So, guys. You may remember, I was not a fan of that first trailer for Star Trek Beyond. I was ready to punch the monitor, it was so bad. During Christmas vacation, forget all the contentious Christmas dinner conversation topics like politics and religion. When my brother brought up the Star Trek Beyond trailer, I was ready to flip the table. How dare they reduce Star Trek to just another big dumb space adventure.
I wasn't the only one who hated it. Scotty himself (and the film's co-writer) Simon Pegg wasn't a fan. Even the film's director, Justin Lin, didn't like it. Like me, he had a problem with Capt. Kirk doing sick wheelies on a dirt bike. Shortly after the trailer's release, I read an interview with him where the interviewer singled out that scene. "I know, I know!" said Lin. "I didn't like it, either. [The studio] made me put that in cuz I'm the Fast and the Furious guy." (Lin was the director of The Fast and the Furious 3 thru 6.)
Well, we got our second trailer. And this one...well, I hate this one less.
This feels more like the continuation of J.J. Abrams' rebooted universe, and not a Big Dumb Space Action Film. I like the new struggle they're giving Kirk. He's now as old as his father was when his father was killed...is he really on his own path, or just following his father's? And as brief as it is, I love the quick scene between Spock and Bones about the nature of fear and death. I've been hoping for a while that we'd get some of that classic Kirk/Spock/Bones trinity in these films...hopefully that's a harbinger.
We're getting a bit of an official plot synopsis, too. The last film ended with the Enterprise setting out on its historic five year mission of exploration. Well, we catch up with the Enterprise about three years in, and the crew's starting to get a touch of cabin fever. And then, they're attacked by an unknown alien and left stranded on a deserted planet. It's up to our crew to survive and figure out how to stop this new evil, bent on destroying the Federation. Idris Elba plays the leader of this new evil, Krall, and his sidekick, the female alien in all the trailers, Jaylah, is played by Sophia Boutella (the assassin Blades in Kingsman: The Secret Service.)
Star Trek Beyond hits theaters on July 22.
And that's not the only that premiered over the long weekend that caught my eye. Next stop on Disney's live-action remake train, Beauty and the Beast.
I haven't made a lot of stops on Disney's live-action remake train. I saw Alice in Wonderland because I like Tim Burton (sorry, Burton, but not one of your best), and I saw Cinderella because it piqued enough of my interest (it was pretty good). Still on the fence about going to see The Jungle Book, but the reviews are so good, I may break down and see it.
Anyway, Beauty and the Beast. Composer Alan Menken, who wrote the music and co-wrote the songs for the original animated movie 25 years ago, has said that this is NOT an adaptation of the Broadway musical, so none of the newer songs he co-wrote with Tim Rice for the Broadway musical are in the movie. That being said, Menken and Rice are again re-teaming to provide new songs for the movie, and Menken will once again be doing the score.
Makes sense to me. I read an interview with South Park co-creator Trey Parker about whether he'd ever adapt his hit Broadway musical The Book of Mormon for the big screen. Parker said that, one thing he learned about making movies and Broadway musicals is how completely different they are, so rather than adapt The Book of Mormon, he would just rebuild it completely for the screen. Seems to me that's what they're doing with Beauty and the Beast.
Oscar-winning director Bill Condon is directing. Condon won his Oscar for writing Gods and Monsters in 1998, but he directed it, too. He also directed Dreamgirls and the recent elderly Sherlock Holmes adventure Mr. Holmes. For our live-action cast, Hermione Granger herself Emma Watson is Belle, Dan Stevens (Matthew Crawley on Downton Abby) is the Beast, Luke Evans (Bard the Bowman in the Hobbit trilogy) is Gaston, Josh Gad (Olaf the snowman in Frozen) is Gaston's sidekick LeFou, and Kevin Kline is Belle's father Maurice. For the living objects, Ewan McGregor is Lumiere, Ian McKellan is Cogsworth, and Emma Thompson is Mrs. Potts.
I'm really diggin' this trailer. Much like the first teaser for Cinderella, this is more concerned with focusing on the iconography of the original, rather than flooding us with money shots. Really curious to see what the live-action Beast will look like. In our days of CGI, I guess it's too much to hope for a Jim Henson's Creature Shop animatronic creation. And that opening music from the original animated film still gives me goosebumps.
Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about the many movies I own. Here, we reach a point that I long feared would come...I start repeating myself. On August 8, 2015, I would up doing The Last Unicorn, again. And in case you're wondering how the story ends, yes, I did finally get a new Blu-Ray player on Boxing Day.
Well, the frequency of my blogs about exploits in the big city is about to increase, as we're entering the summer blockbuster season. As I've said to others over the years, about my only career goal is to eventually get to a market with a movie theatre, just so I'm not looking at a 1-hour drive whenever I want to see a movie. Oh, how nice it would be to just hop on the bus and go to the movies after work! But then, which such convenience, I would be deprived of the chance to have adventures!
Like this one.
It began like any other. Having recently spent $1000 in repairs to my car, I am somewhat paranoid about how well my car will perform on the highway. I always spend a few minutes before hitting the road checking the tires, checking the oil, checking everything I know how to check, and then gently petting the dashboard and saying, "You gonna get me there and back, sweetie?" Yes, I talk to my car. I blame it on having seen Herbie the Love Bug too many times when I was a kid. And besides, as Dr. McCoy said to Data about the starship Enterprise, "Treat her like a lady, and she'll always bring you home."
I went on down the road, and made it to city limits with nary an incident. First stop, some of the big department stores. As I've blogged in the past, I don't feel bad about spending a lot of money in the city as long as I buy at least one thing I need. And I was in need of a new pair of shorts.
Let me be blunt: I hate pants. Pants suck. And now, in these warm summer months, whenever I get home from work, first thing I do is ditch the respectable and grown-up pants, and put on some nice comfy shorts. But, my penchant for evening walks is not nice on the shorts, and I'm wearing out too many pairs. I found a pair I liked, at a price I liked, and tossed them into my cart.
Now. Onto foolish purchases. Over to toys for Star Wars action figures! With The Force Awakens still going strong, there's lots of new product to collect. And through my websites, I heard that they finally released the one figure I'd been wanting: Force Awakens Han Solo. (Trying really hard to stop calling him "Old Han Solo.")
And not only did I find Han Solo...but Force Awakens Leia!
Again, as one of my websites pointed out, it should be General Leia, and not Princess Leia, but whatever. And Han's got his parka from when they launched their assault on Starkiller Base. Perfect! The only thing that gave me pause is, as you can see in the photo, they're part of the "Black Collection," which is their pricier, geared-to-collectors action figure line. But still, they were the last ones on the shelves, so they're mine now!
Next up, because it's just not a trip to the city without picking up a new Blu-Ray, had to grab Deadpool. I kinda liked Deadpool in theatres, as did most of the world. The X-Men pantheon of films, Deadpool had the lowest budget, but was the highest grossing. And besides, with so many superhero films these days, I think the world is primed for a great superhero spoof. And with The Tick becoming an Amazon original, the next best thing is Deadpool's constant, fourth-wall breaking commentary.
But I hate how superhero films get so...reactionary to whatever's popular. Deadpool was rated R, so right away it was announced, "Well...Batman v Superman is going to have an R-rated director's cut!" I still believe the only reason why we're getting Suicide Squad is because Guardians of the Galaxy hit big, so DC wanted their own quirky super-team. *grumble grumble* Don't chase the trends, and just do what's right for the characters.
I had trouble finding the other Blu-Ray I wanted, so I decided to head on down to HMV in West Edmonton Mall. Whenever I go to HMV, I just have to take a moment to look around and ponder how much it changed. When its current location opened up in 1999, it was considered game-changing. All two levels was nothing but CDs. There were isolated rooms dedicated to country music, rap, EDM, and each one had that style of music playing on the speakers. There was an on-site DJ looking after it all. But these days, the rooms are gone. The store is, like, 25% CDs, 25% movies, and 50% pop culture collectables. But still, it's got one of the wider selections of movies out there, and I find it's one of the better places to go to for harder-to-find stuff...at least in the mainstream.
Except for this one I was looking for. A clerk asked me that classic question, "Are you finding everything alright today?" And rather than shun human contact like I usually do and mumble, "Yeah, I'm fine," I decided to take advantage of this offering of assistance.
"Yeah, I'm looking for the new 20th anniversary edition of Independence Day. Do you have it?"
The clerk took me over to the sci-fi films, where they had the regular version of Independence Day, but not the new 20th anniversary edition. So, off to the customer service desk to check the computer. The clerk punched in some numbers, and there was much hand-wringing, and another clerk took a look, and more hand-wringing, and finally the manager was called over, and the manager spoke to me. "Umm, yeah, it came out last week, but we just didn't order it in for some reason." Don't know why there was much hand-wringing and summoning of the manager over that, but hey, I worked retail. Customers b cray-cray.
The manager asked what was new about the 20th anniversary edition, so I got to give the manager the sales pitch to order it in. The 20th anniversary edition of Independence Day has all the previous bonus features of every other DVD and Blu-Ray release, along with some new ones to promote Independence Day: Resurgence. It finally has the director's cut -- with 10 minutes of extra footage -- in hi-def. And, of course, the digital copy. The manager seemed suitably impressed, and asked if I'd like the store to call me when it comes in. I explained that I lived outside the city, so I'd try again next time I'm in town.
Besides, it was kind of good that they didn't have it. I was already fretting having spent too much money on the Star Wars figures. And going through the Blu-rays in my "to-watch" pile, I've got Deadpool, and I just got a free copy of the Jungle Book from Disney's rewards program, and I'm re-watching every Batman movie, so there's a lot on my plate. Well, actually, on my coffee table, because that's where I keep my "to-watch" pile. A co-worker recently remarked that he was stunned that I have yet to see such recent Oscar winners as Whiplash and Birdman. It's because I can't stop buying Blu-Rays and construct "to-watch" piles. Trust me, though, Whiplash and Birdman are in my Netflix "to-watch" pile...which I'll get to, someday.
And speaking of "to-watch" piles, #1 on my theatrical "to-watch" pile was Captain America: Civil War.
Civil War is so much fun you guys! I love seeing Spider-Man in this. Spider-Man alongside the rest of the Marvel universe is just sooooo right. And Tom Holland, our new Spider-Man, is so good.
That's what I like about this film. It's an ensemble. It's got a huge cast of characters, but no one feels wasted. Each one has a purpose. Each one has an arc. Each one has a moment to shine and showcase their powers. Perhaps the best one, though, is Black Panther. His introduction is the major subplot, and he comes across really well.
The main plot: because of all the collateral damage that our heroes have caused in their previous films, it's felt that they need some kind of oversight to make them accountable. Hence, the Sokovia Accords, which would turn the Avengers into a task force, answering to a special UN committee. Tony Stark/Iron Man is in favour, as he still feels a lot of guilt over having created Ultron and pretty much caused the damage we saw in the last Avengers film. Steve Rogers/Captain America is against it, because he doesn't want the Avengers to be turned into a tool of shifting political agendas. Aggravating the situation is when Cap's old friend and sidekick Bucky, turned into the HYDRA operative the Winter Soldier as seen in Captain America: The Winter Soldier, is implicated in a terrorist attack. Cap goes rogue to bring in Bucky alive and get to the bottom of things, and Iron Man is sent to bring him in. With their own teams of Avengers loyal to their cause, can Captain America and Iron Man survive each other?
SPOILER WARNING. No they can't. When these two do have their final fight, it's so hearbreaking, because you know it's one of those fights that friends have that there's no coming back from. And when the villain and his plot is revealed, it's so simple and so brilliant.
But it's still fine. The right wisecrack and the right moment. Ant-Man's revelation of his new powers. "Did you ever see that really old movie The Empire Strikes Back?" My favourite Easter egg comes early in the film, when Tony Stark is giving the commencement address as MIT. The directors -- the Russo Brothers -- did a lot of episodes of Community, so it's fun to see that MIT has a very familiar dean.
It was a good day in the city, and now, it was time to head home. The car looked OK, and I gently asked her if she'd take me home, and she did. It was a good day, a good adventure, and I saw a good movie.
Wow! I’ve been away for a month! What happened? Well, as is my
tradition, the first break in the podcast is explaining what occupied my
weekend’s past that prevented me from doing it. So, yeah. Tune in for
that! What else do I ramble about?
Well, I just came home from Captain America: Civil War, so there’s my rants about that. I caught last year’s Fantastic Four reboot on Netflix, so my thoughts about that. And growing excitement for X-Men: Apocalypse. Huh. I guess I could have called this one Make Mine Marvel.
Here we are again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly rambling about one of the many DVDs and Blu-Rays I own. This time out, we get to a classic from my childhood that's not talked about that much anymore...The Black Stallion. This is in my notes at August 8, 2015.
Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, bloggin' about the movies I own. We get to the end of the Back to the Future trilogy with Back to the Future Part III. This is originally in my notes at July 5, 2015.
Time to roll out another installment of U62: The Targ! This time out, I’ve got quite few things to talk about, so that’s what I do. What am I talking about on Episode 9.06: The Adventures of Clippy McGoo?
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I wind up blogging about one of the many movies I own and re-watch from time to time. I'm currently going the Back to the Future trilogy, so right now, we're on Back to the Future Part II. This was in my notes at July 4, 2015.
Well, now that my life is returning to some sense of regularity,
shall we try to get podcasts out on a regular basis? I don’t have much
to ramble about in Episode 9.05: Just Another Saturday, but I have a few things to ramble about nonetheless. What are my rambles?
Well, Star Wars: The Force Awakens is now on Blu-Ray, so I’ve watched it again and have some new thoughts to share.
So when Disney bought Lucasfilm a few years back and announced their grand plans for the Star Wars franchise, one of the most intriguing was the announcement of the standalone films. These films would be set outside the main saga of Episodes I thru however many Disney feels like making, and tell some of the other stories that happen in this universe. "It's about thinking of the Star Wars universe as a setting, not a saga," was one of the phrases bandied about when they started going into depth on this. Of course, it's not new. For precedent, we've got the Clone Wars movie and cartoon, and the Ewok TV movies of yore. The umbrella title the Disney came up for this expanded universe was Star Wars Anthologies. Some where along the way, though, they simplified it to Star Wars Stories. And, we just got the first trailer for this first Star Wars Story, Rogue One.
Rogue One tells one of the most speculated-about stories in the Star Wars universe: taking place shortly before Episode IV, it details the Rebellion mission to steal the plans to the Death Star. The story itself was hatched by legendary ILM visual effects artist John Knoll, and fleshed out by screenwriters Gary Whitta and Chris Weitz. Gareth Edwards, director of 2014's Godzilla reboot, came on board to direct. In one of the earlier interviews about the project, Edwards mentioned how this is grittier than the rest of Star Wars: "No one cares about the Force...there's no Jedi swooping in at the last minute to save you."
Not much is known about our cast of characters yet. The only whose been named so far is the one named in the trailer, Jyn Erso, played by Felicity Jones. She'll be leading a ragtag group of Rebel commandos on this mission, including Oscar-winner Forest Whitaker, Hannibal himself Mads Mikkelsen, Hong Kong action legend Donnie Yen, and Wash from Firefly, Alan Tudyk. Of course we need villains, so we get Ben Mendelsohn as an Imperial admiral.
Watching the trailer today, I was amazed at how much the actress playing Mon Mothma looks like the original actress from Return of the Jedi. A quick search online reveals that that actress is Genevieve O'Reilly, and she actually played Mon Mothma in Revenge of the Sith, but her scenes were cut!
In this trailer, there's definitely much to like. They play up some of the classic Star Wars imagery quite well. That scene of the Death Star's dish being lowered into place. The Imperial Walkers marching along the landscape. But we do get a few new things too, like some funky new Stormtrooper design and that one guy taking out a Stormtrooper with some martial arts moves.
In all honesty, I'm having a little bit of trouble getting excited for this one. I think I'm still on a massive Force Awakens hangover. I'm older now...I need more time to recover before the next Star Wars party comes along. If anything, I think we're going to see Star Wars hype level out from here on out. Force Awakens was very much like Phantom Menace in the "OH MY GOD!!! IT'S BACK!!!" mentality in the advertising.
I'm cautiously optimistic. Like I said, there's a lot of good-looking stuff in that trailer, but I need to take to Tylenol, crash on the couch, and wait for The Force Awakens to finish passing through my system.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story hits theatres on December 16.
Here on Fishing in the Discount Bin, I kinda hate tackling my absolute favourite movies, because I never know what to say. But, I keep watching them, and I keep trying. I'm embarking on the Back to the Future trilogy, and I'm starting at the beginning with Back to the Future. This is in my notes at July 4, 2015.
The first few hours of Wednesday morning went pretty well. Got up, had breakfast, on the computer checking the morning news, and since I was already planning on seeing Batman v Superman come the weekend, I went ahead and bought my tickets online. Went downstairs, started up the car to go to work, and something strange happened.
The "battery" light came on. I'd never seen that light come on before. So of course, it threw me into a full-blown panic. Leafing through the owner's manual, it recommended I shut off everything: no fan, no radio, no nothing. So I did that, successfully drove into work, and I obssesed on it all day. Made for a great radio show, though, as I shared my woes on the air and got a few good calls from the shadetree mechanics in the region telling me how I could fix it myself, but I decided not to dick around with it. Next day, I'd take it into the shop.
Holy moly! What happened to me? Where did I go? How come I haven’t done a podcast in 6 weeks or so? Well, as Jeff Goldblum said in Jurassic Park,
“Life finds a way…to get in the way of your hobbies.” (I may be
paraphrasing.) Well, I had my first weekend to myself in a while, which
was the perfect time to sit down and record Episode 9.04: Mark v Cheeseburgers — Dawn of Obesity. What do I ramble about?
Well, i go into the specifics of what happened to me.
I just got home from Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice, so some off-the-cuff thoughts.
In fact, off-the-cuff thoughts on all the superhero TV shows on TV these days.
And International Women’s Day a few weeks ago had me reminiscing about the women’s studies course I had to take in college.
All this in Episode 9.04: Mark v Cheeseburgers — Dawn of Obesity
Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly ramble about one of the movies I own and have recently watched again. Here we go with one of the biggest bombs of last year, Jupiter Ascending. This was in my notes at July 1, 2015.
Here we are again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin, blogging about a movie I own. This time out, we get to last year's super-awesome spin on superspies, Kingsman: The Secret Service. This is in my notes at June 28, 2016.
Here we go again, with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about the many movies I own. What can I say? Blogging about them gives me some justification for owning so many. Anywho, after doing The Lost World: Jurassic Park last time, I browsed through my notes and figured, "Hey! Let's skip ahead to October 25, 2015 and do Jurassic World." So, here we are.
Welcome back to Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly rant about one of the many movies I own. Today, we tackled Jurassic Park's lesser sequel, The Lost World. This is originally in my notes at June 7, 2015.
Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about one of the movies I own. Today, we get to a film where I constantly amaze myself at how much I love it: Jurassic Park. This is originally in my notes at June 6, 2015.
Hey! The Oscars are tonight, and as I lay on the couch fighting off one hell of a flu, I realized I haven't done my annual tradition of blogging my Oscar Picks! Of course, I've been doing this ever since I launched by website way back in 1997, so the tradition must continue!
Continuing the tradition I began on my college radio show back in the day, my Oscar Picks are a little bit different. I only do my picks in the categories that I have a good track record in predicting: Best Visual Effects, Best Original Song, and Best Animated Film. So let's get to it, shall we?
My Thoughts: Wow! So many good choices this year. We had The Martian re-creating Mars, The Revenant with all manner of computer animated animals, and Ex Machina with hot androids. But there is no question who's going to take it this year. If there's one thing that people marveled at in Mad Max: Fury Road, it was a return to practical effects work, and big beautiful stuntwork, with the addition of CGI to enhance. If Mad Max gets at least one win, it has to be here.
My Thoughts: For the first time in a long time, this category is full of a bunch of nominees I've never heard of! Anomalisa is a stop-motion animated drama from the guy who did Being John Malkovich about a self-help author who has an affair in a hotel one weekend...Boy & the World doesn`t have much of a plot description on Wikipedia, but it`s Brazilian. I'm mildly surprised that Shaun the Sheep Movie got a nomination, but I shouldn't be, as Aardman Animation is an Oscar favourite, as is Japan's Studio Ghibli, which is why their final film When Marnie Was There no doubt got nominated. And, perpetual Oscar favourite Pixar is represented with Inside Out. Inside Out was a real comeback film for Pixar after slumping for most of this decade, so I think the Oscars are going to reward the comeback.
My Thoughts: Crap, this is a tough one. Whatever happened to the good ol' days when it was just the one from the Disney animated film? I know it's not going to be Writing's on the Wall, as everyone pretty much agrees it's one of the weakest James Bond themes. Your guess is as good as mine.
My Pick: Umm...Fifty Shades of Grey, cuz wouldn't it be hilarious if we could call that film an Oscar winner?
My Thoughts: Wow! I've seen two of the nominees! That's a personal record! It's Mad Max and The Revenant, in case you're wondering. This is one of the most diverse selections in a long time, as even the professional pundits are having trouble selecting a winner. I know they opened it up to more than 5 nominees so that way more mainstream films would get recognized, so it'd be nice if it went to one of the more mainstream ones. I dunno...my gut says The Martian.
Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about one of the many movies I own. Continuing with "Disney animated films based on Disney Afternoon shows" with A Goofy Movie. This was originally in my notes at May 31, 2015.
Well, gang, I’m finally back! Took last week off for the Family Day weekend, and in fact, I mention what I was up to in Episode 9.03: The Meat Sweats. So what ramblings do I ramble this week?
As I mentioned, how I spent my Family Day weekend.
Some off-the-cuff comments on seeing The Reverent and Deadpool.
Pondering what new Blu-Rays to buy
And sampling two — yes two! — different McDonald’s burgers in more Mark Tastes Random Things
Here we go again, Fishing in the Discount Bin, in which I attempt to justify all the time I spend on the couch watching movies by blogging about them. This time out, I do DuckTales the Movie: Treasure of the Lost Lamp. This originally showed up in my notes at May 31 2015.
Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about one of the many movies I own. We're taking a brief look at George Lucas's Ewok TV movies, and today we do The Battle for Endor. This is in my notes at May 15, 2015.
Well, now that I’m back, the real challenge begins: can I keep
things going for an entire series…a minimum of 13 episodes? I’ll do my
best, darn it!
I almost feel like I have to apologize for those who might be tuning
this week after last week’s round table special. We’re back to normal
now. Just me…rambling about the topics I like. And what are the topics
in Episode 9.02: A Windy Day?
More Star Wars rambling of course! Talking about the new action figures that are out there!
The rise of the Cinematic Universe…even Hasbro is getting in on the act!
A bid farewell to 1980s nostalgia, and begin welcoming 1990s nostalgia!
Here we are again on Fishing in the Discount, where I watch one of the movies I own and blog about it. With an itch to watch some Star Wars, I decided to go off the beaten path and watch The Ewok Adventure. This is in my notes at May 5, 2015.
We're back! Time to kick of a new season of the U62: The Targ. And U62: The Targ to start this new season, I decided to do something radically different.
As you know from my blog and my podcasts of last year, I was really, really, REALLY excited for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. But rather than spend the entire podcast talking about what I thought of The Force Awakens, I decided to follow one of your suggestions as to the podcast: invite in some guests.
In Episode 9.01: The Force Awoke, I invite some of my colleagues to join me, Matthew Jemmett and Mark McCue, to also share their thoughts The Force Awakens. We've been obsessing about this film for the past year, so may as well all share our thoughts on the film!
I am going to throw up a bit of a language warning for this one. While I have sworn in previous podcasts, in this one, we all swear a lot. What can I say? We're very passionate about Star Wars.
Time for another installment of Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog and generally ramble about one of the movies I own. With The Peanuts Movie being pretty good, I thought it was a good time to re-visit the very first Peanuts movie, A Boy Named Charlie Brown. This is in my notes at May 9, 2015.
Here we go again, with Fishing in the Discount Bin...largely an endeavor to make me feel like I'm not wasting my life when I spend Saturday nights watching movies and blogging about them. Time to fire up Christopher Nolan's latest opus, Interstellar. This is originally in my notes at April 19, 2015.
Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly ramble about one of the movies I own and why I like it. Time to cap off The Hobbit trilogy with The Battle of the Five Armies. This is in my notes at April 18, 2015.
I'm starting to buy my movie tickets online more. In one way, that's cool. For the fancier theatres that have assigned seating, you can easily pick your seat in the comfort of your own home, and not worry about the best seats being taken the day of. In the other sense, it ruins spontaneity. Well, in a more accurate sense, it ruins wussing out. When you wake up the day of the film, throw open your curtains, and want to crawl back into bed because it looks like a horrible day outside, dammit, you can't, because you've got movie tickets!
Such was the case yesterday, when I saw the gentle snowfall, the apartment still being a touch messy from Christmas hangover, and started thinking, "Gee, maybe I should stay home and tidy things up." No, dammit! Movie tickets! We're seeing The Force Awakens again!
People really know what I like, as the bulk of gift cards I got this Christmas were for Cineplex. Needless to say, they'll probably be used up by the time the summer blockbuster season rolls around. And I'd been planning on seeing The Force Awakens again, well, ever since a new Star Wars movie was announced. I said in my Christmas card letter that I would have probably seen it three times by now, but I haven't. Just the once. But I'm on my way to rectifying that.
I was a little surprised. Even though The Force Awakens is still making gobs of money, the theatre wasn't as full as it was on opening weekend. Even with assigned seating, I tend to show up a half-hour early to claim my seat, get comfy, and open up any noisy candy packages. In that first half-hour, had the whole theatre to myself for a good 15 minutes. The crowd was a little more active this time out. The first time I saw it, there were cheers for the Lucasfilm logo, then revered silence for the rest of the film. This time, though, cheers for the Lucasfilm logo, cheers for the opening titles, cheers for the first appearance of the Millennium Falcon, cheers for "Chewie...we're home," cheers for Leia's return...cheers for everything.
And that ending... I didn't burst into tears this time, but it definitely hit me like a ton of bricks. (SPOILER WARNING, but it just became the #1 film of all time, so if you haven't seen it yet, tough tiddies.) I'm still having trouble grasping why the ending hits me so hard. I'm just so...happy to see Luke Skywalker again. I mean, like a lot of Gen X'ers, Star Wars is a big part of childhood. One of the first books I remember taking out of the library was The Making of Star Wars. That's where I learned that Luke Skywalker was really a guy named Mark Hamill. Luke Skywalker is really named Mark...I'm also named Mark! I'm halfway to being a Jedi Knight! Dudes named Mark are destined to be Jedi Knights!
Seeing Luke Skywalker on the big screen again, and I go back to being that 7 year old who discovered that Luke Skywalker is just a guy named Mark...like me.
Having thoroughly enjoyed The Force Awakens again, I returned home. I was nervous about returning home, because I knew my evening was to be filled with one of my most fun, stressful things: figuring out new electronics.
I bought a new Blu-Ray player.
I've been blogging about this all autumn. My Blu-Ray player was starting to act up. I'd pop in a movie, and after the loading screen, the screen would go black. Refuse to play. I google the problem, and it'd tell me I need to install the latest update. I google my make and model, and I discovered that no updates have been released in three years. So, time to upgrade.
Of course, as I wandered into Best Buy, with their post-Christmas sales going on and a pocket full of gift cards, I couldn't help but feel guilty. There are so many other things I need more in life, such as the top worry in my life, new tires for my car. That being said, with post-Christmas sales and Christmas gift cards, this looked like the best opportunity to grab one. Going over the shelf, it looks like every major manufacturer makes two different models of Blu-Ray players these days: one with wi-fi, and one without. May as well go for the wi-fi model, because it'll mean one less wire in the rats nest behind my TV.
When I returned home that night, I gently opened up the box on my kitchen table and started going through everything. I hate that you don't really get instruction manuals any more. You get an idiot's guide to hooking it up, and if you want more, you can go download it. Hooking it up was easy, as I carefully removed the old Blu-Ray player and put the new one in its place. The old Blu-Ray player was then retired to my bedroom closet, which has become the graveyard of old electronics. I also have two old TVs, three old DVD players, an old VCR, and now an old Blu-Ray player living out their retirement in there.
I flipped on the new Blu-Ray player for the first time. As expected, once I got it hooked up to the Internet, it took a few minutes to download all the newest updates. I stuck with the same brand as my recently retired one, so the new menu screen didn't look that different. Once it looked like everything was hooked up correctly, it was time to test things out.
First up, The Muppets. It's funny...everyone's complaining about Jurassic World and The Force Awakens being full of nostalgia for the earlier entries, but in the past five years, there's got to be no film more shamelessly nostalgic than The Muppets. Hell, lack of nostalgia is actually a plot point!
This was the first one that started giving the old player trouble. I put in the disc and held my breath. Everything started like with the old player. First the Disney logo, then the menu asking what language I wanted everything to be in. Then...the loading screen. I started to panic. The player was whirring and clicking a lot. Going back to the old days when I had a PC with a 5.25" floppy disk drive. If your drive is making a lot of noise and working really hard, your disk is probably fried. I was preparing for the worst when...the menu screen loaded. The movie started playing. The disk was working. It was working!
Next up, the most recent disc that gave me grief...American Graffiti. I made this discovery about a month ago when I was in the mood from some more George Lucas but didn't want to watch Star Wars again. Probably one of the best movies made about the power of radio, as all our protagonists are cruising the town, connected by listening to Wolfman Jack on the radio. Finally, one of our heroes realizes this and drives to the station on the edge of town to see if the station will broadcast a message to his dream girl, while getting some words of advice from the Wolfman himself. The next film George Lucas would make was Star Wars and he'd forever be trapped by his own creation.
I put the disc in and hit play. With my old player, it went dead after the loading screen. With this new player, what loading screen? It loaded so quickly, that the menu came up almost instantly.
But now, the final test. The widow-maker. The Last Unicorn. I bought Shout! Factory's fantastic Blu-Ray in the fall, but the disc would fry my player so bad, I'd have to cycle the power to get the disc back out. (I learned from the IT guys at work that "cycle the power" is the technical term for "unplug it, wait 30 seconds, and plug it back in.") If The Last Unicorn didn't work, this whole adventure would be for naught.
I put the disc in. I held my breath. And everything worked perfectly.
It looked like this new Blu-Ray player would be a keeper.
Now that I had a fully working Blu-Ray player again, I stretched out to watch Elementary, which I PVR'd on Thursday night and hadn't gotten around to watching yet. I don't know why I still bother with Elementary. What started out as an American knock-off of Sherlock quickly evolved into a fairly routine police procedural.
After being mildly entertained by another Elementary, I went back to fiddling with the new Blu-Ray player, changing the settings to meet my personal tastes, and watching favourite scenes of favourite movies to keep breaking it in.
I'm still kind of bummed about buying a new Blu-Ray player, when there are many more adult things I should be working/saving towards. But I had to seize the opportunity. And at least I can now finally enjoy The Last Unicorn in hi-def.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, where I blog about one of the movies I own. I'm plowing through The Hobbit trilogy, and today I get to movie #2, The Desolation of Smaug. This is in my notes at April 12, 2015.
Here we go again, on Fishing in the Discount Bin. I watch a movie and blog about it. It's just that simple. It's time to start plowing through one of the bigger trilogies of the past few years. It's part I of The Hobbit trilogy, An Unexpected Journey. This is in my notes at April 11, 2015.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly ramble about one of the movies I own. We get to one of my favourite directors, and his most recent opus, Tusk. This is originally in my notes at March 8, 2015.
At the start of the month, I was perusing some of those "geek gift guides" that many websites put together, I discovered that Amazon was releasing an exclusive limited edition version of Christmas in the Stars, aka the Star Wars Christmas album. I immediately thought to myself, "I must have this." A couple of mouse clicks, and a week later, I had my copy.
Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album isn't viewed with as much revulsion as its television counterpart. The album is viewed more as a curio of its time, and celebrated for its kitsch value. Whereas the TV special gets all the heat, the album was allowed to exist mostly unnoticed. I first heard about it in the mid-1990s. I read an article in the paper listing some of the more unusual Christmas albums ever produced, and it was near the top of the list.
Here's a great article I discovered last year detailing how it came to be. The short version is this. There once was a record producer called Meco, who had great success with a disco cover of the Star Wars theme. Naturally, he approached George Lucas about doing another Star Wars album. Since one of the quickest and easiest cash grabs is the Christmas album, Meco pitched a Christmas album. Lucas signed off, and they got to work. Pretty much the only cast member they could afford was Anthony Daniels as C-3PO, so the album revolves around droids. It hit stores in time for the holiday season of 1980 and sold quite well, but sadly, the record label went bankrupt before they could do a second run, and it quickly faded into obscurity. It was re-discovered in the mid-1990s when legendary record label Rhino released it on CD as part of the Special Editions hype.
Needless to say, this has been my holiday jam this year, so I thought I'd just take a moment to go through it track-by-track.
1. Christmas in the Stars
Our kick-off to the album. It's our standard "rushing around, getting ready for Christmas" kind of song, as C-3PO rattles off his Christmas list. It also sets up the loose plot for the album, as R2-D2 and C-3PO introduce us to a group of toy-making droids (whom I'll refer to from here on out as "The Droid Choir") frantically making toys for the mysterious "S. Claus." It's big and broad and evocative of TV specials of the era.
2. Bells, Bells, Bells
In this one, R2-D2 hears some Christmas bells, and beeps that he's unfamiliar with this thing known as a "bell." So, C-3PO bounces into this little ditty describing all the different bells of the world. It's kind of funny as we learn how many simple concepts are alien to R2.
3. The Odds Against Christmas
As we all know, C-3PO loves to calculate the odds, so here he calculates the odds of Christmas being Christmas. It's full of silly rhymes and is kind of mellow. I find it rather "meh."
4. What Do You Get a Wookie for Christmas (When He Already Owns a Comb?)
This is the one track I remember being specifically mentioned in that article where I first learned of the Star Wars Christmas album. That title alone raises eyebrows. This one is sung by the Droid Choir, as they try to figure out what to get our beloved Star Wars characters, but are stumped when it comes to Chewbacca. If there's one thing I learned from the songs on this album -- this one in particular -- the only thing that rhymes with "Wookie" is "Cookie." This is a classic, cash-in kids song, full of silly voices and silly rhymes and general silliness.
5. R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas
And here's where the album gets its biggest claim to fame. C-3PO presents his Christmas presents to R2-D2, which is a choir singing Christmas wishes to R2. And the soloist in that choir is a young man named John Bongiovi, now better known by his stage name Jon Bon Jovi. As the legend goes, his cousin actually owned the recording studio where they cut this album, so his cousin pulled some strings to get the young Bon Jovi on the album, in the hopes it would lead to his big break. It's officially Jon Bon Jovi's first professional recording. It's a fun song, as the kids sing about how much they love R2. I wonder...has any late-night talk show host reunited Jon Bon Jovi with R2 and 3PO to preform it live? Sounds like something Jimmy Fallon would do.
6. Sleigh Ride
After hearing his song from the children, R2 is intrigued by this concept of "singing." So, with some new lyrics to Sleigh Ride, 3PO tries to teach R2 how to sing. Hands down, this is my favourite one in the album. I don't know how much involvement Ben Burtt -- the sound effects guru of Star Wars -- had to do with this album, but they sure get R2 beeping in time with the music just perfectly. I loved watching the Droids cartoon when I was a kid, and I can't help but imagine this a segment in a never-produced Droids holiday special. It just captures the characters of R2-D2 and C-3PO so perfectly, and in a Christmas song, and it's so bouncy and fun.
7. Merry, Merry Christmas
Another one by the Droid Choir, as they sing about some of the toys they're building for kids all across the galaxy. Ya know, it's cute things like a baseball that throws itself, and a toy robot that falls asleep. And even though it's about 17 years before it's time, even Harry Potter's invisibility cloak gets a mention. Much like track #4, it's pure kids album fodder, with silly rhymes and silly voices. Oh, and as a callback to track #4, we find out that you get a Wookie a brush.
8. A Christmas Sighting ('Twas the Night Before Christmas)
Seeing as to how S. Claus always come when the Droid Choir is in low-power mode for the night, the Droid Choir begins to doubt the existence of S. Claus. But, C-3PO restores their faith with the tale of how he saw S. Claus one year, and 3PO reads his own rendition of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas. The classic poem isn't drastically re-written to make it Star Wars friendly, and makes me curious to hear Anthony Daniels do a straight version of the poem. It doesn't reinvent the wheel too much, which is nice.
9. The Meaning of Christmas
Oh! It's time for Linus to call for the spotlight and tell us the true meaning of Christmas. But instead of Linus, the mysterious S. Claus finally shows up. And in our big twist, it turns out that S. Claus is actually the son of Santa Claus. (He explains that there's far too many children in all the galaxies for his father, so he helps out.) Of course, this is a rare opportunity, so 3PO asks S. Claus to explain the true meaning of Christmas. It's funny...reading that article that I linked to up above, the producer's original concept was to have Yoda read the story of the birth of Christ. Two things happened that nixed that idea: Frank Oz couldn't do it, because he was deep in production on the next Muppet movie, and George Lucas vetoed the idea, because he wanted the main religion in Star Wars to be the Force, not Christianity. So, S. Claus tells us the true meaning of Christmas is your standard Christmas special stuff: generosity, kindness, peace on Earth, stuff like that. The longest track on the album at 9 minutes, this could have easily been cut down. But, with its huge orchestral backing, it almost sounds like a rejected Disney renaissance power ballad.
All in all, like most Christmas albums, it's fun, but mostly forgettable. But let's just focus on the fun.
Hey, look! Someone posted it on YouTube, so here it is for your enjoyment.
Well, the day has come. Three short years ago, our collective jaws dropped when it was announced that Disney bought Lucasfilm and they'd be giving us Episode VII in 2015. It's been three manic years of Internet rumours and speculation, and the it is finally here.
Even though it's only been out for two days, I feel like the last person on Earth who's finally gotten around to seeing it. I've gotten tweets and texts from people who were there at the midnight shows, sending me gushing reviews. But the only ones I was looking forward to were from my two best friends.
One currently lives in France, where it premiered on Wednesday, and she's already seen it twice. I saw all the prequels with her. Her succinct review: "I liked it...but it was no Jupiter Ascending."
The other is spending his Christmas vacation in Japan. I really wanted to know his opinion, because during the prequels, he was the biggest Star Wars fan going. His thoughts? "It feels like the first half of a movie...but it's a great first half." I was a little stunned when he said he actually preferred the prequels a little bit. What he loved the most about the prequels was the world-building. He was inspired by those films to read all the novels and comic books and play all the video games because he wanted to know more about this gigantic world that had been created. He was dying to know the back story of every cool-looking background character with just two lines of dialogue. But Force Awakens...not so much.
So I bought my ticket online a few months ago for the Scotiabank Theatre in West Edmonton Mall...the same theatre where I saw all the prequels. What can I say? I'm old and set in my ways. It's just not a Star Wars movie unless that 30 foot tall Yoda hanging from the ceiling is watching over me.
Because of the Disney buyout of Lucasfilm, I was wondering what we'd get to start it off instead of the 20th Century Fox fanfare. I was surprised that it was just the Lucasfilm logo and silence. And then...the classic John Williams music. The title. The opening crawl. And I felt the same giddiness I had in 1999 when I first saw The Phantom Menace: "Holy crap. It's a new Star Wars movie."
I was surprised at how much more emotional this film was. I never really noticed the wooden acting in the prequels that much. But in the Force Awakens, are new characters are so loose and they're talking like real people and the have real struggles and desires...the characters feel real.
I love our new characters. Rey, who's searching for her place. Finn, who has a crisis of conscience. And even our villain, Kylo Ren, who has the struggle that he's not really as evil as he wants to be. How crazy is that? A bad guy who's upset that he's not completely bad.
I felt the same joy I did with Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull: the joy that Harrison Ford showed up. He's not Mr. Sleepy-Mumbles, as he is in all his film these days. He is Han Solo again, and it's magical. And when Carrie Fisher comes back again as General Leia. The nostalgia goes up to overdrive to see them again.
Do I have quibbles? Yeah...the plot is very reminiscent of Star Wars, or A New Hope to some. Same problem I had with the prequels, and even The Hobbit when compared to Lord of the Rings. In franchises like this, there seems to be that desire to match up the story beats with the corresponding film in the previous trilogy. And this matches just a little too closely. And it's great to hear John Williams do new Star Wars music again, but there's no catchy new theme that I find myself humming. (But to be fair, people had that complaint with Return of the Jedi and the prequels...save for Duel of the Fates.)
But when we got that traditional iris out at the end and the end credits start rolling, I did something that I did not expect. Something that the prequels never did to me. I started crying. I started crying, you guys, from a Star Wars movie. I did not expect to get that invested in this film.
It's just so good you guys. So good. Star Wars is back.
Here we go again on Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly ramble about one of the (too) many movies I own. We return to the realm of Disney animation with their 1973 talking animal version of Robin Hood. This pops up in my notes at March 7, 2015.
Wowie wow! There have been so many great new movie trailers released over the past few weeks, as they all jockey for a slot in front of The Force Awakens. Every time I think, "I'm going to sit and blog about this one!" another one comes along and I think, "OK, I'll wait until they're all released and just blog about all of them!"
But one finally came along where I have to put fingers to keyboard and blog about it. And that's Star Trek Beyond.
Even though I'm all obsessed with the new Star Wars coming out this Friday, my first fandom is still Star Trek. In fact, it's because of Star Trek that my hopes for The Force Awakens are somewhat...tempered. "I have faith in J.J. Abrams!" one of my friends commented. My response to that was, "Yeah, last time I did that I got Star Trek Into Darkness."
OK, here's my thoughts on the Star Trek reboot. I love, love love the 2009 reboot. I swear, there's more raw emotion in that pre-credits sequence than in all of the Next Generation films. When I saw it in the theatre, and Michael Giacchino's score swelled, and we saw the Starfleet logo filling the whole of the screen, I got goosebumps. Finally, my beloved Trek was getting the grand, epic big screen treatment I knew it deserved.
And a lot of that is thanks to J.J. Abrams. He admits, he knew nothing about Star Trek when Paramount gave him the project. All he knew was it was the thing with Kirk and Spock. So when Paramount asked him what he'd do, he said, "Kirk and Spock...and how they met?" Brilliant! That's a story that's never been told, and a fresh perspective on the material.
But, I loathe Star Trek Into Darkness. I was willing to forgive it. I was willing to go along with it. But then...one moment happened that pulled me out of the film completely. You know the one I'm talking about, right?
Yup. The death of Kirk and Spock yelling out, "Khan!" What could have been a clever twist on a classic scene from The Wrath of Khan was executed horribly. What happened was they took one of the most poignant death scenes in Star Trek, mashed it up with one of its cheeziest moments, and dropped it into the film with all the subtlety of a Family Guy cutaway gag.
So he got wooed away by Lucasfilm to work on that other franchise with "Star" in the name. Good. After the Into Darkness debacle, some new blood was needed. And we found a new director in Justin Lin, who gave us The Fast and the Furious 3, 4, 5, and 6. OK...not the typical director we were hoping for. But hey...he's got blockbuster experience. And they got Idris Elba to play the villain! He's good in everything! Simon Pegg, Scotty himself, and a bonafide super-fan in real life, got drafted to write the screenplay! He's got geek-friendly writer cred. He's one of the creators of Spaced, after all.
Cautious optimism was winning the day! But then, it dropped. The first trailer for Star Trek Beyond.
No. No. No. No. No.
This is not Star Trek. Where's the Kirk struggling with rigors of middle age, like in Wrath of Khan? Where's Picard, struggling to not get consumed with vengeance, like in First Contact?
There's none of that. Instead we get...dirt bikes? DIRT BIKES? A dirt bike race in a Star Trek movie? Witty one liners? Random guys punching random aliens?
This is not Star Trek. This is Big Dumb Science Fiction Action Movie #378.
As always, here is my annual Christmas newsletter that I send out with my Christmas cards, lest those friends whom I've drifted apart from may be googling my name one night, wondering whatever happened to me.
Good day,
Mark Cappis here, with his annual holiday form letter letting you know all the exciting things that happened to me in the year just ended, 2015! An ancient curse says, “May you lead an interesting life.” In that case, I must be blessed, for my life in 2015 was quite uninteresting.
You’ll still find me up in Westlock, Alberta, as the afternoon host for 97.9 the Range. That’s just half of my job, as the other half is the music director for the Range and our sister station 93.5 Prairie-FM in High Prairie. (“Music director,” for those who don’t know the radio biz, is the guy who actually picks the music a station plays.) The job still throws the occasional challenge at me. For example, we’re getting ready to switch to a new computer system, so I’ve spent the past few months starting to pave the way and get everything ready for it.
In other news, I finally got my car paid off, and with that, am finally debt free. The question now is whether to start building up that debt again by taking on a mortgage and buying a house, or just continue enjoying my little ol’ 2-bedroom apartment.
Did manage to get in a bit of a summer vacation, as I accompanied my parents to the Whitehorse Wildland Provincial Park south of Hinton. Did some hiking, enjoyed the Rocky Mountains, and just enjoyed being in the wilderness.
Perhaps my greatest personal triumph, though, was finally rebuilding my website, chaosinabox.com. While it was originally made with the finest HTML that 2003 had to offer, it was starting to get rather dated. So, with the help of a friend, I installed WordPress (the Internet’s favourite DIY web design software), and burned off two weeks of unused vacation time rebuilding chaosinabox.com. You can actually listen to my podcast streaming at the website now. I recovered and re-posted all of my movie reviews, extending back to 1998, and you can now search and re-read my original blog, which ran from 1999 to 2006.
All in all, it was a quiet year, spent in manic anticipation of the new Star Wars movie, The Force Awakens. It’s in theatres now, and by the time you read this, I’ll probably have seen it three times.
Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and May the Force be With You!
Well, that's become the tradition for me, hasn't it? Spend a day in the city, and sit to blog about it. I'm not really sure I need to get into it that much, because I'm sure that your days in the city are pretty much the same these days: time to do the Christmas shopping. I'm not as far along as I'd like to be. It seems like my past few Saturdays have been filled with Christmas functions I needed to attend on behalf of the station. What's this? Another thing where I have to look pretty and sit at a table that the station got through one of its sponsorship deals and eat free food all in the name of the Company? My job is so hard, you guys.
Well, as fun as those are and as good as the free food is, they do eat up a lot of the Saturdays I'd spend Christmas shopping. However, I have been lucky this year in that I've been able to take care of a lot of my Christmas shopping locally. It's always those one or two things for those hard-to-shop-for people that task me, though. So, off to the city for me, and as always, straight to West Edmonton Mall. As Mom figured out when I was younger, if you can't find it at the Mall, you probably can't find it at all.
As I roamed the Mall, growing more and more crowded in these days leading up to Christmas, I was almost at peace. Whenever I went to the Mall this past year, it was always with an infinite sadness. I'd see so many nice things I wanted, but I know I couldn't afford because of my circumstances, but not this time. Maybe it was because I was so focused on Christmas shopping that I didn't have time to fret. Maybe I have a yuletide faith that things will work out in the end. Maybe I was able to relax because, as I went down my list, I realized I'm further along than I actually thought I was. Either way, this particular round of Christmas shopping was almost relaxing.
Anyway, Christmas shopping is mostly done. Just two items left, and if I can't find them in Westlock, I can snatch them up next week when I'm back in for The Force Awakens.
But before Star Wars, an appetizer. I do so love the animated films of Pixar, and this year we've been blessed with two Pixar films! After Inside Out came out this summer and had us all going, "Pixar is back!" would they be able to continue the streak with The Good Dinosaur?
In an alternate timeline where dinosaurs and humans co-existed, we're introduced to a family of farmers...who are apatosauruses. The youngest one on the farm is Arlo, who's nervous and jittery and afraid of everything. While endearing at first, it starts to get annoying as Arlo gets older. His dad takes him out hunting one day to hep Arlo get over his fears, but Arlo falls into a swift-moving river and is swept miles and miles downstream. Now, it's up to Arlo to make his way home. Joining him is a caveboy he names Spot, and they embark on an odyssey that takes them through many natural disasters, some fanatical pterodactyls, assisting some T-Rex ranchers, and even overcoming their personal losses. Will Arlo finally conquer his fears and make it home?
There's a lot of clever ideas at play. At its core, this film is a Western, and there's a lot of Western tropes at play. I mean, typically in films like this, they make the herbivores the good guys, and the carnivores the bad guys. But the fact that they make herbivores just humble farmers and turn the usually villainous T-Rexes into kindly cowboys is just nice. This is also easily Pixar's most photorealistic film. It takes place in mountainous terrain, and I swear, it looks just like pictures of the Rocky Mountains.
That being said, everything about the film is so basic. It's a fairly basic plot, Arlo goes through a fairly basic character arc. While Inside Out was criticized for being a little too complicated for kids, this goes completely in the opposite direction, and winds up being too simple. It's almost like a bunch of fun Arlo and Spot vignettes that they strung together into a film.
Yeah...at the end, I had the same problem with Brave. It had a lot of great ideas, but they didn't gel into a great movie. 3 Nibs. Complete review on the website.
Well, the requisite blog about the city is done. Time to get back to the Christmas preparation. A Sunday of Christmas cards and Christmas movies on Netflix is in order!
Here we go again with Fishing in the Discount Bin, my weekly blog about one of the movies I own. Time for Disney's lovely animated superhero flick Big Hero 6. This is in my notes at March 1, 2015.
Holy moly, I've hit my 200th installment on Fishing in the Discount Bin! My DVD/Blu-Ray database program tells me I have 800 films, so I guess this means I'm 25% done. And for the big 2-00, what better than one of my favourite films, Independence Day. This is in my notes at February 28, 2015.
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