I see too many kids movies....
Ferdinand was pleasant and filled with good kid messages. It had enough, barely, to make it survivable for adults. It is definitely not a classic of the likes of Kubo or Frozen, but if your kid wants to see it, there is no reason to avoid it - except the crazy ticket prices.....
Wednesday, December 27, 2017
Monday, December 18, 2017
The Arrival
The Arrival is one of the smartest movies I've seen in a long time.
Amy Adams is terrific. Her character is enigmatic. It is clear that she has suffered some trauma at the beginning of the movie and you think that informs her character's actions through out. Is she going mad from grief, or mad from spending too much time working on with the aliens, or just cracking under the pressure. The twist at the end is brilliant and makes her even more courageous.
The plotting is well timed. The plot itself is perfect for the age of anxiety in which we live; where there are nations that can end life on earth out of fear or belligerence.
Do we really need an externally forced existential crisis to bring us to our senses? I hope not.
Amy Adams is terrific. Her character is enigmatic. It is clear that she has suffered some trauma at the beginning of the movie and you think that informs her character's actions through out. Is she going mad from grief, or mad from spending too much time working on with the aliens, or just cracking under the pressure. The twist at the end is brilliant and makes her even more courageous.
The plotting is well timed. The plot itself is perfect for the age of anxiety in which we live; where there are nations that can end life on earth out of fear or belligerence.
Do we really need an externally forced existential crisis to bring us to our senses? I hope not.
Saturday, December 16, 2017
The Last Jedi
Unlike a lot of people, I didn’t go into this movie hoping for answers to Snoke’s back story or Rey’s parents. I was just hoping for a good movie that moved the story forward and set up the final conflict for the last movie. I was hoping to find out why Luke had gone missing.
Given my expectations, I was not disappointed. It was a good movie and it did explain why Luke left the building. It also provided a satisfying ending for Luke and set up the final showdown nicely.
It was not a perfect movie. Leia’s magic force flight was sort of silly. Finn and Rose’s trip to the casino planet felt out of place and long. Leia allowing Holodo to pilot the cruiser in a suicide mission seemed out of character. The insane battle on the mineral planet was terrible strategy. The shirtless shot of Adam Driver seemed unnecessary.
By the end of the movie, Finn and Rose’s trip made sense and played into the overall theme of the movie.
After reading some of the fan backlash, I know that a lot people hated the reveal that Rey’s parents were trash and that Snoke’s backstory was just whitewashed. I, however, found that to be perfect. It plays directly into the overall theme of the movie and helps drive the overarching story of the nine movie arch.
The story starts with the stagnant Jedi order and the stagnant Republic fracturing over a trade war between rich planets, follows the destruction of that stagnation into a new hope where the same privileged group try to restore the old order, and moves into a new phase where a group of nobodies lights the spark of renewal.
It is also fitting that Ben Solo turns out to be truly evil. His evil is even beyond that of his Grandfathers. Anikan was corrupted by his love. Ben Solo is corrupted by his arrogance and privilege. That he will be brought down by the lowest of the low is only fitting.
Given my expectations, I was not disappointed. It was a good movie and it did explain why Luke left the building. It also provided a satisfying ending for Luke and set up the final showdown nicely.
It was not a perfect movie. Leia’s magic force flight was sort of silly. Finn and Rose’s trip to the casino planet felt out of place and long. Leia allowing Holodo to pilot the cruiser in a suicide mission seemed out of character. The insane battle on the mineral planet was terrible strategy. The shirtless shot of Adam Driver seemed unnecessary.
By the end of the movie, Finn and Rose’s trip made sense and played into the overall theme of the movie.
After reading some of the fan backlash, I know that a lot people hated the reveal that Rey’s parents were trash and that Snoke’s backstory was just whitewashed. I, however, found that to be perfect. It plays directly into the overall theme of the movie and helps drive the overarching story of the nine movie arch.
The story starts with the stagnant Jedi order and the stagnant Republic fracturing over a trade war between rich planets, follows the destruction of that stagnation into a new hope where the same privileged group try to restore the old order, and moves into a new phase where a group of nobodies lights the spark of renewal.
It is also fitting that Ben Solo turns out to be truly evil. His evil is even beyond that of his Grandfathers. Anikan was corrupted by his love. Ben Solo is corrupted by his arrogance and privilege. That he will be brought down by the lowest of the low is only fitting.
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