sabrecmc

Our theater clapped when the Lucasfilm logo came up, when the Episode VII showed, when Han and Chewie stepped on the Falcon when Rey grabbed the saber out of the snow and at the end. Guess we made up for other theaters, lol. Enthusiastic bunch of nerds, we were.

Saw the 7pm show last night and really loved it. Our crowd was into it, and a mostly male audience. I was with my daughter and mom and remarked that there was a rarely seen sight outside the theater: a line for the men's room! We all walked out thinking Rey is Luke's daughter, so each of us independently was left with that impression for what it is worth. I thought it was an interesting parallel to the Jedi taking children as infants to raise in their now defunct Order and the First Order sort of doing the same thing. Really loved Rey, but thought they all did well. It was great to see Han and Harrison seemed to be really enjoying himself. Honestly, Chewie was one of the best parts of the whole thing for me. I love them together, and almost ended up feeling worse for Chewie losing Han than Leia. I hated to see Han die, but as a parent, I totally understood that he had to try. Of course, he did. And for Kilo Ren, that was the thing that kept holding back from the dark side that he had to destroy. I look forward to seeing how this whole arc plays out because it isn't like the audience is ever going to love KR or let him off the hook for that, so I'm not sure what kind of redemption could be on the table for him. I thought Han and Leia's relationship was handled realistically. They love each other, but find it hard to be together in any kind of traditional way. I wonder how much that played into handing Ben off to Luke and what went wrong there. Clearly, the dude has some Daddy issues. The "Nope" Stormtroopers turning around and walking away from his little tantrum were perfect. The best part was that on the ride home my 9-year old daughter said that she was surprised that Rey was the hero because she thought Finn would be the big hero since "boys are usually the heroes." So, thank you Disney and Lucasfilm for giving her someone like Rey. I hope she means as much to my daughter as Leia always meant to me.

I read the book and quite enjoyed it. Was interested in the movie. The trailers for this are not exactly thrilling me though.

Wow, this looks amazingly bad. I guess maybe they are hoping to piggyback on the Frozen craze or maybe thinking that this will do well internationally? I'm just...how does stuff like this get made? By people who would seem to know better? Ugh. Chris, I want to like your movies other than Thor. You're just making it very hard. The poster of the two sisters looks a little, um...well, let's just say tumblr will probably approve.

I'm torn...I hated Prometheus and actively wanted all those idiots to die, but love Alien/Aliens and would be completely excited for more from that 'verse, if it was done remotely right. I'm not asking for the quality of those movies. Honestly, my expectations are basically around the "please don't completely suck" level, but I just can't get excited about more from the same team that did Prometheus. That remains one of the few movies I've ever just gotten so bored and frustrated with that I wanted to walk out and wander the mall rather than sit there. I kept thinking it would get better. It didn't. It is so sad to see something that had such potential become what this franchise has become.

MI5 will be interesting. I have not heard a single person (outside of this website) so much as mention it, let alone say they planned to see it, yet I feel like it just about has to do better than those predictions. I have to admit, to me anyway, it feels stale. I enjoyed the last one, but at the same time, have no desire for any more of the franchise. It just felt done. Good for Ant-Man. Saw it this past weekend again, mainly b/c my daughter wanted to see it, and found myself really enjoying it. I keep thinking that it was almost a great movie. Probably just too many production issues. But, still a fun one.

A lot of my guy friends were home watching the NFL draft last night and plan on going tonight. I did notice that the audience at our 7pm showing had more women in it than I would have thought. Lots of moms and their kids. At least, a lot more than I'm used to seeing for something like that.

There were definitely a lot of story issues with 3 & 4, but a large part of why I dislike those is that there isn't anyone in there that I care about, except Ripley. Everyone else is just Alien-bait, like something out of a bad horror movie. At least in Alien and Aliens, even the characters we didn't see much were interesting, and I cared one way or the other. Hell, that pilot lady in Aliens who actually has the presence of mind to reach for her gun when the alien enters the cockpit was more interesting than most of the prisoners combined and she had like 2 minutes of screentime. Anyway, point being, with Hicks and Ripley for 5, there are at least 2 characters I care ridiculously deeply about. Does anyone remember those Alien tie-in books from ages ago...I want to say they were based on the Dark Horse comics, but I can't recall for sure...but there were Hicks and Newt-esque characters who were clearly based on them and then called something entirely different. Am I making this up? Its been about 15 years, lol.

As long as Lisa gets to bitch-slap Minmei. Anyway, Jem...this is very weird to me. I loved the show as a kid. Had the dolls (they were oddly bigger than Barbies, IIRC). I mean, its is very nostalgic for me. Just...like, why? It's a weird property to choose, but okay. Pic looks kind of retro though. A key-tar!

I would be fine pretending Alien 3 and 4 never happened. Bring back Hicks and just don't even discuss it. Honestly, I care so little about continuity here b/c it is already screwed up. I always thought Alien 3 was a goodish film and, at the same time, a terrible sequel to a franchise. I hope this movie actually gets it right. Alien and Aliens are fantastic together, so different, yet they work as a fully-functional story. I'm just going to wipe Alien 4 from my mind. And AvP? I know not of what you speak.

I honestly thought the first movie was awful. Just...really, really bad. Oddly enough, I do think the whole world that was set up could be interesting if done right. I mean, the idea is there...just the execution was so off.

You know...I'm okay with that. And I say that as someone who has fangirled Harrison for the entirety of my life.

I think this helps explain a lot of the success of Frozen. Seriously, moms are the ones that often make these decisions for the family. With KFP1, I remember Angelina Jolie's role being highlighted, but when I saw it, it was mostly just the Jack Black guy. I'm sorry, but his whole schtick, to most moms that I know anyway, is just annoying as all get out and not funny at all. He comes across as a giant man-child, and really, we have actual children to raise. Not. Funny. No way I would have sat through another round of that. Luckily, my daughter had no interest in it either. So, that's my explanation for KFP2. I liked Dragon, though. My daughter did not, and in retrospect, it was pretty "boy-ish" whatever that means. Last year, it pretty much meant anything not Frozen, at least as far as she was concerned. She flat out refused to see Dragon 2. I'm going to try to sneak Robotech in on her at some point and just tell her it is part of Star Wars(which she loves, thank God). I have hope for her yet.

Vader vs. Emperor Zurg! Bring it. Feels like a cash grab, but darn it all, I'll be there opening day. Disney, shut up and take my money!

I really enjoyed the book. Hope the movie does it justice. Very harrowing and some hard parts to read, but you could definitely see the cinematic potential.

If it is Red Skull, I wonder if they would tie it in somehow to Thanos and the gems, considering what happened at the end of TFA with Red Skull and the portal or whatever. Lead in to Avengers 3...Cap took out Red Skull by himself...not sure why he'd need Bucky, Falcon and Nat to take him down this time around...unless there is another gem involved maybe? I don't know.

After a day or so of reflection, I must admit that I think I liked Bautista best. When he was all insulting and literal, it was hysterical. On the other hand, I really want to lock Peter Quill and Tony Stark in a room and see what happens.

I get the feeling a lot of folks are traveling today. My 10pm show was almost full, but when I checked online beforehand, there were seats available for the midnight show. I wouldn't have done the midnight, with having work the next day. There are exactly 2 movies I'd drag myself to at midnight, Avengers and Star Wars. I'm old, lol, and that's for something really special. Just looking around the office building today and parking garage...a lot of people have started their weekend plans. Not making excuses, because that is kind of a weaker number than I would have expected, but I do think/hope people come out for it over the holiday weekend. It wasn't all that for me personally, but it was certainly worth seeing.