The Barrier of Subtitles

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When I was a little girl, my dad and I would walk through the aisles of the video rental store in search of movies to watch. We didn’t have cable, so this was how we spent our days. The store usually only showed the front cover, and you could only guess at what was within its tapes. Sometimes you would walk out of the store with a gem, sometimes a b-movie, and sometimes a foreign film.

At the 2020 Golden Globes, director Bong Joon-ho, stood at the podium, accepting an award for his film, Parasite. In his native Korean, he expressed that if people could overcome the one inch “barrier of subtitles,” they “would be introduced to so many more amazing films.” And he’s right.

I don’t even remember what my first foreign language film was. It could have been a Bruce Lee movie or Umbrellas of Cherbourg or The Seventh Seal, for all I know. Dad and I didn’t care if suddenly words appeared at the bottom of the screen. We watched silent films like Metropolis and Nosferatu, so the idea of reading while watching was never much of a barrier. In fact, when I graduated to watching Japanese anime consistently, I refused to listen to the English dubs because they homogenized the dialogue, dumbed down sections for Western audiences, and back then, voice acting wasn’t as it is today in the U.S. – often using the same actor for multiple parts or female leads with whiny, high-pitched voices.

When I became an adult, I learned that my appreciation of foreign films had not been shared. I can’t even begin to count the number of times I’ve heard “I don’t watch movies to read. If I wanted to read, I’d get a book.” But, folks, stories are universal! Everybody has a right to tell theirs. Just because they don’t speak your language doesn’t mean they are any lesser than you, that your stories matter more than theirs. Parasite tells a universal human story about class and the parasitic nature of both the haves and the have nots.

In my lifetime, I can remember Life is Beautiful (La vita e bella) being nominated for best picture in 1998 Oscars. It was a tragicomedy about the Holocaust, a very important story to tell. It wouldn’t win that year, but Roberto Benigni did take home top acting prize. The next year, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon was nominated for Best Picture and lost to the lesser Gladiator. It went home with cinematography, art direction, and best foreign language film. I can’t think of a more beautiful film, even in recent memory, and it’s now over twenty years old. Last year, the fantastic and underseen Roma took home best directing and best foreign film, and lost top prize to (shudder) Green Book.

All of these land on must-watch lists across the internet, but there are so many others that deserve to be seen. Train to Buson is easily one of the best zombie movies ever made. Pan’s Labyrinth and The Lives of Others are both great movies that came out in the same year and tell stories about different parts of history, one set in Spain (with plenty of fantasy to keep you going) and the other set in East Germany during communism. Anything by Studio Ghibli is better enjoyed with subtitles and is a great way to get used to reading. Your Name is an anime with gender role reversals, a subversion of romance tropes, and the tiniest bit of science fiction sprinkled on top. Also, did you know? You can thank the Raid movies for the John Wick franchise too.

Best of all, all these movies are available on streaming services. So unless you are physically incapable to enjoy movies with subtitles, give them a go (accessibility is a discussion I’m ill-equipped to make).

Still, now, as Parasite wins Best Picture at the Oscars, I wonder if this will change anything. Most people think the Academy Awards are pretentious, old-fashioned, inconsequential, or boring, and aside from a few headlines over the coming days, the loud conversation about representation, telling non-Western stories, will settle to a whisper and fade. Parasite was the best film of 2019, but entire groups of people will never watch it because it’s not in English. And they will all be missing one of the best movies of this century, let alone last year.

Best Movies of 2019

Every year I make it a habit to try and list out the best movies of the year, as is the requirement for any person who consumes more media than they should. For the past month, though, I made it my task to find and watch as many of the movies deemed “the best of 2019” to try and make an informed decision on my personal faves.

As the end of January approaches, I have fallen just short of my task, but I feel like I can say that I have watched at least 80% of the movies on most best of lists, plus the standard stuff that doesn’t wind up on many lists. Movies I have yet to watch, include Booksmart, Little Women, The Farewell, Pain and Glory, Dolemite is my Name, I Lost My Body, and A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. Still, if I had, this may have made my decision even harder. 2019 was a phenomenal year in cinema. One of the best in recent memory. Truly. I had a list of 30 I had to pair down to 10 plus 5 honorable mentions.

Also, in preparation for this list, I made myself an Excel sheet so I could remember exactly what movies I had seen and make sure I don’t miss any from my list. And to help me drill down into those top choices. I thought I’d share that here too, because they you can see how much (or little, depending on your perspective) I have seen from 2019.

This makes it easier to pinpoint what my tops are going to be, but not exactly which order. Not to mention, that one of my 4 star movies did not make the final ten. But more on that soon.

So without further ado, let’s get into this top ten.

10. El Camino: A Breaking Bad Story

In 2013, when Breaking Bad finished its five season arc, I realized this was the best television could ever get. Since then, I have been hard pressed to find better examples of character and story molded so seamlessly. When Vince Gilligan announced a sequel in the form of a movie, I was worried. But I shouldn’t have been. This was a fitting conclusion to the story of Jesse. He was arguably the most human part of Walt’s descent, and that element is highlighted through the runtime of this near perfect film. It is a must watch for anyone who appreciated the series.

9. The Lighthouse

Robert Eggers has made two films thus far: 2015’s The VVitch (The Witch) and 2019’s The Lighthouse. Both movies are polarizing. Either you love them or hate them, I don’t think there’s much of an in-between. Unfortunately, I was not nearly as positive about his 2015 film, as I had no idea what I was getting into when I saw it. This time, I went in knowing full well what to expect. The Lighthouse is shot in black and white and uses mythology and symbolism to tell a period-perfect story of madness. This is a psychological horror where two men, wickies (lighthouse keepers), must spend weeks on an isolated island, maintaining a lighthouse, only to miss their transport back off the island. From there, the descent is clear, with Willem Dafoe’s Thomas often gaslighting the younger Rob Pattinson’s Ephraim, who does not seem to need much of a nudge in that direction. It’s a very strange, hypnotic ride, and one I will not forget in a very long time.

8. Jojo Rabbit

Perhaps only Taika Waititi (director of Thor: Ragnarok and What We Do in the Shadows) could get away with playing Hitler in a comedy. It seems an odd choice for a production, but this comedy is so much more than just a gimmick. The movie tells a very timeless, human story of Jojo, a young Aryan boy living in Germany during the 1940s. He is a Nazi sympathizer and absolutely believes everything that is told to him about Jews. But when he discovers his mother is keeping a Jew hidden in the walls of their home, he is forced to reconcile with his feelings of blind patriotism and his own humanity. It is outrageously adorable and funny while being heart warming.

7. Avengers: Endgame

This movie was unprecedented. Endgame was an accumulation of ten years of storytelling across twenty-two movies, and somehow, against all odds, it stuck the landing. It ended the first phases of this universe and saw the conclusion of several plotlines, several characters. The spectacle of it was the grandest that has ever been seen on the silver screen, and it is hard to believe that while comic book movies are still not considered true art, that this movie was able to toe the line of regret and hope in one package. I can’t imagine a better way to end a series.

6. Marriage Story

Netflix have finally done it. With last year’s incredible Roma, and this year’s Marriage Story and The Irishman, they have proven that they can release legitimately great cinema. While I did watch and somewhat enjoy Martin Scorsese’s crime drama, Marriage Story left an indelible mark on me. It begins with Adam Driver and Scarlett Johansson reading a list of things they love about their spouse in the lead-up to getting a divorce. It’s beautiful and melancholy and shows how two people can love each other but aren’t right to be married to one another. The movie does not place the blame on either person, as they begin the divorce process. It is the lawyers who become the bad guys, twisting words and conversations in the proceedings to get their way.

5. Uncut Gems

The Safdie brothers have proven now with two films (this and Good Time) that they are able to bottle up and serve nerve-inducing, frenetic drama. Adam Sandler plays, in the best performance of his career, a Jewish jeweller in NYC. He runs his own business and purchases an uncut opal that he believes is worth millions. He’s frantic to get it sold to pay off a debt that has two loan sharks chasing after him. In a bad-day-gets-worse, he loans out the jewel, gets beaten up, and stripped naked all in the span of a few hours. The pace of the film, as well as Sandler’s performance, really sells this movie. While my heart was racing for all of its run-time, I was enthralled by it too. The Safdie brothers are great at using grainy film and keeping the camera focused on one person, leaving you feeling claustrophobic and feeling the emotions of the characters.

4. Knives Out

This Rian Johnson ensemble-led cast murder mystery is one of the absolute best written movies of the year! Murder mysteries done right are always a lot of fun, and this one is no exception. I loved Daniel Craig’s Detective Benoit Blanc, but I didn’t expect to also love the female lead, Marta, played by Ana de Armas. She was absolutely a standout for me. She shares the screen with such great actors as Jamie Lee Curtis, Michael Shannon, Toni Collette, and Chris Evans, and she still managed to steal the show. Truly, I cannot speak enough praises of this movie. Even as I type this, I want to go out and see it again.

3. Portrait of a Lady on Fire

This 18th century French drama is one of the most beautiful films of the last decade, let alone the last year. This movie follows three women, and while men do appear at the beginning and the end of the movie, really it is focused on the intellect and emotions of these women. Marianne is a painter who has been commissioned to do the wedding portrait of Heloise, a young woman recently returned from a convent. Heloise does not wish to be married and refuses to sit for a portrait. In order to paint her, Marianne must steal glances at Heloise during daily walks and then paint from memory in the night where Heloise cannot see. What unfolds is a tragic and beautiful romance between the two, and a subplot of unwanted pregnancy in the maid.

2. 1917

I struggled, I will admit, with whether to put 1917 in first or second spot. This Sam Mendes, WWI film, is easily one of the best war movies of all time. It is utterly breath-taking. It lost out by the narrowest of margins, and only because number one affected me the greatest this year. 1917 is the story of two corporals charged with running through No Man’s Land and beyond to get a message to the otherside of the front. It is a simple enough premise, told in one of the most gorgeous packages. Director Sam Mendes and Cinematographer Richard Deakins did an impossible task. They made this film look as if it was in two continuous shots. It is the best editing I have ever witnessed, so much so that the Oscars didn’t even nominate it for editing, because they didn’t realize it wasn’t in two shots. This gives the film an I’m-in-the-action-with-them feel, and wow, it is effective! There are great moments of warmth and other moments where you can almost feel the fire surrounding you. 1917 is a technical achievement and if it takes home the biggest prize at the Oscars this year, I will be very happy.

Before I talk about number 1, here are some of my honorable mentions.

Apollo 11 – easily the best documentary I have seen in a long time. It takes footage and recordings from broadcasts and NASA at the launch of Apollo 11, the one when Neil Armstrong walked on the moon. It is absolutely incredible and shows the sheer number of people on the ground that helped to make that flight possible.

Doctor Sleep – This The Shining sequel was everything I wanted from a follow-up. It paid homage to the Shining without leaning too heavily on it. I feel like Mike Flanagan can do no wrong now, with this and Gerald’s Game and Haunting of Hill House under his director’s belt. I can’t wait to see what else he does.

Us – This Jordan Peele horror/thriller was a very good follow-up to his wildly successful Get Out. Lupita Nyong’o was at career best in this crazy tale of evil doppelgangers. The ending doesn’t quite stick for me, but it was still a great piece of cinema!

Waves – This movie is told by two halves. The first half focuses on the rage that comes from hypermasculinity, while the second half navigates regret, forgiveness, and love. While watching the first half, I could feel my heart beating through my chest for the main character, but then as the focus shifted from him to his sister, I could see hopefulness again. It was beautiful and well worth a watch.

And the number one movie of the year (in my humble opinion) is….

1. Parasite

I said before, 1917 came close to being number one, but something about Parasite has stuck with me since I saw it. If only all people could overcome the 1in barrier that is subtitles, this movie would be getting far more praises than it currently is, and it’s already getting a lot.

Parasite is a movie about classes. The main characters come from a half-basement apartment. In the first scene of the movie, they are trying to find a signal to a free wifi service in order to watch a video to show them how to make pizza boxes for a local store. The money they get from it would hardly feed them. But their luck changes with the eldest son becomes the tutor for a wealthy family. As time goes on, he manages to get jobs at the house for every member of his family, all under the guise that they tangentially know the other. The patriarch of the family becomes the chauffeur, the matriarch is the housekeeper, and the daughter is an art therapist. Over the course of the film, there are some moderate twists and turns. But it isn’t until you see this rich family and how they treat their hired hands that you begin to realize the truth of the name of the movie. While it may appear on the surface that the poor family are the parasites, it is actually the rich people that are.

This is an important film, and maybe after some awards during this Oscar race, it will open up new conversations about how cinema is far more than just American film. Everyone should see this movie, subtitles or not.

The Shawshank Redemption – a movie list challenge

I’m watching and writing about the Top 100 Movies of All-Time this year, based on multiple film publication lists. You can read more about how I came to rank and place the films on the list at my introduction post here.

The Shawshank Redemption

Rank: 19
List Appearances: 6/10
Average Rank: 3
Highest Rank: 1, on Sinemia‘s Top 100 Must-Watch Movies & IMDb’s Top 250
Total Final Score: 6900

The Shawshank Redemption came out in the mid-90s to very little fanfare. While it was nominated for awards and high on most critic lists, it made very little at the cinema. It became a cult classic in the years following its release, and it’s no great surprise to see it on this list. It seems that from a user rating point-of-view, the rankings are the greatest for it, which is why it landed so high on this Top 100 list.

I have to admit that my first time seeing Shawshank was only a year ago. I can’t even say why, for sure, except that some movies really require your undivided attention, and I always assumed that it was one of those movies. I had seen The Green Mile at the theatre when it came out, and I couldn’t imagine a better pairing of author and director (Stephen King and Frank Darabont, respectively). I knew Shawshank was the same, but I feared that it would never live up to my expectations. I was right, in the end. While I liked Shawshank after my first viewing, I still think Mile is superior.

The movie opens with Andy Dufresne on trial for the murder of his wife and her lover. Cutscenes show him pulling out a gun from his glovebox, holding a bottle of alcohol, and tears streaming down his face. There is little evidence from the start that he did not murder his wife, aside from a testimony laced with frustration. Andy is a quiet man. His emotionless face gives away nothing, and he takes his prison sentence with a stoicism that leaves the audience uncertain of his innocence. The film is beautiful in its unfolding of the court to the bus transport to the prison itself.

Narration follows these scenes, with Morgan Freeman in his first gig doing voice over work. His soothing voice explains prison life, the first night for new inmates, and introduces the groups.

Prison life is cruel. From cigarette bets to villainous guards to rapists, this prison is a walking cliche. In the standard style of Stephen King, there are clear villains. There is little ambiguity about how the guards relish in their abuse of the prisoners. In the first night, one of the guards beats a new inmate to the point of death. When he is sent to the infirmary, he dies waiting for the doctor.

There seems little hope in this life, though, and we watch Andy through a series of montages. He fights, is beaten, and raped for what seems to be years. Somehow, though, he shows he still holds onto hope, despite Red’s insistence that hope is dangerous. He tells a great truth about how prisoners become institutionalized. That soon you come to depend on the walls of the prison, and when that is taken away, you realize life has left you behind.

The strength of the film is in the other stories it tells, but this last point is the real soul of the movie. When Brooks, a fellow inmate, is sent to the world, he enters a time and place that looks nothing like it did when he left it. He admits in a letter that he had seen one automobile before. Now the streets are filled with them. People are in a real hurry. His letter is read by the actor as we walk through a day in the life of Brooks. The bus ride he takes from the prison has him facing off-center from the camera while the other passengers look out the windows. This perspective is symbolic of his detachment from life. The divide grows as the scenes progress, until the very end when we see Brooks stand atop a table, scratch his name into the wood frame and kicks the table from under him.

Andy and Red’s friendship grows through the film, and it is the gem of the movie. Their interactions, with Red’s natural realism and Andy’s romanticism bring a great balance in the story. You believe these men are near inseparable. But it’s often clear that while he goes through the motions of his day-to-day life, Andy might be holding some secrets. As much as Red knows him, he doesn’t know whether Andy is guilty or innocent until he learns it with the rest of the group, and he certainly doesn’t have any idea about Andy’s future plans.

Shawshank is a beautiful movie, and the central themes of hope and friendship are universal. It is a timeless classic, and it certainly belongs to be on the top 100 movies of all time.

Back to the Future – a movie list challenge

I’m watching and writing about the Top 100 Movies of All-Time this year, based on multiple film publication lists. You can read more about how I came to rank and place the films on the list at my introduction post here.

Back to the Future

Rank: 29
List Appearances: 6/10
Average Rank: 33
Highest Rank: 11, on Empire‘s 100 Greatest Movies
Total Final Score: 5310

In 1985, Robert Zemeckis and the folks over at Universal and Amblin Entertainment released a little movie called Back to the Future. It was the first in the trilogy to come and would create a culture zeitgeist. The script, written by Zemeckis and Bob Gale, and story should never have worked – the idea of a teenager returning to the past to meet his mom who would instantly fall in love with him – but somehow, it worked, and it became an instant classic, in it’s own right. While the sequels are weak by comparison, this first outing in the Time-Machine DeLorean has the right mixture of charm, suspense, and heart. And it holds up even today, 34 years later!

I’ve seen the movie so much over my life. I used to love it as a child, and that love has never diminished. While my interest has shifted over the years (what’s important in a child’s lens is far different than that of an adult), I cannot specifically fault the movie. Of course, some logical questions come to mind now: like why Marty’s parents didn’t get a nicer house at the end of the movie, how Emmett managed to connect the cable to send the lightning into the car at the exact right moment when there are 60 seconds in the minute window given, and how would Marty cope with not knowing a past life he never led. I get in trouble a lot with my husband for overthinking in movies, but I can’t switch off that way. Still, all of this seems secondary. The power of the movie far outweighs these logic flaws.

Back to the Future opens with a camera pan around the mechanisms in Dr Emmett Brown’s home/lab. The burnt toast and piles of disgusting dog food indicate a man who has not been home for days. Through TV broadcasts, a conversation on the phone with Marty, and a yellow canister of plutonium, we get the first clues to Emmett’s state-of-mind, and his dogged focus to see his dream become a reality.

We follow Marty through his day. His band plays and is too loud for a group of tight-mouthed judges. His girlfriend encourages him to release a demo tape of his band, which he is reluctant to do, quoting what we later discover is the same line his father uses. We hear about the clocktower, and how it was struck by lightning 30 years before. We meet the remaining McFlys and the bully, Biff. Little nuggets of information about the past make their way into these events, painting a picture about the way things were, laying the groundwork for Marty’s travel into the 50s, not to mention some of the biggest laughs of the film.

Michael J Fox does an amazing job bringing both credibility and charisma to his role as Marty. Through those first scenes when he lands in 1955, you can honestly believe he is stumbling through a younger Hill Valley. His interactions with the locals are hilarious, and his blank glances at bizarre questions about his life preserver land with perfect comedic timing. I like Eric Stolz (famously replaced by Fox after several scenes had been shot) as an actor, but I cannot see him being able to pull off the part as well as Fox did.

Further to that, I think there are equally great performances from Christopher Lloyd, Crispin Glover, Lea Thompson, and Thomas F Wilson. Lloyd shines as Emmett, and his acting is filled with the perfect balance of eccentric and lovable goofiness. Thompson as Lorraine is just adorable with her doey eyes and pseudo-innocence. She doesn’t get much to work with, but she spends a chunk of the movie batting her eyes at Marty. I find myself believing her when she kisses Marty in the car, and the awkward encounter is lifted by her admittance that it felt wrong. It just rings true. On the other end, Thomas F Wilson hams up his scenes with all the best screen-chewing villainy he can muster, and you hate him in every scene as the womanizing, buff bully he is.

Crispin Glover, as George McFly, embodies the stereotypical geek that was found in too many 80s movies. He grows through the movie, though, and despite first glance, the film is really to showcase his character arc. Marty doesn’t really change through the whole movie. Instead, he helps George develop a backbone and get the girl. It’s through his actions that the future is ultimately changed.

There is a lot to love about Back to the Future outside its well-paced story and characters (stereotypes and all), including the practical effects, the incredible sound work (for which it won an Oscar – specifically Best Sound Effects Editing), and editing and direction. The music is top-notch, with the iconic “Power of Love” instantly transporting you to the film any time it plays. And it’s a movie for any age, really.

Back to the Future holds up today and there is zero doubt that it is a classic and will remain one for decades to come. While, the other two films cannot quite say the same thing, the first, the original, is among the greatest films ever made, and it deserves its placement on this list.

Lord help anyone who decides to reboot it!

Return of the Jedi – a movie list challenge

I’m watching and writing about the Top 100 Movies of All-Time this year, based on multiple film publication lists. You can read more about how I came to rank and place the films on the list at my introduction post here.

Star Wars: Return of the Jedi

Rank: 97
List Appearances: 4/10
Average Rank: 67
Highest Rank: 60, on Ranker’s The Best Movies of All Time
Total Final Score: 756

First off, apologies for the lateness of this entry. Over the past few weeks, I’ve been doing an online course which has taken up almost all of my free time. While I had watched RotJ in order to write this, a couple of weeks ago, I have not had the time to write my thoughts/impressions. I may still be quiet for a couple more weeks after this, because I have not finished the course yet, and need to by mid-March.

I mentioned in my Star Wars: A New Hope review that as a child, when I heard the 20th Century Fox fanfare, I would enthusiastically exclaim, “Return of the Jedi!”, even if it wasn’t Return. I unabashedly loved Return, I think in large part to the Ewoks, and I had a propensity to love any kind of movie that forced its hero to choose between light and dark – light winning with the narrowest of margins. In fact, I still love Legend because of this, even though I know it’s a far from perfect fantasy movie.

With Return of the Jedi, that battle between the Light Side and the Dark Side was stronger than any of the previous entries, as it should have been. This is played out on both ends with Luke battling with his darkness, and Vader battling with his light. Vader is muted and dulled in the film, though, with the introduction of The Emperor. The opening scene sees Vader verbally threaten the admiral of the Death Star, in perhaps my favorite shot of the three films. The nervous admiral swallows, eyes hyper-focused as he realizes that The Emperor was far more intimidating than Vader.

As I grew older, though, my love of Return diminished, and I now know that it is the inferior of the original trilogy (as evidenced by its placement on this top 100 list). That is not to say it isn’t a great movie, and it doesn’t belong on a list. It doesn’t help, either, that of the originals, this was the movie with the greatest number of changes from the original film in the Special Edition cuts. I detest the updated music number in Jabba’s palace and at the end of the movie, and I didn’t see any reason why the Sarlacc pit needed an extra head or tentacles. The original pit was terrifying enough. I also never questioned if Boba Fett survived being eaten, but I guess that’s largely because I never quite understood his appeal, as previously mentioned.

At the start of the film, we see C-3P0 and R2D2 back in the deserts of Tatooine, entering Jabba’s Palace on a mission. C-3PO hasn’t been included in the plan to help Solo escape his imprisonment. It unfolds like a slow-moving heist film, complete with planned twists and turns. Though, I’ll admit, I always feel a little bad for the Rancor’s handler. He must have loved him like a pet, and I can totally get on board with that deep sadness and void that a family pet leaves when it dies. According to Fandom, there’s a rich story about the handler, which I would be far more interested in watching than some Solo, Lando, or Boba Fett prequel.

The Jabba’s Palace scenes are a great introduction into the strength of these characters and how much they have grown. Unfortunately, Leia is relegated to a sex icon with her slave girl outfit, but she makes up for it later during her racer chase scenes, interactions with Wicket, and her telling of her memories of her mother. Solo and Lando have both embraced their positions with the Rebel Alliance and take up the mantle of General, taking on fool’s errands in the hopes of beating The Empire once and for all. Luke looks battle-worn and tired. His goodbye to Yoda, conversations with Obi-Wan and Leia, and his final confrontation with Vader are filled with hope but laced with a deep melancholy. The task of defeating Vader wears heavily on him.

It plays out as largely one big battle, both on land and in space. The moon of Endor is a beautiful place, with the majority of its action in the incredible redwood forest in Del Norte, California. While, in space, ships are seen from a distance exploding; nameless and faceless people dying in an unwinnable war. This plays as a David vs Goliath fight, with the stakes higher than ever, given the building of a new (fully operational) Death Star. For several long minutes, it looks like there is no chance the rebels can win. It is a credit to Luke that he waits so long before he reaches for his lightsaber.

In the end, though, the Light Side wins, and not from some brave act by our hero, but from that conflict raging within Vader himself, culminating in a redemption arc that inspired a prequel trilogy. Our heroes save the universe, destroy the Empire, and bring peace across the lands…. for now, anyway. There’s a giant celebration, and we cheer with the Ewoks and our friends as Luke, Leia, Han, and Chewie embrace. It’s a bittersweet end, thanks to the removal of “Yub Nub”, my favorite Ewok song, and the inclusion of Hayden Christiansen where Sebastian Shaw once stood, but I won’t harp on that any more.

Let’s just say I have a deep passion for Star Wars, and that no amount of mediocre prequels or future sequels will diminish that love.

 

 

Minor disclaimer: I do enjoy the new trilogy and think Last Jedi and Force Awakens are worthy additions to the lore. (At least they don’t talk about midichlorians.) But nothing will ever reach the heights of the original trilogy, and that is absolutely fine. It doesn’t have to, and the creators owe me nothing. If only the rest of the internet believed as I do.