It was a year of comebacks. The Avengers! Mission: Impossible! Mad Max (concussion inducing level of exclamation marks)!!!! And, of course, the highest grossing domestic film of all-time (sans inflation): Star Wars. What’s great is that almost everything was good. Almost. […]
The quality of the Star Wars movies has reflected the struggle of the Light Side and the Dark Side. The Original Trilogy and Episode VII dwell on the Light Side as quality films with minor quibbles. The prequel Episodes I-III inhabit the Dark Side as flawed films with minor moments of logic and excitement.
The family saw Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on Christmas Day and enjoyed ourselves. At dinner we had a discussion where we each stated one “Light Side” thing we loved about the movie and one “Dark Side” thing we wish the movie had done differently. Quickly it became apparent that while the Light Side things caused great smiles they were fleeting. What we discussed most were the Dark Side flaws in the movie. Mutually agreed upon flaws that fed on each other.
Rogue One is a Star Wars movie. But judging the quality of Rogue One necessitates embracing both the Light and Dark sides. Rogue One is an enjoyable, flawed film.
***SPOILERS WARNING*** […]
The sixth annual listing of my top music for the year. A wonderful end for the Cubs, concert heavy and two OK Go videos in a year!
YouTube Playlist:
Or Spotify if that’s your preference (not complete).
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The fifth annual listing of top music for the year. Categorized more than ranked, pop music heavy because I’m busy, likely missing something profound, but full of good times.
A full accounting YouTube Playlist.
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Moving to a new state means experiencing a new local culture. I expected, as a new Wisconsinite, I would have fewer culture shocks than being a new resident of, say, Alabama or Hawaii as I moved from another, similar, Midwestern state. Similar is not the same, however, and, despite Wisconsin’s statewide smoking ban, I ended up searching through smoke for a bar to watch sports. Smoking is still a problem in Wisconsin.
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