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Star Wars – The Phantom Menace

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  • Title: Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace
  • IMDb: link

Turmoil has engulfed the Galactic Republic. The taxation of trade routes to outlying star systems is in dispute.

Hoping to resolve the matter with a blockade of deadly battleships, the greedy Trade Federation has stopped all shipping to the small planet of Naboo.

While the Congress of the Republic endlessly debates this alarming chain of events, the Supreme Chancellor has secretly dispatched two Jedi Knights, the guardians of peace and justice in the galaxy, to settle the conflict…

Star Wars - The Phantom Menace movie reviewNow that the “Skywalker Saga” is complete, it seems like a reasonable time to go back and look through the various Star Wars films. Unlike some, I come not to condemn The Phantom Menace. Despite its flaws, the film has genuinely great moments, strong new characters, and vivid new worlds all while doing more world building than any Star Wars property other than the original Star Wars. Does it measure up to Lucas’ original? No, certainly not. But it’s far from the weakest Star Wars film.

Set at the end of the Old Republic, Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace introduces us to the young boy who would grow into the most terrifying creature in the galaxy. Jake Lloyd is cast as the boyish slave Anakin Skywalker. Lloyd is your average kid actor and the failures of Anakin here have more to do with the choice to make him far younger than necessary than Lloyd’s performance. We’re also introduced to Queen Padme Amidala (Queen Amidala ) of Naboo, a young ruler struggling with the occupation of her planet by the Trade Federation, and Jedi Knight Qui-Gon Jinn (Liam Neeson) who arrives on Naboo with his apprentice Obi-Wan Kenobi (Ewan McGregor).

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Jay and Silent Bob Reboot

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  • Title: Jay and Silent Bob Reboot
  • IMDb: link

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot movie reviewEven for a guy who hasn’t had an original idea in a decade, Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is incredibly lazy. Writer/director/star Kevin Smith reunites familiar faces with a sequel of sorts to one of his lazier projects, but still infinitely more entertaining, Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back. Not much has changed for the drug-dealing pair of Jay (Jason Mewes) and Silent Bob (Smith) who take a road trip to Hollywood to prevent another movie about the comic characters they inspired from being made.

Jay and Silent Bob Reboot is a tired film that makes the likes of Cannonball Run II and Smokey and the Bandit Part 3 look inspired by comparison. Along the way the pair will run into several familiar faces reprising their roles from various Smith films. Some of these play a marginal role in the plot such as Shannon Elizabeth who introduces Jay to his illigetimate daughter Milly (Smith’s real-life daughter Harley Quinn Smith), many are completely superfluous, and some don’t make any sense whatsoever (such as Matt Damon‘s bizarre cameo). There are also new cameos from the likes of Fred Armisen, Melissa Benoist, Chris Jericho, Chris Hemsworth, and others.

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Doctor Sleep

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  • Title: Doctor Sleep
  • IMDb: link

Doctor Sleep DVD reviewSet decades after the events of The Shining, Doctor Sleep catches up with the troubled Dan Torrance (Ewan McGregor) years after his visit to the Overlook Hotel. Director Mike Flanagan is smart in letting the story stand on its own without feeling the need to offer too many flashbacks or recreations to the Stanley Kubrick film, at least until the film’s final act which is where Doctor Sleep begins to struggle a bit matching its own style to that of Kubrick.

Both movies were adapted from novels by Stephen King. Whether its simply the script treatments or the original source material, Doctor Sleep is much more straight-forward and linear in its plot progression (even while showcasing events from different group perspectives within the film).

After finally putting his life back together, Dan is made aware of a cult led by Rebecca Ferguson hunting down and stealing the “steam” of those with psychic abilities and the teenage girl (Kyliegh Curran) who is their next target. To save both their lives, Dan will be forced to confront the ghosts of his past.

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The Addams Family

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  • Title: The Addams Family (2019)
  • IMDb: link

The Addams Family Blu-ray reviewWhile the look of the animated remake of the 60s television show offers some intriguing designs, too much of the script flounders. After an introduction which offers up both the marriage of Gomez (Oscar Isaac) and Morticia (Charlize Theron) and the establishment of the family ni an abandomed insane asylum, The Addams Family jumps forward years to when a cookie-cutter suburban development moves in down the hill run by the maniacal Margaux Needler (Allison Janney).

Expected events unfold without much excitement or surprise as Needler riles up the community against its neighbors only to later be revealed to be the true monster. The tale offers some stand-out moments, almost all of which feature Wednesday (Chloë Grace Moretz) while her poor brother gets stuck in an extraneous subplot. The best of these could have all been done as shorts saving audiences from the drudgery of the rest of the film.

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Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound

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  • Title: Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound
  • IMDb: link

Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound reviewDirector Midge Costin‘s documentary on the importance and evolution of sound in movies offers a peak back at the progression of sound in film over the decades and the artists and movies which propelled the artistry forward. Making Waves: The Art of Cinematic Sound features interviews from a number of directors (who include George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, David Lynch, Robert Redford, Ang Lee, and Sofia Coppola) and sound editors (Walter Murch, Ben Burtt, Gary Rydstrom, Lora Hirschberg, Cece Hall, and others) who speak about both specific films and the use of sound in general.

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