I wasn’t born yet when Disney and Pixar released the first ever Toy Story film back in 1995. Back then, it was a talk not just of the town, but the whole planet for being the first ever 3D-animated feature film.
Still, I’m one of those lucky kids who were able to catch up and watch the Toy Story franchise several times back when Disney Channel (not Disney+) was still the thing of the past. Woody and Buzz Lightyear are two of the most iconic characters I cherished since then.
During the pandemic, it was mentioned that a special spinoff film of Buzz named Lightyear will come to cinemas. Fast forward this 2022 (still under the pandemic), kids and kids at heart (like me) were all ecstatic to know that Lightyear has his own story to tell.
The Special Screening
Last Saturday, June 11th, selected people were invited to watch the special screening of Lightyear at SM Megamall — one of the biggest malls in the Philippines.
Other than these free Lightyear pins, the real treat is the Lightyear film itself being shown through the gigantic IMAX 3D screen — a feast in the eyes, I must say.
Overall, the experience was fun — and the film itself, well, I have many things in mind but here are…
6 reasons why you need to watch Lightyear right now
⚠️ Warning: Some spoilers ahead! ⚠️
1. Voiced by Chris Evans
If you miss Captain America, now is the chance to hear him again, but in a different suit. Pretty much like Captain America, Lightyear is also a wise-sounding hero that does it all for his teammates.
2. A Rollercoaster Ride of Emotions
As told by Chris Evans, Lightyear isn’t your typical film. It’s an “epic sci-fi” one, and I attest to that.
Other than the usual action-packed fight scenes, there are also melodramatic parts that will truly make you cry if you’re onion-skinned (like I do). And it wouldn’t be a classic Disney film without the hilarious comedic parts in it.
And as we’re already on the topic, Emperor Zurg reveals himself around the middle part of the film.
The real spoiler here is that, Emperor Zurg is none other than Buzz Lightyear himself — but from the future.
This either makes or breaks the part when Emperor Zurg revealed he IS Lightyear’s father in Toy Story 2 — though this can very easily be just a gag referencing the Star Wars moment between Luke Skywalker and Darth Vader.
3. Sox
That’s it. That’s the tweet — I mean how can you resist this adorable cat?
Sox isn’t your typical feline. It is actually a robot assistant made by Space Ranger Hawthorne to Buzz Lightyear.
As adorable as it looks, it can do more than that — anything and everything between hacking into systems, examining the inconsistencies in Buzz’s hyperspeed fuel compound, and heck even play sleepy sounds to make you asleep.
That said, Sox, whether just a pseudo-cat, still lives to the spirit of a real and cute cat — just the friendlier one.
4. The (Not-so) Epic Dream Team
After Lightyear’s lone hyperspeed experimentation for more than half a century, the dynamic duo between him and his Space Ranger partner Alisha Hawthorne didn’t actually go as planned. Even so, Hawthorne parted happily and peacefully.
The almost epic dream team is actually far from being perfect. Together with Alisha’s granddaughter Izzy, Sox, and the two nutheads namely Mo Morrison and Darby Steel, they’re gonna make a huge leap in and out of space that no one will expect — not even Lightyear has even thought of.
5. Interstellar-like
If you’ve watched (or a huge fan of) Interstellar, chances are you might love Lightyear even more. From terms like “time dilation”, “Space Rangers”, and even the existence of “Hypersleep Pods”, Interstellar fans will surely get the unintentional connection and references between the two films.
It should come to no surprise that the film was produced by Warner Bros. and not Disney — but the similarities are uncanny to many eagle-eyed Interstellar fans.
6. #Pride Over Prejudice
Saving the sixth number for the sixth month is none other than the portrayal of homosexuality in the film. Well, we’re not talking about Buzz here.
As already reported by a lot of news outlets, Lightyear is banned in several Middle Eastern and Asian countries due to this “controversy” where Space Ranger Alisha Hawthorne and her wife had a subtle kiss upon celebrating their marriage. They even created a family through surrogacy and resulted into a son — which is Izzy Hawthorne’s father btw.
If you’re homophobic, chances are you would feel “disgusted” by the same-sex family portrayal in the film. But not today son, not on my watch. Especially not during Pride month. And also, educate your kids not to hate same-sex parents. A loving family, regardless of gender or sexual orientation, is still a family.
The much-awaited premiere
If you have time (I say you need to make time), Lightyear will start showing on cinemas this June 15 — at least if you reside in the Philippines — or June 17 in other parts of the world.
And just like other Disney films, you should wait for post-credits before leaving the cinema 😉 (and please, don’t leave your garbage, too).
Entertainment
1st teaser trailer, details for Death Stranding Isolations series unveiled
Animated series to debut on Hulu on Disney Plus
A new teaser trailer for the upcoming Death Stranding Isolations series on Hulu on Disney+ has been revealed.
The upcoming animated series is set to debut in 2027. It is set in the world of Death Stranding immediately after the game’s protagonist Sam reconnects the continent of North America via the Chiral Network.
The series will tell a completely new story separate from that of the video games. The narrative will focus on a young man and woman as they set off on an adventure.
As America is reborn from the ashes, the renewed connections that bind it together bring about new and unforeseen consequences.
In this tumultuous new landscape, there are some who walk a different path to the one chosen by Sam and his Bridges comrades.
One is a wise old man who connects people through a method that defies all reckoning. There is also a female soldier ensnared in a cycle of war and destruction.
Moreover, there is a boy who seethes with rage at the absurdity of his life, and a girl who chose to sever all ties with the outside world. Fate has other plans for her, however, and chance encounters see her launched headfirst into a world she does not recognize.
Death Stranding Isolations is written by Tow Ubukata (Activator, Bone Ash, Project Darkness) and directed by Takayuki Sano (Jujutsu Kaisen 0 – The Movie, Attack on Titan The Final Season).
The series is animated by E&H production (NINJA KAMUI, BULLET/BULLET, the Magic Knight Rayearth Television series 2026) with original character design by Ilya Kuvshinov (Ghost in the Shell: SAC_2045, The Wonderland).
The series is executive produced by Hideo Kojima and produced by KOJIMA PRODUCTIONS.
Entertainment
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 now streaming, Cyberpunk 2077 update coming
Edgerunners returns to Night City
Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is now streaming on Netflix, with all 10 episodes available to watch. CD PROJEKT RED and animation studio TRIGGER have also announced a new update for Cyberpunk 2077, bringing content inspired by the anime to the game.
The Edgerunners 2 Update (Update 2.5) launches on October 22, 2026, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. A Nintendo Switch 2 release will follow shortly.
Edgerunners returns with a new cast
Set in the world of Cyberpunk 2077, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 tells a standalone story through an entirely new cast of characters. The series follows a veteran edgerunner, a young cinephile, a chrome-obsessed delinquent, and a Snake Nation netrunner as their stories explore vengeance and redemption in Night City.
Director Kai Ikarashi leads the new installment, with Kanno Ichigo serving as lead character designer. Masahiko Otsuka returns as a collaborator, while Bartosz Sztybor serves as showrunner, story writer, and producer.
Both Cyberpunk: Edgerunners and Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 are available exclusively on Netflix.
Cyberpunk 2077 gets a new update
CD PROJEKT RED announced the Edgerunners 2 Update alongside the anime’s premiere on October 20. The free update will introduce new items and features to Cyberpunk 2077, including content inspired by the new series.
The update launches on October 22 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. CD PROJEKT RED has yet to announce the Nintendo Switch 2 release date beyond confirming that it will follow shortly.
The studio will reveal more details during a special episode of REDstreams on October 21. The broadcast will air on Twitch, YouTube, and Steam, with official patch notes scheduled for release on the same day.
The thing about supervillain movies is that they rarely let their villain be a villain. From Venom to Kraven the Hunter, they’re contrarian dreck that reframe a mass murderer as a “misunderstood anti-hero” who’s overshadowed by a corny do-gooder. Boo hoo. Thankfully, Clayface got the memo to not do that, even if it came pretty close.
Clayface reimagines how rising actor Matt Hagen becomes one of Batman’s most (literally) monstrous enemies. Here, Matt is horribly disfigured by gangsters then abandoned by his friends. He finds hope in Dr. Caitlyn Corr’s genetic experiments, but loses his body, mind and soul as her miracle cure enables his worst impulses.
Basically, Clayface is everything Joker failed to be. It’s a sympathetic origin story for a twisted Batman villain, but it doesn’t make excuses for them. If Joker scapegoats Arthur Fleck’s madness and anarchy on the nebulous enemy that is Society the way an aimlessly rebellious teenager would, Clayface throws all the blame and consequences on Matt — and Matt alone.
I like how Matt’s story is a tragedy of his own making. He wasn’t always evil, and he really was wronged by scum. Worse, his identity is cracking, which is a bit of psychological torment that I wish the movie dwelled on more. And yet, he always had a way out. He just keeps choosing the cruelest and greediest options instead.
This is the kind of agency most supervillain movies — or any movie about a juvenile anti-hero fighting The System, really — lack, but Clayface has an abundance of. There was a moment I thought that the movie would still side with Matt despite everything he’s done, only for him to cross a line. In the end, he can only blame himself when he loses everything and everyone.
However, I was let down by Clayface’s violence. There’s blood and guts, alright, but they’re too inconsistent. For every morbidly satisfying disemboweling or close-up of a nasty scarring, there’s a moment where the movie cuts away from these too early. I lost count of how many times Clayface jumped to the next scene before really letting blades sink into flesh, or how many of Matt’s kills were done offscreen.
Minus the pivotal deaths, the kills are also not as diverse as I’d hope from a killer powered by Play-Doh and imagination. It’s just variations of stabbing and bludgeoning. My issue isn’t a lack of brutality, but that this reluctance to push it further or just show it gives the well-built tension a lackluster payoff. A movie about superpowered revenge in one of fiction’s vilest hellholes should be more depraved and creative.
To be fair, this is more the fault of the movie’s constraints, not a lack of skill or thought. Effects cost time and money that Clayface clearly didn’t have a lot of. This would also explain why Matt is limited to identity theft not by molding himself, but via clever camera work. For what it’s worth, I see and respect the smart workarounds the movie found to deliver the dread.
Still, I like Clayface. It’s the rare supervillain movie that’s self-aware and honest about its darkness. It humanizes its villain, but commits to their monstrosity while rejecting forced redemption. It’s also a grisly thriller that works on its own merits, yet complements DC Comics’ latest growing cinematic world. That said, Batman can’t arrive sooner to beat Matt’s melted face in.
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