Raising Citizen Kane

I really wanted to like this film. Given the actors and the talent involved? My expectations were high. But when the film was finally strung up, and slowly stopped dancing? I was left mostly disappointed. The "Fun" it seemed to promise at the beginning never really developed. Characters were revealed only to the "verge" of being REALLY interesting, then shot through the floorboards or left to cough up poison. In the end it was a 70 mm "event" that was just really just a story told in a hat shop. The macrocosm in the microcosm, is I felt like the film and the audience were placed in the same relationship as Samuel Jackson and Bruce Dern. That was that Quentino was simply telling me a story, word by word, by slow word, waiting to see if I'd react. But as the movie progressed, I never really reached that point. It ended with not much BUT the violence and the shock factor, because I never could care or become vested in any of the Hateful 8 characters. I think at his best, Quentino rides the wave of Violence and Shock, while creating an environment that offers me chances or reasons to be vested in outcome. That never really happened for me while watching The Hateful Eight. Unfortunately, I was looking forward to the intermission....and that really shouldn't happen.

Listen, I think I understand the support and "love" this movie is garnering. Star Wars is a cross generational phenom, and holds a place in many peoples childhoods, adolescence and adulthood. Star Wars: The Commerce Awakens....uh, I mean The Force Awakens, has made not soon to be defeated box office. It's a hit. But does that mean it's really very good? I don't think so. It strikes me very much as a product filtered through a focus group strainer. It's a little bit of everything, to make everyone happy. But it takes no risks with characters or especially story telling. Really? Let's destroy the "Death Planet"? When your own characters within the movie itself are saying things like it's been done before? It's been done too much. It struck me like going to a 40 year High School reunion. Hey, there's the old car we use to own (Millenium Falcon)....and there's old friends.... And that's OK....but come on? Once you divorce yourself from the warm fuzzies of seeing old friends, you're left with the remaining plot and story. Which IMO just wasn't very good. Way too much " A New Hope" repackaged. Symbolically it came down to this for me. Darth Vader (in the day) he wore his helmet because he HAD to. Because of events he lived through and survived, that had caused physical and mental damage and scars. We learned about them as the story was told. It was real. Kylo Ren? Evidently wears the helmet because? Helps with mild case of asthma? Darth fanboy salute? As Han say's.....take it off, you don't NEED it. So much that was attempting to be "New" in The Force Awakens, simply seemed like watered down versions of what was better-Old. Is this movie horrible? No. Again, it's designed nearly perfectly for success. But despite it's enormous popularity can I grade it much higher than just being "Satisfactory"...not really. At best for me? It was a satisfactory restart of the movie franchise, and actually one that left me slightly more disappointed than enthusiastic.