Oh my gosh, he was even more perfect than I thought. Daveed is one of the cast members everyone always raved about and now I know why! If I had to describe his performance, I would say it is electric. He just immediately captures your attention. For both Lafayette and Jefferson!  

Christopher Jackson as George Washington Favorite performance: One Last Time (this was so powerful)

The first time Chris emerges on the stage as Washington, you are just immediately drawn to him (at least I was haha). He just has a very powerful presence. Especially in Right Hand Man, his entrance is EVERYTHING! History Has Its Eyes On You has always been one of my favorites on the soundtrack and it was even better seeing it. However, his moment is One Last Time. It is truly a defining moment of the entire show.

Okieriete “Oak” Onaodowan as Hercules Mulligan/James Madison Favorite performance: Yorktown (his part is so good)

Oak has some fantastic moments in the show! His Hercules Mulligan is so great and full of energy. As I said, his part in Yorktown gets me so hyped! I loved James Madison’s parts with Jefferson, they had awesome energy together. Another fave Madison line is in The Election of 1800. The first line is Jefferson saying if they can get back to Politics since a lot of drama and sad stuff happened in the past few songs and Madison is like uhh, please with a soft voice because he has been crying. So funny and relatable!

Anthony Ramos as John Laurens/Philip Hamilton Favorite Performance: Blow Us All Away (funny in the beginning and ends so sadly)

I enjoyed Anthony Ramos’ performance quite a bit! He was great in conveying emotions as both Laurens and Phillip, with both roles having quite emotional endings. I was shocked to find out there was a part just before Non-Stop that showed Hamilton learning about Laurens’ death, that was so sad and Anthony Ramos did it so beautifully. I was very impressed by him and I cannot wait to see him in In The Heights!

Jasmine Cephas Jones as Peggy Schuyler/Maria Reynolds Favorite performance: Say No To This (her vocals are so great here)

Peggy and Maria might not be the biggest roles in the show but Jasmine slays in both of them! Especially as Maria, her vocals in Say No To This are even better than on the cast album. She was amazing!

Jonathan Groff as King George III Favorite performance: I Know Him (Jonathan’s performance makes this song work so well)

Jonathan was funny on the album but when you see the performance with it, it just completes it! He was phenomenal, and I loved that he showed up during some other songs as well, for example in The Reynolds Pamphlet, absolutely hilarious! I also enjoyed his little announcement at the beginning, where he said Enjoy MY show, that was a neat thing to include here!

Favorite Musical Numbers

Okay, so these are all my favorite performance, taking into consideration the song itself, staging, choreography, and production. I love how seeing the show made me love songs that were not my favorites before! So here they are in a non-particular order:

My Shot 

So powerful, I think I almost jumped off the couch at the end because I was so hyped!

The Schuyler Sister

Even better than I thought it would be! From the use of the rotating stage, the performances, and choreography.

Farmer Refuted

This was the one song I always skipped on the album, however, seeing it here makes me lol every time! It’s great.

You’ll Be Back, What Comes Next?, and I Know Him

Give me all the King George content, soooo funny, I just love these moments in the show!

Helpless and Satisfied

Satisfied is still my favorite of the two, however it was breathtaking seeing how well the two are connected. Especially Satisfied, first the toast, then rewinding to see Helpless from Angelica’s perspective, and lastly coming back to the toast. I just thought it was stunning to see! The staging here is phenomenal.

Wait For It

The song that made me love Hamilton. Seeing Leslie performing it, made me love it, even more. He is so talented and amazing here. I had goosebumps. Even though the staging and production for this number are simple, it just makes it even better because you can just focus on Burr!

Yorktown (The World Turned Upside Down)

Every time I watch it and Yorktown ends, I always shake my head in awe. It such a powerful moment in the show and it just makes me very hyped (especially Mulligan’s part). SO good.

Non-Stop

I know I keep talking about how great the staging is, but I feel like the staging from Satisfied, Non-Stop, and another one is the best ones in the show. The ending of Non-Stop on the stage with all the characters standing above Hamilton, stairs being moved from one side to the other all so seamlessly... *chef’s kiss*

Cabinet Battle #1 and #2

The energy between Hamilton and Jefferson here is so good, and I love they look into the audience and make them a part of it. Lin and Daveed just nail these songs!

The Room Where It Happens

Two things: LESLIE and THE CHOREOGRAPHY. That is all.

Washington On Your Side

I just really started loving this song after seeing the show. I also loved the beginning of the song where Burr joins Jefferson on stage, starts singing and Jefferson is just standing there confused thinking: “Where did you come from all of a sudden?” This is Chris’ moment in the show, he just conveys so much emotion in every line. 

One Last Time

This is Chris’ moment in the show, he just conveys so much emotion in every line. 

Hurricane

I just love this song and the use of the rotating stage here is excellent, same goes for the lighting.

The World Was Wide Enough

Seeing this for the first time was so emotional, the part where only Lin is singing and you onlyhear his voice... Pfff, amazing! Also how Leslie ends the song, WOW! 

Who Lives, Who Dies, Who Tells Your Story

The way I sobbed during this... I just thought it was a beautiful ending for the show itself.

Okay, that was a long one! But I love talking about Hamilton and if you read the whole post, I guess you like reading about it! Thank you so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed it! What were your favorite moments from the show?

Have a festive day and stay safe! 

XO 

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

A Little Update

(not my gifs)

Yes, I am also a Star Wars stan now, whoops...

Hi everyone, Yenai here! It has been a minute since I have posted anything! Life has been crazy (that is 2020 for ya) and I just haven’t had the urge and time to write anything these past few months. Plus, I have no clue if anyone is still interested in these sorts of posts on Tumblr, but hey, I enjoy writing, so what the heck? Let’s keep this going!

I have so many drafts and ideas planned for the coming weeks, some are festive and some are for movies/shows I have been watching this past year (a lot). The first one I want to post is one I have been writing since July... My Hamilton review (aka me raving about the entire thing). 

If you read my posts and enjoy them, thank you so much!!! My Hamilton review will be up in the next few days! 

Have a wonderful day and stay safe!!! (Unfortunately, we are still in a pandemic)

BLM resources: https://blacklivesmatters.carrd.co/

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

This is not a moment, it’s a movement.

Racism is not a new thing. I saw a quote once on social media that said: racism is not new, it’s just being captured now for the world to see. We have all seen the disturbing video of the cop putting his knee on George Floyd’s neck while he is telling him he can’t breathe. It has sparked global outrage and everyone is standing and speaking up. Sadly, George Floyd is not the first black person to lose their life at the hands of police. Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Trayvon Martin, Alton Sterling, David McAtee, Tamir Rice and many more have lost their life to police brutality. I’m glad most people around the world are realizing what is happening and that it has been happening for hundreds of years. Enough is enough. It is time for change. These past few weeks now, I have been doing what I can. Signing lots of petitions, educating myself more and speaking up on social media. I hope you are doing the same. 

On blacklivesmatter.carrd.co you can find lots of ways to help, inlcuding petitions and more of those are being added everyday. It literally takes less than a minute. Don’t forget to confirm your email adress after you have signed it! Here are some links for some of them:

Justice For George Floyd

Justice For Breonna Taylor

Justice For Ahamud Arbery

Justice For Tamir Rice

The Trayvon Martin Law

Justice For David McAtee

Justice for Elijah McClain

These are just a few petitions, there a lot out there. I also see threads on Twitter with lots of petitions that have not gained as much signatures, so you can search for thsoe as well. 

If you want to educate yourself, here are some movies that I find worth watching:

Just Mercy

Hidden Figures

Get Out

12 Years A Slave

BlacKkKlansman

Fruitvale Station

The Help

These are just my recommendations, there are so many other things you can watch, read and listen to. Just google it and you’ll find a lot of things. 

I could not just go back to posting my normal content, before speaking up about this. I will continue to be signing petitions, speaking up for the injustice and educating myself. 

Just like I titled this post, this is not a moment, it’s a movement. When the protests are not being covered on the news anymore, I hope you will not think it is all over and good now. Stay active, keep speaking up. 

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Must-do’s at Disneyland Paris for first-timers

Hey everyone. I really wanted to start a series of posts about DLP here on my blog. Giving you some tips, my favorite things to do, how to meet characters, etc. So first up is this one. Let’s start, shall we! 

Illuminations

Make your day at Disney complete with Illuminations. This is Disneyland Paris’ nighttime spectacular! Enjoy beautiful fireworks with projections on the castle! If it’s your first time, you definitely want to put this on your list to see at least once. (I see it every night I’m there, but hey that’s just me). The best spot is obviously right in front of the castle. However, if you want this prime spot, be prepared to secure it up to 2 hours in advance. if you do not want to wait that long, there is always some room on the left and right side of the castle. I prefer the left side because fewer trees are blocking your view of the middle of the castle.

Top tip when Illuminations is over and you want a picture in front of the castle, wait a little bit for everyone to make their way towards the exit!

Stars on Parade

The parade is classic Disney. Disneyland Paris has the Stars on Parade. With beautiful floats, great music, and so many characters, you will not want to miss this one on your first trip to DLP! If you want a front-row seat, I recommend securing your spot at least 1 hour before the parade starts. The times of parade vary per season so make sure to check this in the Program times guide or the app. My favorite spot is at the beginning of the Parade route which begins at It’s A Small World. 

Top tip get a snack if you still have to wait a long time before the parade starts!

Go inside the Sleeping Beauty’s Castle

Of course, we all know and love the castle, which is considered the most beautiful Disney park castle by many. However, did you know you there is a walkthrough of Aurora’s story with beautiful stained glass windows and tapestries inside the castle? When you walk over the bridge into the castle you can find the stairs on the left. Make sure to go outside as well for some great views of Fantasyland! 

Top tip go underneath the castle for a surprise ;) (hint: think Maleficent)

Take pictures at Cinderella’s carriage

Just by Auberge de Cendrillon restaurant, you can find Cinderella’s carriage. It’s located just right of the entrance on the terrace. You can go there without a reservation at Auberge. It’s a great photo opportunity, so take your time getting that perfect shot! Sometimes right after or before a show, you can see the performers going or coming from backstage, so be on the lookout. You never know who you might see!

Top tip I just saw on Twitter that the carriage actually SPARKLES at night! So that would also look amazing in your photos!

Meet Mickey

I always say that a Disney trip is not successful if you do not meet Mickey Mouse. Walt always used the say that it all started with a Mouse! So I think visiting Mickey is always a must at any Disney park. You can meet Mickey at his fixed location Meet Mickey Mouse in Fantasyland. However, the line can get pretty long throughout the day. So if you really want to meet him, I recommend Extra Magic Time (only for Disney Hotel guests and Annual Pass holders) or at your earliest convenience. You can also meet him at several character meals like Plaza Gardens breakfast or Café Mickey. During the Lion King & Jungle Festival, you can also book a character lunch at Hakuna Matata where you can meet Mickey in his explorer outfit and Rafiki! (really recommend this one!) 

Top tip If you are going in the coming months, you can also meet Mickey near Phantom Manor in his Phantom outfit! 

Ride Phantom Manor

Speaking of... Disney World and Disneyland have Haunted Mansion, Hong Kong Disneyland has Mystic Manor and DLP has Phantom Manor. Experience the story of the Bride and the Phantom in this spooky dark ride full of amazing effects, a great story and incredible theming. The cast members here are great too because they really are creepy when they greet you. Usually, there is not that long of a wait for this one! So put this one on your list! 

Top tip ride it when it’s already dark for an extra spooky effect!

Get a crêpe

This snack is a must in DLP. What’s more French than a crêpe? You can find it at numerous locations throughout the park. My favorite is the kiosk in Discoveryland. You have one with sugar (€3.29) and one with Nutella (€3,79). I always get Nutella, but I want to try the sugar one on my next trip so we will see which one I like better! So these are some of the cheaper snacks you can get in DLP and are well worth your money! 

Top tip get one just before Illuminations! It’s a little tradition my sister and I have and there’s nothing better to be waiting for the fireworks with a nice snack!

Ride Crush’s Coaster

This is probably the most popular attraction in Disneyland Paris. After riding it just last year, I understand the hype! It’s so good and fun. This coaster can ONLY be found in DLP, which is why this is your chance to ride it. Go on an adventure with Crush and his friends all the way to the Australian current! With sharp turns, speed and lots and lots of spins. Yes, this is a spinning rollercoaster, so if you don’t like that, I would not recommend this one. Crush’s Coaster gets extremely busy from the moment the parks open for Extra Magic Time. I couldn’t ride it in 2018 because of a lack of time. So last year, this was a priority! I recommend getting to the Studios park at 8 and wait half an hour before it opens for Extra Magic Time. As soon as you are in, make your way towards the ride. You’ll have to wait, but it won’t be as long as the middle of the day. This ride does not offer Fast Pass (which can get you shorter wait time for numerous rides), it does have a single rider queue, but even that can get up to 40 minutes.

Top tip the queue and loading area of this ride is amazing. So look around you while standing in line and take it all in! You never know what details you can find! 

Visit Disneyland Hotel

The Disneyland Hotel is the huge, stunning pink building you see just before you enter the parks. You don’t need to have a hotel reservation to go in! So make sure you do. The moment you step in, you can smell the infamous scent of this hotel. Every time I go in there, I breathe in so many times. It’s incredible (and yes, I am slightly obsessed with it, I’m aware I have a problem). You can walk around the lobby, go into the gift shop and go to Cafë Fantasia or eat in one of the restaurants! Another tradition of me and my sister is to go to Café Fantasia at the end of the day during the trip. We like to do this at least once when we are there. You can get some little snacks, cocktails, all sorts of wines and beers, hot chocolate and tea! It’s very relaxing here and the theming is amazing! Service is great too. 

Top tip if you really loveee the smell as much as I do and you are prepared to pay money for it, you can actually take it home with you. You can either buy a scented candle (€40) or scented room spray (€60). It’s super expensive but so worth it. My sister bought the room spray and just after 3 sprays, the room is filled with the smell and actually lasts a few days! 

Go to Disney Village

If you want even more shopping, have some good food or go to the movies, visit Disney Village! You don’t need to have a park ticket or hotel reservation, Disney Village is free for all! Most of the shops are open until 11 pm and World of Disney until 12 am (in the summer it’s 12 am and 1 am respectively). My favorite shops are the Disney Store, the Disney Gallery and World of Disney!  Restaurant wise I have not eaten at a lot of them, but Café Mickey is great for some good food and meeting characters (it is expensive though and I haven’t done this in a long time). In recent years, I have been to Billy Bob’s La Grange a lot. It’s a great tex-mex buffet-style restaurant with a nice variety of food and lots of desserts! (Lemon meringue pie is excellent). 

Top tip there’s also a Starbucks and McDonalds here if you want some breakfast or coffee in the morning. These open as early as 7.30 am!

So these are all my must do’s for Disneyland Paris!! I hope this post was useful to you. If you are going, I wish you the most magical holiday, whether it’s your first time or hundredth time! 

Have a magical day!

XO 

Yenai

PS. My sister and I started an Instagram account with all things Disney! You can follow us @disneysreflection 

[servinglemonade]

My first reaction to Disney +

Hello... It’s been a while since I have posted here. I had exams, then summer vacation and then I finally started college! So now that I’ve settled in I thought it would be fun to give you my thoughts on Disney+! Yes, you read that right! Disney+ is here... in the Netherlands. Exclusively. Disney is having a free trial here which started on September 12th and goes on until launch day on November 12th!

So let’s dive into Disney+ 

Interface & Features

The interface is pretty standard. It looks like Netflix, but obviously with a nice Disney touch! The home page looks really great in my opinion. On top, there is a header that showcases one movie per category (Disney, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars and National Geographic). You can browse per category as well. When you hover over the brand you get a little animation. Disney has a castle with fireworks, Pixar has the clouds, Marvel has their intro, Star Wars has stars and National Geographic a scenic mountain view. On the search page, you also have several collections like the Princess Collection (all princess movies and series) or Disneynature (all Disneynature movies). Hopefully, they’ll add some more soon. It’s a handy feature in my opinion. You can also create a watchlist. 

I find the movie-watching experience great as well. It’s simple and sleek. You can choose from multiple languages for both audio and subtitles. It’s also really nice to have all the movies in HD. Some of them are even in 4K/HDR! These are mostly Marvel, Star Wars, Disney Live-Action movies and 2 animations (Ralph Breaks The Internet and Aladdin!). 

There is an awesome feature that I stumbled upon while I was doing my research for this post. You can change the way the subtitles, from the color to the font. Even the opacity of the background and the font size! I did see some people complaining about subtitles. I didn’t mind them, however, the fact that Disney is truly listening to the users and trying to fix all these issues is great! Two thumbs up for ya Disney! The last thing I want to touch on here is the extras for the movies. These extras mostly include deleted scenes and trailers. However, some of them have some really cool behind the scenes stuff. The making of Beauty and The Beast, Staging The Ball from the Cinderella Live-action and the making of Sleeping Beauty just to name a few! Really great that all of those are on Disney+ as well.

Profiles

Just a quick little thing I wanted to touch on before I go to the content. You can choose from a significant number of Disney characters for your profile picture. Ranging from Disney Classics to Marvel & Star Wars to villains and princesses and even Disney Channel!

There are so many to choose from! It’s overwhelming. Here are just a few

Now it’s time for the most fun part: the content. All of the originals are not on the service yet, those will come out when Disney+ officially launches on November 12th.

Disney

What isn’t on this page?! The amount of content is so incredible. And not even everything is on it yet! Here you can find your classic Disney animations from Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs to Ralph Breaks The Internet. All in glorious HD or even 4K sometimes. They also have some true Mickey Mouse classics like Steamboat Willie. All the Live-action movies are included here as well. From the more recent remakes (even Dumbo is on here already! If you haven’t seen it yet, please do) to absolute classics like The Princess Diaries, Mary Poppins and all the Pirates of The Caribbean movies. If you grew up with Disney Channel, all your favorite movies and shows can be found on Disney+ now! Hannah Montana, Wizards of Waverly Place, Camp Rock, The Cheetah Girls, That’s so Raven, Halloweentown, Descendants and so many more (all the seasons and sequels for everything). For the little ones, there’s some Disney Junior content, like Mickey Mouse Clubhouse.

Pixar

All the Pixar animated classics are here. From Toy Story to The Incredibles 2. Hopefully Toy Story will be streaming soon too. If you love the Pixar shorts, you’ll be happy to hear that these are all on Disney+! Like Piper, Bao, Knick Knack, For The Birds and more. There are even shorts with characters from some of your favorite Pixar movies like Monsters Inc, Ratatouille, Cars and Toy Story.

Marvel

I just want to thank Disney and Marvel for basically having all the MCU movies here on Disney+! From Iron Man to Captain Marvel. Most of them in 4K as well. And a surprise… Avengers Endgame will hit the service tomorrow!! I’m already preparing to cry my eyes out again. The only movies that are not on the service yet are The Incredible Hulk and Spider-Man Homecoming. I really hope Spidey will be on Disney+ as well. I need Far From Home in 4K. Besides MCU related content, you can also watch multiple Marvel animation shows. Like a lot of Spider-Man shows, Rocket and Groot, X-Men, Fantastic Four and many more. Some of the newer live-action Marvel shows are also on the service, like Agent Carter and Agents of SHIELD.

Star Wars

Now for Star Wars. I started watching the movies back in the summer. Disney+ was not being tested yet. So I was excited that all of the entire Star Wars saga can be found here! From Episode I The Phantom Menace all the way to Episode VIII The Last Jedi. It’s been really great to have 1 place to watch these movies.  You can find the spin-off movies Rogue One and Solo here too! You can also watch some animated shows like Star Wars The Clone Wars, Star Wars Rebels and lots of Lego Star Wars shorts.

National Geographic

To be honest, I haven’t anything from Nat Geo yet. However, they do have a very exciting original coming tomorrow! However, they have Brain Games! I used to love that show, so I’ll definitely watch that. They have some amazing documentaries. Drain The Ocean, Titanic 20 years later and Free Solo just to name a few.

Disney+ originals at launch

Here is a list + some thoughts:

Star Wars: The Mandalorian (series) (trailers looked very good, so I’m excited for this) Lady and The Tramp (movie) (again trailers looked amazing, great cast as well! Really excited for this!) High School Musical The Musical The Series (series) (yes, that is the actual title, not sure about this one as a massive HSM fan, however, I will check it out) Encore! (series) (not really interested in this one, might watch it one day) The World According to Jeff Goldblum (series) (this is the nat geo original I was telling you about. Such a great idea, who doesn’t love Jeff?! Will watch this 100%) Noelle (movie) (a Christmas movie?! Yes please, I’m in full Christmas mode already so bring it on) Marvel Hero Project (series) (might watch at some point after I have watched all the other things I want to see first) The Imagineering Story (series) (as a huge Disney Parks fan, I might be most excited about this, so that will be the first thing I will watch tomorrow) Pixar In Real Life (series) (I didn’t even know about this until a week ago, looks like a lot of fun, so I will watch this for sure)

The Disney+ app

The app has been pretty solid. It basically works the same as the web version, it’s just on your phone or tablet. The app also has a download feature. Which means you can download anything on the service and watch it offline. How handy is that!  If you have a chrome cast, the app is a must. You can cast all of the movies and shows on your TV, which is great because you won’t have to look on your small screen.

Some issues

This was obviously a test version of the final product so it wasn’t perfect from the get-go. The app struggled in the beginning with the continue watching feature. When you were watching a show, it didn’t let you watch the next episode from your continue watching. However, this has been fixed and now works like you would expect.  The other big issue was the chrome cast compatibility. When I had just subscribed for the trial it would start normal, however, after a while, it would freeze and the image would get all distorted. So that was pretty annoying. Lots of people were having this issue and by magic, it was fixed a couple weeks later and now works as expected!

Is it worth it?

Now if you either love Disney, Pixar, Marvel or Star Wars or you love everything, yes it is worth it. Even if you just love Marvel and/or Star Wars, I feel like it’s worth it. You have The Mandalorian coming at launch and so many more in the years to come. Like Falcon and The Winter Soldier, WandaVision, Loki, an Obi-Wan show, and so much more. So maybe if you’re waiting for that, you can get it when those shows will be on Disney+. Plus for the price, it’s a pretty sweet deal. Just €6.99 per month or €69.99 per year (which if you calculate it, can save you €13.89 per year). I love everything so for me it can’t get any better than this. Lots of the movies I watched on Netflix were mostly Disney or Marvel movies, so for me, this service is perfect.

Wow, this was a long one. If you have read it all the way through, thank you so much! I hope it was informative.

So how excited are you for Disney+? Will you be getting it at launch or will you wait? Plus if you are getting it, what will you watch first?

Have a magical day!

XO 

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Marvel Trailer Madness: Spider-Man: Far From Home

Hi everyone, I know this is super late. I was contemplating not to do this post, cause it’s been a while since this came out. However, I NEED TO TALK ABOUT THIS TRAILER. So let’s see what Far From Home has to offer!

BEWARE SPOILERS AHEAD FOR AVENGERS ENDGAME!

So first up is a spoiler warning for Endgame by none other than the king of spoilers, Mister Tom Holland himself. Hilarious. But seriously if you HAVE NOT SEEN ENDGAME YET (first of all what are you doing? Go and see it!) THEN STOP READING THIS! WE ARE GOING INTO MASSIVE SPOILER TERRITORY! If you have seen it, well then keep reading!

Still here? Awesome! So the trailer starts out with a very sad Peter Parker up on a roof looking at a mural of Iron Man. Telling us that everywhere he goes he sees his face. Oh my gosh, Marvel, it’s too soon. After that, we see Happy who says he misses Tony too. Who doesn’t miss him? I still cry about it. You have a shot of Peter crying, the poor kid. Happy goes to say that Tony wouldn’t have done what he did if he didn’t know he was going to be here after he was gone. Next up is an awesome shot of Spidey taking down some bad guys in a restaurant. He is wearing his Iron suit and it looks amazing! I love the spider legs on the suit, it really adds something special to it. We then have Peter telling the cops he can’t be the next Iron Man, cause he’s busy doing their jobs. THE SASS. He also tells them that he’s going on vacation! We see Happy with Peter again. Nick Fury is calling him and Peter nor Happy doesn’t want to talk to him. Why wouldn’t you? Nick Fury is the best. Anyway, Peter solves the argument by just sending Fury to voicemail. Like Happy said: you don't ghost Nick Fury. We have some shots of the Europe trip, which looks fun! (if you don’t count those fire, water, and earth monsters). I want to go on that trip. After that, we have a scene from the other trailer, just slightly different. After Fury shoots Ned, he now says: “You’re a very difficult person to contact, Spider-Man.” You see Peter, this is what happens when you ghost Nick Fury. In the first trailer, we saw that Fury takes Peter to some sort of cave? Well, now we can see that it’s an underground office or headquarters. Maybe he’s trying to get SHIELD up and running again. Who knows. Anyhow, Peter meets Mysterio for what seems like the first time. Fury introduces him as Quentin Beck. He says that his world could use someone like Spider-Man. Fury then says that Mysterio is from another earth. The snap (I have no idea which one of the three that happened he's talking about) tore a hole in their dimension. Which means, a multi-verse, probably. That’s what Peter says that means, so I’m going with that! Which immediately makes me think about Spider-Verse! Which also had multiple universes! Imagine MILES MORALES IN THE MCU!!! Back to the trailer, we can see that Maria Hill is also there! Fury tells Peter he has a job to do and he needs to come with them. Peter is a little skeptical about coming with them, so he asks if Thor or Captain Marvel can’t help instead. Fury says Thor is off world and Maria says Carol is unavailable. Peter says he’s just a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Fury claps back by saying: “Bitch please, you’ve been to space!” HILARIOUS! AMAZING! And very true. We then see Mysterio and Peter having some drinks in a bar. He tells him he just wants to go back on his trip, with a girl he really likes and he wants to tell her how he feels. So cute! So we see Peter walking with MJ and as Peter is about to say that he likes her, MJ interrupts him by saying: You’re Spider-Man. I was like oh my gosh, she knows. She says it’s pretty obvious. Peter panics, of course. Next up is Mysterio giving Peter some advice about saving the world and sacrifice. We see some shots from the battle on the Tower Bridge in London. There is one particular shot that raises a lot of questions. You see Peter wearing some glasses. These are Tony’s glasses!!! He wore those in Infinity War during that battle in New York! I really wonder what Peter saw... The last scene of the trailer is a very funny scene between Happy and Peter’s friends! Happy being chaotic as always. I love him so much!

Here are my favorite shots:

So that was the trailer of Far From Home! What did you think? Are you even more excited for it now? Because I am. Already got my tickets as well for opening night! Thanks for reading :)

Stay Flawless and have a marvelous day!

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Disney Trailer Madness: The Lion King

Naaaaaaants ingonyama bagithi Babaaaaa!! Yes, I looked it up... Hi everyone, Disney has finally blessed us with a full trailer for the upcoming live-action Lion King! The first trailer was already spectacular and now we have a brand new one to lose our minds over! Let’s go!

So we start out at the Elephant Graveyard with little Simba and Nala. We can hear Scar for the first time. I saw quite a few people on Twitter saying that they really didn’t like Chiwetel’s performance here. Now, of course,  it’s not Jeremy Irons, who originally voiced Scar. However, I truly like Chiwetel’s voice here. So we don’t just hear Scar, we also have our first look! Now once again a lot of complaints on Twitter. I can see where people are coming from, but I don’t mind his look. He looks fine. The scar is there, it’s Scar! Moving on, we also see the hyenas who look incredibly accurate. Just one thing I want to point out is in the shot of Scar with the 3 hyena’s you can see one of his ears just moving a little bit. I adore that, it’s the little things! We have a gorgeous shot of some birds? flying over the savannah, absolutely stunning! We then hear James Earl Jones, who’s back to voice Mufasa once again! Every time I hear his voice I get chills. He’s giving Simba a speech about the balance in their kingdom. Next, there are a lot of shots. Another little detail that just immediately caught my eye was that wind blowing in Mufasa’s mane during this scene that’s on the poster as well. WOW! Then you have what might be my favorite shot of this trailer and it’s a really cute Simba looking at a bug, his eyes are just so pretty! I can’t handle all this cuteness! We can see Zazu for the first time. I actually really like how he looks, can’t wait to hear what John Oliver is going to bring to the character! There is also the shot once again of Simba walking in his father’s footsteps, it’s so powerful! Especially hearing that Hans Zimmer score again, absolutely magnificent! You can see the wildebeest scene with some new footage of Scar telling Simba to run and never return. Then you have a gorgeous of Rafiki with some fireflies. Disney then decides to truly play on all of our nostalgia with those iconic shots of Hakuna Matata! I’m so excited about that song! Next up are some shots of Rafiki swinging from the trees and our first look at Can You Feel The Love Tonight and Nala! We have yet to hear Beyoncé, but I’m 100% sure that she and Donald are going to be magical singing together! Lastly, you have Mufasa saying Simba has to take his place in the circle of life and you can see him at the top of Pride Rock! You have all the names of the cast and as a nice little surprise at the end, we have our favorite duo Timon and Pumbaa singing The Lion Sleeps Tonight! If we get another trailer I hope we can see and hear some more of them! 

So that was the trailer and I loved it. I’m putting all of my faith in Jon Favreau. After seeing what he did with The Jungle Book, I’m sure he is going to knock this out of the park. From what it looks like it’s going to be a movie full of beautiful visuals, amazing animation, great performances & music and a lot of nostalgia! I’ll be there the day it opens! 

Here are my favorite shots:

So what do you think about the trailer? What scenes are you looking forward to most? 

Thank you so much for reading, hope you enjoyed it! 

Hakuna Matata (might make this my new thing) and have a magical day!

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Marvel Trailer Madness: Avengers Endgame

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD

OH MY GOD! So when the mayhem began that was the Avengers Endgame ticket sale, we also got a special look at the upcoming film! And WOW, this movie is going to be insane! Let’s take, what will probably be, our last look at Endgame before it comes out!!!

So we start out at the Avengers compound. We can hear Bruce saying how the Avengers are shorthanded for this plan. Rhodey then says that’s because Thanos killed all their friends (cries). Natasha says a line we have heard in the other trailer already: “We owe this, to everyone who’s not in this room, to try.” That’s some powerful stuff. Up next we have a shot of Steve in a very fancy bathroom, looking at himself. After the logo (no dusting this time?!), we see Rocket reuniting with Nebula and TONY reuniting with Pepper! What a moment #Pepperonyforever. Someone on twitter pointed out that Rocket still has no idea that all of his friends are gone up until the point Nebula comes back and tells him. That’s so sad. Tony then says how they’re the Avengers and that they have to finish this. We then see Hawkeye, who’s also back at the compound (with a full sleeve of tattoos on his arm), Natasha smiling, a different take of the Thor and Carol scene from the other trailer and all our heroes in a shot! WOW. When I saw Tony and Steve together again, omg the feels! You can probably imagine how I felt during this next scene. We see Tony and Steve together. Tony asks Steve if he trusts him and Steve that he does and they shake hands! ASDFGHJKL, it’s been 3 YEARS! We then see what looks to be the Guardians’ ship shooting off into space and guess who’s flying the ship with Rocket... It’s none other than Carol Danvers! I can’t wait to see her and Rocket interact! Joining them are Steve, Natasha, Thor and War Machine. Afterward, we have a really heartbreaking shot of Tony looking at a picture of him and Peter. We then hear Thanos and you can see some shots of our heroes, all looking pretty disheartened. Thanos says how they couldn’t live with their own failure, and that’s what brought them back to him. While he says this, we also get our first full look of the guy, who’s still looking like a purple grape. Finally, we see a shot of Tony, Steve, and Thor walking together towards something/someone. I can’t really make out what/who it is. Absolutely love this shot however it does scare me a bit. I’m really anxious about the fate of these 3. 

Here are my favorite shots:

So that was the special look for Endgame. Absolutely loved it! One thing I haven’t talked about is the music in all of these trailers. It’s so chilling and suspenseful, yet really beautiful. By the way, if you are familiar with buying concert tickets you might know that that can be pretty stressful. Well, buying those Endgame opening night tickets was the most stressful process I have ever experienced. The cinema’s website here in The Netherlands completely crashed and it was such a mess. My sister and I wanted to get tickets for the Infinity War and Endgame marathon in IMAX on opening night so we had to go all the way to the city to get them. However, WE GOT THEM!!! I’m so excited we got these. The film opens on the 24th here, so two days before most countries get to see it. So that’s pretty awesome!  We also got tickets already to see it for a second and third time later in the week... I regret nothing... 19 days to go!!!

Did you manage to get your Endgame tickets? Did the website of the cinema crash in your country too? 

Hope you enjoyed the post for today! I loved writing this one.

Stay flawless and have a marvelous day!

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Marvel Trailer Madness: Avengers Endgame

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD

ASDFGHJKL. Now that that’s out of the way, hi. Without any time to mentally prepare myself, Marvel dropped a full new Avengers Endgame trailer without any warning and when I tell you I lost it, I lost it hard. There is so much stuff to go over so let’s get into it, shall we!

We start with an amazing montage of Iron Man, Cap, and Thor’s origins. We hear more of what seems to me like Tony’s goodbye message to Pepper. I loved the shot of the arc reactor that Pepper gave him in the first Iron Man! At one point he says that he was hoping to pull off one last surprise, which has me so confused. Next up we have Cap with a voice over from Peggy! (Can she please come back somehow omg) During this part, we also have a shot of Hawkeye practicing archery with what looks to be his daughter. I’m pretty sure Clint’s family got dusted which is what has caused him to become Ronin. You also see him and Natasha, and by the looks of her face, she probably knows what drove him to this as well. Last but certainly not least we have Thor. We have a shot of Asgard and Thor with Odin. Thor says that he saw all those people die and you can see some of the fallen Avengers. One thing that stands out especially during the first half of the trailer is the red that’s popping out in the black and white scenes. I wonder what that means. Does it have something to do with the reality stone? Is it a symbol for all the people that have fallen after the snap? What are you trying to say, Marvel? After this part, we get some shots of Endgame! We have Steve saying that he’s been telling people to move on, but not us [The Avengers]. Which has now become a hilarious meme. If you listen closely it sounds like he says bananas. Now that’s all I hear haha. We then have a shot of Scott in a suburb? It kinda looks like some time has passed, because of the house in the background. All these plants haven’t been looked after and you can see he’s looking at all these missing person posters. I bet it might take him a while to get out of the Quantum Realm and when he does get out, the world is completely different and he has no idea what happened and then goes to the Avengers compound like what we saw in the first trailer. Next up is Natasha saying how they owe this to everyone who is not in the room to try. You get a sweet shot of her and Clint. The next few shots are all over the place (not in a bad way though haha). So we have Rocket and War Machine! I’m already loving this team-up. I hope they’ll have a funny dynamic between them. Steve tells Hawkeye that they will (bring everyone back???). Then we have shots of all of our heroes and they all say: whatever it takes. I’m scared. That shot of Natasha reloading her gun is so badass omg I love it! The shot of Steve strapping on his shield really makes me nervous. It feels like is truly giving it his all for that battle. I also love the shot of Ant-Man using the pencil to kind of lift off into the air! Now we have the best, most beautiful shot of this trailer and it’s all of them assembled in new suits!!! Oh my, I was already freaking out because Cap looks really good there and they are all together wearing new suits. At some point, I noticed something very very exciting and I was almost crying, TONY MADE IT BACK TO EARTH!!!! Which means that he and Nebula (she’s also there in the line-up) found a way to get out of space and Steve & Tony reunited! I am so anxious to see how that first interaction between them was. We also had a little surprise at the end with Thor and... CAPTAIN MARVEL! Yes, Carol is joining the Avengers and I’m so excited. So Thor is calling/summoning/getting (how do you call this haha) Stormbreaker and Carol just stands there without even flinching and Thor says: ”I like this one.” and he does this really cute giggle at the end and you can see Carol smirking a bit! I loved it and can’t wait to see her interacting with all the other characters! 

So that was the second trailer for Avengers Endgame and with just under a month to go now, I am so excited! I need to point out again that Marvel is doing an incredible job with making everyone so hyped for this without revealing basically anything! I absolutely love going into this movie without knowing what’s going to happen! It’s a bit daunting but so exciting! I just want to purchase my tickets now! Has anyone else been refreshing their local cinemas' page every day just in case the tickets will go on sale? Because I have... Here are my favorite shots:

That’s the post for today. I hope you enjoyed it! How excited are you for Endgame? 

Stay flawless and have a marvelous day!

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Disney Trailer Madness: Aladdin

Hi everyone! So today I wanted to discuss the new official trailer for Disney’s upcoming live-action Aladdin. Aladdin is one of my favorites of all time, so I’m pretty skeptical if they’re going to pull it off. 

This trailer was overall better than the rest they have shown. I actually enjoyed the very first one. I loved the music, the cave of wonders looked amazing, although that shot of Aladdin at the end didn’t really sell it for me. Now that second trailer wasn‘t that good... Y’all know why, of course, Genie looked awful and Jafar’s voice just didn’t do anything for me. However, let’s discuss the new trailer which has given me some hope that maybe it won’t be as bad as I thought.

So we start out with what seems to be the One Jump Ahead scene of the movie. We have Aladdin (Mena Massoud) running away from what looks to me like the Royal Guard (is that what you call it?) just like in the original. That part where he uses the rope to escape them looks cool! So then Abu joins him again and we see Jasmine (Naomi Scott) with all these petals falling around her and Aladdin sees her for the first time. This shot looks like it’s straight out of a Bollywood movie. I haven’t made up my mind yet if that’s a good or bad thing because I do like a good Bollywood movie, although I’m more a fan of the older ones like Dilwale Dulhania Le Jayenge, Kabhi Khushi Khabi Gham & Veer-Zaara. I’m getting off top topic here. Let’s continue! We get a shot from Jafar (Marwan Kenzari) and Iago flying in the back. I really wonder if he’ll talk in this movie because we haven’t seen anything yet proving that he will. Jafar meets with Aladdin during the daytime saying that he can make him rich. I will be disappointed if the whole scene of the original where old man Jafar recruits Aladdin in the prison has been completely changed because I really like that scene and the fact Jafar is able to look like that is just amazing! One thing that I can’t shake is Jafar. I don’t get why they decided to make him this young and that voice just doesn’t sound menacing to me. Jafar is one of Disney’s best villains so the fact that this Jafar is not scary in the slightest really sucks. Maybe he’ll surprise me in the movie itself. Now we are in the cave of wonders again. It still looks stunning! Aladdin rubs the lamp and a huge Genie (Will Smith) pops out. Now if they showed this shot in that other trailer I think the response would have been way more positive because he looks great! We then go into Friend Like Me, which looks like a lot of fun. Abu is playing the trumpet and Carpet has maracas! We go out of the cave and into the desert. We have a fun exchange between Genie and Aladdin. I didn’t get the ‘I can just make you a prince’ joke at first but I do now haha. Genie is now in his human form and I like Will Smith’s performance here. Let’s just set the record straight. No one will ever be able to do as good as Robin Williams. There will never be someone like him. So I just hope that Will won't be doing a bad Robin Williams rip-off. By judging the trailer he doesn’t seem to be doing that and I love Will as an actor and person so I’m pretty sure he will do some great things with Genie. It’s just that Robin Williams had such an iconic performance in the original so he’ll just always be Genie for me no matter who was cast for this part. After that Aladdin is now dressed like a prince we see a bit of the Prince Ali scene and it looks good. After that, there seems to be a party going on for whatever reason. Genie is telling Aladdin that he only changed the outside of him and not the inside. I loved that part where just used his magic to transport Aladdin towards Jasmine. On a side note: I think Mena looks great in the Prince Ali suit!  We then get a lot of shots, I always hate to describe these haha. The big thing here is, of course, A Whole New World. It doesn’t sound as bad as I thought and I already know I’m going to be a crying mess during that part. We also see Genie riding ostriches, a better shot of Rajah, Aladdin in the ice and a huge Iago flying after Aladdin and Abu.

So overall not as bad as I thought it was going to be! I still don’t like Jafar and I still have some issues with Naomi Scott as Jasmine. Not because of her acting but I feel like she isn’t the right skin tone and it almost feels like white-washing to be quite honest. However to end on a positive note: my hope for Genie is way better, there are some great visuals and the music sounds great!

Here are my favorite shots:

That’s it for today! What are some of your thoughts on the upcoming Aladdin? Did you love the trailer or are you still doubtful? Looking at my favorite shots collage I’m loving the colors! It looks so pretty.

Stay flawless and have a magical day!

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Marvel Trailer Madness 2.0

Marvel is really on a roll! Okay, it wasn’t exactly in the same week like last time, but still. It was pretty soon after Marvel gave us a special look at the upcoming Captain Marvel, that we finally got our first look at Spider-Man Far From Home! And that’s not all, there were some trailers that aired during the Super Bowl for not only Captain Marvel but also for Avengers Endgame! So I just thought to put them all in 1 post. Let’s discuss! 

Captain Marvel Special Look

I think this trailer was more to show off Carol’s personality and oh my I love her already! So it starts with Carol on a motorcycle on her way to meet Nick Fury in some sort of bar. And they are talking about the Skrulls that have infiltrated earth. We see a shot of a Skrull shapeshifting and it looks painful af (insert ‘that shit hurted’ vine). Then we see Carol in the subway again, beating that old lady. After she’s done she’s blowing her hair out of her face, like oh yeah, I just did that haha. After that Carol is proving to Nick that she’s not a Skrull, which is a pretty funny scene. We then go to the Kree planet (still looks stunning), see Jude Law’s character (whatever his name is haha) fighting/training Carol. A few seconds later we see some shots that we have already seen before in the other trailers (her accident, Carol on top of the subway) and some more shots of that epic space battle (her power!). Finally, we have a little bit at the end with Carol and Nick again. Best line: “Says the space soldier who was wearing a rubber suit.”. LOVE IT, Carol’s face afterward is priceless, haha. 

Here are my favorite shots:

Spider-Man Far From Home Teaser Trailer

Well, this is way more than a teaser trailer! They showed so much stuff, I’m still surprised by that. So we start out with Spider-Man at this support for the homeless event with Aunt May. I guess she took the fact that Peter is Spider-Man pretty good by the looks of it. Then Happy walks with a huge check signed by Pepper Potts! (as some people have pointed out). We have some exchanges between Happy and Aunt May, which results in a very confused Peter (you and me both Spidey). You can see Peter packing for his school trip to Europe. Which I am pretty stoked about because I live in Europe! You can see him picking up some stuff at Delmar’s with a quick cameo from Mr. Delmar himself. We then have a shot of Peter swinging in New York while he’s on his phone (don’t text and swing people). May asks if he has packed everything, including his suit. Which he is NOT taking with him, not so smart Peter. Europe would love a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man! Although I bet everything that happened in Infinity War and possibly even Endgame has had a big impact on him and now he just wants to have soke fun with his friends. Then we go to Venice and the gang’s all back together. We have some shots of Peter and MJ interacting with each other, so cute! Now comes my favorite part! Nick Fury finally meets Spider-Man. I loved how they revealed he was in the room. I was so shocked when Ned got shot I was like what’s happening?! Then I heard Fury and I almost screamed from excitement. Next up are a lot of shots. Nick and Peter are on a boat off to who knows where, the gang is now in London, we get our first look at the new red and black suit (which looks AMAZING), Fury and Maria Hill (I think) are shooting at some monster, some more actions shots. For the finale, Jake Gyllenhaal as Mysterio. He looks great, his powers look really Doctor Strange like to me. Last but not least, we have Flash praising Spider-Man and right after that he's insulting Peter, which is hilarious. 

So the movie looks amazing. I can’t wait for all the Peter and Nick Fury interactions. I’m just really excited about this one! Here are my favorite shots:

Captain Marvel Big Game TV Spot

Only 30 seconds, but boy do we have some great moments in this trailer! The best thing about this trailer is obviously the Higher, Further, Faster chant and scene! This will be in a lot of my Instagram captions! So we have Carol and Maria Rambeau at the air base about to kick some major ass! Just like Maverick and Goose have a catchphrase, so do Carol and Maria! HIGHER FURTHER FASTER, BABY! Oh, I love it! So a quick summary of what we see in those 30 seconds: Carol is fighting off some weird ships in the air, she’s in this awesome uniform standing up (it looks to be some form of ceremony), she’s fighting Jude Law again, Nick Fury walking with a pretty serious look on his face & Carol being a badass in space! Not a lot of new stuff, but I loved it!

Only 13 days left! I'm seeing it March 8th. In The Netherlands it opens on the 6th so I might go to one before the 8th as well, but we’ll see. Here are my favorite shots:

Avengers Endgame Big Game TV Spot

Saved the best for last! Again only 30 seconds, however, it’s all new footage! So the trailer starts out showing us all the fallen Avengers (I miss you guys). The logo gets dusted AGAIN. The first thing that came to mind with those first shots of the actual trailer: darkness. I honestly think the movie is going to have a very dark tone following the evens of Infinity War. Anyways we see a very abandoned New York City. Then we go to a support group which Steve is attending and he looks pissed. And he says: “Some people move on, but not us.” Which twitter has turned into a meme. If you listen closely it kind of sounds like he says bananas and now that’s all I hear when I see this trailer haha. Okay, moving on. The music intensifies and we see Tony and Nebula working together, the team outside of the Avengers compound looking up to the sky (is this Tony coming back to Earth after fixing the Benatar with Nebula?!), ROCKET somewhere on Earth, Natasha practicing her shots (maybe she’s just blowing off steam, cause she hits the mark every time), War Machine and Ant-Man are suiting up. Now we see Thor on what looked to me like Thanos’s farm/planet. However, my sister said that it also looked like Wakanda and it does. So I’m not sure where he is but he doesn’t look too happy. Next up we have Clint with what seems like his arrows on his back (I literally have no idea where he is), Cap strapping on his shield (he’s even shaking if you look closely) and finally a gorgeous shot of the team at the compound! Even Rocket is in there, he’s so cute! 

I love how all the Endgame trailers have given nothing away but still make me so excited for this movie! This movie is the one I have been looking forward to ever since Infinity War ended and I can’t believe we’re so close to it! Only 2 months left. Hang in there everyone. Here are my favorite shots:

Those were all the trailers! I really enjoyed making this one and I hope you enjoyed reading it! Which Marvel movie of 2019 are you looking forward to the most?

Stay flawless and have a marvelous day!

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Best of 2018: Movie Edition

BEWARE: SPOILERS AHEAD FOR BLACK PANTHER AND INFINITY WAR

2018 has been a great year for movies and while a lot came out (I probably didn’t even see half of them) I will be highlighting my top 3 here in this post with of course some honorable mentions! Let’s start. 

Black Panther

This best picture nominated movie was my favorite of 2018! Why? It's a movie with intriguing characters, important themes, great story, stunning cinematography plus a beautiful soundtrack and score. However, the most important thing about Black Panther to me is the cultural significance. How amazing is it to see a superhero movie with an all-black cast? How inspiring is it for kids to see characters on the big screen that look like them? How great will it be for all girls to see women on screen that are total badasses, stand up for themselves and love science? How awesome is it to see an African country (even though fictional) thriving, not having been influenced about by colonists? 

The future of Hollywood is starting to look pretty good. But let’s talk about the movie some more. I thought the movie had a great storyline with some great character arc’s, especially T’Challa’s. I also found Killmonger a very compelling villain. The core of his beliefs was really understandable, I even thought he had a point. Although the way he wanted to achieve what he had in mind (a Wakandan empire) wasn’t the best idea. However, he even managed to change T’Challa’s point of view to start sharing their knowledge and resources with the rest of the world. Nakia definitely helped as well, as she had been telling T’Challa to do this since the beginning of the movie haha. The whole cast was amazing and they brought it. So... WAKANDA FOREVER.

Avengers Infinity War

The movie to break a lot of records and that kept people talking for weeks (including myself) is THE best movie that has been released in the summer of 2018! (fight me) After 18 movies it was time for the ultimate Marvel movie. I only wanted to see this movie, because of Black Panther. I’m not lying when I tell you I have never been so surprised and shook by a movie. Characters that I had heard about before (Iron Man, Spider-Man, Groot, Thor, Hulk) became characters that I have gone to love as the movie progressed. It didn’t end with them, I had fallen in love with everyone. Only having seen Black Panther up until that point the story was good to follow for me. It was funny, smart, exciting, surprising and completely heartbreaking. The moment that Thor stabbed Thanos, I thought: “Yes, they won!”. When he eventually snapped his fingers, it went dead silent in the movie theater. I had never experienced anything like that before. When the heroes started turning to dust, when BLACK PANTHER turned to dust, I was shocked and devastated. By the time the end credits started rolling (after that shot of our heroes looking completely defeated and Thanos smiling watching the sunset on his grateful universe), I looked at my sister with my mouth basically hanging on the floor. I wasn’t really sure what I had just witnessed and it left me wanting more! Which is why I believe that Avengers Endgame is the most highly anticipated movie of next year. Props to you Marvel, you have my utmost love and respect! 

Christopher Robin

Winnie The Pooh is one of my favorite movies for very special reasons. Pooh has been my favorite while growing up, so I have a special place in my heart for him and all of his friends. So when Disney announced this movie I was excited, when Disney announced that the original Pooh voice-actor, Jim Cummings, would be reprising his iconic roles as Pooh and Tigger as well, I was ecstatic! I loved the plot of this movie, the fact that it was a new story and not a remake made me pretty happy. Maybe the plot might have been a bit generic for some, but for me it was perfect. Such a great, magical adventure which had me bawling my eyes out during some moments in the movie. Just seeing Pooh and the gang again made me so happy! Great jokes, beautiful score, a lovely message about family, friendship and that inner child that lives in all of us. This movie may not be high on everyone’s list for best movie of 2018, but to me, it is. 

Honorable mentions

Mary Poppins Returns

Bohemian Rhapsody

Incredibles 2

Venom

Ant-Man and the Wasp

The Grinch

Ralph Breaks The Internet

So those were my favorite movies of 2018. What were some of your favorites? There are some AMAZING movies coming out this year, so I’m sure the 2019 list will be even longer! 

Have an amazing day and stay flawless!

XO

Yenai

[servinglemonade]

Best of 2018: Music Edition

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! In this post, I’ll be talking about all my favorite music that has come out in 2018. I really wanted to post this before 2019 started but with all the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, I just did not have time. So here we are!

Spotify Wrapped

According to Spotify, It turns out my most listened artist of 2018 was the Original Broadway Cast of Hamilton. I’m still loving Hamilton! There are always Hamilton songs in my playlists so this came as no surprise. My most listened song of the year was, however, a surprise. I was sure it was going to be All The Stars by Kendrick Lamar & SZA as I have probably listened to that song every other day if not every day. While All The Stars is in the top 3, the winner was Bonita by CNCO! When I saw that I remembered the month where I literally had that song on repeat for days on end. That’s probably what gave it the number one spot.

Best Albums

Black Panther The Album Music From And Inspired By - Various Artists

My favorite and probably most listened to album of 2018! Never has a movie soundtrack that wasn’t from a musical captivated me like the Black Panther soundtrack! Making songs inspired by all the events in the movie with elements from that amazing score has been so creative and well done! I can only take my hat off for that. It isn’t nominated for 8 Grammy’s (including Album of the year) for nothing!

Favorites: All The Stars, X, Opps, Paramedic! & King’s Dead

EVERYTHING IS LOVE - THE CARTERS

We finally have a Bey X Jay album and wow, it’s everything! I didn’t really know what to expect going into it. However APESHIT was not it! An instant classic, what a banger and how fun to perform with a crowd, sadly I have not experienced it. YET ;). One thing I love about the album is that it's a nicely balanced mix of those songs you can really dance to like APESHIT & 713 and songs that you can just vibe to like HEARD ABOUT US & LOVEHAPPY.

Favorites: APESHIT, NICE, 713, FRIENDS & HEARD ABOUT US 

Suncity - Khalid

Khalid aka one of the best new artists! I have been listening to some songs of his (OTW, Location, Young, Dumb & Broke). When both my sister and my mom recommended this particular album, I decided to give it a listen. Am I glad I did just that. I really enjoy albums like this, just very chill and vibey. I can listen to this all day!

Favorites: Saturday Nights, Better & Suncity

Hamildrops - Various Artists

Alright, not really an album, but I thought I would include it here anyway. Cause what’s a music blog post without any mention of Hamilton?! So in 2018, us Hamilton fans have been treated with 12 new songs (one every month) inspired by the musical! First of all, awesome idea! I don’t listen to all of them all the time, but there are some true gems like Found/Tonight & First Burn! And some really unexpected ones like the Hamilton Polka by Weird Al and even a cameo from BARACK OBAMA! 

Favorites: Wrote My Way Out (Remix), Found/Tonight, First Burn, Rise Up Wise Up Eyes Up, A Forgotten Spot (Olvidado), Cheering For Me Now & One Last Time - 44 remix

Best Songs

God is a woman - Ariana Grande

I mean, what to say about this other than amazing. One of my favorites songs of the year and Sweetener. As I’m typing I really don’t what to say. Let’s just keep it simple: A. POWERFUL. ANTHEM. That’s it. (watch the video too, it’s stunning!)

Made For Now - Janet Jackson & Daddy Yankee

JANET JACKSON GIVING US TRUE POP MUSIC IN 2018! OMG. Okay now that that’s out of the way. Janet Jackson is such a damn queen. I can’t believe this song wasn’t appreciated by the general audience. The pop genre these days is so much more of the same, this is so fresh. It has a great message, a great beat with a few African influences and DADDY YANKEE! The video is a masterpiece! So beautifully shot, great fashion, awesome choreography (as you would expect from a Janet music video) and it shows New York in a great way. Another thing, the video is available in 4K quality. It’s so cinematic, please watch it on your TV! If this isn’t nominated for several VMA’s............. Give this song some love! 

Nothing Breaks Like A Heart - Mark Ronson (feat. Miley Cyrus)

Miley is back! I have loved Miley since her Hannah Montana days, it has never stopped and to see her killing it now is just amazing! Nothing Breaks Like A Heart is an amazing song. But it’s the video that makes the song even better. Showing the injustice in America, while some rather focus on celebrity news is so true and it’s great to address it this way!

Honorable mentions (from this year & some oldies)

This Is America - Childish Gambino 

Bloom (Album) - Troye Sivan

The Kids Are Alright (Album) - Chloe X Halle

F.A.M.E (Album) - Maluma

Greatest Hits - Queen

CNCO - CNCO

The Rubberband Man - The Spinners

Ashes - Céline Dion

Queen (Album) - Nicki Minaj

Never Alone - Tori Kelly (feat. Kirk Franklin)

SweetSexySavage (Album) - Kehlani

Camila (Album) - Camila Cabello

Solo (EP) - Anitta

Fooled Around And Fell In Love - Elvin Bishop

Sweetener (Album) - Ariana Grande

Nice For What - Drake

thank u, next - Ariana Grande 

Ao Vivo e Cores - Matheus & Kauan with Anitta

Lost In Japan - Shawn Mendes

One Sweet Day - Mariah Carey (feat. Boyz II Men)

Taki Taki - DJ Snake (with Selena Gomez, Cardi B & Ozuna)

Sin Pijama - Becky G & Natti Natasha

This was all my favorite music from 2018! I hope you enjoyed it and maybe found some new jams! I can’t wait what’s in store for 2019.

Have an amazing day and stay flawless!

XO

Yenai