Date: Sunday December 29 2019
Time: 10:35am*
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Rylo Ren/Ben Solo- Adam Driver
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Finn- John Boyeda
General Leia- Carrie Fischer (RIP 2016)
General Hux- Domnhall Gleeson
General Pryde- Richard E. Grant
Lando Calarissan- Billy Dee Williams
Emperor Palpatine- Ian McDiarmid
Duration: 142 minutes (+10 trailers)
Opening Remarks
Going to be doing things a little bit differently... because I'm probably going to spend many paragraphs fuming about how many commercials and trailers we had to sit through... I decided to move the movie discussion to the front of the post and the other stuff to the back.
It'll all be there for anyone who cares to hear some strong opinions.
Why include it at all? This blog is about being a "movie-goer"... that includes the entire experience.
But here's the Star Wars part of the post...
The Star Wars Part of the Post
I'm not going to give anything major away, other than what was in the cast list..
It's kinda unfortunate, really... they spent all this time and effort bringing down the Emperor Sith in "Return of the Jedi"... Darth Vader gave his life to defeat him and save Luke from obliteration. And it was for nothing... unless you want to get into the psychological conversation about how they felt fulfilled for doing what they thought was right...
It also makes for an interesting final battle involving this guy. But what I find strange... there's talk about ending the Jedi so the Sith can prevail... aren't they all Jedi anyway? They all can manipulate The Force and use lightsabers. Am I missing something?
But this battle is just one of many moments where it was great culmination of everything in the series. Well, everything except for maybe the prequel trilogy... it seems like the powers that be want to pretend they didn't exist.
This movie is easily the best of this last trilogy... it's just too bad it's the final installment. When they finally get everything right and all the pieces are together.
Of course, I'm sure there are people that will complain... there always are... that there weren't enough casualties on the good side or how much of this movie was fan service to the fanboys (and fangirls) of this franchise.
So what? Many of us hardcore Star Wars fans will be very happy with this movie and how everything went down.
Anyone curious about how Carrie Fischer was used in the movie, considering much of it was filmed after she'd passed away (she and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, were the final casualties of the horrific year that was 2016-- I'm speaking about celebrity deaths specifically)... they had enough footage of her where she was given the tribute she deserved.
One part I really liked about this movie was how much of the new core trio was together. One thing that really annoys me about ensemble casts in movie and TV is where they are constantly split apart and worrying about each other and having to find a way to reunite while trying to complete their main objective.
Rey, Poe and Finn spent a lot of time together and if they were split apart, it was temporary. More often than not, it was Rey who separated from the others, but she had her reasons. I was waiting for her to do what Luke did in "Return of the Jedi"- he left the camp of rebels because he thought his presence was putting everyone in danger.
There were some light moments scattered throughout with bits of humor. Unlike the previous film, they didn't feel too forced. The exchange between Poe and General Hux in the previous movie... yeah, it was kinda lame and cheesy and not quite in line with the humor the series typically has. Some jokes, they tried a little too hard, but others were well played.
C3PO has some comical moments that didn't lean on the Abbott/Costello routine he and R2D2 typically have. There's one part where the trio needs him to translate something in a Sith language and he says something in his programming forbids it. I don't know what it was, but his dialogue sounded a lot like something Sheldon from "Big Bang Theory" would say. The similarity between them was SCARY.
What's funny is that he got compared to C3PO once by Leonard and Sheldon shakes his head and says "...I'm flattered, but I just don't see it."
The amount of screentime Oscar Isaac had between this and the previous movie... more than made up for the fact he was M.I.A. for much of "The Force Awakens"... we also get to find out more of his past and how that comes about is a nice touch. In their travels, Finn also meets fellow former Storm Troopers and they contribute to the Resistance in the final battle. Particularly the lead female of the group.
There's a lot of great strong female characters in this movie. I'm glad they brought back Rose, who was a scene-stealer in the previous movie. But it feels like her role in the Resistance got vastly reduced. I'm just saying they could have given her more to do.
Probably the one thing I can't go into is what happens with Kylo Ren's character because that's a huge part of the movie. His connection with Rey only intensifies... how they use it may be a bit of a stretch for some people... but it gets used in a lot of creative ways, accomplishing things that couldn't have been otherwise.
The writing from start to finish was really good and there wasn't a moment where things were too slow moving or boring. Some of it, I found myself predicting... some of it was "I don't think this person is actually dead." But others were just inklings that a certain situation would play out a certain way. Maybe that makes the movie a little too predictable, but it kinda helps to be a Star Wars fan and to pay attention.
The events of the film are kicked off by getting intel from a spy in the First Order. I had my suspicions of who it would be... it's kinda hilarious when their identity is revealed and how that's handled.
Grade: A+
(I really can't take too much away from this movie. It's practically perfect... if you're a Star Wars fan who likes everything tied up in a nice bow)
Theater Commentary
Now for some bits about the movies... we decided not to Fandango it because the movie had been out for at least a week. Maybe we should have. We were close to the front of the screen, row C in fact... so we had our heads kinked back to try to get the whole picture. There were a couple of warnings abound about there being strobe lighting that could cause seizures from this movie... there was nothing that intense. Possibly the lightning that comes from the Emperor's lair, but I can't think of much else.
There was barely anyone in the theater, but come 10 minutes to "movie time"-- it was nearly filled. Pretty impressive. There was one hilarious moment where the movie was finally starting and a guy nearby was like "oh, holy sh**", as if completely surprised the movie was finally starting. He had a good point.
Ok... so let me break it down...
the movie time we signed in for was 10:35... the trailers didn't start until 10:41... the movie itself didn't start until 11:07...
I mean, WHAT THE HELL? Granted, a movie like this was worth the wait... but considering that it takes half an hour to get to the theater, we sit through 100's of commercials in the meantime and most movies run over 2 hours... you use up an entire day just for a trip to the movies. It's ridiculous and it isn't necessary.
Also- 10 trailers?! That's insane. Were any of the movies good? ...yeah, there were some that I'll definitely need to see.
But that's not the point...
Coming Attractions
Free Guy
Geesh... Ryan Reynolds has been freaking everywhere since he became Deadpool. I mean, we just saw him yesterday doing the voiceover for Pikachu in "Detective Pikachu" (yeah, I've got some thoughts for that too- just as a Pokémon fan going on 20 years).
I don't know if this movie is supposed to be Grand Theft Auto or an ode to video games... it starts with everyone doing what they're supposed to be doing, but then he decides to play hero and he enters another world. Not sure where it's going to lead, though
Dolittle
Yeah, this will be my first movie of next year. Anything to shake off the funk leftover from Endgame... I have not seen anything with RDJ since that movie... but it looks interesting. I'm just glad it's not going to be a remake of the Rex Harrision musical. They're taking the idea of a person who talks to animals to new heights.
I gotta say that they're doing a bang-up job on Twitter promoting this. There was a 2 minute promo where they were auditioning the animals portraying iconic movie scenes with RDJ (without the British accent) giving feedback. It's hilarous!
Tenet
The star of this movie is John David Washington, Denzel's son. I'd gotten to know him as Ricky Jared from "Ballers"... maybe it's that Denzel swag, but no matter how rotten his character could be at points, I could never bring myself to write him off. All this time later, I can't remember much about this trailer, but supposedly he gets ushered into another realm called "The Afterlife" and it's an action movie. It's also directed by Christopher Nolan, so it might have some similarites to Inception.
Top Gun: Maverick
During "Noovie," they had a brief moment where they were talking about the new air-based technology they were going to use for the pilot sequences in this movie. So it makes sense that it was going to be part of this brigade of trailers. And it lookes IMPRESSIVE. I mean, it'll probably conjure up a lot of nostalgia for the fans of the original (and yeah I'm one of them), but it should be interesting to see how Maverick does as a Top Gun instructor. The fact Miles Teller will be part of it as Goose's son, that's going to make things very interesting. Unfortunately, the trailer doesn't give us a lot to go on as far what happens in the story.
Wonder Woman 84
Wonder Woman is back... and she's going to be kicking butt in the 80's... that and the fact her love interest, Steve, is mysteriously back from the dead... I don't have much more to go on. But cuz I love anything 80's, I'm game for anything!
Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
I honestly don't know what the hell this is supposed to be... it's a teaser trailer that's oddly self-depracating. There's one line where they joke about sitting through 45 minutes of movie trailers and how they sometimes do that and leave right after... makes me wonder how many people are tempted to do that...
But I feel like these are characters we should be aware of, but I'd never heard of them before. It could be completely hilarious, but I don't have a lot to go on.
1917
I guess they're really pushing this movie. Cuz it's R-rated and they're showing a trailer for it in a theater that might include children. Granted, there's nothing R-rated in the trailer or anything over the top. But it's kinda nuts how much they're pushing this movie. On the other hand, people are saying it's supposed to be one of the best WWI movies ever made and how there aren't many about The Great War... WWII steals its thunder about as much as Vietnam does from Korea
Black Widow
FINALLY this movie is happening... and it looks like it's gonna be AMAZING. Natasha is going back to face her past and we get to meet her family. I just hope we got more flashbacks like we did during Age of Ultron to go more into her backstory because I don't know a lot. Her sister seems like she's as much a bad-ass as she is... but I just hope she doesn't wind up being her enemy the way they did with "The Girl In the Spider's Web"... I still feel ripped off that Lisbeth was nothing like "Black Widow" cuz I thought that's what I was signing up for. (That's the first and last time I'm ever watching a Dragon Tattoo movie. That and I can't stand it when a character has to constantly fight back in constraining situations)
Onward
I went into this Pixar movie before... I have no interest in seeing it, so I won't go any futher.
Mulan
Dang, this looks impressive... at the same time, I have problems... Shun Yu has a female assassin assisting him? Mulan has a younger sister? This movie is already about female empowerment, they don't need to overdo it. I mean, wasn't China back in those days about the 1 child policy? It also looks like Shun Yu's cohort shapeshifts into his falcon- if so, that wouldn't be so bad.
But it looks like Mulan isn't going to be a klutz and there's no sign of Mushu... the movie has some light comedic moments amid the drama... are they just taking that out completely?
I'm still going to go see it cuz I gotta, but still... It's one thing to try to be more historically accurate, but it's another to shove an agenda down our throats because that's what is "in" right now.
...speaking of that, they did have a moment in Star Wars where there was a kiss between two females after the end of the final battle that got edited out in some foreign countries... first of all, shame of them for still being in the Dark Ages about these things. And second, to me, it wasn't too over the top. It was just one small part of the whole picture.
Showing posts with label Carrie Fisher. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Carrie Fisher. Show all posts
Sunday, December 29, 2019
Saturday, December 16, 2017
[Spoiler-Free] Theatrical Review: Star Wars Episode VIII- The Last Jedi
Date: Saturday December 16 2017
Time: 10am
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)
Writer/Director: Rian Johnson
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess/General Leia Organa- Carrie Fisher (RIP 2016)
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Finn- John Boyega
Rose- Kelly Marie Tran
General Hux- Domhall Gleeson
DJ- Benicio Del Toro
Vice Admiral Holdo- Laura Dern
Duration: 151 minute (+ many trailers... 8)
Opening Remarks
Only a movie like this could get me to downtown Stroudsburg this early on a Saturday. Especially when I was up a little late the night before and I had a harrowing drive home from work cuz people were going 20 miles an hour because of 2 measly inches of snow. :sigh:
Anyway, totally worth it. I definitely didn't want to wait too long because I didn't want to hear any spoilers about this one.
I think the only time I caught any spoilers for a movie was accidentally walking in to see the end of Sherlock 2... almost a year of anticipation ruined cuz I got to the theater too early and I've never gotten over it.
The theater had a few open patches throughout the main stadium seating section, but not many for three people, so we took the back row of the "orchestra" section. Roughly the same area where my mom and I saw The Judge back in 2014.
So yeah, those are two rather blatant RDJ references, but the coincidences just kept popping up. I actually had a dream about him last night where we were talking stuff and we had a nice chat. But when I asked Robert when he was going to do any non-Avenger movies, he was evasive about it. Pretty much said that being in the Marvel movies still feels like the best Halloween ever.
And coincidence again... I saw the trailer for the new Avengers movie for the first time today. Among many others... so many dang trailers! and commercials! This 10am movie wound up becoming an 10:20 movie.
Trailers
Spiderman- Into the Spider-verse
I have no idea what the hell is going on with this one. It's animated. We're following a young black teen Spider-man and we see him talking to who appears to be an older Peter Parker, asking how many there are. Dude, what the hell? Why does there have to be multiple Spider-men? It makes the whole storyline of Peter Parker randomly being bitten by a radioactive spider totally pointless. Because it makes him less special.
Early Man
I saw the movie poster for this by the ladies' room and I was saying how we'll see the trailer in the next couple months. Nope! More like the next couple minutes... it's by the same people behind Wallace & Gromit so we have an all British cast. The Stone Age meets the Bronze age, cavemen vs. Vikings (I think??). And how this tribe of cavemen had this thing of hunting rabbits. But with people like Eddie Redmayne, Timothy Spall and so on in this, how can it not be good?
Every Day
Man, after seeing this trailer, I said "I have to read this book"... I somehow get the feeling that movie won't be quite as good as the book, but it's a really cool idea. And I'm sure that the LGBT crowd will love it too because all kinds of relationships come into place. Basically, it's about a girl and another person who wakes up as a different person every day- and each person happens to be someone that this girl knows. Sometimes they're a guy and sometimes they're a girl and the main girl falls in love with this person's soul. So many possibilities, but one thing is clear- it's going to be a tearjerker at the end and it's going to probably suck, but I'm willing to take that risk.
Jurassic World- Fallen Kingdom
I'm afraid the movie is going to get so hyped that by the time it comes out, it's going to be kinda disappointing. I just know my dad is super excited about it and there are very few movies he gets THIS excited about. The two of us had seen every one of these movies in the theater, so that tradition will for sure continue.
The story here seems to be that the island is going to be destroyed by a volcano eruption and Owen and Claire have to try to save all the dinosaurs. Lots of crap happens and we have an Ian Malcolm cameo where he says his most famous line from the original movie "Life will find a way." Well, we shall see, won't we?
Rampage
Yikes, they're hyping up this Dwayne Johnson movie as much as San Andreas and it's probably just as doomed to fail. It's kinda like Mighty Joe Young meets King Kong meets genetic engineering and we have to save a city from being taken over by mutant animals.
Samson
It takes place in 1170 BC in Israel and it's about the Biblical figure infamous for his hair. No idea how this is going to turn out, but at quick glance (and it was a very short quick trailer), they may finally do a Biblical movie where people can't complain about it being whitewashed. If anything, the next movie demonstrates that movies are more diverse than they've ever been
A Wrinkle in Time
I'd heard this movie was coming because Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling are among the cast members. I know it's based on the Madeline L'Engle children's book (which I've never read). It looks a lot more epic than the book entails. It's about this girl whose dad is with NASA and he supposedly disappears and she may discover where he's really been this whole time. The visual effects look amazing and I have no idea what is going on. Maybe with more time and more promotion from the large cast of characters, it'll become more clear
Avengers: The Infinity War
This really was the last trailer they showed- I'm not slotting it last for any special emphasis. But yeah, I think Thanos is coming to Earth looking for the other infinity stones to put on his gauntlets. The Vision has a stone on his forehead and it may be taken away from him. I see Loki, I see Doctor Strange, Black Widow is blonde for some stupid reason (dude, this character is a redhead, you can't bloody change that!)... and maybe Captain America has been off the radar for a while because they seem to be welcoming him back kinda how Superman was welcomed back in the Justice League movie, except Steve Rogers grew his hair out a bit.
Seriously, it looks like EVERYONE in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be here and lots of crap is going to happen. There isn't much dialogue, more narration, so I don't know what's going on. I just know there were only a couple of Tony Stark/Iron-Man screenshots and when he's out of his armor, Tony just looks lost and confused like his PTSD from Iron-Man 3 is coming back and he can't handle it.
I mean, I'd almost welcome him being killed off because I'm dying for Robert to do some other projects... even though I'm kinda over Tony Stark, it would still be sad to lose him.
Ok, I'm done. Now for...
The Main Event
In a nutshell- Episode VII was about finding Luke Skywalker and the Resistance rebels destroying yet another version of the Death Star.
This movie, Episode VIII is about the aftermath of the former and the Resistance fighting to survive to fight another day while being actively pursued by the First Order.
The way this movie was put together, it almost felt like the subsequent Star Wars movies after the original. The crew is split apart and we're following 3 different groups of characters.
We have Rey on that far-off planet trying to convince Luke Skywalker to rejoin the Rebellion (or in this case, The Resistance) and she's also having several via-the-Force conversations with Kylo Ren.
We have Finn and his new comrade Rose, who are going to another planet to find a code-breaker to help disengage the tracking device that's allowing the First Order to pursue Resistance ships.
And we have Poe Dameron trying by all means necessary to buy them the time to do so.
Of course, we also have a few scenes where we're following the bad guys. General Hux and Supreme Ruler Snoke (who we get to see "in the flesh" in this movie... opposed to a hologram in the previous installment)... but we really care more about the good guys, right?
So, I had one wish for this movie after seeing the previous one... GIVE OSCAR ISAAC MORE SCREEN TIME... the previous movie had him either in the cock pilot or simply M.I.A. after his ship crashed on Jakku (good on him lobbying with J.J. Abrams to not kill off his character and they basically rewrote the movie because of him... after seeing him play a couple of not-so-nice roles, I was really glad what they gave him here).
And boy was my wish granted... couldn't be happier.
The guy is pretty reckless as a pilot, but damn, he's so good at what he does. Of course, that does land him in hot water with authority, but characters like him are always great when they're done by charismatic actors like him. Some pretty hilarious moments. But the best part was where Leia and her Vice Admiral mutually agree about him in their last scene together.. I wish I remembered the exact dialogue, but it was pretty much saying how much of a rebel he is, but despite that, they like him.
Kylo Ren still has a bit of a temper on him and that does come into play. (Particularly in the last battle scene- one of the best scenes in the movie by far and I'm sure people are already talking heaps about it). But we also get to see more of that vulnerable side of him that's conflicted. He and Rey have these odd conversations that randomly start happening, where she learns what happened to him and Luke's Jedi Temple and there seems to be a chance they'll be allies. How things go down, though, it's hard to predict. Even going into the final movie, I don't know how it's going to go and that's kinda exciting.
Some people who saw the last movie complained about him not being threatening because we see him without the mask. Supreme Ruler Snook actually has a bit of dialogue a lot of those people could agree with... don't bother with the helmet because he comes off as (again, I can't remember the exact dialogue) a child wearing a mask.
Domhall Gleeson (son of British acting great Brenden Gleeson) returns as the First Order general, so full of snark, but it's kinda funny how his authority gets undermined throughout this movie. Each person gives him their unique dose of that.
Former Storm Trooper Finn finds a new partner in Rose, whose sister was involved in the big battle scene at the beginning of the movie. She's a new character and in some ways, the heart of the movie. She and her sister came from the very same planet the two of them are visiting to find the code-breaker and we learn how they came from some sad circumstances where they were basically weapons test subjects as children. She's a prime example of why things need to change in the world, why the Resistance exists in the first place. The code-breaker they wind up meeting is played by Benicio Del Toro and like with many of the characters he plays (although I only have his Bond villain to go by personally), you never really know what to expect. Either way, it makes things interesting.
Going by the Empire Strikes Back, I was sure this movie would have a cliff-hanger ending. Throughout the final battle scene (where the Resistance evacuates to another planet with an abandoned rebel base), there were at least 3 moments where I thought the movie would end and I was oddly ok with that. But the way it does, it's not a cliff-hanger, but we are still left wondering how the hell the good guys are going to completely defeat the bad guys.
But in the same fashion as Once Upon a Time (a show I'd been meaning to do a write-up on because I decided last season was my final season. I want nothing to do with it without Emma Swan and certainly not after the previous season finale broke my heart a million times), you always have to have hope...
I'm not giving anything major away, but Luke Skywalker does get involved (with everything that's happened, why wouldn't he?) and it is absolutely epic.
The movie is extremely character-driven and you kinda need to care about these characters to be invested. While it stays true to the mythology of the original trilogy, there are moments of humor that have a modern feel to them. Meaning that they are a little over the top and obvious and sometimes they're self-deprecating.
But this audience really enjoyed this movie. There were laughs at the right times. A couple moments had some cheering because a character got what they deserved. There was even a moment where the movie went dead silent and I heard people making some random comments throughout it, so into it. And of course, we all clapped at the end, because, why wouldn't we? Ultimately, it's movies like this that are the reason why the theater experience exists and why it will never go. Nor should it.
Grade: A
(You can't beat the original and never will... but this was better put than the previous one, which I enjoyed, but there were areas where I thought it could be better. With this one, I have a feeling I'm just going to be finding new things every time I watch it. And sometimes, that's the best part of revisiting movies, other than seeing old friends again)
Time: 10am
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)
Writer/Director: Rian Johnson
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess/General Leia Organa- Carrie Fisher (RIP 2016)
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Finn- John Boyega
Rose- Kelly Marie Tran
General Hux- Domhall Gleeson
DJ- Benicio Del Toro
Vice Admiral Holdo- Laura Dern
Duration: 151 minute (+ many trailers... 8)
Opening Remarks
Only a movie like this could get me to downtown Stroudsburg this early on a Saturday. Especially when I was up a little late the night before and I had a harrowing drive home from work cuz people were going 20 miles an hour because of 2 measly inches of snow. :sigh:
Anyway, totally worth it. I definitely didn't want to wait too long because I didn't want to hear any spoilers about this one.
I think the only time I caught any spoilers for a movie was accidentally walking in to see the end of Sherlock 2... almost a year of anticipation ruined cuz I got to the theater too early and I've never gotten over it.
The theater had a few open patches throughout the main stadium seating section, but not many for three people, so we took the back row of the "orchestra" section. Roughly the same area where my mom and I saw The Judge back in 2014.
So yeah, those are two rather blatant RDJ references, but the coincidences just kept popping up. I actually had a dream about him last night where we were talking stuff and we had a nice chat. But when I asked Robert when he was going to do any non-Avenger movies, he was evasive about it. Pretty much said that being in the Marvel movies still feels like the best Halloween ever.
And coincidence again... I saw the trailer for the new Avengers movie for the first time today. Among many others... so many dang trailers! and commercials! This 10am movie wound up becoming an 10:20 movie.
Trailers
Spiderman- Into the Spider-verse
I have no idea what the hell is going on with this one. It's animated. We're following a young black teen Spider-man and we see him talking to who appears to be an older Peter Parker, asking how many there are. Dude, what the hell? Why does there have to be multiple Spider-men? It makes the whole storyline of Peter Parker randomly being bitten by a radioactive spider totally pointless. Because it makes him less special.
Early Man
I saw the movie poster for this by the ladies' room and I was saying how we'll see the trailer in the next couple months. Nope! More like the next couple minutes... it's by the same people behind Wallace & Gromit so we have an all British cast. The Stone Age meets the Bronze age, cavemen vs. Vikings (I think??). And how this tribe of cavemen had this thing of hunting rabbits. But with people like Eddie Redmayne, Timothy Spall and so on in this, how can it not be good?
Every Day
Man, after seeing this trailer, I said "I have to read this book"... I somehow get the feeling that movie won't be quite as good as the book, but it's a really cool idea. And I'm sure that the LGBT crowd will love it too because all kinds of relationships come into place. Basically, it's about a girl and another person who wakes up as a different person every day- and each person happens to be someone that this girl knows. Sometimes they're a guy and sometimes they're a girl and the main girl falls in love with this person's soul. So many possibilities, but one thing is clear- it's going to be a tearjerker at the end and it's going to probably suck, but I'm willing to take that risk.
Jurassic World- Fallen Kingdom
I'm afraid the movie is going to get so hyped that by the time it comes out, it's going to be kinda disappointing. I just know my dad is super excited about it and there are very few movies he gets THIS excited about. The two of us had seen every one of these movies in the theater, so that tradition will for sure continue.
The story here seems to be that the island is going to be destroyed by a volcano eruption and Owen and Claire have to try to save all the dinosaurs. Lots of crap happens and we have an Ian Malcolm cameo where he says his most famous line from the original movie "Life will find a way." Well, we shall see, won't we?
Rampage
Yikes, they're hyping up this Dwayne Johnson movie as much as San Andreas and it's probably just as doomed to fail. It's kinda like Mighty Joe Young meets King Kong meets genetic engineering and we have to save a city from being taken over by mutant animals.
Samson
It takes place in 1170 BC in Israel and it's about the Biblical figure infamous for his hair. No idea how this is going to turn out, but at quick glance (and it was a very short quick trailer), they may finally do a Biblical movie where people can't complain about it being whitewashed. If anything, the next movie demonstrates that movies are more diverse than they've ever been
A Wrinkle in Time
I'd heard this movie was coming because Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling are among the cast members. I know it's based on the Madeline L'Engle children's book (which I've never read). It looks a lot more epic than the book entails. It's about this girl whose dad is with NASA and he supposedly disappears and she may discover where he's really been this whole time. The visual effects look amazing and I have no idea what is going on. Maybe with more time and more promotion from the large cast of characters, it'll become more clear
Avengers: The Infinity War
This really was the last trailer they showed- I'm not slotting it last for any special emphasis. But yeah, I think Thanos is coming to Earth looking for the other infinity stones to put on his gauntlets. The Vision has a stone on his forehead and it may be taken away from him. I see Loki, I see Doctor Strange, Black Widow is blonde for some stupid reason (dude, this character is a redhead, you can't bloody change that!)... and maybe Captain America has been off the radar for a while because they seem to be welcoming him back kinda how Superman was welcomed back in the Justice League movie, except Steve Rogers grew his hair out a bit.
Seriously, it looks like EVERYONE in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be here and lots of crap is going to happen. There isn't much dialogue, more narration, so I don't know what's going on. I just know there were only a couple of Tony Stark/Iron-Man screenshots and when he's out of his armor, Tony just looks lost and confused like his PTSD from Iron-Man 3 is coming back and he can't handle it.
I mean, I'd almost welcome him being killed off because I'm dying for Robert to do some other projects... even though I'm kinda over Tony Stark, it would still be sad to lose him.
Ok, I'm done. Now for...
The Main Event
In a nutshell- Episode VII was about finding Luke Skywalker and the Resistance rebels destroying yet another version of the Death Star.
This movie, Episode VIII is about the aftermath of the former and the Resistance fighting to survive to fight another day while being actively pursued by the First Order.
The way this movie was put together, it almost felt like the subsequent Star Wars movies after the original. The crew is split apart and we're following 3 different groups of characters.
We have Rey on that far-off planet trying to convince Luke Skywalker to rejoin the Rebellion (or in this case, The Resistance) and she's also having several via-the-Force conversations with Kylo Ren.
We have Finn and his new comrade Rose, who are going to another planet to find a code-breaker to help disengage the tracking device that's allowing the First Order to pursue Resistance ships.
And we have Poe Dameron trying by all means necessary to buy them the time to do so.
Of course, we also have a few scenes where we're following the bad guys. General Hux and Supreme Ruler Snoke (who we get to see "in the flesh" in this movie... opposed to a hologram in the previous installment)... but we really care more about the good guys, right?
So, I had one wish for this movie after seeing the previous one... GIVE OSCAR ISAAC MORE SCREEN TIME... the previous movie had him either in the cock pilot or simply M.I.A. after his ship crashed on Jakku (good on him lobbying with J.J. Abrams to not kill off his character and they basically rewrote the movie because of him... after seeing him play a couple of not-so-nice roles, I was really glad what they gave him here).
And boy was my wish granted... couldn't be happier.
The guy is pretty reckless as a pilot, but damn, he's so good at what he does. Of course, that does land him in hot water with authority, but characters like him are always great when they're done by charismatic actors like him. Some pretty hilarious moments. But the best part was where Leia and her Vice Admiral mutually agree about him in their last scene together.. I wish I remembered the exact dialogue, but it was pretty much saying how much of a rebel he is, but despite that, they like him.
Kylo Ren still has a bit of a temper on him and that does come into play. (Particularly in the last battle scene- one of the best scenes in the movie by far and I'm sure people are already talking heaps about it). But we also get to see more of that vulnerable side of him that's conflicted. He and Rey have these odd conversations that randomly start happening, where she learns what happened to him and Luke's Jedi Temple and there seems to be a chance they'll be allies. How things go down, though, it's hard to predict. Even going into the final movie, I don't know how it's going to go and that's kinda exciting.
Some people who saw the last movie complained about him not being threatening because we see him without the mask. Supreme Ruler Snook actually has a bit of dialogue a lot of those people could agree with... don't bother with the helmet because he comes off as (again, I can't remember the exact dialogue) a child wearing a mask.
Domhall Gleeson (son of British acting great Brenden Gleeson) returns as the First Order general, so full of snark, but it's kinda funny how his authority gets undermined throughout this movie. Each person gives him their unique dose of that.
Former Storm Trooper Finn finds a new partner in Rose, whose sister was involved in the big battle scene at the beginning of the movie. She's a new character and in some ways, the heart of the movie. She and her sister came from the very same planet the two of them are visiting to find the code-breaker and we learn how they came from some sad circumstances where they were basically weapons test subjects as children. She's a prime example of why things need to change in the world, why the Resistance exists in the first place. The code-breaker they wind up meeting is played by Benicio Del Toro and like with many of the characters he plays (although I only have his Bond villain to go by personally), you never really know what to expect. Either way, it makes things interesting.
Going by the Empire Strikes Back, I was sure this movie would have a cliff-hanger ending. Throughout the final battle scene (where the Resistance evacuates to another planet with an abandoned rebel base), there were at least 3 moments where I thought the movie would end and I was oddly ok with that. But the way it does, it's not a cliff-hanger, but we are still left wondering how the hell the good guys are going to completely defeat the bad guys.
But in the same fashion as Once Upon a Time (a show I'd been meaning to do a write-up on because I decided last season was my final season. I want nothing to do with it without Emma Swan and certainly not after the previous season finale broke my heart a million times), you always have to have hope...
I'm not giving anything major away, but Luke Skywalker does get involved (with everything that's happened, why wouldn't he?) and it is absolutely epic.
The movie is extremely character-driven and you kinda need to care about these characters to be invested. While it stays true to the mythology of the original trilogy, there are moments of humor that have a modern feel to them. Meaning that they are a little over the top and obvious and sometimes they're self-deprecating.
But this audience really enjoyed this movie. There were laughs at the right times. A couple moments had some cheering because a character got what they deserved. There was even a moment where the movie went dead silent and I heard people making some random comments throughout it, so into it. And of course, we all clapped at the end, because, why wouldn't we? Ultimately, it's movies like this that are the reason why the theater experience exists and why it will never go. Nor should it.
Grade: A
(You can't beat the original and never will... but this was better put than the previous one, which I enjoyed, but there were areas where I thought it could be better. With this one, I have a feeling I'm just going to be finding new things every time I watch it. And sometimes, that's the best part of revisiting movies, other than seeing old friends again)
Sunday, December 27, 2015
[Spoiler Free] Theatrical Review: Star Wars Episode VII- The Force Awakens
Date: Friday December 18 2015
Time: 11am
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my sister, mom and I)
Duration: 136 minutes (+ 6 trailers)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Finn- John Boyega
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Maz Kanata- Lupita Nyong'o
Former Princess, now General Leia- Carrie Fisher
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Opening Remarks and Trailers:
It wasn't my intention to see the movie the day it came out... but I also didn't want to wait too long. God forbid there are a couple nerds that plaster social media with spoilers and break the non-verbal contract of non-posting for a couple weeks after its release...
There was a small line in front of the box office, namely because it didn't open until 15 minutes before the start time. The theater was half-full, not super crowded by the time the movie started. Most arrived during the previews.
And leave it to the BIG movies where they have multiple previews.
1) we walked in at the end of "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass"- we saw it a couple movies ago for the first time
2) "Allegiant"- I'm going to keep asking until I see it- why do we need two movies for this final book?
3) "Captain America: Civil War"- oy, the tension in the room [in the trailer itself] on this one... right now, I can see this from both sides. it's also a good thing that RDJ is booked for two more Avengers movies because it wasn't looking good for Iron-Man with that Captain America/Winter Soldier tag team.
4) "X-Men: Apocalypse"- this is the final X-men movie in this franchise, I think, and they're pulling out all the stops. Oscar Isaac is in this one as well, but other than his voice [not iconic yet], there was no sign of him. It definitely looks like an end-game type of story that explains how Professor Xavier went bald, but like the way he became paralyzed in this franchise, I'm not completely on board.
5) Another "Batman v Superman" trailer, but different than the same damn one I'd been complaining about these last several reviews. Disappointed because Ben Affleck seems to be doing that stupid Bat-voice Christian Bale ruined the character with... Excited to see Wonder Woman get in the action and about the possibility all three can come together to defeat a common enemy
The final preview- for Disney's "Zootopia" elicited a groan from me. But there was a scene that so hilariously fit how I was feeling at the time that all was forgiven :P It involves sloths at the DMV...
Review:
The subtitle really should be "reawakens" but that would be a little too pretentious and self-aware...
I had a literal "Fan Boys" moment when the words "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." appeared on the screen... then the movie and the text crawl...
Basically, it brought us up to speed on what we can expect from the state of the galaxy, which, appeasing the nervous Luke Skywalker fangirls, includes him.
Going in, I didn't go through the trouble of dissecting all of the interviews and trailers. But thanks to one particular picture, I actually guessed one plot point involving Poe Dameron (new hot-shot X-wing pilot played by Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) a storm-trooper who's gone rouge.
An unlikely collaboration with some great action-packed results.
Right away, I really liked all of the new characters and the actors who portrayed them. Unless he gets saddled with a traitorous storyline in a future sequel that's of Lando Calarissan proportions, Oscar Isaac doesn't need to worry about people not liking Poe Dameron.
The only real downside is that he has the least screentime of the three new core cast members. And the majority of his scenes are in the X-wing cockpit. For me, that's about as satisfying as having RDJ in the Iron-Man suit-- occasionally, you see his face, but he's not the one doing all the acting.
But that's just me personal nit-picking...
Daisy Ridley plays Rey, a scavenger who lives on the planet Jakku (think desert planet Tatooine, but with one less sun). You thought Princess Leia was a strong female character. You thought Luke Skywalker was a reluctant hero. She's the combination of these two archetypes and does it amazingly. Assuming she does more in her acting career than this franchise, she's going to be the biggest new star to come out of it.
Finn gives us a perspective that we probably didn't think to explore until he presented us with the opportunity. How does one come a storm trooper? What makes them tick? Do they have any free will? And is it possible one to stop being a storm trooper?
His greatest highlights come from how he interacts with the other characters. Also finding out whether he will be able to rise to the occasion when he's in the trenches- either on the ground or manning the guns on a spacecraft. For anyone who hasn't seen a Star Wars movie before, he's the one that can be identified with the most because they're discovering their way through this crazy fictional world together, basically.
In one trailer, which was basically cast interviews on set, there was a lot of talk about doing these trilogy right. It would have real sets and rely much less on CGI.
There are also a lot of elements in the storyline, dialogue and otherwise that harken back to the original franchise. Particularly the notion Rey and Finn wind up with the task integral to fulfilling the plot. And along the way they do run into Han Solo and Chewbecca, which of course is awesome itself.
As for the First Order, which is the new wave of storm troopers and enemy forces, we find our new mega villain known as the Snoke- who is particularly this giant ugly CGI character being played by Andy Serkis, a new general (Domnhall Gleeson is kinda like Peter Cushing's character in the first Star Wars movie except he has ginger hair), a female storm trooper platoon leader (never see her face, but we hear her- she's Finn's former commander). And of course we have our main villain Kylo Ren, who probably carries the most spoilers of anybody so I can't say all that much. But there's one aspect of his personality that generates one of the movie's funniest moments-- probably the closest the theater came to breaking out in full hilarity.
Another character I hope to see more in the future sequels is played by Lupita Nyong'o. She's another motion-capture role, so we see her expressions and her voice in a different body. I wouldn't exactly say she's like another Yoda, but she is wise and helpful to our protagonists.
Beyond that- the movie plays out really well from start to finish. There's a lot of great laughs and gripping action sequences- some where we were holding our breath. There are plenty of twists as well as room for sequels. There's a lot of potential with these new characters the way they're written. As a big fan of the series in general, all the hype leading up to this was met and I can't wait for more.
Heck, my mom wants to see it in 3D- which I probably won't be up for unless we can bring in someone else who hadn't seen it with us the first time.
One day later, she had a talk with my sister because she gave away a big spoiler from the movie at a workplace Christmas party... yeah, unfortunately, it's probably not the kind of movie you can talk about in full for awhile.
But it seriously should have been considered one of the best movies of the year.
I hadn't seen the Mad Max movie from this year. One of my aunts saw it and said it was great. But the reviews overall are uneven, so I cannot trust it be given "best movie of the year"- certainly not by IMDB. They're great with trivia, but their ratings system isn't idiot proof...
But yeah, this Star Wars movie has to be one of the best movies this year. Definitely the best movie I saw this year... which probably suggests that it was a sucky year for movies... more on that in a future entry.
Grade: A+
Time: 11am
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my sister, mom and I)
Duration: 136 minutes (+ 6 trailers)
Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt
Composer: John Williams
Cast:
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Finn- John Boyega
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Maz Kanata- Lupita Nyong'o
Former Princess, now General Leia- Carrie Fisher
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Opening Remarks and Trailers:
It wasn't my intention to see the movie the day it came out... but I also didn't want to wait too long. God forbid there are a couple nerds that plaster social media with spoilers and break the non-verbal contract of non-posting for a couple weeks after its release...
There was a small line in front of the box office, namely because it didn't open until 15 minutes before the start time. The theater was half-full, not super crowded by the time the movie started. Most arrived during the previews.
And leave it to the BIG movies where they have multiple previews.
1) we walked in at the end of "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass"- we saw it a couple movies ago for the first time
2) "Allegiant"- I'm going to keep asking until I see it- why do we need two movies for this final book?
3) "Captain America: Civil War"- oy, the tension in the room [in the trailer itself] on this one... right now, I can see this from both sides. it's also a good thing that RDJ is booked for two more Avengers movies because it wasn't looking good for Iron-Man with that Captain America/Winter Soldier tag team.
4) "X-Men: Apocalypse"- this is the final X-men movie in this franchise, I think, and they're pulling out all the stops. Oscar Isaac is in this one as well, but other than his voice [not iconic yet], there was no sign of him. It definitely looks like an end-game type of story that explains how Professor Xavier went bald, but like the way he became paralyzed in this franchise, I'm not completely on board.
5) Another "Batman v Superman" trailer, but different than the same damn one I'd been complaining about these last several reviews. Disappointed because Ben Affleck seems to be doing that stupid Bat-voice Christian Bale ruined the character with... Excited to see Wonder Woman get in the action and about the possibility all three can come together to defeat a common enemy
The final preview- for Disney's "Zootopia" elicited a groan from me. But there was a scene that so hilariously fit how I was feeling at the time that all was forgiven :P It involves sloths at the DMV...
Review:
The subtitle really should be "reawakens" but that would be a little too pretentious and self-aware...
I had a literal "Fan Boys" moment when the words "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." appeared on the screen... then the movie and the text crawl...
Basically, it brought us up to speed on what we can expect from the state of the galaxy, which, appeasing the nervous Luke Skywalker fangirls, includes him.
Going in, I didn't go through the trouble of dissecting all of the interviews and trailers. But thanks to one particular picture, I actually guessed one plot point involving Poe Dameron (new hot-shot X-wing pilot played by Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) a storm-trooper who's gone rouge.
An unlikely collaboration with some great action-packed results.
Right away, I really liked all of the new characters and the actors who portrayed them. Unless he gets saddled with a traitorous storyline in a future sequel that's of Lando Calarissan proportions, Oscar Isaac doesn't need to worry about people not liking Poe Dameron.
The only real downside is that he has the least screentime of the three new core cast members. And the majority of his scenes are in the X-wing cockpit. For me, that's about as satisfying as having RDJ in the Iron-Man suit-- occasionally, you see his face, but he's not the one doing all the acting.
But that's just me personal nit-picking...
Daisy Ridley plays Rey, a scavenger who lives on the planet Jakku (think desert planet Tatooine, but with one less sun). You thought Princess Leia was a strong female character. You thought Luke Skywalker was a reluctant hero. She's the combination of these two archetypes and does it amazingly. Assuming she does more in her acting career than this franchise, she's going to be the biggest new star to come out of it.
Finn gives us a perspective that we probably didn't think to explore until he presented us with the opportunity. How does one come a storm trooper? What makes them tick? Do they have any free will? And is it possible one to stop being a storm trooper?
His greatest highlights come from how he interacts with the other characters. Also finding out whether he will be able to rise to the occasion when he's in the trenches- either on the ground or manning the guns on a spacecraft. For anyone who hasn't seen a Star Wars movie before, he's the one that can be identified with the most because they're discovering their way through this crazy fictional world together, basically.
In one trailer, which was basically cast interviews on set, there was a lot of talk about doing these trilogy right. It would have real sets and rely much less on CGI.
There are also a lot of elements in the storyline, dialogue and otherwise that harken back to the original franchise. Particularly the notion Rey and Finn wind up with the task integral to fulfilling the plot. And along the way they do run into Han Solo and Chewbecca, which of course is awesome itself.
As for the First Order, which is the new wave of storm troopers and enemy forces, we find our new mega villain known as the Snoke- who is particularly this giant ugly CGI character being played by Andy Serkis, a new general (Domnhall Gleeson is kinda like Peter Cushing's character in the first Star Wars movie except he has ginger hair), a female storm trooper platoon leader (never see her face, but we hear her- she's Finn's former commander). And of course we have our main villain Kylo Ren, who probably carries the most spoilers of anybody so I can't say all that much. But there's one aspect of his personality that generates one of the movie's funniest moments-- probably the closest the theater came to breaking out in full hilarity.
Another character I hope to see more in the future sequels is played by Lupita Nyong'o. She's another motion-capture role, so we see her expressions and her voice in a different body. I wouldn't exactly say she's like another Yoda, but she is wise and helpful to our protagonists.
Beyond that- the movie plays out really well from start to finish. There's a lot of great laughs and gripping action sequences- some where we were holding our breath. There are plenty of twists as well as room for sequels. There's a lot of potential with these new characters the way they're written. As a big fan of the series in general, all the hype leading up to this was met and I can't wait for more.
Heck, my mom wants to see it in 3D- which I probably won't be up for unless we can bring in someone else who hadn't seen it with us the first time.
One day later, she had a talk with my sister because she gave away a big spoiler from the movie at a workplace Christmas party... yeah, unfortunately, it's probably not the kind of movie you can talk about in full for awhile.
But it seriously should have been considered one of the best movies of the year.
I hadn't seen the Mad Max movie from this year. One of my aunts saw it and said it was great. But the reviews overall are uneven, so I cannot trust it be given "best movie of the year"- certainly not by IMDB. They're great with trivia, but their ratings system isn't idiot proof...
But yeah, this Star Wars movie has to be one of the best movies this year. Definitely the best movie I saw this year... which probably suggests that it was a sucky year for movies... more on that in a future entry.
Grade: A+
Friday, August 29, 2014
12. Star Wars (1977)
Code-name: C3PO
Writer/Director: George Lucas
Composer: John Williams
Type: Dramedy, Sci-fi Space Adventure
Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess Leia- Carrie Fisher
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Chewbacca- Peter Mayhew
Obi-Wan Kenobi- Sir Alec Guinness
R2D2- Kenny Baker
C3PO [human-cyborg relations]- Anthony Daniels
Darth Vader- (person) David Prowse (voice) James Earl Jones
Commander Tarkin- Peter Cushing
Notable Awards and Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
OSCAR- Best Costume Design
OSCAR- Best Sound
OSCAR- Best Film Editing
OSCAR- Best Visual Effects
nomination-OSCAR- Best Picture
nomination-OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
Golden Globe- Best Original Score- John Williams
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Director- George Lucas
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Picture- Drama
Grammy- Best Album of Original Score written for TV/Movie- John Williams
Grammy- Best Instrumental Composition- John Williams
Grammy- Best Pop Instrumental Performance- John Williams
nomination-Grammy-Album of the Year- John Williams
Write-up:
A long time ago... okay, not really
On one of their first dates, my dad took my mom to see "Star Wars"... and he'd regretted it ever since :P to be fair, though, he will set through the movies with us anyway
Plot
"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."
Rebel forces are fighting against the Evil Galactic Empire. Among these rebels, Princess Leia of the planet Alderaan. After obtaining secret plans that could dismantle the empire's greatest weapon, The Death Star, she is captured by Darth Vader, but not before giving the plans to the droid R2D2. Together with his counterpart C3PO, the two droids take an escape pod, landing on the desert planet Tatooine.
After coming into the possession of Luke Skywalker, R2D2 quickly departs to find Obi-Wan Kenobi per Princess Leia's request, Luke and C3PO with no choice but to follow. Obi-Wan enlists Luke to come with him and hires smuggler Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca to transport them and the droids to Alderaan. Meanwhile, throughout this journey, Obi-Wan starts to instruct Luke in the ways of The Force, to become a Jedi knight.
CharactersFor so many, this movie (and its sequels) is all about its memorable characters.
Luke Skywalker has been living with his aunt and uncle this whole life and by this point, all of his friends have left to join the Rebels. Like many future heroes, he wants to trade his present circumstances in for a new destiny. He's eager to learn, but clearly has a lot of maturing to do.
Princess Leia was probably cinema's first sassy princess. Before her inevitable capture in the opening sequence, she at least attempts to take control of the situation beforehand. She also takes charge during her rescue and gives Han Solo a run for his money. It's also hard to forget her iconic "bagel" hairstyle.
Han Solo is our loveable scruffy-looking ("who's scruffy looking?".. sorry, wrong "Star Wars" movie) scoundrel. Between this movie and "Indiana Jones," my mom fell in love with Harrison Ford. Windows (Jay Baruchel) from "Fanboys" boasted the fact Harrison Ford played both these roles made him the best actor of all time.
Going by this film alone, we learn he's a smuggler working for galactic gangster Jabba the Hutt who lives life on his own terms. He's also not a bad pilot. It's also to his credit that when he claims he wants out of the main action, he always comes through where it counts. He commands the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca, a Wookie that happens to be his best friend. They'd been together for so long that Han Solo understands him (hmm... makes me wonder if the people behind "Guardians of the Galaxy" drew inspiration from that for the relationship between Rocket and Groot).
Obi-Wan Kenobi will probably go down as one of the best mentors in the history of movies. He's someone you can respect without question, something that can also be said about his portrayer, Sir Alec Guinness. Rumor has it that the other actors were on their best behavior when he was on set. As for the rest of the time... let's just say they were more relaxed.
We have the dynamic duo of droids. R2D2 being the optimist to C3PO's worrywart pessimist, a staple throughout the Star Wars film series.
Then we have our villain, Darth Vader. With deep booming voice and imposing presence, how can one not be intimidated? Not to mention he has a whopping 12 minutes of screen time in this first film of the series. Perhaps this was George Lucas's homage to many great villains of cinema: the less we see of them and what they do with that minimal screen time, the more we fear them.Additional CommentsI don't remember when I first saw "Star Wars." I do know it was the unedited original version and it was on TV. When they re-released it with all the edits, we saw it in theaters for the re-release and it was pretty awesome. This is one of those great movies simply made for the theatrical experience. Those who saw it in the 70's for the first time, it must have been the biggest nerdgasm ever. For that time, the special effects had have been mind-blowing because their likeness had never been seen before.
The one negative that fanboys take away from the "special edition"... it erased the fact that "Han shot first" (citing his Mos Eisley cantina showdown with Greedo). Don't believe me? Look up footage from Jon Favreau at the San Diego Comic-Con promoting "Iron-Man" and listen for the cheers when he says "Han shot first."I know quite a bit of "Star Wars" trivia, but there's just too much for me to go into. Besides, my mom probably knows more since she's also read a lot of residual fiction the movie generated.
In my Greek Mythology class, we actually rewatched the movie because we were studying heroic journeys in myth and how George Lucas paid homage to them with the film.
John Williams is a regular collaborator of Steven Spielberg's, producing the best movie scores in the business. His "Star Wars" score with the London Symphonic Orchestra is probably my favorite cinematic source ever... and I can't quite explain why. It is just so epically awesome. It also has a great range of emotions that fits perfectly with every scene, almost like it's its own character in the film.
I won't go into all the sequels and prequels because that'd make this entry longer than it needs to be. But my mom and I saw the prequels in theaters the weekend they came out.
Homages and parodies are pretty much endless.
The best homage I can think of was "Fanboys," which I reviewed very early on in this countdown.
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/03/90-fanboys-2009.html
Sure, it might a gross stereotype that all Star Wars fans are men that never grew up, still live at home in their parents' garages (sorry, carriage houses) and quote the movies on a regular basis... but so what? The project was obviously done with love.
And "Spaceballs" as well
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2014/01/43-spaceballs-1987.html
[I highly doubt anyone has paid any huge attention to my countdown, but those who have should have seen this entry coming based on those two films... by coincidence, the "Austin Powers" movie I included spoofed a "Star Wars" quote in a moment that goes from serious to mocking in record time]As for parodies...
Robot Chicken has done all kinds of stuff regarding Star Wars, most is pretty ridiculous. Three sketches come to mind for me:
1) Emperor Palpatine talking to Darth Vader after the first Death Star exploded and more or less spends most of the exchange laughing at him to anyone else listening
2) the Mos Eisley scene where Luke gets into trouble with some locations and we see the subtitles for the creature that gets his arm cut off by Obi-Wan... let's just say they misinterpreted his grunting in the movie
3) [my favorite] George W. Bush has a dream that he becomes a Jedi Knight, does a few Jedi mind tricks, defeats Abraham Lincoln at the Memorial ("That'll teach you, George Washington!") and after he wakes up, he gets Tacos
...heck, I like it so much I got the link to share it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfiaGungQsg
Then Family Guy got a hold of it....
Some of it is pretty funny, so much so that we got all the DVDs.
But there are still some issues:
1) other than the fact Cleveland is one of Peter's best friends, why he plays R2D2 instead of Lando Calrissian is beyond me, as is the fact Lando is played by Mort the pharmacist in black face when he'd already played a character in Episode IV
2) poor Meg! only got two small parts as creatures and no lines
3) casting Mr. Herbert the elderly gay pedophile as Obi-Wan does the late Alec Guinness a GROSS injustice... and don't get me started on the Dirty Dancing theme "I've Had the Time of My Life" being his last farewell to Luke :facepalm:
The best part, though, has to be Stewie as Darth Vader. If anything, it might appease the fanboys that were turned off by the end of Episode III.
And apparently there's also a secret war going on between Seth McFarlane and Seth Green... listen to the commentary in Luke & Darth Vader's final lightsaber fight, it's pretty vicious.
As for the whole Star Wars vs. Star Trek thing... all I gotta ask is why Star Wars fans don't have a cute nickname like Trekkies to call themselves?
Just saying...
Coming Next Week
first, gotta say a few words for Richard Attenborough.
I only knew him as Mr. Hammond in the "Jurassic Park" movies, Kris Kringle in the Mara Wilson remake of "Miracle on 34th Street."
Which brings me to #10 on my countdown: my favorite Charlie Chaplin film.
Again, I say I put this list together a couple years ago, but I couldn't ask for a better lead-in than paying tribute to one of Hollywood's last great figures.
EDIT: Relevant nonetheless, apparently I forgot how to count backwards...
I am up to ELEVEN... which got me forever hooked on reading and watching book-to-movie adaptations
Writer/Director: George Lucas
Composer: John Williams
Type: Dramedy, Sci-fi Space Adventure
Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess Leia- Carrie Fisher
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Chewbacca- Peter Mayhew
Obi-Wan Kenobi- Sir Alec Guinness
R2D2- Kenny Baker
C3PO [human-cyborg relations]- Anthony Daniels
Darth Vader- (person) David Prowse (voice) James Earl Jones
Commander Tarkin- Peter Cushing
Notable Awards and Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
OSCAR- Best Costume Design
OSCAR- Best Sound
OSCAR- Best Film Editing
OSCAR- Best Visual Effects
OSCAR- Best Original Score
OSCAR- Special Achievement Award- Ben Burtt (for creating alien, creature, robot voices and sound effects)nomination-OSCAR- Best Picture
nomination-OSCAR- Best Director- George Lucas
nomination-OSCAR- Best Original Screenplay- George Lucasnomination-OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
Golden Globe- Best Original Score- John Williams
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Director- George Lucas
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Picture- Drama
Grammy- Best Album of Original Score written for TV/Movie- John Williams
Grammy- Best Instrumental Composition- John Williams
Grammy- Best Pop Instrumental Performance- John Williams
nomination-Grammy-Album of the Year- John Williams
Write-up:
A long time ago... okay, not really
On one of their first dates, my dad took my mom to see "Star Wars"... and he'd regretted it ever since :P to be fair, though, he will set through the movies with us anyway
It's probably her biggest obsession, which turned out to be contagious. But I also got her hooked on "Twilight" and other YA books and adaptations, so I guess we're even ;)
Plot
[I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't experienced "Star Wars"... but if you've been around for a couple decades, you seriously should have no excuse at this point
Potential Minor Spoilers Ahead]"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."
Rebel forces are fighting against the Evil Galactic Empire. Among these rebels, Princess Leia of the planet Alderaan. After obtaining secret plans that could dismantle the empire's greatest weapon, The Death Star, she is captured by Darth Vader, but not before giving the plans to the droid R2D2. Together with his counterpart C3PO, the two droids take an escape pod, landing on the desert planet Tatooine.
After coming into the possession of Luke Skywalker, R2D2 quickly departs to find Obi-Wan Kenobi per Princess Leia's request, Luke and C3PO with no choice but to follow. Obi-Wan enlists Luke to come with him and hires smuggler Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca to transport them and the droids to Alderaan. Meanwhile, throughout this journey, Obi-Wan starts to instruct Luke in the ways of The Force, to become a Jedi knight.
CharactersFor so many, this movie (and its sequels) is all about its memorable characters.
Luke Skywalker has been living with his aunt and uncle this whole life and by this point, all of his friends have left to join the Rebels. Like many future heroes, he wants to trade his present circumstances in for a new destiny. He's eager to learn, but clearly has a lot of maturing to do.
Princess Leia was probably cinema's first sassy princess. Before her inevitable capture in the opening sequence, she at least attempts to take control of the situation beforehand. She also takes charge during her rescue and gives Han Solo a run for his money. It's also hard to forget her iconic "bagel" hairstyle.
Han Solo is our loveable scruffy-looking ("who's scruffy looking?".. sorry, wrong "Star Wars" movie) scoundrel. Between this movie and "Indiana Jones," my mom fell in love with Harrison Ford. Windows (Jay Baruchel) from "Fanboys" boasted the fact Harrison Ford played both these roles made him the best actor of all time.
Going by this film alone, we learn he's a smuggler working for galactic gangster Jabba the Hutt who lives life on his own terms. He's also not a bad pilot. It's also to his credit that when he claims he wants out of the main action, he always comes through where it counts. He commands the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca, a Wookie that happens to be his best friend. They'd been together for so long that Han Solo understands him (hmm... makes me wonder if the people behind "Guardians of the Galaxy" drew inspiration from that for the relationship between Rocket and Groot).
Obi-Wan Kenobi will probably go down as one of the best mentors in the history of movies. He's someone you can respect without question, something that can also be said about his portrayer, Sir Alec Guinness. Rumor has it that the other actors were on their best behavior when he was on set. As for the rest of the time... let's just say they were more relaxed.
We have the dynamic duo of droids. R2D2 being the optimist to C3PO's worrywart pessimist, a staple throughout the Star Wars film series.
Then we have our villain, Darth Vader. With deep booming voice and imposing presence, how can one not be intimidated? Not to mention he has a whopping 12 minutes of screen time in this first film of the series. Perhaps this was George Lucas's homage to many great villains of cinema: the less we see of them and what they do with that minimal screen time, the more we fear them.Additional CommentsI don't remember when I first saw "Star Wars." I do know it was the unedited original version and it was on TV. When they re-released it with all the edits, we saw it in theaters for the re-release and it was pretty awesome. This is one of those great movies simply made for the theatrical experience. Those who saw it in the 70's for the first time, it must have been the biggest nerdgasm ever. For that time, the special effects had have been mind-blowing because their likeness had never been seen before.
The one negative that fanboys take away from the "special edition"... it erased the fact that "Han shot first" (citing his Mos Eisley cantina showdown with Greedo). Don't believe me? Look up footage from Jon Favreau at the San Diego Comic-Con promoting "Iron-Man" and listen for the cheers when he says "Han shot first."I know quite a bit of "Star Wars" trivia, but there's just too much for me to go into. Besides, my mom probably knows more since she's also read a lot of residual fiction the movie generated.
In my Greek Mythology class, we actually rewatched the movie because we were studying heroic journeys in myth and how George Lucas paid homage to them with the film.
John Williams is a regular collaborator of Steven Spielberg's, producing the best movie scores in the business. His "Star Wars" score with the London Symphonic Orchestra is probably my favorite cinematic source ever... and I can't quite explain why. It is just so epically awesome. It also has a great range of emotions that fits perfectly with every scene, almost like it's its own character in the film.
I won't go into all the sequels and prequels because that'd make this entry longer than it needs to be. But my mom and I saw the prequels in theaters the weekend they came out.
Homages and parodies are pretty much endless.
The best homage I can think of was "Fanboys," which I reviewed very early on in this countdown.
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/03/90-fanboys-2009.html
Sure, it might a gross stereotype that all Star Wars fans are men that never grew up, still live at home in their parents' garages (sorry, carriage houses) and quote the movies on a regular basis... but so what? The project was obviously done with love.
And "Spaceballs" as well
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2014/01/43-spaceballs-1987.html
[I highly doubt anyone has paid any huge attention to my countdown, but those who have should have seen this entry coming based on those two films... by coincidence, the "Austin Powers" movie I included spoofed a "Star Wars" quote in a moment that goes from serious to mocking in record time]As for parodies...
Robot Chicken has done all kinds of stuff regarding Star Wars, most is pretty ridiculous. Three sketches come to mind for me:
1) Emperor Palpatine talking to Darth Vader after the first Death Star exploded and more or less spends most of the exchange laughing at him to anyone else listening
2) the Mos Eisley scene where Luke gets into trouble with some locations and we see the subtitles for the creature that gets his arm cut off by Obi-Wan... let's just say they misinterpreted his grunting in the movie
3) [my favorite] George W. Bush has a dream that he becomes a Jedi Knight, does a few Jedi mind tricks, defeats Abraham Lincoln at the Memorial ("That'll teach you, George Washington!") and after he wakes up, he gets Tacos
...heck, I like it so much I got the link to share it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfiaGungQsg
Then Family Guy got a hold of it....
Some of it is pretty funny, so much so that we got all the DVDs.
But there are still some issues:
1) other than the fact Cleveland is one of Peter's best friends, why he plays R2D2 instead of Lando Calrissian is beyond me, as is the fact Lando is played by Mort the pharmacist in black face when he'd already played a character in Episode IV
2) poor Meg! only got two small parts as creatures and no lines
3) casting Mr. Herbert the elderly gay pedophile as Obi-Wan does the late Alec Guinness a GROSS injustice... and don't get me started on the Dirty Dancing theme "I've Had the Time of My Life" being his last farewell to Luke :facepalm:
The best part, though, has to be Stewie as Darth Vader. If anything, it might appease the fanboys that were turned off by the end of Episode III.
And apparently there's also a secret war going on between Seth McFarlane and Seth Green... listen to the commentary in Luke & Darth Vader's final lightsaber fight, it's pretty vicious.
As for the whole Star Wars vs. Star Trek thing... all I gotta ask is why Star Wars fans don't have a cute nickname like Trekkies to call themselves?
Just saying...
Coming Next Week
first, gotta say a few words for Richard Attenborough.
I only knew him as Mr. Hammond in the "Jurassic Park" movies, Kris Kringle in the Mara Wilson remake of "Miracle on 34th Street."
Also one of those great actors who took a turn in the director's chair and did a pretty damn good job of it. "Gandhi" starring Sir Ben Kingsley earned him Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. He also directed Robert Downey Jr. in "Chaplin," his first truly respectable role that earned him his first Oscar nomination.
Which brings me to #10 on my countdown: my favorite Charlie Chaplin film.
RIP Lord Attenborough
EDIT: Relevant nonetheless, apparently I forgot how to count backwards...
I am up to ELEVEN... which got me forever hooked on reading and watching book-to-movie adaptations
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