Podcast Episode 268: Good Morning Blu Ray Review

Alien (Blu-Ray Review)

 

Alien

Directed by Ridley Scott

Screenplay by Dan O'Bannon

40 years after release and after becoming one of the most iconic scifi/horror franchises during that time, do I really need to tell you what the movie Alien is about? A deep space refining starship intercepts a mysterious beacon and is rerouted to investigate its origin. When they reach the planet it is emanating from, one of the crew is impregnated by an alien, whose progeny proceeds to kill off the crew one by one. Yeah, not the most complex of plots. In fact, I admire its purity. 

It's the execution of the movie and the acting that elevate it to another level of filmmaking, that of a masterpiece. The filmmakers and the actors were at the top of their games. 

Alien in some ways reminded me of the original Star Wars. What you had were two hungry directors who, technically, at least were virtuosos, in terms of framing and setting up scenes. You could tell the directors knew exactly what they wanted. Unfortunately for Lucas, the original Star Wars film was his last great one, whereas Scott moved on to do Blade Runner right after this. 

All the actors are great, and I think it would have been a lesser picture if any of the cast had been played by anyone else. They just all seemed to fit the roles so well. I can't even imagine seeing Sigourney Weaver in this first film role back in the day. I mean she explodes off the screen with magnetism and sexiness and toughness. At a time when those kind of female roles were sadly lacking in any kind of action terms. 

The visual designs of the aliens and their tech was done by HR Giger. Nobody can say that guy thought along the same visual and conceptual lines of regular human beings. He was so original that his designs SEEM alien but at the same time familiar to humanoid life. 

The atmosphere of the film was greatly aided by the lighting and sound design, along with Jerry Goldsmith's score.

Scott used a lot of natural light, in the sense that when it's dark, the corridor is dark. It doesn't feel like he wanted any light that didn't belong there. For instance, when Dallas is trying to flush the alien out of the air shafts, the only lighting is from his flamethrower. Or when part of the crew visits the alien derelict, the light is only coming from the lamps on top of their helmets. There are lots of dark corners and spaces that make it more suspenseful.

The sound design also makes the film more tense. I don't know if most people notice but I can't remember a scene of the movie where I did not hear breathing. Whether it was wind travelling through the ship, or when the face hugger is on Kaine's face, or when the crew interfaces with the ship's computer, there is always the sound of some kind of respiration. And not in a zen like way. Almost in a sense that there is always something "out there", watching you, hunting you. 

Of course, what needs to be said about Jerry Goldsmith, who is one of the greats, even 40 years ago, he was already a legend. Like HR Giger, in his soundscapes, Goldsmith was able to use the orchestra to make its instruments sound otherworldly and somehow instill dread, terror, beauty, and yes, even WONDER into the context of the film. It was just spot on the whole way through without EVER going over the top. 

After watching the film, the next night I rewatched it with the commentary by the cast and crew and enjoyed just the same. They had almost everyone that worked on the film, except Yaphet Kotto, who played Parker. The director, the editor, the writers, and all of the actors chimed in on the making of the movie and its most classic scenes. Oh, Ian Holm wasn't on it. Weaver, Skerritt, Stanton, and Cartwright were though. 

I think its incredible that one director in two movies made two of my favorite and critically lauded scifi films of all time. Both Alien and Blade Runner were movies I watched over and over on my dad's laserdisc player back in the 80s. Even that young, I could sense how special they were. 

This blu-ray features both the original 1979 theatrical release and the 2003 directors cut with Jerry Goldsmith's eerie score possible to isolate on both. Ridley Scott added in about 12 minutes of new footage to the directors cut. 

The great thing about Alien is that everyone knew they were making a monster movie. But somewhere along the way, the entire cast and crew realized they were so good that they elevated it subconsciously or consciously into a great work of art. 

My Grade: A+

Podcast Episode 264: Female Prisoner Scorpion-- The Complete Collection (Blu-ray Review)

Faust (Blu-ray Review)

Faust 
Directed by F.W. Murnau
Blu-ray Review
Released by Kino Classics

Oh dem gods and demons that always be battling for man's soul! The Earth is a pretty sorrowful place if you think about it and the angels are about fed up with it! So an archangel and Mephisto, a demon, place a bet on whether one man can redeem his species: Faust. The archangel holds him up to be what is best in man, learned and wise and a lover of knowledge. Mephisto thinks he knows better. He says that Faust just needs to be tempted by the right thing. If Mephisto gets the better of Faust, he is promised rule over our world.

The first thing the demon does is send down a plague on Faust's town and people begin dying left and right. Faust, being a nice guy, wants to help, but finds it beyond his skills to cure. Enter Mephisto who promises him the power to end the plague IF he signs his soul away. Reluctantly, Faust agrees, but ironically, when the townspeople learn his healing abilities are from dark forces, they reject him!

Things really start going south when Mephisto makes Faust young again. One moment he's an old crusty man, the next he's in his sex-starved prime of youth. It's the beginning of a truly dark path.

This was my first time watching Faust. Of course,  I know the basic plot though Marlowe's and Goethe's plays (This version of Faust is based on Goethe). There is also an opera based on the tale. It's basically a myth or cautionary folktale of what happens when man lusts to know things he is not meant to know. Or to wield power he was never meant to wield. So it wasn't like I was entering the movie blind.

The thing that really blew me away were the special effects. From the opening shots of Mephisto's minions flying zombie horses across the sky, and the appearance of Mephisto in a winged bear suit and an archangel looking like an aryan Valkyrie, I knew I was in for a treat. I was actually creeped out by the luminescent eyes of the demon when he first appears to Faust. I was actually scared by a 100 year old movie. That's how well the scenes were shot. There were also effects that I only noticed a second time of viewing. I would look at one part of a frame and wonder how Murnau did it and then notice something ELSE that would make me go WHOA HOW DID HE DO THAT? I was in awe of and laughing because I'm like, this movie is so cool!

While Faust was the main protagonist, I was much more interested in two other characters: Mephisto and Gretchen. Mephisto was played by Emil Jannings and whenever he was in a scene he stole every one. He played it so over the top that it could be comic at times but then next shot he was devilish and menacing. Camilla Horn also did a great job in a tragic role as Gretchen, a young and innocent girl Faust falls in love with and who might even offer him a ray of hope for redemption.

Murnau's Faust is a masterpiece in every way. Its first act is laden to the hilt with technical wizardry that still holds a century later while the second focuses more on character interaction and story. The director is equally at home in both styles. You truly should not miss watching this film. I'm so glad I discovered it.

This 2 disc edition has two different versions of the Faust The original 1926 version of the film is on Blu-ray and in HD. There is also a DVD of a longer alternate cut made by UFA studios in 1930. I have only watched the original so have nothing to offer about the 1930 version. I wonder why they didn't touch that up as well and have both versions in HD? I'll get back on here sometime after I watch the alternate version to talk about the differences.

My Grade: A+

Podcast Episode #251: Batman Ninja (Blu-Ray Review)

Thoughts After a Second Viewing of The Last Jedi (With Spoilers)

Star Wars The Last Jedi
Written and Directed by Rian Johnson
Price: $24.15

HOW MY STAR WARS SOUL DIED

I was one of the millions of Star Wars fans that eagerly lined up for the release of The Last Jedi last December. And walked out of the theater afterwards filled with hate and disgust at what I had just experienced. Weirdly enough, out of the group of 4 relatives I went with, I was the ONLY person that HATED the movie. Everyone else liked it a lot, my dad even saying it was the best Star Wars he had seen in a long time! In those early days, it seemed like Last Jedi was riding high on a wave of critical success. As others in my family and friends went to see the film and also gave it glowing reviews, I started to feel a little isolated. Maybe I was wrong? Maybe I was being too hard on it?

 A fellow hardcore Star Wars fan at my work came up to me the Monday after release and asked me "What did you think?" and I told him I hated it. He looked pretty relieved and said he hated it too, but his family thought it was great!

What happened soon afterward was I began to find other fans online who felt the same way as I. Youtube channels such as SC Reviews, Geeks + Gamers, and ComicArtistPro Secrets started to rally the fans against Disney, Kathleen Kennedy, Rian Johnson, and their supporters.

What was the response of Lucasfilm and their allies to the criticisms of the film? They said Star Wars fans that did not like The Last Jedi were racist, sexist, and filled with hate and rage...and white. That the "true" Star Wars fans were those that liked the movie and agreed with Disney's liberal SJW agenda. Rian Johnson and others made fun of and ridiculed the fans. The mainstream media outlets supported their company line that anti-Jedi fans were unenlightened and didn't want to see Star Wars move into the future. Some of my favorite Star Wars podcasts literally stated that they did not want to hear from fans or callers that did not like the movie.

For some reason, I found myself buying this Blu-ray when it came out, with the motivation to watch the movie a second time and see if my reaction was any different from when I first watched it. To really dissect why I hated it. I started watching it at the end of March but couldn't get past the first 30 minutes or so. Last night, I finally did it.

You might ask why I finally found the strength to watch the movie? I rewatched The Force Awakens last week and I still really enjoyed that movie. It reminded me that at one time I loved the new characters, the trio of Rey, Finn, and Poe. I wanted their stories to continue. I wanted them to grow as characters. The only complaint I had about that movie and still do was the whole "blow up another Death Star"climax. Yeah, it followed the broad outlines of A New Hope, but I said to myself, ok, they're trying to introduce the franchise to young audiences using the same template as the original. And you know what? IT WORKED. Kids that hated Star Wars or had no interest in the series really liked The Force Awakens, because it played equally to new and older fans.

One of the pyrrhic opinions stated by Kylo Ren but that I think also was a view held by Rian Johnson in the movie was the theme of "killing the past". That's really what made The Last Jedi come off its rails. The fact that even though Johnson said he was a fan of Star Wars he set out to alienate its older fans and only concentrate on the new ones. In a power mad despotic vision he believed that Star Wars only belonged to him. That he could do with it whatever he wanted. And Kathleen Kennedy gave him carte blanche. Instead of continuing the story created by JJ Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan (who by the way were just making it up as they went along) Johnson placed dead ends where the plot would have naturally lead. Instead, Johnson had the mistaken belief that he was a good writer. He looked at where the story was headed and just said "ok, the audience wants THIS, but I'm not going to give them THIS. I'm going to give them what I want instead."

THE CHARACTERS

Luke could have been a powerful Jedi Master that could have trained Rey. Instead, he's a bitter old man that is just a tired asshole and gives Rey no training. She leaves after a couple of days and somehow becomes a powerful Force user and a master swordsman. In fact, both the male characters from the original trilogy, Luke AND Han, became useless assholes. Leia is still strong though, because she's female. SHE has her shit together. The only purpose of these new trilogy movies is to kill off the original cast. Problem is that once they ARE gone, Disney will see that there is NOTHING left. In fact, Luke was left out of Force Awakens simply because his character was TOO strong and took over the movie. To me, that showed just how weak the writers of the new trilogy are. They couldn't figure out a way to use any of the original characters to carry Star Wars forward. Subsequently, Abrams, Kasdan, and Johnson just kill them off. Just reminds me that all the best writers work in television today, not film.

I said that I really liked the new characters from The Force Awakens, and I meant it. But after I watched Last Jedi, those characters were dead to me. Rey is just a superhero who serves no purpose in the plot now. Nothing is hard for her. She didn't have to earn anything. Even in Shonen Jump manga, the hero has to go through extensive training before they can face off against their antagonist. Or they have to lose some battles. They have to be taught by someone wiser than themselves. Even Anakin Skywalker had to be trained and even after years of it, was defeated by Count Dooku pretty easily. Just because you have talent at something doesn't mean you know how to master it. Rey even in Force Awakens just seemed to flip a switch that said "Force On".

Finn, who showed some dramatic depth in the first movie and whose barely concealed love for Rey held that movie together, becomes a buffoon in this movie who also seems useless. He's just a generic character now. He's just a black dude with a gun. He was funny in the first movie, but has evolved only into comedy relief. Pairing with the equally bland and uninteresting Rose makes his plotline even WORSE. I see no way Finn can grow as a character.

As for Rose, all I remember is chubby, big head, big hair. NOTHING appealed to me in the least about her. She was dead weight. Would have been much more interesting to have teamed him with Poe.

Speaking of Poe, to me, he was a minor character in Force Awakens. He was even WRITTEN as a minor character that Abrams and Kasdan expanded on the fly. In Last Jedi he serves mainly as a caricature of "dangerous masculinity" that wants to blow up and shoot things in opposition to the old women who know better. By the way, the old women's plans that get basically the entire Resistance fleet killed.

Poe, Rey, and Finn were never established as a trio in either of these movies like Han, Leia, and Luke were in the originals. They seemed more like a family unit whereas the new stars are more like randos who pass through each others plotlines.

What happened to Hux? In Episode 7 he came off as a wanna be Hitler who seemed dangerous and calculating. In this episode he morphs into a whipping boy for Kylo Ren and Snoke. Getting dragged, struck down, thrown against walls and is now a comic figure.

To me, really the only two interesting characters are Kylo and Snoke. But of course big daddy baddie Snoke gets killed. Johnson made him way too overpowered. It seemed like he had almost omnipotent Force abilites, even greater than that of the Emperor or even Yoda. I mean, he was so strong that you HAD to kill him off. How could anyone have defeated him? MAYBE Luke? I don't even think today Johnson knows Snoke's backstory. I don't think Kasdan or Abrams knew either. They were doing the opposite of world building when they sat down to write these movies. More like setting up one of those old western movie town lots where its just building fronts with nothing behind them.

Kylo is an intriguing character but he's too unstable and insane to take seriously now. He needed to be another bad guy's foil. He will be way too easy to manipulate and trigger left to his own devices. I just picture him screaming and crying the whole next episode. Unless Abrams is going to come up with some bigger threat than Kylo in Episode 9 (which I will most likely boycott).

RIAN JOHNSON, AND THE SCREENPLAY

So I guess the original filmed ending of Force Awakens was going to be Rey walking up to Luke and he was going to be surrounded by all these floating rocks. In other words, he was still going to be connected to the Force. Mr. Rian Johnson decided to say FUCK THAT. In fact, Mr. J decided to squash any and all expectations and speculations raised by Force Awakens.

Even John Williams, the composer of the music for both films was DUPED. You could tell just by the MUSIC when Rey approached Luke at the end of the last film that it was supposed to be an IMPORTANT scene. All that effort wasted on a useless scene and making fans wait 2 years for....nothing. I'm sorry, no matter how jaded Luke had become, that was his dad's lightsaber. He wouldn't have just tossed it like he did. Williams has been mailing in his scores for a long time. He probably hasn't done any good work since The Phantom Menace really. But the music in Last Jedi was TOTAL throwaway. Except when it hearkens back to the original trilogy.

Anyway, back to the writing of this movie. Abrams and Kasdan were just making things up as they went and didn't seem to have thought about the next two movies in the trilogy. They didn't even really think through Force Awakens. They just got lazy and inserted a bigger Death Star at the end.

Say what you will about George Lucas, at least he had a broad outline of 6 or 9 movies written out, so at least he had compass points or beats to work towards. And Lucas gave the treatments to Episodes 7-9 along with other movie ideas to Disney and Brutus Kennedy. He was promised by Brutus that she would be true to the characters "as George had written them". That she would use his ideas. She LIED. Disney and Kennedy threw out all his work thinking they were somehow smarter or more clever. Once they started down that road they were on their own.

If they were going to do that, then FINE, but at least MAP things out...the major plot points. The major beats. Abrams and Kasdan didn't do that. So it was up to Johnson to come up with answers. Why was Luke in hiding? Who are Rey's parents? Who is Snoke? Maybe a good writer could have come up with a satisfactory screenplay. But Dr. J ISN'T a good writer. He tried to shock. He tried to surprise. He tried to be clever. Amazing. Everything I just wrote came out completely wrong. Johnson WAS NOT clever. He chose the LAZY way out. Hmm, who are Rey's parents? NOBODY. Easy to solve. Who is Snoke? HE'S DEAD. Why is Luke in hiding? Because he's a whiny BITCH.

Why didn't Yoda, Obi-wan, hell, even ANAKIN slap Luke in the face and say GET OVER IT! MOVE ON! Like their Force ghosts couldn't have woken him out of his funk?  Even Mark Hamil complained about the fact that Luke wouldn't have been in the state that Johnson wrote him. But he bit his lip and did his job. If I was him, I would have held the production hostage. Done a half ass job until they changed the script.

My question is, why was Dr. J given so much power by Kennedy and Disney? It makes me wonder if him and Kennedy were having an affair and sleeping together. Why else would they so blindly follow him? AND give him a NEW trilogy all his own? WHY was he given so much power over so important a franchise? They put themselves all in on him. Look what it has reaped.

Why couldn't these nincompoops have come up with a way to have the original three be in a scene together? I'll give you one reason. Those characters are too strong to be wasted as background characters. Luke WOULD have taken over the movie. Of course he would have. It's supposed to about the Skywalkers. I'm sure Lucas in his original Episode 7-9 treatments featured a Skywalker as the main protagonist, not a nobody from nowhere. Abrams and Johnson came up with the same solution. KILL the original trilogy heroes. Kill the past.

THE FUTURE

Any of my interest in the Disney version of Lucasfilm headed by Kathleen Kennedy died with this film. How could you have killed my Star Wars soul so thoroughly? It wasn't rocket science! Stepping into the leadership of Lucasfilm is like becoming the coach of the Golden State Warriors. You wouldn't have to work that hard to earn billions and billions of dollars. You should have continued the style and general themes of the original trilogy and mixed in elements of the prequels to make it have a more epic feel. You could have used the Star Wars anthology films to get more experimental or tell side stories. NOT the main saga.

I boycotted Solo until today when I gave in and went to see it. The only reason being is that I had a free movie pass. So I did not give Lucasfilm any money. If I hadn't gotten the movie pass I would have never seen it except in pirated form.

I have absolutely no interest in Episode 9 and am immune to its inevitable hype. I waited for 2 years just to see Luke toss his lightsaber over his shoulder. I won't be fooled twice. I'm sure the leaks that will be let out by Disney once filming starts will be that the ship is being righted, that they listened to the fans, that they won't pull the rug from under them again. Don't believe them. Kill the past.

Rumors have started that Brutus will be leaving in September. I think it will be SOONER. Even if she leaves, I have doubts that my interest in Star Wars moving forward will ever return.

Manhandled (Blu-ray Review)

Manhandled (1924)
Directed by Allan Dwan
Screenplay by Frank W. Tuttle
Released by Kino Lorber

I have to admit that I've never seen Gloria Swanson in her prime until I watched this movie. The only role I've ever seen her in was playing a silent film star at her nadir in Sunset Boulevard...a role that pretty much reflected her own life at that time. She struck me as a really creepy actress. Very strange looking, and not at all beautiful. So I didn't know how I would react to seeing her in this movie. She was great and I plan on buying Stage Struck, another Swanson silent that was also released by Kino Lorber this week.

Swanson plays a shopgirl named Tessie McGuire that works in the clearance section of a superbusy department store for $17 a week. She has a workaholic boyfriend named Jim (who looks 20 years her senior) that is a mechanic by day and a taxi driver at night that she really loves. Problem is that he's so busy working he hardly has time to spend any time with her. They're supposed to get married but Tessie can't really envision any future but one of continuing drudgery and struggling to get by financially.

Tessie's fortunes seem to turn when she is invited to a party that is attended by important artists and rich businessmen. I think they invite her just to liven the party up a bit but also because of her looks. At the party, she is warned again and again that she shouldn't get too involved with the men she meets there because they probably only want her for one thing. But she wants to make more money so she takes jobs with the men, knowing that one of the reasons, even the MAIN reason they are hiring her is that they are attracted to her.

The thing that surprised me the most about this movie is how modern it seems. It reminded me of something the #MeToo movement has overlooked. That women use sex or the implication of sex to get things THEY want sometimes. I have read accounts of women that claim they were sexually abused or exploited by celebrities like Matt Lauer but if you read closely, particularlly in his case, some of the women were trying to use HIM to further THEIR careers and only bailed out of the relationships when their hoped for promotions, special treatments etc came to an end.

In this movie, Tessie takes jobs with different men, all of whom she has been warned are mashers, simply because they offer her a lot of money. In essence, she is using them as much as they are using her. She dumps each one as soon as they make a move or want more. Then she's on to the next guy as long as they are going to give her a pay raise.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining about her ethics. I like the fact that she's trying to use the system. She deserves more. I liked that she was using the cads. I just think this kind of behavior is ignored by the #MeToo movement where all women are pure snow white virgins who are being preyed upon by abhorrent wolves.

I loved Gloria Swanson in this movie. I still think she is kinda odd-looking, almost mannish, but she has a great screen presence and charisma. She's very expressive but not in a over-acting K-drama way. I like the way she moves. The way she gestures. And the fact that this movie is a comedy with some social commentary gives her a lot of range and emotions to deal with, from sadness and seduction to physical comedy and joy. That was a thing that was cool about her. She could switch from sad to gladness in a heartbeat.

The director, Allan Dwan, had an extensive directing career but the only film of his I've ever seen before this is The Sands of Iwo Jima that came out about 20 years after this. I was really impressed by the direction in this film, especially any scenes that involved crowds such as the famous subway scene and in the department store. I'm so used to CG that it's nice to see very busy shots that don't involve computer generated actors. There's just so much more life to old movies like this even though all the actors are dead.

The film quality of this Blu-ray isn't that great but is to be expected from a film released almost a hundred years ago. It's the best version you will probably ever get. It was mastered in 2K from 16mm film elements. This is the most complete version currently available.

I really loved this movie and will also be picking up Stage Struck which reunites Swanson and Dwan again. This Blu-ray also features a lovely piano score by Makia Matsumura and an audio commentary by film historian Gaylyn Studlar.

My Grade: A+

Star Wars: The Clone Wars-- The Complete Season One Blu-ray Review

Ever wonder what happened in the 3 year gap between Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith? With all the hate directed towards the prequel movies, maybe you shouldn't answer that one.  Having recently rewatched the prequels in their new blu-ray incarnations, I think they are judged way too harshly. The most glaring weakness of the movies, especially episodes 2&3, are that they feel rushed. For example, Anakin falls too easily. Also, Anakin and Padme fall in love too easily. Lots of plot holes and explanations of those plot holes are seemingly left for other movies that will never get made. Well, that's now not necessarily true with the arrival of The Clone Wars cartoon. The creators are allowed to take their time building up characters and plotlines that could only be done superficially in the movies, including the classic original trilogy. It makes me wistfully wonder whether there might some day be a cartoon based on Episodes 4-6. There probably will.

Season One was preceded by a full length movie, The Clone Wars, which is also available on Blu-ray, so make sure you watch that before you start the series. The main event of the movie was Anakin gaining his first and only (?) Padawan learner, the feisty but lovable Ahsoka. Most of the Jedi have become generals in the Republic Army, blissfully unaware that Chancellor Palpatine, aka Darth Sidious is orchestrating the entire Civil War with the help of Count Dooku, and HIS apprentice, Ventress, the not quite Sith assassin.

While Anakin, Obi-wan, and Ahsoka are the main characters of the series, the writers seem to view the show as more of an ensemble piece. For instance, episode 1 stars Yoda, and not the crotchety know-it-all of the prequel films. He is shown more as the laughing trickster of Empire before Luke found out his true identity. I think he only laughed once in the prequel trilogy, and that wasn't very whole hearted. Other episodes feature Jedi that looked cool in the movies but sometimes never even spoke, like Luminara, Aayla Secura, and Kit Fisto. I guess Kit did have a semi-speaking part in Revenge of the Sith. IF you could call dying screaming like a little girl speaking. Other episodes feature clone troopers and even the much maligned Jar Jar Binks as the main stars.

A lot of the episodes have 2-3 episode story arcs which are just as good as if not BETTER than any of the live action movies. I know this might sound incredible but after finishing the first season multi-part finale, I'm actually feeling like I enjoyed this TV show even more than the live action movies, EVEN the original trilogy which I completely loved. Watching the Clone Wars cartoon, the Star Wars universe just seems so much richer. You actually have time to deal with the consequences of character's actions.

One of the things that bothered me about Attack of the Clones was when Anakin went berserk and killed all those sand people. Yoda sensed his pain and that something terrible had happened. But we never did get to see whether Yoda asked him about it. Or did Obi-wan ever ask him what happened on Tatooine. Or did Yoda or the Jedi ever think for one second WHO had really ordered the clone army to be manufactured. Like was it such a good idea to just show up on Kamino and just pick them up no questions asked. I would want to know who had ordered them and what their intentions were before I armed them and let them loose on the galaxy.

While the live action movies didn't have time to ask questions like these, the cartoon does. For example, in one of the later episodes, a clone goes bad, or let's just say, he turns against the Republic. He sees the Republic and the Jedi as slavemasters, ordering him and his "brothers" to lay down their lives for no reason other than being commanded to. It really flips the tables on who is right in the Star Wars universe. One mystery that is further compounded by showing how individual the clones are is that it just seems unbelievable that they would carry out Order 66 so I hope the writers somehow figure out a way to resolve that.

All in all, I loved this first season, and already have the next two on my shelf ready and waiting.

My Grade: A+

Visit the official site: http://www.starwars.com/explore/the-clone-wars/

Blu-ray Review: Cowboys and Aliens

Well, you have to say this about Cowboys and Aliens: It knows exactly what is. I mean, the name of the movie IS Cowboys and Aliens. So you have to tip your hat to it for its honesty. I have never read the graphic novel that this movie is based on, so I can't vouch for how close Jon Favreau's movie stays with it.

For once in a western, the main character really IS a "Man With No Name" as Daniel Craig wakes up in the middle of a desert in the Old West with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Unfortunately for him, the residents of the nearby town haven't forgotten him. They know him as Jake Lonergan, a notorious outlaw wanted for robbery and murder among other things. He doesn't help his situation by racking the ne'er do well son of the local cattle baron, Woodrow Dolarhyde (Harrison Ford), in the balls either. Dolarhyde. Wow. That is a name steeped in all kinds of allusions, isn't it?....money, Mr. Hyde, formaldehyde, Dickens, etc. Woodrow is borderline psychotic because of his Civil War experiences so he lives up to some of the connotations of his name. Jake is about to get hauled off to trial to face his crimes, when ray beam blasting aliens from outer space send the whole town to Hell! Luckily for the humans, Jake has an alien wrist weapon that allows him to use the rootin tootin sci-fi tech of the aliens against them. Olivia Wilde also shows up as a mysterious gun-toting woman named Ella who is much more than she seems. And she stays that way, before eventually giving some of her background that lasts all of 1 minute. Wilde is horribly utilized in this movie, mainly because her only function seems to be to say "They're here" when the aliens so obviously show up on the scene. It's up to Jake to find a way to lead the townspeople, outlaws, Native Americans, kids, and even dogs against some kick-ass aliens who vaguely resemble miniature Rancors.

Like so many movies these days, Cowboys and Aliens is ok to watch once and be entertained, but you probably will never want to see it again. In that respect it reminds me a lot of Favreau's Iron Man films. And I can expand that to most movies based on comic books that have come out in recent years. They look flashy, they pop, they sizzle, but in the end they shrivel under closer inspection.

If there's one thing I can't stand about alien movies, it's when the aliens are basically just like us. In other words, Star Wars anthropomorphic boringness. I much prefer the creepiness of aliens like those in 2001, Solaris, or even the original Alien (although that may change after Prometheus). The whole "the aliens are here to steal our resources" shtick is just so old at this point. Can't we imagine aliens that go beyond just our own oil-sucking fantasies?



I was kinda surprised that Harrison Ford took this role since he's always shitting on his Star Wars movies like they were so far beneath him. It almost made me laugh when I saw him go all Marlon Brando with Woodrow and try to make him into a living breathing character right out of Unforgiven. Daniel Craig did a good job even though without Bond behind his name, he's really not a leading man.

This movie didn't do very well, costing $163 to make and only grossing around $100 million in the US. Taking foreign revenue into account, it made about a $10 million profit which is probably way below what the studio was counting on.

I wouldn't buy this movie, but it's definitely worth a rental.

My Grade: C+

PS. Was Cowboys and Aliens a prequel to Laser Blast?