This morning, I wrap up my semester by giving a final in cell biology. Immediately after, I start grading through the afternoon.
I don’t expect that I’ll get everything done, though, and will have to finish it tomorrow, and possibly get all my grades submitted by Friday evening. In part the delay will be because it’s going to be a lot of papers, but also because my evening is going to be interrupted by my attendance at the Morris premiere of Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker.
I’m going in with serious trepidations. This franchise has been an inconsistent mess benefiting from an epic beginning that has favorably colored our views of the subsequent slipshod sequels, and honestly, some of them have been so bad that they belong alongside Battlefield Earth in the hall of terrible science fiction movies. They don’t get ranked there only because they always make money.
I’m only going to attend because I still remember fondly the glow I felt one sunny afternoon in 1977 that I spent watching the original movie twice, unwilling to leave my seat (which explains how bad sequels still make money), and also because, well, it’s a professional requirement now.
Don’t tell me if it’s good or not. I want to cling to my delusional optimism for just this one day.
I hope it’s good enough and you enjoy it ( I’ve not seen it so that isn’t any sort of spoiler).
You didn’t like Battlefield Earth? Silly man-animal.
Me, too. A friend and I saw it at the Coronet Theater on Geary Blvd in San Francisco on a sunny afternoon. It’s the only time I sat through two screenings of a film, but we were experiencing some of that San Francisco enhanced reality. The Coronet is long gone, and I rarely see my friend, but the memory of that afternoon remains strong.
Forest Whitaker was in Battlefield Earth. He was also in some recent Star Wars movie I tried several times to get into but couldn’t. I watched Battlefield Earth at a friend’s house years ago. Hubbard’s book wasn’t that awful was it?
Whitaker was in several movies I have liked such as Ghost Dog, Green Dragon, Bloodsport and Fast Times. So it wasn’t him.
Attack of the Clones was my favorite SW movie. I’ve lost interest in the franchise. I too recall seeing the original when it came out in elementary school. That was back in the golden years of scifi/space opera. I cut my teeth very young on Lost in Space and Space:1999. When you’re really young you’re not yet cynical and hypercritical about stuff that doesn’t really make much sense if analyzed. I just wanted an Eagle to fly around in, the coolest space vehicle ever: http://catacombs.space1999.net/main/images/spacehd/b/spb0220.jpg
Given the press tour and the reviews it is utterly clear that Disney kowtowed to the very worst elements of Star Wars fandom and the dregs of our society. Alas. I will eventually see it-probably a rental-but I expect it to be aggressively bad.
This just reaffirms my beliefs that The Last Jedi is easily the best Star Wars film and it wasn’t so much made by Hollywood as escaped.
I cannot recommend enough that people skip Star Wars and see Knives Out instead. Easily the best film of the year and an absolute classic black comedy/mystery.
You still wear academic robes at UMM? How quaint.