I'm glad you're back! Re Brave: the trailers left me really underwhelmed, so I wasn't expecting much, and then I ended up quite enjoying it. Definitely not up to Pixar's usual standards though (although I thought it was visually stunning, especially Merida's hair). I recently rewatched Up, and so I definitely couldn't help but compare Brave to that, and it definitely fell short in terms of originality. I didn't realize how central the mother-daughter storyline was going to be though, so that was a pleasant surprise for me. I do wish we could have a female protagonist who's storyline doesn't revolve around defying the conventions of princesshood. I want one where the fact that girls can be badass is just taken for granted, and then maybe a more original story can be told.