In the Heights is an ebullient love letter to New York City and an effervescent musical explosion that will blow the roof off your local megaplex. It's the perfect celebration to herald the exuberant return of the movies, but more than anything else, it's a bold assertion of Latinx identity unlike any previous big studio blockbuster.

I loved every second of it.

Full review at Rough Cut Cinema.

"[E]verything I’ve ever been told about Cuba by my family always had two things in common—a longing for a paradise lost, and a silent, unspoken understanding that we could never go back.

I’ve never been to Cuba, but the closest I might ever come is watching Buena Vista Social Club. "

Dos Gardenias Para Mi at Bright Wall/Dark Room.

When they inevitably reboot A:TLA, every person in this movie should be in the voice cast, but Benedict Wong simply must play Iroh

Fell asleep halfway through, but in my defense the John Williams score is very pleasant and I was very tired

This felt like someone pouring out the contents of my pandemic brain onto my TV even before a song about turning 30 happened

Me: This doesn't mean Carson was right.

Narrator: But he was right.