Theatrical Review: Lightyear

Date: Saturday, June 25 2022
Time: 11am
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Director: Angus MacLane

Writers: Angus MacLane, Matthew Aldrich, Jason Headley

Composer: Michael Giacchino

Cast:

Buzz Lightyear- Chris Evans

Alisha Hawthorne- Uzo Aduba

Diaz- Efren Ramirez

Burnside- Isiah Whitlock Jr.

Izzy Hawthorne- Keke Palmer

Mo Morrison- Taika Waititi

Darby Steel- Dale Soules

Sox- Peter Sohn

Emperor Zurg- James Brolin

Review: 

My sister had wanted to go to the movies for something she wanted me to see for ages. And she enjoyed this movie.

My mom and I, not quite as much.


According to the opening slate, this was Andy’s favorite movie back in 1995 and why he and so many kids wanted Buzz Lightyear toys.

For the target audience, I think the movie did all right. There was one other family in the theater with us and the kids were into it. And my sister is very much a kid at heart even in her 30s.


Without going into too much detail, I thought this movie was ok.

The premise is about a group of space voyagers (including a team of space rangers) getting marooned on a foreign planet and Buzz is determined to complete their mission to get off it.


Going into a bit more detail, his determination to uphold the space ranger code (“always complete the mission”) that it becomes an obsession… it reaches a point where everyone else has built lives for themselves on this planet except for him.

In true to form filmmaking, this can only mean one thing- a montage.

Typically, montages happen midway through a movie or somewhere during the third act after a falling out from a misunderstanding… they’re also used to extend the movie’s runtime. If I’d experienced a montage in the first third of a movie on a previous occasion, I can’t remember it. All I do know for this particular case, I get why they chose this route. I just didn’t find it exciting. You also gotta wonder- when does it stop being about the mission and becomes more wanting to atone for past mistakes?

Our one view into the passage of time is through Buzz’s colleague Hawthorne (played brilliantly by Uzo Aduba of OITNB fame). She goes from engaged to married, seeing her son graduate college until she’s no longer there to greet him when he returns…

Because the trials involve trying to reach hyperspace, Buzz ages 4 minutes per mission while everyone else ages 4 YEARS. Aside from Hawthorne and his emotional support robot cat, Sox, it’s a lonely existence.

….

Quick aside- some critics have attacked this movie because Hawthorne is a lesbian and they show her married to another woman… it’s just a minute of screen time and somehow that kills the whole movie for some people?

First off- THAT is the dealbreaker that resulted in this being the least successful Pixar movie ever?

Personally I think the movie has some other problems that are a lot bigger than that.

Like some of the writing…

And second- there’s been this constant struggle over the past several years between giving all walks of people adequate representation in the media and pushing agendas. Some people aren’t going to be happy no matter what, but surely there’s a way to offer representation where it doesn’t come off as forced… some day, someone needs to figure it out how to strike that balance.

The one question I have left to ask on this topic (that I’m willing to publish on a public forum)…

how did Hawthorne and her partner conceive in the first place? Did they figure out how to do IVF on a foreign planet sometime during Buzz’s absence? I mean, I guess if Matt Damon can grow plants on Mars in “the Martian,” anything’s possible.
…


Fast forward even further into the future, a new enemy emerges… veterans of the Toy Story franchise (and the short lived animated series “Buzz Lightyear of Star Command”) will recognize the villain immediately.

Thanks to Sox, Buzz now has the perfect formula of fuel to reach hyperspace. Bad news- enemy forces have made it impossible to reach “the turnip” (his nickname for their spaceship… haha, makes me think of how the protagonists in the Pikmin series called the Pikmin ship “the onion”).

Against his reservations (cuz he’s so used to working on his own), he teams up with Hawthorne’s granddaughter Izzy (Keke Palmer has come a long way since playing spelling bee hopeful Akeelah - she’s really funny in this role) and her ragtag team of recruits. Darby was a former convict who’d since been forbidden to handle weapons and Mo is so neurotic he keeps wanting to give up or surrender.

Much of the film focuses on a comedy of errors, some super hilarious and others not so much. There’s a ridiculous amount of “one step forward and two steps back”… I know the space program had a lot of trial and error to get us to the moon, but still. Even with the jokes and various quirks from the characters, I felt a little deprived of enjoyment.

Then the big reveal of the bad guy’s true identity… if you look at the whole picture, yeah, it kinda makes sense. But I found it such a turnoff, something like what they did with Quill’s father in the second “guardians of the galaxy” movie would’ve been better and I’m still not over that either.

For some positives, Sox is another great addition to Disney’s league of cute animal sidekicks. The moment you meet him, you know he’ll steal every scene he’s in the moment he opens his mouth. I mean, he’s a talking cat with robot quirks and a wry humor with perfect timing- what’s not to love? (I also love his name cuz I use it [or Mittens] whenever I see stray cats with white paws)

As someone who grew up with Tim Allen playing Buzz Lightyear (he’s still awesome by the way), Chris Evans did such a great job taking over for the role I barely noticed the difference.

Whether this recast happened because of politics, don’t know/don’t care. In a way, it does kinda make sense… action figures based on movie characters rarely include sound bites from the original actor. (So much money would go to paying them royalties that manufacturers would actually lose money…)

There’s a lot of funny references to earlier forms of technology… if you grew up with things like I.V.A.N. the GPS, it’ll give you a good laugh.

As is the case with a lot of movies, watch out for running gags because there’s a good chance a big payoff will be coming later. And of course a bunch of little references to the original Toy Story movie, including the story behind his signature catchphrase.

Also- space food is kinda gross. Between the TV dinners and the sandwiches with the meat on the outside… bleck!


Despite the movie not being the best rollercoaster with all the ups and downs, it does have some good messages about perseverance… and some others I won’t go into because it could give away some crucial plot points

Grade- B

***

And if anyone cares, these were the trailers that showed. A bunch we'd seen a bunch of times already so there's no point fleshing them out again.

Minions, Paws of Fury: The Legend of Hank, DC League of Super-Pets, and the latest Thor movie... if we continue going to the movies, we'll probably see these trailers a billion more times. 

Two new ones oddly go hand in hand.

The long-awaited Avatar sequel (subtitled "Way of Water") is coming this December. The trailer was a lot of scenery and maybe one line of dialogue... but seriously, it's Avatar. The visual effects and escapism sell itself. This one's gonna be exciting to see on the big screen.

Right after it, the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend Disney movie- Strange World... which felt like a mix of the worlds of "Avatar" and "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs." In other words, one of those movies where my dad says the people who made it were on drugs. 

This time, he might actually have a point...

It was only maybe 18 minutes of trailers, but one of the kids in the audience asked when they showed the Disney screen "is the movie finally starting? Finally!"

Pretty much summed it up right there. 

[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) 

Theatrical Review: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2

Date: Sunday May 7 2017

Time: 1:45 pm

Party: mom, aunt and I 

Writer/Director: James Gunn

Cast:
Star-Lord- Chris Pratt
Gamora- Zoe Saldana
Drax- Dave Baustisa
Groot- Vin Diesel
Rocket- Bradley Cooper
Nebula- Karen Gillan

Yondu- Michael Rooker

Ego- Kurt Russell

Mantis- Pom Klementieff

Starkar Ogord- Sylvester Stallone

Ayesha- Elizabeth Debicki

Duration: 138 minutes (+2 trailers)

Write-up

Opening comments 

As is often the case with these movies (sequels in particular) there's always going to be those negative reviews that bug me. 

One said this had a lot of the things from the first movie that worked. But also criticized it for not really getting to the plot (which I'll add includes the reveal of who the central villain is) until later on and the final battle is inane and runs too long.

Another article wasn't so much about this movie in particular, but a genre of movie that's apparently new and annoying people. (Who these "people" are- I have no idea but I don't want to know them). The article criticized movies sub-genred as "needle-droppers" where a song starts to play, the movie becomes about that song and you're so swept up in nostalgia that you forget the movie is crap.

First of all, I'm not saying this movie is perfect. Second of all, this is not new. Saturday Night Fever- in my opinion- was a terrible movie. It's best remembered for John Travolta kicking ass on the dance floor and The Bee Gees. The movie itself was dark and not particularly fun unless there was music playing. Purple Rain could get the same argument, but the movie was designed to highlight the music as well as introducing Prince to the world beyond MTV. The plot was always kinda secondary behind him, the characters (and most are characters- not 100% accurate to the people in real life) and the music.

Third- I just don't like how this article sees this sub-genre as a bad thing... whatever gets people to see movies, what the hell does it matter why they go to begin with.

As for this movie's music--in my opinion, for this to be a "needle-dropper," the songs have to be memorable. Other than "Brandy" which got played twice- I couldn't remember any. The previous movie I at least could name 3. [But I was already familiar with the Jackson 5 and Pina Colada song, just to name a couple]

Now onto the actual stuff people care about...

We were among maybe 21 people and it was kinda miserable outside so the escapism (which this movie essentially is) was much appreciated 

Trailers 

One was a super tease for the new Star Wars movie. A narrative by Mark Hamill and brief moments with the new characters. From what I've heard, Luke isn't willing to teach Rey about The Force at first. I just hope Oscar Isaac gets a lot more screen time in this movie 

Then there was a trailer for the new Thor movie which I hadn't seen until now. His hammer gets broken and he's forced to be a gladiator and fight the Hulk. He's cheering, saying that he knows him from work and it was hilarious. Can't wait- too bad it's not until November 

The Main Event 

 I guess in a way you could compare the handling of the plot to the novel "Twilight".

 Stay with me on this... 

 The book read like this:

Bella is new in town. She becomes infatuated with Edward Cullen, the two of them get to know each other, she meets his family and suddenly the plot happens.

One could argue (I could) that the plot was about Edward and Bella getting together and in the last third, they're trying to deal with this new threat to their happiness.

Guardians of the Galaxy this time around is a lot like that--except a lot more action-packed and the only thing not really highlighted is romance. Maybe hinted at, but part of me will be kinda disappointed if Star-Lord and Gamora get together because it's so damn cliché.

But we have various plot lines and character arcs happen and maybe it takes a little too long for it all to come together in the final third of the movie.

But if that's what you care about (namely: things making sense), this might be the wrong movie for you.

 

This movie is about character interaction, crazy space battles, and... basically that's it 

Those who care about a plot...

Star-Lord meets his father Ego (no spoilers but this guy lives up to his name in more ways than one).

At the start of the movie, the Guardians are contracted by a golden somewhat regal alien race to defeat this monster who wants to go after their energy source- super special batteries. As much as I love Groot- in this case Baby Groot- the movie focusing on him dancing to music (can't even remember what song-- at least in the first movie the song, in a similar moment, was memorable) instead of the actual fight... it just made the fight seem pointless.

So did the fact Rocket stole some of these batteries... because of his character? Or because we needed to make this race of aliens an enemy for the Guardians... which is more likely to play out in the next sequel. (I did love the methodology of their ships and how they conduct their battles-- the ships are drones and the fighters are on the ship in virtual reality pods, like a more interactive first-person space shooter game).

This first space battle leads to a crash landing, half the crew goes to Ego's planet and the other half eventually gets captured by Yondu's raiders... except Yondu ceases to be in charge after a point. This is due to his favoritism of Star-Lord and past transgressions that get fully hashed out later (which is another nice touch- completing that story arc begun in the first movie).

Character Discussion and Development

Don't quite know why, but the non-humanoid characters are my favorites. I loved Rocket and Groot from the first movie and that's still true. Although Groot not quite as much as Rocket. Which is even stranger because Groot is so cute and Rocket is not only a jerk most of the time, but a lot of what goes wrong is his fault. Also in the review I read, it said playing Rocket is the easiest money Bradley Cooper will ever make. I didn't know what was supposed to mean, considering how hot and cold the article was- but he is so good in this role... I just forget that Bradley Cooper is the one playing him. (I'd only been a big fan since seeing him in movies like "The Words" and "Burnt"- the critics and I are complete opposites on those- but I won't necessarily go out of my way to see one of his movies. The premise has to grab my attention).

Drax was a character that was almost as much a surprise as Groot- he's not always easy to like, but he got a bit of a following after the first movie came out. I think I read somewhere that an autistic boy said he was his favorite character because they had one thing in common-- they take things literally and don't often understand sarcasm.

In this movie, it would seem like Drax had been spending too much time with Star-Lord and Rocket because he makes one or two jokes that are actually kinda funny. But he still doesn't have a complete grasp of the obvious.

Then there's the whole dynamic between Gamora and her sister Nebula-- which is extremely confrontational but also mired in jealousy.

Elizabeth Debicki plays Ayesha, the leader of the regal alien race (whose name I don't remember or feel like Googling) and judging from the post-credits scene (one of FIVE-- so stay to the end of the credits), we won't be seeing the last of her.
For me, it was great to see her again... I hadn't seen her around since she played Jordan Baker in "The Great Gatsby" (she was my inspiration to get a Gatsby 20's haircut-- which I had gotten practically once a year since 2013).

Don't think I'll give away much more than that. But the final third of the movie... so much happens. Not just from a visual effects standpoint, but the character development as well. It's action packed, but there's also a running gag that spans maybe 3 minutes between Groot, Rocket and Star-Lord (it is so stupid and unnecessary, but most people who love these characters won't care) and you feel almost every emotion possible with what's revealed and the results of these final battles.

Grade: A-
[Looking back at the last review I wrote, I gave it the same score... both Guardian movies are great, but for different reasons. That's not something you can often get with sequels, which is nice)

 

[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