Star Wars - A Newer Hope!

I finally got around to seeing the seventh installment in the Star Wars epic a few days ago. And here is my review, but don't fret I will announce spoilers before I actually reveal any details for those of you who might not yet have seen this extravaganza.

The Force Awakens is a hugely successful movie by all measures mercantile and that's a good thing generally for science fiction as it will allow yet more of it to get to us. It is an exciting and kinetic movie, barely taking time to catch its breath as the adventure, derring-do, and danger twist and twinkle before our eyes.

But the movie limits itself in ways I didn't really expect given the involvement of J.J. Abrams, who I think did a great job of reviving the Star Trek franchise. Let me explain beyond some clearly labeled spoiler barriers.

SPOILERS BEYOND THIS POINT...

The Force Awakens is a behemoth of a ship of a movie which is sleek and beautiful but which beaches itself a bit on the breakers of the classic original A New Hope. There are just too many parallels to the original movie, a convenient balm for the legions of devoted fanboys and girls, but a self-limiting factor for a movie which seeks to strike out and reestablish the hegemony of the franchise for the future.

Our protagonist is a poor but talented youngster on a backwater desert planet who comes into possession of a robot filled with secret plans which is being sought by a deadly galactic military force bent on taking over everything and the hero along with some helpers must get the robot to its owner so that the threat of a giant planet-shaped planet-killing death ray can be overcome by the assembled forces of the rebel army.

Sound familiar? It's the plot of A New Hope, and it's pretty much the plot of The Force Awakens. We even get a rather awesome alien-rich cantina scene. Loved it, but it's been done folks.

The differences are that our hero is a feisty girl named Rey and her aides this time are Han Solo and Chewbacca of course (not different really but they are older), but also a reformed Storm Trooper named FN-2187 or "Fin" for short. The cute little robot is called not R2-D2 but BB-8, and his owner is a rebel named Poe Cameron who himself is an ace pilot and first-rate hero. But that's about it.

We do get a tasty villain in the form of Kylo Ren who it turns out will take off his mask (one really surprising moment) and who is the son of Han Solo and Princess Leia Organa who himself has turned to the darkside of the Force. His transformation is going to of interest no less than Rey's as the story moves on. The death of Han Solo was well telegraphed, especially given the fact the story was following the markers laid down forty years ago. A mentor figure, even a rejected-one had to die to make the format complete.  

...END OF SPOILERS!

Don't get me wrong. This is a dandy flick, very entertaining and a right nice addition to the canon. But personally, as a Star Wars fan of original vintage and as someone who rather likes much of the prequel trilogy better than most, I found it not anything all that revolutionary, no pun intended. And now that they have this one out of their systems, maybe we can move the story along. 

Obviously it's recommended.

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Oceans A' Liftin'!

Found this French comic book cover featuring Popeye the Sailor Man in the class Atlas pose.

Atlas of course was the Titan who was punished by being forced to bear the weight of the world on his mighty shoulders for all of time.

The Popeye cover though reveals that Popeye's might here, projected to godlike proportions is actually somewhat mocked by Swee'Pea's similar hoisting of a mere globe.

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Charlie Hustler!

As a lifelong fan of the Cincinnati Reds I suppose I'm supposed to be upset that Red legend Pete Rose has once again (and likely for all time) been denied reentry into the official baseball community and therefore eventual access into the hallowed Hall of Fame.

 But I'm not.

Rose deserves his lifetime ban and any attempt to reconcile him and baseball has always been frustrated by the undeniable fact that Pete Rose, greatest living baseball hitter, is a degenerate gambler and has lied about his activities as such for decades.

There's no one who can deny his accomplishments, nor deny his tremendous grit and competitive nature which consumed his playing days. No one in my opinion can claim convincingly that he did anything as a player to undermine his team's efforts to win each and every game.

But as a manager the record is always going to be more murky. I cannot fathom that his desire to win ever caused him to actually decide to undermine the efforts of his teams in any capacity, but the clear and finally revealed confessions that he did indeed bet on the game in which he took part will always create a cloud of uncertainty and that's the same.

Pete Rose will not be a part of the Hall of Fame, though he will in all likelihood be remembered as a part of the game for a very very long time.

And that's as it should be. Many rush to point out that gambling is becoming much more normalized in society and within major sports as well. Football has all but given up being anything other much more than a vehicle for gambling in various modes and venues. Baseball still lags behind since its games number so many and the outcomes day to day are really such question marks.

It's shame and pity that Pete Rose will not be a part of the game's official history as he ought to be. But the pity is that we are all cheated and the shame is all on the shoulders of Peter Edward Rose Sr.

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The Color Of Trump!

My daughter pointed this product out to me, a wry satirical rendering of the current political phenomenon called "Trump". I've made my opinion clear on this demagogue, a man who seems more in love with himself than any other single thing. That the media have become increasingly inured to his ravings is more than a bit distressing. That he has caught the fancy of a not insignificant segment of the U.S. population is at once revealing and a little terrifying.

The economic pressures in this country which have been growing steadily really since the 1980's have created a chasm between the "haves" and "have-nots", and such perceived splits can be dangerous things because they will by necessity correct themselves and sometimes that correction will yield damaging consequences. Trump is one of the consequences in my estimation, a man who recognizes resentment and toys with it for his own immediate benefit, if not his country's.  But my favorite economic columnist David Kay Johnson put it best in a recent column in which he says what I believe about how the woes of our time are being used by those who really should ask us all to aspire to our better angels.

And then there's this.

Thanks Neuman.

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Trollhunter!

I stumbled across this delightful movie Trollhunter a few days ago on Chiller. I saw the title and on a lark set it to record. I had no idea what a refreshing and enjoyable movie I had captured. Trollhunter is a found-footage movie, one of those flicks that like the famous The Blair Witch Project from many years ago, attempts to trick the audience into thinking they are watching just some raw footage from a film crew who might or might not still be around to fill in the gaps. Some folks hate these kinds of movies, I love 'em.

We meet three college kids (Finn, Kalle, and Johanna) who are making a documentary about bear poaching and seek to find a many named Hans who is reputedly one such poacher. They relentlessly follow him as he and his rough and tumble rig rumble across the beautiful Norwegian countryside. They try several times to interview him, but he rebuffs them but they never give up and finally follow him as he pursues his prey, which it turns out is not a bear after all.

The kids discover he's a trollhunter, an employee of the national government, a secretive game warden of sorts who roams the whole of the country dealing with a creature which most folks consider myth, but which it turns out is all too real. There are several types of trolls we learn, some live in forests, some in mountains, and they come in all sorts of sizes, some of immense proportions. They live inside protected areas which are hedged by electrical towers and the government seeks at once to manage the populations, often with cruel means, and keep them  a secret from the general populace.

There's an exceedingly droll and dry humor in this tales as Hans eventually accepts the kids and their film as a way perhaps to validate what he does as he's an older man who feels that his years of work haven't been the most satisfying and perhaps (though he never says it) he thinks their film will cause a change, maybe even an improvement in things.

There is some real danger along the way as the intrepid kids follow the dour and resourceful Hans into many a situation which calls upon him to display much physical courage. It his character who holds our attention, a man of real stones who does his job resolutely with a high degree of bravery and professionalism. He admires the trolls, but like any responsible and experienced warden is not overly sentimental about any single one of the species. We learn a lot about Troll habits and whatnot as the movie unfolds.

This is advertised as a comedy, and that's true, but the humor is well camouflaged behind some beautiful vistas and landscapes. Some critics claim the movie spends too much time showcasing the starkly gorgeous Norwegian country, but I found all of it spectacular and it only added to the verisimilitude that a movie like this thrives on to be effective. The special effects for the trolls are outstanding.  One down note on the version I saw was that it was dubbed rather badly for a modern film, and I'd love to see it again in the original with subtitles.

Check it out.

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A Merry Magoo Christmas!

Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol has long been the holiday special I most wanted to get my mitts on. For some reasons or other it has eluded me for years, until now. I picked it up the other day along with several other holiday hits like the venerable Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (my childhood fave) and the always surprisingly entertaining Frosty the Snowman.

Of course no one needs to be told this story of a greedy miser who lives only for his wealth at the expense of all those around him and even, as he learns, himself.

A man who sees himself as a young boy and young man disappointed by those around him and who seeks solace in his accumulated wealth and relative comfort.

Who discovers that others enjoy the holiday despite their meager incomes and circumstances, and celebrate those parts of life which are not dependent upon markets.

And of course he learns that he himself will die alone and little remembered at all, save as selfish old man who put himself above all else.

But it is the miracle of this classic that Scrooge learns his lesson and changes his ways to become a different man who supposedly will live into a very different future. It is the kind of miracle that we can, each and everyone of us choose each day to make a difference.

It is a timeless tale, which speaks to all of us who get caught up in our own lives and forget that so many others in this world need our help and our attention.

So you've unwrapped your presents, now enjoy the day and see to it that others do likewise. I'm going to try to myself.

Merry Christmas!

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Rare Exports - A Christmas Tale!

Rare Exports is a 2010 Finnish movie which offers up some intriguing fresh takes on that venerable old man of the North, Santa Claus. This is not the kindly old elf we meet in this rather rugged (at times) yarn of a father and his son who are trying to find a way to connect while at the same time stay financially solvent after some very weird events demolish the annual reindeer round up.

The movie is based on this 2003 short film titled Rare Exports Inc. Somber and blandly grim, it's a rather modern take on the holiday season.

The full-length movie is the story of Pietari Kontaro who still believes in Santa Claus when all his friends do not. He's a boy who still has a doll and who resists growing up despite living in the beautiful but unforgiving Finnish mountain environment. He and his friend sneak up a high mountain camp where men mysteriously plan to dig and uncover what they think might be an ancient tomb filled with ice. Then some days later, near Christmas children disappear as well as every local heating device which can be carried. Pietari and his father capture a wild looking old naked man with a dirty white beard in a wolf pit who they imagine is dead.

But then his father along with two of his comrades discover differently and for a time at least imagine they've captured "Santa Claus" and things really heat up when they seek to recoup their season's losses by holding the old man hostage for ransom.

There are many secrets to unravel in this rough  and tumble adventure which begins with a high degree of seeming reality but becomes more and more a young man's fantasy of becoming successful for his father's sake and along the way we learn some dark truths about the real Santa Claus.

Fun somewhat dark holiday movie - definitely worth checking out.

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