Entertainment

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Some of you might remember a column I wrote earlier this year listing some animated media I thought was underrated and/or underappreciated, and thanks to Disney+, I believe I might have found a late addition to that list with Pixar’s “Elio.”

The movie follows 11-year-old Elio Solís, who is mistaken for the leader of Earth after being beamed up to the Communiverse by aliens for making contact, and must navigate a crisis that involves the warlord father of a new alien friend. I’d heard stories throughout the summer of its unfortunate underperformance at the box office (and, of course, rampant speculation as to why that happened), and after watching the movie on Disney+, I honestly can’t believe more people didn’t go see it in the theaters.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The season is officially changing, and that includes upcoming movie releases.

As Mitchell Theaters owner Brian Mitchell tells it, this past spring and summer saw multiple very successful releases.

“The spring started off a little slow, but then everything really ramped up when we saw the release of 'A Minecraft Movie' and 'Sinners' and the 'Lilo & Stitch' remake. There was 'Jurassic World Rebirth,' that did really well, and 'The Last Rodeo' also played really well for us. The 'How To Train Your Dragon' remake also saw some really good numbers, as did 'F1 The Movie,' 'Superman,' 'Weapons' and 'The Bad Guys 2,' so we were happy with all of that,” Mitchell said. “Throughout the summer, we had some movies overperform and some movies underperform, but all in all, this season did end up slightly better than last year. A lot of people were expecting more, and August slowed down slightly quicker than expected, but we were happy with how the season ended up.”

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Many members of my family can attest when I was growing up, I was a rather stubborn child. It’s a trait I definitely inherited from my late dad, and that has helped me grow into a hard-headed woman when it comes to particular topics.

Singer Margo Price recently released her newest album, “Hard Headed Woman,” and while I was listening to it while working on some other work recently, there were multiple times where I couldn’t help but think ‘I feel SEEN right now!” Ultimately, the album ended up being a very smart click.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

Young readers looking for a good mystery will soon have just that chance thanks to author Paul Cicchini.

Cicchini recently announced the upcoming release of his newest book “The Central Park Irregulars,” which follows a group of children who form a detective club in Central Park to solve the mystery of a stolen artifact and clear leader Harper Jensen's mother's name. The newly-formed group of friends follow clues throughout the famous park, uncovering a dangerous plot involving international smuggling and family secrets.