Shrinking (2 seasons... so far... on Apple+)

 As of writing this post, I've officially ended my Apple+ subscription.
You know how subscriptions tend to reel you in and try different tricks to make it hard to quit... I decided to end my subscription because:

a) I've finished all the shows I wanted to see and I don't feel like waiting around for future seasons; and
b) the price per month is being raised from $9.99 to $12.99...

The screen immediately following me hitting "cancel subscription"- the whole vibe read "oh, please don't go, we'll give you 2 months at a reduced rate... and then we'll raise it up to $12.99"

When Ted Lasso and this show come back, I might reconsider it. But for now, I can confidently say I'm ready to move on and I'm happy with what I did with the time I had. 

***

Of the series I'd watched with my mom, this was her favorite. Months from now, she'll still be talking about how great it was. How fun the characters are and how great the banter is.
Ted Lasso is still my #1, but this will sit at a firm second place.

I was inspired to check this one out after the Emmy nominations came out and the trailer did a good job showing just how an interesting a series this could be. 
But I still wouldn't have expected to enjoy it THIS much. It had a good mixture of funny moments as well as heartwrenching and serious ones.

For starters, the main three characters, Jimmy, Paul and Gabby, are therapists who work at the same practice and are good friends outside of work as well. Also in their friend group are Jimmy's neighbors Liz and Derek and his BFF, Brian.
The series's main hook, which was played up really well in the trailer, was about Jimmy being a grieving widow who'd essentially sleepwalked through the past year of his life. He finally reaches a breaking point where he decides to give his clients unfiltered advice and becomes personally invested in their lives. And he slowly gets reacquainted with the people in his life. The most important of them being his daughter, Alice. 

It's an interesting concept. These three therapists are all good at what they do and their skillsets vary. They are also human and sometimes struggle to deal with their own problems. 

My mom is a huge Harrison Ford fan and both of us equally loved him as Paul. Being that residential voice of reason combined with his dry sense of humor makes it a role tailor-made for him. While he's really good at advising those around him, he's not perfect. Now that he's dealing with the early symptoms of Parkinson's, he's forced to be more open to receiving help and, more importantly, knowing when to ask for it instead of trying to get by on his own. 

Under that gruff exterior is a big heart and he shows this off in some nice unexpected ways through the series. The greatest of these moments is in the second season finale during Thanksgiving. Not going to spoil it, but have some tissues handy. 
I hadn't seen too many of his movies beyond his work as Han Solo and Indiana Jones, but I'd say if he does nothing else with the rest of his career, that scene will stand out as one of his greatest acting moments.
Wendie Malick also has a recurring role as his doctor-turned-girlfriend and the two of them are really great together. 

Then there's Gabby, who fills a variety of roles throughout the series, but the common denominator of them all: she's so quick to assume the role of caregiver and putting others' needs first that she doesn't always give herself permission to look out for her own interests. The end of season two shows her slowly moving in that direction and hopefully she's able to make more progress in the future. 

While Jimmy starts making some major headway with his patients while getting a little more involved in resolving their issues, he has one major relationship that needs to be remediated on the homefront. 
His daughter Alice isn't talking to him because he'd checked out while they were grieving her mom's death. They have several ups and downs throughout the series and things have a way of working themselves out.

Also, in the times he'd been checked out, others have stepped in to fill in the void left by Jimmy's absence.
The most notable being his neighbor and recent empty nester Liz. She can be kind of a bitch and over the top sometimes. But when it comes to the people she cares about, she'll fiercely defend them. Aside from being a bit of a busybody, she likes to polish rocks and she gives the special people in her life a rock when they've earned it. 
Her husband Derek is the polar opposite in a lot of ways. His actor played a similar role in Married with Children where he's the more laidback member of the married couple. If anything, he's good for a laugh but that's not all there is to his character.
And also, Paul has had regular sessions with Alice where she'll meet with him on a park bench and they talk about things. She often brings some sugary treat as payment and it's a fun running gag to see his reactions to them. 

Another character we're introduced to is Brian. Who doesn't just play the overenthusiastic gay friend, but he's also the type of lawyer you only see in TV and movies where they use their law degree in multiple facets of the legal profession. He's an estate lawyer but a few times, he acts as a defense attorney on Jimmy's benefit (or technically, his patient's behalf). I'm no expert but apparently this would not fly in real life. Just because you have a law degree in one particular thing, doesn't mean you can just use their legal expertise whenever it's conveneient.

His character has a few interesting plots points throughout the series. He gets married to his longtime boyfriend Charlie and they pursue adoption to start a family.
This particular storyline, I kinda took issue with... they went into the marriage with the understanding they weren't having a family even though Charlie wanted kids but Brian isn't interested. Yet the typical peer pressure thing happens and Brian is forced to change his mind. Media needs to stop doing this nonsense. This is a big decision both parts of the couple need to agree on before going to the altar. No takebacks.
Oh... and in the show, there's an outdoor dining establishment with cornhole and Brian started a movement where you yell "cornhole!" when you sink a beanbag in the hole. This comes back a few times through the series- always good for a smile.

As for Jimmy's patients, there's two notable ones because they get massive character arcs.

Grace is played by that one actress from the Hotels.com commercials and she's always over the top and quirky. In this role, she's a lot more understated. Which I personally prefer- both of those Hotels.com actors annoy me.
So Grace's whole character arc is about her emotionally abusive relationship with her husband. When Jimmy finally snaps out of his funk, he flat-out tells her to leave her husband because he's never going to treat her well. And for a while, he succeeds... 
The story has a good resolution in the end but, man, it had its frustrating moments. 

Then there's Sean, an army vet who'd recently ended his tour overseas and he's dealing with a lot of issues afterwards. Anger, PTSD, not knowing what to do without the routine that comes with the military life.
Jimmy goes above and beyond to help him get back on his feet when his folks kick him out of the house for getting into too many bar fights. Some of his advice is unconventional and not all of it works to his advantage. But eventually they do get things right and Sean's life is made better for it. And Jimmy's various connections are also impacted by having him in their lives as well. 

For me, probably the most unexpected turn with this series... Jimmy's wife/Alice's mom/Gabby's best friend Tia was tragically killed in a car accident.
We actually get to meet and spend time with the guy responsible for her death.
And it's none other than Roy Kent himself, Brett Goldstein, who was a writer on this show as well as Ted Lasso.

It's bizarre but also kinda funny how this dude kept showing up in the Apple content I was watching. I've had several actors I'd actively followed from one movie to another... and in some cases, actors I followed through various roles because of how they were connected with a certain actor. But that wasn't the case here, just a series of funny coincidences.

The only thing I purposely watched for Brett Goldstein on this streaming platform was the movie "All of You"... somehow, my Google page on my phone got the idea "oh, you liked Ted Lasso? Check out one of the actors from that show in this movie."
It wasn't the best movie in the world but I still enjoyed it. He was probably the best part of it honestly and I'm just saying that as someone who finds him likable as an actor.

So his character, Louis, in this series shows up a number of times in season 2. Alice gets several bits of advice for dealing with her grief throughout and one is writing a letter you don't intend to send but the act of writing it is therapeutic.
She tracks him down to where he works and finally gets some of her grievences off her chest about how his actions ruined her life. But we also learn he'd been struggling with what he'd done and hadn't quite made peace with it. 

One episode shows a bunch of flashbacks with the main characters but also what his life was like before the accident. He and his girlfriend had this really cute relationship, including their favorite pasttime of people watching at the train station. 
I think the last time I saw this was in Family Guy with Stewie and his girlfriend, Olivia, where they'd comment on people they see while in the park. But with Louis and his girlfriend, they make up lives and backgrounds for the people at the train station.
There's a huge question mark about what happened to his girlfriend after the accident. Was she also collateral damage? Did she leave him? The answer was somewhat anti-climatic but at least it was something I didn't expect. 
Alice and Brian both wind up spending time with Louis and getting to know him. This does not go over well when Jimmy finds out... this thread finds its own resolution later on and again, it's unexpected and that's what makes it good. 

So often, when someone drives drunk and someone else is killed as a result of their actions, it's easy to write them off as villains or jerks who had no sense of accountability. Just like the whole angle of therapists being as imperfect as their patients, the way the show spun this was really well done and kinda makes you think. 

With Jason Segel, who plays Jimmy. I'd only seen him in a couple of roles prior to this. The big one that comes to mind is Forgetting Sarah Marshall. That movie starts in a similar place as this series did... where his character is grieving someone that had been a huge part of his life and eventually finds his way out of that depression. 
But much of my memory of that movie was ruined by the full frontal nudity in the first several minutes of it... maybe I owe it to myself to try watching it again but maybe on cable where all the R-rated stuff is edited out... 

Speaking of the content, this series mostly had langauge under the content warning section. Occasionally violence and a little sexuality. Whatever sexuality it had, it was handled really well. And compared to The Morning Show, where there were endless tirades laden with F-bombs, the cursing was used very tastfully. I'm not so sure about Alice, who's only 17, using that language, especially towards her father. (I definitely wouldn't have gotten away with that if I was her age). But whenever any of the other cast members used the f-word, it was always to express frustration, not just tearing the other person a new one. 
Again, Harrison Ford showed why he was the best actor on this show because the way he used language, it not only felt organic, but it was as if he turned them into an art form. 

So yeah, overall, this was a really good show. And I can say from experience that it's a good one to watch with family or anyone you consider as close as family. 
In fact, that's another reason why this show is so good. It's about a group of friends and their families and together, they're all as close as family. And if they're not at first, they become as close as family over time. 

Theatrical Review: Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny

Date: Saturday July 1 2023
Time: 11:40am (movie started at 12:05)
Party: 2 (my mom and I)

Review:

Introduction 

I might one day go back and write about the other films in this series but for now, I’ll do my best to discuss this one without giving too much away.

In a world of franchises and remakes, there are two kinds of people. Those who hold a torch for the earlier/original films so any attempt at a modern interpretation will be met with low expectations and/or won’t be good enough. And those who enjoyed the older movies and enjoy the new ones anyway.
This has happened so far with the latest Star Wars trilogy and the Jurassic World trilogy. They have their naysayers and detractors but they still have fans.

Speaking from personal experience, our attitude about these movies has been the same. They might not live up to the hype or compare to the original films— but we’re just as happy to return to these fictional worlds anyway.

In the early years of my parents’ relationship, my dad took my mom to see the original Star Wars and Indiana Jones movies. She’s has a fondness for them (and Harrison Ford) ever since while my dad jokes about regretting doing so. He makes playful jabs at us about our various fandoms but it’s all in good fun.

Obviously once this film was announced, it was a given that we’d go to a theater to see it. What we didn’t expect was finding the time to do it on opening weekend and the theater had plenty of openings.

In the Context of the Franchise 

Was it as good as Raiders of the Lost Ark or Last Crusade? Probably not.
Was it better than the panned “installment hardcore fans considered so embarrassing they pretend it never happened” Kingdom of the Crystal Skull? Probably…
I know most Indiana Jones fans hated the Crystal Skull for various reasons but we still enjoyed it.
It’s one of maybe two films in the series my sister will watch with us. For one of the reasons a lot of people wrote it off for.

For better or worse, this film did a couple of things as their not-so-subtle way of sweeping the Crystal Skull under the rug.
They not only wrote Shia LaBeouf out of the story but the fate of his character became the reason Marion wound up filing for a separation. Which is where we find Indy at the start of the film (after a lengthy flashback to the mid 40's).

What the heck did happen to Shia LaBeouf anyway? I never really got a straight answer... other than him being another Disney Channel alum that lost it and faded away into obscurity. Or at least became a walking punchline...

Movie Discussion 

In terms of writing, the movie was good. Maybe a little overblown and unbelievable at some points but what Indiana Jones movie isn’t?
If you spend enough time with these movies, you recognize a pattern and the cliches that are bound to follow. It might take a little away from the suspense but ultimately it’s best to buckle up and enjoy the ride.

The titular object is an invention of Greek mathematician Archimedes.

For those unaware, that’s the same man who coined the term “eureka,” leapt out of his bathtub and ran to the king’s palace naked to divulge his latest discovery. The principle involved how objects of different masses displaced different amounts of water— not sure how true the rest of the story is but I always found it hilarious.

Anyway, the clock is essentially a Time Machine and the nazis (yeah, there’s always nazis in these movies…) led by Mads Mikkelsen want to find it to rewrite history.
This entourage has the typical cast of characters. The leader/mastermind. The trigger-happy sharpshooter. The strong man of few words (don’t think he had a single line in the whole movie).
The scene stealer was Mason (played Shaunette Renée Wilson). Her character deserved more screen time than she got- simply on the grounds that she was the moral compass of the group. Or at least the antithesis of Mr. “Shoot first ask questions later”.
Reminded me of Lally Hicks (Jessica Williams) from the latest Fantastic Beasts movie. There’s been a lot of demand for strong well-written black female characters and both are prime examples of that being done right.

One interesting thing that sets this movie apart from the others.
Typically Indiana Jones is a man of two worlds. He teaches archeology in college and he pursues archeological relics in his spare time. (Or is it the other way around?)
In this movie, the line separating the two realities blurs and vanishes. He’s actually confronted by the Nazis when he’s still in a civilian environment. Considering he doesn’t have his trusty fedora and whip on hand (plus he’s not as young as he used to be), he handles himself pretty well.
It was sort of like when a superhero is caught off guard by a villain when they’re not currently in their suit. Like Iron Man 3 or halfway through the original Tobey Maguire Spider-Man movie.

The triggering incident is when his goddaughter, Helena Shaw (Phoebe Waller-Bridge) shows up out of the blue and demands to know what he knows about the dial.
Apparently it was an object her father (Toby Jones) was so obsessed with that it drove him to madness and her ultimate goal is to make a load of money off it.
It just so happens he has half of it in his possession. Which is why the Nazis come after him— although they’re really after her because they know she’s been pursuing it. She’s gotten a big reputation for selling a lot of antiquities on the black market. Meaning she’s gained a lot of enemies.

This results in a multitude of wide goose chases spanning the globe. You never really know what side she’s on. Her only ally is Teddy (Ethann Isidore), a teenage pickpocket she picked up off the streets of Morocco. He fulfills a similar role to Short Round in "Temple of Doom" but today's P.C. culture ensures he's not just another stereotype.

If there’s one big negative about this movie, it’s one too many chase scenes. It opens up with one that goes back to 1944 and it feels like 15-20 minutes before you’re allowed to take a breath. The visual effects that made Harrison Ford look the way he did in the Last Crusade (the events of which take place 5-6 years before this one) are really well done and we get a good introduction to the main bad guy and Toby Jones. But it was maybe a little too long.
And there were way too many Nazis on that train ride…
The older Indiana Jones movies probably had the same amount of chase scenes but they didn’t last nearly as long. At least I don’t think they did… might be worth looking into.

Part of the journey is tracking down the second half of the dial. This leads us to an underwater expedition led by Antonio Banderas. There’s no snakes but there are eels. It’s a funny moment where someone comments that eels are like snakes and Indy is like “no they’re not” in this whiny tone so unlike him.

What the Nazis plan to do with the device and whether they succeed… that’s part of the fun. Although I kept thinking about how much time is left and how far things would go before reaching that terrifying point of no return.
Let’s just say that they succeed… and then fail in a completely unexpected way.

Grade: A-


Trailers


1. Oppenheimer

- I've spoken on this plenty of times already... it'll probably do really well at the box office and come award season

2. a 4th Expendables movie

- I hadn't seen any in this franchise so I can't say too much. But based on the first few seconds, Jason Stratham and Megan Fox being married and fighting each other-- I thought this was going to be another Mr. and Mrs. Smith movie.

3. Mission Impossible: Dead Reckoning part 1

- as if it wasn't enough in a previous MI movie, Tom Cruise was hanging off the side of a plane taking off. Now he's on a bike and diving off a mountain... and that's probably just the tip of the iceberg

4. Gran Turismo

- same preview I saw during Mario. Don't need to add further comment

5. The Marvels

- might see this when it comes out... they're making it out to be very humorous and light-hearted

6. Next Goal Wins

- another "based on a true story" sports movie about a coach taking on an underdog team. This time, it involves soccer

7. Haunted Mansion

- I never saw the Eddie Murphy version but I also can't help but wonder why this was being made again... although the special effects look good and Owen Wilson is always entertaining to watch. At least for me

[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+

Book vs. Movie- Ender's Game

Up front, I'll give my ruling:
Both have good points, but I'm not terribly enthusiastic about either one.

Introduction

We'd [meaning my mom & I] been introduced to a bunch of YA books by my aunt/her sisters.
This is how we got into the Mortal Instruments and Infernal Devices series by Cassandra Clare. Based on the trailer for the upcoming movie and the book jackets of the book, I didn't have a lot of interest in checking them out. But we got suckered in and eventually saw the movie... I still have my misgivings about it and thankfully, we're getting a second chance thanks to the upcoming Family Channel TV series. But I will miss Jamie Campbell Bower as Jace for sure.
I'd also say we got introduced to the Hunger Games and Divergent by them also, but to be fair, the movie trailers sold me on the Hunger Games and the book jacket had me considered "Divergent" for a couple years before the movie came out. It was just a matter of getting that extra push.

"Ender's Game" looked like the Mortal Instruments situation all over again. The aunt that had gone to several movies with us (including Marvel, Star Trek and dozens of book-to-movie adaptations) was uber excited about the Orson Scott Card series (and is still avidly reading him). Even though I shrugged my shoulders at the movie trailers, she thought I'd like the series, so I gave it a shot.

At this given moment, I'm not sure if I want to proceed to another book after this first one.

The Book

Granted, I am a Star Wars fan and I've enjoyed the recent Star Trek movies, but beyond them, I don't know if the sci-fi future in space genre is my cup of tea.

I found the book intriguing and fascinating for the first hundred pages or so. But after a while, I wouldn't say that it got repetitive (although it does), but I just found it harder to stay invested. Particularly after Ender graduates over to Command School.

The story goes that years ago, humans survived the onslaught of an alien race. But in order to win the next war that will end all future wars, a new commander is needed. All of the people being trained for this mission are kids. If the selection committee thinks they are worthy, they are sent to Battle School in a space station.
Ender grew up being bullied simply because he is the Third child in his family and there's a two child limit per household... I believe this is to control the population so it doesn't deplete limited resources. But his family was requested to have him because he could possibly bring together the best qualities of his siblings, Peter and Valentine. One being too violent and the other being too compassionate.
So Ender not only learns to stand up to his bullies, but he learns to command respect from his fellow cadets. But as skilled a killer he becomes, he becomes increasingly displeased with himself- afraid he'll be no better than his psychotic brother.

As Ender navigates Battle School, I stood behind him and was ready to see what he would do. Like any good protagonist, I celebrated his victories. Perhaps one of the problems was that he barely had any defeats-- if you never see your hero fail, it's hard to stay invested and harder to care about the outcome because it might become too predictable.

The book takes a dip in typical 3rd act fashion: the story stops when Ender becomes disenchanted with his duty and his mission. And within one chapter, he's back in... a little too quick, honestly. But until his former comrades rejoin him for the final mission, his head isn't in it and neither was mine.

The twist at the end of the Command School story arc threw me off a bit, but once the shock wore off and more exposition came along, I was left intrigued just enough to consider another book... but not for a while.

As great as Ender's character arc is where he develops relationships with people, I didn't find it (or the corresponding writing) nearly as enticing as some other books I've read.
Either because the lead is a male protagonist (and I've read so many female narrators lately) or because there's no love story involved or the writing style just has too many working parts going on.


Movie

The movie was as good an adaptation as it could have been. A lot of the plot was streamlined to fit it within the time period. There's a story arc where Peter and Valentine assume fake names and write political articles online- that was taken out for obvious reasons, it had nothing to do with Ender's story. Bits and pieces were changed and moved around so Ender isn't the only cadet we see a lot of.

I liked the casting of Harrison Ford as Graff. He gave the movie a little more weight... meaning it might not have had much without him. Viola Davis as well. Anderson was written as a man, but for whatever reason, I always read him as a woman. Maybe because I vaguely remember seeing a woman in the trailers. And for whatever reason, I kept thinking there'd be a Glenn Close cameo when in fact I was confusing this with Guardians of the Galaxy.

Yeah, oddly enough, Guardians of the Galaxy takes place in space, but I enjoyed it. Maybe it's the Marvel movie magic. Maybe it's the great cast. Or there were a lot of colorful personalities.
I guess that's me saying that there aren't many strong personalities in "Ender's Game" whether it's the movie or the book.

Asa Butterfield as Ender- nobody could have done it better than him. I genuinely do find him a likeable actor, even though I'd only seen him once or twice before.
The first time I saw him in the "Hugo" trailers (why hasn't that aired on TV yet? I still haven't seen it and really want to!), I saw dark hair and pale blue eyes... just like a character I wrote ages ago. I thought to myself that he could have played him in the movie adaptation. But sadly, that story hasn't gotten any close to being published and his eyes aren't even pale blue anymore... they're just blue.

Hailee Steinfeld (who I'm surprised to see... a good surprised... not many young actresses stick around after their first big/Oscar-nominated role... I still liked the original "True Grit" A LOT better and her rendering of that character is a big reason why... but I can blame the Coen brothers for that) was good as Petra and one of the few female characters this story has.
Abigail Breslin as Valentine as well... I almost didn't recognize her at first. She looks like the type that'd be too compassionate to do well in Battle School.

As a movie alone, it was decent. Good cast, good writing and so on. But I didn't feel like there was enough to get really excited about. The Battle Room scenes were the few times where that wasn't the case. I didn't know what to expect after reading the book and that was better than I could imagined it.

The ending (the part with the exposition I mentioned) was handled even better in the movie than the book because we were able to see what was really going on. In the book, it read as a dream sequence that I didn't know whether or not it was a dream.
And in the movie, we had another moment between Ender and Petra. Where we see that she cares for him and wants to look out for him, considering the fragile state he's in after the final battle simulation.

Conclusion

When I was going into writing this, I was thinking I was about to eat my own words.
I used to give other reviewers so much grief (never personally of course, but I'd spew insults at their articles) for not caring enough about the movie they were reviewing to do it any justice.

So to me it is a miracle that I didn't become one of those cynical people. "Ender's Game," if anything, allowed me to compare and contrast writing styles and determine what works for me and what doesn't.

Maybe I'll read the rest of the books, maybe I won't.

I just may get curious enough in the future to return to Oscar Scott Card... but it's not something I'm willing to rush. It's not like I got the books myself and I'm determining if I can make room for them on my shelves.... truth is I don't have any place for the books I enjoyed enough to read again.

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

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 Lucas
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

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.

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.

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