Star Wars: Clone Wars, “Gone with a Trace”, Review!

The title refers to the 2016 thriller novel, Gone Without A Trace.  It features Ahsoka Tano who was the Jedi apprentice to Anakin Skywalker.  They were a trusted duo since the Clone Wars (2008) movie.  She was a Togruta, the same species as Jedi Master Shaak Ti, with two curved horns that end in head tails.  Ahsoka was young, she had the same boldness as Anakin, but matured over the series.  Finally, she felt betrayed by the Jedi Order and left it in “The Wrong Jedi” (2013).  It was a surprise to discover that the mysterious agent “Fulcrum” was actually Ahsoka Tano working for the Rebel Alliance.  This was in the “The Siege of Lothal” episodes of Star Wars: Rebels (2015).  This episode would be in season five with the Bad Batch arc occurring afterwards.  Ahsoka (Ashley Eckstein) is racing across Coruscant in her speeder bike.  The speeder bike malfunctions sending her down a pit and crashing onto a landing pad.  Ahsoka is wearing a mechanic’s jersey instead of her familiar brown tunic.  She is met by a woman who is at a garage on the other side of the landing pad. 

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Gone with a Trace” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

The woman, Trace Martez, (Brigitte Kali) introduces herself as “the best mechanic on 1313.”  Kali was in the film Baby Driver (2017).  1313 has great importance for Star Warriors.  Star Wars: 1313 was the LucasArts game in development since 2012.  It was going to be tied into the Star Wars: Underworld live action series taking palce in the underworld of Coruscant.  Trace opens up the doors of her hangar to a Nebula-class freighter.  She is going to modify it to a faster ship.  Ahsoka takes her offer to work on her speeder bike.  She discovers that she needs a sparker for her speeder bike.  Ahsoka wants to leave and Trace tries to reassure her she can stay.  It is difficult to see the Clone Wars is going on while mechanics are calmly working on their vehicles.  She watches a Republic cruiser ascend from the pit.  Ahsoka returns to see Trace has worked on her speeder bike and has the engine running.  She admits that she lived in the upper levels.  Trace says the Jedi there have forgotten about the people of 1313.

She wants to build her ship to escape with her sister, Raffa, from Coruscant.  They are interrupted by an alien, Pintu (Bobby Moynihan), who looks like a long, tube eyes with a mouth of tentacles.  Moynihan is known for his SNL work, but he has also voiced Orka in Star Wars: Resistance.  He has brought along two henchmen and wants payment from Raffa.  Trace warns Ahsoka to stay out of it and fights with the henchmen.  Knocked against a table by one of the men, Trace asks Ahsoka for help.  Of course, she takes them on even using a capoeira-like spin kick.  Pinto threatens them before leaving with his men.  Trace takes Ahsoka to find her sister.  Rafa (Elizabeth Rodriguez) is searching compartments for her laundry.  Rodriguez played Gabriela Lopez, the nurse who takes away Laura in Logan (2017).  Trace stops her from stealing the clothes and tells her about Pinto.  Rafa says that she has a legitimate deal coming up.  Ahsoka introduces herself.

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Gone with a Trace” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

A blue Twi’lek man enters wanting some droids to be built.  Rafa accepts the job with a handshake deal.  She of course leaves up to Trace to work on the droids.  Later, Rafa and Ahsoka are working on the massive droids, Ahsoka is careful about working on the binary load lifters.  These were droids mentioned by C-3PO in A New Hope (1977), but made their first appearance, unidentified in “The Padawan Path” episode of Star Wars: Forces of Destiny (2017).  Ahsoka recognizes the type of droid, the same type she dealt with that was malfunctioning, they were made from demolition droids.  It suddenly slams down on Ahsoka who leaps away.  She raises up a control device to deactivate the droid.  Another smashes around before racing out of the garage.  Rafa is working on a datapad as tookas and the rampaging binary load lifter race past her.  The cats appeared in the Clone Wars episode, "To Catch a Jedi" (2013).  Trace runs after it with Ahsoka.  The droid leaps down to the lower street and begins going all Wreck-It Ralph.  

Trace sends Ahsoka back to get the droid’s tracker.  She leaves Rafa to join Trace on her construction speeder.  The out-of-control droid leaps over them.  Trace activates the speeder’s forklift to capture the droid.  The binary load lifter begins climbing a wall and Ahsoka releases the forklift.  Trace leaps on the droid as it is about to reach out for a kid.  Then, the droid falls, but Ahsoka catches it with the forklift.  There are some aliens watching that may look familiar; a tall Snivvian, an Aqualish in orange and an Ithorian in blue, Snaggletooth, Walrus Man, and Hammerhead, the original SW figures.  An Aqualish in green, Greedo, is in the foreground.  The speeder is about to be pulled over the 1313 wall, but Ahsoka pulls the tow cable around a pipe to pull them back up.  They are all about to fall, but Ahsoka uses the Force to pull them back.  They have to let Rafa make the deal with the droids that may be dangerous.  This is an ok episode with what happened to Ahsoka Tano, but it seems out of context with the greater Clone Wars that is in the series' title.  

Three Lightsabers out of Five!  

#StarWarsCloneWars, #GonewithaTrace, #AshleyEckstein, #BrigitteKali, #ElizabethRodriguez 

Star Wars: Clone Wars, “Unfinished Business”, Review!

The Battle of Anaxes is reaching its conclusion!  The algorithim predicting Republic movements have been found with missing trooper Echo, he has been recovered, and can now turn the droid data against them if he can be trusted!  We get a reverse shot of the Republic hangar with purple skies.  Echo is taken to the command center where Mace Windu reviews the twelve battlefields on Anaxes.  Echo, in trooper armor, volunteers a plan and General Windu wants to hear it.  He enters his control arm and details the plan where the general attacks the assembly complex.  Echo wants to use the Bad Batch to enter the comm vault on a Separatist dreadnought.  The Bad Batch is preparing for the mission at their ship, the Havoc Marauder, Tech is worried that Echo was under Separatist control for a long time.  General Skywalker reminds Wrecker that it is a stealth mission.   

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Unfinished Business” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

Echo reassures the troopers that he will make the droids think their ship is another droid shuttle.  Very cool it reminds me of Return of the Jedi (1983).  The Marauder finds its way in the Separatist fleet.  The ship turns upside down to dock at a port underneath the dreadnought. The assembly plant is a circular base with a dome-shaped complex.  The droids have brought out J-1 semi-autonomous proton cannons and Vulture-class droid starfighters for the battle.  The cannons fire on Republic gunships and starfighters.  Mace Windu calls in Gold Leader and his Y-Wings!  The Clone Gold Squadron was first seen in “Downfall of a Droid” (2008).  The Y-Wing attack on the assembly plant is exactly like a Ralph McQuarrie painting of the Death Star attack!  Admiral Trench is informed by his Super tactical droid about the battle, the droid replies almost like Cylons in Battlestar Galactica, “As you command.”  

Anakin and the troopers enter the dreadnought corridors.  They enter the comm vault which has a massive cone cylinder at its base like Master Control Program in Tron (1982). Echo accesses the interface set up by Tech with his control arm.  Tech realizes that they have to fake a signal from Skako Minor.  Mace Windu and Obi-Wan Kenobi leap into action with Clone jet troopers.  The troopers were first seen in Battlefront (2004) so this is their first Clone Wars appearance.  Mace Windu announces to the droids, including a few Super Battle Droids, that he has destroyed 100,000 of them and offers to have them reprogrammed.  The droids open fire and other troopers rappel down.  It would be more tactical if the jet troopers attacked from the air and flanked the droids.  Trench sends his troops to reinforce the assembly base.  Echo says he will send a feedback loop to disable all of the droids.  Rex and Anakin have trust in Echo.  Anakin informs Master Windu.  They defeat the droids and then hordes of more battle droids march in.  Echo sends the feedback loop that crackles up the comm vault!  The droids are shortened out on the battlefield.  This looks like the end of Phantom Menace (1999).  

Trench sees the overload of his droid army.  The Super tactical droid has tracked down the source on the ship.  Trench has a fail safe plan.  Echo has discovered that it is a bomb that could destroy most of Anaxes!  He has Echo try to deactivate the bomb and races after Admiral Trench.  Tech informs General Windu about the bomb and he has Obi-Wan evacuate the base!  Mace heads to the lower levels where there is a generator and finds the bomb, but it is guarded by a ray shield.  He uses the Force to enter the code given by Echo.  Trench sends a pulse that electrifies Echo, but Rex pulls him free.  The rest of the Bad Batch fights the droids.  Anakin takes care of Trench’s guards and dodges an energy web fired by Trench that wraps around his last droid commando.  Trench misunderestimates Anakin as a Jedi and gets his mechanical arms severed!  Trench is one of the long running nemesis of the Clone Wars.  One of the weaknesses of the show was that they kept adding villains; Asaaj Ventress, Maul, Cad Bane, Admiral Trench, without any resolution so this is great.   

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “Unfinished Business” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

Anakin gets a detonation switch that he hopes to bring to Wrecker.  The Bad Batch strongman gives a corridor of droids the Wrecking Ball.  Crosshair sets reflective mirrors in a corridor and Wrecker is stunned to see the droids he destroys with one shot!  Wrecker wipes away a tear at Anakin giving him the detonation switch.  Three of the Separtist ships are destroyed!  Mace Windu gives commendations to Rex, Echo, and the Bad Batch.  The troopers offer a place for Echo.  Of course, we are left to the fate of the Bad Batch with Order 66, the four part episodes in Season 6 starting with “Orders” (2014) had a control chip activating the order and the mystery was almost uncovered.  It is possible with the Bad Batch with mutations could alter how the control chip worked.  There was a clone trooper, Cut Lawquane, who left the war behind and was raising a family in “The Deserter” (2010).  Maybe the Bad Batch are saved by Echo who was removed from all of the Republic conditioning and can help the others.  The Bad Batch, those who survive or not driven insane by the control chip, would leave the Republic and possibly take up lives as bounty hunters!  

Five Lightsabers out of Five! 

#StarWarsCloneWars, #UnfinishedBusiness, #Admiral Trench, #MaceWindu, #ObiWanKenobi 

Re:tro Re:view - The Shadow!

The Shadow is a superhero film that has some of its pulpy past, filled with clever twists, and a cast that has fun with their parts!  This is before Batman was introduced in 1939. The Shadow is a caped crimefighter, he knows their ways not because he studied them, he was like them! When I was a kid, I heard recordings by Orson Welles as The Shadow, his voice and laugh is haunting!  The Shadow was of course the creation of Walter B. Gibson. His adventures were in the pulp magazine, The Shadow Magazine (1931), and then on radio in 1937. It was really Orson Welles playing The Shadow that made an impact about one year before his The War of the Worlds recording and four years before his cinematic masterpiece Citizen Kane (1941)!  The character also started in movie serials beginning with The Shadow Strikes (1937)

This film was directed by Russell Mulcahy who also directed Highlander (1986). The Shadow is also in a number of comic books, novels, a radio program, and now a movie! The screenplay was written by David Koepp who adapted Jurassic Park (1993) with Michael Crichton. The film was unfortunately released, a very difficult summer to stand out, with Forrest Gump (1994) opening right after it and then True Lies (1994). There is mystery with the title sequence with the score by Jerry Goldsmith. Then, we get the “Opium Fields, Tibet” with a closeup of the poppy flowers lined up against the mountains. We follow a car to a stronghold. A man, Li Peng (James Hong), is brought into the opium den. Hong is of course known as Lo Pan in Big Trouble in Little China (1986). 

Peng sees the leader in shadow. He has killed three of Yin-Ko’s men. Yin-Ko (Alec Baldwin) appears out of the shadows and confronts Peng whom he orders to be shot. This is four years after Baldwin starred in The Hunt for Red October (1990). At night, Yin-Ko is wakened by a vision, and then knocked out. He is taken by horse riders to a cliff, there is a temple, hidden by mists which sweep away to reveal a temple with a massive cobra head! Yin-Ko is taken into the hall of the temple and sees a figure behind a curtain. The Tulku (Brady Tsurutani) suddenly appears, speaking in a deeper voice, knowing his real name is Lamont Cranston. He is surprised and finds that the Tulku is elusive, he is also told that he has always struggled against his black heart. Cranston grabs for a dagger, and the dagger leaps from his hand.

It is a living thing, the Purba, and stops at the command of the Tulku. This leads to a roll-up that explains that The Tulku trained Cranston to “cloud men’s minds”, but he always leaves behind his shadow which he can never escape. Cranston returns home to New York City, “Seven Years Later”, a foggy night with the Brooklyn Bridge. Duke and his men take out a man (Sab Shimono) with his feet encased in concrete. Shimono had appeared in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993). The men are about to throw him over the bridge when they hear a laugh. The voice seems to come from everywhere, he says, “The weed of crime bears bitter fruit”, and knows that Duke killed a police officer. The Shadow, only a blur, strikes Duke forcing him to confess. This is the power of The Shadow to find evil in the hearts of criminals and strike mortal fear into them.

Then, his men are swallowed by the darkness of The Shadow, and see his face, half-covered by his scarf and run.  Dressed in black, striking fear in criminals, and having a wealthy secret identity, this is of course another inspiration for Batman.  The Shadow takes out his silver pistols and fires at the man.  He has blasted away the concrete and helps him up as a taxi cab drives up.  They enter the cab and The Shadow knows the man is Dr. Roy Tam.  The cab speeds away as The Shadow explains since he saved Tam’s life, he is know an agent of The Shadow.  The cab driver is Moe Shrevnitz (Peter Boyle), he takes Dr. Tam to his apartment, and slips a ring on his finger.  Boyle is known for the sitcom, Everybody Love Raymond, he provides comedy relief, but also his dedication as The Shadow’s most trusted agent.  

Cranston is tired shifting from The Shadow and asks Moe to drive to the Cobalt Club.  Lamont Cranston, now in a tux, joins his uncle and police commissioner, Wainwright (Jonathan Winters).  He is a comedian, Winters was in the live action The Flintstones (1994), but this is a serious part for him.  This explains why the police are two steps behind The Shadow.Then, a woman appears in a shimmering white dress (Penelope Ann Miller), catching Cranston’s attention. Her character is Margot Lane who was a wealthy woman and agent of The Shadow. Bob Ringwood is the costume designer, he designed the dynamic cape and vest for The Shadow and also the stunning dresses worn by Miller. He gets a note about The Shadow and wants to appoint a task force to hunt him down.   

Cranston leans back into the shadows to speak in The Shadow’s voice to change his uncle’s thoughts. Wainwright warns his nephew about Margot since she hears voices. The couple goes to a Chinese restaurant where of course Cranston orders in Mandarin. Margot replies to a compliment about her dress which he was only thinking. Cranston realizes that his secret identity might be compomised. Moe takes them back to her apartment and Cranston explains it is dangerous to see her again. In his loft, Cranston is asleep next to his fireplace when it explodes, there is a laughing face of an Asian man. The effects are at the level of Mortal Kombat (1995), but still has some visuals that are beautiful and hold up fairly well. Night, at the Museum of Natural History, Isaac Newboldt (Joseph Maher) walks to the garage where there is a case from Tibet.  

Nelson (Ethan Phillips), the security guard, helps open the crate with the sarcophagus.  Phillips was Neelix in the Star Trek: Voyager series. Newboldt leaves and Nelson is alone when the sarchophagus locks begin opening like hungry mouths. It opens to reveal a man in mongol armor, this is Shiwan Khan (John Lone). The actor has been in action films, but was also in The Last Emperor (1987). Shiwan Khan is The Shadow’s greatest nemesis, descendant of Genghis Kahn, his first appearance was in the pulp novel, The Golden Master (1939). Lone gives him style, the hint of a barbarian, and some funny lines. Then, we shift to the War Department and the office of Reinhardt Lane. Reinhardt is an eccentric scientist played by Ian McKellan, he is confused in simple things which is funny, but you can also see his brilliance. McKellan is of course known as Gandalf in the Lord of the Rings films, but he played Death in Last Action Hero (1993).

He is busy working on the Beryllium Sphere while his partner Farley Claymore (Tim Curry). Tim Curry is a genre legend and he was Cardinal Richelieu in The Three Musketeers (1993).   Claymore is desperate for recognition and a threat to The Shadow.  Shiwan is taken by a taxi cab to an empty lot, he suggests the driver fill up his gas tank, and he drives his cab right into a fuel tanker. The next day, Wainwright checks on the museum crime scene, an officer talks to him and then goes across the street to an empty building to deposit a letter. It goes careening through the city in a tube, finally to an operator who communicates to Cranston. He has Moe take him to the Sanctum. 

On a city street, Cranston goes to an alley and slides a secret panel to open a passageway to the Sanctum. He contacts the operator via a televised device who tells him about the murder.  He then meets with Shiwman Khan who knows him as Lin-Ko and says he is in New York to fulfill his destiny. It’s funny when Shiwan asks Cranston where he got his tie and they go over New York streets. His plan is one of the greatest threats of any supervillian that The Shadow has to work out to understand through most of the film. He has take on henchmen, a death trap right out of pulp novels, and work with Margot to uncover the plans of Shiwan Khan. "Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men? The Shadow knows!" The Shadow is a clever, well written film with a very strong cast and some great adventure with an iconic hero!     

Five Beryllium Spheres out of Five! 

#TheShadow, #RussellMulacahy, #DavidKoepp, #James#AlecBaldwin, #PenelopeAnnMiller, #JohnLone, #TimCurry, #PeterBoyle, #IanMcKellan, #JonathanWinters, #SabShimino, #BradyTsurutani, #JamesHong,    

Happy Birthday Daisy Ridley!

Happy Birthday Daisy Ridley! She was on tv before making the hyperspace jump to the screen as Rey in Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015).  Ridley supplied the voice of Taeko in the anime, Only Yesterday, released on Blu Ray in 2016.  Her next film was in Kenneth Branagh’s Murder on the Orient Express (2017) as Mary Debenham. 

She returned as Rey in Last Jedi and also voiced her in episodes of Star Wars: Forces of Destiny.  In 2018, Ridley played Ophelia in the title role of the drama showing her perspective in Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Then, she voiced Cotton-Tail in Peter Rabbit. Daisy Ridley finished the sequel trilogy with The Rise of Skywalker (2019).  Happy Birthday Daisy Ridley!

#DaisyRidley, #TheForceAwakens, #MurderontheOrientExpress, #Ophelia 

Re:tro Re:view - The Mask of Zorro!

The Mask of Zorro is a feat of revitalizing a classic character, mixing it with a little bit of history, and making it a thrilling adventure! Zorro made his debut in the novel, The Curse of Capistrano (1919) by Johnston McCulley. Douglas Fairbanks portrayed him on film in The Mark of Zorro (1920). He was one of the iconic figures of television played by Guy Williams in the Zorro (1957-1961) tv series. In 1957, comics legend, Alex Toth, drew the adventures of the Disney series for Dell Comics. They are available as a collected trade, Alex Toth's Zorro The Complete Dell Comics Adventures (2013) or you can find affordable reprints by American Mythology.  Then, the later series Zorro (1990-1993) featured Duncan Regehr. What stood out to me was the character. The model of the swashbuckler.  

This film had Bob Anderson as sword master, his filmography has the best sword films; Lord of the Rings, Die Another Day (2002), First Knight (1995), Three Musketeers (1993), Princess Bride (1987), Highlander, and he was the double for Darth Vader! After I had watched the film, I picked up Zorro Unmasked: The Official History (1998) by Sandra Curtis, and also the original novel, The Mark of Zorro, by Johnston McCulley. The film was directed by Martin Campbell who also has a James Bond connection having directed GoldenEye (1995). The story is by Randall Johnson who also wrote the bio film, The Doors (1991) and also the writing duo of Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio. They worked on the screenplay with John Eskow who wrote Air America (1990). The writing duo is known for writing the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy.  

The opening has a closeup of a sheet as two eyeholes are made in it, two boys, Joaquin  (Diego Sieres) and Alejandro (Jose Maria de Tavira), are eager to look outside of a wagon.  It is a crowd chanting for the fall of Governor Montero. They rush out of the wagon and see Fray Felipe (William Marquez). Marquez played Eduardo in the comedy Bedazzled (2000). Don Rafael Montero (Stuart Wilson) walks out onto the balcony above the crowd.  Wilson was Dr. Robin Hatcher in the action comedy Hot Fuzz (2007).  Dons are the ruling class that were established by Spain. The governor is ruthless in controlling California and intent on revenge against his nemesis. Don Luiz (Tony Amendola) arrives to warn Montero about the approach of General Santa Anna. The general is almost legendary shaping the countries of Mexico and the United States.  He orders the soldiers to take away the children.  

Alejandro is taken and sees the boots and then Zorro (Anthony Hopkins) in disguise.  Hopkins is an actor known for powerful roles in Silence of the Lambs (1991) and also genre movies like Thor: Ragnarok (2017).  He of course is not Mexican, but his English gentleman and man of action pairs with Stuart Wilson’s Rafael Montero.  The brothers rush to see the action from a rooftop.  The soldiers are about to fire their rifles at commoners.  Suddenly, Zorro’s whip swings the rifles at their commander to shoot him. Zorro is a whirl, freeing the prisoners, and parrying the swords of the soldiers. The brothers see soldiers in a balcony ready to shoot Zorro. Joaquin and Alejandro send a statue crashing down on them. Zorro gives Alejandro his locket as thanks to them. He races across the buildings and uses his whip to swing across to draw his blade against Montero’s throat. Zorro makes his mark on the throat of Montero as a warning. He whistles for his black horse, Tornado, and leaps down on him!   

Zorro rears Tornado against the setting sun before riding away. There is an incredible seaside hacienda perched on a cliff next to a waterfall. Zorro rides Tornado into a cave by the waterfall.  A fireplace retracts as Zorro’s civilian identity, Don Diego de la Vega, enters. The secret identity that is a rich gentleman, the mask and cape, cave secret lair, are all parts of Batman taken from Zorro.  Watching the sun set is his wife, Esperanza (Julieta Rosen), who goes to hear her husband telling his baby, Elena, stories of his adventures. Diego kisses Esperanza and they are interrupted by Montero and his men. Montero grabs Diego’s arm and can see from his wound that he is Zorro. They get into a duel, a soldier is about to shoot Diego, and Esperanza rushes to take the bullet. Montero kills the shooter.  Diego hears baby Elena’s cries and is knocked out by Montero.  Diego is in a cage in the back of a carriage and Montero takes his revenge by taking away Elena.  

We get “Twenty Years Later” with a horseman pulling along two bearded men by a rope.  The lead prisoner is Alejandro Murrieta (Antonio Banderas) and behind him is his brother, Joaquin Murrieta (Victor Rivers).  Banderas has the comic timing down and also the action.  He was in Pedro Almodóvar’s drama Pain and Glory (2019).  Rivers was Captain Ferrar in the drama Amistad (1997). They are based on real historical figures, Joaquin was called the Robin Hood of El Dorado, part of the Five Joaquins, McCulley was said to be inspired by him in creating Zorro.  The rider, Three-Fingered Jack (L.Q. Jones) sings and has his two prisoners finish his song.  Jones is an actor in Sam Pecinpah’s Westerns like The Wild Bunch (1969).  Jack takes them for their bounty to a farmhouse where they find Corporal Garcia (José Pérez), a soldier calls him Sergeant Garcia.  The character was large and outwitted by Zorro in the tv series, but absolutely fun not so much here.  Garcia shows up, but isn’t a strong opponent here.  

They turn the tables on the soldiers and take off with the wagon and its strongbox.  The film’s action has Zorro as a hapless hero in training stumbling into adventures instead of dashing into them.   Their fun is ended with the soldiers led by Captain Harrison Love (Matt Letscher).  The actor played Eobad Thawne in The Flash tv series.  His Captain Love is ruthless and a counterpart to Don Rafael.  He shoots Jack with his rifle and the brothers run into the brush.  Alejandro loses his brother, the locket falls to the ground, it is the connection to the young brothers.  Captain Love greets a mysterious passenger come to shore.  The cloaked figure reveals himself as Don Rafael.  He has returned to search a prison for Zorro.  Diego is older, bearded, and wears a blindfold.  The prisoners all claim they are Zorro.  Diego is able to free himself.  Don Rafael meets with Captain Love thinking Zorro is dead.  The next morning, Don Luiz announces the return of Governor Rafael to fanfare.  The citizens are gathered there, Rafael makes a speech, and instead it turns to a cheer for Zorro.

Diego moves through the crowd toward his nemesis.  Rafael promises to make everyone Californians.  Diego draws his knife and then is stopped by the appearance of Elena played by Catherine Zeta-Jones.  This is her breakout role and she also played Velma Kelly in the musical Chicago (2002).  Elena is the link between all of the characters, she is headstrong, and also proves herself as a daughter of Don Diego de la Vega.  A later duel between Elena and Zorro makes fencing sexy.  Alejandro is drunk at a cantina and is about to charge after Captain Love, but Diego knocks him down to offer to train him.  Alejandro takes the part of Don Alejandro del Castillo y Garcia with Diego as his servant Bernardo.  The training is awkward at first, but Alejandro is a natural to fill Zorro’s boots, they ultimately have to face Captain Love and Don Rafael with his plans to take over California.  Also Zorro is finally played by a Latin actor.  The Mask of Zorro is a perfect blend of action and comedy with a touch of history and the classic swashbuckling of the character!   

Five Marks of Zorro out of Five! 

#TheMarkofZorro, #MartinCampbell, #AntonioBanderas, #AnthonyHopkins, #CatherineZetaJones

Happy Birthday Robin Wright!

Happy Birthday Robin Wright!  Of course we know her as Princess Buttercup in Princess Bride (1987), but Wright started on the soap opera Santa Barbara.  Her first film role was actually in Penelope Spheeris’ Hollywood Vice Squad (1986).  She was Jenny in Forrest Gump (1994).  Wright also played Audrey Dunn in Unbreakable (2000).  She provided the voice of Walthow in the animated Beowulf (2007).  She was in the drama Moneball (2011) and also the thriller adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tatoo (2011).  

Wright begun her award winning run on House of Cards as Claire Underwood in 2013.  She won the Golden Globe for Best Actress in 2013.  Wright had an incredible year in 2017, as General Antiope in Wonder Woman, and played Lieutenant Joshi in Blade Runner 2049, two of my favorite movies!  Then, she returned as Antiope in Justice League.  There is the comparison of another character turned princess to general. She’s now taking the lead role in House of Cards becoming President of the United States.  Wright has upcoming Wonder Woman 1984.  Happy Birthday Robin Wright!

#RobinWright, #PrincessBride, #HouseofCards, #WonderWoman1984

Star Wars: Clone Wars, “On the Wings of Keeradaks”, Review!

This is the third part of the arc featuring the Bad Batch.  We have the moral, “Survival is one step on the path to living”, which is not too insightful, but yes, it is the basic that keeps us alive.  There is the newsreel introduction bringing us up to speed.  Side note: Wat Tambor and the Techno-Union is acting neutral in the war?  He was spotted on Geonosis by Obi-Wan Kenobi and their ships were seen leaving during the first battle of the Clone Wars.  This close association with the Confederacy would break neutrality.  They are surrounded by D-wing air support droids.  Anakin has Hunter hold them off while he checks on Echo.  Tech is working on disconnecting Echo’s “cerebral interface.”  Rex says Echo is too weak since he has been freed by the algorithim chamber.  

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “On The Wings of Keeradaks” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

The Bad Batch retreats to the room and closes the outer door.  A droid tries to wedge its head in the door and Wrecker rips it off.  Hunter and Crosshair begin to seal the door as Wat Tambor and his Skakoans approach.  Crosshair uses his optics to detect them.  Wat Tambor calls in the Decimator, a powerful orb with a red eye that can cut through the door.  The troopers close the last door and begin sealing it.  Tech has finished shutting down the interface and Rex begins to detach the cables clamped on Echo’s head and spine like a steampunk Matrix.  Echo notes that they can escape up an exhaust vent.  The Decimiator moves to the second door.  Echo opens the hatch on the vent.  Wrecker tosses up Crosshair so he can splay out arms and legs to brace himself in the vent.  Anakin uses his Force Jump to reach the vent.  Wrecker sets charges around the room when the Decimator begins firing electical bolts.  Anakin uses the Force to draw up Wrecker.  Wat Tambor checks on the hole through the doors and sees the explosives that knock him down.  I think the Decimator’s bolts would set them off. 

The group is making their way through ventilator corridors which is explained as a way to cool the computers.  Echo has find a way for them to escape, a thick pipe that leads across the winds to another part of the base.  Anakin could have used his Force run to go across and then use the Force to steady any trooper.  Instead, he balances his way across with the others following him and Wrecker unsteady at the end.  Anakin sees the droids and ignites his lightsaber.  The others see more droids on the other side!  Wrecker falls in the battle and is caught by Crosshair.  Tech notes that he recorded the sounds of the creatures, the flying Keeradaks. He plays the screeching sound of the keeradaks which makes everyone cover their ears.  Tech tells them to jump on them and Anakin leads the way.  The D-Wing air support droids deploy glider wings and follow them!  They land at the village of the native Poletecs and the leader is angry at the breaking of their word.  

STAR WARS: CLONE WARS -- “On The Wings of Keeradaks” -- Disney/Lucasfilm.

Suddenly, they see the blaster bolts of the air support droids.  The Poletecs didn’t want war, but Rex shows them what the Techno-Union has done to Echo.  Wat Tambor wants his “experiment” and sends more air support droids and two Ocuptarra tri-droids, these are massive droids with three mechanical legs, a globe head and cannons.  They were first seen in Revenge of the Sith (2005) and appeared in The Clone Wars (2008) film during the Battle of Christophsis.  The droids land in an empty village.  Anakin on a ledge calls for the same tactic that Wrecker used last episode.  Strangely, the Poletecs are in the front line attacking the droids with the Bad Batch following them in!   Tech sets off charges that electify the droids, but doesn’t use it on the Ocuptarra tri-droids that are blasting their troops with the cannons.  If they can defend the village, they can change the fate of Skako Minor!  Still, there is a hint that things are not what they seem!  It seems like this would be a three episode arc, there was four episodes, but that was uncovering the mystery of Geonosis in Clone Wars!  

Four Lightsabers out of Five!   

#StarWarsCloneWars, #OnTheWingsofKeeradaks, #WatTambor, #TheDecimator

Elephant Review!

Elephant is a beautiful documentary that follows an elephant herd.  This is the second Disneynature documentary on Disney+.  There is also another Disney elephant documentary, Whispers: An Elephant's Tale (2000), but it is not a Disneynature production.  The film is directed by Mark Linfeld, whose previous films include Growing Up Wild (2016).  It is co-directed by Vanessa Berlowitz, she produced other documentaries, and Alastair Fothergill, he also co-directed Dolphin Reef.  It is written by Linfeld and David Fowler, whom also wrote Dolphin Reef.  The narration is by Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, she was of course duchess when recording the narration, and she is perfect in telling the elephant story and authortative in pronouncing the African words.  I think she may have experience in her travels to South Africa.  I’m waiting to see the next documentary narrated by Meghan.  I would love to see this documentary if it is released at El Capitan.  The only slight problem I have with it is the simple title, the movie should have been something like Pathway of the Elephants or The Elephant’s Legacy.  

It opens with a map showing all of Africa and the narration notes the Kalahari Desert and focuses on the Okavago Delta.  The film is beautiful shifting to a view of the delta that looks bell-shaped and intense green with the water flowing from the Okavango River.  The photography of the delta is beautiful.  We see the wildlife in the delta; birds, fish, and  finally the trunk of an elephant.  This is herd of Kalahari Elephants.  The underwater shots are also impressive.  Then, we get an elephant, Shani, who is 40 years old, elephants in the wild live up to 70 years. Next, we see her one year old son, Jomo, it is said he is playing with other animals, but I think the behavior is that he is practicing chasing them away which is seen later at watering holes.  Males stay with the herd until about 14 years.  We also introduced to Gaia, the sister to Shani, and the matriarch of the herd.  Gaia leads the herd away from the delta sensing that is drying up.   

They move to a muddy pool, the mud is used for “stomach issues”, kinda fun and then Gaia calls the elephant out of the pool.  A calf is stranded in the mud and Gaia goes to dig  him out and clear the mud from his mouth.  An interesting directing choice is seeing the elephants’ journey, a thousand miles, through Gaia’s memory.  The herd reaches a forest with seedpods and another group of elephants.  They reach a dried up watering hole and see an elephant skeleton that the herd touches almost in recognition.  Gaia leads them through the desert to an island of baobab trees.  The elephants tear into the bark to get at the moisture.  We see the herd sleeping and the night animals coming out.  They finally reach Victoria Falls called Mosi-oa-Tunya, the Smoke That Thunders.  It is a gorge above the waters and Gaia follows flocks of quelea to get to the falls.  She crosses the Zambezi River to an island of palm trees, the herd swims across the deep part of the river with the danger of crocodiles, a little startling.  The river dries up and the palm nuts are all eaten by the herd so they have to return to the Okavango, now full by the storms.  The herd has to travel back through Lion Country!  Elephant is a journey with incredible visuals, a very informative story, and features such magnificent animals!     

Five Seed pods out of Five! 

#Elephant, #MarkLinfeld, #VanessaBerlowitz, #AlastairFothergill, #DavidFowler, #MeghanDuchessofSussex 

Re:tro Re:view - What Dreams May Come!

What Dreams May Come (1998) is one of the most beautiful pieces of cinema in terms of its story revealing who we are, characters that so endearing that you think you may know them, and visuals that exceed any vision put on screen. It is directed by Vincent Ward who also directed Map of the Human Heart (1992). His artistic background guides the powerful vision of this story.  The screenplay is by Ronald Bass, the writer of Rain Man (1988), based on the novel by Richard Matheson. The writer’s work was also turned into the film I Am Legend (2007) and he is well known for some iconic episodes of Twilight Zone. The novel is a bit New Age-y, but touches upon the world of the afterlife. 

It opens to sloshing water and open air, gentle sounds, when we see a medium shot of Chris Nielsen (Robin Williams) in a white sweater laying down in a boat in a lake. This is my favorite part for Robin Williams, it contains his humor, but also a strength to fight, a gentleness, and compassion that I think embodied him. Another boat with a red sail bumps into his boat. The woman in the boat is Annie Collins (Annabella Sciorra). She is known for playing Claire in The Hand That Rocks the Cradle (1992). Annie awkwardly tries to talk in Italian and then realizes that Chris is also American. She is also wearing a white sweater so we know the connection between them and also a red skirt like her boat’s sail.  The colors of course symbolize the characters and the scenery is captured with wonder by director of photography Eduardo Serra who worked with Ward on Map of the Human Heart.        

The soundtrack by Michael Kamen is great, hearing a piece of it throws back memory of the entire movie at me. They meet later on a hill above the lake with the sun pouring down on them. She sets down her outer red skirt and introduces herself.  If you don’t understand why these two fall in love, then you haven’t learned how to be human yet. They get married against the backdrop of a circular stained glass window. She stumbles and Chris supports her as they walk down the aisle. Then, it flashes to Annie, years later, strangely it feels like not a moment is lost with these transitions.  She is now in a green sweater, damp from the family’s play at washing the car. Chris tries to protect her in his blue shirt from the spray from their son, Ian (Josh Paddock), in a red jacket. Also, their young daughter, Marie (Jessica Brooks Grant) in a blue shirt. The two actors are perfect as young characters who are their own persons.  

This blissful family moment shifts to a domestic morning where Annie prepares breakfast for her kids and Chris enters reminding Ian about his math test. There is conflict here in that Chris cares about his son, but doesn't understand how to guide his son to stand on his own.  Annie is busy and has a friend drive the kids to school in a van. Chris sees his kids off, Marie pulls purple flowers from a Jacaranda tree as they pass, and Chris’ narration explains that this was the last time he saw them alive. Chris is at their funeral, two white caskets, and he holds the hand of his wife. We peer into Ian’s casket as he lays there, almost peaceful, this shifts again to “4 Years Later.” A young girl, Stacey Jacobs (Maggie McCarthy), is using chalk to mark a pee trail on a painting. Chris Nielsen, pediatrician, takes it in stride. There are x-rays, but Stacey gets constant headaches.  He has Stacey cover her mouth while he takes a call from Annie, she has a “meltdown”, missing artwork from her gallery, and that it’s their Double D Anniversary.  

Chris sets up copies of paintings and suggests them to Annie. He offers to pick them up and wants Annie to display her paintings. After the call, Chris realizes that Stacey suffers from migraines.  It is a rainy night as Chris drives on a bridge carrying presents for the Double D Anniversary.  He thinks back of his last words to Annie and then a multiple car accident jams up a tunnel. Chris rushes with his doctor’s bag to check on the injured. A woman driver is upside and Chris tries to calm her.  A car is thrown into the air, it comes smashing down, and hurtles toward Chris before there is darkness. Paramedics are checking on Chris as he lies on the tunnel pavement similar to the opening with the boat. Then, we have the voice of Cuba Gooding Jr. asking him questions about what happened to him. Gooding Jr. was also in an iconic part in Jerry Maguire (1996). We see Chris in the operating room on a gurney. There is beeping.  It shifts back to his home where there is a blurry image of Cuba’s character. He is not clear which looks like Annie's painting, but this has to do with Chris' perception. 

Chris moves through his funeral and stays close to Annie until this causes her too much pain and leaves her. He wakes up and finds himself in a garden that is almost an Impressionistic painting, heaven, the colors were so intense in the theater that my brain couldn’t process them. He hears the voice of Albert Lewis, his colleague who was 63, now in the form of Cuba Gooding Jr. in white clothes.  Albert says that people are uncertain about themselves and need a place comforting, Chris constructed his world from paintings which he used to convey his love to Annie.  Albert is his guide to this heaven and how it works. There is the Dalmatian, Katie, that was suffering so they took her to the vet.  Chris is taken by Albert to the dream house envisioned by Annie next to a lake.  He opens him up to a world without the paint.  Annie paints a tree for Chris that appears in his heaven. Albert explains that the tree is there because they are soulmates.  Annie despairs that Chris will never see it and pours water over the painting.  She doesn’t believe there is anything after death so she is left alone with her pain. Annie’s story parallels the story of Chris.  

Chris finds other guides in the form of Leona (Rosalind Chao) and The Tracker played by Max von Sydow whom passed away on March 8th. Chao was in the Star Trek: Deep Space Nine series. She guides Chris to a golden city where souls move on. Chris ends up thinking about his kids and has to find them in heaven. Max von Sydow’s Tracker is an older figure found floating in a library. The film credits for von Sydow are legendary including playing Antonius Block in Ingmar Bergman’s The Seventh Seal (1957). He takes Chris and Albert from a boat in a stormy sea to the gateways to hell. His part reminds me of Virgil in Dante’s Inferno. In fact, I find the story is like a reverse Inferno, starting in Paradiso and traveling to the depths of the Inferno.  

The threat of this hell which is a landscape of pale bodies and ruined shipwrecks is that you will lose your mind and give into despair.  It is not a place of punishment, but one of regret and giving up. Chris has to travel there to find Annie and bring her back to their dream house. The visual effects by Digital Domain with Nicholas Brooks as visual effects supervisor creates worlds that are perfect vision of what would be heaven and hell. I believe that Robin Williams woke up in the Painted World and said, “Hey, I already filmed this movie.” Note this would be a perfect movie except the Hollywood ending, please see the alternate ending in the special features to get the ending more in line with the novel. What Dreams May Come is a powerful film about life, the afterlife, family, love, and everything that carry through it all.       

Four point seven Jacaranda Flowers out of Five! 

#WhatDreamsMayCome, #VincentWard, #RobinWilliams, #AnnabellaSciorra, #CubaGoodingJr 

Dolphin Reef Review!

Dolphin Reef is a Disneynature documentary featuring the dolphin calf and the Carribbean reef community.  It is currently streaming on Disney+.  The documentary is co-directed by Alastair Fothergill, who also directed Penguins (2019) and Bears (2014) with co-director Keith Scholey.  It is written by David Fowler.  The narration is given some fun and character by Natalie Portman who is in the Hollywood documentary, This Changes Everything (2018).  I’ve seen the IMAX documentary, Dolphins (2000) and many others, read several books, and had some encounters in the wild.  

I know by heart, that the bottlenose dolphin is known as Tursiops truncatus from the sub-order odontoceti, or toothed whale.  There is a sea-pen in the Red Sea named Dolphin Reef.  So of course this documentary was intriguing.  It is set off some Polynesian islands, it looks untouched by people, this opens the film and then shifts from the waves to the blue of the sea.  It has a pod of dolphins bow wave riding and then passing the island.  Their shapes are hydrodynamic, built for water, which makes their speed optimal.   

This moves to the whistle of a lone dolphin drifting in the blue.  It seems like the dolphin called Echo is interested in a shell.  Echolocation is sophisticated in dolphins, the clicks originate in its nasal sacs located in the blowhole and projected out and received by the dolphin’s melon, the curved fore part of the dolphin.  Echo’s name seems to refer to it and also reminds me of the Sega video game, Ecco the Dolphin (1992).  A very fun game fighting extraterrestrials in the oceans, it should be made into an animated film.  He is three years old, still a calf, and has about three years to mature.  Echo seems to be a loner and separates from the rest of the pod, kinda dangerous.  

His mother, Kuma, has to watch over him and tries to teach him how to get fish on his own.  There is no scene showing Kuma feeding her calf fish.  Also, the animals of the film don’t seem to have fathers.  This shifts to the reef, always a mass of colors, it always interesting to see the tropical life in a coral reef.  Then, we get to the bizarre eyes of a peacock mantis shrimp, it is grooming itself which the narration says is “showering.”  It is difficult to not anthropomorphize, give human qualities to animals.  Mr. Mantis, as he is dubbed, checks on his coral home.  

The documentary notes the life cycle of the coral which ends with the reef sharks that pare away the coral population.  Then, it goes to a tiger shark, “the shark that eats sharks.”  The pod is about to sleep and it is noted that dolphins sleep with one eye open.  The visual part of dolphins is fascinating since they use their echolocation in tandem with their sight.  Echo breaks away from the pod to hear the moaning of a humpback whale.  It is a mother, Maraya, and her calf, Fluke.  Echo looks at the whales, but is called back by Kuma.  There is a pod of male humpback whales interested in Maraya.  Also important is the bumphead parrotfish that turn dead rock into “sand poop”, think of that the next time you are relaxing on a beach.  It is just a wonder to see the beauty of this dolphin world through the cinematography of Paul Atkins.  It must be a long shoot to assemble footage to construct Echo’s story.  Dolphin Reef is a charming and beautiful documentary   

Five Shells out of Five!     

#DolphinReef, #Disneynature, #NataliePortman,  #AlastairFothergill, #KeithScholey

Making Sense of the Sequel Trilogy

Let’s try to bring some concepts over from the Sequel Trilogy with having it all make sense.  Also, to properly tie in the films with what was set up in expanded material.  So the Battle of Jakku was where the remnants of the Empire met with the Rebel forces.  The Galactic Concordance is signed by Mon Mothma and Mas Amedda.  The Imperial fleets and troops are drawn down and loyalists scatter.  All of the fleets and army heading to the Unknown Regions is silly, no intelligent governing body would have an opposing military power go into exile fully armed.  So let’s look at Palpatine, he’s dead, I can see maybe he was cloned, this was something in the Dark Empire comic book, but the clone facility on Kamino was shut down by the Empire.  Maybe it could be requisitioned by the Empire, but it was really the Kaminoans who made cloning possible.  So maybe the cloning technology produces an unviable clone, why this Palpatine doesn’t suddenly show up, he is basically in a bacta tank forever.

Let’s say that Snoke has some Dark Side powers and contacts the clone from the Unknown Regions.  Imperial loyalists have tapped into the funds that fueled the Empire and send ships to Snoke.  He is taken to the clone who dominates Snoke through the Dark Side to take over his body.  This Snoke takes his forces into the Unknown Regions with loyalists that are in place around the rest of the galaxy.  They are developing the Starkiller weapon and assembling a fleet.  Returning to the New Republic, Mon Mothma has rebuilt the worlds ravaged by the Empire and reforming the galaxy without the Empire.  She shifts over duties to Leia and acts as an advisor.  Han and Leia marry on Naboo and Chewbacca changes his lifedebt to their son, Ben.  Han has joined Lando and Ackbar to suppress the uprisings after the Empire.  They soon turn over military authority to General Wedge and Admiral Nien Nunb and retire as advisors.  The point is to keep the characters that appear in the films and have them for the same time as the actors.  

Luke Skywalker has formed his Jedi Academy, it is located on Devaron (the setting of The Weapon of a Jedi novel), Tatooine, and Naboo.  Luke learned about the Force in the novel and said he would set up a Jedi training center there.  He has his own Jedi retreat on Dagobah and starts learning Qui-Gonn, Yoda, and Ben Kenobi’s separating oneself with the Force.  Sources of kaiburr are found in the galaxy to supply lightsabers and guarded by Jedi.  Soon, his apprentices are sent as advisors to settle disputes across the galaxy.  Ben becomes an apprentice, he is head strong like his father, and hears a call through the Dark Side.  Chewbacca who was with his family on Kashyyyk, contacts Luke,  and the Jedi Master follows Ben into the Unknown Regions and is lost.  Ben returns as Kylo Ren and takes leadership of the apprentices, now the Knights of Ren.  Leia argues with General Wedge to commit forces into the Unknown Regions, she forms the Resistance and takes military leadership as General Leia.  This leaves the new characters besides Kylo Ren.

First is Finn, he was the child of Lando, but his mother, Dhara (yup, I’m still pushing the Servants of the Empire novels) was stolen by the First Order and the baby taken into the stormtrooper program.  Lando brings in Han and Chewie to find his wife and child.  They find Dhara, but his child is lost.  Dhara has not lost hope and hopes to train as a Jedi as way to find him.  She leaves the Jedi Academy, before Kylo Ren destroys them, and heads off to find the missing child with Lando.  Lt. Poe Dameron (he was Commander in Force Awakens which is a rank at the middle of an arc for a character like Luke), he has been born after The Battle of Endor, his parents, Rebel pilot and soldier (this was in the Shattered Empire comic book), were well known in the New Republic.  He was in the New Republic fleet led by General Antilles, why Wedge is missing in the first two films, when his parents are killed by the First Order.  Poe joined the Resistance and makes runs across the galaxy to help build their military forces.  His senior officer is Commander Wexley.  This is to bring him in line with Luke Skywalker's character.  They have taken the old model X-Wings and upgraded them with new technology.  Admiral Nien Nunb leads the Resistance fleet.

Then, we have Rey, orphan girl who lives on Jakku.  It is not a junkyard, desert planet.  So thirty years and the scavengers of Jakku leave Star Destroyers mostly intact?  The engines and weaponry can be sold off.  What about the bodies?  Where are they?  The resourceful colonists there have built cities out of the wreckage from the Battle of Jakku and have a patchwork spaceport.  This is really when I took a trip to England and saw Hadrian's Wall.  Now, it is in someone's front yard, the pieces were used in a person's house.  The rare planetary visit trades in fuel and repairs.  Rey lost her memory when there was an accident and left by her family on Jakku.  Her guardian, Lor San Tekka, has raised her.  The guy who has the map to Luke Skywalker happens to be on the same planet as Rey and there is no connection?  Lor is the former records keeper and advisor to Luke Skywalker.  He was sent with Rey to protect her and keep her secret.  Lor has a rickety droid, Ar-U55, to watch over Rey and teach her how to fight, but keeps breaking down (I keep hearing the battle droid voice for him).  Rey goes out on her own to salvage wreckage and assist freighters with her tugboat.  This all of course to address Rey as a Mary Sue; how she is able to survive on her own, fight, and fly.  The droid was what is missing, no C-3PO just an R2 equivalent with BB-8.  So this brings us up to speed with Force Awakens.

#StarWars, #SequelTrilogy, #KyloRen, #Finn, #PoeDameron, #Rey