As you can tell by the title I have just watched “Mufasa: The Lion King” in theaters in IMAX 70 mm. I don't know if the film was made for 70 mm but it was on a 70 mm screen and I thoroughly had a great time but the movie itself is not great just good.

First off I'd like to say an early happy new year to all of you! Thank you for being on this journey with us we really appreciate all of you. You are all Musty Creatives in my book. Sorry we're late with this newsletter. It's the holidays and I did not plan this ahead of time like I should have but I have a lot in store for you in this letter.

So The Lion King, who is a true lion King. After watching this movie there is no doubt that Mufasa is that lion King. On a positive note this movie gives us the kingly arc that you would want to see if you wanted to see a story about Mufasa. This movie also gives us the needed backstory on why Scar became scar. What was the scar that made Scar? That is the question. It is a question we must all ask ourselves so that we do not become the scars of the world.

We learned from Mufasa to be relatable to even the lowliest of people, be open to the dreams in your mind that lead you heavenward, and hang around females because they will teach you the best skills which are how to mate. I mean that with no joke the movie explicitly tells us that men need to hang out and learn from women if they want to procreate and be leaders in the future. That is a conversation that we can have in this newsletter but I wanna focus on what Scar teaches us.

Scar teaches us that our mentors can be our downfall in this case it was his father and that our entitlement can make us unapproachable and not fit to be the leaders that we were told we would be.

Before moving on to just talking about the movie I am left with this question of how Mufasa handled Scar at the end. Mufasa did not banish his brother but then he refused to call him by his birth name, Taka, which is a lesson for leaders who succeed that either you cut off the head of the one who will cut you or you bridge the relationship and fully forgive them.

Now for the movie itself like I mentioned above it is good not great. If you're going to watch it, watch it in IMAX because that is the best experience. The performances of the voice actors were doable, the score swelled at the right times especially in the third act. The computer graphics were amazing to behold and the action was pretty stellar. Rafiki was probably the best out of them all and the villain was a true villain and made you feel terrified in the theater. But my major problem with this film is that the music was terrible. None of the songs hit and I cringed every time a new song showed up. I'm not saying I wouldn't listen to the music alone from the movie but the movie’s musical songs did not match anytime in this film. Which is a sad state of affairs considering it's a Disney film.

In the end I do think the film is worth a watch because of the lessons that are in there and there are so many lessons I wanna go over that as a man I feel directly hit me. But I will conclude with this, Mufasa makes you feel that even you can become king and to become king is not based on what you are told but what you become.

So many things to watch! What do I watch?

This week of Christmas has been a smorgasbord of so many good things to watch whether that is on live television or in the theater.

In the theater there is:

• Mufasa: The Lion King

• Homestead

• Nosferatu

• The Fire Inside

• Sonic the Hedgehog 3

• A Complete Unknown

• The Count of Monte-Cristo

On streaming there is:

• Squid Game Season 2 (Netflix)

• Shrinking, season 2 finale (Apple TV plus)a

• Juror #2 (Max)

• Joker: Folie à Deux aka “Joker 2” (Max)

• Beetlejuice Beetlejuice aka “Beetlejuice 2” (Max)

• The Six Triple Eight (Netflix)

• Red One (Amazon Prime)

• Challengers (Amazon Prime)

• Conclave (Peacock)

• Speak No Evil (Peacock)

• Twisters (Peacock)

There are literally so many choices including live television such as the NBA and the NFL so take your pic and here's what I would recommend.

Start with Red One, go watch A Complete Unknown in theaters, scare yourself with Speak No Evil, contemplate societal life with Joker 2, debate the necessity of religion with Conclave, debate again with Squid Game Season 2, and then end with a forgetful fun watch, Sonic the Hedgehog 3.

Then come yell at me about why I'm wrong.

On the creative side…

I have been working on a new video game which I'm calling Desert Acorn. It's a casual adventure Fortnite Island and I'm very happy with it so far. We need play testers as soon as possible so if you'd like to play this game please reply to this newsletter.

Superman is in the building!

If you haven't seen the new teaser trailer for the James Gunn Superman movie definitely go check it out it's worth a watch and check out my reaction to the trailer on our YouTube channel.

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Happy New Year

Stay safe this weekend and throughout the rest of the holiday. Take time to reflect on this year because we're never gonna get another 2024 again. A crazy election, P. Diddy getting arrested, Drake getting destroyed by Kendrick Lamar, Project 2025, and yeah there was some good storytelling happening this year.

Buckle up because 2025 is going to be crazy.

Stay Musty my friends,

Jesús Noland