Friday, December 7, 2018
Friday, November 16, 2018
Star Wars: The Last Jedi
In response to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UNph0g1o5hs I wrote:
I feel that the extreme backlash over The Last Jedi is an emotional overreaction to certain elements in the story that went against people's expectations. If the movie were taken out of the Star Wars context, then as a standalone film it is actually pretty good. It has a few minor problems that I attribute to poor direction, but I just watched it for the 4th time and I still really enjoy it.
I feel that the extreme backlash over The Last Jedi is an emotional overreaction to certain elements in the story that went against people's expectations. If the movie were taken out of the Star Wars context, then as a standalone film it is actually pretty good. It has a few minor problems that I attribute to poor direction, but I just watched it for the 4th time and I still really enjoy it.
The reason that I enjoy The Last Jedi as a Star Wars film is that I am willing to let the story take me where it wanted to go as opposed to expecting it to go where I wanted.
Best wishes,
Best wishes,
John Coffey
Thursday, November 15, 2018
Sunday, November 11, 2018
Check this out
I hope this link works. This is hotel in Tunisia is where they filmed Star Wars for the Lars homestead. Click on the picture on the left to get more pictures.
I don't know if it was a hotel before Star Wars, or if somebody just thought that this would be a great place to put a hotel. It appears to me as if these underground structures may have already existed before the movie. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matmata,_Tunisia
Multiple locations in Tunisia were used: https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2336377/Photographer-stumbles-Star-Wars-sets-middle-Tunisian-desert.html
I've seen deserts in Nevada that looked more hospitable.
Saturday, November 10, 2018
Thursday, October 25, 2018
Snowpiercer a sequel to Willy Wonka???
I found the first 3.5 minutes of this video pretty interesting.
Friday, September 7, 2018
Netflix Streaming
I found this interesting website that gives recommendations on what to watch on Netflix streaming, including ratings on some shows.
I like the penultimate section that recommends some shows that will soon disappear from Netflix, called "Last Chance to Stream."
Saturday, September 1, 2018
Friday, August 3, 2018
Sunday, July 15, 2018
Friday, July 13, 2018
Sunday, July 8, 2018
Friday, July 6, 2018
Actress Ashley Eckstein Interview
She plays my favorite character from the Star Wars Clone Wars animated TV series.
Monday, July 2, 2018
Friday, June 15, 2018
Solo bad.
If you don't mind the 50 minute length, this video is pretty entertaining and spot on.
I enjoyed the movie up to the ending, which somehow bothered me, and made the movie feel average.
I am planning to see the movie a 2nd time real soon just to make sure that I'm not being too hard on it.
Sunday, May 6, 2018
Sunday, April 29, 2018
Sunday, April 8, 2018
Friday, March 30, 2018
Ice Age: Continental Drift
With a new Ice Age movie coming out in five weeks, I thought that I should finally watch the last one that came out four years ago. This film only had a 37% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, which is why I was in no hurry to see it, and now I can see why. Most of it I found entertaining, but there are parts of it I didn't like.
The story involves the break up of the Pangea super continent, notwithstanding the fact that the Pangea super continent broke up 175 million years before most of these animals existed. This causes Manny, the woolly mammoth, to become separated from his wife and rebellious teenage daughter. This is where I start to have a problem with the film, because the family story in this prehistoric animal tale is a little too 21st century. I could have done without the family story altogether. Manny and his friends end up doing battle with a primate pirate and his crew. This particular plot element, along with the rest of the story, seems a little weak to me.
It is not a terrible story, but it is also not a particularly great one either. It has plenty of action to make it watchable. It is good enough to rent if you have nothing else to watch. This film has too many pop cultural references, which to me is a sign that they knew the story was weak. When you consider that this film made almost a billion dollars, you would think that they could have given us a better story.
The original Ice Age film paid close attention to details. You had a sense of historical accuracy, because you saw the Woolly Mammoth exist at the same time as, and on the same continent with, Native Americans. This also fits in well with the ice age theme. The sequel films gave us continental breakups and dinosaurs, which means that any sense of historical accuracy is completely thrown out the window.
Speaking of details: A woolly mammoth is at least as big as an elephant, if not bigger, and shouldn't have so much trouble fighting an ape. The mammoth should win easy. Here the ape looks almost as big as the mammoth, which is not realistic.
My one last observation is that the different Ice Age movies seem to be able to make a boat out of anything. In one film it is a giant log. In this film it is icebergs.
I enjoyed the first three Ice Age films, and I enjoyed this one barely enough to be glad that I rented it. It is a little better than the third Madagascar film. Both these film franchises seem to be running out of ideas, so I hope that the next Ice Age movie is a little better.
Rating: C+
Thursday, March 1, 2018
Saturday, February 24, 2018
Saving Rey: How the disenfranchised fans can (maybe) be brought back
In the last three months, these are the best comments I have seen on The Last Jedi.
Wednesday, February 21, 2018
Wednesday, February 14, 2018
Thursday, February 8, 2018
Saturday, February 3, 2018
Friday, January 26, 2018
Thursday, January 25, 2018
Rian Johnson Podcast
Out of curiosity I listened to this extended interview of Rian Johnson. It is long. It is an hour and 47 minutes long.
Since The Last Jedi has plot holes you could drive a truck through, and after seeing the title, 'Rian Johnson Talks 'The Last Jedi' Criticism, Says He "Wouldn't Change a Thing"', I had to know how Rian Johnson responds to criticism about the plot holes.
Well, after listening, I conclude that Rian Johnson doesn't have a clue as to why these things are plot holes, and why those things might turn off the audience. I can only guess that he looks at the story from an artistic point of view and not a logical one. And to think that he is going to be directing the next trilogy?
Unfortunately the interview doesn't talk about Social Justice Warrior messages, which would have been a very interesting topic.
Wednesday, January 24, 2018
The Last Jedi
I saw The Last Jedi on December 14nth and then again 2 weeks after that. After another 4 weeks, I would like to see it for a third time, either this week or next.
As for all the people who didn't like it, the movie was designed to defy what everyone expected and that was too much for some people. It turns the Star Wars mythology on its head, and it has a few plot holes. My position is that a movie can have a few flaws and still be pretty entertaining, which it is.
Monday, January 22, 2018
How people's expectations affect their reaction to a movie.
In response to
I wrote:
'I am really glad that you brought up expectations and how that biases people when judging a movie, which is a concept that I hadn't thought much about. I suspect that the reason so many people are negative on The Phantom Menace is because of their expectations. Personally, I had a blast with the movie and I think that it is almost as entertaining as the best Star Wars films. Although episodes 7 and 8 have some plot holes you could drive a truck through, I still enjoyed these movies. There is enough good stuff to make them worthwhile. What people didn't like about episode 8, which is that the movie defied all of their expectations, made it more entertaining for me because it was something new and different.'
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