Winter is coming….
Taken with PureShot, converted to B&W with Black Cam.
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Just to make sure I really got the full experience, I’ve seen this film twice. And this review will be largely spoiler free, and made upon my own careful reflection of the film.I’m probably going to get trouble with this one. But here it is: Star Wars: The Force Awakens is not a great movie. It barely qualifies as a good one. Is it better than the prequels? Yes…and no. From a movie-making perspective, including directing, acting, and writing, yes, it’s light years better. From a storytelling perspective it’s a dud.
The storytelling failure of this one is in what it fails to do. The primary purpose of the canonical and eventual nine movies that are “Star Wars” is to tell the story of the Skywalker clan. (I’m leaving the forthcoming “Anthology” movies out of this.) Lucas started with chapter four in 1977 because it was the only story he thought he could get made at the time. And because he was unsure if he would make another, the original Star Wars (now called A New Hope) was a complete story arc unto itself. With its unprecedented success, Lucas was able to make the next two movies, The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. These three movies completed the storyline of a young Luke Skywalker and his attempt at redeeming his fallen father. They closed the loop on that segment of the Skywalker clan storyline.
The prequels were an attempt, sixteen years later, to tell the first part of the story of the Skywalkers, the impressive rise and spectacular fall of Anakin Skywalker. Yes, the execution was clumsy, to say the least. Who, after all, finds a dispute of trade routes and intergalactic bureaucratic red tape interesting? Lucas does, as do legions of Star Wars fans who are fully immersed in the world and cannot see past the world to the failings of the movies. I can’t help but think that, were the prequels only books and not movies, they might have been compelling reads. Compelling books do not always translate into compelling movies, as book narratives and cinematic narratives often require different components to work. The Lord Of the Rings is a perfect example of this.
The Force Awakens does virtually nothing to move the next story arc of the Skywalker clan forward. Luke Skywalker, in this film, is really nothing more than a MacGuffin. This movie is less about moving the canonical story to the Skywalker clan forward, and more about crafting a multi-million dollar love letter to the most famous franchise is modern history. The result is a film that borders on pastiche, a fan-film made with high-priced camera equipment, yet with the same super 8 mindset. The plot is a rehash of earlier plots, the characters are recycled from old parts, and the story is stale as a result. There are plot holes in this movie big enough to choke a space slug.
To a degree, it feels as though JJ Abram and Lawrence Kasdan are trying too hard to make a movie that atones for the prequels. This is a noble idea, but the road to the Dark Side is paved with good intentions. I’m reading a lot of reviews that say it’s the best Star Wars movie since Empire, and that the order of movies, from best to worst, now goes 5, 7, 4, 3, and then the prequels, which are all mostly equally bad. I would disagree. I think this movie sits solidly between Revenge of the Sith and Return of the Jedi, with Jedi, for its problems with teddy bears, exceeding this one easily in quality.
It’s not for lack of trying on the part of the filmmakers. JJ Abrams does what he does best, which is to create a film of ridiculous kinetic energy, with the crazy skin-of-their-teeth escapes and near misses that you might find in the last two Star Trek movies. There is a scene with monsters that escape from the cargo containers on a freighter that reminded my of Chris Pine being chased across a snowscape by beasts you can’t quite fathom. The high-octane nature of this movie is too much, and the JJ Abrams influence cannot be ignored. Stormtroopers do not fall down when hit by a blaster blot, they fly backwards as hit with a 400 pounds steel bar. Settings do not explode under blaster fire without bodies sailing end over end to accentuate the destruction. People are not cut down by lightsabers, they are impaled mercilessly and left to die. And for the first time since the original ’77 movie, we see blood. And it’s not Walrusman blood, it’s human.
There is a decided lack of newness to this movie that is sorely missed. With each new Star Wars film, the viewer could count on new ships, new aliens, new settings, new equipment. The Force Awakens skips most of that, with only a handful of new items, including a mean-as-cat-shit looking lightsaber and a beachball droid. The ships are largely as they were in previous films. You have X-Wings, TIE Fighters, a Star Destroyer, and a transport with wings that fold upward upon landing.
Not to seem that I hated the movie, it does have some shining moments. It has the best flight sequence for the Millennium Falcon of any of the movies, as well as the best droid of any of the movies. BB-8 may very well be the best new character period. And as lightsabers go, none are sacrier than Kylo Ren’s, with its laser crossguard.
In the end, however, the return of origin characters and a rehash of older plots does not make a great movie. It makes one hell of an homage, and with inside jokes such as Rey saying, “This ship made the Kessel Run in 14 parsecs,” and Han replying testily, “It was twelve.”, the movie feels like a fanboi’s daydream, and little else.
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Over the holidays I purchased a set of clip-on lenses for my iPhone. This detail from a Willow Tree statuette of a woman with a bundle of flowers was taken with a macro lens from CamRah. Tuned slightly with Snapseed to make the color pop. -
Mother and daughter, standing at the counter, waiting for the Starbucks order. Can you tell they’re related?Taken with PureShot, tuned slightly with Snapseed.
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The new year has begun, with food and friends, as it should. One of the things I aim to do this year is to post more pictures on this blog. A picture a day is my goal. So here is the first, a gray sky over an empty diner parking lot. Taken on an iPhone and tuned using Snapseed. Not the best picture, but a start to the new year. May the new year be less gray than these skies.
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Have yourselves a merry little Christmas, everyone.
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“As God as my witness, I thought turkeys could fly.”
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody.
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November is, apparently, Men’s Health Awareness Month. Okay, that’s actually not a thing. What is a thing is two separate, independent movements to try and bring awareness to men’s health issues. One is called Movember, the other is No-Shave November. Each of them are an attempt to bring a great attention to men’s health issues.Movember is a broad movement that highlights men’s issues of all kinds issues, from cancer to mental health to couch potato-ism. It started in 2003 in Australia by a couple of friends as an effort to bring back the mustache, a style trend they felt was disappearing among men. Given the success of using the mustaches as a conversation starter, they decided to step it up a notch, and in 2004, they established it as a fundraising vehicle for prostate cancer research. Since then it was gone on to become an enormous success, raising awareness for a broad range of issues. Since starting up in 2003, they’ve raised $649 million worldwide.
No-Shave November highlights cancer specifically. It is a family-run charity organization that really came together as a formal movement about six years ago. It was started as a way to highlight cancer awareness, given the patriarch of the family passed away from colon cancer. It, like Movember, is trying to raise money through donations to be passed along to organizations like the American Cancer Society. And technically speaking, it’s not just a men’s health aware movement, as women can participate too, hairy legs and all. So to call it a men’s health awareness organization is a little disingenuous, but only a little. I mean, the logo has a silhouetted picture of a guy with stylish facial hair, after all.The thing that both of these have in common is the attempt to increase awareness by showing one of the most masculine defining features a man can have: facial hair.
Each of these have their own rules. Movember is specific to mustaches. They encourage you to grow your mustache, starting with a cleanly shaved face on November 1st, and letting it grow until November 30th. However, you must limit your growth to your upper lip. Absolutely no beards allowed.No-Shave November doesn’t really care whether you grow a mustache, a beard, a goatee, a fu mancho, or let your cheek whisker grow out like a Klingon. Just as long as you hang up the razor for some part of your face.
I read about these a few days ago, but only really decided to commit to the awareness yesterday. The thing is, I like shaving. I know lots of people who don’t but I’m not one of them. Shaving is such a part of my morning routine, I feel a little out of sorts whenever I don’t shave. Several months ago, I switched over from my Gillete Mach Whatever-Number-They’re-Up-To to a safety razor. The reason? Because shaving with a safety razor is bad-ass, that’s why.
Well, maybe that’s not the complete reason.
Shaving with a safety razor doesn’t allow you to just hack away at your face to get it done and move on. It requires a certain technique, along with a little patience and practice. I actually find it to be very calming and relaxing because you have to move slower and with caution.
Several months ago, I stumbled on an article on shaving on the Art of Manliness site. (For those not familiar with the Art of Manliness, I recommend you check it out.) I was trying to find a better way to deal with razor burn around my neck. The article was entitled “How To Shave Like Your Grandpa.” I couldn’t resist reading the rest. It basically explained how to shave using a safety razor, and why it’s so much better to do so. From saving money on razors (the blades cost about $1.00 each and last 1-2 weeks), to the way it helps avoid razor burn, the article was a great introduction to shaving with a safety razor.
Then I remembered that my grandfather used to have a safety razor, and that I have it somewhere in a collection of things I received after he passed away. I always wondered how it worked and the Art of Manliness article clarified that.
Like I said, shaving in the morning is a big part of my routine, and my morning feels like incomplete without it. But here’s the thing: my grandfather passed away from cancer at the age of 67. When you’re a 13 year old kid, you don’t have a sense of age. Everybody older than 18 is ancient. I’m in my forties now. My folks turn 67 next year. That’s the same age as my grandfather was when he died. Now that I’m in my forties, I have a much clear sense of time and holy moly, 67 is way too young to succumb to cancer.
So I’m growing a bread for November. I will probably shave it off when December 1st rolls around. A beard makes me look a lot older than I’d like. It’s where all the gray is hiding. I don’t mind a vacation week’s worth of stubble, but I like my smooth face. However, this year, to bring awareness to men’s health, I’m letting it grow. What I would have spent in shaving supplies for the month will go to one of these organizations (haven’t decide on which one yet).
Men: get yourselves checked out. Get your physicals if you haven’t had one this
year. Mine comes up at the end of November, so it’s perfect timing for me. Get whatever cancer screenings you need for your age. If you’re feeling sad or depressed, go talk to somebody. Start flossing. (You do not, and you know it.) If your butt has sprouted roots into the couch, pry yourself up. Eat less calories if you need to. Eat more veggies (everybody needs to). Go for walks. Go for a run. Go for anything that gets the blood pumping. Make sure you’re around in a few years. For youreself and your family.And to show that your taking all this seriously, get hairy.
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I feel very fortunate because this year, my younger daughter Maggie is doing NaNoWriMo with me. There is an entire young writer’s program for NaNoWriMo that kids can sign up for. Maggie is going to do it, and so are most of the kids in her class. And that’s my fault.
During the annual open house/back to school night that school holds for the parents of students, I got to talking with Maggie’s teacher, Patty, about people who come in and volunteer and get the kids interested in something that pertains to the lesson plan. At some point in the conversation, NaNoWriMo came up. One of the Patty’s former students participated in NaNoWriMo last year. She mentioned how she would love to get some of her kids to do that again.
I didn’t say anything at the time because I felt like I wanted to think that through. Patty had no idea I had written and self publish book (insert shameless marketing plug here) or that I had done NaNoWriMo last year. I sat on it for a bit, wondering if I wanted to mention this and offer to help lead the class in a NaNoWriMo charge. I’m not a teacher and have no training in classroom management skills. I didn’t know if I’d be a good fit to come in.
In a phone conversation I was having with Patty one night about something else, I decided to mention it, and offered to come into the class and talk about what the NaNoWriMo challenge is, and see if there are any kids who were interested. Her response was unbelievably enthusiastic, and so, last week I found myself in Maggie’s classroom talking to her classmates all about NaNoWriMo, writing, and storytelling.
I have to tell you, it was a metric ton of fun. The class is great, excited about the project, and from what Patty tells me, chockablock full of writers.
I talked about what NaNoWriMo is, and what a novel is. I talked about the kinds of ways you could write a novel, from typing right into a computer to writing it all long hand. I had one person ask if the novel could be dictated to someone, or into a into a software program. Hey, if it was good enough for Paradise Lost, it’s good enough for NaNoWriMo. I talked about the process writers use to write: some write in the morning, some in the evening, some in their bedroom, some at the dining room table, some even in the kitchen. We talked about the kinds of books the kids are currently reading, and what their favorite novels are. We talked about the Inner Editor, which I dubbed the “Evil Inner Editor”, who constantly whispers in your ear telling you to stop, or slow down, or do things differently. One of the exercises from the Young Writers Program is to draw the Inner Editor on a worksheet. Once drawn, the kids are encouraged to hide him/her away so they can’t work their evil spells. We did that in the classroom and some of the kids’ Inner Editors turned out really well.
As I said, it was a ton of fun.
Patty had already come up with the word count she is hoping the kids will hit. She’s shooting for them to complete 250 words per day, which is about one page per day. That means that the kids will end up writing a 7,500 “novel” by the time it’s finished.
I’m headed back into the classroom in the middle of November to check in with the kids and see how they’re doing. I’ll be giving them tips, most of which will be plucked from the wisdom of the NaNoWriMo community. We’ll talk about the challenges they’re having and see if we can’t find ways to working around them. Most importantly, I’ll be giving them the encouragement to keep on truckin’, and to keep ignoring the “Evil Inner Editor”!
After that, I’ll head back into the classroom sometime in December to find out how they did. There is a program NaNoWriMo has this year with FastPencil, which will help kids publish their finished work. Hopefully, at the end of the month, and maybe by the end of December, there’ll be enough kids that finish and publish that Patty will have a whole new library.
After the class was over, tweets were tweeted:
https://twitter.com/scottclyerly/status/659004810625220608 -
It’s November 1st. That means it’s time to kick off NaNoWriMo. And once again, I’m participating. And new this year, so is my nine year old, Maggie!Throughout the month I’ll post various updates on the progress for both of us. Tomorrow I’ll explain how I got Maggie, and her whole 4th grade class, involved.
But for now, it’s time to write. NaNoWriMo has begun.
Aaaannnnnddddd GO!
Scott Lyerly 