Monthly Archives: December 2016

ROGUE ONE

Dec 21, 2016

Look, some people like Star Wars and some don’t. Some enjoy them ok and some worship at an altar of collectible Star Wars memorabilia! I saw Star Wars when I was 11 years old and I have been a huge fan ever since but I wouldn’t call myself an obsessed fan. I was very disappointed with the three prequels that George Lucas delivered even though there were some really good moments in them. Once Disney bought the franchise from Lucas I was prepared for an onslaught of sub par films being popped out to keep up with Marvel. JJ Abrams The Force Awakens was a pleasant surprise! It was nostalgic and moving and satisfying while creating a new story that was engaging and fun.

Now we have Rogue One directed by Gareth Edwards whose most notable previous credit is Godzilla (2014) and written by Chris Weitz (About A Boy) and Tony Gilroy (Michael Clayton, The Bourne films). I knew nothing about the story going in so I had no expectations. I, again, was pleasantly surprised! Rogue One, as my friend, Jacob, said afterwards, is a ‘heist’ film. It’s also a war film, a coming of age film and a very good film. I also like that it tells a contained story.

The action of the film takes place just prior to the events of Star Wars IV: A New Hope. It follows the story of Jyn Orso (Felicity Jones) whose father, Galen (Mads Mikkelson) is a weapons developer for the Empire. He is, seemingly forced to continue working for the Empire but manages to get Jyn to safety and in the hands of Rebel extremist Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) who raises her until abandoning her to continue his war with the Empire.

Years later, a pilot, Bodhi Rook (Riz Ahmed) defects from the Empire to alert the Rebels about plans to create a ‘planet killer” weopon: The Death Star! Eventually a gang of unlikely heroes band together to retrieve the plans for The Death Star for the Rebellion. They include Jyn Orso, Bodhi Rook; Dassian Andor (Diego Luna), a Rebel alliance intelligence officer, K-S2O (Alan Tudyk), a rebel owned Imperial droid, Chirrut Imwe (Donnie Yen), and his friend and protector, Baze Malbus (Jiang Wen). Together they embark on an impossible mission and it provides a thrilling last third of the film.

The film wonderfully weaves this story into the oncoming story that the original Star Wars film tells. You will see many familiar faces, some you can’t believe you’re actually seeing but through the miracle of modern technology you will! I won’t tell you more because it’s fun to watch and experience yourself.

I commend the diversity in the casting and the characters. It never feels forced. The performances are universally good as are the vivid characters they portray. Ben Mendelsohn as Orson Krennic, gets to chew it up as the villain who only fears one other. I think you know who I’m talking about.

The film reminded me of The Guns Of Navarone (1961) and The Dirty Dozen (1967), the type of action films that don’t get made anymore. Yes, those are classics and better films but that is not to take anything away from Rogue One. This is a very entertaining and satisfying film that will delight Star Wars fans.

SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT! SPOILER ALERT!

I just have to say this. The two scenes with Darth Vader are badass!! Seeing his limbless body in the ‘bath’ was awesome! And near the end when he boards the Rebel starship and wreaks havoc is one of the best scenes in the entire Star Wars film history!

Have fun!

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MANCHESTER BY THE SEA

Paul Mendoza

Dec 20, 2016

Lee Chandler (Casey Affleck) is a janitor in Boston. His life is pretty mundane. He doesn’t say much, he does his job and stays to himself. When one of his tenants frustrates him he curses at her and she reports him. Later that night in bar, her gets drunk and starts a fight with two guys sitting across from him for looking at him funny. Lee Chandler is a troubled guy.

Manchester By the Sea is a little seaside town in Massachusetts where Lee Chandler comes from. When he gets a call that his brother, Joe (Kyle Chandler) has had a heart attack he rushes home. By the time he arrives, his brother has already died and Lee quickly moves to handle things and to look after his teenage nephew, Patrick (Lucas Hedges). Lee left this place for a reason and the film is about his facing the past and trying to move forward while also doing right by his nephew.

Lee is like Marley’s ghost walking amongst the living in his hometown. Some are happy to see him while some want nothing to do with him. He wants nothing more than to get back to Boston and away from the scene of his ‘crimes’. But Lee carries his guilt wherever he goes. He can’t escape himself and he can’t let anyone in. His ex wife Randi (Michelle Williams) tries to reconnect with him but he can’t. His nephew comes to understand why he’s so tortured but even still cannot help him.

Manchester By The Sea is a highly emotional film. I’m getting teary eyed thinking about it now and writing this. It’s rare when a film can affect you this way. I’m glad for it. This is not to say that the film is all about sadness, either. There is a lot of humor in this film as well. It’s about life and life has both. A lot of credit goes to Kenneth Lonergan who has written a wonderful script as well as directed the film beautifully. The film is poetic. The flashback scenes are well handled and flow easily into the action of the story.

The performances are also amazing. This is certainly Casey Affleck’s best performance. His performance feels like a lump in your throat that won’t go away. Lee seems to hold on to his pain like a shield and whenever he starts to feel a hint of happiness or relief his raises his shield and fends it off. Michelle Williams is not onscreen very much but when she is she’s heartbreaking. Lucas Hedges is fine as Patrick, Paddy, trying to go on stoically but masking his pain by just trying to keep himself busy and not thinking too much. Kyle Chandler is strong as Lee’s brother, Joe, who we see in flashbacks.

It is an emotionally challenging film but that shouldn’t scare you. You should welcome a film that can stir your emotions like this one does. It’s a lovely film and you’ll feel very satisfied you made time to experience it.

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MOONLIGHT

Paul Mendoza

Dec 19, 2016

Moonlight is an intensely personal film. Written and Directed by Barry Jenkins, based on the play In Moonlight Black Boys Look Blue by Tarell Alvin McCraney, Moonlight tells the story of a young black man, named Chiron, in three parts, as he explores questions of his own sexuality and growing up with a drug addicted parent.

We follow Chiron as a young boy being harassed and bullied by a group of other young boys. He is mentored by Juan, a local drug dealer, who takes a liking to him and tries to help as best he can, along with his sweet and understanding girlfriend, Teresa (Janelle Monae). Chiron’s mother, Paula (Naomie Harris) is a nurse but a drug habit will worsen over the years and Chiron will look to Teresa more and more for emotional support. We then see a teenage Chiron, still the outsider and bullied but he is befriended by Kevin, a schoolmate. They form a strong bond which turns tragic. We then see an adult Chiron who has now become a carbon copy of Juan, a drug dealer. He gets a call out of the blue one day from Kevin, flooding him with both good and bad memories but maybe a chance to reconcile them and move forward.

Moonlight is quite a journey, a very sad and solitary journey for this young man who started out behind the eight ball and spends years trying to find a way to just be himself. The film is beautifully and heart achingly acted. Mahershala Ali plays Juan as a drug dealer who seems decent. He sees himself in Chiron, I suspect. He reaches out and tries to help the kid. But he is an imperfect mentor to be sure. Naomie Harris is phenomenal as Chiron’s mother. She’s not a villain. She, too, is a victim, who unfortunately, does great harm to her son. The three young actors that play Chiron, Alex Hibbert, Ashton Sanders and Trevante Rhodes are all very good. It was also good to see Andre Holland (The Knick) as adult Kevin. He’s a fine actor and he shines in the few scenes he has.

This is only Barry Jenkins second feature film and you can see it was project close to his heart. It’s a tough film and it stays with you but I felt there was some hope for this young man before all was said and done.

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ALLIED

Paul Mendoza

Dec 15, 2016

Casablanca is my favorite film. So when I hear that Allied is a modern day Casablanca I have to be leery. It is not. Although the first half of the film does take place in Casablanca in 1942 (the year that Casablanca was released) it does not have the magic or romance of that film. It looks beautiful and stars ridiculously beautiful people but there’s a coldness around the heart that could not be penetrated.

Brad Pitt plays dashing spy Max Vatan who goes to Casablanca to meet up with a French resistance fighter, Marianne Beausejour played by the lovely Marion Cotillard. They pretend to be husband and wife and cozy up to the local German officials with a plan to assassinate the German ambassador. They try to keep it professional but, come on, you’re in Casablanca on a suicide mission and you look like Brad Pitt and Marion Cotillard. You’re going to want to touch. And touch they do, in their car, in the middle of the desert during a sand storm! Their big moment comes and they manage to do their job and stay alive. So what next? “Come to England. Be my wife.” Max tells Marianne as they speed away from the scene of their assassination. “Oui Oui!” (She doesn’t actually say that but every woman in the audience did!)

Cut to London, one year later. Max and Marianne are happily married with a little girl. All seems right in the world until Max is told that Marianne is suspected of being a German spy. He’s told they have to run a ‘blue dye’ operation. He’s to write a piece of information down and leave it for her to access. If the info is picked up in intercepted German transmissions then they’ll know she did it and he will have to personally execute her. At first, Max doesn’t believe it but eventually he starts wondering if it’s possible. Is she or isn’t she?

This isn’t a bad movie. It’s well made and entertaining. Only. Only as I was watching it, I kept thinking of better movies that were similar. That’s not a good thing. Cotillard is very engaging but she isn’t given much in the second half of the film. Pitt looks great but he’s stiff. I never felt the passion between these two people to really care about the outcome. I turned to my friend, Charlotte, afterwards and said ‘it was pretty thin’. The suspense never really gets ratcheted up. The story starts following Max as he runs around trying to prove that his wife isn’t a spy when it may have been much better to have just stayed with the two of them as they play cat and mouse. But maybe the powers that be thought that would be boring.

Director Robert Zemeckis is not really known for his love stories. This should have been a love story. They tell you your wife is a German spy for chrissakes! The tension comes from the love and the increasing thought that she’s not who you thought she was. A lost opportunity.

My friend, Charlotte, by the way, loved Marion Cotillard’s wardrobe though. Absolutely stunning!

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THE WALKING DEAD RECAP: S7EP8 HEARTS STILL BEATING

Paul Mendoza

Dec 12, 2016

We finally reached the midway point of the Negan Season. It has been hit and miss so far. Tonight’s episode didn’t feel as momentous as previous mid-season finales. There are just so many characters and locations now that tying them all together means you don’t get to spend enough time with the characters you really like. That being said, there were some good moments in ‘Hearts Still Beating’ and a final scene that made me feel good about the second half of the season.

MAGGIE

The extra long episode (86 minutes) was book ended by Maggie’s daily visit to Glenn’s grave and then her climbing the wall to have a look around. In the beginning, that weasel Gregory comes by holding an apple and letting Maggie know that he still doesn’t want her there despite the fact that everyone else has warmly welcomed her and Sasha. Maggie is unfazed and even gets him to give up his apple. She’s hungry! She’s pregnant!

We get a scene with Enid and Sasha about keeping Maggie in the dark about Jesus being sent to find where Negan lives. Enid wants to tell Maggie but Sasha is trying to protect her. OK.

RICK AND AARON

Rick and Aaron board a bullet riddled boat and make their way through the ‘walker moat’ to get to that houseboat. Aaron falls in the water and I thought that was it for him for sure! But somehow he escapes unscathed! Mad water skills, Aaron! They make it to the more sound kayak and reach the houseboat. It’s filled with goodies and more warnings from the previous occupant; “

They get the boat to the shore and load up their truck with all their new found booty including guns but no ammo. In the distance we see a pair of legs walk into frame wearing some funny looking boots. Could be the owner of the boat? Whoever it is it won’t be good.

By the time they arrive back at Alexandria, they find Negan already there and his people loading up trucks. While they load up Rick and Aaron’s haul they find those warning notes that the original owner left and think that Aaron left them. They proceed to give him a terrible beating and there is nothing Rick can do about it. When they finish Rick picks up Aaron and helps him off.

MICHONNE

Michonne gets the red headed savior to drive her to Negan’s camp. Michonne realizes that there are just too many to try and do the job herself. The red head advises her to make the car disappear, burn it. She also tells her to use the silencer in the glove compartment. She kills the red head and turns the car around to head back to Alexandria.

CAROL, MORGAN AND RICHARD

Carol seems to be enjoying a quiet life in her little house. She hears a noise and sees that Morgan has left her some supplies and started leaving. She opens the door and calls after him. He’s trying to respect that she wants to be left alone but wanted to bring her some fruit and produce from The Kingdom. Ezekiel’s been doing the same thing. Love Triangle anyone? Things get busier at Carol’ Cottage when Richard stops by. He tries to explain how dangerous The Saviors are and that eventually things are going to go bad so why not do a pre-emptive strike? Carol and Morgan have been down this road before with Rick only they don’t know yet just how bad things went. Ezekiel likes both Morgan and carol so Richard asks them to convince Ezekiel to agree to strike The Saviors. Carol wants no part of it and again tells everyone to leave her alone. Morgan also balks at this idea which pisses off Richard.

DARYL

Daryl makes his getaway, stopping in a room for a change of clothes and a jar of peanut butter. He grabs a pipe and makes it outside where he tries to start a motorcycle when along comes fat Joey! Fat Joey tries to explain to him that he can leave and he won’t try to stop him, he’s just trying to get by just like him! But Daryl goes all Negan on poor fat Joey and bashes his head in. Jesus comes running in and looks stunned to see what Daryl has done. “It ain’t just about getting by, it’s about getting it all,” Daryl says. He grabs a gun off of poor Joey before he and Jesus ride off.

ROSITA AND SPENCER

Spencer tries to endear himself with The Saviors, even flirting back when a cute little Savior comes on to him.

Rosita and Father Gabriel have a heart to heart in the church. He tires to dissuade her from trying to kill Negan. He says he knows that they will win eventually but they have to pick the right time and this isn’t it. Rosita seems to feel that she is disposable. Rick has Michonne and Carl, Eugene can make things, Maggie can fight. She has no one now. Father Gabriel tries to convince her that she is needed.

Meanwhile Spencer cleans up and finds a bottle of white wine and heads out. I thought he was going to meet that cute Savior but he had a date with someone else in mind. Along the way he runs into Rosita who apologizes for using him and they seem to make up. He asks if she would have dinner with him later, no strings attached. She smiles and agrees. That’s when I knew he was dead.

MR. NEGAN’S NEIGHBORHOOD

Negan shaves! “Against the grain, kid, always against the grain”. He tells Carl.

He sits down to supper with Carl, Olivia and Judith. He’s getting tired of waiting for Rick but not of Olivia’s delicious lemonade!

Spencer walks up to Rick’s house with his half bottle of white wine and asks to see Negan. Negan agrees to meet him and they sit on the front porch and enjoy the day. “I’m going to get a vacation home here!” Negan says. But he wishes they had a pool table. Negan’s wish is Spencer’s’ command. He says the house across the street has a pool table in the garage. Negan beams. He has the pool table brought out in the middle of the street and he and Spencer play a game. By this time most of the community have gathered to watch to see what happens.

Spencer starts complaining about Rick. He says that his mother was in charge of Alexandria before Rick came along and that soon after she and his whole family wound up dead. He says if he were in charge things would run much smoother. It seemed a logical proposal but it was one that Negan didn’t take kindly to. “So you want me to kill Rick?” Negan asks. Spencer tries to backtrack but the damage had been done. Negan said that if he wanted to take over he should just do it but that he didn’t have the guts. Then he pulled out his knife and guts Spencer! He disembowels him! His guts came spilling out! “I guess I was wrong! You did have guts! There they are!”

Well, this was too much for Rosita. She pulls out her gun and shoots her one bullet. Somehow she hits Lucille instead of Negan! Now Negan is really mad. He sees the bullet casing and knows it was handmade. Rosita says she made it but Negan doesn’t believe her. He tells Arat to cut up her face if she doesn’t tell the truth. Rosita still doesn’t give up Eugene. “Alright. Arat, kill someone.” With that, Arat stands, wheels and shoots Olivia who was standing on the porch next to Carl.

Rick and Aaron amble over by this point to witness the carnage. Tara tries to take credit as the bullet maker but Eugene finally mans up and admits to it. I was worried that Negan was going to take out Eugene but he takes him prisoner instead.

Negan tells him that he is owed a ‘thank you’. He tells him that Carl paid him a visit and tried to kill him but instead killed a few of his men. But he brought him home safe and sound. Then he took care of Spencer for him and gave him one less mouth to feed by killing Olivia so he felt he deserved some thanks. It took every once of self control Rick could muster to say “We got you your stuff now leave!” Negan tells that no matter what they had for him it wasn’t going to be enough. :You are still in a serious hole”, Negan tells him before leaving.

Later that night, Rick seems to be meditating in the cell that Morgan made. Michonne walks in and tries to give him a pep talk about how they have survived through so much and they need to fight. Finally, Rick was ready to agree. They embrace.

REUNION AT THE HILLTOP

Maggie pays her daily respects to Glenn and ascends the wall. Only this time she sees something. She looks very happy! I’m thinking it’s Daryl and Jesus but when the gates swing open we see it’s Rick, Michonne, Carl, Tara and Rosita. Rick and Maggie warmly embrace. Rick tells her that she was right all along and that’s he’s ready to fight. Then, it was tissue time. He sees Jesus and Daryl walk out. He rushes over to Daryl. Daryl tears up and they embrace! The bromance continues.

Then, Daryl hands him a revolver, the one he took off of Fat Joey. Turns out it was Rick’s good old python. Well, now. Rick is whole again. They march up to the main house and start making plans.

“I think it’s time you met Ezekiel. King Ezekiel.” Jesus tells them. It’s about damn time!

Post Credits Surprise

The guy with the funny boots finds his way to Alexandria and is watching them. Could it be Robert DeNiro’s Max Cady from Cape Fear? That would be awesome!

SIDE BITES

I love the look Rick gives Carl when Negan tells him what his son has been up to.

I felt bad for Fat Joey but you can’t take any chances. Daryl going Negan on him, though. Daryl may have some PTSD to deal with in the second half of the season.

Why did they only make one bullet? They didn’t have supplies for two or three?

It was a good episode but, like the rest of Season 7 so far, they could have tightened it up a little.

I’m ready for all out war in 2017!!

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THE WALKING DEAD S7EP7 SING ME A SONG

Paul Mendoza

Dec 9, 2016

“Kid, I won’t lie. You scare the shit out of me!” Negan

There were a lot of really good moments in this, another, ‘extended’ episode, but there were so many commercials! This probably is actually a normal 60 minute episode with an additional 30 minutes of commercials.

MICHONNE

Michonne walks down the road whistling like a Savior but she was really trying to lure unsuspecting walkers her way so she can kill them and make a road block. Later on a female Savior is stopped by the ‘walker barrier’ and Michonne commandeers her and the car. “Take me to Negan”, she commands. After a futile struggle by the Saviorette, she does as Michonne commands and turns the car around.

RICK AND AARON

The boys are out looking for ‘stuff’ for Negan and come across a property with a lengthy warning sign. “If you’ve read this far and are still alive then I must be dead” the sign reads. So they venture in and find a house on an island surrounded by a body of water filled with walker-gators. A ‘walker moat’ if you will. They need stuff so they agree to traverse the dangerous pond to retrieve whatever is on that little island. I guess we’ll see how that works out next week.

ROSITA, EUGENE AND SPENCER

Rosita gets Eugene to make her some bullets but she had to be pretty cruel to him to get him to agree. Poor Eugene. Spencer and father Gabriel go looking for stuff but the padre could not stand Spencer bad mouthing Rick all the time. He has him stop the car so he could chide him and then gets out and walks back to Alexandria.

Spencer, however, runs across a walker in a tree! He gets him down and finds a note written in Latin. Luckily, he knows Latin and it leads him to be able to scavenge a load of canned food and medicine that he shows off to Rosita and Eugene later.

NEGAN AND CARL

As the supply truck carrying Jesus and Carl nears the Savior camp Jesus tells Carl they should jump out. Carl agrees but then does not jump. He waves by to Jesus as he and the truck makes its way through the gates. Damn if Carl doesn’t come out shooting! He takes out a couple of Saviors before Dwight overtakes him. Negan loves it!

He takes Carl on a little tour of the place as Daryl looks on with concern. It seems Daryl has slowly made his way out of his cell but still on a tight leash.

Negan let’s Carl witness how much power he wields as he addresses his ‘subjects’. He turns his back on the crowd below him and turns to Carl, “Are they still kneeling?”

Next, he takes him into the boudoir that is his harem. We see all of Negan’s wives lounging in a salon, dressed very nicely but with looks of fear and dread on their faces.

His newest wife, Amber, is crying. It was discovered that she met with her actual husband, Mark in secret. Well, that’s cheating on Negan! And that is not allowed. He tells Amber that she can go back to Mark but that decision would have dire consequences for them and her mother. Amber says it won’t happen again. Sherry calls him an asshole.

“I know,” he says, “but the messed-up thing is you like me anyway.” He starts kissing Sherry, pretty passionately, too, when Dwight walks in with Daryl who’s carrying a plate of food. He tells Dwight to get the iron ready. He has Carl take the tray and he takes him to his room for a little chat to discuss what he’s going to do with him.

He asks Carl to show him his eye. Carl forcefully says no but Negan reminds him that Carl killed two of his men and as punishment he’s going to show him his eye. Carl takes off the bandage and Negan is just delighted!

“That is disgusting! Have you seen it? It’s as gross as hell! I wanna touch it. Can I touch it?”

Carl starts crying. Negan seems to genuinely apologize. Kids seem to be his weak spot.

“I want you to sing me a song” Negan tells Carl. Carl protests but Negan won’t take no for an answer.

Carl sings “You are my sunshine” while Negan violently swings Lucille as if coming down on someone’s skull. Carl’s voice is understandably shaky.

Negan seems to bond a little with Carl. He kids Carl about how his dad should have taught him about ‘breaking each other’s balls’ a step to masculinity in his eyes. When he asks Carl if his mother sang him that song, Carl admits to him that he was the one to shoot her.

“No wonder you’re a serial killer in the making,” he says.

Negan takes Carl down to witness what punishment he has in store for poor Mark. Dwight passes him the hot iron and in front of everyone assembled, he presses the iron to Mark’s face. The poor guy passes out. Daryl looks over at Dwight. I’m sure it brought back memories for him. When Negan pulls the iron away from Mark’s face it rips some skin off! Ouch!

Back in Negan’s room Carl asks why he hasn’t killed him or his dad. Negan gives him a careful answer. Rick is getting him some good ‘stuff! Negan asks Carl what he thinks he should do. Carl tells him to jump out the window to save him the trouble of killing him. That Carl sure does have gumption! And Negan loves it! Negan decides to give him a ride home. Daryl dares say something as they get in the car and Negan tells Dwight to give Daryl a ‘time out’ and put him back in his cell. No one seemed to notice that Jesus was clinging to the top of that truck except Daryl but by the time it took off for Alexandria, Jesus, somehow had gotten down undetected.

Later in his cell, someone passes a note to Daryl saying ‘Go Now’ with a key taped to it. Was it Jesus? Sherry? Dwight?

Negan walks into Rick’s house with Carl in tow to be greeted by Olivia who tells him that Rick is out scavenging and she doesn’t know when he’ll be back. Negan decides to wait. He even offers to have sex with Olivia, if she would find that ‘enjoyable’. Olivia slaps him hard! Negan smiles and leans in close to her and says, “I’m 50% more into you now.” Then he asks Carl to show him around.

We are then entertained by a cute montage showing Negan squishing his toes in the carpet in Carl’s room, marveling at the running water, shooting darts until he finally opens a door to discover a baby! Judith. Carl looks so worried but Negan is delighted. They relax on the porch, Negan holding Judith as people walk by.

“Hi neighbor! Come by later and we’ll grill!” Negan says to one passerby. “Oh, I like it here. I think I’ll stay.”

SIDE BITES

Negan notices that Carl has did dad’s stink eye look but it’s only half as good because he only has one eye. He’s such a card!

Dwight meets Sherry in the stairwell for a smoke and a chat, their usual meeting place. Reminded me of those scenes in Better Call Saul where Jimmy and Kim meet for a smoke in the parking garage.

Next week is the midseason finale. I am assuming something major goes down. At least we get to see carol and Morgan again!

Who is the next to die?

Spencer

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WESTWORLD RECAP S1EP10 THE BICAMERAL MIND

Paul Mendoza

Dec 9, 2016

“An old friend once told me something that gave me great comfort. Something he read. He said Mozart, Beethoven and Chopin never died. They simply became music.” Ford

Westworld has been a wonderful experience. It has been more than just an entertainment. It has been food for the mind. This wonderful quote that Anthony Hopkins delivers in this episode struck me. It’s a beautiful thought. Good writing is stating the obvious in new and insightful ways. Westworld, some would say, is a familiar story; robots go haywire and turn on their creators. Yes, we’ve seen this before. The original 1973 film was essentially that. But, that is a very simply distillation of what the show is about. It is about so much more. It is about self realization. It is about how memories shape you, how loss changes you and how, no matter the obstacles, you will find yourself. It’s about questioning religion. It’s about questioning technology. It’s about love. The great equalizer. In the end, what we all really fight for.

Westworld is also just one helluva ride! It’s fun. It’s challenging. It’s smart. It reminds me of my favorite show, LOST. It is something I look forward to watching and spending my time thinking about and trying to solve the puzzle, try to find ‘The Maze’.

This first season has been a dream-like march through this fantasy world to arrive at this finale. We may have figured out some of the riddles by the time we got there but there were still surprises to be found.

WILLIAM / THE MAN IN BLACK

“We can make it true. Don’t you want that, Delores? One true thing?” The Man In Black

These scenes between Blackie and Delores broke my heart. It is finally revealed that Blackie is, in fact, William. The action between William and Delores happened 30 years ago when the park had first opened.

When Delores got away from Logan, William went looking for her with Logan as his prisoner. He even sought the help of El Lazo and together they wiped out a whole Confederate army but no Delores. He finds the church where she had taken him to before, the town buried in sand. Nothing. As he rides off, the picture of Logan’s sister falls out of his jacket and blows away to be found 30 years later by Mr. Abernathy. They reach the outer edge of the park. Logan is naked on the horse. Why? Perhaps because by this time William has embraced his inner self. He has become ruthless. He slaps the horse and sends naked Logan riding out to nowhere. What happened to him? William finds his way back to Sweetwater, now wearing his black hat, when he sees Delores. She is back in her blue dress, she is coming from the grocery store, that can falls out of her bag again as it has a millions times. She looks at him. He smiles. But then another man walks over and hands her that can. That was when William’s heart broke for good.

He would come back to the park and spend time with Delores, she would always go mad and lead him back to the church. But he grew tired of her over the years. He became obsessed with finding the center of The Maze.

DELORES AND ARNOLD

“These violent delights have violent ends.” Arnold

The opening moments of the episode we see Delores’ birth. Her head and chest applied onto her metal frame. It was disturbing because we’ve come to know her so well. She’s real to me. But we have to ‘remember’ she started out as a robot. We see her close relationship with Arnold. She became a substitute for his son who had died. All those scenes we saw between Delores and, who we knew as, Bernard were really between her and Arnold 35 years before, five years before the park opened, before she would meet William.

The town was a training ground for the hosts. Delores was, indeed, special. Arnold was convinced that she had achieved consciousness, that all the hosts would. He had been wrong to think it was a pyramid
one had to climb. It was a really a maze, a journey inward.

“I have to tell Robert. We can’t open the park. You’re alive.”

It would be wrong to subject these beings to the atrocities that they would be subjected to at the whims of the human guests. Ford refused so Arnold came up with a plan. He would take a new host character that was being developed as a villain and merge him with Delores. He told Delores that she would need to kill all the hosts and that Teddy would help her because he would do anything for her.

So the massacre Teddy has been recounting was really him killing the hosts at Delores’ request., Delores being Wyatt, of course. Arnold also has her kill him as Teddy looked on in horror. Delores then turned the gun on Teddy before shooting herself.

WILLIAM AND DELORES

“The maze wasn’t meant for you” Delores

Delores had indeed found where Arnold had hidden ‘the maze’. It was in a place that Delores would never be. She leads William to the cemetery and to her own grave and digs up a round box. She hands it to William. It’s just a toy maze. It had belonged to Arnold’s son. Well, Blackie was disappointed and starts in on Delores. He thinks she knows more than she’s telling but of course there is nothing more. She tells him that someone is coming to save her.

“His love is real. So is mine.”
“William? I’ll be damned, Delores, you do remember things after all.’

The look on her face when she realizes this mean, old man is William is heartbreaking.

“What have you become?” Delores asks.
“Exactly what you made me. You’ve helped me understand this world is exactly like the one outside. A game. One to be fought, taken and won”

“One day you will perish.” She tells him. He will die like all humans will die but ‘upon that sand a new God will walk, one that will never die” meaning her and the other hosts.

She then hits him and drags him through the church. He looks done for but he is The Man In Black, after all.
“Thank you, Delores, clearing me of my delusions once again” he pulls his knife and stabs her in the stomach but before he can finish her off teddy comes riding in. He shoots him two or three times, knocking him to the ground. Teddy scoops up Delores

“Take me to the place you promised. Take me to where the mountains meet the sea.” Delores says and so Teddy puts her on his horse and they ride away.

Some time later, William is still looking at the maze toy and trying to figure out the riddle when Ford appears. Ford basically says ‘I told you so!’
“What did you expect to find?” Ford asks him.
“I wanted the hosts to stop playing by your rules. I wanted them free to fight back!”
“I think you’ll like my new narrative” Ford tells him, “Join the celebration! After all, you own the place.”

HALE AND SIZEMORE

Hale tells Sizemore that the Board is pushing Ford out and that he will be in control of the park. They will adjust the hosts to be simpler and more easily controlled.

Hale then meets with Ford.

“I take it I am not being offered a promotion” Ford says.

She tells them of the Board’s decision and that he should announce his retirement after he presents his new narrative.

MAEVE

“I’m in control!” Maeve

Last we saw, Maeve and Hector fucked while they were burned alive! We see Maeve being reconstructed. This scene was also disturbing but fascinating. Once they had her back to her old self, Maeve made some changes to park security as well as upgrades on her friends, Hector and Armistice.

Hector wakes up while a horny lab tech was lubing up for an unscheduled ‘product test’ and is quickly killed as is the lab tech that was applying the snake body tattoo to Armistice. They join Maeve and Felix as they go to Floor 83 to find Clementine. Felix discovers Bernard’s dead body.

“Can you get him back online?” Maeve says. Felix is shocked! He starts to wonder if HE is a host. “For fuckssake! You’re not one of Us. You’re one of Them. Now fix him.”

“Is this now? Or one of my memories?” Bernard asks as he opens his eyes.

“It’s the sweet hereafter” Maeve tells him.

Bernard takes a look at Maeve’s chart and sees that someone has altered her storyline. RECRUIT. ESCAPE. MAINLAND INFILTRATION.

Maeve rejects this idea. “No one’s controlling me! I’m in control!” She kisses Clem goodbye and leads her posse out to make her escape. Her adjustments to the security system shut down everything. Security manages to send out a team in the complex to hunt them down but is unable to warn the Board who are attending the party to celebrate Ford’s new narrative.

There is a wonderful sequence as hector and Armistice shoot up the place! The look on Armistice’s face after shooting her first human is priceless! They are most certainly having fun! Armistice gets her arm stuck in a door and they leave her behind. “Die well!” Hector says as they leave. My guess is we’ll see her again next season.

The gang wanders into an area where we see a whole different set of hosts in training. Samurai. What the! Looks like we’ll be seeing Samurai World next season!

The make it to the elevator but hector is not able to get on. Maeve did not change his settings to be allowed to leave. “I value my independence”, she tells him before kissing him and saying, “Kick up a row!”

Felix has brought her a change of clothes and she looks marvelous in a skin tight dress. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” a concerned Felix asks her.

“Oh, Felix, you really do make a terrible human being. And I mean that as a compliment.” Maeve tells him.

Felix has one more thing for her. He located her daughter. He hands her a piece of paper with her location. “Park 1”. Meaning there are more than 1. She pretends not to care anymore but once she’s boarded the train she sees a woman and her daughter and it gets to her. She gets off the train before it leaves. She’s going to find her daughter. She doesn’t get far before the whole facility loses power. A sign of what’s about to happen at the gala for Ford’s new narrative.

FORD’S NEW NARRATIVE

“Arnold didn’t know how to save you. I do.” Ford

Teddy and Delores ride along a beautiful moonlit beach. It reminded me of the end of Planet of The Apes right before Heston finds the Statue Of Liberty. Instead, we find that this is all part of the new narrative which Ford calls “Journey Into Night”.

The party commences while Ford has Delores taken to the old facility to be cleaned up, the one beneath the church. She sees Bernard and thinks its Arnold. Ford explains to Bernard that it was Delores that killed Arnold. But it wasn’t from free will or an awakened consciousness for Arnold had programmed her to do it.

Ford admits he didn’t believe Arnold 35 years ago about the hosts becoming alive but that now he believes they are.

“You needed time, time to understand your enemy, to become stronger than them. I’m afraid in order to leave this place, you’ll need to suffer more.” Ford tells them.

Ford says goodbye to Bernard and goes back to the party. He gets up to make his big speech to the Board and special guests.

DELORES

“So we’re trapped here? Inside your dream?” Delores

Delores finds herself sitting in the same room she had been in speaking to Arnold all those years ago. She sees Arnold speaking to her.

“Do you know who you’ve been talking to? Whose voice you’ve been hearing all this time? Arnold asks her. She looks again and sees herself in the opposite chair instead of Arnold. Yes. She has finally reached the center of the maze. As Ford had told her earlier, “the divine gift does not come from a higher power but from our own minds.”

She takes the same gun that Arnold gave her to kill the other hosts and himself and she joins the party. She circles around the back of the stage and comes up on Ford from behind. She shoots him in the head. The party guests start feeling in a panic as Delores takes aim and starts shooting them. Teddy looks on in terror as he had when Delores shot Arnold. Another hosts smiles gleefully.

Meanwhile, William had wandered off dejectedly with a bottle of whiskey and was off on his own getting drunk when he hears a rustling in the nearby woods. He then sees an army of hosts. All the retired hosts from Floor 83 have come back online. Clem! Clem shoots William in the arm! At first, he’s startled. But then a look of complete joy comes across his face. At last, what he’s always wanted. The hosts are fighting back!

SIDE BYTES

Bicameralism (the philosophy of “two-chamberedness”) is a hypothesis in psychology that argues that the human mind once assumed a state in which cognitive functions were divided between one part of the brain which appears to be “speaking”, and a second part which listens and obeys—a bicameral mind.

So much happened in this episode there is no way to do it justice in a recap.

It is just a beautiful and perfect end to a well written and well acted season. I will be watching these episode may times as I await new episodes which won’t come until 2018!!

5 THINGS I THINK I KNOW – FOR SEASON 2

1 William will survive. Will he become the ‘Samurai In Black”?

2 Charlotte Hale will survive

3 Maeve will search for her daughter. She must team up with Delores at some point. We need to see these two together! Could they become rivals to rule Westworld? That would be awesome!

4 Stubbs and Elsie are dead. I keep hearing people say they will pop up next year. Why? Let’s have some new characters.

5 We still don’t know where this park is. I think we will find out by the end of next season. I’m not ruling out that they are on another planet!

Movies 0 comments

ARRIVAL

Paul Mendoza

Dec 2, 2016

“There are days that define your story beyond your life, like the day they arrived.“ Louise Banks

Arrival, directed by Denis Villeneuve and written by Eric Heisserer, based on the short story “Story of Your Life” by Ted Chiang, is a beautiful film. It’s about extraterrestrials coming to earth but this is not Independence Day. This is what it really might feel like if that happened. A realistic science fiction film. However, the thrust of the story centers on Amy Adams character, Louise Banks, and her journey. It is a non-linear journey and one that comes to surprising destination.

The film opens with a sequence that shows linguist Louise Banks (Amy Adams) with her daughter through the years until she dies as a young girl from some rare type of cancer. Then we see the arrival of a dozen spacecraft which hover in various countries. There is a mad scramble to communicate with them and try to understand why they are here. A helicopter lands on Louise’s property carrying an army colonel, Col. Weber (Forest Whitaker) and he brings her in to head a the team that will attempt to communicate with these creatures. She is joined by physicist Ian Donnelly (Jeremy Renner) and together they make contact. There are two 7 legged creatures that resemble an octopus. They communicate by excreting and ink like substance that form circular pictures. Banks begins to decipher them and over time begins to identify the symbols to try and communicate with them.

“Language is the first weapon drawn in a conflict.” Ian

“That’s quite a greeting.” Louise

“Yeah, well, you wrote it.” Ian

The whole process is fascinating. Banks has to start with the basics, holding up a sign that says ‘human’. She has Ian walk back and forth and holds up a sign saying’ Ian walking’. It’s pretty amazing. Col. Weber gets frustrated, he would like things to progress faster but Banks explains her rationale and he understands. There are no dumb people in this film, no ‘bad’ guys. Everyone is trying to do their jobs and trying to do the right thing. It’s actually refreshing.

In a lesser film, Banks would be treated with skepticism and it would be pointed out that the male characters don’t respect this female’s opinion setting up an all too easy conflict.
In Arrival, there is not even a mention, a look, an indication that Banks is being treated differently because of her gender. She is the right person for the job, they seek her out, and they let her do her thing. Of course, something happens that causes every group around the world to fear that the aliens mean to do harm and this throws a wrench in the works.

“We need to make sure that they understand the difference between a weapon and a tool. Language is messy and sometimes one can be both.” Louise

The ending is very clever, smart and moving. And I don’t want to explain it. Its best experienced.

Amy Adams is amazing as always. Her face is so expressive; she communicates so much with a look. It’s really her film and I wouldn’t be surprised if an Oscar nomination is coming her way.

I have come to admire Denis Villeneuve. I’ve liked both Prisoners (2013) and Sicario (2015). While those films were very dark, Arrival feels very optimistic and full of wonder. The look of his films is very unique. You don’t see a lot of daylight. It’s interesting. He seems the perfect choice to helm the upcoming Blade Runner sequel. I’m looking forward to it. The music by Jóhann Jóhannsson is very powerful. He also scored prisoners and Sicario.

Arrival is not an action film. It is a character study. It is a stunning piece of work.

Movies 0 comments

HACKSAW RIDGE

Paul Mendoza

Dec 2, 2016

“Please lord, help me get one more. Help me get one more.” Desmond Doss

This is not just based on a true story, it is a true story. In fact, they left out a couple of amazing facts for fear the audience wouldn’t find it believable. The story of Desmond Doss is incredibly inspiring not just for his courage under fire but for his conviction of faith. This story is about someone who stays faithful to what he believes at great cost and then lives his faith in the face of death with full acceptance. This is not something most of us would be willing to do. Desmond Doss became the first conscientious objector to be awarded Medal of Honor and this movie shows you why it was well earned.

Doss (Andrew Garfield) grows up with an alcoholic father (Hugo Weaving) who was a veteran of World War 1, a loving mother (Rachel Griffiths) and a younger brother. When Doss almost kills his brother during an intense round of roughhousing it scares him. His mother talks to him about the commandment that Thou Shalt Not Kill and Doss vows never to cause violence against another person again.

Doss meets a young Nurse, Dorothy (Teresa Palmer) when he brings an injured man to the hospital and they begin a sweet romance. Doss is a sweet, gentle man who may seem off but this oddness appeals to Dorothy and they fall in love. Then World War II breaks out. Doss;’ brother enlist first but Doss soon follows which very much upsets his father whose wartime experience has left him emotionally crippled.

When Doss arrives at boot camp we meet his drill sergeant, Sergeant Howell (Vince Vaughn) and a group of zany characters who mistake Doss’ refusal to touch a weapon or to drill on Saturdays (Seventh Day Adventist) as cowardice. They try to get him out on a Section 8 and when that doesn’t work they try to force him to quit through grueling punishment and beatings. It’s a painful sequence as Doss holds tight to his beliefs.

When they try to court-martial Doss, his father cleans himself up and comes to his assistance. Doss is allowed to stay in the army as a medic and his unit heads to battle in the Pacific theater to face the Japanese. The last half of the film is the battle on Hacksaw Ridge on Okinawa where Doss carries out his miraculous actions and commits acts of bravery that are almost unimaginable.

Andrew Garfield is wonderful as Doss. He captures the sweetness and the determination to stick to his beliefs. What may have come off as corny rings true here through Garfield’s genuine performance.

When Vince Vaughn first appears onscreen I heard a few titters but any doubts were quickly overcome as Vaughn gives a humorous but tough and real performance. Teresa Palmer shines as Dorothy and Weaving and Griffiths are fine in support.

The film is directed by Mel Gibson. It’s his first film in the director’s chair since Apocalypto in 2006. I’ve always like Mel Gibson as an actor and I’ve liked the films he’s directed. He’s been through some rough times in the last ten years but I believe in second chances. He’s far too talented. I hope this is the beginning of a very productive and positive time in his career. I am rooting for him. He’s made a good, old fashioned, rousing and inspiring film. It is well worth your time.