Rogue One Review and "the gritty reboot"

I had very high hopes for Rogue One, and, overall, I was not disappointed. No, it is not a perfect movie, but it did what I wanted it to do: it took the Star Wars narrative in a new, grittier direction.

Now, the Star Wars properties have explored these types of new directions for years: from the extended universe novels, to video games, to the cartoon series, we've seen how vast the Star Wars universe is and how many different types of stories could be set in it.  I think for me this led to a gnawing sense of disappointment after watching episode VII, which for all its strengths, felt like it mostly stuck to the safe, worn path of the previous stories.  Even when it wasn't directly retreading prior plot points, it echoed some similar themes and tropes: hero with mysterious origins, conflicted father/son relationships, etc.

Now, in recents years, a cottage industry has popped up around the idea of the "gritty reboot" of a beloved comic and toy franchise from the 80's.  Maybe Christopher Nolan and "the Dark Knight" are to blame.  But it did seem that the market was flooded with them to the point of absurdity (I wouldn't be surprised if the gritty reboot version of Calvin and Hobbes had been an actual real thing on some Hollywood producer's desk at some point).

Well, for my money, Rogue One did gritty right.  Maybe it's the fact that the prior Star Wars movies, and the original trilogy in particular, was so thoroughly epic, mythic, high mimetic, that the franchise was crying out for a treatment in a low mimemtic mode, something through the eyes of everyday citizens and members of the rebellion.

Like I said earlier, it's not perfect. Act 1 in particular, has its problems -- both in narrative, which felt choppy as we jumped quickly through time and space to introduce the major players, and in plotting, with the obvious question of why Galen doesn't send the Death Star plans out with the pilot, rather just giving the information of where they can be found.

These issues are easily forgiven and forgotten by the time the action gets rolling in Act 2.  We seen Jyn as grown up and fiercely independent, maybe a little too dangerous and edgy for the comfort of the rebel alliance leaders.  The Alliance feels a little more fleshed out and real, too, compared to the original trilogy.  It truly is an alliance of disparate rebellion factions, with deferring ideals, goals, and limits as too how far they will go to defy the Empire.  We meet Saw Gerrera, who has to be one of the most intriguing characters in the series.  He's painted as an extremist, and we see his crew  in action, springing a trap on a group of Imperial troopers in Jedha.  Obvious parallels to present day conflicts there.

The action moves quickly to the third act, where we get too see some great sci-fi action as Jyn's crew struggles to complete their mission and the rebel forces show up to lend their support.  The ending was very surprising for a Star Wars and Disney property, a really bold move that earned a lot of respect from me (I'm a sucker for movies that avoid the typical Hollywood happy ending).

So now to address some of the criticisms of the film I have seen on line:

I wasn't attached to the main characters: It's true that once the action gets going, we don't get as much time to learn about Jyn and Cassian.  And that's too bad, because I found them both really intriguing.  Jyn had much more of an edge than Rey in episode VII, and made for a far more interesting "strong female lead" character.  Cassian was amazing, I loved the way this supposed "good guy" could turn around and do the most cold-blooded things in the name of the rebellion.  So I thought the main characters were great, and this wasn't at all an issue for me.

The CGI of characters from the original trilogy was bad: I'm scratching my head at people saying this. I thought it was pretty amazing.

Krennic was not a compelling villain: Krennic is a ruthless careerist, opportunist, more driven by selfishness and thirst for glory than by pure malevolence.  I think his character points to the banality of evil, like he's the Eichmann of the Star Wars universe.  Different, for sure, from other main baddies we've seen, but certainly preferable to, say, having an angsty, patricidal teenager, at least in my book.

The Darth Vader scene at the end was gratuitous: the Darth Vader scene at the end was one of my favorite scenes in all of the franchise! Holy crap, it was like a horror movie - great in the overall characterization of Vader with regard to the overall series; I mean, the original trilogy only gave you the slightest glimpse as to why he was so feared.  And I would argue that the Death Star plans were the central point of the story, so it's entirely appropriate to keep following them on their way to Lelia's hands.

Looking back, I felt I've spent more time defending the movie than boosting it, so I'll leave you with this: I loved the film, it is fantastic, and you should go out and see it as soon as you can if you haven't already! May the Force be with you.

To trailer or not to trailer?

Does anybody else suffer from the same ambivalence that I do when it comes to trailers of a movie you are anticipating?
Case in point, I am super excited for Rogue One, the upcoming movie from the Star Wars franchise.  I couldn't help myself from watching all of the trailers as they were released on line.  And while they are all undoubtably cool, I can't help but think a little is lost when we see some of the best moments, and are let in on key plot points, before we walk into the theater.
I'm sure I will enjoy the movie regardless, but I wish I had the willpower to avoid looking at trailers!

Westworld Episode 7 random observations

A couple of things struck me as I watched Bernard's final "reveal" scene in the latest episode of Westworld.

When he's ordered to kill Theresa, he methodically takes off his sport coat.  Makes sense, you don't want to get it wrinkled.  But why take off the tie? Then he has to go through all the trouble of putting it back on.

And comes the question of methodology -- surely there are less messy ways than slamming her head against the wall.  Wouldn't a robot go with the cleanest and most efficient route?

Which brings us to -- why do Ford and Bernard turn their backs and leave her body in the corner?  Does Ford do this so often that he has a robot cleaning crew to come mop up after each one?

So I'll admit, I was surprised, though not shocked, if that makes sense.  Bernard has always been so methodical in words and actions that it was easy to see him in retrospect having been a robot all along.  I did notice at one point that his flashbacks had the same quality as those of the hosts, but I thought that was just a device to show how like them he was (exactly like them, apparently), or how much like humans they were.  I assume that his wife must be a host too, which implies she's kept at some other location just for the purpose of taking his phone calls.  Interesting ...

Book Review - Prince of Thorns by Mark Lawrence

Prince of Thorns tells the story of Prince Jorg Ancrath on his journey from the company of highwaymen he leads at the outset to assuming his rightful place as a noble and contender to reunite the Broken Empire.

The most interesting feature of this book, at the outset, is the unsavory nature of the protagonist who in the first few chapters alone commits multiple murders and rapes. As time goes on, we learn more about what is driving his immoral deeds, but it'd be a stretch to say he achieves any sort of Darth Vader-type redemptive arc.

The strongest features of this story are definitely the lively pace and vibrant writing - it is a really fun and quick read. Lawrence is very good at sketching out characters and locales so they are brought to life with just the right amount of details, and never feels heavy-handed as many authors tend to do when trying to present characters as imposing or bad-assed. The plot moves forward at a great pace and overall is very tight, excepting a detour into Gelleth which seems a bit extraneous but can be forgiven because it's such a cool episode. Probably the strongest justification for that detour is what it reveals about the setting - which was one of the things I really appreciated about the book; the backstory is very cool and novel.

I was amused to see several mentions of "playing a game of thrones." (Also at least one instance of the GRRM groaner "he was not wrong.") That said, at no point did I feel like I was reading someone trying to imitate Game of Thrones, Lawrence definitely has his own distinct style and feel, although Game of Thrones readers would probably enjoy it too. So, a great way to help fill the gap until the next SOIAF book comes out.

Original Fiction - The Listening Station

BZZZZZ

Sam Starling woke, once again, to the sound of Space Exploration Council’s most annoying alarm sound, scientifically tested to be unbearable to even the heaviest sleeper.  Not that this put Sam off at all – in fact he had the option to use a different alarm sound, but he chose to use this one. He shut to buzzer off and got out of his bed to start the day, as he had every day of the last 12 years.

Or, more accurately, the simulation of a day.  Here on the largest moon of XF-799524, natural day/night cycles had little meaning. The distance to the system’s star was so great that it was difficult to distinguish it from the background starry panorama of the galaxy.

Listening Station 64R, however, was an entirely self-contained ecosystem catering to the comfort of its sole occupant, Mr. Starling. This included simulating the day/night cycles he had become accustomed to during the 25 years he had spent on Earth.

Sam went to the kitchen and selected his breakfast from the interface menu.  8 seconds later he removed his plate of eggs and bacon and his cup of coffee from the food printing compartment.  He took these over to the breakfast table as he ran through his maintenance checklist for the day.

LS 64R was fashioned of modular components using cutting edge technology of the time. Nearly every function was, or could be, automated.  Sam suspected, correctly, that the only reason he was assigned any duties was to keep him from going insane.

12 years was a long time to be assigned to solitary confinement.

Sam came from humble beginnings, but despite that, he had always known that it was his destiny to be part of the space exploration effort. He certainly had the name for it. And the passion – he had written to the Council as a child and joined the Youth Space Exploration Club while in grade school. He was a good student, and knew he had what it took to one one day be an astronaut.  But life dealt him a different hand when his father died and his mother got sick. He was forced to quit school and take care of her. A formal education was not to be.

 Instead, he had gone the route of the autodictat, reading extensively all his life, all the while maintaining his love of space. When the Council had called for volunteers for the Listening Station Initiative, he had jumped at the chance.  And, since the educational requirements were far less stringent than most of the Council’s other programs, he had been accepted.

He’d breezed through the training, his natural intelligence and general enthusiasm for space exploration boosting him far ahead of his fellow volunteers. He set himself to his task with unabashed zeal, for if there was one thing that appealed to him most, it was the search for alien life.

That was the reason for the Listening Station Initiative – to set up posts in far reaches of the galaxy to better receive potential transmissions for non-Earth lifeforms.  It was a direct descendant of the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence program begun hundreds of years ago by the National air and Space Administration of the old United States. The Council leaders decided that more ears in more places would improve their chances of hearing something.  And, after perfecting (as far as such things can be perfected) the technology for creating small wormholes, it wasn’t long before they placed their portable habitats in multiple far-flung corners of the universe.

Sam wasn’t sure why the Listening Stations hadn't been completely automated –- sure, a human was still needed to look at potential positive readings and throw out the ones that were due to interference, but surely that could be done back at home.  More likely it had to do with cost of creating a wormhole to send data back -– best to do it only when absolutely necessary.

And so here he was, many light years from his home planet.  He didn’t have anyone back at home – no sweetheart, no real family, not close friends, not even a pet.  So it wasn’t like he was particularly longing to go home to be with anyone.  Besides, he had access to a vast library here, and he had made heavy use for it over the years.

In fact, it was during a fateful period seven years ago when he was deeply engrossed in the library’s collection of ancient histories that he came to a momentous decision.

He had been studying a legendary explorer by the name of Christopher Columbus. The short version of the story he had learned in school hailed Columbus as a courageous explorer who discovered a new continent, but it did not detail what happened later and how he treated the indigenous, less technologically advanced culture.  As Sam dug deeper, he saw the same pattern repeat itself, across multiple eras and locations, over and over again throughout humankind’s history.

Now, it may be that some alien intelligence has developed in a way that its nature is fundamentally different to humankinds, thought Sam, but there is no way to know before we encounter them.

And so it was that in the present day, Sam reviewed the incoming signal caught by the station’s sensitive equipment, a signal which could only be a transmission from some other intelligent lifeform, and marked it as interference. The log, which would be sent back to earth when he created a wormhole at the end of the month would be the same as it had been every day since he had arrived.

As it had been every day since he first encountered these transmissions five years ago -– no unusual activity recorded.

Many people would consider the lonely lifestyle that Sam chose to be a terrible onus to bear. But for Sam, it was a small sacrifice to make for the honor and privilege of protecting the human race – even if no one would ever know.

Name of the Wind 91 - Epilogue

Chapter 91

Kote continues to run into Denna, always in the company of a wealthy suitor. Each time, in true friend zone style, he comforts himself by saying although they may be getting intimate with her, they will never be as close friends with her as he is. At the House of the Wind, Kote lets loose the note Denna left for him. Depending which way it blows out of the square, it should give him a prediction of what will happen, but it stays circling the courtyard. Kote then hints that Ambrose eventually found a way to get him expelled.

Each time Denna comes up, I feel a little sadder for Kote. He keeps pining away for her and despite being brave in other aspects of his life, he is always too scared to declare himself to her.

Chapter 92

Back at the inn, Kote stops his story for the night. Chronicler is having a hard time falling asleep. He barricades the door to the room and is finally able to nod off. He wakes up to find Bast in the room. Bast reveals he has been starting rumors that Kote is here, in order to bring about anything that might snap Kote out of his stupor. He had expected some sort of enemy to show up, but Chronicler was a stroke of luck, giving Kote a reason to think and talk about his heroic deeds. We learn that Bast encouraged him to write a memoir, but Kote gave it up pretty quickly, although he still has the crumpled up pages. Bast warns chronicler to keep Kote focused on positive topics, and not to bring up music or why he doesn't do sympathy any more. When Chronicler protests about remaining neutral, Bast threatens him very seriously. He shows Chronicler that his iron necklace of protection won't be enough to protect him. He then acts courteously again before leaving out the window.

Whoa, Bast gets into full scary Fae mode! I like it! Hope to see some of Bast's backstory in the next book. So far, telling the story doesn't seem to have quite as much effect as Bast hopes for, but we shall see how it goes on the next day.

Epilogue

Kote sits at his desk, the crumpled memoir pages still sitting on top of it while he tries to ignore them.

Nice device to bring the book full circle. I really like the framing device of one book per night of storytelling. I did feel like we left in the middle of things, without anything nicely tied up - except we did resolve the issue of getting back into the archives. Hopefully it won't get him into even more trouble with Lorren. Really hope we get an explanation of how the wind tipped him off to the entrance and how he got through the  4 plate door.