ROGUE ONE : A STAR WARS STORY ???

People who know me personally know that I have all of the George Lucas Star Wars films at home but that I am not a fan of J.J. Abrams' The Force Awakens. So when I had the chance to go see ROGUE ONE, the new Star Wars film that does not continue the Force Awakens story-line, I figured I had better be super-critical again and see if the stuff improves. I will try not to spoil it for those who have not seen it yet but in the end, if you know all the other films, you already know what happens in this one, without even having seen it. So forget about that no spoiler promise.

Let me first say that I do not want to rehash the story of the film itself here or how it came to be. I want to be blunt here in presenting my opinion. I appreciate what they did here to try and fit it into place so that EPISODE IV can follow immediately and that it adds to the earlier films. It builds on the already existing world that was created by George Lucas in the original trilogy. What is a shame however, is that a number of characters are created here for the sole purpose of being led to their deaths – this so-called great sacrifice that was made to get the Death Star plans to the people who could then proceed to blow it up in Episode IV. Unfortunately this does not allow for a well-rounded approach with the characters in this film. (Did Jyn Erso even have a love in her life, other than her parents which she lost during this film? She comes across as a very monotonous character, but I suppose it would have taken a new trilogy to have smoothed out these kind of wrinkles and make it more believable.)

Jyn: "This guy here? Don't make me laugh, please !"

The overall tone of the film is not like a Star Wars film as the violence is much harsher and more realistic, not so glossed over as in the other films. It treats the film as a general war movie, which is also why this film is a good deal darker than what we are used to from a Star Wars film.

It was however very good fun to see the familiar faces, even if very briefly, C3PO and R2D2 for a cameo appearance, the adopted father of Leia played by Jimmy Smits in the second Lucas-directed trilogy, Leia at the very end of the film and for more than expected, PETER CUSHING (digitally resurrected) as Grand Moff Tarkin and Darth Vader (voiced again by James Earl Jones).  The digitally resurrected PETER CUSHING looked interesting but I had the idea I was looking at a computer game character and not a photo-realistic character. But it looked so compelling that it did NOT get you out of the story which is quite a feat. 

The acting is okay in this film, everybody takes this stuff very seriously. However, as said before, knowing that everyone in this group of characters dies ( the so-called big sacrifice of the Rebellion mentioned in Episode IV) makes this a very one-sided film and not one I aim to go see again with my grandchildren.ROGUE ONE treats the conflict as a realistic war picture and that makes it way too realistic for children below 12 to watch this. I do not rate this a great film and Michael Giacchino’s hackwork of copying the original masterpieces of John Williams does not help (me) much either. But maybe, watching it again later will mellow my mood a little over it. For now, however, I am disappointed. First we had The Force Awakens which was not up to par, now this one. I am beginning to think George Lucas should never have sold off his Star Wars franchise! Here's hoping that next year's installment will be a better one.

Last Note: I have just read that George Lucas has said he liked this film.  I may have to give this one another shot within a couple of months, when I may be in a more forgiving mood. If that happens to be the case and I can give this film more appreciation than I could now, I will promise herewith that I will amend this article. Hey, it's only my opinion.

May the Force Be With You !!!

WESTWORLD : A World of the Future???

In 1973 Michael Crichton wrote and directed a neat little science fiction thriller about mankind going on a holiday in a robot park. The film, WESTWORLD, presented the main characters (James Brolin and Richard Benjamin) with a futuristic holiday park in which they could do anything they wanted.

James Brolin and Richard Benjamin

The holiday park had a Western World, a Roman World and a Medieval World. While our main characters stayed only in the Western World, trouble with the robots arose all over all of the parks and the robots ran amok and killed the guests. Richard Benjamin was the only human to be able to be both lucky and smart enough to outsmart his opponent, the Gunslinger (played by Yul Brynner).

Yul Brynner as the Gunslinger

The film was fairly successful ( mind you, in the 1970s, films weren't as expensive as they are now, nor were there so many computer-generated special effects (as a matter of fact, the first film to make use of computer generated special effects was THE ABYSS from 1989) but box office success was also not measured in the billions ) and spawned a sequel called FUTUREWORLD but this film was not a hit.
In the 1990s, writer-director Michael Crichton used the futuristic park going theme again in a novel that would make him a worldwide celebrity and an instant millionaire, when he wrote JURASSIC PARK, which was promptly made by Steven Spielberg. The similarity to the earlier film WESTWORLD ends there.

Time passes and in 2015 plans arise for a television series based on the film WESTWORLD. Michael Crichton has passed away in the meantime and is not personally involved but Jonathan Nolan and Lisa Joy set up an ambitious storyline for a new, modern take on the concept, aimed for the HBO Market. HBO, by this time a hugely successful network (thanks largely to the incredible success of GAME OF THRONES) takes on the project and funds this undertaking, which is to have a large cast of fairly well known actors, as well as superstar Anthony Hopkins.

Anthony Hopkins as Robert Ford, founder and creator of Westworld

The idea in this show is to present a holiday resort only based in a western setting ( no mention so far has been made for a Roman or Medieval setting but it is speculated so far that these might be shown in future seasons ) where humans may enjoy a totally realistic experience as life had been in the old west. Nothing can happen to the humans but the humans can do an awful lot to the robots. The interesting question is here who are the humans and who are the robots. You may think this should be obvious but in this aspect the show may surprise in many different ways.

Evan Rachel Wood as Dolores

In the first season of 10 episodes we follow a number of visitors in the world created by Robert Ford and his associates. Ford is a mysterious character, played by Anthony Hopkins with great sense of drama. Ford had an associate, Arnold Weber, who cooperated with him on the creation of the park many, many years ago. But details are scarce and only come forward with great difficulty.

Ed Harris as the Man in Black

Mr. Ford is also the creator of the story lines that are playing out in the field when the human visitors come into the scene. But slowly and gradually, it becomes clear that strange things are happening in these story lines. Or are there?

Shannon Woodward as Elsie Hughes and Jeffrey Wright as Bernard Lowe,  programmers in  Westworld who are discussing strange things happening.

In the meantime it seems that story lines also become convoluted by strange mnemonic recurrences in the digital memories of the robots. And so, the robots need maintenance by the specialists who make sure that the robots remain in their roles and do not deviate from their original templates.

Luke Hemsworth and Evan Rachel Wood,

the head of security interrogating Dolores

Westworld is a modern television series and it presents modern, mature themes, just as GAME OF THRONES does. And the robots also surprise the guests with these very mature and modern sensibilities.

Thandie Newton as Maeve: "Is that a gun in your pocket or are you just happy to see me?"

The story line that makes Westworld so interesting is not just that the robots can go amok, but more than that, sometimes they start learning and find out exactly what they are. Maeve, who is a prostitute in the bar, is one of these and finds she wants more than just the normal role playing she does in the bar. Her plans reach out very far, indeed.

Maeve convincing a programmer to let her learn more and more

The upcoming finale to the first season will be no doubt mindboggling in terms of what we will get in development for the characters we have seen so far. My expectation is that we will see things go very, very wrong but we will probably also open many more doors, perhaps to parks in other themes like Roman World, Medieval World or which ever other world one would like to imagine.

Jeffrey Wright as Bernard Lowe

In ratings, the series so far has even surpassed GAME OF THRONES. And because we have still as many unanswered questions, just as answered questions,  I gather we will be privy to a myriad of other possibilities, if the series will be given a green light for next seasons. The likelihood for this is quite high, as we speak.

Dolores: "So, what do you think? Will we be back next season?"

Considering the complex and ambitious nature of the show, this first season of WESTWORLD had a budget of a good 100 million dollars but it shows and once you get into the show, you only want to see more. And just as with GAME OF THRONES, the series is supported by an appropriate musical score of the well-known television composer Ramin Djawadi.

Man in Black: "What do you prefer? Me killing you now or next year?"

With a little luck, WESTWORLD will be here to stay some time yet. At the moment of this writing, I have a feeling it might do well, but in this world, you can never really know for sure. I look forward to more, but even if this was the one and only season of WESTWORLD, I sure enjoyed it.

Why don't you try it. You may like it.

The Return of a King !!!!

I have always been a fan of Dino De Laurentiis' version of KING KONG and although I saw the original 1933 KING KONG much later, this has also become one of my favorite classics. In an earlier article I talked about why I disliked Peter Jackson's King Kong (2005) so I am not going into that now. I just never thought I would see Kong again so soon ! Coming next March: KONG: SKULL ISLAND. The trailer looks excellent, so here's hoping the film will be excellent too!!!

ASH VS EVIL DEAD, Season 2

A great number of franchises are going thru either reboots or revivals these days. TWIN PEAKS will be coming back next year after more than 20 years of being off the air. A new STAR TREK series will commence next May ! And last year we also had a rather noisy revival of THE EVIL DEAD franchise with the first season of ASH VS EVIL DEAD. 

Ash Williams, the main character of the original three EVIL DEAD films by Sam Raimi, is back, again being played by Bruce Campbell. He is now getting help from two new characters, Pablo and Kelly, who have become integral members of the team on board ASH VS EVIL DEAD (Season 1). The first series set up the horror comedy concept rather successfully, but it should be said it may not appeal to everyone's tastes as it specializes in gross-out scenes.

A Special Guest in Season 2 is LEE MAJORS, who plays Brock Williams, Ash's father. Lee Majors is also known from the successful 1970s series The Six Million Dollar Man and he recently also appeared in the DALLAS revival, around the time that JR, Larry Hagman, passed away.

ASH VS EVIL DEAD is shot in Auckland, New Zealand, which also gives the series a rather eerie look for the outside forest scenes as these forests in no way resemble the American forests. Joseph LoDuca, who also composed the music for the original three films, returned for the music in this series as well. 

ASH VS EVIL DEAD is now showing on STARZ.

The Girlfriend Experience on STARZ

Riley Keough stars as Christine Reade, a young law student intern, who finds out a friend of hers is doing escort work on the side. Christine is not shocked and likes sex so when her friend asks her to join in on a double date, Christine says yes. As it is not easy to make ends meet as a law student, Christine also joins the Girlfriend Experience dating game, but finds soon that this life is more demanding than she expected.

The Girlfriend Experience refers to a type of escort girl that engages in more than just the sex with the client. She pretends to be a real girl friend and listens to the day in, day out worries of her client, empathizing with her clients. This is a good deal more time consuming than just the sex thing and so it is also considered a high end escort service, meaning it is very expensive. (Somewhere in the show it is mentioned that this rates thousands of dollars per hour.)

 

When Christine comes to a moment in her life that her GFE career impacts with her law studies and intern work, Christine needs to make a critical decision that will shape the rest of her life. It is at this moment that she decides to take a leading position in her own life, with all the consequences to follow. The Girlfriend Experience is a fascinating show, that will hook you after a few episodes and Riley Keough is a wonderful actress.

Riley  Keough started as a model and was earlier to be seen in MAD MAX: FURY ROAD, as one of the girls in the background during that spectacular race, but in this show, she is amazing. Keough shows Christine as a real human being but also one who is flawed, imperfect. Keough brings a wonderful determination to that side of the part.

The series was created, written and directed by Lodge Kerrigan and Amy Seimetz and has 13 episodes in this first season. You can see the show on STARZ but by now the first season will also have appeared on DVD or Blu Ray.

 The film was based on Steven Soderberghs film The Girlfriend Experience of 2009, but this film is not a dramative narrative. It just shows a few days in the life of a GFE Escort Girl, played by Sasha Grey (who is also known as an Adult Actress, from the porn world). This STARZ show is however an original dramatic story, with good acting, interesting characters and a compelling lead character.

The Girlfriend Experience is a 13 episode dramatic show that tells one concluding story but I would welcome more. It has not yet been disclosed if a second season will follow, but with Riley Keough in the same part, I would certainly keep watching !!

Star Trek Beyond, directed by Justin Lin

People who know me, know I have a history with Star Trek. I have grown up watching Classic Trek and have also learned to appreciate the later series with other characters and other actors. Strangely enough, I found out watching J.J. Abrams' reboot film, Star Trek (2009), that I had no problem with other actors taking these legendary roles.
It is with these characters that Star Trek Beyond, the third film in the Abrams' alternative universe (which has officially been termed the Kelvin Timeline, named after the ship in the first film that opened the alternative universe), really is doing its best work. Justin Lin is a capable director but he too has to concede that characters like Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the rest, they need their own time in the film. That is the good part of the film.

Justin Lin

Interestingly though, a lot of other elements seem to remind one of happenings in Star Trek past, not the least of which is the destruction of the Enterprise (which for the Classic Crew in the earlier films ALSO happened in their third film). This needn't be a surprise as it is quite clearly shown in the trailer (which has bits and clips that are not seen in the film, as well) but in the action scenes, many times I wish for more clarity of what we see, as more often than not we are pressed with the camera right on top of the action, such as in fights or in this matter the Enterprise saucer crash, which has moments where I think, what the hell am I looking at? Whoever came up with that stupid idea that for a movie as costly as these films are, one would want camerawork that is simply un-clear??? (Thank you, Justin Lin, for the absence of unnecessary lense flares!!!)

Sofia Boutella as Jaylah

Another thing is that the villain, played effectively by Idris Elba, has, in his final moments, also to be made, in his own way, relatable. Other elements that remind us of past things are for instance Kirk mentioning that his crew is continuously socializing as well ( referring to romancing each other as well as breaking up, something that Gene Roddenberry did not want to mention explicitly in the Classic Series) and that now and then, it is time for the crew to have some R&R. So they go to an interstellar space station that reminds one of the station in ELYSIUM.

Chris Pine as Kirk

It is no surprise that Michael Giacchino's music fails miserably in reaching the musical glory that Jerry Goldsmith, James Horner and Leonard Rosenman so easily seemed to avail themselves of. Oh, what a shame that their musical legacies are now so easily forgotten! Also, for me the revelation that this Universe's SULU is gay does not surprise or shock me. (A few weeks ago George Takei stated he was disappointed with that as it was not what Gene Roddenberry had had in mind.)

Anton Yelchin RIP

The film has a few touching aspects: one is the news that Spock (Zachary Quinto) receives that Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) has passed away. Ambassador Spock left Spock a memento of the Classic Trek Team in their own timeline, a really wonderful moment of great poignancy.

Another is the dedication at the end, not only to the late Leonard Nimoy but to Anton Yelchin as well, who was killed in an accident with his car last month. He was much too young to go like that. 

J.J. Abrams has stated that for an upcoming fourth film, which is already being prepared now (and in which Chris Hemsworth will be returning as George Kirk, James T. Kirk's father), Pavel Chekov will not be recast. It will be interesting to see how that will be solved. Killing Chekov off has been an option, says Abrams, but really, Chekov is so much a part of Star Trek that one cannot even try to imagine Classic Star Trek without him. (Yes, I do recall that he only came aboard in the second season.)

A final note: it is said of course that STAR TREK BEYOND is the film to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of Star Trek but every hardcore fan knows that that is utter nonsense. Gene Roddenberry produced his first Star Trek Pilot, The Cage, in October 1964. The fact that it was not seen in its entirety until the mid-1980s is irrelevant. Right now, I would like to point out that my focus will be on the upcoming series STAR TREK DISCOVERY, which will start airing in early 2017. Considering that the right people seem to be at the helm, gives me a lot more confidence in that than in another film in the Kelvin Timeline, I am sorry to say.

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR

There need be no doubt : Marvel has another big hit in the cinema's with CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR. This third Captain America Epic, directed by the brothers Anthony and Joe Russo, seamlessly follows the story line from the last AVENGERS movie with a complex new story, involving the Winter Soldier, Tony Stark aka Iron Man and an enormous cast of secondary characters, all of whom have their moment to shine.

The story has its basis in the enormously successful comic book series CIVIL WAR, in which the world of Superheroes is also torn asunder by the government mandated Registration Act, which means to identify and to register all superheroes among the population. Any superhero who does not comply is therefor automatically branded a fugitive. In the comics this had severe consequences, but this film serves plenty of them already for Steve Rogers and his friends.

The reason for the Registration Act, which in the film is called the Sokovia Accords, is that in the first two Avengers films, a lot of collateral damage and casualties were reported during the New York incident (in the first Avengers film), the Washington incident (in Captain America The Winter Soldier) and in Sokovia (Avengers : Age of Ultron). Also in the beginning of this film, a superhero intervention led by Captain America costs 9 civilians their lives and it is for that reason that the government demands the Avengers to be put under United Nations Supervision. Faced with his own guilt in the death of civilians, Tony Stark acquiesces to the Accords but Steve Rogers does not.

The result is a fantastic action epic, by far the most impressive as well as the longest that Marvel has made so far. Because the film has only just started its theatrical run, I will not give away story details here, go see the film if you like this kind of entertainment. 

CAPTAIN AMERICA: CIVIL WAR is a epic action movie, with so much story you will care for the characters (and that is, alas, where Batman Vs Superman : Dawn Of Justice failed: the way the film was presented did not allow you to take the time to care for the characters). And it is not just the two (excellent) main leads, Chris Evans and Robert Downey Jr, who may take their bows. The film has wonderful roles as well for Natasha, Wanda, Sam Wilson, Vision, Bucky , Rhodes (War Machine), Clint (Hawkeye), Ant Man and presents us the new Black Panther and Peter Parker, aka SPIDER-MAN.

And there is also plenty of personal surprises for Steve. The action is amazing, the story line is gripping, the music is very effective and although the editing is sometimes just a bit too fast, it does come across as very effective. In all, I would finish with the following information: although there will still be other Marvel Superheroes that will see the day of light on film before the story continues, you will see the next step in the upcoming AVENGERS: INFINITY WAR films. 

As for Spider-Man, Black Panther, Ant Man and Natasha, you will be pleased to know that these characters will also soon get their own films again. I can only say EXCELSIOR, and in the words of the immortal Stan Lee (who again has a very funny cameo appearance in the ending of the film) MAKE MINE MARVEL !!!!!

Stan Lee

Netflix presents an Amazing Second Season of MARVEL's DAREDEVIL!!

Last year Netflix brought us an amazingly good run on the first season of Marvel’s DAREDEVIL. Now, the second season can also be seen on Netflix. The first season concentrated on the rise of Wilson Fisk, the Kingpin, oddly enough a villain that originated in the pages of The Amazing Spider-Man but that has since also diverted to the pages of Daredevil and other superheroes. Although Wilson Fisk does have a cameo this season as a villain in prison, the story now revolves around a new character, Frank Castle, who takes care of criminals in New York in a much more lethal way than DD: he kills them. Castle thinks that DD’s way is inefficient as DD beats them but they then get away, or out of jail and start all over again. Castle therefor feels DD is a coward who uses only half measures in not killing those who need to be killed. Frank Castle is played by Jon Bernthal, who has been seen in The Walking Dead as Shane and as the lead in Frank Darabont’s miniseries MOB CITY. Bernthal gives Frank Castle a Travis Bickle look, which makes this rendition of the Punisher extremely interesting ! (For those of you not familiar with Travis Bickle, please check out Martin Scorsese's legendary film TAXI DRIVER now!!!)

Matt Murdock’s relation with Foggy Nelson and Karen Page is however also sorely tested when he is visited by his former girlfriend Elektra Natchios. Elektra was also trained by Stick and she is now out to destroy The Hand but needs Daredevil’s help to do it. Matt finds out the hard way that all the time he spends as Daredevil is time he can not be useful as Matt Murdock, attorney and this has severe consequences for him. Rosario Dawson again cameo’s as Claire and Vincent d’Onofrio also reappears as Wilson Fisk. Scott Glenn is back again as Stick. Although the reviews of the second season are less impressive than the first, I must admit that this series is extremely compelling!

The acting is also very good here. Jon Bernthal is superb as Frank Castle while Elodie Yung as Elektra clearly shows talent as a woman who causes trouble for Matt. Charlie Cox and his colleagues are excellent in their roles and I look forward to the next season. It is clear in this show that these adventures take place in the same world as that of Jessica Jones and so, it will also be very rewarding to see these two series and the next two, Luke Cage, to follow in October and Iron Fist, to follow hopefully next yearm culminate in The Defenders.

Review: LEONARD, My Fifty Year Friendship With A Remarkable Man, by WILLIAM SHATNER

Slightly more than a year ago, Leonard Nimoy passed away. His legacy as Spock in the original STAR TREK series is by this time undeniably huge. It was also well known that William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were good friends. William Shatner played Captain Kirk as a man of action to Nimoy's voice of reason in Mr. Spock. Add to that the humanity and compassion of Dr. McCoy (so wonderfully played by the now often forgotten DeForest Kelley) and the basis was present for a set of adventures that knew no bounds. The Original Star Trek was cutting edge television in its day. If you know William Shatner, you also know that he is a career man, who never ceases to work and do things that will benefit his career. He has had the luxury of the heroic roles ( Captain Kirk, T.J. Hooker) as well as the narrative presenter (Rescue 911) or the spokesperson (his Priceline background) as well as being a writer of many books. Some will think Mr. Shatner is a blowhard ego-maniac (his continuing quarrels with George Takei are well documented and easily found on the internet) but I prefer to think of his more as a career minded bull in a China shop, who has no awareness of what he causes. You see, I don't think of him as someone who would be "evil" or in any way or capacity the bad guy. I think he is just not really very aware of some of the reactions he causes. In the book LEONARD, My Fifty Year Friendship With A Remarkable Man, you will also find this very characteristic back again. It is a very enjoyable book but to people who have read loads of earlier releases not much of it will surprise you. But in effect this is a book about William Shatner and his relationship to Leonard Nimoy. So if you want to read this, be sure to install your Bullshit Filters and get ready to read Shatnerian prose. If you learn how to read between his lines and get to the truth of this book, it is very enjoyable. I do think it is a bit of a shame that Shatner chooses to give it a bit of a dramatic ending with a regret of his towards the deceased Leonard Nimoy, but this kind of misery and regret does sell books. So think of that as nothing more than it is.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were good friends. Read nothing more into this book than that and you will have a nice few hours with it. Of course, the question will always remain how much of it is actually written by Shatner as he admits to co-writing this volume with David Fisher (it has often been suggested that he also never truly wrote the TEKWAR books or any of his subsequent books, that he provided the outlines and let the damn books be written by his ghost writers) but if that is of any concern to you, well, that is up to you. I just wanted to say, I had a good time with LEONARD, My Fifty Year Friendship With A Remarkable Man.

THE WALKING DEAD : The Coming of NEGAN !!

Jeffrey Dean Morgan made an impressive debut on the finale episode of The Walking Dead. Morgan was only actually in the episode for 10 minutes but in those 10 minutes Morgan made us believe in his character, NEGAN, the new bad guy to make life harder for the group of survivors we have come to care for in all these 6 seasons so far.

Negan’s introduction in the comics also meant the death of GLENN (Steven Yeun) but in the episode the fatal beating given by Negan was shown from a POV shot, meaning we did not get to see who was struck down. So we will have to wait until the premiere of the next season this fall to see which character was killed.

Was it MIchonne, Daryl, Glenn, Rosita, Carl, Maggie, Rick, Aaron, Eugene, Abraham or Sasha? Internet speculation centers on Glenn, Abraham and Eugene but showrunner Scott Gimple says that this very question, painful as it is now not to know, will set up a new storyline which will take our characters in new directions.

"Do I live or do I die ?"

 I would like to remind the fans that everything said on the internet now is speculation. Glenn already survived another close call in the first half of the Sixth Season so one could surmise this would put him in a safety zone but Gimple reminds us that on this show “No one is safe” That also means even Rick (who seemed to be losing it as he acquiesced to get on his knees before the coming of Negan) or Daryl (who was shot in the show leading up to this one) or Maggie (who was sick due to complications with the pregnancy)  could bite the dust. Even Carl, who in the comics seems to get close to Negan in a weird way, could be the one to kick the bucket.





As a writer myself, I did find this episode weak as it only prolonged a situation that needed to set up the confrontation of Negan's introduction. Only the last 10 minutes of the show were really worthwhile and this was mostly due to the efforts of Jeffrey Dean Morgan. However, if I had been in the shoes of NEGAN and I would have seen these guys kill 20 of my men, I would most assuredly KILL THEM ALL !! What is this stupid shit about only killing ONE GUY for them having killed TWENTY ?? Stepping out of my role as Devil's Advocate, this episode does bring an interesting bit of information to bear : our heroes have killed 20 Men of NEGAN's before he did anything to them. In other words, our heroes were the bad guys here. Killing only ONE PERSON is not the way a leader like NEGAN would take his leadership back into his own hands, I would say. But then, who am I?

 I look forward with great interest when THE WALKING DEAD will return, probably in October.