I thought about taking one of my dumbbells and dropping it on my foot. Just to make something hurt more than my head from watching this pretentious piece of shit. The best thing I can say is that at least it's not nominated for best screenplay or best acting. This is so pretentious. I actually stopped paying attention after an hour (that may be generous); lucky for me, there was another hour and forty-five minutes to go, because director Denis Villeneuve does not believe in editing. I thought the same thing about Sicario and Arrival. If these weren't 'on the list', then I never would have watched any of them, and sadly, they weren't the little surprises I sometimes get when watching an unexpected film. Anyway, I have no desire to try and give you a synopsis of the film, because I don't care and it's so ridiculous, I couldn't if I wanted to. All I can say is, thank goodness for my free rental from Redbox.
2/18/18 Star Wars: The Last Jedi, nominated Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, 2017
First: this movie has been out since December 15, and it was pretty much sold out at a major, first run theater. That's over two months. I was hoping the theatre would be empty, but alas, not only was it not empty, I sat next to a woman who was pretty much ready to set up camp in her seat, and then used her GD phone with about 30 minutes left in the movie. I finally said, "Seriously, can you turn it off?" "In a minute." WTF? Human beings survived without mobile phones, hell, regular phones, for millennia, you honestly can't wait? And, I'm pretty sure she wasn't a brain surgeon or any other kind of life saving career person. Just a guess. Okay, I'm good now.
Second: I may have mentioned this before, I have seen all of the Star Wars movies, some even multiple times, but by no stretch of George Lucas' imagination, am I a Star Wars expert. The things that send rabid fans into a frenzy general escape me, and I still sleep really well at night. So, whatever it was that set off fans two months ago, I don't have a clue; what I do know is the movie was really long, too long.
Here in this installment of what Wikipedia describes as an "epic space opera", Rey (Daisy Ridley) meets Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on an isolated island where Luke used to train Jedis. Meanwhile, the rebellion is under a lot of stress and not doing very well, as hotheaded Poe (Oscar Isaac) leads rebel forces to destroy a dreadnought, but ultimately loses a significant number of fighters. General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is trying to lead the Resistance fighters to safety, but the lead ship (which she is on) suffers a devastating hit, that puts her in sick bay. On the First Order side (the baddies) Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Adam Driver) is wrestling with the angel and devil on his shoulder as he is still under the control of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Back with the Resistance, Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (a new character, played by Kelly Marie Tran), are off on a mission to find a code to do something that will save the universe, but in an effort to make the movie longer, it doesn't work. I don't know, trying to give you a synopsis of this is crazy. What I did enjoy, and wish director/writer Rian Johnson would have spent more time on, was Luke's relationship with Rey, more Jedi training. I have heard so many mixed things about the movie, which clearly has not deterred anyone from seeing it, that I kept waiting for something that was going to really annoy me, and it didn't happen. My expectation for any Star Wars movie is good action, great effects, a little bit of comedy, a diverse cast: black, white, Asian, alien, male, female, and a stirring score by John Williams. Notice, I didn't mention a great, deep story line. I certainly enjoyed this a lot more than Blade Runner 2049. It was a little sad to know that Carrie Fisher wouldn't be in anymore films (unless it's from repurposed footage). Sorry for the less than detailed review, but if you're a fan, you've already seen it and would probably tell me all of the things I got wrong or missed, and if you're not, then you most likely don't care, and have already stopped reading.
2/18/18 Star Wars: The Last Jedi, nominated Best Original Score, Best Sound Editing, Best Sound Mixing, Best Visual Effects, 2017
First: this movie has been out since December 15, and it was pretty much sold out at a major, first run theater. That's over two months. I was hoping the theatre would be empty, but alas, not only was it not empty, I sat next to a woman who was pretty much ready to set up camp in her seat, and then used her GD phone with about 30 minutes left in the movie. I finally said, "Seriously, can you turn it off?" "In a minute." WTF? Human beings survived without mobile phones, hell, regular phones, for millennia, you honestly can't wait? And, I'm pretty sure she wasn't a brain surgeon or any other kind of life saving career person. Just a guess. Okay, I'm good now.
Second: I may have mentioned this before, I have seen all of the Star Wars movies, some even multiple times, but by no stretch of George Lucas' imagination, am I a Star Wars expert. The things that send rabid fans into a frenzy general escape me, and I still sleep really well at night. So, whatever it was that set off fans two months ago, I don't have a clue; what I do know is the movie was really long, too long.
Here in this installment of what Wikipedia describes as an "epic space opera", Rey (Daisy Ridley) meets Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) on an isolated island where Luke used to train Jedis. Meanwhile, the rebellion is under a lot of stress and not doing very well, as hotheaded Poe (Oscar Isaac) leads rebel forces to destroy a dreadnought, but ultimately loses a significant number of fighters. General Leia (Carrie Fisher) is trying to lead the Resistance fighters to safety, but the lead ship (which she is on) suffers a devastating hit, that puts her in sick bay. On the First Order side (the baddies) Kylo Ren/Ben Solo (Adam Driver) is wrestling with the angel and devil on his shoulder as he is still under the control of Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis). Back with the Resistance, Finn (John Boyega) and Rose (a new character, played by Kelly Marie Tran), are off on a mission to find a code to do something that will save the universe, but in an effort to make the movie longer, it doesn't work. I don't know, trying to give you a synopsis of this is crazy. What I did enjoy, and wish director/writer Rian Johnson would have spent more time on, was Luke's relationship with Rey, more Jedi training. I have heard so many mixed things about the movie, which clearly has not deterred anyone from seeing it, that I kept waiting for something that was going to really annoy me, and it didn't happen. My expectation for any Star Wars movie is good action, great effects, a little bit of comedy, a diverse cast: black, white, Asian, alien, male, female, and a stirring score by John Williams. Notice, I didn't mention a great, deep story line. I certainly enjoyed this a lot more than Blade Runner 2049. It was a little sad to know that Carrie Fisher wouldn't be in anymore films (unless it's from repurposed footage). Sorry for the less than detailed review, but if you're a fan, you've already seen it and would probably tell me all of the things I got wrong or missed, and if you're not, then you most likely don't care, and have already stopped reading.
