NeonAce

Name: Benjamin Terry

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Reviews
NeonAce's Recent Comments
December 20, 2017 2:52 pm Definitely my favorite of the new movies. Basically, it is the 1st of the new movies that felt like it was moving forward and not just folks who grew up with the originals making competent fan works. The Force Awakens: Was a relief after the prequels to feel that Star Wars vibe & exuberance. It helped wash away some of the bad taste of those movies. On the other hand, it borrowed so many plot elements so directly from the original trilogy that I just couldn't overlook that "great cover band doing a song you like" thing other folks have also used to criticize it. That said, I found the characters more interesting than those of Rogue One. Rogue One: Not the best Star Wars movie, but I give it props over TFA for not feeling as much like a rehash. It also, force choke joke aside, let us just see a bit of the old Darth Vader to more fully flush the prequel taste away. While not related to story, that ending space battle may be my favorite "In Space" battle of the series (land battle still being Hoth). The Last Jedi: I buy some of the plot criticisms. Overall, I feel like it does a decent job of shaking up Star Wars, maybe poking a bit at what I'd call "Star Wars Idolatry" in order to point towards or freshly examine Star Wars themes. Just watching a movie and not feeling like I knew what was going to happen, to feel some surprise, was very welcomed. The last 2 movies had none of that for me. Current Standings: 4, 5, 6, 8, R1, 7, 3, 2, 1
January 8, 2017 5:16 pm #FollicularReservoirs Also, just watched the Despecialized Editions last week. Thank goodness those things are around!
December 23, 2016 10:30 am I liked this movie quite a bit more than "The Force Awakens". Pretty sure I'm a "4, 5, 6, R1, 7, 3, 2, 1" guy. 3 goes above 2 for Mystery Science Theater-type reasons, "Nooo....!" "You were the chosen one!" etc. I'm skeptical of Rey as a character (I expect something to make her cooler later, but for now she is kind of a blandly bad-ass/omni-competent blank slate), but I do think TFA had more memorable characters than R1, which is a point in its favor. The big thing against TFA for me was the retread plot. I remember Conor's opinion that somehow it had to be retread, but I don't agree and it makes the movie feel like a... re-recording of CCR's music on clean, modern studio equipment? That sounds a bit harsher than I feel, because I did like TFA, though. Things I liked about R1: 1.) While Force choke puns are... questionable, boy was Vader's portrayal in this movie a freaking palette cleanser after all of the damage the prequels did to his reputation! 2.) Both Krennic and the first time we see the Rebel base... man, the Sci-fi '70s are back! I loved how they recreated the "sci-fi as created by people from the '70s" look. It was both amusing and joyful. 3.) A good variety of locations! 4.) Possibly the best space battle ever put on the screen. I totally eat up all of the "Blue leader, checking in!" kind of stuff, and the pilots pulling up after the shield closed, the joy on the ground as the few who formed up on Blue leader and made it through came in like the cavalry. How some of the expectations that a pilot might be saved were subverted and how that made it more "WWII war movie in the Pacific". 5.) I do like how cleanly it segues into Episode 4. You kind of know it's coming, but seeing it all unfold, and all of the recreating of the aesthetic is so perfect... it sets off some old brain connections and makes Episode 4 feel really fresh again. 6.) While it maybe over-relies on nostalgia here and there, it was a decent and original story told in the Star Wars universe, the main thing that elevates it above TFA in my opinion. I'm not 100% sure how I feel about the grey introduced into the morality of the Rebels. I think Cassian having grey morality worked well enough with Jyn Erso, kinda revealing each others' shortcomings and hypocrisies, but the Rebellion itself and especially that one commander (General Draven?) maybe felt like a step too far for my tastes. Anyway, Merry Christmas to all.
May 29, 2016 8:44 pm Josh stuck the landing on this one. You guys are a good time, and comics are a good time. In a fictional world where Hitler has taken a supervillain alias of "Hatemonger", and time travels back in time in a Hydra time machine in an attempt to kill baby Obama... you just gotta roll with it and take the awful with the awesome (oh, and that was awesome). It's weird with the huge budgets and movies, and superheroes dominating summer flicks now, and with the social media, it has kind of taken away from the pulp nature of almost all of this. Like, there used to be so-called "serious fiction" and comics were taken as some hack, throw-away material for kids. Now comics are included as central cultural source material where we seriously debate morality and social justice issues in a weighty way. Not to say that material is off-limits, but it is weird that it's turned out this way. The cultural and financial stakes are too high, and it kind of weighs on the thing in a way it used to not have to bear.
December 16, 2011 6:00 pm Yeah, this issue is annoying in so many contexts. Say, female musicians or women who have some cool talent they show off on Youtube... It's like the only compliment to a woman that can enter these guys' heads are... "Umm, wow, ur hott!" Then, in the context of a public conversation all it can do is be kind of awkward and not add to interesting conversation. It reminds me of how people can be with celebrities. That weird objectification that I don't think is necessarily meant with bad intent, its just oblivious about there being a normal person that you are communicating with, and you're weirding them out..
July 18, 2011 12:06 am I've been all about that Wugazi mashup this week. "Another Chessboxin' Argument"... is everything great about the internet.
December 22, 2010 4:35 pm While there are certainly some jerks and clueless people in those comics, a lot of the people listed as "crazies" or "creeps" just seem to be enthusiastic fans of whatever they are talking about.  Enthusiasm and geeking out about whatever it is you like seem like cool things to me.