A Thank-You to 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' (no-spoilers!)

            So often with movies these days, we often hype up the blockbuster experience so high with expectation that there is no possibility that those expectations could be met. I saw it happen "Star Wars: The Phantom Menace," "The Avengers: Age of Ultron," "The Dark Knight Rises," "The Hobbit," and many other films.  The marketing behind these motion pictures promise us an epic, life changing, dark, complex, and emotion filled experience even better than the well-received film it's the sequel/prequel to.  Amongst this, I find that once we hype a movie up so much and it clearly fails to meet our expectations, we take two routes. On one hand, some take the path where they bring it to the lowest common level and use such expressions like "the dumbest film ever made," "terrible," or my personal favorite, "it ruined my childhood."  On the other side, the path I tend to take is defending the movie to an unrealistic extent. We get so hyped for a film that once it comes out the anticipation is so high, we defend it no matter how bad the product is. It HAS to be great. 

            This weekend came "Star Wars: The Force Awakens."  It's by far the most anticipated film in my life so far and amongst all the hype, promise, anticipation, and disappointment films of this caliber tend to lead to, in a mighty two-hour format, Star Wars was able to make itself known as a cinematic experience that devoured whatever anticipation I had mustered up.  Yes, I'm saying it now. 'The Force Awakens' did what very few films so anticipated have been able to do and exceeded my expectations.

            I honestly had the best theatre experience of my life.  From the moment "A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." went on the screen (and that itself was worth 20 bucks), I wasn't in a theatre, I was in Star Wars.  All the theories, speculation, and even anticipation were thrown out the window as soon as the film started and I couldn't keep my eyes off it from beginning to end.  The theatre was a rock and roll concert.  Energy filled the room.  Everyone cheered in the moments of triumph, and you felt the air taken out of the theatre at the moments of shock or despair.  It was simply amazing.  When I went to the bathroom after the film was over, I looked in the mirror to see tears flowing down my face that I didn't know were there.  The tears certainly weren’t there out of sadness, but because I had just sat through what made me fall in love with the universe as a younger child.  I fell in love with ALL the new characters.  The villain Kylo Ren was my personal favorite.  Without spoilers, he truly wasn't Vader 2.0, he was a character with motivations behind what he was doing and I couldn't help but feel sympathy for him.  Director J.J. Abrams has very heavily talked about going back to the use of practical-effects like the original trilogy.  Though I'm not the first person to point out the practical-effects, that decision truly brought this film to a new visual level.  When you are wandering around the desert planet of Jakku, you are actually looking at a real desert not a green-screen.  When you see these amazing creatures, droids, and aliens living in the universe of Star Wars, nine times out of ten you are looking at real, tangible, objects. There is certainly CGI in the film, and I’m definitely not against the use of it to enhance scenes, but they did a great job at using it as a tool to enhance the practical objects they already built.  Believe it or not, my biggest issue with the movie is that there is one segment in particular that did rely a tad too heavily on CGI, but besides that sequence, they used it amazingly.
            Looking back, there were clearly some minor flaws I could pick apart from the film here and there but overall, for the first time since 1983, Star Wars is back and better than ever.  This is why I love going to the movies.  This is why film is my favorite form of story-telling to ever exist.  This is why I want to tell stories of my own one-day.  Here's a big thank-you to everyone involved with bringing this film to life.   For those of you who weren't too sold on seeing this film, go see it.  You will not be disappointed.

Ant-Man Trailer Review: Why it Worked

The Ant-Man trailer has been released, and people don't seem to be responding as well as they have with Marvel trailers in the past.  The reaction to the trailer has seemed to suggest it looks "cliche" and unordinary.  Does this trailer look like Marvel's first flop?  I don't think so.

The more I thought about and re-watched the trailer, it just got better and better.  How cool is cliché melodrama built up with sadness and epic music, and Paul Rudd's reaction to all of it? "Huh?" To me this trailer sought out to be the first 30 seconds of the Guardians trailer. It starts with this cliche epic vibe and then theres the classic line "I'm Starlord" "Who?". I think they cut it this way with the humorous moments on purpose and I can't be more excited with what they are going. Also, Devin Faraci from Badass Digest says this:

 "Also worth noting: the line "It's not about saving our world, it's about saving theirs," which speaks to the stakes of the movie - it's not an end-of-the-world riff again, but rather about securing the future."

I think after the scale of Age of Ultron, this suggests they are taking it back to the Iron Man 1 basics, and I LOVE that.  I'm not saying this film is guaranteed to be as solid as I hope.  With all the controversy, Marvel has earned our optimism.  I'm just saying that they seem to be going for something new.  In a genre of film that can easily do the opposite, the goal deserves all the support in the world.

My Top Five Films of 2014

2014 was a great year for movies.  After the usually rocky January, 2014 proved to be a year to remember with blockbusters like Edge of Tomorrow, and smaller award caliber movies along the likes of Boyhood.  Before we get into my favorites, please note two things.  One, is that I didn't get to see every movie.  I unfortunately haven't been able to catch a lot of smaller movies like Birdman or Whiplash because they simply haven't been playing near where I live. So if you ask why didn't I give "insert a movie here" a mention, that is probably why.  Two, is this is my Top 5 list not yours.  Chances our, mine will be very different from yours and that is because "top anything of the anything lists" are some of the most subjective lists out there.  

Here are some honorable mentions before we get started:

X-Men: Days of Future Past

Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Edge of Tomorrow

Interstellar

22 Jump Street

How to train Your Dragon 2

Snowpiercer (this was so close into making it in!)

5. Guardians of the Galaxy

·      This movie is just so much fun.  From the characters, to the humor and likable strangeness, this is a film I could watch over and over again.  I feel like it’s impossible to dislike this movie! If you do, change your opinion for something is off (jk, opinion is subjective, but really).  At the heart of it, what makes Guardians great is that it has the scope and scale of a modern superhero blockbuster with the heart and tone of a quirky, unique, indie film.  This is thanks to James Gunn’s articulate ability to blend seemingly unmixable tones and make them work together.

4. Gone Girl

    David Fincher has been hailed as one of the greats of our time, and Gone Girl is no exception to that claim.  Its marketing campaign focused more on the intrigue rather than the twists and plot points, and it really paid off.  Gone Girl was my most engrossing movie-going experience of the year, it always kept me guessing till the end, and all the performances were out of control.  Shout out to Rosamund Pike’s chilling performance, which most definitely gives her character villain of the year.

3. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

 

·      As the summer blockbuster can have a tendency to rely on action and visual effects, Dawn of the Planet of the Apes broke the chain and succeeded in providing great visual spectacle, while maintaining a soul with characters with different angles and motivation. It gets to the heart of the Apes franchise as a real political, pretty much Shakespearean film, addressing the nature of humanity and evil.  I know that makes me sound like a hipster, but its true!  On top of this, it had fantastic performances from Andy Serkis, Tobey Kebel, and the rest of the cast.  It did this while being ABSOLUTELY groundbreaking on a technical scale, which is quite rare to say in a summer blockbuster.

2. The Lego Movie

·      This is animation at its absolute purest form. As a kid, I was a die-hard Lego fan (Lego mini-figures were basically my only friends at a certain point) and this captured exactlly what I wanted The Lego Movie to be and more. It has great animation, an amazing sense of humor that only adults could truly understand, and a unique heartfelt message. When I saw this, I went with my brother, and there were moments where I would be laughing my face off, and all the kids were almost dead silent.  I have watched it countless times, and every time I love it even more.

1. Boyhood

My number one film of the year, is Richard Linklater’s Boyhood.  It might be too soon to tell, but I think this is one of the absolute MASTERPIECES of the decade.  It was filmed with the same actors over a twelve-year period, and utilizing that technique, it captured the essence and emotional beats of growing up like no other film has before.  It wasn’t that the movement of time was thrown in your face, but because it was there.  It captured it in time’s own settle pace where you look back at to see it wasn’t as slow as it seemed in the moment.  It represented the last decade so well because it referenced real events, real pop culture hits and misses, and represented this generation in a way that is so darn relevant.  If someone were to ask me in 20 or so years what movie best represents my generation, I’d show them Boyhood.  Whether you agree or disagree with its message, it is absolutely thought provoking, and asks real questions without shoving them in your face.  All in all, if you can’t tell, I LOVED this movie, and it represented everything I love about film.  That is why Boyhood is number one.

Star Wars: the Phantom Menace Was Terrible!!!!!!

Let's face it. Star Wars is one of the best things to ever happen in film. To our misfortune, George Lucas decided to screw things around and made what could’ve and should’ve been awesome. A film commonly called “The Phantom Menace”. I like to call it “The Farting Menace”.  Here in this video this crazy guy decides to vent all our frustrations and rant on this terrible film that I personally pretend doesn’t exist.

My Top Ten Most Anticipated Films of 2014

My Top Ten Most Anticipated Films of 2014

Well 2013 has been a year that I think most people were half disappointed by. With most of the summer blockbuster type movies (the most anticipated ones) haven’t hit the mark we would hope for the award season movies have quite been awesome.  Looking at the lineup coming this year 2014 looks to be hopefully quite the year.  Maybe these will make up for the disappointments of the last year! Here are my top 10 most anticipated films of 2014.

10. The Amazing Spiderman 2

Why I’m excited: The story, I’m attached to the characters, the Spiderman lore is being further developed and looks super interesting.

What turns me off: The number of story elements and villians might bog it down and make it cheesy and unsatisfying *cough *cough Spiderman 3

9. Dumb and Dumber To

Why I’m excited: Jim Carrey, and Jeff Daniels back as one of the best comedy duos ever!

What turns me off: The producing and directing team behind this have been making pretty disappointing stuff lately. On top of that comedy genre can be a very dry genre of film.

8. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

Why I’m excited: It’s Captain America, and the winter soldier storyline is amazing!

What turns me off: The possibility of it following the Iron Man 3 route and completely butchering a great story.

7. The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1

 

Why I’m excited: The same Director of Catching Fire, which was pretty amazing, the book is amazing, and the stakes are epicly higher than ever.

What turns me off: The possibility of the tone from the books to be changed like they did first one.

6. Dawn of the Planet of the Apes

Why I’m excited: Rise of the Planet of the Apes was a surprisingly really great film and what Andy Serkis does to the character of Caesar is awesome. The trailer was pretty stinkin epic too.

What turns me off: The possibility of it sucking (that’s about it)

5. Godzilla

Why I’m excited: It’s Godzilla! Not to mention it stars Heisenberg himself, Bryan Cranston, who is one of the most talented actors working today.

What turns me off: Godzilla can be a very difficult to do and going the Transformers route would be a really bad possibility.

4. Guardians of the Galaxy

Why I’m excited: It’s a comic book story in which I have no knowledge on and from what I’ve heard about footage and the characters, this might just be (if done well) like Marvel’s Star Wars. Basically an epic space movie like we’ve never seen before

What turns me off: If they get it wrong this can be a stupid disaster of a film. And this looks like a very hard adaption to make.

3. The Hobbit: There and Back Again

Why I’m excited: It’s a middle earth movie and I have personally loved the previous two Hobbit films. Also, it’ll be interesting to see how they tie it in to The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I am pretty convinced the worst case scenario is that it’ll only be decent.

What turns me off: If it is anything short of epic!

2. Interstellar

Why I’m excited: Christopher Nolan! He is a boss at making a very fictional story have a really realistic and relatable feel. Combine a space sci-fi centered story to Nolan’s realism and Matthew McConaughey this has the potential to be one of the greatest films of all time.

What turns me off: Nothing really. But if this isn’t good I don’t know what kind of madness the world would turn too. In Nolan we trust!

1. X-Men: Days of Future Past

 Why I’m excited: Bryan Singer is directing? Both the present days and past mutants good and evil will have to team up through time travel? Wait the storyline is time travel centric? Basically every mutant from the X Men films are in this ambitious Comic book film? What is there not to get your nerd level pumped to the max!?!

What turns me off: Nothing. But if this ends up being anything short perfect I might not be able to function.

 Stay tuned for two weeks from today for... "Everything That Star Wars: The Phantom Menace Got Wrong"

It Begins.... With my favorite films of all time.

So here it begins. My name is Myles Nelson and this whole blogging thing is pretty new and foreign to me so please just bear with me.  The main topic of this blog will most definitely be on films (reviews, thoughts, ect.) but I just want to start this by saying that I am indeed a Christian. I know that this is the internet, so there is really no way to avoid negativity but I don’t want to isolate anyone who isn’t Christian. Having a relationship with and following Christ is amazing and is the meaning of life, but I am not here to force that on anyone. There will be circumstances in which my worldview may impact the way I view certain films, but I hope to be one who looks at a film as a film. So if a film absolutely has no redemptive value while still is quite well made, I will acknowledge that its well made while warning people who might want to avoid it. That aside lets get into this!  Here are some of my favorite films of all time. (in no particular order)

Honorable mentions: Toy Story, Jurassic Park, Jaws, Forrest Gump, Monty Python's: The Holy Grail,  and many more.

1. Inception

2. Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark

3. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy (they are all one movie!)

3. The Good the Bad and the Ugly

4. Back to the Future (the original)

5. Pulp Fiction

6. Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back

7. The Matrix

8. The Dark Knight

9.    The Terminator

10. And finally Superman IV: The Quest for Peace 

jkjk I can't even type this with a straight face!

10. Here's the real final addition... Superman The Movie 

As you can see I really love drama's but the movies that really speak to me are more action and nostalgia oriented. All in all though, there are so many other movies I can put on this list isn't fair to just label these as "the" top 10.  I hope you guys enjoyed the first post. Stay tuned for another in a week or so from today!