movies – Page 3 – DaveGladow.com

The Force Awakens retrospective: We’re home

“Let me show you something, that will make you feel young, as when the world was new.”
— Carol Marcus, “The Wrath of Khan”

Aging is a motherfucker.

One of my favorite aspects to the Star Trek movie franchise featuring the original cast members was how it dealt with aging. I mean, by necessity it had to, as the series predated the films by over a decade. The actors got older. We couldn’t very well ignore that. These were still our favorite characters, except further weathered by the experiences around them.

(I find this more and more relevant as I, myself, age.)

“Wrath of Khan” in particular did a masterful job of incorporating the theme of aging and wrapping a narrative around it. In that movie, our main protagonist, Captain James T. Kirk, must come to terms with his own physical breakdowns, face the demons (and angels) he’s created in his former life, and ultimately come to grips with death in a very personal way. The lessons are simple and, well, ageless. To wit:

As we get older, we have to come to terms with how we have been unable to “fix” the world or live our lives in quite the way we might have wanted to.
We have to see the people we love leave us.
And we have to endure.

When Disney announced it was making more Star Wars films following its purchase of the property from George Lucas in 2012, thoughts immediately turned to reuniting the “big three” — Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher — on screen once again. Miraculously, within months it had been confirmed: the fans’ primary wish was coming true. More adventures for Luke Skywalker, Han Solo and Princess Leia were on the way!

Getting our favorites back after thinking it would never happen again (particularly with Ford, who had notoriously been luke-warm at best on his character for years) was a bit like Capt. Kirk cheating death throughout the runtime of “Star Trek II.” It was a thrilling thing to witness.

The downside to this should have been obvious, thanks again to the lessons learned in that previous sci-fi classic. With aging characters, you’re left with things like disappointment and loss as your major themes.

In short, The happy ending of “Return of the Jedi” could not last.

Revenge of the Sith retrospective: Gratitude

Over the course of the late spring and summer of 2005, as “Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith” hit theaters to conclude George Lucas’ epic six-movie story, Star Wars-mania took hold of me and wouldn’t let go.

This movie, which was to be Star Wars’ swan song (but actually ended up being Lucas’ instead), represented the end of an era and could have realistically been the end of Star Wars in movie theaters … forever.

That thought motivated repeat viewings in a way no other movie had before or since, at least for this writer. Four in-theater viewings remains my record for a single film to this day.*

* This total, high by my standards, but low by some Star Wars fans’, I am comfortable with. I like that this film holds the record … and also that I never got up to five.

Given what we knew at the time, that this movie could be the last of the series, it was a time of great reflection and celebration … but only for those who were still bought in (like me). Many fans had by that point been disillusioned by “The Phantom Menace” or couldn’t recapture the magic through “Attack of the Clones.” And to their point, “Revenge of the Sith” didn’t exactly break the mold of the other prequels. A sudden turnaround on the prequels at large just wouldn’t be engendered by this movie.

Non-fans were more impressed, whether because they wanted to be more charitable coming into it or they simply didn’t feel burned in the same way. Regardless of the reasons, the box office rebounded significantly from Clones, while the Tomato-meter bounced up from 54% to 66% and finally to 80% as the prequels went along.

Many non-fans (and many fans as well) were grateful to have the series go out on a relative high note.

Attack of the Clones retrospective: Swinging for the fences

In the game of baseball, an almost infinite amount of outcomes can occur whenever a hitter steps up to the plate. It is one of the most charming things about the game in general, that the potential for seeing something you’ve never seen before exists on every single pitch.

The strategy involved, by all parties, can wildly affect different outcomes. But right or wrong, it’s the hitter’s mentality that often receives the most scrutiny by observers. Is the hitter swinging for the fences? Is he putting a little extra pop into his swing, risking the biggest of whiffs in the process, but also giving him the opportunity to change the game in one swing with a deep shot? Or is he “playing it safe,” hitting for average and just trying to get on base?

The sport is littered with guys who took that “swing for the fences” mentality to extreme levels, guys like Sammy Sosa and Andres Galarraga retiring with a stat line full of both homers AND strikeouts … the ultimate feast or famine hitters.

There are many coaches who try to drill this out of guys, preaching the classic “don’t be a hero” line, and certainly the sport has plenty of space for different schools of thought on this topic. No one is exactly right or wrong, per se.

But…

I like home runs.

Therefore, I like the pursuit of home runs as well. There’s nothing quite so thrilling as a zero sum game — all or nothing — played out over the course of a couple of hours. What can I say? I respect an aggressive mentality, or perhaps more accurately, a willingness to shoot for the stars … even if failure can be the end result.

Enter “Attack of the Clones.”

The Phantom Menace retrospective: Things change

“I don’t want things to change.”

“But you can’t stop the change … anymore than you can stop the suns from setting.”

As I watched “The Phantom Menace” — George Lucas’ fourth entry in his Star Wars saga, an initial prequel tabbed appropriately “Episode I” — for the first time, late in the summer of 1999 (months after a negative backlash had already begun to take hold among some critics and fans), I couldn’t help smiling as I heard these lines of dialogue in my darkened theater.

Ostensibly, they were meant to convey and ease the suffering of one of our protagonists, Anakin Skywalker, as he must prepare to leave his mother to pursue his dreams of becoming a Jedi.

Instead, in that moment, they read as a direct warning to fans who had grown up and away from that childhood sense of wonder that had so taken hold of them as kids.

“You are different. These movies are different. Accept that and you’ll do well.”

Spoiler alert: A lot of people didn’t accept that.

Return of the Jedi retrospective: Innovation into formula

If “A New Hope” felt fresh and new (because it was), and “The Empire Strikes Back” felt bold and interesting (because it was), then surely George Lucas and the creators of “Return of the Jedi” would have to come up with something entirely different for the third film in his masterful Star Wars trilogy.

Necessity is the mother of invention, after all. Lucas had by now, famously, begun to suffer burnout. Limiting his saga to three films,* instead of the originally envisioned nine or 12 (depending on your favorite version of events), was his most obvious concession, but if you look closely, you’ll see loads of details that acknowledge this fact.

* Though I will once again acknowledge the brilliance of turning a three-act play into a trilogy of movies, regardless of how or why he came to that decision.

Observe the actors’ performances, which mostly begin to feel bored or frustrated. Their characters’ inevitable triumph feels more like a relief than a celebration.

Or consider the plot of a “second Death Star,” which even at the time felt lazy and uninspired.

Or observe our return to planets we’ve visited before in Tatooine and Dagobah.

Or notice that the entire last half of the movie is set on a “forest moon” that uncannily resembles Lucas’ backyard.

Pretty much everything signaled that this enterprise had begun to become a struggle.

Hiring on a director to take the helm in his stead (for the second straight film, this time in the form of Richard Marquand) was another clear admission that the creator himself needed help — understandable, given Lucas’ attempts to build multiple companies from the ground up while simultaneously suffering through a contentious divorce — but even the choice of director in itself reflected much. Marquand’s bonafides were more than a little lacking coming into the project. Lucas would need to remain heavily involved, which would have the benefit of allowing him to communicate his own vision, but would also require his presence on set.

While he was juggling everything else.

Burnout.

It is within that basic framework that we can begin to understand what “Return of the Jedi” actually is, and why it is the way it is.

What should you watch before Avengers: Endgame?

What should you watch before Avengers: Endgame? This is an easy question with a complicated answer.

I would argue, on the one hand, that you should watch everything from the Marvel Cinematic Universe to get the full experience. You’re going to be so hopelessly lost about certain characters, plot developments, and, heck, minor background details, that you’ll end up in a theater full of people chuckling and nodding their heads and crying and you’ll have no earthly idea what any of them are responding to.

It’s also sort of impossible at this point to recommend just a few of these movies, since there are so many characters, and each of them has his or her own story threads to navigate. For example, you might want to know everything there is to know about Thor. Well, that’s the three Thor films at minimum, along with the other movies he appears in (which if you include cameos, means eight movies in total). And that’s one character out of dozens.

Of course, you could read a cheat sheet to get caught up. A year ago at this time, I wrote a significant amount of word salad trying to catch folks up on all of main plot beats and characters of the MCU in advance of Avengers: Infinity War. If you’ve missed some (most? all?) of the movies along the way, or if you’ve just forgotten some of the details, it’s still a decent guide. You can read it here.

But really, where I ended up, after all of that, was to recommend a short refresher to anyone who was at all already familiar with the series. For Infinity War, I recommended watching Guardians of the Galaxy, Captain America: Civil War, and Thor: Ragnarok to make sure you were caught up (I stand by that recommendation.).

I feel like an abbreviated refresher this time around is good too. I mean, if you’re new, watch ALL the movies or read a guide like the one I linked to above. If you’ve been around for awhile, however, picking and choosing just some of the movies to revisit should suffice.

But which ones should you pick?

The Empire Strikes Back retrospective: Hitting hard

In 1976, a little-known writer/actor by the name of Sylvester Stallone saw the release of his most critically acclaimed and culturally significant work, “Rocky.” Rocky told the story of a (seemingly) past-his-prime boxer being given the ultimate underdog’s title shot against the champion of the world, and it gave us all the drama one could ever hope for from such a scenario. Moreover, it had the good sense to lean into an incredible score, fast, hard-hitting imagery, a romantic subplot, and against every instinct modern Hollywood will try to bring to bear on any project ever, the hero lost.

That this movie has inspired 800 sequels/spinoffs is merely the cherry on top when trying to draw a comparison to what many consider to be George Lucas’ most inspiring work, his sequel to the smash hit “Star Wars,” “The Empire Strikes Back.”*

* This is where we note that Lucas didn’t actually direct this movie; Irvin Kershner did. While some like to use this fact as a weapon against Lucas in a personal vendetta sort of way (“Hur hur, Lucas didn’t even direct the best movie in the franchise! Hur hur.”), I think it is enough to note that Lucas was heavily involved in the making of the sequel, and that many people contributed to making Star Wars what it is today, Kershner included.

“Empire,” for short, had the unenviable challenge of trying to surpass the most popular film of all time, and it shares a weird amount of characteristics with what is ostensibly a boxing movie in “Rocky.” The most important and obvious, of course, is its total disregard for normal Hollywood endings. But I actually like the thematic comparison as well.

“Rocky,” and especially its sequels, became very well known not only for its incredible synth-scored training montages, but even more so for its over-the-top violence and depravity within the ring. Watching blood and sweat (and sometimes even body parts like teeth) sail through the air in super slow motion may not have meant much thematically beyond “this movie hits hard,” but good lord I couldn’t come up with a better description for “The Empire Strikes Back” if I tried.

This movie hits hard.

Continue reading The Empire Strikes Back retrospective: Hitting hard

Why Transformers: The Movie is better than Avengers: Infinity War

It recently occurred to me that there are an awful lot of similarities between the recent Marvel Cinematic Universe extravaganza Avengers: Infinity War and the animated classic, Transformers: The Movie.

(No, not the Michael Bay dreck.)

While this might seem an insult to compare a gazillion dollar enterprise to a kids cartoon with an 80s sensibility, I don’t mean any particular offense. Moreover, I’ve come to believe that Transformers might well have done it better when you really start to look it.

Which, okay, you can read as an insult if you want to — but I still hold the deepest respect for the folks who spent countless hours building the Marvel monstrosity that is Thanos’ quest. I think it’s important to state that upfront.

This is really more about speaking up about the quality of the original animated Transformers, which if we’re being completely honest, wasn’t all that great of a television series … it was the movie that elevated the proceedings considerably. And all due credit on this realization to the fine folks (MovieBob!) who produced this video of awesome-sauce.

I mean, this is a really deep dive on why the movie has merit, and I get it if you don’t want to go there. To sum up the video, there are tons of reasons to come to the conclusion that yes, the movie is really that good.

That all having been stated, why do I make the Avengers comparison?

Well, it’s a cultural touchstone and is present on people’s minds right now. That’s definitely a part of it. But more relevantly, they really do have a lot of the same characteristics.

Don’t believe me? Let’s take a look.

Continue reading Why Transformers: The Movie is better than Avengers: Infinity War

Let’s talk “Solo”

I have a tremendous amount of respect for the people involved in making “Solo.”

It was a thankless task. I mean, not literally, but let’s quickly break this down:

Re-cast an iconic character associated with a beloved actor.
Struggle through re-shoots, a changes in director, and a ton of bad press.
Tell a smaller story that will be seen by the audience as not being essential to the overall narrative.
Release the movie just 6 months after the “more essential” movie had sucked up the oxygen (and pissed off a small percentage of the audience).
Attempt to release the movie on the heels of a pair of the biggest movies in history had, well, sucked up the oxygen.

Continue reading Let’s talk “Solo”

Your Avengers movie cheatsheet

Did you know that there have been EIGHTEEN movies released in the Marvel Cinematic Universe over the past decade?

18. Do you know how many Star Wars movies there are? 10, give or take (depends on if you count that Ewok stuff from the ’80s). And that’s over 40 years.

18.

If you haven’t been trying to keep up, you’re probably already painfully aware that it was a ridiculous number like that. If you’ve been gobbling them all up like a sleeve of girl scout cookies, however, you might have lost track of the madness.

Never fear, however! If you haven’t been keeping up and don’t want to sit through 40 hours of movies (check out this absurd marathon, which I’m pretty sure would kill a normal person), but you still have an interest in checking out one of the newer movies — perhaps the cultural phenomenon that is “Black Panther” or the mega-hyped “Avengers: Infinity War” coming out in a month or so — I am here to help. As a handy reference point, I’ll attempt to break down the major characters/plotlines in as simple a fashion as possible.

Feel free to bookmark and return to this as you need a refresher.

Continue reading Your Avengers movie cheatsheet