By Roy Mathur, on 2020-01-04, at 07:07:35--08:11:20 GMT, for Captain Roy's Rocket Radio Show, Listen
Christmas Dinner also provided a Boxing Day refry, three big sandwiches, the odd filched roast vegetable, another refry, and a huge vegetable soup/stew/casserole that I am praying will not last much longer.
In December Rian Johnson said in an interview that it was a mistake to pander to fans. Fanservice, is my main objection with episodes 7 and 9. Don't get me wrong, they were very enjoyable, but I couldn't help feeling a little hollow.
I'm a little sad that they did not work the balancing of the Force properly into the script. It was hinted as since the first film back in 1977, tweaked in subsequent years, further explored in episode 8, then completely abandoned in 9. That is a pity, but watch The Dark Crystal (1982), which does a better job at a story exploring the forces of good and evil.
The Scooby-Doo or Spectre, "it was me all along" storyline was too trite, but I'll excuse it because I really like Ian McDiarmid.
One major J.J. Abrams choice that I thought downright bizarre was Rey snogging bad boy Kylo. Are we really riding that tired old sawhorse? The romance between Finn and Rey was their right from the start. Or was this some misbegotten attempt to replay Luke and Leia's arc?
In all, however, I enjoyed the film. I loved the amazing visual spectacle. I loved the whistle-stop tour of most of the galaxy's different environments. I loved the many, many non-human species conjured up, with what I assume were old-fashioned practical effects. I was okay with the ending that says, you can't choose your background, but you can choose who you are going to be.
(Trivia break: did you spot Jodie Comer, Villanelle from Killing Eve, in the credits as Rey's mum?)
However, my views are hardly objective because I have a deep attachment to the very first movie. The moment the screen crawl began, I choked up before I even read the words. I was an easy audience, but in future I hope creatives stop taking the easy path.
Run-of-the-mill Victorian detective thriller about Jack the Ripper-like murders starring Bill Nighy. Interesting, but you can see the twist coming from a distance, and Bill Nighy's singular talents as a character actor aren't used.
I found this on My5 in the UK, when I was desperate for something to watch last night. It is a horror movie about an author moving to the location of her last book for inspiration to write a sequel.
The script isn't bad, so well done writer, but everything else about this movie is terrible. Locations, sets, acting, directing, lighting... it's all awful. It scored well on IMDB, which proves that IMDB ratings are useless.
This is a Channel 5 adaptation of The Woman in Black Susan Hill's novel.
There are no cliffhangers or proper twists, something I'm a sucker for, but this story about a man haunted by a childhood tragedy works on an emotional level; largely because of the acting talent of Douglas Henshall.
I wouldn't dare or want to grab so much of someone else's story as Mr. Robot did with Fight Club.
There's a Heroes, poster in episode 12, so I know for sure it's 2006 (everyone else knows this already, but I had to be reminded).
Episode 12 reminds me strong of the late Sci-Fi author Bob Shaw's The Two-Timers, which, as well as positing the eternal trope of what would you do if you met your doppleganger, specifically addresses the question of what would you do if you were jealous of your doppleganger.
I thought it was heading for a cliched "it was all a dream" ending, and it did, but with a clever twist I wasn't expecting. However, the tone implied a happy ending, but that made no sense because Angela, Elliot's one true love, died because of something he set in motion. Sure Elliot semi-destroyed capitalism, but was it worth it. In respect of tone, I'm not sure Sam Esmail understands his own script.
It was nice, action-filled, end to the first season. The introduction of lore from the animated universe, all of which I know little about other than what I have heard from others in the wake of appearance of the Darksaber, was quite exciting.
The Doctor is back with her mates, tackling here oldest enemy, in this average James Bond parody marking the return of this year's New Who.
Sherlock creators, Gatiss and Moffat, sink their fangs into Dracula. This BBC Drama gets points for gore, but is also far too talky and jokes were too predictable for me.
For the first time in years I'm using a Microsoft Excel 2003 spreadsheet to track how much I can spend on Christmas presents. Technically they aren't really presents, but the prices of some musical equipment I'd like are tumbling so Christmas might be the right time to buy. The last time I used a spreadsheet in a non-work-related context was to design a workout routine.
For a change let's talk about an older technology.
I love fountain pens, but having recently got back into the habit of taking handwritten notes, I have rediscovered my terrible pen holding technique. When I was a child, my death grip on pens was legendary; bad enough to have given me a permanent bone spur on my middle finger. It also led to an annual traipse to WHSmith to replace a series of crushed fine writing instruments.
It's an uphill slog, but I am finally taking the time to learn to hold a pen properly. Giving up the death grip is harder than it looks, but my Lamy Safari's controversial triangular section, which I used to think a needless constraint, is actually helping, as is a broad wet nib.
On the subject of pens, I was about to buy a pen with a flex nib, and I still might, but the musical equipment takes priority.