Though it has a different tone and a different focus than other Star Wars movies—less mystical and more action—Rogue One offers everything we came to expect from the franchise. It tells the story about everyday people caught up in events much larger than themselves, but who rise to the challenge and achieve their goals....
They don’t make ‘em like they used to! I know that’s a cliché. I know it’s the old man lament. Though I don’t consider myself an old man, there’s no denying that I’m aging, and there’s no denying that I suffer nostalgic yearnings. A lot had changed in my life, much for the better...
Stories have beginnings, middles, and ends, I told you the last Westworld post. In “Trace Decay,” the eighth episode, we have reached the end of the middle. We had reached that point where all storylines veer towards the towards the final confrontations, where all protagonists are destined to face their antagonists in the climatic...
Stories have beginnings, middles, and ends. There’s nothing profound in this statement. And I confess a lack of originality in it. Every book on fiction writing tells us this, and many books of literary critique state the same. Novels are often divided into three parts to represent the beginning, middle, and end. J. R....
Episode 6 of HBO’s Westworld, “The Adversary,” feels like a line between two dots that need to be connected in order to complete the picture. Following the big revelations and dramatic turning points of “Contrapasso,” episode 5, this episode slowed the pace down. In “Contrapasso,” we left William and Dolores in a cliffhanger, and...
If you follow my blog posts, you know I have mixed feelings over superhero movies, especially as adapted by Marvel Cinematic Universe. If you are unaware of these mixed feelings, I wrote a rant about them a few months ago that you might want to read. Though I find them fun, entertaining movies—great popcorn...
If episode 4 was about subtle conflict and inner revelations, episode 5, “Contrapasso,” turned to violent conflict and major revelations. This was an episode of big changes for several characters—Dolores, Maeve, William, and others. Elsie, in behavior, made a discovery that frightened her. And Dr. Robert Ford met with the Man in Black for...
For the first time since reviewing HBO’s Westworld, I found myself uncertain what to write about an episode, episode 4, “Dissonance Theory.” For the first time, I felt I needed to rewatch the show before writing my review. I liked the episode. More than that, I recognized its significance in the general plot. Though...
Eva Green is fast becoming—if she hasn’t already become—one of my favorites actors. I first saw her in Casino Royale (2008) as Vesper Lynd. Since she didn’t want to be a Bond Girl, she was going to decline the role, until she read the screenplay and realized that Vesper was not just another Bond Girl....
To borrow a cliché: The plot thickens. That was my first reaction after seeing episode 3 of HBO’s Westworld. During the first two episodes—“The Original” and “Chestnut”—the series introduced the main characters and began the plot of a glitch that caused the android hosts of Westworld to malfunction. Now that we know the characters...
