Black Mirror Season 2 review

S2E1: Be Right Back - Hayley Atwell really carries this episode and her reactions feel natural and unforced. With only seeing her in the Captain America movies, I didn't realize how talented and attractive she actually is. Domhnall Gleeson plays a good robot. I wonder if he gave Alicia Vikander tips when they were in "Ex Machina" together. The end was super heartbreaking. Everything ends up in the attic.

S2E2: White Bear - I really enjoyed this episode as I thought it was going to be a social commentary on people's first reaction to film instead of helping someone in need, but it turned out to be way more twisted.  I liked that the episode made me care about the main character and then wanted me to hate her when new information was learned concerning what she actually had done and then going along with what her punishment was - a virtual hell.

S2E3: The Waldo Moment - As I'm not a huge fan of politics, I couldn't 100% get behind this episode, but I did get what it was trying to get across.  To me, it felt a little too far fetched.  I actually cared more about the relationships, or lack there of, between the main male and female characters as that felt more real then everyone blindly following the rants of an obscene /comedic cartoon character.

S2E4: White Christmas - Excellent episode from start to finish.  Jon Hamm totally owns this episode and while his character wins, he also loses.  It's heartbreaking for all characters involved, but the story is so well done that I ended up admiring it.  This is definitely my favorite episode of the series thus far.  And while all the episodes are self contained stories, it probably helps to watch episode 103 before watching this one.

Black Mirror Season 1 review

S1E1 - The National Anthem: I really enjoyed this episode, but I wonder what the intent of the kidnapper was. I thought it was to humiliate the PM to enact change in the government, but the only negative consequence appeared to be his relationship with his wife. I did like the use of technology and how real it felt that once something is out there, it's very difficult to keep a lid on it. Small gripe - the guy that was in bed all day, they kept cutting to him so I thought he was more involved that it appeared. I wonder if that was intentional to throw us off as he didn't do anything else or add to the story in any way. Was the story that griping to spend 8 hours without getting out of bed?

S1E2- Fifteen Million Merits: I enjoyed this episode as well. The concept reminded me of the movie "In Time". I wonder what happens if you run out of merits. Also, I didn't understand why the other bike people didn't really talk to each other. I guess what is there to talk about, right? I understood the "jerk" character, but the other characters didn't really add a whole lot, so it was up to Daniel Kaluuya to carry the story, which he did. I never watched Downton Abbey, so I didn't know who the other actress was until I looked it up afterwards. She did a good job as well. When Daniel Kaluuya's character smashed the glass in his room, did he get in trouble? Did it cost him merits to fix? I was expecting that he'd get punished. There was no show of organization, it just was what it was. The characters made a joke about generically engineering the food, so I'm surprised they didn't mention or allude to "Compliance" being put into their food as well. Gripes aside, I thought the overall message was pretty powerful. I'm surprised Daniel Kaluuya's character could live with himself selling out. I kind of expected him to end his life at the end. Also, was their a pornography channel for the women?

S1E3 - The Entire History of You: A really cool concept, but it felt wasted that the writers decided to focus on a failing marriage. How about a doctor failing at a surgery and having to replay it in his mind to try to figure out what went wrong so he doesn't lose any other patients? They established a main character who couldn't land a job, but all of sudden he's Sherlock Holmes with his grain and puts together the pieces to figure out what was going on. My favorite scene was when they were making love, but actually just watching videos of themselves while being in a catatonic state. It felt like the writers envisioned that powerful scene/comment on society and built the episode from there. Out of the first season, this was the weakest I thought, but only because the concept felt slightly wasted on a weaker plot.

Star Wars: The Last Jedi [2017] spoiler review

Previously on Star Wars...

...Starkiller Base has been destroyed.  Everyone waived a happy goodbye to Rey, Chewbacca, and R2-D2 as they made their way to find Luke Skywalker in the Millennium Falcon.  As Rey stood pensively in front of Luke, calling him back to adventure, our journey temporary ended before the next chapter could begin.

In the "The Last Jedi", while Rey was making her way to Luke's location, the EMPIRE, I mean the First Order decided to STRIKE BACK back which is what they pretty much do during the entirety of the movie.  I don't understand while the First Order pursues the last of the Resistance in open space until they run out of gas.  That's it.  That's what seriously happens until the final act.

So what happens between full tank and empty?

1)  Storyline A:  Rey and Luke

Luke doesn’t want to train Rey but she sticks around anyway because where else is she going to go. Luke finally decides to train her by teaching her three lessons. The lessons include why the Jedi must end. He makes some compelling arguments but it becomes a little hard to follow because at the same time Rey is going through her own personal journey within herself, telepathically speaking with Kylo Ren, and sometimes plot from the other storylines get in the way.

Eventually, Rey leaves the island to confront Kylo Ren to save him from the dark side because Luke will not. Yoda shows up in puppet force ghost form which looks pretty horrible special-effects wise.  Yoda make some valid points and Luke decides to participate.

Luke is somehow able to project himself across the galaxy to confront his nephew and former student whom he essentially created him accidentally through fear.   Ultimately the confrontation is just a distraction so the last of the Resistance can get away and Luke becomes one with the Force.

2)  Storyline B:  Finn and Rose

These two have an adventure on Canto Bight, the casino planet, where they happen to meet a guy (Benicio Del Toro) that can break in and out of places who helps them and then betrays them. Finn fights Captain Phasma and then she dies.  So her character ends up being as meaningless as her appearance in The Force Awakens.

3)  Storyline C:  The Resistance 

Leia, Poe and what's left of the Resistance are on the Resistance cruiser a.k.a. the Raddus as I mentioned earlier going from full to empty.  While on the ship, we are treated to a mutiny between newly appointed leader Admiral Holdo (Laura Dern) and Poe Dameron.  Thankfully Poe gets a lot more screen-time, but he appears to have learned none of his lessons from in the comic book, but that all takes place before TFA, so I guess he just forgets.  I will give him a pass as he's just as impatient as the audience wondering what the hell is going on as they wait for death while the gas runs out.

Overall,  I know I've mentioned a lot of negatives, but there were some positive things that happened as well if you read between the lines.  At the end of the day, the light met the dark and I left the theater liking it, but not loving it.  I'm sure it'll grow on me just like TFA did after multiple watches.

For now, I'll give it 3 out of 5 stars.

Thoughts before seeing The Last Jedi

12/14/2017  9:00 AM

Thoughts 10 hours before seeing "The Last Jedi" -

"The Force Awakens" had a huge task ahead of itself two years ago.  Not only did it have to recapture the Star Wars magic of the original trilogy, but it had to bring in a fresh story that felt familiar but new.  Monetarily, it succeeded in spades, but after the wonder wore off, the criticism really began.

First and foremost, the original trilogy is far from perfect, but using it as our baseline, it was what we wanted as an audience.  We were actually given what we wanted - so much in fact that "The Force Awakens" felt very close to "A New Hope" where many claimed it to be just a rehash.  I saw the similarities, but at its core, "The Force Awakens" was about Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn, and Poe and the movie just so happens to have Han, Leia, and Luke in it.

Remember those guys?  Han, Leia, and Luke?  Yeah, it's the ones we care about.  And what did we get?  Han was killed, Luke was in it at the end for two minutes and says nothing, and Leia was pretty much sidelined as she hadn't acted in years and was very rusty.

So the focus was thrust upon the new characters and they did a decent job of keeping us intrigued, but it wasn't the story we wanted.  We wanted to see what our original trilogy heroes and what they have been up to all these years since "Return of the Jedi."  Yoda told Luke to pass on what he had learned.  Leia and Han were together and peace appeared to have been restored to the galaxy.  So what happened next -- a huge time gap happened.

Unfortunately, due to real life, the actors who play the ironic original trilogy characters aren't young anymore and they represent the old generation.  Disney decided that it was time for a new one.  Disney even removed the number VII from all marketing materials and VIII isn't present anywhere that I've seen.  This is a continuation of the Skywalker story, but it's almost as if they aren't even acknowledging it publicly.

So fast forward to present day and "The Last Jedi" is mere hours from being experienced for the first time.  With everything in the back of my mind, I need to check myself.  This story will be about Rey, Finn, Kylo, Poe, and new comer Rose.  This story will happen to have Luke and Leia in it.  Will Han even be mentioned or lamented?  As I sit with my thoughts I am worried.  I'm worried that we won't get what we wanted again.  I'm sure there will be similarities with "The Last Jedi" when compared to "Empire" and "Jedi" which one can clearly do using footage from the trailers, but is this going to be a story I will care about?  Once the wonder wears off and the dust settles, how will I feel?

Star Wars Opening Day Reminiscing 2017

ANH - May 25, 1977;  I was not yet born.
ESB - May 21, 1980;  Again, I was not born, but my parents said they saw it so I had a womb with a view :)
ROTJ - May 25, 1983;  I was 2 years old, so my parents didn't take me because I was too young (and probably wouldn't sit still).
TPM - I didn't see it at midnight, but I did go three times on Wednesday, May 19, 1999 at 10AM by myself, 4PM with my girlfriend and her friends, and 10PM with my best friend, Ernest at the Loews Cineplex, Stroud Mall, Stroudsburg, PA.  I was in high school at the time, and I was 18 so I could sign myself out with a parental note.  My mom wrote me a note for the front office to excuse me for a dentist appointment, but I saw no dentist at 10AM that day.
AOTC - I saw it @ midnight on May 16, 2002 with five or six college friends at the Regal Cinema 14, Easton PA.
ROTS - I saw it with my brother and sister @ midnight on May 18, 2005 at the Cinemark 20, Moosic, PA.  My brother and I waited in line for 8 hours and we were probably 10th or so in line. My sister showed up later to reap the benefits.
TFA - Because of theaters selling early and site crashes, I was only able to get non reserved seats, so my brother, sister-in-law, wife, (and Ernest who came later) waited in line 5 hours at the UA Main St Theatre 6, Manayunk, PA. I packed sandwiches and bottle water for us while we waited on December 17, 2015 for the 7PM showing.
R1 - I won tickets to see it Wednesday, December 14, 2016 @ UA King of Prussia 16 and saw it with Ernest.  My wife, Ernest's wife, my brother and sister in law saw it on opening day December 15, 2016 at AMC in Plymouth Meeting, PA - reserved seats, no wait!
TLJ - Reserved seats have been purchased for wife and Ernest at Movie Tavern, Exton, PA @ 7PM for Thursday December 14, 2017.

After compiling and reminiscing, I realized that I have not seen any Star Wars movies in the same theater opening night. It's always been a different theater.  Funny.  I wonder where I'll see Solo.

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them [2016] review

Characters:

In the lead role, we don't have Harry Potter, but a man by the name of Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne).  Based on his previous bodies of work I wasn't sure if I'd like him as the main character, but overall I thought he did an ok job.  Jacob (Dan Fogler), baking entrepreneur, stole the show for me especially at the end.  I would have appreciated a little more dialogue and banter between the two of them to enhance their budding friendship, but it never fully got there.  Newt did admit to Jacob that most people didn't like him and it's fairly obvious why because of Newt's eccentric ways.  I understood that his behavior was intended for his character, but it didn't do him any favors for the audience to care about him.  I wanted to care.  I wanted to care about his beasts.  His primary relationship and concern was with his beasts, to be sure, but the movie didn't do anything to make you care about them save for the twiglike creature that could pick locks. 

As for the two main females, Tina and Queenie, sadly they were only integral to the plot in the simplest terms.  Tina (Katherine Waterston) didn't really pick a stance on how to play her role and just came off weak and disjointed.  Queenie (Alison Sudol), while very one dimensional, was surprisingly crucial at two specific moments in the film.  It made me appreciate her as a character even though I didn't fully understand what she did for a living and what purpose she served in the overall new yet familiar Harry Potter universe.  Overall, they felt under-used and valued and when it came to the scene where Tina's mind was going to be erased or something, I didn't feel vested.

The Barebones were the epitome of creepy and I know I should care about the abuse of Credence (Ezra Miller), but I couldn't get there because the characters were so weird and uninteresting.  Maybe it was the haircut, but I had no sympathy towards any of the children, especially since they appeared to be against magic users and I am a fan of magic users, especially the ones that do good.

As for Graves (Colin Farrell), the President (Carmen Ejogo), and the rest of the MACUSA, none of them showed any warmth or caring and they were simply operating on their own unknown agenda that was kept from the audience until the final act when it was too late to sympathize or commiserate.  Up until the final act their decisions and actions were confusing and misguided.  Some breadcrumbs and explanations along the way would have been nice.

Story:

Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them conjures an image in my mind of thestrals, dragons, centaurs, trolls and other creatures previously introduced in the Harry Potter universe.  So why should I care about them and why would I want to find them?

So far, J.K. Rowling has done a successful job in making me care about an owl, a phoenix, a hippogriff, and even a giant spider when it passed away.  Sadly, this movie doesn't really make me care about any of Newt's beasts, and most of the creatures are just a means to an end.  So to what end?  Is that at least interesting?

Well the premise of the movie is that "something" is terrorizing 1920s New York.  Things are even more dark and grim than the already dark and grim set pieces.  Towards the end of the second act, it is finally brought to light that MAYBE something from Newt's case is the cause of the terror.

So what is the movie doing in the first act concerning the beasts?  Well it's telling you were to find them - they're all in Newt's briefcase.  The first act also name drops Grindelwald via a newspaper and maybe he's mentioned one other time and that's it.  The movie is afraid to mention his name because ultimately it's revealed that he's behind the attack.

So did Grindelwald somehow lure Newt to New York as part of his plan?  No.  It just seems to be by happenstance.

Strip away the beasts, and what you really have is a story about an Obscurus.  What is an Obscurus?  After all the character-lack-of-development and the childlike method of catching escaped beasts, we finally learn that an Obscurus is created when a child is forced to suppress his/her magical abilities.  Keeping it all bottled up inside will create a powerful dark force within the child.  At a certain age, I believe it's said to be 10 years old or younger, the Obscurus will explode onto the scene killing the child and creating havoc.  It is revealed that Newt found an Obscurus in an 8 year old in his travels and he was able to extract it, but the child died regardless.  The Obscurus is shown in a frozen floating bubble in a specific part of his briefcase where all his beasts are kept.

At the end, we learn that the child named Credence, believed to be a squib, is so powerful that he was able to contain his Obscurus well beyond the age of 10.  Graves, who has random contact with this boy, doesn't realize until it's too late and Credence takes the form of the Obscurus and back and forth while wreaking havoc all over Manhattan.

It's also revealed that Tina was demoted as an Auror as she helped Credence once and she had an obsession with the 2nd Salem-ers.  Guess they should have listened to her in the first place right?  Anyway, she's able to calm the boy down and he gets destroyed by the MACUSA who all look the same in their brown leather coats and hats.  Graves is revealed to actually be Grindelwald in disguise and he's taken away.

Again, in the third act it's revealed that Grindlewald's plan all along was to use the Obscurus to inform the No-Maj/Muggle world of the existence of magic and in the end his plan succeeded.  So how to fix it?  Well Newt references something from earlier where he has a potion or poison from one of his creatures that will act as an Obliviate spell.  He uses his one giant hawk like beast to spread the poison into the atmosphere which dispenses it via a rain storm.  As everyone's mind gets wiped (not sure what happens to those not touched by the rain), the MACUSA fixes the broken buildings.

I didn’t know this at the time, but read online that a sliver of Credence survived so see ya in the sequel I guess.  Newt has an awkward goodbye with Tina and Jacob who was Obliviated with the rest of Manhattan is able to open his bakery thanks to an anonymous donation from Newt.  Queenie enters the shop, Jacob freezes, rubs the back of his neck and smiles.  We get a happy ending, but the ride there wasn’t the best execution.  With a muddy story and lackluster characters, this isn’t a great start to a new series of stories.  I do want more and hopefully we’ll get more about Grindelwald, his connection to Dumbledore, which will hopefully enrich the Harry Potter universe with interesting characters and stories.

Spider-Man Homecoming [2017] Non Spoiler review

1) A lot of "Marvel" movies get flack for their lack of a good villain. Michael Keaton was my favorite part of the movie and I enjoyed his performance more than Tom Holland's.

2) Tom did a fine job, but I would say I enjoyed the choreography, cinematography, and his general quips in Civil War more than anything in Homecoming. It's not that Homecoming was bad, I just felt they could have added a few more acrobatics and maybe a few more POV shots. Nothing really jumped out at surprising and maybe that's a product of the trailers giving away too much.

3) Even though this movie isn't a Spider-man origin story, there are still moments that felt that way which is a tiny negative. We do have a 15 year old sophomore Peter who is a little whiny but thankfully he not full or angst and crybaby-esque like Maguire or Garfield, so that was very much appreciated. Tom/Peter is still slightly awkward as expected, but he's kind of graceful about it, like a swan in roller skates.

4) I did find myself smiling throughout so it was a fun ride overall with very little lulls. I don't recall any moments where it dragged. There was some good humor sprinkled throughout.

5) Small gripes: I felt Happy was used a little too much and Zendaya wasn't needed in this film.

FYI:  Two end credit scenes. One after the cartoony "ball room blitz" credits before the black and white scroll ones start AND one at the very end that is a must see.