It's been a relatively relaxing Holiday season. When it's July, I tell myself I'd rather take time off when everyone ELSE is working, and then get caught up while the office is quiet. Then every year I get to the holiday season and wonder why I'm one of the few guys in the office when I desperately need some time to unwind. This year, I said screw it and I've managed to work 5 days in the past 2 weeks and as of this afternoon I'm off until 7am on Monday.
We've seen Star Wars 7 on the Imax 3D screen twice now. I went in not expecting much and was happily surprised with the result. The first showing we went to was at lunchtime on the day of release - the theater was sold out (at lunchtime!), and the audience was almost entirely people in their 30s and 40s (i.e. "my age"). This was such a fun setting; while waiting we chatted with those around us like old friends. When the lights went down, all phones went away and the nerds got focused. We cheered when the Falcon came on the screen, and again when Han and Chewie showed up. At the end, we clapped politely, then all sat and watched the credits roll.
Perfect movie? No, not at all.* But I was a Star Wars kid of the 80s, and these are the friends/characters I've wanted back on the screen nearly the entirety of my life. When the special edition (revamped original trilogy) returned to theaters in the late 90s, there was a huge buzz around the franchise and things finally looked good for Star Wars fans. This was of course followed by a big kick in the nuts called Episode I. So let's face it, it could have been a LOT worse. Episode 7 is a fun ride if you let it be fun.
But -- on the Horizon for Dog's Breath. I have my year end wrap up post that will hit on the 31st or 1st. I am unhappy with it and will need to spend some time reworking it (unlike most posts, I've already been through it twice now).
I have a monster Shadows of Brimstone How-To post that's drafted but needs a ton of pictures imported and formatted. Mrs. Durden and I have been playing SoB whenever possible (though I had to clean up the dining room table for Christmas dinners) and have been thoroughly enjoying it.
Ingame, I have been cleaning out old inventory (necessary evil) and running lvl4s. I am trying to get some of the cruiser anomics to spawn so I can recheck my fits; this will result in hopefully some updated PVE guides.
I've been looking at the default templates and may ditch the red/gray star motif for something a little easier to read. The red/black gets fuzzy on some of my devices. Open to ideas.
No timetable for any of this (other than the year-end post) but hope that my weekends will remain free through January allowing for more online shenanigans.
*Note: There have been no perfect movies since the Goonies.
Seen it twice now. Basically I set everything aside, and for the first viewing tried watching as though I was eleven all over again. I had a wonderful cinema experience.
ReplyDelete"Episode 7 is a fun ride if you let it be fun."
ReplyDeleteI think, perhaps, this is my problem.
I found it mediocre. It just didn't feel like Star Wars to me. Sure, the characters were there, the ship was there, the music was there(-ish), but it failed to feel like a Star Wars film. Perhaps this is what you thought about episode 1?
Too many new things, too little back story. A plot that, like the music, was incoherent, self referential and lost in the past.
I was able to predict, with some accuracy!, where the plot was going. (To save those who haven't watched) The main 'drama' element became depressingly obvious as the film went on.
In the end, I was left feeling like I was playing an EA game. Want more content? Want a backstory?
Pony up another £50 for the information you need to understand the film.
Which, I think, is kinda sad.
I'll leave it there, because if I didn't, I'd write a thousand words!
Wow, Rob.
ReplyDeleteI liked Starwars and was quite happy with it. I got all misty at the intro. I loved that it doesn't spend a third of the movie explaining the first sets of movies. I felt that they were true to the world and I had a great experience and left nice and warm.
I think I'm pretty spoiled by the expanded editions, which were great. I don't think that it is unreasonable to expect a bit more of a back story than the title scroll, however.
DeleteThe first firing of the super-weapon: the 'Alderaan' moment, and I don't even know who they're firing against, beyond a 'The New Republic is terrible/corrupt/disorganised" speech. The firing of the first Death Star was dramatic because Leia was trying to save her planet, and so we care about it.
When we left the cinema, none of my family *and* none of my friends could name the system or the planet the Starkiller Base had fired at. Furthermore, why do I care about the New Republic? It is some distant entity 'humanised' by a 15 second 'we're going to die' scene.
I'm not saying it is a terrible film. I just don't think it is a good Star Wars film. Nostalgia cuts deep, unfortunately. I wanted more than it delivered.
Still, I was in a minority opinion, so everyone else liked it!
I actually thought they'd fired at the Gonditsa system, which is in Eve!, instead of the Hosnian system.
DeleteI couldn't name a single system in Star Wars. Not then. Not now. I also can't name most systems in Eve. I don't remember what most of the characters names are. I have no idea if the desert planet in this one is related to the one in the first one. None of that bothers me. I can't even process that kind of detail and enjoy a movie that only has two or so hours to deliver itself across the screen.
DeleteNostalgia left me with the warm happiness. It is technically the 7th film in the series. It would be silly to spend the entire film trying to build up what they have delivered over 6 other films.
You already know who the republic is. You know who the Dark whatever is. I don't even know what they are other then the bad guys. New darkness or something. I'm fine with that. I don't need to be taught what the republic is again. We know. We have all the other movies to tell us. This isn't a reboot its a continuation.
The thing is that this is the New Republic, which we haven't ever met. The Old Republic is the Clone Wars one, which becomes the Empire. Hence, no investment in the death of some solar system.
DeleteI'm a massive fan of Star Wars; it was my childhood, pretty much. I just wanted something that lived up to my dreams.