It was pretty good, some dialogue I wasn't fond of.
The actors were all great which is what I care about most.
I'm annoyed we're seeing Phantom Zone villains again. But at least it's not Zod... yet.
As the show finds it's feet, let's hope things get much better.
Monday, October 26, 2015
Bringing Balance to The Force
The Phantom Menace first mentions the prophecy of the one who would bring Balance to The Force. Later episodes begin throwing the idea of destroying the Sith into that.
Then Yoda says in Episode III "A prophecy that mis interpreted could have been", and indeed it was, while what Obi-Won says to Anakin after he defeats him on Mustafar implies he thought the Prophecy had failed, most SW fans agree Anakin's turn was part of the Prophecy's plan all along, or at least always an option for it.
Where I differ from most is that most do seem to be under the impression that the prophecy wasn't fully fulfilled until Return of The Jedi. It is interpreted as being that bringing Balance to The Force required destroying both orders. And I myself had fallen into that trap in the past.
The conclusion I have come to is that the Prophecy is never discussed in the Original Trilogy because it is irrelevant to that Trilogy. It was 100% fulfilled by the time the credits rolled at the end of Episode III.
We are never shown exactly what the Prophecy says in the movies, I don't know or care if any EU work ever does. The Sith are not connected to the Prophecy at all when we're introduced to it. I frankly think the Sith were inserted into how it was interpreted possibly between Episodes I and II (in universe) simply because the Sith returned at the same time this Chosen One was found.
Common sense says that when we have hundreds or thousands of Jedi and only two Sith, that the dis-balance is in the Jedi's favor therefore it was their order that needed to be destroyed. But they blinded themselves to the possibility that they themselves were the problem.
When Revenge of The Sith ends we have exactly two Sith and two Jedi left, and two New Born force sensitives who's fates are undecided. I know EU material skews those numbers, but going off the actual Six Episodes that is how it was perfectly balance when the Prequels ended.
One of the Criticisms of the Prequels is that it was Jedi overkill, but that was intentional. The order is larger then it was ever meant to be.
Through out the Prequels the Jedi are not what they were meant to be. The non Military aspects of their function became forgotten most of the time. And by Episode III they were headed into dark territory with the situation they were forced into.
But even before we entered Episode I, the fact that they take children away from their parents and raise them to be soldier monks at such a young age is a major ethical problem, yet even in Episode V Yoda is still thinking that was Ok, that Luke is too old, when he should have realized starting Anakin's training so young was the problem, and Luke's age was in fact the ideal age to start.
The Jedi Order blamed the Dark Side clouding things for their inability to use it properly. But was that really the sole reason? Maybe they should have considered that they'd spread the Light Side way too thin.
Prequel haters are a lot like Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry hated that the Star Trek stories people actually liked don't fit his idealized Utopic vision of the Federation. Prequel haters likewise hate that the Jedi order we saw didn't fit the idealized view of it they got from how the OT seemed to describe them. The difference is, with Star Wars the Prequels were the creator's true vision all along, but the simpler story was easier to introduce people to the world. Not unlike how the late Third Age of Middle Earth was a lot simpler then the First Age.
Obi-Won and Yoda were remembering things through rose tinted glasses. And people forget even going off the OT alone they were WRONG about what needed to be done to defeat the Sith. Luke went against their advice in trying to redeem to his Father and succeeded. They wanted Luke to simply fight and kill both Vader and The Emperor, and there was really no way he could have done that. So if they can be wrong about the future, they can be wrong about the past.
Return of The Jedi if anything was an undoing of what the Prophecy achieved, now things are out of balance again. How does this effect The Force Awakens? For one thing I think the Knights of Ren being created to fill the void left by the Sith's destruction was inevitable.
When the title was first announced people complained "The Force doesn't Sleep", But I've been thinking, since the Dark Side was always more active, the Jedi being more purely reactive, perhaps in a sense The Sith being destroyed did make it become somewhat dormant, and now the Knights of Ren are waking it back up.
Then Yoda says in Episode III "A prophecy that mis interpreted could have been", and indeed it was, while what Obi-Won says to Anakin after he defeats him on Mustafar implies he thought the Prophecy had failed, most SW fans agree Anakin's turn was part of the Prophecy's plan all along, or at least always an option for it.
Where I differ from most is that most do seem to be under the impression that the prophecy wasn't fully fulfilled until Return of The Jedi. It is interpreted as being that bringing Balance to The Force required destroying both orders. And I myself had fallen into that trap in the past.
The conclusion I have come to is that the Prophecy is never discussed in the Original Trilogy because it is irrelevant to that Trilogy. It was 100% fulfilled by the time the credits rolled at the end of Episode III.
We are never shown exactly what the Prophecy says in the movies, I don't know or care if any EU work ever does. The Sith are not connected to the Prophecy at all when we're introduced to it. I frankly think the Sith were inserted into how it was interpreted possibly between Episodes I and II (in universe) simply because the Sith returned at the same time this Chosen One was found.
Common sense says that when we have hundreds or thousands of Jedi and only two Sith, that the dis-balance is in the Jedi's favor therefore it was their order that needed to be destroyed. But they blinded themselves to the possibility that they themselves were the problem.
When Revenge of The Sith ends we have exactly two Sith and two Jedi left, and two New Born force sensitives who's fates are undecided. I know EU material skews those numbers, but going off the actual Six Episodes that is how it was perfectly balance when the Prequels ended.
One of the Criticisms of the Prequels is that it was Jedi overkill, but that was intentional. The order is larger then it was ever meant to be.
Through out the Prequels the Jedi are not what they were meant to be. The non Military aspects of their function became forgotten most of the time. And by Episode III they were headed into dark territory with the situation they were forced into.
But even before we entered Episode I, the fact that they take children away from their parents and raise them to be soldier monks at such a young age is a major ethical problem, yet even in Episode V Yoda is still thinking that was Ok, that Luke is too old, when he should have realized starting Anakin's training so young was the problem, and Luke's age was in fact the ideal age to start.
The Jedi Order blamed the Dark Side clouding things for their inability to use it properly. But was that really the sole reason? Maybe they should have considered that they'd spread the Light Side way too thin.
Prequel haters are a lot like Gene Roddenberry. Roddenberry hated that the Star Trek stories people actually liked don't fit his idealized Utopic vision of the Federation. Prequel haters likewise hate that the Jedi order we saw didn't fit the idealized view of it they got from how the OT seemed to describe them. The difference is, with Star Wars the Prequels were the creator's true vision all along, but the simpler story was easier to introduce people to the world. Not unlike how the late Third Age of Middle Earth was a lot simpler then the First Age.
Obi-Won and Yoda were remembering things through rose tinted glasses. And people forget even going off the OT alone they were WRONG about what needed to be done to defeat the Sith. Luke went against their advice in trying to redeem to his Father and succeeded. They wanted Luke to simply fight and kill both Vader and The Emperor, and there was really no way he could have done that. So if they can be wrong about the future, they can be wrong about the past.
Return of The Jedi if anything was an undoing of what the Prophecy achieved, now things are out of balance again. How does this effect The Force Awakens? For one thing I think the Knights of Ren being created to fill the void left by the Sith's destruction was inevitable.
When the title was first announced people complained "The Force doesn't Sleep", But I've been thinking, since the Dark Side was always more active, the Jedi being more purely reactive, perhaps in a sense The Sith being destroyed did make it become somewhat dormant, and now the Knights of Ren are waking it back up.
Sunday, October 25, 2015
Shadow Play, Pretty Little Liars, Season 4, Episode 19
I wasn't doing TV reactions on this Blog yet when that episode aired. It's one I feel like commenting on now.
This won't be an in-depth analysis like you'd get from BrosWatchPLLToo or Heather Hogan or Jacob Clifton. Just some things I want to say about it.
Lots of TV shows do Noir episodes. But they're usually more Neo-Noir style flanderizations of the genre. And I don't dislike those, I loved Smallville's Noir episode (which was titled Noir) from season 6 and the K-Pop music video Poison.
Shadow Play is different however, it really does feel like a recreation of a classic Film Noir. Spencer has a major Lauren Bacall vibe.
One specific classic Film Noir it draws on is Laura. Which it does pretty well.
But what also makes it fun is being an inversion gender wise, for this Noir story most of the cast is female with only two males. Some of our ladies dress like classic Femme Fatales, but the Femme Fatale role is really Ezra.
Obviously PLL fans have seen it. But I think even people who wouldn't normally like PLL should check out this episode if they're fans of the classic Film Noirs, it really does them justice.
This won't be an in-depth analysis like you'd get from BrosWatchPLLToo or Heather Hogan or Jacob Clifton. Just some things I want to say about it.
Lots of TV shows do Noir episodes. But they're usually more Neo-Noir style flanderizations of the genre. And I don't dislike those, I loved Smallville's Noir episode (which was titled Noir) from season 6 and the K-Pop music video Poison.
Shadow Play is different however, it really does feel like a recreation of a classic Film Noir. Spencer has a major Lauren Bacall vibe.
One specific classic Film Noir it draws on is Laura. Which it does pretty well.
But what also makes it fun is being an inversion gender wise, for this Noir story most of the cast is female with only two males. Some of our ladies dress like classic Femme Fatales, but the Femme Fatale role is really Ezra.
Obviously PLL fans have seen it. But I think even people who wouldn't normally like PLL should check out this episode if they're fans of the classic Film Noirs, it really does them justice.
Wednesday, October 21, 2015
If Rey isn't a Jedi I will be let down
Leaving aside for a minute all the other things that concern me about the Force Awakens. (Those other concerns wouldn't really be disappointments to me because I never felt I was promised otherwise, which I suppose is sad in and of itself.)
The one thing that I always liked was that Daisy Ridley seemed from very early on to be the lead. Her very look implied she was Han and Leia's daughter and thus the one who will be carrying on the Skywalker legacy. Having a female Jedi as the lead this time was the one thing I felt would be truly refreshing.
When we started seeing all that stuff with Finn having a Blue Lightsaber, the thought I might have been misled briefly entered my mind, but there is no reason Rey can't be a Jedi also. The Prequels had two Jedi per movie.
One theory that popped into my head then was about Rey's staff, which became prominent in promotional material about the same time. That parts of it would detach to reveal a Lightside version of the double bladed Lightsaber. It's be a great symbolic way to show the new Jedi aren't as stagmatic and stuffy as the old PT order that needed to be destroyed to bring balance to the force.
The mystique around Rey's character had me thinking she was already trained in the force, but for some reason was rejecting it. That she was Han and Leia's daughter but had been in training with Luke. And the events of this movie will force her to bring out her Lightsaber. And untill I noticed something I missed I felt the full Trailer had strengthened that.
The Trailer has that line about "There are stories about what happened" and I liked that, the idea that things had fallen in legend. But then I realized it was Rey who said it, which effectively killed the above theory. If she is a Skywalker/Solo she doesn't know she is.
And I heard a Podcast recently saying even if she is a Solo that doesn't necessarily mean she becomes a Jedi, she could be like Leia in the OT. And that is exactly what I was excited we were NOT getting again, that it wasn't gonna be a third round of the female lead only being the Politically important character/love interest like Padme and Leia were.
Getting a Black Jedi does not make up for being denied a female Jedi. The PT gave us Mace Windu, the most prominent female Jedi they gave us was the one who gets killed without a fight on the planet with the glowing flowers. And yes I know Clone Wars and the EU have more, but the Films are what's truly Canon.
Boyega being in the main 3 on it's own is more then Black characters had gotten before. And as I said I'm fine with him being a Jedi so long as Rey is one too.
A female Jedi is what Star Wars needs right now. What the world needs, and anything I might dislike about TFA I could forgive if it gives me that.
The second teaser showed a Lightsaber being handed to a female, the voice over had people thinking it was Leia but the hands looked too young to be Fisher's to me. Right now that is my only remaining hope that Rey will be a Jedi.
If I finish the movie and it seems firmly settled with Finn as the only Jedi, I will not be bothering with Episodes VIII or IX. Yes I suppose one of the new characters in those could be a female Jedi or Sith/Knight of Ren, but I'd have to see them actually use a Lightsaber in the trailers or Posters in order for that to sucker me in again.
In-spite of my misgivings, I've decided if I can afford it I will see TFA this December, if for no other reason just to spite those idiot racists threatening to boycott over Boyega.
I suppose there is a chance I'm setting myself up to be a hypocrite, to become exactly what the PT haters were, whining that I didn't get exactly what I expected/wanted.
No matter how I feel about Episode VII, even if, and this is a really big stretch, I wind up hating it even more then I hate Superman Returns. I will never begrudge those who like it, I will express my opinion, but I will never tell people who like it they are part of what's wrong with society for being so easily pleased. In the past I had been a dick to SR fans, I was a hypocrite then, but I grew out of that.
The one thing that I always liked was that Daisy Ridley seemed from very early on to be the lead. Her very look implied she was Han and Leia's daughter and thus the one who will be carrying on the Skywalker legacy. Having a female Jedi as the lead this time was the one thing I felt would be truly refreshing.
When we started seeing all that stuff with Finn having a Blue Lightsaber, the thought I might have been misled briefly entered my mind, but there is no reason Rey can't be a Jedi also. The Prequels had two Jedi per movie.
One theory that popped into my head then was about Rey's staff, which became prominent in promotional material about the same time. That parts of it would detach to reveal a Lightside version of the double bladed Lightsaber. It's be a great symbolic way to show the new Jedi aren't as stagmatic and stuffy as the old PT order that needed to be destroyed to bring balance to the force.
The mystique around Rey's character had me thinking she was already trained in the force, but for some reason was rejecting it. That she was Han and Leia's daughter but had been in training with Luke. And the events of this movie will force her to bring out her Lightsaber. And untill I noticed something I missed I felt the full Trailer had strengthened that.
The Trailer has that line about "There are stories about what happened" and I liked that, the idea that things had fallen in legend. But then I realized it was Rey who said it, which effectively killed the above theory. If she is a Skywalker/Solo she doesn't know she is.
And I heard a Podcast recently saying even if she is a Solo that doesn't necessarily mean she becomes a Jedi, she could be like Leia in the OT. And that is exactly what I was excited we were NOT getting again, that it wasn't gonna be a third round of the female lead only being the Politically important character/love interest like Padme and Leia were.
Getting a Black Jedi does not make up for being denied a female Jedi. The PT gave us Mace Windu, the most prominent female Jedi they gave us was the one who gets killed without a fight on the planet with the glowing flowers. And yes I know Clone Wars and the EU have more, but the Films are what's truly Canon.
Boyega being in the main 3 on it's own is more then Black characters had gotten before. And as I said I'm fine with him being a Jedi so long as Rey is one too.
A female Jedi is what Star Wars needs right now. What the world needs, and anything I might dislike about TFA I could forgive if it gives me that.
The second teaser showed a Lightsaber being handed to a female, the voice over had people thinking it was Leia but the hands looked too young to be Fisher's to me. Right now that is my only remaining hope that Rey will be a Jedi.
If I finish the movie and it seems firmly settled with Finn as the only Jedi, I will not be bothering with Episodes VIII or IX. Yes I suppose one of the new characters in those could be a female Jedi or Sith/Knight of Ren, but I'd have to see them actually use a Lightsaber in the trailers or Posters in order for that to sucker me in again.
In-spite of my misgivings, I've decided if I can afford it I will see TFA this December, if for no other reason just to spite those idiot racists threatening to boycott over Boyega.
I suppose there is a chance I'm setting myself up to be a hypocrite, to become exactly what the PT haters were, whining that I didn't get exactly what I expected/wanted.
No matter how I feel about Episode VII, even if, and this is a really big stretch, I wind up hating it even more then I hate Superman Returns. I will never begrudge those who like it, I will express my opinion, but I will never tell people who like it they are part of what's wrong with society for being so easily pleased. In the past I had been a dick to SR fans, I was a hypocrite then, but I grew out of that.
What if Killer Frost is actually Caitlin from another Earth?
That's a theory I've been thinking of.
You may think "that's be a cop out" but no, nothing done with the Caitlin we know at all hints at her going down a Dark Past.
If someone had watched Season 1 of Smallville genuinely ignorant of the Superman mythos, that Lex Luther had the potential to turn to the dark-side was still obvious.
Same with the Star Wars Prequels, even if you showed them to someone who legitimately knew nothing about the OT, the foreshadowing on Anakin's potential dark future was still there.
And even using a non Prequel example, Faith in Season 3 of Buffy, she was set up as the Dark Slayer from the start. But she didn't turn evil till the season was like 2 thirds over.
Caitlin Snow is a much more obscure figure, people who are ignorant of her being a villain in the comics are not so rare. To any of them the Caitlin we've been following suddenly turning evil would seem like an ass pull.
I don't have any particular reactions to the latest episode. It was good.
You may think "that's be a cop out" but no, nothing done with the Caitlin we know at all hints at her going down a Dark Past.
If someone had watched Season 1 of Smallville genuinely ignorant of the Superman mythos, that Lex Luther had the potential to turn to the dark-side was still obvious.
Same with the Star Wars Prequels, even if you showed them to someone who legitimately knew nothing about the OT, the foreshadowing on Anakin's potential dark future was still there.
And even using a non Prequel example, Faith in Season 3 of Buffy, she was set up as the Dark Slayer from the start. But she didn't turn evil till the season was like 2 thirds over.
Caitlin Snow is a much more obscure figure, people who are ignorant of her being a villain in the comics are not so rare. To any of them the Caitlin we've been following suddenly turning evil would seem like an ass pull.
I don't have any particular reactions to the latest episode. It was good.
Tuesday, October 20, 2015
Star Wars: Into Darkness
I've seen a lot of people praising how Abrams has been revealing so little in the trailers for The Force Awakens, Like BrosWatchPLLToo. And in so doing being quite condescending to people who would like more to be revealed. Saying this is how it should be.
Problem is, this is in fact the exact same thing Abrams did with Star Trek: Into Darkness. Choosing to never actually reveal who the Villain was before it came out.
The thing about that is I felt confident all the people speculating it was Kahn were wrong, because to me there was no logic in hiding it if it was Kahn, making who the villain is a twist would be worth it if it was someone hardcore Trek fans knew but not so much the general public, or at least a villain who'd never been in a movie before. Of if you did want to do it with an Icon like Kahn then don't give away that the villain is a mystery, he should have promoted the film with the stuff about the movie's other Villain then Khan being relevant could make a decent twist but still not a great one.
Now I don't hate Into Darkness as a movie, when I finally saw it on DVD I found it better then I expected. But like the prior film I like far less, it still did not feel a True Trek film to me, and what was Trekish about it was all via rehashing what came before. Like Nemesis it aped Wrath of Kahn, and the things about the movie that weren't like TWOK, dealing with corruption in Starfleet, felt like a DS9 plot being done with pale imitations of TOS cast. But I can understand why the general Public thought that was something Trek never explored before, and maybe Abrams was one of those.
I know the trendy thing online is to complain about Trailers revealing too much. Well I did a post on that before, and I guess you can consider this a follow up.
When a movie is supposed to breath new life into an old franchise, I want to be reassured there will be something truly new. I don't want to know the whole plot, but some reassurance that the movie isn't running solely on mechanically churning out more of what we've seen before.
Jurassic World's trailers kept plenty from the audience, but made it absolutely clear we were seeing something different. And it was able to provide that Nostalgia factor at the same time.
So what I've learned from Into Darkness is that trailers trying too hard to hide what the movie is about, are hiding that they have no real creativity. And TFA being the same director means it's not likely to be an exception.
I'm a Prequel fan, I don't care if TFA throws any bones for Prequel fans, I've said before the test of the new Movie is if it can bring in new fans. But what that does make me though is someone who can provide somewhat more of an outside perspective on these trailers. The people who worship the OT as God's Gift to Mankind keep going on about how these trailers were soooooo awesome and mind blowing. To me the teasers were adequate teasers, but for a full trailer this latest one did not strike a cord with me at all. I can honestly say I'm less sure I'll bother to see the movie then I was yesterday.
I know, people love to mock those who threaten to not see something. Well I'm not making any threats, I'm just saying I have opted out of seeing sequels to movies I liked in theaters often. And right now I might not be able to afford to see TFA even if I 100% wanted to. I greatly fear I may lack the finances to see BvS in March, which is the movie I want to see more then any other. So I may very well decide not to waste money on a film in December that is sending me all the wrong messages.
So far all I get from the trailers is a bunch of obvious OT Nostalgia , a female lead who was clearly cast at least partly for her resemblance to Portman and Fisher, two villains who people think are "Soooo Cool" because they were masks, just like Vader and Boba Fett. And some narrators saying lines they clearly wish they had Alec Guinness to say.
The only things remotely innovative are the Cross Guard Lightsaber, a few new Droid designs, and having a male lead who's African American. I find it interesting how all the people complaining about Boyega being Black are also Prequel haters. It reaffirms my suspicions that Prequel haters simply hate change.
Problem is, this is in fact the exact same thing Abrams did with Star Trek: Into Darkness. Choosing to never actually reveal who the Villain was before it came out.
The thing about that is I felt confident all the people speculating it was Kahn were wrong, because to me there was no logic in hiding it if it was Kahn, making who the villain is a twist would be worth it if it was someone hardcore Trek fans knew but not so much the general public, or at least a villain who'd never been in a movie before. Of if you did want to do it with an Icon like Kahn then don't give away that the villain is a mystery, he should have promoted the film with the stuff about the movie's other Villain then Khan being relevant could make a decent twist but still not a great one.
Now I don't hate Into Darkness as a movie, when I finally saw it on DVD I found it better then I expected. But like the prior film I like far less, it still did not feel a True Trek film to me, and what was Trekish about it was all via rehashing what came before. Like Nemesis it aped Wrath of Kahn, and the things about the movie that weren't like TWOK, dealing with corruption in Starfleet, felt like a DS9 plot being done with pale imitations of TOS cast. But I can understand why the general Public thought that was something Trek never explored before, and maybe Abrams was one of those.
I know the trendy thing online is to complain about Trailers revealing too much. Well I did a post on that before, and I guess you can consider this a follow up.
When a movie is supposed to breath new life into an old franchise, I want to be reassured there will be something truly new. I don't want to know the whole plot, but some reassurance that the movie isn't running solely on mechanically churning out more of what we've seen before.
Jurassic World's trailers kept plenty from the audience, but made it absolutely clear we were seeing something different. And it was able to provide that Nostalgia factor at the same time.
So what I've learned from Into Darkness is that trailers trying too hard to hide what the movie is about, are hiding that they have no real creativity. And TFA being the same director means it's not likely to be an exception.
I'm a Prequel fan, I don't care if TFA throws any bones for Prequel fans, I've said before the test of the new Movie is if it can bring in new fans. But what that does make me though is someone who can provide somewhat more of an outside perspective on these trailers. The people who worship the OT as God's Gift to Mankind keep going on about how these trailers were soooooo awesome and mind blowing. To me the teasers were adequate teasers, but for a full trailer this latest one did not strike a cord with me at all. I can honestly say I'm less sure I'll bother to see the movie then I was yesterday.
I know, people love to mock those who threaten to not see something. Well I'm not making any threats, I'm just saying I have opted out of seeing sequels to movies I liked in theaters often. And right now I might not be able to afford to see TFA even if I 100% wanted to. I greatly fear I may lack the finances to see BvS in March, which is the movie I want to see more then any other. So I may very well decide not to waste money on a film in December that is sending me all the wrong messages.
So far all I get from the trailers is a bunch of obvious OT Nostalgia , a female lead who was clearly cast at least partly for her resemblance to Portman and Fisher, two villains who people think are "Soooo Cool" because they were masks, just like Vader and Boba Fett. And some narrators saying lines they clearly wish they had Alec Guinness to say.
The only things remotely innovative are the Cross Guard Lightsaber, a few new Droid designs, and having a male lead who's African American. I find it interesting how all the people complaining about Boyega being Black are also Prequel haters. It reaffirms my suspicions that Prequel haters simply hate change.
Monday, October 19, 2015
The Force Awakens Trailer
I force myself to sit through Football in order to watch it.
Didn't really reveal anything new.
Once again it does a good job of appealing to OT Nostalgia, which doesn't much effect on me being far more nostalgic for the Prequels, but it does what it sets out to do.
Finally hearing the new Character talk some was interesting. My only hope is that this trilogy will have more shades of grey to it then the OT.
If Episode VII is to simplistic, I won't bother with VIII or IX theatrically.
Didn't really reveal anything new.
Once again it does a good job of appealing to OT Nostalgia, which doesn't much effect on me being far more nostalgic for the Prequels, but it does what it sets out to do.
Finally hearing the new Character talk some was interesting. My only hope is that this trilogy will have more shades of grey to it then the OT.
If Episode VII is to simplistic, I won't bother with VIII or IX theatrically.
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