Star Wars, The Force Awakens

Actors: Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong'o, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, Max von Sydow

Rating: 10 out of 10, I am a victim of my youth and the promise exhibited in the First Star Wars trilogy that was never redeemed in the prequels. The less said about Mr. Binks and the Portman-Christensen acting chemistry the better. My wife was fully prepped; brought into the galaxy far, far away fold by viewing the first six films over the past couple weeks. She’d resisted my geekiness until overpowered by the constant marketing we’ve all been exposed to. At least it kept the politicians at bay for a while. The promise is redeemed. The Force Awakens completely recaptured the feel of that first Star Wars movie before Lucas “updated” it with CGI. All of the original characters are back, appropriately aged and arced. The story itself is disturbingly similar to the original but that too is forgivable since the new actors, especially Ms. Ridley, are so engaged and likable. There is CGI but it doesn’t become the end all be all that so damaged the prequel trilogy. It was everything I could have hoped for (which is saying a lot) and more. There is a cleverly developed shock near the end but the overall feeling of hope against a monolithic evil is preserved. When the screen went dark followed by the iconic John Williams score and the letters disappearing into the immense star field I was transported back to 1977 and that youthful sense of wonder. It takes a lot for this jaded version of that 1977 moviegoer to be giddy but last night I was and still am. The semi-suppressed inner geek is in full flower today.

MVP: Ridley as the millenial’s answer to Luke as Kylo Ren – kicks serious ass all movie long

The Hateful Eight

Actors: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern, Channing Tatum

Rating: 8 out of 10, This was vintage Tarantino with singular characters that he somehow weaves together for an interesting narrative as well as the obligatory blood and violence. Each character is fully formed and the movie doesn’t lose its way trying to tell everyone’s story but by the end of the film you know them all. Kurt Russell can’t do anything bad in my book and he dominates as a grizzled bounty hunter who reluctantly teams up with counterpart Samuel L. Jackson back to chewing up scenes for Tarantino. They are escorting Jennifer Jason Leigh to the hangman and she is sneakily the best character in the outstanding cast. While this isn’t Tarantino’s best work I walked out amazed that three hours had passed because it was mostly conversation with the odd head being blown off.

MVP: Jackson, as usual when teamed with Tarantino, shines as Major Warren