movies

Nerd News: Star Wars ranking and Episode 9 preview

November 29, 2019 by David Thompson Leave a Comment

The widely anticipated “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker” opens in theaters on Dec. 20. Disney and Lucasfilm have said this is the end of the “Skywalker Saga.”

The “Skywalker Saga” is all of the episodic Star Wars films produced up until this point.

Beginning with the adventures of Luke, Han and Leia, then the prequel trilogy focusing on Anakin, Obi-Wan and Padme, the sequel trilogy finally wraps up starring Rey, Kylo Ren, Finn and Poe.

With such a monumental nerd chapter coming to a close, here are my full Star Wars movie rankings—including the anthology films—and a quick predictions section for “The Rise of Skywalker.”

10. Star Wars: Attack of the Clones

Bogged down by a force-fed love story between Anakin and Padme, “Attack of the Clones” is filled with poor acting and head-scratching story decisions. Obi-Wan’s arc is easily the best part.

9. Star Wars: The Phantom Menace

Remove Jar Jar Binks and this would still probably rank ninth on my list. In one movie, George Lucas ruined everything we thought we knew about the Force and turned Darth Vader into a whiny little kid. We do, however, get one of the best lightsaber fights ever between Obi-Wan, Qui-Gonn Ginn and Darth Maul (shoutout to the music “Duel of the Fates” playing).

8. Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith

Finally, we get to see Anakin become Darth Vader. Oh wait, maybe we didn’t want to see little Ani mercilessly kill younglings. In all honesty, this is probably the only prequel that I enjoy watching out of the three, mainly because there is real emotion when they execute Order 66. Also, the final fight between Anakin and Obi-Wan does pull at a few of my heartstrings.

7. Solo: A Star Wars Story

This may seem like I am ranking this movie low, but I actually enjoy “Solo.” The story, characters and action sequences are all enjoyable but it doesn’t provide any unforgettable moments in my opinion. While Alden Ehrenreich does the best he can playing Han Solo, my biggest problem with this movie is that he’s not Harrison Ford. Obviously, it would be impossible for Ford to play this aged character now but that just makes me question if we really needed this movie at all.

6. Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

This is exactly what a “Star Wars story” should be: a well-crafted story around likable characters that we grow to quickly love throughout the film. We only see one lightsaber (the one and only Darth Vader’s) and it is one of the best scenes in Star Wars history. Not only does this movie perfectly lead into “A New Hope,” but it provides us with the “wow” factor we all crave when journeying to a galaxy far, far away.

5. Star Wars: The Last Jedi

This was nearly placed at number six on my list, but despite all the movie does wrong, the super sweaty, gasping-for-air moments in this movie give it the nod over “Rogue One.” Kylo Ren, also known as Ben Solo, is my favorite character of the new trilogy and I love everything he does in this movie. All of the moments between him and Rey are great (#TeamReylo), and their brief team-up against Snoke’s guards is pure Star Wars bliss.

4. Star Wars: A New Hope

Back where it all began. The teaching between Obi-Wan and Luke learning what the Force is, our first appearance of Han and Chewbacca, Darth Vader force-choking his subordinates and the beginnings of an iconic friendship between Luke, Han and Leia. The original Star Wars film will always hold a special place in our little nerd hearts.

3. Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Some take points off for being very similar to “A New Hope” but I absolutely love “The Force Awakens,” even with the blatant copying. Star Killer Base was a misfire. However, seeing a Storm Trooper—Finn—go rogue, being introduced to the best pilot in the resistance—Poe—and meeting our midi-chlorian-filled scavenger Rey are all great character moments and sets the foundation for the next three movies. Also, Han (rest in peace), Chewy and Leia are heavily featured and it feels like a dream come true.

2. Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

I do not mind the Ewoks. Inject the throne scene between the Emperor, Vader and Luke directly into my veins. Next.

1. Star Wars: Empire Strikes Back

If this isn’t your favorite Star Wars movie are you really even a Star Wars fan? Some of the best elements are the battle of Hoth, Luke training with Yoda and Lando Calrissian and Cloud City. This movie also has some of the best moments of dialogue, including the moment between Han and Leia where she proclaims her love for him and he simply responds, “I know.”

There’s also this iconic exchange between Luke and Vader:

Luke: I’ll never join you!
Vader: If only you knew the power of the Dark Side. Obi-Wan never told you what happened to your father.
Luke: He told me enough! He told me you killed him!
Vader: No, I am your father.

The Rise of Skywalker questions/predictions:

How and why is the Emperor back?
Who was Snoke?
How do they handle Leia?
Kylo and Rey team up in the end to fight the Emperor.
Kylo dies in the end.
Rey, Finn and Poe all survive.
We see Hayden Christensen reprise his role as Anakin Skywalker in the form of a Force ghost.

Nerd News: The prodigal spider returns

October 10, 2019 by David Thompson 2 Comments

On Aug. 20 it was announced that Spider-Man would be leaving the Marvel Cinematic Universe and would return to being fully produced by Sony Pictures, this is when the nightmare started.

After a month of despair, on Sept. 28, I woke up from what felt like a bad dream.

The reenactment of the web-slinging war for the franchise.

Variety has reported that Spider-Man will remain in the MCU for at least his next solo film, being released on July 16, 2021, and a future marvel film.

For a brief history lesson, Spider-Man is owned by Sony (another history lesson for another day).

In 2015, Disney and Sony came to an agreement for Spider-Man to join the MCU in a co-producer partnership between the two companies.

Spider-Man would be featured in three team-up MCU movies and two solo films that would be creatively lead by Marvel Studios President, Kevin Feige (In Feige We Trust).

Sony would monetarily produce the Spider-Man movies, and Disney would receive a modest five percent of first-dollar gross, as well as all merchandising revenue.

After three spectacular years of Spider-Man swinging around with the likes of Iron Man and Captain America, the initial deal between the two juggernaut companies was over and despite universal optimism, the deal seemed to be over, leaving thousands of MCU and Spider-Man fans alike distraught and heartbroken.

During negotiations for a new deal between Disney and Sony, it was reported initially by the Hollywood Reporter that Disney wanted more compensation for their work done in the solo Spider-Man films.

The initial reports stated that Disney wanted to split the cost and revenue 50/50 with Sony and that’s where talks stalled out.

Now I have a few thoughts on this dispute and what it felt like as a fan. It felt like complete garbage.

It always hurts when you get drastically reminded that money is everything and creativity and pleasing the paying fans is just an afterthought.

Spoiler warning ahead for Spider-Man: Far From Home and Avengers Endgame.

During this “nightmare” period I kept questioning everything thinking “Why would they set Spider-Man up to be the next Iron Man if they knew there was even a possibility that he could leave after the deal expired?”

It just made no sense that Feige and Marvel Studios would make him such an intricate part of the future of the MCU if there was even the slightest possibility of them losing him in the blink of an eye.

Obviously now that a deal has been made I can out those questions to rest.

I like to think that the incredible backlash from fans and even MCU actors like Jeremy Renner had a part in them finally striking a second deal.

This second deal is fundamentally different in structure and length. The new deal is just for two movies, as I previously mentioned, and this time Disney will receive 25 percent of the revenue, contribute roughly a quarter of the finances and keep their merchandising rights.

So who cracked? From this report, it seems like Disney did to some extent. Going to 50 percent to 25 percent is a difference of hundreds of millions of dollars.

Disney had every right to ask for significantly more compensation and financial stock in the character.

Spider-Man: Far From Home was the highest-grossing film in Sony Pictures history, raking in $1.1 billion worldwide.

This success, one could argue, is in large part because of Spider-Man’s integration into the MCU and making him more relevant than ever.

Disney knew that and wanted more.

Sony knew that and wanted Feige and the MCU. Nerdtastic rant time.

I can’t express how happy I was to hear that Tom Holland and SpiderMan wouldn’t be leaving the MCU.

I no longer have to curse the name of Sony and Disney, pretend like I’m interested in a Venom sequel or a Morbius film, want to cry thinking about how good the MCU could have been if he stayed or act as if the MCU would be fine going forward. All that is put to rest, and just as Tony Stark, I can rest now.

But not actually because this is only a two-movie deal and Feige when talking on the new deal said, “[Spider-Man] also happens to be the only hero with the superpower to cross cinematic universes, so as Sony continues to develop their own Spidey-verse you never know what surprises the future might hold.”

Could this new deal take a page of the Spider-Woman (Gwen Stacy) comics where her home universe is Earth-65 but she goes to Earth-616 to fight along with the likes of Peter Parker and Miles Morales frequently?

In this case, the MCU could be Spider-Man’s version of Earth-65 and a Sony “Spidey-verse” featuring Venom would be like Earth-616.

Are you seriously still reading this sweating piece of nerd juice?

Anyway, this is a time to celebrate, Spidey is back where he belongs (for now) and all is right with the world.

Ad Astra review: The space movie that could not

October 4, 2019 by David Thompson Leave a Comment

Coming in with the hopes of another futuristic space epic similar to 2014’s “Interstellar,” “Ad Astra” did little to advance the genre.

This movie focuses too strongly on all the glitz and glam while missing the soul of any well-regarded movie.

This is a slow, treacherous and beautiful film that was at times a spectacle you rarely see in the theater but mostly had me wanting more from the plot.

I’d argue this is an all-time carry by Brad Pitt, similar to LeBron James in the 2018 NBA Finals.

Like James, Pitt was putting on one of his best performances but ultimately lost in the end.

“Ad Astra” sees Roy McBride (Pitt) being sent on a top-secret mission to look for his famous astronaut father, H. Clifford McBride (Tommy Lee Jones).

I honestly can’t remember a scene that Pitt isn’t in, keeping consistent with the movies handsome over heart strategy.

I did however really enjoy Pitt in this film.

He did a great job of playing a cool, calm and collected space-veteran who has a deep-rooted conflict that he chooses to bury.

Outside of Pitt, no one else’s performances really stuck out to me, but I don’t think it is the actors’ faults. Jones and Liv Tyler’s character, Eve, were inexplicably underused when it seemed like their relationships with Roy were going to be the heart of the movie.

The director, James Gray, and his team were lazy when it came to the plot of the movie and put too much effort into the special effects and fantastical moments.

It felt as though they thought just haphazardly throwing in some classic relationship problem tropes would be good enough to keep our interest.

However, spoiler warning, it wasn’t. If you’re expecting a movie similar to “Interstellar” or 2015’s “The Martian,” you’re going to have to keep looking.

While the visual effects and artistry are top notch and may be worth the price of admission for some people, this movie lacks the creative story lines and emotion that made the two previously mentioned films successful space adventures.