A few months ago, I said that I was going to take things seriously, and then I did. The results surprised me a little. I wrote 38 posts in three months, versus 59 posts over the previous 21. Despite the extra work, I enjoyed it more than I had in a while, and it seems like you did too: I got more views and viewers … Continue reading Retrospecticus: Monday Morning Movie Quarterback
Star Wars Month was both the easiest and hardest theme month I’ve done so far. It was the easiest because it was clear to me back in September that EVERY movie blog would be talking about The Last Jedi come December, and – unlike horror or DC movies – I actually wanted to see this tent pole. But it was the hardest because it’s not … Continue reading Why Star Wars is so effective at world building
As I stated earlier, I saw the special editions of the original trilogy on the big screen in 1997, and I LOVED them. It was probably more the idea of seeing it in the theater than the special editions themselves (I remember applause in the theater when Han Solo first appeared), but I also have a distinct memory of praising The Empire Strikes Back’s “Darth … Continue reading Why I wish I would have known about the Star Wars “Despecialized Edition” earlier
The two most recent entries in the Star Wars franchise weren’t exactly ground-breaking in the way that the original trilogy was, or even the prequels – say what you will, but they were hardly conventional as compared with the original three. If both The Force Awakens and Rogue One “filled in the edges” of the Star Wars universe, the same cannot be said about The … Continue reading The Last Jedi takes the franchise in a challenging new direction
For the record, it is much easier to act as an amateur script doctor than it is to write something original (as my paltry screenwriting efforts to date prove). It is also much easier to suggest improvements to a finished film than earlier in its development or production. In other words, this is more of an exercise for me than any reflection on how good … Continue reading How better character development could improve Star Wars: The Force Awakens
Gareth Edwards is not my favorite director, just like Rogue One is not my favorite Star Wars movie. That said, Edwards has the ability to compose shots that few modern directors have. His shots don’t just look cool – they look beautiful. More than anything, he’s able to contrast scale better than almost any other big budget director working today. I loved Pacific Rim, but … Continue reading Why Rogue One is the best looking Star Wars film yet
Rogue One represents several firsts – the first “prequel” since 2005, a self-contained story, and none of the big names of Star Wars save Darth Vader. It tells a story that franchise fans already know, but somehow fails to do much with that story other than make it pretty to look at. Rogue One doesn’t so much build a world as it does recreate the … Continue reading Other than gorgeous production design, Rogue One adds little new to Star Wars
Although it was rightfully seen as a return to form for the franchise, The Force Awakens is not without its detractors. Some see it as a an attempt to recapture the original’s magic (and make the world forget about the prequels), while others see it as a shoddy knock off of the original Star Wars. They’re actually both right. The Force Awakens doesn’t so much … Continue reading The Force Awakens largely succeeds in capturing the magic of the original
I haven’t seen the original Star Wars since 31 January 1997 when I saw the special edition on the big screen. (For a while, I refused to call it A New Hope as I assumed this was part of Lucas’ post-release tinkering – it was, but the change was made in 1981 so I think it’s probably fair to call it canon by now. If … Continue reading No movie builds a world as well as the original Star Wars
Like most kids, I grew up loving Star Wars, but I wasn’t as into it as some of my peers. (In a move that I once considered totalitarian and now consider brilliant, my parents made me pick between toy lines – hello, Transformers and He-Man; good-bye, Star Wars and GI Joe.) So while my friends and I played Star Wars all the time, I would … Continue reading Why did Star Wars work in the first place?
Monday Morning Movie Quarterback 