A Pop Culture Rant
As if it isn’t obvious, I’m a pop culture nerd. Or was. I think I’m just about done. I don’t have a lot of confidence in today’s industry to make good adaptations of those characters I love. In fact, most of the time I feel insulted. What’s happened? Why has it changed so drastically? Why are these blockbusters so often style without substance? It wasn’t always this way. Superman’s a good example. The original two Richard Donner movies – Superman (1978) and Superman II (2006: this is the year the official Richard Donner version was released) – are classics. Donner knew Superman. He loved Superman. He created a vision of…
Embracing the Mess
An interesting criticism of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker (2019) is that it’s ‘fan service’. I wasn’t aware that fans desired plot holes, shallow characterisations, contrived narrative, an incomprehensible edit, and the return of a villain long dead. They were never on my wish list. I don’t think they were on anybody’s. The Rise of Skywalker isn’t fan service. It’s damage control. It’s Disney backtracking from what they’ve given us and trying to find the Star Wars in their Star Wars. And they accomplish that in the tiniest and briefest ways. The Rise of Skywalker puts the trio of main characters in an adventure together. It gives Rey an…