tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81020352024-03-06T21:27:29.969-08:00Black OwlOpinions on this Blog may be closer than they appear.Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.comBlogger189125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-6367951127166277972019-05-03T15:08:00.002-07:002019-05-03T15:09:23.207-07:00On Your Left: The Official Black Owl Review of "Avengers: Endgame"
I was about a week late seeing Endgame, but the good news is, I somehow managed not to be spoiled. Thank you internet. So, obviously, there will be spoilers discussed below, but I want to offer a spoiler free look up front.
Endgame has to serve not only as the second half of the story started in "Infinity War" but as something of a capstone project for 11 years and 20 movies Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-23591366374490827012018-12-22T10:24:00.001-08:002018-12-22T10:24:44.590-08:00It’s about character: the two-for-one official Black Owl review of “Spider-Man: Into the Spiderverse” and “Aquaman.”
December has been an uncharacteristically busy month for superhero films and I as I have seen three in the last three weeks! I am not going to get into a review of ‘Once Upon a Deadpool’ here, but to be fair many of the things I have to say about ‘Aquaman’ and ‘Into the Spiderverse’ actually do apply.
Sorry Wade; next time.
These movies all work because of two things: One, Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-80676493658380017142018-06-28T14:45:00.000-07:002018-06-28T14:45:09.566-07:00Harlan
It’s 1982; I am 10, and my brother is going on a trip and my
folks are going to watch his daughters for him. To help keep them occupied, he
loans us this magical new device called a “Video Cassette Recorder.” We knew
VCRs existed, but here was this magical device that allowed you to watch and
rewatch movies. We didn’t even have
cable at the time. The only problem was the movies he lent usDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-41190074063093033252018-05-25T14:19:00.000-07:002018-05-25T14:19:16.779-07:00A Cup of Star Wars: The Official Black Owl Review of "Solo: A Star Wars Story"
I will give you a quick spoiler free bit here before I dig into the weeds. Solo is a delightfully entertaining film full of nostalgia, fan service, some deep dives into the old Expanded Universe, and a pastiche of genres including heist, film noir, western, and even a little cyberpunk. The supporting characters are mostly a delight, and it manages to both give some Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-79264910803154592492018-02-14T21:17:00.000-08:002018-02-16T10:07:20.167-08:00A Long Road, Getting from There to Here: One middle-aged Trekkie’s look at “Star Trek: Discovery.”
With the exception of a few tweets here and there, I have been mostly pretty quiet about DISCO (a nickname I love, by the way), as I have wanted to let it play out before I cast full judgement. Looking at TNG or DS9, both had pretty lackluster first seasons before they went on to greatness. Indeed, TNG, like ENT later, found it’s stride really in the 3rd season in my opinion. I Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-86144189661921120912017-12-17T09:08:00.000-08:002017-12-17T09:44:50.094-08:00Saving what you Love: The Official Black Owl Review of “Star Wars: The Last Jedi”
(NO SPOILERS TO START!)
I want to start by describing the evening of Thursday, 14 December 2017 to you. After a nice dinner, my wife Jennifer and I, along with her parents Rick and Anne, our daughter Hannah, and Hannah’s girlfriend Bree, went to the theater for a 7PM showing of “The Last Jedi.” We watched the film, and as it is two and a half hours long, when it was over, most Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-69198444104628490012017-09-24T08:12:00.000-07:002017-09-24T08:12:27.330-07:00MOTHER!
I probably should wait a few days before writing this, as
this is a movie that will be waking me up in the middle of the night for months
as my subconscious unravels the deeper layers of imagery and meaning. It’s a Rorschach Test of a movie that allows
different people looking at it from different perspectives to see different
things. If you’re walking in here
expecting the Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-51606835539200592822017-09-02T09:33:00.001-07:002017-09-02T09:33:13.927-07:00To Porg or not to Porg.
So as "The Last Jedi" has gotten closer, various behind the scenes and toy reveals have given us The Porg. Or thousands of Porgs from the look of things. And I see people either diving right into Disney's plans to assimilate us into the Porg Collective with what I assume is weapons-grade cute developed somewhere in a Sith temple on Malachor, or immediately turned off by the hype andDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-5175917804291055872017-07-18T19:08:00.000-07:002017-07-18T19:14:30.150-07:00Let My Sequels Go! The Official Black Owl Review of "War for the Planet of the Apes."
Spoiler free for two paragraphs!
I will not rehash here my love of this franchise, all the way back to Pierre Boulle's book that was originally translated as "Monkey Planet," but more artfully as "Planet of the Apes." You can read my review of the first of these modern films here and get my whole simian love affair leading into "Rise of the Planet of the Apes."
Somehow, I Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-56627632894907440252017-06-09T08:28:00.001-07:002017-06-09T08:28:36.724-07:00Well, It’s About Time: The Official Black Owl Review of “Wonder Woman.”
Before I start, I want to take just a moment and remind
everyone of the best thing about “Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice.”
You emailed her, Bruce; why do you think she's with Clark?
Indeed, I think there’s a fair argument that Diana is not
only the best thing but the only good thing in the movie.
Gal Gadot dominated the screen every time she was on it. She’s theDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-8408628260652604802017-05-27T15:45:00.003-07:002017-05-27T15:45:56.332-07:00You’re Welcome: The Official Black Owl Review of “Moana.”
“Holy smoke, Dan,” I hear you
say. “Not only is this not the type of movie you ever do reviews on, this movie
came out back in November. Why are you
even doing this?”
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Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-18762248461407381222016-12-30T09:32:00.000-08:002017-01-05T14:31:24.924-08:00The Subversive Princess
I turned five in 1977, which I
think most people in my American generation—and perhaps much of the world—will
consider a year the planet changed. The
first movie I, and I am sure many, ever went to a theater to see was Star
Wars. Of course it made me the geek I
still am to this very day, but there was an element there seeded in my young
brain I did not realize for years. Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-76377313388097315492016-12-18T08:44:00.000-08:002016-12-18T13:07:09.579-08:00The Official Black Owl Review of “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story”
I am going to start non-spoiler here, and will give everyone
a warning when it’s time to look away!
When Lucasfilm, now under Disney, released The Force Awakens
last year, they played it safe. They
basically gave us a retooled serving of What Had Gone Before. That’s not a complaint on my part; they used
context well to introduce new characters, and they matched the feel of Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-36357608968873393152016-07-22T23:10:00.001-07:002016-09-05T16:15:52.181-07:00The Star Trek We Need Right Now; the Official Black Owl review of Star Trek Beyond.
Short non-spoiler version: drop what you’re doing and go see
it right now. Okay? Thanks.
From here on out, spoilers abound; you have been warned!
I am one of those Trekkies who actually really loved Star
Trek Into Darkness. Not at first when I
was kind of “well that was pretty good” about it, but as I rewatched and saw
the themes opening up, and the multilayered characterDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-18054885785802490242016-03-29T14:11:00.002-07:002016-04-24T20:16:26.248-07:00Can we please stop remaking “The Dark Knight Returns”? The Official Black Owl review of “Superman V. Batman: Dawn of Justice
Just so you know, spoilers ahead!
There are a couple of different ways I want to talk about
this film, because like its predecessor, Zach Snyder and Christopher Nolan’s
“Man of Steel,” there are some babies here I don’t want to see go out with the
bathwater, but man is this a troubled movie.
First though, I want to talk about it just as a movie, the second in a
continuous series of Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-60889719829732049182016-03-18T22:05:00.000-07:002016-03-18T22:05:27.757-07:00I may have been wrong about some Star Wars.
I tweeted about this the other day, but felt I wanted to
play with the concept a little more in depth.
Let me start out by saying that I don’t hate Episodes I-III the way a
lot of my generation does. When I say my
generation, I am talking about people who saw at least one Episode of the OT
first run in a theater. We have a
tendency to express a lot of displeasure with the Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-82804819430876947512016-01-19T21:17:00.000-08:002016-02-15T17:10:03.824-08:00Troops
See these guys? These were my first Stormtroopers. Yep, Dad bought them for me at K-Mart sometime in 1978. They’ve been shot down by Luke, Han, Chewie, Leia, Lando, Admiral Akbar (I liked Akbar), Boba Fett (turncoat SOB), countless times. They’ve been with me as I’ve traveled the world in the US Army. They made it (obviously not unscarred) through a house fire inDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-58521116415483446112015-12-27T16:02:00.001-08:002015-12-27T16:02:45.744-08:00The Force is Still Waking Up.
New thoughts!
-Everything in my first review I said about how there were a few too many echoes of Episode IV is rubbish. Those echoes (starting off in the desert; Resistance/Rebellion vs. First Order/Empire; Giant mega weapon blowing up planets needs to be blown up) exist to set a specific context and tone for our heroes’ journeys and to serve as a backdrop for how DIFFERENT Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-65258813156757813262015-12-25T07:31:00.001-08:002015-12-25T07:31:33.965-08:00The 2015 Holiday Letter!
Hello everyone!
Welcome
to the Fosters’ Holiday Update, 2015! I don’t say “holiday” because I am
ignoring Christmas, but don’t forget there’re many holidays this time of year:
Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, the release of “Star Wars: The Force Awakens”; the list
goes on. I hope all of them are treating
you right.
The
best way to describe our year I think is that we are putting the “tired” in
“Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-43422416375773231182015-12-20T14:32:00.004-08:002015-12-20T14:32:54.176-08:00Some more thoughts on The Force Awakens
Having not yet seen it a second time, but obviously thinking
about it, and a few good discussions with fellow fans. I want to quickly address two more minor
quibbles (there’s that word again), then some other things I liked.
The score, though a John Williams score, was very
lackluster. There was no real standout
motif or theme for me, the way “The Imperial March” or “Duel of theDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-678787995377929792015-12-18T19:00:00.002-08:002015-12-18T19:00:20.115-08:00The Official Black Owl Review of "Star Wars: The Force Awakens." (Spoilers!)
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Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-34112260880320985472015-04-25T12:25:00.000-07:002015-04-25T12:26:15.413-07:00“How did this happen to me?” or, “Is it jumping on the bandwagon if you are just coming back to your original seat?”
First of all, let me confess: I wrote this. It was 2009, and as you see here I was having
a real problem with something, and someone.
“Star Wars: The Clone Wars” turned me off so much, I didn’t do my yearly
rewatch of the films for three years. I
didn’t buy toys, I didn’t buy comics.
(OK, that’s a fib, I did finally find my coveted-and-lost-years-ago
die-cast Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-28547466966173373672014-12-31T16:49:00.001-08:002014-12-31T16:49:43.185-08:00End of Year, 2014
Dear friends and family:
Well, initially I told Jennifer she
was insane when she said, “Dan, it’s about time to write that holiday letter.”
“Balderdash!” I cried! “I just
finished the last one about ten minutes ago!”
Then I looked at the clock, and lo and behold it said “end of November”
(it’s a very good clock) and I realized it was in fact time for the 2014
Holiday Letter!
To be Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-9995229997326422702014-12-13T21:08:00.000-08:002014-12-13T21:13:00.684-08:00The Seattle Star Trek Convention 2014
Sporting the NX-01 Cover-all; don't be jealous.
This weekend I went to my first pure Star Trek
convention since 2005. I’ve hit a few
ComiCons of various size in that time, but not a good old Trek convention in a
while. So how was it?
At first I was a little worried: it seemed so small. Despite it having a really stellar guest
list, the vendor room could not have had Danhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8102035.post-29179796837035487652014-06-28T08:46:00.002-07:002014-06-28T12:42:02.701-07:00What does this even mean?
I’m starting this one with only a vague idea of where it’s
going, so if it goes off the rails you have been warned. I realized the other day that this blog had
pretty much become a movie/TV review blog, and though those were things I had
always talked about, they were not supposed to become the primary content. So I wanted to kind of examine how that
happened, and it brought a coupleDanhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08943422219525443835noreply@blogger.com0