• Inside Entertainment,  Media Rants

    Shallow Foundations

     Note: Although this blog references The Rise of Skywalker, at this point I still haven’t seen it. When you sit down to write a story, you create characters who’ll serve that story. They each have a unique function. Once that function is complete, the character is done. They exit the story. James Bond movies illustrate how characters function in self-contained stories. Bond’s boss, M, briefs Bond about his mission. Q will provide Bond with weapons and gadgets. Once M and Q have fulfilled their roles, their jobs are complete. In a few Bonds, M and Q might reappear, but usually never with any great depth, necessity, or regularity. There’ll be…

  • Inside Entertainment,  Media Rants

    Good Questions for Another Time

    Why do I keep going on about the new Star Wars? Because it irks me so. It frustrates me that they had this bullet-proof franchise where they could’ve done anything – as long as it was good – and instead they just rehashed the original movies, and did it in a way that lacks character development, causality, and logic. What was the point then? At least George Lucas tried things with the Prequels. At least his movies contain flashes of brilliance. I cannot think of a single inspiring scene in the New Trilogy. Oh wait! The end credits. Then I was happy. So, in my opinion, where did these movies…