Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Just to give you a warning, I hated this film but apparently I am the only one who feels this way.

This film is the Star Wars equivalent of Star Trek:Generations.   It seems the only reason for the appearance of characters from the original trilogy was to the bridge the gap between the two 'trilogies"  All the original actors merely had what amounted to cameos.  And it was a a VERY contrived way to hand over the keys to the Falcon.  How couldn't it even run after 30 years?

I never had a big problem with the prequels.  There were three points that detracted from the whole franchise 1) Midichlorians -  first it means your "potential" can be measured and this your are given a limit (or be completely incapable of succeeding) meaning that your ability with the force is not based on your own abilities, or training and effort.  2) R2-D2's ability to fly.  If , after the fact explanations are merely contrived.  3)  Clonetrooper's kill the Jedi.  The Jedi who are supposed to nearly invulnerable are easily taken out by Clonetroopers, the predecessors to Stormtroopers, who cannot seem to hit anything.  4) Lightsaber fights get more sabers.  It's ridiculous to think that anyone can merely pick up a second sword and suddenly know how to wield a two sabers at once, as it is a completely different style which would require training, and more susceptible to attacks.

This movie completely lacked tension.  It didn't have scenes where.  The whole attack on the  star killer lacked the incredible build up it was given in the original Star Wars, the intensity of the battle. You felt the losses the rebels were taking, the danger the rebels faced from the pursing TIE fighters and the imminent danger faced by the rebel base and knew clearly what their goal was (getting a torpedo into the exhaust port)

The ability with a lightsaber is merely, which mean's that Luke's training on Dagobah was unnecessary.  This is not the Matrix (which had a "plausible' explanation for instantaneous skill acquisition).  You cannot just pick up a skill just by picking up a weapon or watching it in a movie or wishing.

No interesting locations.  While the planet's names are different, the "locations are the same used in the original trilogy:  desert, snow planet, death star.

Reusing the concept of a planet killing weapon just shows a complete lack of inventiveness.  The ridiculous attempts to upgrade this Death Star by making it bigger and "faster" with it's attack make it no more threatening than the original Death Star.

Kylo Ren is not a formidable villian.  His.  When he takes off his mask, we only see a week, emo type person.  Not intimdating through either his attitude nor actions.  Darth Vader immediately established the threat he posed, coming in with his forces invading the Tantive IV (at the beginning of Star Wars) and killing an officer right away.

One other aspect of this film that detracts from it, is it cannot be seen as a stand alone film  Audience members who have no knowledge of the force would not understand this film. Concepts in the Star Wars universe were gradually introduced, and added to.  While it is possible to watch the films from either episode 1 or Star Wars Episode 4, this episode lacks any introduction to the concepts of the Star Wars universe.

Artoo and 3PO tied together the entire epic, but they were absent for 80% of this film and even when they were present, 3PO played no significant role and Artoo was asleep.  Not really saving the day, as Artoo did any every other film, unless you count his having the map that they were seeking.

This is one of the worst movies I have ever seen, because it did not entertain, nor did it inspire.  It was just an series of random events that mimicked the original films. 


Take this movie for what is is, but is certainly is NOT episode VII.  George Lucas, you are our only hope.  One day I hope he releases his ideas for the third trilogy, so we can see what might have been.

Legend (1985)

I love the film Blade Runner  (though I originally disliked it, but have come to love it and enjoy it more with each viewing).  Apparently Ridley Scott added footage of a unicorn from Legend into Blade Runner.  He has argued that that footage is an indication that Deckard is a replicant, but it is MUCH to little and done after the fact, indicating that this concept (of Deckard being a replicant) was an after thought and not preplaned as Ridley Scott has claimed.  There are no other indications of Deckard being a replicant and more importantly it doesn't add to the story or character, or even make sense.

It was due to my love of Blade Runner that I was interested in this film.  Besides, I always want to see films with a grand scope that bombed, to check out their potential. (films that often turn out to be cult classics)  It seems that a lot of those films that are not received well at the box office are actually the best films, with original ideas, which many films lack now a days.

This is the only other film I have ever seen with Mia Sara (who played Ferris Bueller's girlfriend in Ferris Bueller's Day Off). who has a very exotic look in Ferris Bueller's Day Off.

Also it features Tim Curry who hasn't had enough fantastic roles to show off his talents.  Playing a devil type character, he oozes atmosphere and he alone is enough reason to view the film.

This film is a visual spender as well as having excellent ambiance, but it isn't engrossing.  Also, the entire instigation of the story is hinges upon Mia Sara's character approaching the unicorn, which causes Tom Cruise to blame her for the unicorns capture, but realisitically had no impact, and in no way enabled the villains to capture the unicorn.  The ending is a bit of a let down, as the final resolution doesn't have enough of an emotional impact.

White Lightning (1973)

I watched this film after watching its sequel "Gator" not knowing that it had a previous film, but once I found out I had to track it down and watch it.

It has some decent action with car chases and such kind of a Dukes of Hazzard feel to it.

Ned Beaty plays a rather despicable Sheriff, and plays it well, causing the audience to have no love for his character.  A far cry from the incompetent sidekick oaf he played in Superman.

I had no idea there was a push to make Burt Reyonds an action star in the 70s, but apparently he was, as he made a large number of action films I had never heard of.

Gator (1976)

I was going on a kick watching Burt Reyonds films.  I knew that he made a few comedies, which I recalled seeing advertisements for when I was a kid, but did not know of the existence of this film.

I was surprised to find that Jerry Reed was in this film, but unlike Smokey & the Bandit, Jerry Reed's character is Burt Reyonds' adversary.  Jerry Reed did an EXCELLENT job in his role, a role he fit into almost too well, as it makes you wonder how much of himself he put into the character.

This film is okay on the atmosphere.  It tries hard to be an action film, with some good sequences, but tends to be dragged down with extended unnecessary dialog at times.

The theme song was written and performed by Jerry Reed (as was also the case with Smokey & the Bandit)  While this song has a good sound to it, it is not as catchy as "East Bound and  Down".

Dreamkeeper (2003)

Not quite sure how I discovered this film.  Native America films are not particularly numerous, and often get little to no exposure.  I learned about this film and "Skins" at the same time.

This film is less of a story about a grandson taking his grand father to a powwow and more of an excuse to tell and record native American stories. The film is certainly worth watching for anyone who has interest in the folklore of Native Americans.

Other Native American films I have watched include Smoke Signals, which is more about modern day native American's lives.

Borat (2006)

This is one, that has been on my to see list, as well as my to avoid list.  A while back, I took a job that involved working with some kids from different countries (actually, 3 different countries).  There was a group of four kids whom I didn't realize were all from the same country, Kazakhstan.  I ended up spending a lot of time with those kids, a lot of it playing durak, a card game which they taught me that is very popular in the region.  They had GREAT disdain for this movie, which is understandable, but I was also curious if the film deserved it's nefarious reputation.

The film seem to have been entirely created by having Borat present himself as a legitimate Kazakh, and speaking in poor English with wild points of view to various people he encounters.  It seems that no one he encountered was in on the joke, making their reaction both natural and quite shocking at times.

This reminded me of the portion of the film Bad Grandpa that I saw.  That character was presented to unaware people, taking outrageous actions which caused them to have odd reactions.

Borat (the film) was quite hard to watch at some points, as you could feel the uncomfortable positions the people were being put into.  This is something I couldn't do.  I wouldn't be able to mislead those people so, and stay in character.  Too much sympathy would well up and I would have to break the truth to them.

It was also interesting, as it brought out the good in some people and the bad in others.  Some tired to be kind and understanding of his odd points of view and lack of understanding of American culture.  Others relished in agreeing with Borat's suggestion to wipe certain countries off the map.  More than a few walked away (one even running away) in disgust and one group even called the police on him.

After reading about the film, it turns out the film was a great tourism boost for Kazakhstan, which is pretty ironic, considering that none of it was filmed in Kazakhstan.

While I am certainly no expert on Kazakhstan, this film did a very poor job of accurately portraying the country.  The people in the country looked much European (which they were) where was Kazakhstan as a majority of it's citizens have an Asian ethnic background.

Sacha Baron Cohen just wanted to portray a backwards country.  It is unfortunate he choose the name of an actual country to do so.  He could have used the name of a fictional country and avoided upsetting an entire country.  Surely the people he filmed wouldn't have known the difference. None of them could have found Kazakhstan on a map to start with.

To Be Takei (2014)

I had only just heard of this film, and of course involving George Takei is what instrested me.  I was surprised to find that it was playing at the museum down the street from me, so I took my first trip to the movies in over six months and went to see this film.

I ended up being about half an hour late for the film, which strangely worked to its advantage.  When I arrived they had just begun reviewing George Takei's work on Star Trek.  That segment was quite funny and the rest of the film continuted to be interesting and informative.

When I got a chance to go back and see the first half hour that I missed, it was certainly very informative, not only about George Takei's life and career, but also the coverage of the topic of the American Interment camp for Japanese Americans during WWII.  It gave you the understanding that those people had everything taken away from them as well as the prejudice they faced after being released .  This film can lets us begin to understand the depth of the troubles those people were put through.  Being that the first 30 minutes of the film were much more serious, it may have led to a darker attitude when watching the rest of the picture and detracted from out enjoyment, which is odd to say, as the whole audience was laughing out loud as I arrived in the theater at that 30 minute mark.