Countdown to Avengers 4: Captain Marvel

We've gone and done a fourth installment of Countdown to Avengers! That's right, I teamed up with CT, Pax, and Jay to tackle Infinity War, Ant-Man and the Wasp, and Captain Marvel. Let's finish all this with a look at that last one, with some backup from Pax at Cavalcade of Awesome. You can check out all our other posts here.

SPOILERS FOR CAPTAIN MARVEL AHEAD!

Marvel.com

From IMDb:

"Carol Danvers becomes one of the universe's most powerful heroes when Earth is caught in the middle of a galactic war between two alien races."

I'm not sure where to begin with Captain Marvel, Brie Larson's foray into the MCU and the Infinity Saga's penultimate installment (or is it?). I wanted and want to love it. And I basically do, mostly thanks to Larson as the amnesiac superhero Carol Danvers.

But there are flaws. The film takes a while to get going and yet at the same time it zips around and fast forwards when it wants to. A - pretty big - negative for me is that I don't particularly remember a great action sequence. The film's by no means boring in that respect but if we're judging it by thrills and chills there's nothing that stands out. The dog fight towards the end - before Carol gets her powers - was fun, but that could be in any movie. The end when she's taking out tons of Kree ships? It's cool, but it's kind of one-sided. But I'm quibbling here and tons of others enjoyed the film's action.

Sam Jackson was great and it was wonderful to have his Nick Fury back in a big way. I think a big draw of the film was Jackson and the record setting use of Marvel's de-aging tech that's been used to roll back the clock on Michael Douglas, Robert Downey Jr., Kurt Russell and others. He really connected this film to the others in one of the biggest ways possible. It being a prequel really sets it as part of the universe as well. A young Coulson (Clark Gregg) had a similar effect. We get some other tie-ins to the MCU here, namely an unexpected appearance by the Tesseract.

I'd heard going in that Ben Mendelsohn as Talos was great. He was both a compelling villain and - spoiler alert - a standout ally when that reveal came. His roles as both alien and shapeshifter breathed a bit of uniqueness into the MCU.

The story was a little different than what we're used to in the MCU. It was life as usual for "Kree" warrior Danvers until a mission leads her to Earth. We get her piecing her history there back together and the jumbled storyline was fun. A scene where her enemies use tech to scan her memories was particularly unique and memorable. The film both developed some backstory for the MCU and plotted a course for the future and the supporting characters, particularly Jude Law's mentor-to-Carol character, were fun.

I’m curious to see how Captain Marvel fits into the Avengers. In the comics she and Tony have a civil war so that will be interesting. We see her a bit in trailers and the Infinity War credits scene but it's not much to go on. Much has been made about Captain Marvel vs. Thanos - almost as much as Ant-Man vs. his butt. We'll see how powerful she - and the rest of the remaining Avengers - are.

As a side note, there's been an extreme amount of hate directed towards Brie Larson. Like, weird mind boggling, purest-sense-of-the-word-troll kind of hate. I thought about taking a deep dive into that here (and how I don't get it), particularly focusing on oddly obsessive YouTube videos, but I'll spare everyone.

3.5/5

Extra Thoughts from Pax:

This movie is important for what it is and I appreciate that.  For my wife and my daughter and for the other adorable girl that was in my theater wearing the Captain Marvel uniform while she watched the movie.  For that this movie has my undying support.

I think the first half of this movie is kind of a jumbled mess.  It gains more focus by the end, but that first part is really confusing to sit through.  I don’t think the filmmakers they got for this particular movie stuck the landing.  Despite that, I'm actually really looking forward to Captain Marvel’s return in Endgame.  I’m really looking forward to how the Russo Brothers and Markus/McFeely meld this character into the MCU because I think she could be pretty great.  Scratch that, I think she’s *going* to be really great in Endgame.  It’s just tough to see it here in her solo movie.

This movie really leans *hard* on the fact that it takes place in the 90s, and that’s not a criticism.  I loved all of that; the Windows 95 references, Blockbuster Video, the pager.  It's fun, the effects look great.  I loved seeing young Fury and Coulson.  Loved the Flurken.    I appreciate what this movie has now done, even if I didn’t totally love it.  But I very much look forward to the place Captain Marvel will have in the MCU from this point on.

Countdown to Avengers 3: Doctor Strange

Can you believe that we’re doing a third installment of Countdown to Avengers? It seems like it was only yesterday that we teamed up with Nerd Lunch and Cavalcade of Awesome to tackle all the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films (and then some) that lead up to The Avengers. Believe it or not, we’re back, and now we’ve got Jay from Life Vs. Film along for the ride as well.

Whereas that first series of ours was special, this one will be even more epic. It heralds the end - or, at least, the beginning of the end - of this current manifestation of the MCU. Infinity War releases in a matter of days so, without further adieu...2016’s Doctor Strange. Mandatory spoiler warning!

“...Bruce Banner, Stephen Strange, anyone who’s a threat to Hydra!” - Jasper Sitwell, Captain America: The Winter Soldier.

With this mention in an excellent installment in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, the MCU's Doctor Strange was born. The character was and is exciting for me because he's among the crop of new Avengers (who doesn't want to see a New Avengers Movie featuring Ant-Man and The Wasp, Dr. Strange, Spider-Man, Black Panther, Captain Marvel, and others?). I also was (and am) a fan of Benedict Cumberbatch as Sherlock, so I was happy with the casting.

Paul Shipper via IMP Awards

Going into Doctor Strange, I thought quite a bit about the 2007 cartoon movie, Doctor Strange: The Sorcerer Supreme, which explored the character's origin story. That movie really showed me that a superhero's beginning could still be fun. Interestingly, something the live action film didn't touch on was the death of Strange's sister and how it affected him. Although I'm not sure if that's canon and it may have made the film too sad.

The plot in a nutshell: Cumberbatch's Strange is an arrogant and talented surgeon who loses his skills after a car accident essentially destroys his hands. He ultimately travels the globe and to Kamar-Taj to try to fix his hands. He winds up embroiled in a war of sorcery, however.

I do like what they tried to do with Chiwetel Ejiofor's Mordo vis-à-vis making him more of a heroic character, but ultimately he’s a villain and I think he’ll be the main antagonist in the sequel. Maybe they'll go with a sort of reluctant villain as opposed to a mustache twirling incarnation, but the post credits sequence would not suggest that. Put simply, he loses his mind. He just seems disillusioned and heartbroken the last time we see him in the main film, but then when we see him in the post credits scene he's essentially murderous and maniacal.

The film mostly delivered on Strange's potential. The movie in general may be a bit of a "style over substance" situation for me. It had a cool look (one of the Crown Jewels in the film has to be the sequence where The Ancient One (Tilda Swinton) sends Strange on a trip through space, which is his first glimpse of magic in the film) but generic villains, for instance.

Like any MCU film, Strange is rife with connections to other Marvel films. There's a theory about the phone call Strange has just before his accident and the fact that the injuries listed might be mentions of other heroes, particularly Captain Marvel (I have a feeling this isn't the case, however). Wong mentions The Avengers and that's huge, of course. Towards the end Wong also mentions that The Eye of Agamotto is an Infinity Stone, which may be the biggest mention, particularly since Strange later meets Thor, who's been on a journey to find the stones. This scene where Strange meets Thor is great fun and would go on to become part of the immensely successful and popular Thor: Ragnarok. There was some speculation at one point that he would even join Thor and Hulk on the main adventure.

I'm really looking forward to Strange meeting the other Avengers. He wasn't in Civil War and he's only met Thor. We know via the trailers he meets Bruce Banner and Tony Stark and the three of them, along with Wong, gear up to fight someone. We see him interacting with Peter Parker (Spider-Man if you use his made-up name) and Star-Lord. It will be interesting if we get a Sherlock reference between Robert Downey Jr. and Benedict Cumberbatch. We see him being tortured a bit in the trailer and I wonder if that leads to a cool rescue mission on his behalf. See my comments below for some very spoilers thoughts on how Doctor Strange and elements from his films might factor into Infinity War and other MCU films.

Extra Thoughts from CT:

The first time I saw this movie, I came away not overly impressed. But a second viewing really turned it around for me. Not a character I ever connected much with when reading the comics, but one I still liked when he would guest star in books I read.

Strange was mentioned in a throwaway reference during Captain America: Winter Solider which in retrospect, now seems a little odd that a surgeon would be mentioned of all people. I mean, there might be famous surgeons out there, but when you list a set of random high profile people, I would guess a surgeon would not be on your list. Still, despite his arrogance, even then, Hydra had pegged him as a threat. They saw something in him that no one else did for a few years.

As we move closer to Avengers: Infinity War and the conclusion of this phase, we know that the Time stone will certainly play a role. Speculation has suggested we will see some major time travel as a part of the plot for these next Avengers movies. I have not delved into that territory more than what I just mentioned though. Still, it wouldn't surprise me. Time travel is a major plot device that has yet to really be explored in the MCU. Dr. Strange just barely scratched the surface of it.

Also worth noting that even though we see this movie set up plot points for eventual sequels, there is no confirmation of a Dr. Strange 2 yet. Which is surprising to me, but also puts Strange on the potential chopping block as a character to get killed. Personally, I hope not. I think a nice set of three or so Dr. Strange movies would be good. I would love for him to still be active when the FF characters get grafted in (I'm speaking very hopefully) and we see the Real Defenders in a movie together: Dr. Strange, Hulk and Silver Surfer (Namor being the other prominent member but who knows what's up with him).

Spoiler Thoughts:

The Time Stone might come into play in having something to do with Captain America. Also, and I thought this was confirmed, but I think Doctor Strange will wind up being another mentor for Peter in Spider-Man: Homecoming 2.

Favorite Scene Friday! Groundhog Day: Déjà vu

Having finally featured Rick and Morty for Escape-athon last week, it seems we're going with a "I can't believe this hasn't been featured for FSF before!" trend. It's particularly surprising since we at one point did a series on scenes featuring Bill Murray, star of today's featured film. We actually have a good reason for not featuring Groundhog Day before, however...the last time the holiday fell on a Friday was all the way back in 2007, long before we started this blog.

Matt Ryan

Groundhog Day, the film about Phil Connors (Murray) reliving the titular holiday over and over in
Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, is many things rolled up into a nice, neat package. It's an amazing Bill Murray showcase. It's a classic romantic high concept comedy. It popularized the time loop subgenre of science fiction that's been utilized in film and even in TV, as recently as Star Trek: Discovery. The film has really aged into a modern classic, going as far as spawning a Broadway play that Bill Murray famously saw two days in a row (it sadly didn't last).

Our scene this week is the first time Phil relives Groundhog Day. Murray's immediately and effortlessly a smug asshole, but Phil starts to get the sense of something wrong. He quickly goes to the window and sees the day unfolding just as it had the day before. I love that little bit of unsettling music that plays along with that.

Groundhog Day is pretty much wall-to-wall great actors/characters. "Porkchop" - played by Ken Hudson Campbell - is one such character. Billed as "Man in Hallway" his little scream when Phil pushes him up against the wall is perfect. His terrified expression when Phil finally walks away is great as well. This whole bit's great because Phil and the viewer really start to get a sense of the strangeness happening.

Even better than Porkchop, however, is Mrs. Lancaster, played by Angela Paton (sad to learn she just passed away in 2016). Her effortlessly charming "No, but I can check with the kitchen," is one of the best things in this scene.

With all that said, enjoy the scene. Looks like the next Friday Groundhog Day isn't until 2024.

What's your favorite scene from Groundhog Day?

What day would you love to relive over and over? 

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Bonus!

Here's a little recommendation...I recently watched Happy Death Day - a horror version of Groundhog Day, essentially - and it was amazing. The horror genre works so well with the time loop premise so I wonder why it's not used more often. Check out the trailer below.

Escape-athon 2018 Review: The Lovely Bones

The Lovely Bones was a huge blind spot for me. It’s safe to say that I’m a decent Peter Jackson fan. I loved all the The Lord of the Rings films. I trudged through all the The Hobbit films. I’ve even seen Dead Alive. But for some reason the appeal of The Lovely Bones wasn’t enough to get my butt in the seat opening weekend back in 2009. Beyond that, interest dropped off and stayed dropped off. Turns out I wasn't missing much. Spoiler alert! 

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In the film, Susie Salmon (Saoirse Ronan) is murdered by George Harvey (Stanley Tucci). Her family has to move on and Susie observes from beyond the grave.

The main problem with this film for me is that the afterlife scenes - aka, the whole point of the movie - just felt kind of off and disconnected from the rest of the film. They lacked weight and purpose. I actually wrote in my notes that I was somehow more interested in what was happening on Earth. Going in, I expected the heaven scenes would really be the crown jewel of the film. That said, I think it's a testament to how nasty Tucci's character is and how much you want to see him get justice in the end. Tucci makes Harvey absolutely chilling and disgusting.

Surprisingly, one little detail that nagged at me was the cornfield. If you haven't seen the film, Tucci's character builds a sort of secret pit in the neighborhood cornfield and that's where he murders Susie. The problem was, it kind of seemed to be everywhere. It was right next to the school and not far from the Salmon household. Seeing a map actually helped...because it was actually directly connecting the school and the neighborhood.

Another thing that bothered me was the photo rolls. First and foremost, wouldn't the cops have taken them? Susie's dad (Mark Wahlberg) slowly develops all the rolls of film that Susie had used before her death, apparently one roll a month. Why would you parse it out like that? I would think you'd want to develop them immediately because the odds of finding the killer would go down the longer you wait. Unless he wasn't doing it to track the killer?

Another MVP here is Rose McIver playing Susie's sister. She had a bit of a subplot of suspecting the neighbor George Harvey, which leads to a very tense scene finding a secret book Harvey hid in his house that documents his crimes.

At the end nothing really happens. Harvey gets away and it's years later before he...graphically falls to his death. There's no justice for the family. I guess that's the point the movie was trying to make. That's kind of it. I don't think we really even get a final definitive heaven scene from Susie. So that's it, it's kind of middling for me at the end of the day. Part of me really likes it and I love that I finally crossed it off my list, but it's definitely not, in my opinion, Jackson's best work.

2.5 out of 5 Stars

Countdown to Avengers 3: Avengers: Age of Ultron

Can you believe that we’re doing a third installment of Countdown to Avengers? It seems like it was only yesterday that we teamed up with Nerd Lunch and Cavalcade of Awesome to tackle all the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) films (and then some) that lead up to The Avengers. Believe it or not, we’re back, and now we’ve got Jay from Life Vs. Film along for the ride as well. 

Whereas that first series of ours was special, this one will be even more epic. It heralds the end - or, at least, the beginning of the end - of this current manifestation of the MCU. So we’ll be looking at at least one MCU film a month until Infinity War releases in May. First up...2015’s Avengers: Age of Ultron. Mandatory spoiler warning!

Marvel

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Looking back on Avengers: Age of Ultron, maybe it deserved the mixed reviews it received from critics. Let's see...it definitely suffered from sequel bloat. The plot was basically the same as the first Avengers. You could argue that the film yet again suffers from that "Marvel has a villain problem" situation. Others have definitely pointed these problems out, but the fact remains. Personally, I particularly remember some hate about how Black Widow was handled and I’m pretty sure returning director Joss Whedon quit Twitter over this whole movie. All that said, this film could have been a lot worse, and there was a lot to live up to. Considering all that, Whedon more or less pulled it off.

Basically, post The Winter Soldier, The Avengers have reunited to take down Hydra and the film opens on the team attacking Baron Von Strucker’s (Thomas Kretschmann) base in Sokovia to steal back Loki’s scepter from the first Avengers movie. This all, believe it or not, leads to the birth of the titular villain, the devious A.I. Ultron.

There was definitely a lot going on in this movie...almost too much. Consider for example that Thor goes off on his own at one point on a fact finding mission to learn more about the Infinity Stones. At the end he even actually leaves to go find the Stones. It explains why he wasn't around for Civil War. Maybe it's something that could have been emphasized a bit more, but I probably just wasn't paying attention/didn't appreciate it.

Some of the film's highlights for me were the Black Widow/Hulk stuff. It was nice to see their relationship develop past their meeting in India and their shenanigans in the first film. Speaking of the Hulk, I also enjoyed his fight with Iron Man's Hulk Buster, but I do think they could have maybe injected a little seriousness into that fight. It never really felt like Tony was in danger at any point. It would have been cool if maybe Hulk pried the suit open a little bit. The lack of danger and consequence is a bit too much.

There’s a ton of connections to the other films littered throughout this movie. Almost too many to mention (and dozens of other folks have already done it). It opens with the team trying to retrieve the scepter from the first film, which went missing after Shield fell in Captain America: The Winter Soldier. Thor hits Captain America's shield to produce a shockwave like in The Avengers, but here it's like a combo attack move. Falcon shows up in this so it's another nice throwback to The Winter Soldier.

We get some action from the Iron Legion at the beginning, which are more or less an extension of all of Iron Man’s suits from Iron Man 3. Although he did blow all of those up, but I guess it was just sort of foreshadowing an Iron Man suit army. Despite their destruction, it leads to the Legion and ultimately Ultron.

This flick was not only setting up Civil War - Cap and Tony’s wood chopping scene - it also laid a lot of ground work for Infinity War. Tony has a premonition of the aftermath of the team fighting Thanos, and there’s obviously a lot of talk about the Infinity Stones - and we SEE an Infinity Stone in the form of Vision’s forehead stone.

The team now inhabits Avengers Tower, formerly Stark Tower. We basically saw this foreshadowed at the end of The Avengers, with all the letters of "Stark" - except for the "A" - having fallen off the building.

Traffik Cone via AMP

Now in this series of ours, we'd normally talk about how the main character from the film in question will fit into the upcoming Avengers movie. But not only is this not a stand alone film, there’s a subsequent film - Civil War - that features most of the team, so you can’t even say how the whole team will behave once they’re reunited.

But I'll speculate a little anyway. Will there be two teams in Infinity War? Iron Man's team and Cap's team from Civil War and they all have to come together? Not to mention The Revengers and the Guardians of the Galaxy. They've all been scattered so it'll be interesting to see them all join up together. Although I have to wonder if there will even be a unified team in Infinity War. It may just be these different factions doing their own missions. An Avengers Army (what else can you call it if this is a war?) would truly be awesome, however. But we might have to wait for that.

There was no way Avengers: Age of Ultron was going to live up to The Avengers and the sheer joy of seeing all the characters meet up for the first time. At the end of the day, Age of Ultron is just a good MCU film, not a great one. There were better films before it, and there have been better films since. But it had a lot to accomplish, so maybe we’re unfair to the film.

Favorite Scene Friday! Godzilla: Let Them Fight

Our FSF this week - which kicks off Escape-athon 2018 - comes from Nick from French Toast Sunday!

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I’m a big Godzilla fan. I had a VHS boxset back in the '90s and early '00s with all the classics. As a child, I watched Godzilla battle it out with Rodan and Mothra (before they became allies) and his greatest foes King Ghidorah and Mechagodzilla. Hell, I even have a soft spot for when he battled Biollante, who was essentially a giant plant. Godzilla still kicked its ass up and down Osaka, but I digress. I was beyond excited for 2014’s Godzilla as it was a return to form for the franchise. A slow build where we catch glimpses of the monster, a meandering plot that really doesn’t matter, and a culmination of a massive fight. Sign. Me. Up. Every. Time.

Godzilla Official Movie Site

Gareth Edwards' take on Godzilla took me back to my childhood with one single scene. As the military attempts to simultaneously remove a warhead and bomb the MUTO's nest, Godzilla appears on the streets of San Francisco ready for battle. He approaches and delivers his signature roar and just starts throwing his weight around. The King of the Monsters just manhandles the MUTO for several city blocks, taking it to task. This puny creature is no match, but it’s really never that easy. WHAM! A second MUTO appears, catching Godzilla off guard. The two MUTOs begin ganging up on him and it looks like it’s game over for our antihero. Another curveball! The MUTOs' nest explodes, diverting their attention to the now burning eggs of what could have been their young.

Suddenly, the greatest thing happens. I had waited for this moment (for all my life) since the film was announced and nearly jumped out of my seat in excitement. As the MUTO inspects its nest, we get the slightest grumble and a pool of blue light. We see the light increase and form a spiky trail. It’s climbing up the back of Godzilla, winding up, whirring up, grinding up. At its apex, Godzilla draws his breath and unleashes his atomic breath. A blast of blue nuclear energy burns the MUTO, weakening it, and leaving it defenseless for Godzilla’s final blows. Unfortunately, he doesn’t get the win just yet, but he just might. SPOILERS, Godzilla unleashes the atomic breath again in the film and I was filled with just as much joy if not more. But that’s another favorite scene for another Friday.

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What's your favorite scene from 2014's Godzilla?

Are you excited for Godzilla to take on King Kong in 2020's appropriately named Godzilla vs. Kong?

Favorite Scene Friday! The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo: Orinoco Flow

Beware Spoilers!

Welcome to the final Favorite Scene Friday of 2017! We're really starting to get into some colder weather, so what better way to celebrate than with a scene from a film where cold, bleak weather is practically a character in the film? Hell, one of the taglines is "What is hidden in snow, comes forth in the thaw.". It's from a fairly recent thriller - 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.

The Millennium series - first a Swedish book series, then a Swedish film series and then a stalled American film series, is soon to be rebooted yet again in the form of anther American film, The Girl in the Spider's Web. Director Fede Alvarez is at the helm with The Crown's Claire Foy playing the part of computer hacker and general bad ass Lisbeth Salander, the titular girl (I kind of thought Alvarez should reteam with Jane Levy, his star from the Evil Dead reboot and Don't Breathe). Quite excited for this film, actually - it's due October of next year.

Yannis Ger/AMP

But we're not here to talk about that film - it's TGWTDT we're worried about. My God, this thing really came out all the way back in 2011? It seems like yesterday. We reviewed it, actually - back when we did that sort of thing.

The film follows journalist Mikael Blomkvist (Daniel Craig) as he investigates a missing person's case. During the course of the investigation he teams up with Salander (the underappreciated Rooney Mara). Our scene takes place towards the end of the film, after Blomkvist has been abducted by Stellan Skarsgård's Martin Vanger, who, it's been revealed, is the film's villain. One of the highlights of this scene is surely Skarsgård. He's sort of detached but chillingly intense at the same time.

It's really an interesting back and forth between Craig and Skarsgård. Fear. Boredom. Aggression. More boredom. The scene really kicks into gear when Vanger puts a bag over Blomkvist's head. The bag over the head is so simple but so chilling. Just look at that screen grab below for Pete's sake.  It's intense for two reasons - seeing Daniel Craig (or anyone) like that is very disturbing, but then director David Fincher also lets us see through his character's eyes. I'm not sure which is worse.

Vanger is sort of going through the motions when he realizes - while opening Blomkvist's fly - that he's never had a man down in his torture chamber before. But then it's back to business until Lisbeth shows up. And it's so cathartic when she whacks him with that golf club.

Lastly, if you happened to read that review, you may have noticed that even back then we were particularly affected by the choice of Orinoco Flow, which, by the way, Daniel Craig randomly picked from his iPod behind the scenes. I'll probably never be able to listen to this song the same way again.

What's your favorite scene from The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo?

What's your favorite installment in The Millennium Series, be it the books, the original films, or the American remake?

Favorite Scene Friday! The Dark Knight Rises: Victory Has Defeated You

This week's scene is by Nick from French Toast Sunday!

While The Dark Knight Rises may not be my favorite Batman film, it does feature my favorite Batman scene. When Batman meets Bane for the first time, I get chills. Even re-watching this scene for this post, the chills were still there. The fear was still there, the worry was still there. There’s no other way to put it, Batman gets his ass handed to him in every possible way. It’s not just his spirit that gets broken, but his back too. The Scarecrow tested his drive and motivations in Batman Begins while the Joker tested his morals and dedication in The Dark Knight. But in The Dark Knight Rises, Bane breaks him down mentally and physically in ways we’ve never seen nor imagined.

StudioKxx via AMP

As soon as Catwoman lures Batman into a trap and the cage closes behind him, he’s already lost. The film’s score is gone, there is no ambient music. Instead, we’re frozen as Bane’s voice echoes throughout the chamber. Immediately, Batman’s identity is compromised. Then his suit and abilities are compromised with Bane taunting him that his suit has cost him strength, and that his victories have made him weak. As many hits as Batman can land, he just can’t stop Bane. Bane takes hit after hit but continues to bombard Batman with powerful blows. The Caped Crusader is no match for Bane. We can tell Batman is growing weak, crying out in anger; something he didn’t do before in his previous fights. Batman was in control, but now he has none. He’s signaling the end, he just doesn’t realize it yet.

But the end does come when Bane has beaten him down and broken down all of his tricks. No smoke bombs and fear of the dark can stop Bane. Can anything at this point stop Bane? Cold and calculated, Bane shows Batman why he’s there: to take away Batman’s toys. Batman watches, in pain through a broken cowl, as Bane’s henchmen plunder through his armory. Now usually at this point in a movie, the villain explains his dastardly plans but miraculously, the hero saves the day via Chekhov’s gun and/or great dramatic irony that ruins said dastardly plans. But that doesn’t happen here. Instead we get a defeated Batman get pushed even further into this well of pain by having his back broken. (As someone who read the Knightfall series, this is something I never thought I’d see in theatres on the big screen.) Batman’s back breaks, cue the score, cut to Bane carrying the broken mask of Batman tossing it away like a candy bar wrapper.

Our hero has suffered the greatest possible defeat and is left with nothing. It’s here that he must rebuild himself and take back his beloved city on his own. There is a moment where it feels like Batman is not coming back. Bane is our savior now, and nothing or no one can save us. We all know what happens from here, but upon first viewing, and sometimes subsequent viewings, there is a feeling of true loss. A feeling that the bad guy might actually win… again.

What's your favorite scene from The Dark Knight Rises?

Favorite Trailer Friday! Nightcrawler

While this might be the shortest clip we've ever featured, I think it's more than worthy. In Nightcrawler, Jake Gyllenhaal plays Lou Bloom, a thief who develops a taste for late night freelance photojournalism.

Dan Norris via AMP

In this teaser alone, Gyllenhaal is fantastic. He manages to be charming, creepy, and frighteningly intense in less than a minute. If his character seems like a "hungry coyote", that's exactly what he was going for.

Obviously central to this teaser is his speech. Gyllenhaal apparently memorized the entire film like a play, which, I guess you'd have to if you've gotta say this particular spiel over and over again. The teaser itself is special - it's got footage of his speeches from the movie, but it also has some stuff shot just for the teaser. He never sits behind the news desk like that or talks directly into the camera. After seeing this teaser, you just have to wonder what the hell this movie is. It does a great job of hinting at the kind of demented tone but doesn't tell you too much.  Gyllenhaal would go on to win awards and nominations for his role and director and writer Dan Gilroy nabbed an Oscar nomination for the screenplay.

What's your favorite scene from Nightcrawler?

Favorite Scene Friday! 28 Days Later: Flat Tire

Happy October! A recent rewatch of 28 Days Later confirms it's still a great film. It holds up. Even the sequel (28 Weeks Later) is pretty great. The cast of that one in particular is kind of a who's who of folks that made it big (Jeremy Renner, Rose Byrne, Idris Elba). Anyway, Days came out around that zombie resurgence a few years ago, along with Dawn of the Dead and Shaun of the Dead. In fact, now that I look, it appears that Days kicked this craze off, or at least lead the pack in the '00s (maybe Resident Evil helped?).

There's still talk of another film that would make the series a trilogy. And why not? Zombies are still popular, based off The Walking Dead alone.

Jana Heidersdorf via Alternative Movie Posters

Our scene this week might be the film's scariest. Our group of heroes (played by Brendan Gleeson, Cillian Murphy, Naomie Harris, and Megan Burns) must drive through a tunnel on their way to a supposed safe zone they've heard about in messages over the radio. After driving up and over a blockage in the tunnel they of course get a flat tire. While stopping to change it, a mysterious sound gives way to a flood of rats which are, you guessed it, fleeing from the infected.



I love the immediate dreadful atmosphere and tension after they stop to fix the car, along with the mysterious sound and then the awful image of rats crawling all over Hannah (Burns). But the best part is the nail-biting tension of the group changing the tire while zombies bear down on them. Car repair has never been so terrifying.

What's your favorite scene from 28 Days Later?

Would you like to see a third "28" film? What would the plot be? 

Favorite Scene Friday! The A-Team: "They're trying to fly that tank."

This week's scene is by CT from Nerd Lunch!

I love The A-Team. Perhaps more than any man should. I was the right age when the TV series launched. It was on from 1982-1987 which put me at about 6 to 10. Everything about it was over the top and schlocky fun.

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A show like that though, you expect to watch it through adult eyes and not have the same fondness. Surprisingly, the opposite happened. I received the TV series on DVD for Christmas a few years ago and watched through them all again. I loved it more. And Hannibal Smith cemented himself as one of my favorite characters in pop culture. The first two seasons of the show are solid, 80s action fun. Hannibal is a wise-cracking Vietnam vet who has assembled a group of guys who are misfits when apart, but a force of nature when together.

Peppard is know for some unfortunate issues on the set. Reportedly he drove off the two female leads and was known to have a feud (seemingly one-sided) with Mr. T. That aside, Peppard played the role of Hannibal perfectly. And the characters were rich in backstory and personality that was infused into the scripts by creators Lupo and Cannell.

With such love and passion for this show, I both wanted a reboot and didn't want one at the same time. There were reports of a reboot movie for years before one actually came out in 2010. Early rumors indicated script treatments not very faithful to the original story including Faceman being the villain of the story. Although this same early script apparently had a scene that completely seemed like what a big budget A-Team movie should have—The A-Team flying a tank.

Years passed by and directors changed. Then a cast was lined up. Then a promo photo was released. And it looked like it was finally going to happen. Nervous, I still went and watched it. And I loved it.

I have some minor quibbles in regards to the portrayal of Hannibal, but I can easily look past those noting this movie takes place earlier in their career than the series does and the aspects of Hannibal that I would like to have seen would have developed in sequels. What they got right about Hannibal was his planning. Hannibal has an almost supernatural gift of seeing the world in such a way that he can plan multiple steps in advance and pull off anything he wants.

Anything. That includes what if you found yourself in a tank in the middle of the air that was now plummeting to the ground? Well, Hannibal finds a way to land it. So unrealistic, but so fun.



There are many great scenes in this film and if you haven't watched it, you can rent it for cheap and almost always find it for sale for the same price. It deserves a sequel that we'll never get. The plan for this film finally came together and I love that it did.

(Our 200th) Favorite Scene Friday! Alien: The Chestburster

It's our 200th Favorite Scene Friday! To mark the occasion, we recorded a very special audio commentary FSF! Jay and I were joined by Lindsay Street and Nick Rehak from French Toast Sunday, two veteran FSFers. We checked out the Chestburster scene from Alien, surely one of the most classic bits from any horror/sci-fi film. And Alien: Covenant is so hot right now.

Mondo

I surely didn't get to 200 FSFs alone, and I've gotta thank a lot of folks. Tiffany, Nick, and Pat, of course. Our guests have been Ruth from "...let's be splendid about this...", Alex from And So It Begins..., Pete from I Love That Film, CT from Nerd Lunch, Pax from Cavalcade of Awesome, Lindsay, Jess, and Nick from French Toast Sunday, Daniel Lackey from Lackey Writes About Film, Sara from A Redhead at the Movies, Will from Exploding Helicopter, Tony Cogan from Coogs Reviews, Jacob Lusk of Panned Review, Bubbawheat from Flights, Tights, and Movie Nights, and, of course, Jay from Life Vs. Film. Thanks, guys! If I missed anyone I truly apologize. Thanks to EVERYONE who visits this blog and checks out this feature. Without further ado, enjoy some Alien nastiness and our commentary!

What's your favorite scene from Alien?

Check, please!

Favorite Scene Friday! Alien: Covenant: What's your favorite scene?

Spoiler alert for Alien: Covenant!

Alien: Covenant recently hugged the collective faces of the world. What was your favorite scene? I guess for me it was the David and Walter stuff? And, less interesting, the David and Walter fight? Other than that, nothing really stands out to me as a "favorite". That's obviously not a good sign. I'll tell you what was not my favorite scene (or rather, not my favorite part of an otherwise awesome scene) the Engineers that David wipes out. They really didn't look like the Engineer(s) from Prometheus. And why the f*ck were they all just standing around like idiots? Aren't they geniuses? I did like the Xenomorph stuff, of course. Or is it Protomorph? 

I enjoyed the Neomorph infections when they were first starting to happen. I like when two or more separate groups of people are on walkie talkies together in a film. I think there's a term for that. Something about establishing the reality/geography of a film? Anyway, here's the trailer to refresh your memory.

What's your favorite scene from Alien: Covenant?

Obsessive Cinematic Disorder: We Need an "Alien: Isolation" Movie

Spoilers for the Alien franchise to follow.

Ridley Scott seems hell bent on making Alien films until he dies. But instead of producing the endless Prometheus/Covenant sequels that are apparently in the pipeline, why not adapt the phenomenal Alien: Isolation, a video game that follows Amanda Ripley*, daughter of original Alien protagonist Ellen Ripley (Sigourney Weaver). That's right, Alien: Isolation insists Ripley's daughter got into some xenomorph shenanigans of her own.

You see, when we meet Amanda at the beginning of Isolation, she's already been looking for her long-missing mother, working for the Weyland-Yutani company on the edges of fringe space. The company approaches Amanda with an offer: they've found the black box from the Nostromo, Ripley's ship from Alien, and they want Amanda on the mission. Amanda sets off to recover the flight recorder and winds up on Sevastopol, a sprawling space station. It's there that she finds trouble worthy of the Alien franchise.

And with that, here are some specific reasons a hypothetical Alien: Isolation movie is great.

It's Alien on Steroids

Star Wars: The Force Awakens was essentially a bigger, "better" remake of A New Hope, and that's okay. In fact, Alien: Isolation could do the same thing for Alien. The game is a jacked up version of Alien in that it has a plot similar to the original film (a Ripley vs. an alien), but it's on a giant space station with a larger cast of characters. There's even an android threat to deal with, but it's cranked up to 11. And speaking of androids...

Possible Michael Fassbender Connection

A member of Amanda's crew is an android named Samuels. Anthony Howell portrays the 'droid in the game - and he does a fine job - but how cool would it be to feature Michael Fassbender in the role? That would connect this film not just to Alien, but to Fassbender's Prometheus and Alien: Covenant as well. This would even continue the trend of Fassbender's android characters having different names in each film.

It's Scary

The game is terrifying. One thing that connects Isolation with its Alien roots is that no one really knows about the alien. There's a terrifying quality in Alien because the creature just comes out of nowhere. Same here. All of the subsequent Alien films featured Ripley dealing with a creature she - and the audience - already knew about. This would reset that.

Another scary part of the game is hiding from the alien. Amanda has some weapons and tools, but, just like in Alien, the creature is basically unstoppable, so cowering in a locker until it goes away is a requirement. The movie can't be all hiding, so maybe include one or two hiding scenes. Perhaps even make those scenes first person, which would be sort of found-footage-ish in a cool way.

There's even the aforementioned android element. In fact, there's a ton of them, and they're more like a basic model, with creepy, featureless faces and they're not the friendliest.

Franchise Potential

Alien: Isolation definitely leaves room for more Amanda Ripley adventures. Not to bring up that other sci-fi saga again, but the Alien franchise could be Fox's new Star Wars. In fact, forget franchise, this could kick off a shared universe.**  Fassbender could serve as the Sam Jackson of the series. This film would even have a Rogue One vibe going on...sort of an "inbetweenquel" about a character only briefly mentioned in another film.***



I'm really hoping Fox is already working on all this. Alien Day is coming up again on April 26, so maybe an announcement is incoming.

*Andrea Deck voices Amanda in the game. It would be awesome if she reprised the role in this film.

**Let Neill Blomkamp make his Alien 5 film with Sigourney Weaver. The film obviously wouldn't make sense considering the events of Alien 3, but this year's Logan proved you can do alternate timeline films.

***So, you're right, Amanda is only mentioned in the director's cut of Aliens. But while we're on that topic, it's interesting to note that that film would have you believe that Amanda lived a humdrum life on Earth while her mom drifted in space between Alien and Aliens. Or, at least, Carter Burke (Paul Reiser) chose not to mention Amanda's adventures. In reality, the folks behind Isolation were probably just taking some liberties with the character. When Amanda's information was mentioned in Aliens in 1986, that was probably true at the time. It makes Ripley's story that more tragic and sets up her mother/daughter relationship with Newt. On the other hand, we could now take it to mean that Weyland-Yutani was totally lying to Ripley's face about Amanda. It wouldn't have been the first time they did something sinister. Ret-conning Weyland-Yutani into covering up the Amanda/Sevastopol disaster makes perfect sense, and makes the franchise even more interesting.

Review: Rat Film

Rat Film is a documentary about rats and the people involved with them in the City of Baltimore, Maryland. Maybe? It's probably best to refer to the film's official synopsis:

Across walls, fences, and alleys, rats not only expose our boundaries of separation but make homes in them. "Rat Film" is a feature-length documentary that uses the rat—as well as the humans that love them, live with them, and kill them--to explore the history of Baltimore. "There's never been a rat problem in Baltimore, it's always been a people problem".

There were many times throughout the film when I wondered just what was going on, as it also touches on a weird 3D game/map, systemic racism and segregation ("Isn’t it nice to think that when it rains, the whole city gets wet?”), and different elements of crime scene investigations. But it’s somehow all this and more and still compelling, gross (I felt physically ill at one point - the highest praise you can give to art?), surreal, insightful, existential, and weird. It’s like filmmaker Theo Anthony set out to make a documentary about rats and ended up deftly covering a lot more. The film doesn't suffer because of this. If anything, the film's disjointed plot is a big appeal.

IMDb

The most interesting part of Rat Film for me was seeing different rat catchers (and lovers) from different walks of life and how they relate with the rodents. One character - a rat specialist with the City of Baltimore - was particularly insightful, pondering for the film about life, God, and the afterlife. And rats, of course.

4 Out Of 5 Stars

Rat Film is playing at Sun-Ray Cinema as part of their Sleeping Giant Fest. The documentary screens on Friday, March 31 at 5:00 p.m. and on Sunday, April 2 at 5:25 p.m.

Review: The Void

A man and a woman burst out of a dark house in the middle of the night, with two attackers hot on their trail. The man survives, but the woman isn’t so lucky. She meets a grisly end, and a hooded figure - looking like a KKK member with a triangle sewn over his face - watches from the shadows as the assailants set off after the man. The Void goes on to follow Daniel Carter, (Aaron Poole) a police officer who takes the survivor to an on-the-verge-of-closing-due-to-fire-damage hospital. Once there, Carter must deal with insanity, murder, cultists (the hooded figure has quite a few friends), and otherworldly monsters.

Screen Media Films

The stylish and Lovecraftian The Void seems like someone put the films of John Carpenter and Clive Barker in a blender and then tried to strangle you with the power cord (in a good way). You’ll sense elements of Carpenter’s The Thing and Prince of Darkness and Barker’s Hellraiser (I think there’s a scene late in The Void that’s a direct homage to a bit in this film) and Lord of Illusions. A good story unfolds in The Void as well, something that can get lost in a movie like this in favor of zaniness for the sake of zaniness. In fact, there’s prequel-levels of backstory hinted at in the film, something lesser films wouldn't make time for.

But don’t get me wrong, there is definitely zaniness. There's a great atmosphere, thanks to the nearly abandoned hospital and the creepy woods surrounding it. There’s plenty of weird, bloody, and spacey visions to be had, and there’s some great creature effects on display. The Void boasts some very unique horror and gross-out images that are guaranteed to stay with you after the film ends. Writers/directors Jeremy Gillespie and Steven Kostanski have extensive backgrounds in art and makeup, so it’s no surprise the visuals here are great. I also noticed some stellar sound design happening - creatures sound both like monsters from another world AND the poor folks they’ve sprouted from. And the third act features the film’s hospital setting sounding more like our heroes are on a creaking ship that’s about to sink into the mouth of hell.

Screen Media Films

Every actor in the film is solid, with Poole standing out particularly as a man in completely over his head as reality turns on him. Kenneth Welsh also shines as a doctor and leader of the hospital's skeleton crew. If I can fault the film for anything, a specific theme of loss may have been used so much that it somehow gets confusing. But the movie more than makes up for this with its visuals and atmosphere.

4 Out Of 5 Stars

The Void is playing at Sun-Ray Cinema as part of their Sleeping Giant Fest. The film screens at 9:10 p.m. on Friday, March 31 and 9:40 p.m. on Saturday, April 1.

Favorite Scene Friday! Moonlight: Chiron's Revenge

More February, more Oscars appreciation! Jacob from Panned Review takes a look at a nominee for this year's Best Picture Oscar - Moonlight.

“I ain’t no boy,” Chiron says at the police station, as he ices his bruised face, which has just been smashed by Kevin, a guy whom Chiron thought was his closest friend. Chiron’s physical pain is nothing compared to the feeling of betrayal, and this is a particularly cruel treachery. But betrayal seems to be the only consistent factor in Chiron’s relationships. Chiron feels betrayed by his drug-addicted mother, by Juan, a kindly, gentle father figure who happens to be a drug dealer, and now by Kevin: they kissed on the beach once, and the kiss went further, a moment of intense passion, an unexpected urge between them, one bound to generate confused feelings, guilt, and shame, in a world that is militantly homophobic. Betrayal has tainted every relationship in Chiron’s life (with the exception of Teresa, Juan’s wife, played by the fabulous Janelle Monáe, whom readers may recognize as one of the three stars of Hidden Figures), rendering them as ineffectual as saltwater to a parched mouth.

By Source, Fair use, Link

Moonlight was, for me, the most moving film I saw last year. Although I loved La La Land, which has become trendy to hate on, Moonlight deserves to win the Best Picture Oscar (I’m not sure it has a chance, especially against a popular favorite that’s an adorable, Hollywood-obsessed confection.) Where La La Land feels clever and charming and happily content with its own nostalgic view of a particularly sun-dappled world, Moonlight feels deeply urgent and lyrical and honest about a world where the sun doesn’t bring warmth so much as blood-boiling heat.

In its story of a young black boy becoming a man, Moonlight casts three different actors to play Chiron, in three different stages of his life: as a young boy, called “Little” (Alex Hibbert), as a teenager struggling to come to terms with his sexuality, the only time when he’s referred to by his given name (and played by Ashton Sanders), and as a grown man, now called “Black” (played by Trevante Rhodes). Somehow, these three actors have created a seamless vision of Chiron, guided by the knowing instincts of writer-director Barry Jenkins.

The scene I want to bring into focus involves Kevin’s betrayal of Chiron. It’s really the only scene in which Chiron acts out because of his anger. Being both black and gay is a particularly difficult battle to fight for Chiron, who’s already endured enough torment when a high school bully pits Kevin against him, urging Kevin to “knock his faggot-ass down.” These are boys playing at manhood, questioning their own vulnerabilities, their own insecurities, which they see as signs that they are not men. Insecurities like these must be purged, by violence. And so, out of fear and hatred of himself, Kevin strikes Chiron, in a modern-day Judas kiss.

Chiron’s anger wells up inside him. He’s used to keeping quiet, he’s learned the value of not stirring things up. But while keeping control of his anger worked for him as a child, it is no longer enough, or he is no longer able to control it. But it’s not Kevin who receives Chiron’s fury, but the instigating bully. Is Chiron sparing Kevin? Cutting him some slack? Or maybe, does Chiron realize that Kevin has in a sense already punished himself in the act of betrayal? Regardless, when Chiron returns to school, he coolly walks into a classroom and smashes a chair over the head of the boy that goaded Kevin into hitting him. In that moment, the consequences of attacking the unsuspecting punk matter little; the feeling of vindication acts like a mantra that cannot be ignored; there’s something intoxicating about this revenge, both for Chiron and the viewer.

Moonlight is an intoxicating film, after all. And this scene encapsulates the complexities at work here. Moonlight explores the world from a very particular angle, and in so doing, offers us something very true: We cannot expect to survive in our own heads forever. Sooner or later, we crave human connection. Chiron, having bottled up so much, walks around with very thick armor (as I’ve already mentioned, he has good reason to be so guarded). Yet the feelings and the thoughts and the workings of his mind are palpable, as powerful as thunderclouds. There’s a tempest inside him, but there is also tenderness and love and compassion, too.

Moonlight is a gracious movie, one that deeply feels for its protagonist without offering him up as some object of pity. Instead, the film offers Chiron a moment of grace: In the third act, when “Black” appears, just as quiet and guarded as ever, but now physically tougher, harder, more in control, Kevin re-enters his life; the bad blood between them has dissipated, and what’s left is a lingering memory of that night on the beach. Moonlight wonders what might have been, had Chiron’s life been less fraught with hopelessness; but it also finds hope anyway; it isn’t too late for him to carve out some kind of happiness, some kind of life for himself.

What's your favorite scene from Moonlight?

Who do you think will take home the Best Actor prize at this year's ceremony?

A Peek Through the Hatch: Robert's Most Anticipated Films of 2017

We have left 2016 behind. 2016, a figurative dumpster fire, but almost as if it were some alternate reality where the Grand Canyon was turned into a giant landfill through some sort of federal legislation. That big of a dumpster fire. 2017 is upon us. Let us look ahead and dream. Like last year, superhero films have been excluded and I've only gone "in depth" on my Top 5. Without further ado, here are the 10 upcoming films I'm most looking forward to.

10. Dunkirk (July 21)

'Nuff said: Christopher Nolan's first feature-length film since 2014's Interstellar.

9. War for the Planet of the Apes (July 14)

'Nuff said: Ape shenanigans are always great.

8. The Masterpiece (?)

'Nuff said: Adaptation of "The Disaster Artist", which is a behind the scenes look at The Room.

7. The Girl with All the Gifts (?)

'Nuff said: Fresh zombie flick.

6. Kong: Skull Island (March 10)

'Nuff said: Ape shenanigans are always great.

5. Alien: Covenant (May 19)

Let me get this out of the way: Prometheus sucked. Here's my review. Covenant could be the proper Alien prequel we've been wanting. Plus, while Prometheus did fall short of expectations, it at least left off on an interesting note, and I'm wondering what's become of David the android (Michael Fassbender) and Elizabeth Shaw (Noomi Rapace). Oh, and I recently completed the video game Alien: Isolation, and it's seriously renewed my interest in the Alien mythos and franchise.




4. Ghost in the Shell (March 31)

I haven't seen the original but I'm hoping to fix that. Despite the uproar surrounding ScarJo's casting (and that whole weird digital yellow face controversy) I'm definitely excited for this. It looks amazing.




3. Blade Runner 2049 (October 6)

I'm a huge fan of the original Blade Runner. Here's hoping they can recapture that film's look and tone. Harrison Ford's last two revival projects were a miss (Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull) and a hit (Star Wars: The Force Awakens) respectively, so it'll be in interesting to see what this turns out to be.




2. Baby Driver (August 11)

Edgar Wright is one of my favorite directors. It's always hard waiting for one of his projects, and we've been waiting oh so long after he pulled out of Marvel's Ant-Man. But we don't have to wait much longer for Baby Driver, which will be more of a thriller compared to his other films, from what I've heard. Sounds like the trailer and the movie are gonna be awesome.




1. Star Wars: The Last Jedi (December 15)

I'm surprised this is my #1 but there ya go. The Star Wars renaissance has been going great and I'm not immune to its spell. That said, The Force Awakens was basically a remake of A New Hope, so I'm hoping this is a truly original film with some unexpected surprises.

Escape-athon 2017 Review: Explorers

Sometimes, nostalgia can make all the difference. Films can become dated. It happens. That's where nostalgia comes in. You can overlook terrible stuff because you loved it as a kid. But what if you're just seeing an old film for the first time? What if that film is surprisingly good for the most part, but one dated aspect sort of ruins it?

Explorers is a 1985 movie about three friends, Ben Crandall (Ethan Hawke), Wolfgang Muller (River Phoenix), and Darren Woods (Jason Presson) who stumble upon a technique to create a force field bubble they can control with their computer. They use it to pilot a DIY craft around their sleepy town. Aliens abduct them, however. More on them later.

Casey Callender via Collider

I knew very little about Explorers going in. I just knew kids went to space. It seemed far fetched, even for an '80s film. So I was really pleasantly surprised by the weird tech bubble technique. Instead of the kids somehow blasting off into orbit, they found a physics defying force field technology that actually seemed pretty smart.

So is Explorers a good movie? Just barely. The linchpin scene - the encounter with the aliens - kind of ruins it. Where to begin with the aliens. While they probably looked great by '80s standards (and they don't look terrible now) they're rubbery and goofy. One (Robert Picardo) is sort of like a Jim Carrey-esque/non stop jokes/impressions-up-the-wazoo kind of guy. It turns out the aliens are kids, so it's a parallel with our heroes. The movie as a whole is incredibly '80s. The kids use walkie talkies. They bike places. There are bullies and crushes to deal with. Luckily, the three leads are capable actors.

This might explain the alien business, or maybe it's a testament to how good the rest of the film is, but the powers at be behind the movie went to director Joe Dante and forced him to release the film much earlier than he wanted. Who knows what we would have gotten had he been allowed to finish.

3/5 Stars

Favorite Scene Friday! Star Wars: Episode IV – A New Hope: Stay on Target

Our final Escape-athon 2017 scene is by Nick from French Toast Sunday!

To me, the ultimate escape is space. Some say it’s the final frontier and you’d be hard pressed to disagree with them. Yes, there are thousands of miles of ocean we haven’t explored (I’m clearly guessing), but that’s still here on this planet. When you ascend from the depths of the ocean, you’re still on Earth. Traveling to unexplored worlds and galaxies, and seeing things up close and personal that we’ve only seen in pictures, is truly the stuff of dreams. Could it be a reality one day? Sure, but not in my lifetime and probably not in my grandchildren’s great-grandchildren’s lifetime. So until then, we have Star Wars. It all might have happened a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, but it’s been the fuel of my daydreams and zoned out fantasies ever since I was a boy.

Gabz

Growing up I wanted to be a cowboy, pirate, and oddly enough a biker. There was a phase that I went through where I collected Harley Davidson models and went to biker conventions. Tue story. But when I saw Star Wars, my aspirations changed. I could be a cowboy or pirate (or biker) IN SPACE. Flying my ship from galaxy to galaxy with my blaster by my side shooting bad guys. Discovering new worlds filled with indescribable creatures alongside my faithful droid companion. It’s the best. But as I grew older, I realized very quickly that would never happen. But I could still believe in it and sometimes be a part of it through Star Wars. Today’s favorite scene comes from the first Star Wars film, A New Hope. It’s longer than my previously discussed scenes and for once doesn’t have any gruesome violence. I mean, yeah, there’s space violence, but you see explosions, not bodies. It’s also from the special editions… what are you gonna do?

The rebels have finally caught their breath and are getting ready to assault the planet destroying space station known as the Death Star. They’ve sent out Red Squadron and Gold Squadrom to attack, exploiting a design flaw in the system. All they have to do is run down the trench, and fire their proton torpedos. You all know the scene. The ship's guns are blasting the rebels from the sky. When they can’t, TIE Fighters are sent out to get the job done. Even Lord Vader himself gets in the action. And just when you think Luke is out for the count, in comes Han to save him, and by proxy, the galaxy. Good triumphs over evil.

What I hadn’t noticed before is the lack of score. In my mind, for the entirety of this scene we hear John William’s iconic score ebb and flow as we build tension. But that’s not the case. We hear it sparsely as it is mainly used to introduce characters and add suspense to the climactic shot; literally and figuratively. I like that because it gives the feeling that we're there. We’re in the cockpit with Red Squadron even though the X-Wing isn’t a two human passenger vehicle. We’re back at the rebel base alongside Princess Leia as we listen in on the action and watch as the Death Star inches closer. We’re on the bridge as Grand Moff Tarkin pompously watches on. We’re in the moment, going through a sarlacc pit of emotions. I don’t know if that metaphor works but it’s Star Wars based.

It’s a classic moment in cinema history filled with suspense, excitement, thrills, chills, etc. It’s been parodied and lampooned time and time again, but as I rewatched the scene in preparation for this post, it reminded me of a few things. It reminded me that no matter how bad things seem, there are always groups of good people out there putting in the work to make the universe a better place for others. It reminded me that, even when you least expect it, friends will always have your back. That you can rely on them in times of great need and that they’ll often surprise you. It reminded me that the Y-Bombers weren’t utilized in the later films as much as they should have been and the A-Wings got no love at all. What’s up with that? But most importantly, it reminded me that the force is strong and that I should trust myself more. Believe in yourself, believe in your friends, and you too can save the galaxy.

What's your favorite scene from A New Hope?

What fantasy inspired you as a kid?