I tried to just not think about it and enjoy the movie for what it was, but this brings up a few good points.
Do not watch if you haven't seen the movie.
Saturday, April 27, 2019
11 years of Marvel movies.
Suppose you wanted to catch up on the Marvel movies but didn't necessarily want to watch all 22 of them so as to see the great Avengers Infinity War and its pretty good sequel Avengers Endgame? Not all the movies were of equal quality so you could skip a few.
2. Thor.
3. Captain America.
4. Avengers. (The 2nd one was better, but it is optional.)
5. Guardians of the Galaxy. (The 2nd one was also better, but optional.)
6. Dr. Strange.
7. Black Panther.
And then finally...
8. Avengers Infinity War
9. Captain Marvel.
10. Avengers Endgame.
I didn't like either Ant-Man movie, nor did I think much of the Spiderman movie.
The bare minimum that I think you could watch are:
1. Iron Man.2. Thor.
3. Captain America.
4. Avengers. (The 2nd one was better, but it is optional.)
5. Guardians of the Galaxy. (The 2nd one was also better, but optional.)
6. Dr. Strange.
7. Black Panther.
And then finally...
8. Avengers Infinity War
9. Captain Marvel.
10. Avengers Endgame.
I didn't like either Ant-Man movie, nor did I think much of the Spiderman movie.
Thursday night
Thursday night I left chess club early to go see Avengers Endgame. This was a strange experience because there was no parking available in the huge theater parking lot. Every spot was taken and multiple cars were driving up and down the lanes looking for a place to park.
This was a problem because I had allowed myself barely enough time to catch the beginning of the movie after the previews had rolled.
I parked a block away in the middle of the Walmart parking lot, and I could see a bunch of other people doing the same. I then had to hurry in the rain to get to the theater. As I entered the theater I pulled out my ticket that I had already purchased, but nobody inside was checking tickets. It was fairly crowded and the movie was playing on five screens. I found my theater just as they were playing the spot that says, "And now enjoy the show!"
The only comparable experience was on December 17nth, 2015, when the first Star Wars movie in 10.5 years, The Force Awakens, premiered on a Thursday night. I had also left the chess club early, and I literally got the last parking spot after much searching.
I was worried that I might get a ticket or something, but there were no consequences for parking at Walmart. I was also worried about walking back in the dark at 11:10 at night, but I wasn't the only one.
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Friday, April 26, 2019
Avengers Endgame
Avengers Endgame is 3 hours well spent. It is the worthy sequel Avengers Infinity War. Both movies are the conclusion to 11 years of Marvel movies leading up to this one event. Infinity War was one of the best movies I have ever seen. Endgame is not quite as good, but it is close enough.
Monday, April 22, 2019
Thursday, April 18, 2019
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
DISNEY PLUS WILL LOSE OVER 8 BILLION DOLLARS IN STREAMING SERVICE WAR WITH NETFLIX
Disney is getting a monopoly on entertainment, having bought ABC, Marvel, FOX, DC comics, the Muppets, and Lucasfilm. Given that they are spending 10 million per episode for a new Star Wars series called The Mandalorian, with another TV series presumably in the works, and that they have a huge library of movies, they might very well get a monopoly on streaming services. They could outcompete Netflix, and if I were Netflix I would be in merger talks.
Wednesday, April 10, 2019
The Last Jedi
I was just thinking about the scene where a very youthful looking Kylo Ren says "Let the past die. Kill it if you have to." It is written for millennials. This whole movie is a calculated attempt to appeal to millennials, who Disney thinks are going to spend the most money. I think that it disregards the old Star Wars fans, or at least has less regard for them. I already knew that there was some attempt to appeal to millennials, but in thinking about it I realized just how one-sided the movie is.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
If you want to see my spoiler-free review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi, look here. Otherwise, expect plenty of spoilers.
If you look at some of the youtube reaction, it is clear that a great many people hate this movie. These are the die-hard Star Wars fans who are more than likely older and feel an attachment to the existing Star Wars mythology. The reason why all these people hate the movie is pretty much the same: The movie throws away the old mythology and replaces it with a slightly different version. In fact, that is the theme of the film, because in a least of a couple of places the movie says, "Let the past die. Kill it if you have to." We can see this in the first Luke Skywalker scene where he symbolically and humorously discards the past like it has no meaning.
Whereas the movie should be the continuation of the hero's journey, Luke's journey, what we see instead is a disenchanted Luke who has abandoned his friends, their cause, the Force, and the Jedi Order. No wonder some people hate this movie!
I have seen multiple people claim that Star Wars: The Last Jedi kills Star Wars. I disagree for the reasons I give below.
These same people who have problems with the movie have also noticed that the new trilogy is an outlet for Social Justice Warriors. All the bad guys are inept white males. The leaders of the rebellion are all women, and the lead male characters make mistakes, get into trouble and have to be corrected by the females. In fact, when the producers cast The Force Awakens they stated they were making an effort to not cast white males, as if Star Wars needs some form of Affirmative Action. For example, Oscar Isaac who plays Poe Dameron is Hispanic. We can see the social justice theme in several places in the movie since the resistance is described as "the voice of the downtrodden" and the planet of Canto Bight is described as a playground for the rich who just happen to be mostly white and war profiteers. Meanwhile on Canto Bight, the stables for the Fathier, which are like space horses, are maintained by child laborers, apparently slaves, who are clearly oppressed but secretly yearn to side with the rebellion.
Whereas the old movies had a clear moral distinction between an evil empire and freedom-loving rebels, the new movies blur those distinctions a bit. It has become more of a struggle for the oppressed against the rich and powerful. Snoke, who is supposed to be the ultimate bad guy, was described in the prerelease publicity as rich and powerful and flashy in the way that he liked to dress adorning himself with jewelry. He was also supposed to have a connection to the playground of the rich world of Canto Bight. In Star Wars: Rogue One, Saw Gerrera is a terrorist with parallels to Che Guevara. So who exactly are the Rebels? Political leftists? What cause are they really fighting for?
There is a lack of continuity with the old films in that being powerful with the Force required some sort of heritage, such the Skywalker lineage. Many people thought that Rey would be Luke's daughter or the granddaughter of Obi-Wan Kenobi or somehow related to Leia or Palpatine. Instead, we are told that she is literally nobody; her parents were junk dealers who sold her into slavery for a pittance. But here emerges a new theme, which is that anyone can become powerful with the Force, regardless of heritage or lack of training. In fact, the new trilogy seems to think that training is not important. Luke doesn't train Rey, except to tell her why he thinks the Jedi cause must end. So despite her lack of training, Rey is able to leave Luke and go off and do powerful things.
There are things in the movie that don't seem logically consistent to me. The previous films established rules on how the Force works, or how the space ships worked and how their propulsion worked. This film establishes new rules. For example, if you can destroy a battlecruiser with a kamikaze run then why haven't we seen that before? And why does a human have to do it when we know that droids can fly ships? Fuel has never been an issue before, but here it becomes a major plot point. And why can't the First Order ships catch up to the rebellion ships at sub-light speeds, when their starships are capable of going faster than light?
People expected this movie to provide them with more information, like filling in the back story on many of the characters, but the movie is stingy with its information and only gives us enough to allow us to follow along.
Character development suffers a little because the movie has too many characters, but it is good enough.
The good news is that despite the film having a different vision, it is still a vision worth following. Every time the movie would deviate from its Star Wars legacy in any way, it would quickly go back to its Star Wars roots, which is enough to keep a fan like me happy. The movie is exceptionally entertaining, mainly because Lucasfilm and Disney tried to cram too much stuff into it. They throw in a great deal of humor, almost too much, but it works by making the movie that much more fun. Although Star Wars The Last Jedi is not a perfect Star Wars movie, it is nearly perfect as a movie because it thoroughly entertains the audience.
I'm not going to give it a final rating until I can see it again. My gut feeling is A-, but it feels like an improvement over The Force Awakens.
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
This is the Star Wars movie you're looking for. It is thoroughly entertaining. However, Star Wars is more than just entertainment; it is also modern mythology. People take Star Wars very seriously, especially hard core fans like myself. My review of The Force Awakens said that it feels like an imperfect imitation of a Star Wars movie, like they mostly got it right, but not quite. I could say the same thing about The Last Jedi. It deviates from previous Star Wars movies in so many ways, but every time it quickly returns to its Star Wars roots so that you feel like you are watching a real Star Wars movie.
Almost every scene in this movie has some form of levity, so much so that the film overdoes it, but not to the point that it turns the movie into a farce. You can see an influence of The Guardians of the Galaxy, but not to the point that it becomes a comedy. The prequels, by comparison, seem uptight.
There are things that happen in this movie that seem impossible, or over the top and possibly illogical, but not so much that it ruins the movie.
If you compare this to The Empire Strikes Back, the character development is not as good, but it is good enough. One reason for this is that there are too many characters. The action sequences, like many modern movies, are a little overdone, but again this doesn't ruin the movie. On both these points I think that Rogue One is better with its more human story.
If you watched all the trailers and listened to the rumors, then you are probably already aware of most of the major plot points. But the movie relies on a few plot twists in an apparent attempt to surprise the audience as much as possible.
The ending is very good and made me a believer.
The final scene has a definite Disney influence to it. I found the scene touching, but I felt like I was watching a Disney movie as much as I was watching a Star Wars film. It also breaks with the Star Wars tradition of having no dialog in the final scene.
Disney has too much money riding on this movie for it to turn out a failure. With merchandising and everything else, billions of dollars are at stake. I think that Disney and Lucasfilm tried to hedge their bet by putting so much stuff in the movie that even though it may feel busy and not 100% faithful to the Star Wars franchise, the audience is bound to find it entertaining. And it is. As such, the die hard fans might have a few problems with it, but almost everybody is going to walk away from this movie feeling entertained and emotionally moved. It is Star Wars for a new generation.
I'm not going to give it a rating until I can see it again.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens
In my original review, I said that Star Wars: The Force Awakens feels like an imperfect imitation of a Star Wars movie.
Watching Star Wars: The Force Awakens for the third time has changed my perspective on the movie considerably. On my third viewing I noticed things I didn't notice before and I feel that I have much better understanding of the film overall. Its one major flaw is that they tried to put too much stuff in it. Having so much story means that most of the movie proceeds at frenetic pace. Transition scenes that would normally occur in a film are simply not there; at times characters seem to jump from one place to another. But a much bigger problem is that there is far too little explanation. There is way too much in the movie that should be explained but isn't, making parts of the story feel like plot holes. It also teases us with many unanswered questions that frustrate the viewer, so I am desperately hoping that the sequels will clear these up.
Unlike the original Star Wars that gave us great characters, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is very much a plot driven film where the characters are okay but not exceptional. The first 20 minutes don't work as well for me because the main characters feel flat. Occasionally both Rey and Finn can be a little grating. Rey frequently clenches her teeth and has an undercurrent of anger which hints at The Dark Side. Finn is in the habit of saying stupid things. Han Solo and Leia Organa feel like echoes of their former selves. Therefore, the most interesting, deepest and brilliant character of the movie is Kylo Ren. He is certainly the most conflicted character, and that conflict is what makes him interesting.
It is no wonder that the film has been widely criticized by Star Wars fans. However, the critics loved it.
Despite the flaws, on my third viewing the movie made more sense and it began to feel like a masterpiece. It is not only a major technical and artistic achievement, but it is also fantastic storytelling. Once the action gets going, the film becomes an amazing thrill ride.
I think that the movie is a masterpiece, but I also think that it is flawed masterpiece that will depend upon Episode VIII to clear things up. Also the new film will need to improve upon on the characters. Otherwise, if we get more of the same then it is going to become repetitious and tiring.
Rating: A-
Parkland
I feel a certain emotional attachment to the 1960's. Although I was a young child in the 60's, and my perspective did not extend much beyond small town Indiana, I was aware that there was a bigger world out there. I knew that there was the Vietnam War, hippies, Rock & Roll, and The Beatles.
This is why I recently enjoyed on Netflix streaming the CNN series The Sixties, and the follow up series The Seventies. Both are very well done.
I have always felt emotionally moved by the events of the 60's, most of all the JFK assassination. This is a major event in American history, and it is a dividing line between the innocence that preceded it and the turmoil that followed. Maybe this is why I feel so moved by watching Parkland. This docudrama focuses on the people who would have been in Dallas at the time of the assassination, especially the people who were at Parkland Memorial Hospital. The movie also portrays secret service agents, Abraham Zapruder, and Robert Oswald, the brother of Lee Harvey Oswald.
The natural tendency is to want to watch a movie about famous people. Although there are famous people portrayed in the movie, most of the screen time goes to the ordinary people who were there at the time and found themselves swept up by a historical event. As such I think that it makes for very powerful drama.
Don't even talk to me about the acting. There are so many good actors in this movie, many of which only have a few minutes of screen time, but we get one great performance after another.
If you feel as emotional about this event as I do, then I think that you will find that this movie is a very powerful drama. Parkland only has a 49% rating on Rotten Tomatoes. The biggest criticism is that the different stories in the film feel a little disjointed, but I could not disagree more. This is what it would have felt like if you were there at the time. If the purpose of a movie is to transport you to a different time and place, then this film does it superbly.
Rating: B+.
Consider this an undiscovered gem.
Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures is about a group of mathematical geniuses who did calculations and computer programming for NASA in the 1960's, all of which happen to be black women. As such, they were treated as second class citizens, despite their brilliance and what they contributed to the manned space program.
The movie focusses mostly on Katherine Goble when she was reassigned to work in the Guidance and Control Division, which was staffed by all white male engineers.
We feel for the characters as they face obstacles at every turn. They are forced to use separate bathrooms, separate coffee pots, denied advancement, not allowed security clearances, and excluded from meetings necessary for them to do their jobs. Eventually, three of the ladies prove themselves worthy enough to take on more important roles at NASA.
I find myself wondering if the mistreatment of these women is exaggerated to make a political point, but from what I can find on the Internet, the movie is accurate. It is mostly a history lesson about civil rights, so I feel a little bit like I am being lectured to. As a history lesson, the film doesn't always stir our emotions as well as it should. At times the movie feels kind of flat. The deepest emotional moment is when one of the characters gets proposed to by her boyfriend. For this reason, I don't think that the entertainment value of the film is exceptional, but it is tells a story that people should know about.
The man doing the proposing is played by Mahershala Ali, who I have enjoyed on a couple of TV series. However, he always plays quiet characters, and here he is too subdued. He would be more interesting with a little fire in his belly.
I am sure that Octavia Spencer is a good actress, but her performance didn't convince me that she is a mathematical genius. What she does well is portray a struggling black woman in a hostile world.
Kevin Costner plays the head of NASA like an angry football coach who is frustrated by every setback.
We see a different side of Jim Parsons, in a non-comical role as the chief engineer. His character seems completely unsympathetic, if not hostile, to the plight of Katherine Goble.
Rating: B+
The Vanishing
Much of the movie creates tension in not knowing what happened. Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu looks sufficiently creepy to be the villain, Raymond Lemorne, although the movie spends too much time showing us his private life where he seems perfectly normal. In the third act, Raymond confronts Rex and tells him that he will reveal what happened to his girlfriend provided that they go on a trip together.
This is where I have a problem with the story, because nobody in their right mind would get in a car with a sociopath. However, Rex is desperate to know what happened and reluctantly agrees to go. From this point on I think that the movie fails to follow any kind of real world logic, but the suspense and the performance of the actors makes it worth watching.
About two thirds of the film is told from the perspective of Rex and remainder is shown from the perspective of Raymond. This gives the film an interesting structure where their meeting seems inevitable.
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