Post by Sgt. AWOLaLot on Oct 22, 2017 19:15:22 GMT -5
Here's a pair of reviews for one old science fiction classic and a film that I think is destined to be a classic like its predecessor. The Star Wars viewing was special for me this time though because I had the opportunity to watch it with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra play the film score live in Miller Auditorium, and it was an amazing experience. I got to see that Friday night and then went with a friend to see Blade Runner the night after that. It was a good weekend.
Also since most of us have seen and love Star Wars, I expect most of the discussion to focus on Blade Runner 2049. And that's to be expected. Either way, I'm excited.
Star Wars, written October 15th, 2017:
"I have returned from the Star Wars Live to Projection showing, and it was a fantastic experience. Having the chance to see some of the best film music ever written performed live was well worth it. And as I said when talking about Revenge of the Sith, everything that has been said about Star Wars has already been said. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to give my twist on it. And not everyone gets the chance to see it with a live orchestra.
Star Wars (1977); or Episode IV: A New Hope, take your pick; is a space opera film written and directed by George Lucas and stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker. It tells the epic story of Luke Skywalker beginning his journey to become a Jedi Knight like his father before him, while also getting involved in the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance to Restore the Republic (the official name) and the Galactic Empire (under the control of Emperor Palpatine). Along the way he meets many interesting characters, both good and evil, that would change his life forever. And what ensues resulted in one of the biggest cultural phenomena in recent history, resulting in 7 more live action films (10 total films if you include the upcoming Last Jedi, Episode IX, and the Clone Wars movie), novels (like the brilliant Thrawn Trilogy), video games (Battlefront 2 (LucasArts) and Republic Commando all the way), and one of the largest and most loyal fanbases for any film franchise. And Star Wars wasn’t just another good film; it was a game changer for all of cinema, and its influences are still prevalent now. Whether someone likes Star Wars or not, there is a reason why it’s so popular and why the originals hold up so well. I’ll attempt to give some of those reasons below.
The film opens with the 20th Century Fox Logo (and the orchestra played the Fanfare), followed by the green Lucasfilm logo changing to gold. And then of course, we get those iconic blue words “in a galaxy far, far away” followed by the also iconic title crawl. Then we get our opening shot, the Star Destroyer chasing the Tantive IV. I mentioned before that Revenge of the Sith has my favorite opening shot (it still is), but A New Hope’s is a close second and is one of the most iconic scenes in film. After this though, the film does something very interesting. Instead of being introduced to Luke first, our primary hero, we are instead introduced to two droids: R2-D2 and C3PO. For those who have watched Star Wars several times, this doesn’t seem strange at all because we’re used to the story. But when you take a step back and think, it really is a curious move on Lucas’ part to have us follow C3PO and R2-D2 and see the first 20 minutes or so through their eyes. The reason this works though is because for one, they’re likeable and funny; and two, it takes two characters that you wouldn’t think would be important amid a big Civil War and gives them an important role to play in the story. It’s also a brilliant way to set up the backdrop (which is the Galactic Civil War) of what will drive Luke and the other heroes later, as well as setting up the world they live in.
One more thing I want to mention about the opening is Darth Vader’s entrance. I love how he walks through the blown door as we hear the trombones/low brass announce his entrance, looks around at the dead rebels, and walks on. The way it’s shot tells us he’s a bad guy with authority, and he also has a calculating way of conducting himself.
The film then takes us to Tatooine, where the droids are captured by Jawas and comes across Owen Lars and his nephew (err, step nephew), Luke Skywalker. And at this point in the film I really started to take notice at how organic and tangible the sets were. Seeing old droids and parts strewn about in the sandcrawler, the inside of the homestead with all the electronic equipment and other items lying around, or the cantina with the bar and all the different aliens. While I give credit for the prequels testing CGI’s limits, it can’t compete with sets that are built and with aliens created by makeup artists. Because Lucas went for a lived-in world rather than a more pristine space environment (which most other science fiction films had done before Star Wars), the world felt more tangible and grounded. It helped make it more believable. That’s one reason why seeing the CGI addons of the special edition are so jarring and distracting.
It is also on Tatooine where we are introduced to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, and Chewbacca. While I think all the character introductions are done quite well, Han Solo’s is probably the best one. Within the first 10 minutes that we meet him, his character is set up so well. He’s a smuggler working outside the law, looking for money to save his own skin. He shoots Greedo in cold blood (or that’s the way it should be; Han shot first!) and has an arrogant, though confident, cool guy personality.
And this is where I’ll talk about the acting. While some people like to say that the performances aren’t that good or come across as campy, I’d have to mostly disagree because they’re all good to great. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher would probably be the “weakest” so to speak, but they certainly aren’t bad. A lot of people bring up how Luke comes across as a little whiny. This is true, but it doesn’t bother me because by the end of the film we see that Luke has left his smaller farm life behind and mature as he chooses to fight with the rebellion. He’s a 19 year old kid living his life on a moisture farm and while he does desire something more out of his life, he is reluctant to take that step when it first arrives (“Look, I can’t get involved. It’s not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but… There’s nothing I can do about it right now.”) It’s not until his home life comes crashing down with his aunt and uncle’s death that he decides to take that step to learn the Force and join the rebellion.
Carrie Fisher is good as Princess Leia as well, giving us the witty, intelligent, memorable character we all love. The only weird part of her performance was her slight British accent when Tarkin is threatening to blow up Alderaan, which disappears again later.
The best performances though are by Harrison Ford and Alec Guinness. Ford pulls of the suave, arrogant, almost anti-hero persona very well. Han also gets a character arc of his own, finding himself becoming attracted to Leia as well as returning in the climax of the film. I think Guinness though has the best performance in the entire film. I mentioned in my Revenge of the Sith review that Ewan McGregor managed to have the classiness that Guinness did while bringing a subtle cool factor. Well Guinness has that too, and it really shows in the cantina. His disinterested tone when hearing of the Millenium Falcon (“You’ve never heard of the Millenium Falcon?” “Should I have?”), and the look he gives Han when Han mentions the 12 parsecs factoid are little things that elevate his performance. My favorite moment though was when he was telling Luke about his service in the Clone Wars with Anakin. His tone of voice and the way he moves his eyes make you believe that he is a tired, old warrior that’s been through a lot. The prequels and both Clone Wars series also add a lot to this scene. It’s my favorite smaller, character driven moment of the film. Now it is true that Alec Guinness wasn’t very enthusiastic about the role itself, thinking that the concept behind Star Wars was silly. Even after it was a hit, he felt irritated that Obi-Wan was the role he was being remembered for. But even with these misgivings, the other actors have said Guinness maintained his professionalism on the set and he still put effort into making the film. While people would disagree with his opinions on Star Wars, his professional attitude is something to be respected.
Of course, no discussion about Star Wars would be complete without mentioning the one element that made it the game changer it was: the special effects by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). To this day, most of the special effects are very convincing. Where they really get to shine is during the attack on the Death Star as we watch the X-Wings evade turrets and dogfight with Tie Fighters. The ILM team put everything they had into this movie and helping to bring it to life. There’s also the sound team from Skywalker Sound, creating so many iconic movie sound effects. Perhaps the coolest part about the sound effects though is that they are all organic. The Falcon’s engine is a P-51 Mustang Merlin engine; R2-D2 is a mix of several adults (and maybe babies, don’t remember) muttering baby chatter and manipulating it later; and a blaster was a rock hit on a tower support cable).
Then of course there’s John Williams’ iconic film score, which has been preserved in the Library of Congress for being culturally significant. Seeing the music played live by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra made it even better. The conductor was Daniel Brier, and while I’m no good judge on conductors, he must have done a good job because the orchestra was very on point. They opened with the 20th Century Fox Fanfare and then played the iconic main theme. For about the first half hour of the film I would hear someone applaud the soloists that would play. That’s fine in theory but if I remember one thing from Music Appreciation, it’s that you don’t applaud an orchestral performance until the very end; not to mention the fact that we’re watching a film we want to pay attention too. Anyway, it was also great to see and hear the talent that these musicians have. Williams’ music is rarely easy to play as he originally wrote it, and cues like “The Battle of Yavin” or “Imperial Attack” have some difficult sounding parts. Also with this being a live performance, you don’t get more than one take to get it perfect. Because of this, I noticed a few instances where some transitions were a little awkward. The biggest thing I noticed though was during The Battle of Yavin. At the part where Red Leader and the X-Wings make their first dive towards the Death Star’s surface, there’s a trumpet solo playing the Force Theme with the trombones and French horns playing harmony. Well, the strings played for maybe half a second too long, and as a result the first two notes of the solo were either too low to hear or missed. Now let me make it clear, this isn’t a complaint. I understand this was a live performance. No two performances are the same and stuff like this happens even to the best of them. In fact, it’s an arguably harder performance because the conductor must keep them in sync with the film. The performance was awesome in every sense of the word.
Seeing the orchestra perform also reminded me of just how wonderful film itself is as an art. It is the ultimate collaborative art, arguably even more than theater/stage acting. For those that challenge me on that, please come up with another art form that encompasses all the major art forms. You have the directors and actors, yes. But you also have screenplay writers, makeup artists, costume designers, set builders, cinematographers, computer artists (be it something like Pixar or just general CGI), composers, the musicians (unless it’s all synth), sound designers, and the special effects crew. You’ve got your musicians, drawers, and writers all involved including other more modern art forms. It really is amazing when all those people can come together and create something that will inspire so many people. That’s also why Star Wars is amazing. It’s way of inspiring people didn’t stop at filmmaking, or even music (Michael Giacchino sites it as one of his). The fact that it took place in space also lead many people to become engineers or work for places like NASA. This also brings up one more point; people can hate on George Lucas all they want for the Prequels, or for changing the original films. Many of these criticisms I agree with even. But he has created a universe that had an influence on science fiction the same way Lord of the Rings did for fantasy novels. So I will say, loudly and proudly, thank you George Lucas for creating Star Wars."
Blade Runner 2049, written October 15th, 2017
"I finally got to see Blade Runner 2049 yesterday. It might be my favorite film this year so far, and will likely go down as one of the best science fiction movies to come out this decade. It was indeed a long film and a slow burn, but it truly was an amazing experience. And it’s a shame that it’s not performing the best at the box office, because I think it deserves the praise. Villeneuve and the other people involved delivered another piece of art.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is a science fiction, dystopian, noir film directed by Denis Villeneuve and stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, and Jared Leto. The film follows Ryan Gosling’s character K, a replicant (I believe he was Nexus-8 generation), who takes on the role of a Blade Runner. Unlike the original film where all replicants on Earth were to be “retired”, in 2049 the total ban is lifted, with the older generations of replicants being the ones hunted and the new ones being built to completely obey the humans. On one of his assignments K comes across a piece of evidence that will lead to a story about finding answers, self-discovery, consciousness, and memories. Like the first Blade Runner, 2049 is a film with a brain that isn’t afraid to raise questions about our humanity and the way we understand our world. With this being a new film, I won’t go too much into the storyline. I will be bringing up some of the themes though, because they truly were fascinating.
Unlike the other films I’ve seen in the theater this year (I think they’ve all been super hero films except for War for the Planet of the Apes and Dunkirk), Blade Runner 2049 wasn’t made to be a big crowd-pleasing blockbuster; and I am so glad it went for the more artsy, noir approach that kept in tone with the original. It was nice to take a break from all the big, loud blockbuster films and watch something that took its time, letting you soak in the environment being showed on screen while still managing to tell an interesting story. Villeneuve treated this world with a lot of respect, keeping elements from the original while also adding other elements to show progression and provide more world building. As an example, I will touch on one character that could be considered a minor spoiler, but nothing too major. This character’s name is Joi, K’s “wife”. I say “wife” because Joi is a product of Wallace Corporation (the new company building replicants; Tyrell Corporation has sense gone out of business), headed by Jared Leto’s character. She has an AI brain like a replicant but has no physical body, and is instead a hologram. The moments between her and K though I found to be some of the most interesting in the film. There were some truly touching moments too, and honestly, you forget that you’re watching not one but TWO androids interacting with each other. There was also one rather touching moment where Joi tries to be more real for K (I’ll leave it at that) that some people might find silly, even cheesy. That’s not the reaction we’re meant to have though, and I think it was one of the best character moments in the film.
And that leads into one of the things I loved the most about this movie. The line between being replicant and a human is even more murky than in the original. In this film, I don’t think the replicants had a set life span. This means that they can develop stronger emotions and create their own memories beyond those preset for them, and, as is shown by K, have their own lives at home. But are K and Joi really feeling anything during the film? Or is it all manufactured? But if it is all manufactured, then why does K start to feel compelled to go on a journey of self-discovery? Shouldn’t the “products” of Wallace Corporation be built with fail safes? Or is the AI so smart it can learn to bypass these fail safes? So many intriguing questions to be found here, and the best part is there are no definitive answers. As I said, the line between replicants and humans has become much finer in this film.
Before I also mentioned the importance of memories, and in 2049 they take on more importance than in the original. When replicants are made, they are given fake childhood memories; the reason I think is to make them more emotionally stable so they have the illusion of growing into adults. But what would happen if some of these memories were real? And are memories something that really makes us human?
Next, I need to mention the visuals and give praise to the lead cinematographer, Roger Deakins. I’ve heard his name come up on quite a few occasions in videos, and with good reason. His career includes work on The Shawshank Redemption, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, A Beautiful Mind, No Country for Old Men, and both Sicario and Prisoners (both Villeneuve’s films). And once again, the visuals in Blade Runner 2049 are gorgeous. I also like that we get to see different environments with different color palates, where the original was always dark (though still beautiful, even to this day). Some of the most visually appealing moments are at Wallace’s company headquarters and where K eventually finds Deckard (in the trailer, not counting it as a spoiler). In Wallace’s headquarters, there was a room where water surrounded a platform and the water reflected off the walls. It was both beautiful but at the same time kind of made you feel uneasy. Then there’s the orange tinted area where Deckard is living out his older years. It certainly has a Mad Max: Fury Road feel to it.
And once again, I noticed Villeneuve’s very structured, almost rigid style. He doesn’t do a lot of camera tilts or Dutch angles, instead doing a lot of centered horizontal shots. This makes me think of something else that I think I like about Villeneuve’s style. He can be an artsy director, but he doesn’t rely on weird angles to try and look artsy. As I mentioned in my Sicario review, I think he uses a lot of storyboards to plan his camera placements. He also again isn’t afraid to let a shot last for a few seconds before cutting. We also got some beautiful landscape shots showing off the Blade Runner world after 30 years have passed. When it comes down to it I think Villeneuve is successful because he keeps things simple with the techniques he uses but he knows HOW to use them. Now I could be completely wrong on all of this; I’m not a film student and not an expert on directing techniques. This is just what I perceived while watching.
As for the music, it certainly had the Blade Runner feel. Originally, Johann Johannsson, Villeneuve’s usual composer of choice (he did Prisoners, Arrival, and Sicario), was set to do the music for Blade Runner. But for whatever reason, Johannsson was axed and the job went to Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch (who did A Cure for Wellness). I had read somewhere that Zimmer listed Blade Runner as one of his favorite film scores, which makes sense considering Zimmer’s own preference for synthesizers and electronics. It’s an atmospheric score like the original, and I thought it fit the film fine. There was one cue cameo from the original at the end I was very glad to hear, and it fit the scene very well (for those that know, think of tears in the rain).
Other than the music, there were some other callbacks to the original as well. There’s always a risk when a film does this, because if there are too many callbacks it comes off as just fan service, especially if they have little relevance to the story. Thankfully though, the callbacks in 2049 were either subtle (like K visiting a wood expert, kind of like Deckard visiting the expert on fish scales), or they did serve the plot. One of these callbacks was quite unexpected, and it accompanied one of my favorite scenes in the film where Jared Leto kills it with his performance.
Blade Runner 2049 is a film I really liked on the first watch. I can tell though that like the original, this is a movie that needs more than one viewing to fully understand or appreciate. But they did it. Denis Villeneuve and the rest of the team made a great sequel that was, in all honesty, not needed. I think the best part though is that it stands on its own, especially for the first half. It may well be my favorite film this year thus far. It’s not as easily digestible or rewatchable as Logan or War for the Planet of the Apes and is very much a slow burn, but I found the long runtime to be worth it. And honestly, I think I like it more than the original Blade Runner, mostly because the main storyline was more engaging than in the original."
Also since most of us have seen and love Star Wars, I expect most of the discussion to focus on Blade Runner 2049. And that's to be expected. Either way, I'm excited.
Star Wars, written October 15th, 2017:
"I have returned from the Star Wars Live to Projection showing, and it was a fantastic experience. Having the chance to see some of the best film music ever written performed live was well worth it. And as I said when talking about Revenge of the Sith, everything that has been said about Star Wars has already been said. Nevertheless, I feel compelled to give my twist on it. And not everyone gets the chance to see it with a live orchestra.
Star Wars (1977); or Episode IV: A New Hope, take your pick; is a space opera film written and directed by George Lucas and stars Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Alec Guinness, Peter Cushing, Anthony Daniels, and Kenny Baker. It tells the epic story of Luke Skywalker beginning his journey to become a Jedi Knight like his father before him, while also getting involved in the Galactic Civil War between the Alliance to Restore the Republic (the official name) and the Galactic Empire (under the control of Emperor Palpatine). Along the way he meets many interesting characters, both good and evil, that would change his life forever. And what ensues resulted in one of the biggest cultural phenomena in recent history, resulting in 7 more live action films (10 total films if you include the upcoming Last Jedi, Episode IX, and the Clone Wars movie), novels (like the brilliant Thrawn Trilogy), video games (Battlefront 2 (LucasArts) and Republic Commando all the way), and one of the largest and most loyal fanbases for any film franchise. And Star Wars wasn’t just another good film; it was a game changer for all of cinema, and its influences are still prevalent now. Whether someone likes Star Wars or not, there is a reason why it’s so popular and why the originals hold up so well. I’ll attempt to give some of those reasons below.
The film opens with the 20th Century Fox Logo (and the orchestra played the Fanfare), followed by the green Lucasfilm logo changing to gold. And then of course, we get those iconic blue words “in a galaxy far, far away” followed by the also iconic title crawl. Then we get our opening shot, the Star Destroyer chasing the Tantive IV. I mentioned before that Revenge of the Sith has my favorite opening shot (it still is), but A New Hope’s is a close second and is one of the most iconic scenes in film. After this though, the film does something very interesting. Instead of being introduced to Luke first, our primary hero, we are instead introduced to two droids: R2-D2 and C3PO. For those who have watched Star Wars several times, this doesn’t seem strange at all because we’re used to the story. But when you take a step back and think, it really is a curious move on Lucas’ part to have us follow C3PO and R2-D2 and see the first 20 minutes or so through their eyes. The reason this works though is because for one, they’re likeable and funny; and two, it takes two characters that you wouldn’t think would be important amid a big Civil War and gives them an important role to play in the story. It’s also a brilliant way to set up the backdrop (which is the Galactic Civil War) of what will drive Luke and the other heroes later, as well as setting up the world they live in.
One more thing I want to mention about the opening is Darth Vader’s entrance. I love how he walks through the blown door as we hear the trombones/low brass announce his entrance, looks around at the dead rebels, and walks on. The way it’s shot tells us he’s a bad guy with authority, and he also has a calculating way of conducting himself.
The film then takes us to Tatooine, where the droids are captured by Jawas and comes across Owen Lars and his nephew (err, step nephew), Luke Skywalker. And at this point in the film I really started to take notice at how organic and tangible the sets were. Seeing old droids and parts strewn about in the sandcrawler, the inside of the homestead with all the electronic equipment and other items lying around, or the cantina with the bar and all the different aliens. While I give credit for the prequels testing CGI’s limits, it can’t compete with sets that are built and with aliens created by makeup artists. Because Lucas went for a lived-in world rather than a more pristine space environment (which most other science fiction films had done before Star Wars), the world felt more tangible and grounded. It helped make it more believable. That’s one reason why seeing the CGI addons of the special edition are so jarring and distracting.
It is also on Tatooine where we are introduced to Obi-Wan Kenobi, Han Solo, and Chewbacca. While I think all the character introductions are done quite well, Han Solo’s is probably the best one. Within the first 10 minutes that we meet him, his character is set up so well. He’s a smuggler working outside the law, looking for money to save his own skin. He shoots Greedo in cold blood (or that’s the way it should be; Han shot first!) and has an arrogant, though confident, cool guy personality.
And this is where I’ll talk about the acting. While some people like to say that the performances aren’t that good or come across as campy, I’d have to mostly disagree because they’re all good to great. Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher would probably be the “weakest” so to speak, but they certainly aren’t bad. A lot of people bring up how Luke comes across as a little whiny. This is true, but it doesn’t bother me because by the end of the film we see that Luke has left his smaller farm life behind and mature as he chooses to fight with the rebellion. He’s a 19 year old kid living his life on a moisture farm and while he does desire something more out of his life, he is reluctant to take that step when it first arrives (“Look, I can’t get involved. It’s not that I like the Empire, I hate it, but… There’s nothing I can do about it right now.”) It’s not until his home life comes crashing down with his aunt and uncle’s death that he decides to take that step to learn the Force and join the rebellion.
Carrie Fisher is good as Princess Leia as well, giving us the witty, intelligent, memorable character we all love. The only weird part of her performance was her slight British accent when Tarkin is threatening to blow up Alderaan, which disappears again later.
The best performances though are by Harrison Ford and Alec Guinness. Ford pulls of the suave, arrogant, almost anti-hero persona very well. Han also gets a character arc of his own, finding himself becoming attracted to Leia as well as returning in the climax of the film. I think Guinness though has the best performance in the entire film. I mentioned in my Revenge of the Sith review that Ewan McGregor managed to have the classiness that Guinness did while bringing a subtle cool factor. Well Guinness has that too, and it really shows in the cantina. His disinterested tone when hearing of the Millenium Falcon (“You’ve never heard of the Millenium Falcon?” “Should I have?”), and the look he gives Han when Han mentions the 12 parsecs factoid are little things that elevate his performance. My favorite moment though was when he was telling Luke about his service in the Clone Wars with Anakin. His tone of voice and the way he moves his eyes make you believe that he is a tired, old warrior that’s been through a lot. The prequels and both Clone Wars series also add a lot to this scene. It’s my favorite smaller, character driven moment of the film. Now it is true that Alec Guinness wasn’t very enthusiastic about the role itself, thinking that the concept behind Star Wars was silly. Even after it was a hit, he felt irritated that Obi-Wan was the role he was being remembered for. But even with these misgivings, the other actors have said Guinness maintained his professionalism on the set and he still put effort into making the film. While people would disagree with his opinions on Star Wars, his professional attitude is something to be respected.
Of course, no discussion about Star Wars would be complete without mentioning the one element that made it the game changer it was: the special effects by Industrial Light and Magic (ILM). To this day, most of the special effects are very convincing. Where they really get to shine is during the attack on the Death Star as we watch the X-Wings evade turrets and dogfight with Tie Fighters. The ILM team put everything they had into this movie and helping to bring it to life. There’s also the sound team from Skywalker Sound, creating so many iconic movie sound effects. Perhaps the coolest part about the sound effects though is that they are all organic. The Falcon’s engine is a P-51 Mustang Merlin engine; R2-D2 is a mix of several adults (and maybe babies, don’t remember) muttering baby chatter and manipulating it later; and a blaster was a rock hit on a tower support cable).
Then of course there’s John Williams’ iconic film score, which has been preserved in the Library of Congress for being culturally significant. Seeing the music played live by the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra made it even better. The conductor was Daniel Brier, and while I’m no good judge on conductors, he must have done a good job because the orchestra was very on point. They opened with the 20th Century Fox Fanfare and then played the iconic main theme. For about the first half hour of the film I would hear someone applaud the soloists that would play. That’s fine in theory but if I remember one thing from Music Appreciation, it’s that you don’t applaud an orchestral performance until the very end; not to mention the fact that we’re watching a film we want to pay attention too. Anyway, it was also great to see and hear the talent that these musicians have. Williams’ music is rarely easy to play as he originally wrote it, and cues like “The Battle of Yavin” or “Imperial Attack” have some difficult sounding parts. Also with this being a live performance, you don’t get more than one take to get it perfect. Because of this, I noticed a few instances where some transitions were a little awkward. The biggest thing I noticed though was during The Battle of Yavin. At the part where Red Leader and the X-Wings make their first dive towards the Death Star’s surface, there’s a trumpet solo playing the Force Theme with the trombones and French horns playing harmony. Well, the strings played for maybe half a second too long, and as a result the first two notes of the solo were either too low to hear or missed. Now let me make it clear, this isn’t a complaint. I understand this was a live performance. No two performances are the same and stuff like this happens even to the best of them. In fact, it’s an arguably harder performance because the conductor must keep them in sync with the film. The performance was awesome in every sense of the word.
Seeing the orchestra perform also reminded me of just how wonderful film itself is as an art. It is the ultimate collaborative art, arguably even more than theater/stage acting. For those that challenge me on that, please come up with another art form that encompasses all the major art forms. You have the directors and actors, yes. But you also have screenplay writers, makeup artists, costume designers, set builders, cinematographers, computer artists (be it something like Pixar or just general CGI), composers, the musicians (unless it’s all synth), sound designers, and the special effects crew. You’ve got your musicians, drawers, and writers all involved including other more modern art forms. It really is amazing when all those people can come together and create something that will inspire so many people. That’s also why Star Wars is amazing. It’s way of inspiring people didn’t stop at filmmaking, or even music (Michael Giacchino sites it as one of his). The fact that it took place in space also lead many people to become engineers or work for places like NASA. This also brings up one more point; people can hate on George Lucas all they want for the Prequels, or for changing the original films. Many of these criticisms I agree with even. But he has created a universe that had an influence on science fiction the same way Lord of the Rings did for fantasy novels. So I will say, loudly and proudly, thank you George Lucas for creating Star Wars."
Blade Runner 2049, written October 15th, 2017
"I finally got to see Blade Runner 2049 yesterday. It might be my favorite film this year so far, and will likely go down as one of the best science fiction movies to come out this decade. It was indeed a long film and a slow burn, but it truly was an amazing experience. And it’s a shame that it’s not performing the best at the box office, because I think it deserves the praise. Villeneuve and the other people involved delivered another piece of art.
Blade Runner 2049 (2017) is a science fiction, dystopian, noir film directed by Denis Villeneuve and stars Ryan Gosling, Harrison Ford, Robin Wright, Ana de Armas, and Jared Leto. The film follows Ryan Gosling’s character K, a replicant (I believe he was Nexus-8 generation), who takes on the role of a Blade Runner. Unlike the original film where all replicants on Earth were to be “retired”, in 2049 the total ban is lifted, with the older generations of replicants being the ones hunted and the new ones being built to completely obey the humans. On one of his assignments K comes across a piece of evidence that will lead to a story about finding answers, self-discovery, consciousness, and memories. Like the first Blade Runner, 2049 is a film with a brain that isn’t afraid to raise questions about our humanity and the way we understand our world. With this being a new film, I won’t go too much into the storyline. I will be bringing up some of the themes though, because they truly were fascinating.
Unlike the other films I’ve seen in the theater this year (I think they’ve all been super hero films except for War for the Planet of the Apes and Dunkirk), Blade Runner 2049 wasn’t made to be a big crowd-pleasing blockbuster; and I am so glad it went for the more artsy, noir approach that kept in tone with the original. It was nice to take a break from all the big, loud blockbuster films and watch something that took its time, letting you soak in the environment being showed on screen while still managing to tell an interesting story. Villeneuve treated this world with a lot of respect, keeping elements from the original while also adding other elements to show progression and provide more world building. As an example, I will touch on one character that could be considered a minor spoiler, but nothing too major. This character’s name is Joi, K’s “wife”. I say “wife” because Joi is a product of Wallace Corporation (the new company building replicants; Tyrell Corporation has sense gone out of business), headed by Jared Leto’s character. She has an AI brain like a replicant but has no physical body, and is instead a hologram. The moments between her and K though I found to be some of the most interesting in the film. There were some truly touching moments too, and honestly, you forget that you’re watching not one but TWO androids interacting with each other. There was also one rather touching moment where Joi tries to be more real for K (I’ll leave it at that) that some people might find silly, even cheesy. That’s not the reaction we’re meant to have though, and I think it was one of the best character moments in the film.
And that leads into one of the things I loved the most about this movie. The line between being replicant and a human is even more murky than in the original. In this film, I don’t think the replicants had a set life span. This means that they can develop stronger emotions and create their own memories beyond those preset for them, and, as is shown by K, have their own lives at home. But are K and Joi really feeling anything during the film? Or is it all manufactured? But if it is all manufactured, then why does K start to feel compelled to go on a journey of self-discovery? Shouldn’t the “products” of Wallace Corporation be built with fail safes? Or is the AI so smart it can learn to bypass these fail safes? So many intriguing questions to be found here, and the best part is there are no definitive answers. As I said, the line between replicants and humans has become much finer in this film.
Before I also mentioned the importance of memories, and in 2049 they take on more importance than in the original. When replicants are made, they are given fake childhood memories; the reason I think is to make them more emotionally stable so they have the illusion of growing into adults. But what would happen if some of these memories were real? And are memories something that really makes us human?
Next, I need to mention the visuals and give praise to the lead cinematographer, Roger Deakins. I’ve heard his name come up on quite a few occasions in videos, and with good reason. His career includes work on The Shawshank Redemption, O Brother, Where Art Thou?, A Beautiful Mind, No Country for Old Men, and both Sicario and Prisoners (both Villeneuve’s films). And once again, the visuals in Blade Runner 2049 are gorgeous. I also like that we get to see different environments with different color palates, where the original was always dark (though still beautiful, even to this day). Some of the most visually appealing moments are at Wallace’s company headquarters and where K eventually finds Deckard (in the trailer, not counting it as a spoiler). In Wallace’s headquarters, there was a room where water surrounded a platform and the water reflected off the walls. It was both beautiful but at the same time kind of made you feel uneasy. Then there’s the orange tinted area where Deckard is living out his older years. It certainly has a Mad Max: Fury Road feel to it.
And once again, I noticed Villeneuve’s very structured, almost rigid style. He doesn’t do a lot of camera tilts or Dutch angles, instead doing a lot of centered horizontal shots. This makes me think of something else that I think I like about Villeneuve’s style. He can be an artsy director, but he doesn’t rely on weird angles to try and look artsy. As I mentioned in my Sicario review, I think he uses a lot of storyboards to plan his camera placements. He also again isn’t afraid to let a shot last for a few seconds before cutting. We also got some beautiful landscape shots showing off the Blade Runner world after 30 years have passed. When it comes down to it I think Villeneuve is successful because he keeps things simple with the techniques he uses but he knows HOW to use them. Now I could be completely wrong on all of this; I’m not a film student and not an expert on directing techniques. This is just what I perceived while watching.
As for the music, it certainly had the Blade Runner feel. Originally, Johann Johannsson, Villeneuve’s usual composer of choice (he did Prisoners, Arrival, and Sicario), was set to do the music for Blade Runner. But for whatever reason, Johannsson was axed and the job went to Hans Zimmer and Benjamin Wallfisch (who did A Cure for Wellness). I had read somewhere that Zimmer listed Blade Runner as one of his favorite film scores, which makes sense considering Zimmer’s own preference for synthesizers and electronics. It’s an atmospheric score like the original, and I thought it fit the film fine. There was one cue cameo from the original at the end I was very glad to hear, and it fit the scene very well (for those that know, think of tears in the rain).
Other than the music, there were some other callbacks to the original as well. There’s always a risk when a film does this, because if there are too many callbacks it comes off as just fan service, especially if they have little relevance to the story. Thankfully though, the callbacks in 2049 were either subtle (like K visiting a wood expert, kind of like Deckard visiting the expert on fish scales), or they did serve the plot. One of these callbacks was quite unexpected, and it accompanied one of my favorite scenes in the film where Jared Leto kills it with his performance.
Blade Runner 2049 is a film I really liked on the first watch. I can tell though that like the original, this is a movie that needs more than one viewing to fully understand or appreciate. But they did it. Denis Villeneuve and the rest of the team made a great sequel that was, in all honesty, not needed. I think the best part though is that it stands on its own, especially for the first half. It may well be my favorite film this year thus far. It’s not as easily digestible or rewatchable as Logan or War for the Planet of the Apes and is very much a slow burn, but I found the long runtime to be worth it. And honestly, I think I like it more than the original Blade Runner, mostly because the main storyline was more engaging than in the original."