Monday, January 29, 2018

Honorable Mention: Writers of the Future


Boom, baby! I finally got my name recognized. Earlier I mentioned getting Honorable Mention in the 4th Quarter 2017 Writers of the Future contest. This time I have proof.

Check out this list of winners. I'm 7th name from the bottom. I had them send me a certificate ... I was so excited. It all starts somewhere, right?

What does this mean? I'm not sure, as I don't know what percentage of participants are chosen. I count 177 names total. It's said that thousands submit each year, so maybe I made the top 10%?

Anyway, I submitted another story. Fun!

Saturday, January 27, 2018

The Last Jedi Revisited


In this spoiler-filled review, I will analyze The Last Jedi and respond to some of the critique against the film. For my spoiler-free review (like you haven't already seen the movie), click here.

Overall, this movie presents a conundrum. Most critics seemed to love the movie, while most fans hated it. Well -- certain fans. It seems that those who have dived into the whole Star Wars universe (read the books, seen the cartoon series, frequented the fan boards) tend to hate the movie, while those like me who saw just the movies and stayed away from the other media tend to enjoy the movie.

This reminds me of The Empire Strikes Back when it first came out to mixed reviews. It was definitely not my favorite movie at the time, and I resisted the whole "you are my father" thing for at least a couple years after that. That was a twist I didn't want to accept. But now, that movie is at the top of my favorite Star Wars movies, as all fans know that you're supposed to say this. When Return of the Jedi came out, it solidified Empire and demonstrated what made it so great.

Episode IX could very well have the same effect on The Last Jedi. Only time will tell.

When analyzed as a standalone movie in terms of plot, character development, musical score, cinematography, etc., The Last Jedi turns out to be a great movie.

Plot: It's simple to follow; a lot happens in a short amount of time; it follows a classical drama formula; several classical techniques are used such as the Rashomon effect (the differing memories of Luke waking up Kylo) not used in any other Star Wars film.

Character development: This is severely lacking in the first six movies. In the prequel trilogy, you get a little with Anakin and Obi-wan, but it doesn't feel organic. In the original trilogy, there is development mostly for Luke, a little bit for Darth Vader, Leia, and Han Solo, but practically none for anyone else. In The Last Jedi, we see development for Rey, Kylo, Luke, Poe, Finn, and a tiny bit for Leia. Hux also provides comic relief.

Musical score: I think absolutely nobody complains about John Williams' work. As always, he continues hitting each cue perfectly, either foreshadowing or reminiscing with the proper leitmotifs.

Cinematography: Again, I think hardly anyone complains. This movie gives us, hands down, the best fight scenes of all Star Wars movies, amazing special effects, and moving scenery. The only exception is some bad CGI in relation to animating living characters -- something was off with Snoke's body movements, and some creatures on Luke's planet looked fake.

Where I agree with the die-hard Star Wars fans:

The new type of humor didn't fit. In the opening scene where Poe is ribbing Hux, it felt like I was watching Guardians of the Galaxy. And Luke throwing away his light saber just seemed to make it worse. That was not too much removed from this spoof I saw just before the movie came out.

At the end of The Force Awakens, we see a view of the island from different angles, and it appears to be empty except for Luke and Rey, but all of a sudden there are animals and a race of caretakers? Well, this one doesn't bother me too much in hindsight, but at the time, it really caught me off guard.

Admiral Holdo was very stupid in not revealing the whole plot to Poe, though I'll talk more on that shortly.

I did not appreciate the political statement coming from the visit to the casino planet.

There were indeed too many twists in the movie. Twists are usually good, but the event of Finn and Rose failing to acquire the flower man combined with them ultimately being caught in the end was disappointing to me -- at least one twist too many.

How ever, there were so many fun things happening in the movie. A few responses to criticisms:

"This is not my Luke Skywalker": I respect Mark Hamill, who's come a long way from whiny teenager to nefarious Joker. But he's still an actor, not a writer. He did say that he would act as asked to act, and he did his job well.

The weaknesses and strengths shown to us in The Last Jedi are consistent with his character in the original trilogy, and even enhance his character. He had tried to raise the Jedi back to what they were before. Disaster ensued, and he decided humans weren't meant to use the force and cuts himself off. By the end of the movie, he learns that he was wrong. He realizes there is hope in Rey. He ultimately decides to show one last awesome demonstration of the force and saves the day. (Bonus: you can hear the Whilhelm scream embedded in the light-saber sounds when Kylo first charges Luke.)

Any other plot alternative would seem inorganic after what had already been established in The Force Awakens: "I'm the most awesome Jedi Master but I'm just going to hide out here on this island -- yeah -- look at all these boulders floating around me and I won't lift a finger to stop the First Order!"

Leia Poppins: yeah, I love that term, but this is actually one of the more believable developments. In a sense, it's necessary plotwise, as it allows for both the scene of Kylo not being to push the button to destroy his mother, then watching her die, and the later scene of Leia saying goodbye to Luke before he dies. But could Leia actually pull of this cool Jedi trick? All she would have to do is survive long enough in space (a "regular" human can stay conscious about 15 seconds), and then use the force to pull herself toward the spaceship with a little help from Newton's third law of motion, a technique already used in Episode II. Of course, coming back into the ship without ejecting everyone else into space would be an issue, but they conveniently did not show that part. I am in the vast minority for having enjoyed that scene.

"This movie throws away everything from the earlier movies": Well, I will admit that very little of the force vision Rey experiences in The Force Awakens makes it into The Last Jedi. For example, we don't see the Knights of Ren. But we still have another movie left to see, and that looked like a towards-the-end scene anyway, or a flashback of them killing Luke's followers.

Though, we did see a spaceship crumble, like in Rey's vision.

Other than that, I see a natural flow of events from one movie to the next. In The Force Awakens, most of the Republic was destroyed by the big gun, so we're left with a small group of rebels who are evacuating after their last attack. Meanwhile, Rey continues to reach out to Luke. While certain developments are contrary to what many fans expected, from a technical standpoint, there really aren't many contradictions to what has been established in the past.

"Why didn't Hux just light-speed one of his ships around to the other side of the rebel fleet?": It's so easy to criticize Hux's decision in hind-sight, but from a military analysis, his decision seems sound. He had no knowledge of a hidden planet. He knew that if the rebels jumped, they would trace them and destroy them. There appeared to be no escape.

And finally ... there's Holdo's decisions. On a second viewing, I noticed three major exchanges between her and Poe. One was when Poe first approached her. At that point, it was perfectly understandable that she should withhold information from him. He was insubordinate, and did not have proper clearance. She didn't trust him, and thus chose not to reveal the plan.

There was another point when Poe went to her to describe the Finn plan (which was already in progress if I remember correctly). It seems like this would have been the perfect time for Holdo to tell Poe what was happening, but even then it seemed reasonable that she could make the stupid decision not to tell him out of her pride. It was dumb of her, and she ended up paying the price.

The third exchange was after she and Leia stops the mutiny and she finally reveals the plan. Stupid on her part, but worked for the writers in developing Poe's character. Yeah ... I wish they could have done that a little differently, but this isn't much different than any other plot hole in all the other movies.

There is much, much more that I'm leaving out, but this all goes to show how much fun debate this movie has kindled. Sure, it disappointed many fans, but there are still many fans that enjoyed it. I hope that the ninth installment will help us come to understand The Last Jedi, and that it will rise to its proper place in the movie Star Wars universe.

Tuesday, January 23, 2018

The Movie List - 2017

Here is my list of movies released in 2017 that I saw, in order of my personal enjoyment.

In creating this list, I see I've missed quite a few movies that I wish I had caught -- I may try to catch them in the next couple of months, and I'll come back to update this list (maximum 10). Do you see a good movie that I left off the list? I'm taking suggestions.

Blade Runner 2049
Coco
Dunkirk

Saturday, January 20, 2018

Coco and the Last Jedi

Continuing with the catch up, I'll review one movie where I caught the midnight showing, and one that I caught super late on New Year's Day.





Star Wars: The Last Jedi

I'll first come out and say that I thoroughly enjoyed The Last Jedi, and I also realize that I'm in good company. Next week I'll give a more detailed spoiler-filled analysis, responding to several of the complaints lobbied against this film. For now, this is the spoiler-free quick review.

The Last Jedi picks up immediately after The Force Awakens. The First Order continues to destroy what is left of the old Republic, and Rey looks to Luke Skywalker for answers and training.

In some aspects, this was the best Star Wars movie I've seen. The plot was interesting, incorporating certain devices never used before in the previous movies. There was an amazing amount of development among several characters such that the sum total may be even more than the total character development of the original six movies combined. (The Force Awakens also has a good amount of development.) The fight scenes were a whole level above anything we've seen before. Some visuals were beyond amazing. And as always, the musical cues were spot on.

In other aspects I was disappointed. The CGI for Snoke (and other characters) looked bad to me. Sure, it was detailed, but there was a large amount of uncanny valley, making him look fake. Some plot twists really disappointed me. (We are warned in the trailer: "This is not going to go the way you think.") Most of the MARVEL-type jokes felt out of place. Someone thought it was a good idea to insert a political statement. The length of the movie was a little too long.

I caught the "midnight" showing on a regular screen, and a week later watched it in 2D IMAX. I can't say how elated I was to learn a non-3D version was available. I realize the studios sacrificed the extra $3 per ticket to allow this to happen, but it was good for us consumers, and I wish more distributors would go this route. Unless the movie was shot in 3D (not converted), most movies are actually more enjoyable in 2D IMAX than in 3D IMAX. Though, with that said, I was disappointed that the 2D IMAX version was nothing more than the regular screen proportions thrown on a bigger screen and louder speakers. In other words, you don't get the extra stuff above and below the standard screen. Instead you get the black bars -- wasted screen.

If you haven't seen it yet, catch it before it leaves theaters, and then you too can decide for yourself if you really love it, or if you really hate it.





Coco

I believe Coco would be near the top of my list of movies I've seen from 2017. (I'll have to make a list next week.) It may even top my list of all PIXAR movies. The story is awesome, and the imagery wonderful. Plus, it evidently provides an accurately view into the whole Day of the Dead traditions -- Mexicans seem to love it.

Miguel secretly learns to play guitar in a family that has shunned music. When he comes to learn that his great grandfather was a famous musician, he tries to follow his dreams and ends up in the spirit world.

As a PIXAR movie, you can expect the usual tropes, plot twists, and those little nagging things in the back of the brain that tell you, "this can't possibly work" if you think too much about it. But the good story holds it all together, and somehow tricks you into thinking there's something real behind the fantasy. By the end of the movie, my whole family was in tears, even the two kids who never cry from anything.

The music is also amazing, with real guitar playing in the animation. And did I already mention how great and detailed the whole animation is?

If you've missed this movie, it still isn't too late to catch it at a discount theater. It's worth seeing the animation on the big screen, though I bet on the small screen, the story will still captivate you.

Thursday, January 18, 2018

A Game of Thrones -- Book Review


With all the hubbub about the TV show, I decided to start reading the books. Book number one is called A Game of Thrones, and the series is called A Song of Ice and Fire. The TV show is named after this first book.

The prologue captured me immediately, and I knew I was in for a ride when two of the three players died instantly, and the third died in the beginning of the first chapter. That sent a strong signal that no character was safe. It turns out that even though one death near the end is predictable, there were plenty of surprises along the way.

I must admit that there was a part somewhere in the first 200 pages that felt like it was dragging, and it took a while for me to really get into it, but before I knew it, the book was done.

The book primarily follows the travels of Eddard Stark as he becomes Hand of the King, but there are plenty of other plots and subplots, and this is where the book shines -- the story is amazing, the world building is phenomenal.

The prose itself wasn't very exciting, and often Martin would go on and on, tempting me to skip a couple of paragraphs. Also, for a fantasy book, there wasn't much fantasy. It was like a Robert Jordan book with 95% of fantasy elements removed, leaving a strong extract of politics and preparations of war. In other words, he successfully provided exactly what's promised in the title: a game of thrones. Those who play it win or die.

The book comes to an end when the pages stop -- small stopping places for each of the plots and subplots -- but no real conclusions. It was like "Come on guys. I had to stop somewhere. You're going to read my next book anyway."

I'll get around to it sometime later this year. I hear it gets even better.

Saturday, January 13, 2018

Ragnarok and Justice League

Now to play a little catch up. Here are a couple of superhero movies that came out last November.



Thor: Ragnarok

This movie was a lot of fun, with no slow parts, plenty of action, awesome cinematography, funny dialogue, and decent plot. Yet, I found myself getting annoyed with Marvel's constant tying in with other stories in the Marvel Universe. I would have preferred if this movie were more of a standalone. In fact, you could have removed the Hulk entirely and the plot would still be intact.

Thor and his brother end up facing a new foe that could destroy Asgard. However, they become stranded on some random far away planet. Thus, they must first get off the planet and gather allies to fight this foe.

The movie is bold and is not afraid to change things up. Yet, I doubt I will remember much of the plot a year from now -- like with most Marvel movies.

And how again did the Hulk end up on the same exact planet (evidently on the Guardians of the Galaxy side)? I didn't even remember him disappearing in an earlier movie. Yes, I know that this borrows from an actual Hulk storyline from the comics, which is pretty cool, but still too much reliance on coincidences.

Most people are able to overlook this and yet blast other movies for doing less -- strange, but understandable. Marvel movies do a good job at keeping interest levels high enough so that people don't care much about the plot issues.





Justice League (2017)

I went into the movie theater expecting a terrible movie, and maybe that helped me to enjoy it. It was ... decent. Then again, I tend to like Zack Snyder movies when others don't. I love the darker feel in these DC movies, and the more comic-book looking effects.

One of the biggest complaints against Snyder is that he tends to jam too much plot into such a short time. It becomes too much to process, and the viewer becomes lost and less able to enjoy the movie. But in "Justice League" the plot is a lot more straight forward. Big baddie shows up, the Justice League bands together, and then they try to stop the world from ending. Perhaps this was helped with the last-minute infusion of Joss Whedon's writing. Funny they should bring in the man who helped Marvel's "Avengers" to be a great success. He is the master of the ensemble script!

Yet, some characters just seem to suddenly exist, and -- big complaint from the masses -- we didn't exactly know who they were. Aquaman, Cyborg, and the Flash were all cool and in character, and there was a small bit of character development, but without having seen their origin stories, they just seemed to exist and not do much else.

As usual in Snyder films, the fight scenes are pretty cool and comic-book looking. It was worth catching in the theater, and I'd probably watch again if this happened to be on TV.

My biggest disappointment was that when it was over, there was this big "is that all?" feeling. The plot was easy to follow, but felt very thin. The resolutions at the end weren't very satisfying, though there is a cute cut-scene in the middle of the end credits.

Wednesday, January 3, 2018

Mel's Year in Review: 2017 and Plans for 2018

Overall, I think I did worse than I had in 2015, making 2017 my officially worst year in fiction writing ever. It also happened to be a very good year for my music company, Melkim Publishing, in which I successfully reached hundreds if not thousands of future customers. So, at least I can report that I wasn't lazy.

Well, except for the last couple of months, when I got hit by a couple of big things that helped me not want to do anything at all.

Now I have a great opportunity to reboot my fiction writing. I'll be starting in January -- this month.

2017 wasn't a complete waste. I did complete and submit "The Last Actuary" in January. It didn't win any prizes, but at least one person liked it.

Including that submission, I submitted a total of 7 short stories in 2017, which is actually one better than I did in 2016.

"When Time Flows West" received Honorable Mention in the Writers of the Future contest (which should be announced more officially in the next few weeks). So, even if I didn't do too much writing, I still have this new feather in my cap.

General stats for 2017:

For 2018, my goal is to reboot the writing machine. I'd be happy to meet a few reasonable goals rather than crazy audacious goals. So here we go:
  • Novel writing:
    • If I have enough funds, I will have "Justice" edited and then put out for sale on Amazon
    • If no funds (most likely the case this year), I will finish the first draft of "Space Cadets"
  • Short stories - complete 4:
    • "The Jesse Flag" (flash fiction)
    • "The Rainbow Flush" (flash fiction)
    • "Godspring" (longer story)
    • "Descendent History" (longer story)
    • bonus: if I feel like it, work on another actuarial story
  • 26 short story submissions
Good luck in your writing, and have a good 2018!