by Josh Sewell
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| Courtesy of Lucasfilm |
This era of streaming media and hundreds of traditional channels provides us with practically an infinite number of entertainment options. However, in scary, uncertain times – a global pandemic, for example – we often fall back on familiar cinematic comfort food instead of new, unknown choices.
My wife and I are teachers, so we’re greatly privileged to still have jobs and the ability to do them from home. Our four-year-old, Ava, goes to bed early, which allows me to hold nightly film screenings for our nine-year-old, Addison, since she doesn’t have to wake up early for school now. Over the last couple of months, we’ve watched more than 50 movies across several genres, from cheesy ’90s flicks to popular romcoms to black-and-white films I would’ve never expected her to make it through.
That brings us to this week’s column. For more than a decade, I’ve occasionally used this space for a series called Catching Up on the Classics. I focus on an iconic film that I either haven’t seen or one that I’ve wanted to write about for a long time. Over the years, I’ve discussed movies like Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, The Apartment, Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Do the Right Thing.
This time around, we tackle one of the biggest of all, from Addison’s perspective: the Star Wars saga. Even though we watched other popular series first, including Indiana Jones and Back to the Future, she was hesitant to start arguably the most iconic franchise in Hollywood history. I told her I understood that it seemed overwhelming. I didn’t get around to watching them until I was a freshman in high school, and that’s when there were only three of them.
Now there are nine “Skywalker saga” films (the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the newest trilogy); two spin-offs; several television series; and other random, tangential properties. That’s a lot to take in. I told her this was supposed to be fun, not homework, so she could just sit on the couch and relax. She didn’t need to worry about which order to watch them in, how to keep track of all the characters, etc.
I would take care of which movies we watched and she could ask me questions whenever she needed to. That seemed to calm her down a little bit, so I popped in A New Hope (yes, nerds – I know that wasn’t the original title) and crossed my fingers.
It was a tough sell for the first hour or so. In fact, it took us two nights to watch the whole thing. I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve seen the original, but the pacing of a film released in 1977 isn’t ideal for a viewer born in 2010.
After that initial thrilling sequence, Darth Vader attacking Princess Leia’s cruiser and the droids – R2-D2 and C-3PO – escaping to track don Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine, not much happens until the characters get to Mos Eisley. (Seriously, pretend you’re a nine-year-old who has never seen these movies and read that last sentence again. It’s a wonder my daughter’s eyes didn’t cross from information overload.)
However, once Han Solo and Chewbacca entered the picture, she was in. We knocked out The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi within a couple of days and she was hooked. I even secretly filmed her reaction to the story’s big reveal. Her wide-eyed expression was spectacular.
Before starting George Lucas’ much-maligned prequel trilogy, I explained we were moving backwards in the story to watch how Anakin Skywalker, the awesome Jedi and pilot we heard about in the original film, somehow became the evil Darth Vader. What I didn’t tell her ahead of time was the saga’s terrible reputation. I wanted her to form her own opinions and not base them on what she was “supposed” to think.
The result was fascinating, and one that I’d heard about anecdotally from other people who’d either watched the films when they were young or showed them to young viewers. The aspects that “real fans” whine about – Ewoks; spending time with Anakin when he’s a little kid who shouts “Yippie!”; Jar Jar Binks; Yoda dropping his cane to leap around with a lightsaber; etc. – were some of her favorite parts. It’s almost like Lucas (you know, the guy who created these movies in the first place) was right: these are first and foremost movies for children.
When we got to the newest trilogy, she was much more into them. That’s partly because she was more familiar with the story’s complicated mythology, but mostly because the pacing, visual effects, performances and score are far more in the vein of modern filmmaking that she’s accustomed to.
The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker are directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, who never met a plot point that didn’t need to be unnecessarily shrouded in mystery or a cool piece of fan service that must be included even if it doesn’t fit into the story. They don’t hold up on repeat viewings as well as the older installments, but the whiz-bang visuals and intentionally hokey performances work if you don’t get bogged down in logic.
However, the biggest revelation for me this time around was what a raw deal Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi got from some people. It was critically acclaimed and made a ton of money, but a vocal subset of fans loudly and repeatedly trashed it.
In fact, here comes a scorching hot take. I know it’s divisive. I know people don’t like the casino planet. I know people hate that Luke Skywalker’s big return to the saga reveals that he’s flawed and scared instead of a superhuman savior.
But after re-watching all of them in order over a short period of time? The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars movie and I think time will eventually prove me right. Lots of people also hated Empire during its initial release and we see what happened there. I love how Johnson deconstructs the saga’s mythos and warns audiences about the attraction to, and dangers of, nostalgia. He turns the characters into real people, which makes their victories thrilling and their defeats heartbreaking.
But what do I know? Addison tells me that her favorite installment is The Rise of Skywalker (which I initially loathed, but merely disliked the second time around) and she gives it an A. The character she likes most is Rey (played by Daisy Ridley).
However, she wanted me to communicate that she also really liked Han Solo and Kylo Ren because of Harrison Ford’s and Adam Driver’s strong performances. It’s tough to argue with that last assessment – the kid’s a natural.
My wife and I are teachers, so we’re greatly privileged to still have jobs and the ability to do them from home. Our four-year-old, Ava, goes to bed early, which allows me to hold nightly film screenings for our nine-year-old, Addison, since she doesn’t have to wake up early for school now. Over the last couple of months, we’ve watched more than 50 movies across several genres, from cheesy ’90s flicks to popular romcoms to black-and-white films I would’ve never expected her to make it through.
That brings us to this week’s column. For more than a decade, I’ve occasionally used this space for a series called Catching Up on the Classics. I focus on an iconic film that I either haven’t seen or one that I’ve wanted to write about for a long time. Over the years, I’ve discussed movies like Gone with the Wind, Citizen Kane, The Apartment, Vertigo, 2001: A Space Odyssey and Do the Right Thing.
This time around, we tackle one of the biggest of all, from Addison’s perspective: the Star Wars saga. Even though we watched other popular series first, including Indiana Jones and Back to the Future, she was hesitant to start arguably the most iconic franchise in Hollywood history. I told her I understood that it seemed overwhelming. I didn’t get around to watching them until I was a freshman in high school, and that’s when there were only three of them.
Now there are nine “Skywalker saga” films (the original trilogy, the prequel trilogy and the newest trilogy); two spin-offs; several television series; and other random, tangential properties. That’s a lot to take in. I told her this was supposed to be fun, not homework, so she could just sit on the couch and relax. She didn’t need to worry about which order to watch them in, how to keep track of all the characters, etc.
I would take care of which movies we watched and she could ask me questions whenever she needed to. That seemed to calm her down a little bit, so I popped in A New Hope (yes, nerds – I know that wasn’t the original title) and crossed my fingers.
It was a tough sell for the first hour or so. In fact, it took us two nights to watch the whole thing. I don’t know how long it’s been since you’ve seen the original, but the pacing of a film released in 1977 isn’t ideal for a viewer born in 2010.
After that initial thrilling sequence, Darth Vader attacking Princess Leia’s cruiser and the droids – R2-D2 and C-3PO – escaping to track don Obi-Wan Kenobi on Tatooine, not much happens until the characters get to Mos Eisley. (Seriously, pretend you’re a nine-year-old who has never seen these movies and read that last sentence again. It’s a wonder my daughter’s eyes didn’t cross from information overload.)
However, once Han Solo and Chewbacca entered the picture, she was in. We knocked out The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi within a couple of days and she was hooked. I even secretly filmed her reaction to the story’s big reveal. Her wide-eyed expression was spectacular.
Before starting George Lucas’ much-maligned prequel trilogy, I explained we were moving backwards in the story to watch how Anakin Skywalker, the awesome Jedi and pilot we heard about in the original film, somehow became the evil Darth Vader. What I didn’t tell her ahead of time was the saga’s terrible reputation. I wanted her to form her own opinions and not base them on what she was “supposed” to think.
The result was fascinating, and one that I’d heard about anecdotally from other people who’d either watched the films when they were young or showed them to young viewers. The aspects that “real fans” whine about – Ewoks; spending time with Anakin when he’s a little kid who shouts “Yippie!”; Jar Jar Binks; Yoda dropping his cane to leap around with a lightsaber; etc. – were some of her favorite parts. It’s almost like Lucas (you know, the guy who created these movies in the first place) was right: these are first and foremost movies for children.
When we got to the newest trilogy, she was much more into them. That’s partly because she was more familiar with the story’s complicated mythology, but mostly because the pacing, visual effects, performances and score are far more in the vein of modern filmmaking that she’s accustomed to.
The Force Awakens and The Rise of Skywalker are directed and co-written by J.J. Abrams, who never met a plot point that didn’t need to be unnecessarily shrouded in mystery or a cool piece of fan service that must be included even if it doesn’t fit into the story. They don’t hold up on repeat viewings as well as the older installments, but the whiz-bang visuals and intentionally hokey performances work if you don’t get bogged down in logic.
However, the biggest revelation for me this time around was what a raw deal Rian Johnson’s The Last Jedi got from some people. It was critically acclaimed and made a ton of money, but a vocal subset of fans loudly and repeatedly trashed it.
In fact, here comes a scorching hot take. I know it’s divisive. I know people don’t like the casino planet. I know people hate that Luke Skywalker’s big return to the saga reveals that he’s flawed and scared instead of a superhuman savior.
But after re-watching all of them in order over a short period of time? The Last Jedi is the best Star Wars movie and I think time will eventually prove me right. Lots of people also hated Empire during its initial release and we see what happened there. I love how Johnson deconstructs the saga’s mythos and warns audiences about the attraction to, and dangers of, nostalgia. He turns the characters into real people, which makes their victories thrilling and their defeats heartbreaking.
But what do I know? Addison tells me that her favorite installment is The Rise of Skywalker (which I initially loathed, but merely disliked the second time around) and she gives it an A. The character she likes most is Rey (played by Daisy Ridley).
However, she wanted me to communicate that she also really liked Han Solo and Kylo Ren because of Harrison Ford’s and Adam Driver’s strong performances. It’s tough to argue with that last assessment – the kid’s a natural.
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