Category: film & tv

Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

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One of the best things about using a word processor is being able to do clever stuff like this:

  1. The Phantom Menace
  2. Attack of the Clones
  3. Revenge of the Sith
  4. A New Hope
  5. The Empire Strikes Back
  6. Return of the Jedi
  7. The Force Awakens

Y’see if I wanted to, I could slot a new line between, for example, three and four, and all the other numbers below it would shift down one to make room. You can’t do that with movies unfortunately, which means Rogue One gets a bit of a bum deal; it gets tagged with ‘A Star Wars Story’ like it’s a weird cousin you don’t invite to the same party as your posh guests. This is a shame, because Rogue One deserves to be slotted into the main episode line as it’s one of the best of the lot as far as I’m concerned.

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Film review: Arrival

Okay, I can’t really say too much about this film, other than go see it. Arrival is a slow-burning Sci-fi flick about twelve vast alien ships that  appear from nowhere. The job of learning the aliens’ complex language falls to a young linguist with attachment issues and a theoretical physicist who believes the problem of communication with minds so different from our own can be solved through mathematics. The answer is halfway between, with a little ingenuity and intuition thrown in for good measure.

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This is thinking Science-Fiction, a bit like Interstellar. The script is sparse, very much pared to bone actually, which is odd when you think about it because this film is very much about language and what it can reveal about the universe around us. The acting is superbly understated with Amy Adams and Forest Whitaker delivering creditable performances, and Jeremy Renner proving he’s more than just a superhero bowman.

I loved it. One of these films tha leaves you thinking for days after, and wanting to see it again just in case there’s something you missed.

If you only like your sci-fi with gunfights and star battles then Arrival is probably not for you. But if you’re looking for a killer, thought-provoking story with a little excitement along the way  then it’s most definitely worth a punt.

Easily ten out of ten.