Al's Review of 2019 In Music

Last updated January 28 2020.

Year by year, decade by decade, I feel as though I move further and further away from radio. I still feel a nostalgic twinge when I think back on the 90s, and how turning on the boombox guaranteed that you'd hear an catchy hit. You might have had to sit through some overplayed, saccharine chart hits to get to anything fresh, but those hits helped define the decade. Same for the 80s. And the 70s. The 60s. And so on.

In terms of variety, the current era is probably the best time to be a music fan. Granted that music ownership may be in peril from the streaming model, streaming is a pretty flexible medium that allows me to listen to any genre, from any decade, any time and anywhere. The old hits I used to know and love are never really gone (save for some bands and one-hit wonders I've had to collect physically--that's a totally different rant though). So, I may not listen to a radio anymore, but some combination of Spotify, Amazon, Bandcamp, and Youtube will give me instant gratification for finding new songs and albums.

I found myself playing fewer CDs than usual in 2019. I did download loads of chillout tracks from a label on Bandcamp (a brand specifically called "Chill Hop," which is pretty smooth, if not a little repetitive). As usual, I picked up a lot of soundtrack music that caught my attention. Many of the bands I've paid attention to before are still pumping out new work.

What probably satisfied me the most this year was the amount of metal I came across. It's refreshing since I discovered less metal in 2018 and seemed to lean heavier on EDM type music. Now the pendulum swings back into the darkness, with pretty spectacular new work put out by Rammstein, Lacuna Coil, Tool, Dream Theater, KoRn, Opeth, Queensrÿche, and more. All these groups have given me a wealth of incredible new tunes that will continue to stir my imagination and make me pump my fist.

I have dabbled with the occasional electronic band as well. With my mind considering a possible new novel idea, I've started looking into more chiptune music (although I find myself gravitating towards, simply, listening to retro 8-bit video game tunes--I'll have to explore the genre some more). I wish I could say I heard more great pop and rock music, but the best I've found was the song made for Black Mirror--Ashley O's "On a Roll," which is nothing more than a bastardization of NIN's "Head Like a Hole," and done on purpose as a form of satire to match the episode of the show. And yet, Miley Cyrus made it so catchy.

From what I have heard, here are the latest albums and songs I enjoyed the most.

AL'S TOP 2019 ALBUMS

32: Anti-M - Pieces 

Pretty short collection of cover songs, but it's modestly satisfying. The band balances vocal beauty and powerful guitars in all the same ways that made me appreciate Damage. I find Pieces to be a little too mellow, but it could grow on me with its atmosphere and craftsmanship.

31: Bear McCreary - Godzilla: King of the Monsters Film Score 

Bear McCreary delivers the classic Godzilla themes we all know and love, now with fresh and powerful quality. Not only is it a sensible fit for the movie, but it's also pretty awe-inspiring to hear on its own. This album also deserves bonus points for including Serj Tankian's badass end credits song.

30: Delain - Hunter's Moon

Like most modern symphonic metal albums, this hits all the right notes. Vocals are strong, guitars are solid, the mood and atmosphere are on-point. Most of this album consists of live recordings, but for the original new songs, the guitars are exceptionally potent. Time will tell if this will grow on me more, but as of now all I can say is that it's solid.

29: Nemesea - White Flag 

This is one of those albums that I love half of and dislike the rest. I suppose that means it's a bit uneven. The slower tracks do nothing for me, but select songs--"Kids With Guns," "Don't Tell Me Your Name," "Fool's Gold," "Ratata"--are very catchy, with dramatic falls and uplifting rises that I find exhilarating. When the songs pick up, they hit hard, and I find myself replaying these select few quite often.

28: Okilly Dokilly - Howdilly Twodilly 

2019 was the year I learned that Ned Flanders themed metal--otherwise known as Nedal--is real. And man, it is as brutal as it is amusing. It makes me wonder how much anguish and torment Ned Flanders actually endures in the Simpsons. Judging the music can be a little overwhelming with its sheer noise, but I've come to appreciate select songs (favorites of mine being "When The Comet Gets Here," "I Can't It's a Geo," "Murder House," "Claw My Eyes Out"). The band is mostly a novelty meant for a laugh, but it does strike some surprising mood and gravitas at times. This band shall stand proudly next to my collection of Dethklok and Austrian Death Machine CDs.

27: Fury Weekend - Escape From Neon City

This brand of retrowave is on-point and I wouldn't fault it for much. The synths and percussion are groovy as ever. Fury Weekend is a little high-tempo for my taste, which is why I place it a grade below its brethren acts (Scandroid, Sunset Neon, Signal Void are more my speed). If it's a punch you want with your 80s future sound though, this album is well-built, fairly catchy, and keeps the momentum running consistently.

26: KoRn - The Nothing

There comes a point where one can't help but to listen to so much KoRn and not see it as a lot of whining. Trauma is part of their brand, and their music is an expression of pain and torments I couldn't possibly understand. And yet, there are points in this album where I feel as though the anguish becomes over-the-top, and I'm not entirely sure if I should laugh or cry at it. Still, this is a solid album for them, with a few songs I find catchy and interest. It's all as raw, dark, and powerful as one would expect. I find it more palatable than Jonathan Davis' solo effort, but not quite as good as The Paradigm Shift.

25: Opeth -  In Cauda Venenum

Opeth's latest album (a double-album nonetheless with a Swedish side and an English side) continues in the same vibe as their last few releases, with perhaps a bit more atmosphere. They're still not nearly as heavy and screamy as their initial works (which I'm fine with), but In Cauda Venenum still packs a fair punch with its deep guitars, bass, and vocal power.

24: Future Girlfriend Music - Through Space To See You 

I stumbled across this album randomly on Bandcamp, wondering if this is real J-pop or what. I wound up falling in love with the vibes it produced--it came off as a throwback, reminding me of how dance floors used to sound and feel. At the same time, it feels pretty fresh with its thumping percussion, pleasant accompaniments, and deep bass. This must be, like, the Japanese Daft Punk, and I find it soothing.

23: Tarja - In the Raw

It is my humble opinion that, of all musicians I know of, Tarja Turunen still boasts the best singing voice. Her latest solo album doesn't disappoint--her voice is still the star amidst a raging sea of rip-roaring guitars. Few guests join in the fray (including Christina Scabbia, holy crap!), offering a selection of songs that are fairly catchy, and often times haunting. Sounds raw, but still beautiful, just the way I like it.

22: Cassetter - Escape Plan (Demos and Rarities)

I honestly haven't heard any other songs by Cassetter, but I picked up this album on a sale. As expected, it's more retrowave, woo! What I like about this album is that it's purely instrumental. The melodies, crafted from atmospheric synths, are pretty cool. The album offers a little something for every sci-fi whim a writer like me could indulge in, and I see myself drawing inspiration from it for future works. I really ought to check out the band's other works now.

21: Eric Serra - Anna Film Score

Reliable as ever, Eric Serra delivers a cool score for a (somewhat) cool film. There are a couple of pop tracks to match the films' fashion-scene angle, but the rest offers just what you'd expect from a spy movie score--throbbing bass and percussion, mood and style, and atmosphere. It can be mellow and moody at times, but there are bursts of energy. The only thing missing is a distinctive theme, but for listening on its own, I don't think it's all that necessary.

20: Matt Morton - Apollo 11 Film Score

Part of the allure of the Apollo 11 film is the funky way it marries archival footage with a modern soundscape, courtesy of Matt Morton. The synths in this score are no joke--they add an otherworldly air that adds gravitas, tension, and atmosphere to something as mundane as a historic shuttle launch. It's a heck of an experience while watching the film, and it makes for a moody listening experience on its own. It's everything I could ask for when thinking about music for space.

19: Tyler Bates and John Swihart - Far Cry: New Dawn Soundtrack

This may be one of the more unique soundtracks released in 2019--even though Far Cry: New Dawn demands some grit and intensity for its action-packed gameplay, the soundtrack offers some slick synths to accentuate the colorful, neon-rimmed aesthetic the game ultimately aimed for. The result is pretty exciting at times and very moody other times. The "Hope County" track hits me every time with its weird, bending notes, which adds a surreal atmosphere. Other tracks boast pulsing, pounding percussion that accentuates the pulsing synths, but there's an occasional burst of guitar to bring an Earthly sound when needed. It's as emotional as it is awesome.

18: Comaduster - Dark Matter

This band has recent grown on me, and Dark Matter offers exactly what I'd expect out of them: a brand of electronica that achieves high intensity, but maintains an even tempo even when it dives into the darkest melodies. Percussion is nice and strong, the electronic aspects lends an appropriate otherworldly sound, the heavy guitars add weight, and the vocals are smooth. I consider this to be quite the solid album.

17: Dream Theater - Distance Over Time

On par with the bulk of Dream Theater's albums, but hardly derivative or bland. As expected, the album delivers a fresh round of original tunes with fair hooks, phenomenal vocal quality, and powerful guitars. The album is consistently melodic, dramatic, and just plain awesome.

16: Hans Zimmer - Dark Phoenix Film Score 

Arguably, the music may be the sole redeeming quality of the Dark Phoenix film. Hans Zimmer employs his usual tricks (which may be irksome to some folks) to deliver a score that bursts with emotional crescendos--the kind that never seem to end as the notes and keys constantly shift. There's drama and power to the orchestrations, and I find it rather awe-inspiring.

15: Max Richter and Lorne Balfe - Ad Astra Film Score

Much like the Apollo 11 score, Ad Astra's score employs its fair share of pulsing synths to give the film a futuristic and otherworldly ambience. But much like the scores for Interstellar and 2002's Solaris, this score also expresses mood and emotion when warranted. The range of electronic sounds is often appealing track-to-track and scene-to-scene. It matches the movie well, and makes for an inspiring listen.

14: Signal Void - This Liminal Reality

This is on-par with some of the other FiXT "Neon" acts I've lent an ear to--the percussion thumps hard like Scandroid, the synths pulse and waver like Fury Weekend, but the mood and is smooth and atmospheric like Power Glove. What I like about Signal Void's work so far is that it bears all the structural strengths and the right sound of retrowave, but with a sense of gravitas that genuinely feels like music of the future, instead of a mere throwback. It's cool stuff and I can see myself writing to this more often than some of the other bands.

13: The Anix - Hologram

The Anix caught my attention over the past couple of years thanks to their mood and style. They're dark and heavy, but with an electronic flair that places them more in the realms of futuristic rock than straight-up metal. Crisp drums, deep guitars, and haunting voices define Hologram as much as they define their previous work. It's all on-point--if cyberpunk has a sound, it'd probably sound like this album, and it's pretty cool.

12: Tyler Bates and Joel J Richard - John Wick Chapter 3: Parabellum Film Score 

If you've seen these movies and/or heard these soundtracks, you know what to expect. It's becoming more of the same (like the movies?), but it still fits the films like a glove. Mood and style ooze out of each track. The themes, with the dark, slick combination of percussion, piano, and guitar, are still recognizable and characteristic. Above all, this album boasts energy and intensity that matches the on-screen action and is pretty invigorating to hear on its own. The soundscape is also expanded to feature more exotic sounds (thanks mostly to the Casablanca scenes, which warrants more Middle Eastern instruments at certain parts). There are no songs included on this album, unfortunately, although Julia Aks' "Dance of the Two Wolves" is a standout instrumental piece that could give Rob Dougan a run for his money. John Wick is three for three when it comes to music.

11: Sunset Neon - Starlight Remixes

Bret Autrey's brand of synthwave is so on-point as it is, the only thing that could be better are remixes! Granted that the original songs are good fun as they are, I am floored by how smooth these remixes are. The vibes and rearranged melodies exude different ranges of moods and emotions that I find soothing--most especially the Robots With Rayguns remix of "You Are the Sun," which now gets regular spins on a few different playlists of mine.

10: Various Artists - Once Upon A Time In...Hollywood Soundtrack

Like the movie, this is a totally hip time capsule of 1960s Hollywood, complete with old-fashioned radio ads and announcements. Listening to this album is like tuning into a Californian radio station, so the experience is already novel and fun. The actual songs are decent, featuring enough energetic 60s rock to make you want to groove. The album even features a couple familiar hits from different artists: José Feliciano's version of "California Dreaming" and Vanilla Fudge's version of "You Keep Me Hangin' On" are both interesting gems. All of those on top of Deep Purple's "Hush" and a whole bunch of Paul Revere and the Raiders makes this a rather valuable compilation in my ever-growing collection of psychedelic rock.

9: Scandroid - The Light  

Klayton had previously led us into The Darkness, and now he brings us into The Light. As expected, his brand of retrowave still boasts powerful drums, dazzling synths, catchy melodies, all unified by his smooth voice. The vibes are lighthearted, the tempo is often pretty high and brimming with energy. What really blows me away is "New York City Nights," in which a smooth sax accentuates the throwback sound and adds some soul to the mix. The 80s sound never sounded so slick and new.

8: Lindsey Stirling - Artemis

Lindsey Stirling captured my heart with her debut album, and she does it again with her latest. Even though I wasn't particularly enthralled by Shatter Me or Brave Enough, I feel as though Lindsey brought back a certain purity of sound with Artemis, thanks to the simple focus on blending her exquisite violin with throbbing dance tracks. Pop vocals aren't quite as prevalent, and that's probably why I liked this more. I guess I don't ask for much--lay down some violin with some drums and I'm good. Fortunately, the melodies are catchy in Artemis, often to the point of achieving a level of class amidst each song's structure. For the first time in a while, I find myself inspired by this sound again. I also don't mind the sci-fi/anime aesthetic.

7: Rob Dougan - The Life Of The World To Come

The third of a trilogy of EPs Rob Dougan has delivered over the past few years. His latest work has been a refreshing burst of class and quality since his immense hiatus. Even though I find his vocals a little grating in some songs, the instrumentals behind this EP are dang near perfect. There's a sense of drama, melancholy, and joy amidst the classical-inspired orchestration, and there's still a nice modern flair thanks to the percussion. Music like this made it worth the long wait since Furious Angels.

6: Lacuna Coil - Black Anima 

And you thought Delirium was dark and heavy.

These fine Italian headbangers dive headlong into heavy currents of dark melodies, roaring vocals, and raging guitars. The tempo is high, the riffs are intense, and each song boasts catchy melodies. I've always admired Christina Scabbia's voice, which always counterbalanced the darkness with a certain beauty and elegance I can admire--the contrast is starker in this album thanks to Andrea Ferro's growls. And yet, the album manages to experiment a little more, pushing Scabbia's vocals to shocking heights, Ferros' to incredible lows, and even the accompanying sound lucidly flows from electronic to gothic. It's all harmonized in a unique way that invokes the very feelings I come to admire from the band--I'm still in awe over the way they merge darkness and beauty.

5: Queensrÿche - The Verdict

While I find it hard to connect with new work that some 80s bands produce (looking at you guys, Aerosmith, Def Leppard, Boston) Queensrÿche surpasses my expectations by delivering a sound that's most certainly the stuff of heavy metal dreams, but is still fresh thanks to its remarkable hooks, daring melodies, and sheer vocal power. Every song in The Verdict feels like a winner--catchy, fast, but harmonic. Above all, there's an uplifting power behind the spectacular guitars and melodies--the kind of power that makes me feel alive.

4: Leah - Ancient Winter 

Just about all year, Leah promoted her latest self-produced album that promises a winter theme for her brand of Celtic-infused metal (and I was a backer, naturally--Leah won me over with Kings & Queens). When I finally heard the final product, I felt it was a mellow affair--the guitars are far more subdued than from her previous albums, to the point where it feels more like folk and less like metal. And yet, I'm pleased by the sound. Soothed, in fact. For a Christmas album, it's a perfect fit. There's still a decent tempo and sense of power to it, but the Celtic elements combined with Leah's beautiful voice add a new age flavor I find elegant. It stirs the imagination as much as it does the soul.

3: Thomas Newman - Tolkien Film Score

I mean, it's no Howard Shore, but there is a gentle, soothing quality to Thomas Newman's oeuvre that could just as easily make you feel at home in the Shire. With the Tolkien score, Newman taps into the familiar new age style that Shore exemplified in his movie scores, but with far less pomp. There is still a clash of light and dark, but the whole album plays smoothly and softly, becoming a wonderful ambience that I find inspiring. It matches the movie just fine, but on its own, it's lovely and soulful. It sets a perfect mood for fantasy writers, and it can serve as music to relax to. I can't think of a more perfect album to conjure up images of dragons, magical rings, and the beauty of nature.

2: Rammstein (Self Titled)

Another band makes a bold comeback, this time after a ten year gap. Rammstein hits their notes hard as ever, still boasting catchy riffs and hooks amidst an intoxicating miasma of industrial drums, guitars, and punchy vocals. There's practically no filler to this album--every song becomes an earworm that's hard to shake. I am especially floored by "Puppe," easily the darkest and most gut-wrenching metal song I've heard all year. I mean, damn--is Till Lindemann okay? Somebody better give him a hug soon--his chorus exudes pure agony (see Jonathan Davis, that's how you express trauma).

Rammstein's discography has been loaded with awesome hits, but their latest album ought to stand as one of their best. The only reason I don't rank it as number one is because one other band made a heck of a comeback this year, and I've been listening to it far more often and intently...

1: Tool - Fear Inoculum

It's been thirteen years since 10,000 Days (funnily enough, it hasn't been a literal 10,000 Days, that would have been a 27 year wait). Tool unveiled their latest work in some kind of crazy packaging that plays a video when you open it. Yes, I own a copy and it's so indulgent and crazy that I actually kind of like it.

If it's one common thing I've noted in all these albums I've written about, it's that I've been attracted to sounds that are smooth. Not slow, not soft, but an even tempo with sounds I find pleasing. Even in a metal album like this, Tool achieves a level of lucid smoothness I find appealing, most especially in the song "Fear Inoculum," which starts off like a kind of meditation and gradually intensifies with throbbing guitar blasts. I am most especially enamored by the riffs and lyrics of "Pneuma," a song that practically begs for spiritual awakening. Every other song is solid. And complex. And long. The whole album is a feast of sound, so full of timbre, depth, and melody. And yet, the guitars still sound awesome and catchy. But it all goes down my ears smoothly thanks to its restrained cadence.

Tool always strives for a certain worldly sound and aesthetic, which seems to extend beyond the physical world. If there can be such a thing as meditation in metal (heavy, progressive, what have you), then Fear Inoculum succeeds in a way I find palatable and invoking. I know other fans prefer their older albums over this (most especially Lateralus and Ænima), probably because they offer heavier riffs. I'm content to pop in Fear Inoculum and become lost in its dark sea of thought and feeling, over and over again.

AL'S FAVORITE 2019 SONGS

 

 

Al's Review of 2019 In Video Games

Last updated January 22 2020.

The new decade begins at an exciting precipice. The modern generation is as slick as ever, as gamers enjoy a variety of old and new games on 4K displays, powered by high-end hardware, often with the option for virtual reality and motion controls.

Honestly, I haven't even taken advantage of the full range of technological marvels. My PS4 is the older model that outputs in 1080p, and I've never invested in a VR headset. I'm still not even sure if VR is a good idea or not. Chances are I'm missing out on a whole world of gaming opportunities by skimping out on Nintento products and the X-Box.

Regardless, the games still look pretty smooth and clean on the equipment I have, and in 2019 I enjoyed a consistent amount of gaming time. I wish I could say I played a lot of great new games, but it's only amounted to a handful. What is surprising is that many old games have received ports on the PS4, and they've been a hoot. This includes 2009's Ghostbusters (which rightfully could stand in as a viable third chapter for the motion pictures), 2002's Star Wars: Jedi Outcast, and collections of old arcade classics like Contra and Castlevania.

What is disappointing about 2019 is that many of the titles I looked forward to the most (like Doom: Eternal and Cyberpunk 2077) were ultimately pushed back into next year. I'm not entirely mad about it though--if the additional development time churns them into better products, then so be it. What will make the next few years more thrilling will be the possibilities of new generation consoles hitting the market. Rumors indicate that the PS5 may be a beast of a machine, able to render games in unprecedented speed and quality. Chances are that other consoles will follow suit and may even surpass the PlayStation, although I look forward to the 5 specifically for its supposed backwards compatibility. It is my hopes that the games I have on the PSN will still be playable on future systems.

It's hard to believe that it's now been six years since the PS4 came out, and twelve years since I bought the PS3. I still have a gaming backlog on both systems. Regardless, I did make some time for the latest releases that interested me, and it's been a pretty interesting year. After a long, dry stretch with nothing really interesting, I took a chance on some titles that caught my eye: The Outer Worlds, Control, and Death Stranding. The latter two struck a chord with me in particular, since my writing ventures have drifted into the realms of surrealism, cosmic horror, and the paranormal--these games fed my imagination in quite incredible ways. Death Stranding, despite all its indulgences and mundane gameplay, managed to captivate me the most with its unique worldbuilding and addicting reward system. Control, however, is a game that strung me along with its captivating mysteries and enigmas--even as its story is unveiled and the combat becomes more powerful, the game still bears an aura of something dark and otherworldly. These were the games I didn't even know I wanted, but they turned out to be just what I needed.

With the hype of Star Wars Episode IX: Rise of Skywalker, EA surprised everybody with its own franchise entry, Jedi: Fallen Order. It had been a long time since a Star Wars game captivated me, but this one did the trick. Loved the gameplay and I liked the story. Earlier in the year, games like Far Cry: New Dawn and Borderlands 3 satisfied my gaming itch, and they've been satisfying.

Aside from some titles being delayed, I haven't experienced any disappointments this year.

AL'S TOP 2019 GAMES

7: Observation 

Through the many eyes of a space station's computer, you play an artificial intelligence that watches its fellow astronauts, guiding them from danger and solving problems that inevitably lead them across an interstellar odyssey. It's a bit of a slow-burner, given that the cameras move and zoom rather slowly as you scour the cramped modules for data and things to control. It is a neat story though, full of surprise, atmosphere, and emotion.

6: Far Cry: New Dawn 

It's a pretty meaty expansion on yesteryear's Far Cry 5, offering a lengthy post-apocalyptic epilogue to the last game's story. It's practically enough content to be its own game, but the gameplay and controls remain the same. The story is fine and all, carrying over the same themes as previous games. It's the world that makes it awesome, and it is a fabulous sight full of detail and color. The map is pretty stuffed with things to do, but even if you explore the whole thing, there are expeditions that take you to other unique areas with their own set of challenges. Sneaking and combat remain satisfying as ever. Even in the blazes of a nuclear inferno, the fundamentals of Far Cry remain the same, making this a solid entry in the franchise.

5: Borderlands 3 

For a time, this was my most anticipated release. It did not disappoint. It's very much more of the same, but with more. As in, a bajillion more weapons, interesting new characters with new powers, a bunch of new worlds brimming with quests and challenges. The story broadens the Borderlands universe in an immersive and fun way. Even at their most psychotic, the characters remain an endearing bunch thanks to their comedy and chemistry. It all looks great and runs well. Above all, the gameplay is deep enough to warrant endless hours of playing and slaying.

4: The Outer Worlds 

It's basically a mash-up of Fallout and the Firefly TV show. I think that's a good thing--the gameplay alone keeps me enthralled with simple things like looting, leveling, exploring, and questing. Combat is fair, but it's the RPG aspects and story that kept me invested. Like it was with Mass Effect, it became very gratifying to find a ship, assemble a crew, and take off on exciting missions. In this case though, the retro aesthetic offers a unique flavor that I find classy and cool.

3: Jedi: Fallen Order

This plays like a modern Tomb Raider game, but with the checkpoint system of Dark Souls and the combat of Shadow of Mordor. Combined, these aspects make Jedi: Fallen Order a rather compelling challenge--fighting stormtroopers and Sith inquisitors takes patience, but becomes rewarding as the character levels up and gains more power. I was addicted to exploring the maps to find all their secrets. Above all though, this is an interesting story that fits well into the Star Wars canon, but without falling back on excessive nostalgia. There are a lot of cool new things to experience in this game, even if it feels familiar.

2: Control 

This game hooked me with all the same narrative tricks a good book or film would use--compelling mysteries and story questions, surreal details that demand explanation, character motivations that are gradually revealed, and bizarre world-building. The first few chapters of this game gave me a strong David Lynch vibe, before answers came and this became something like inFamous meets the X-Files. Once you unlock weapons and powers, the game blazes through some gripping paranormal combat, while its story continues to dive into dark, unreal dimensions. I found this whole experience refreshingly unique and satisfying--easily one of the most original games I've seen in a long time, which could only be surpassed by...

1: Death Stranding

Death Stranding is an experience that demonstrates how gaming can be a work of art. If for no other reason than it's bound to be polarizing. Even Kojima confessed that many gamers will be put off by the core gameplay, which amounts to nothing more than walking across a rugged map to deliver tons of cargo to people in bunkers. Not only is it tedious, but the game also demands an aggravating amount of nuance as you're forced to balance yourself, evaluate weight and sizes, and optimize routes. All of that while defending against cargo-addicted bandits, sneaking past ghosts, and protecting an infant attached to your chest.

The game initially sold me on its stranger aspects--the world-building involved with this game is elaborate, to the point where it feels excessive at times. What I admire, however, is that the game uses its premise to deliver a unique and challenging kind of gameplay. As any good game should, it takes its time to slowly immerse the player in its story and train the player on how to handle its various challenges. You don't even get a gun in this until much later in the story--killing is not even the focus (and the game seems to make it a point to steer players away from outright violence, going so far as forcing the player to handle the consequences of a dead body). What the game teaches you instead is stealth and how to care for your packages.

The focus on logistics is where the game may lose its interest--as a person employed in the logistics field, I can't help but to get a little excited when the game draws its thematic parallels between a logistics network and "building bridges." Connection is the point of the game, and your success not only depends on rebuilding America coast-to-coast, but in tapping into the Chiral network to share other players' structures and resources. I found it gratifying to build things that other players used, and it was very rewarding to have other players' things appear when I needed them to.

The story for this sprawling monster of a game is very twisted and involving, to the point where it's often indulgent, and it doesn't even make that much sense in the end. Some of the reveals are simply too hard to stomach. Most of the dialogue is exposition. It's hardly the best-written game, but I'm rather forgiving of it because I liked the characters and was drawn to their personalities. I was pleased with the actors and the overall quality of the game. All of that, and the simple pleasure of being rewarded for making delivery after delivery, kept me engaged for hours. It all added up to one of the longest, deepest, most unique gaming experiences I've had all year.

AL'S NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENTS

•  In the months leading up to the release of Borderlands 3, I replayed Borderlands 1 and part of 2, this time on the PS4. I dug through most of the DLCs that I never played before.
• Won platinum trophies for Control, the remastered Ghosbusters, Destroy All Humans! (the port, not the remake), Blackwood Crossing, Far Cry 3, and the first Borderlands game.
• Played a good chunk of Assassin's Creed: Odyssey. It is probably my favorite of the series, but since I put it down I forgot about it and became distracted by other games.
• At the beginning of the year, I was still fooling around with Hitman 2.
• Started a new playthrough of Shadow of Mordor, this time with the GOTY edition.
• Started a new playthrough of Catherine, this time with the "Full Body" edition on the PS4.
• Dabbled with some horror titles in October. I'm not even sure if I can handle some of these--games like Amnesia, Outlast, and Alien: Isolation can give me some serious anxiety. However, I was enjoying Until Dawn.
• Started a lot of games that I need to finish, including some of the ones listed above. Other games started: Dark Souls, Darksiders, Star Wars: Jedi Outcast, Everspace, and Diablo III.

GAMES AL IS LOOKING FORWARD TO IN 2020

Cyberpunk 2077: The game trailer has me sold. Cyberpunk is a genre I admire, extending to the Deux Ex games, although I'm certain that Cyberpunk 2077 will put more emphasis on combat and "punk" than atmosphere. It looks cool, slick, and exciting. And it has Keanu Reeves. Whoa.

Doom Eternal: My enjoyment of the 2016 game and the preview footage floating around Youtube has me excited for the next installment. What I've seen so far looks quite extreme, over-the-top, colorful, gory, and it ought to be just rip-roaring fun.

The Last of Us Part II: The first part remains on of the most emotional stories I've seen in a video game. The second chapter is bound to be just as punchy. Existing previews look intense, promising interesting new directions and characters, but with brutal new challenges.

Happy New Year 2020!

2019 is over, and with it a whole decade comes to a close. The year passed in a flash, probably due to a consistently busy work schedule. All of the 2010s passed by slowly though. It's hard to believe that so much had changed between 2009 and now.

In ten years, I lived and worked in three different places--from England to Utah to Georgia. In each place, I've met so many different people, many of whom have offered lessons, connections, and even fond memories. Each workplace offered their fair share of challenges. In each place I called a home, there were beautiful landscapes, fascinating history, and unique cultures worth exploring.

In 2019, I've had the chance the see several interesting new sights. While my mother attended a conference in Atlanta, I went to see Stone Mountain Park, where a massive mural is engraved in the side of a massive granite mound. In April, I flew with my dad to Seattle, where we visited family members we hadn't seen in a long time and catch up with them. It was also a chance to see the tulip festival, museums (including the LeMays Car Museum and the National Nordic Museum), and picturesque sites in surrounding towns (including a Bavarian town called Leavenworth). Later in the summer, I saw the city of Norfolk and I took a tour of the USS Wisconsin--an Iowa-class battleship that had served during WWII and the Cold War, but is now docked in the city and open to the public. Towards the end of the year, I saw the town of Camden, which hosted a reenactment from the Revolutionary War. These were all rather short trips, but it was far more than I had in the previous year. I probably have as many memories as I do photos.

Outside from these excursions, I've spent my time simply working and going home every day. Same as it was last year. There are a few things that have never changed in the past decade--as I did in 2009, I still watch quite a large amount of films and play video games. I've written several manuscripts, some short stories, but over the past five years or so my understanding of the craft changed dramatically. It happened because I did something I should have done years ago--I sought critiques from other writers, and it underscored problems that I never even knew I had. It's caused me to change the way I write most pieces, and in turn it's caused me to see other works (books and films alike) in a more critical light. The learning process is still ongoing and will likely never end.

This has been one of a few things that made me realize that I may not know as much as I think I do. I thought I knew about writing and storytelling, but it's become clear that there are lessons, techniques, and patterns I was oblivious to. But even in other aspects of life--such as my other hobbies, my knowledge in the workplace, my interactions with people--things I thought I knew turn out to be wrong.

With these shortcomings in mind, it is my intention to achieve a better level of personal discipline this year. In part, it means learning to be patient, listen more, and stop assuming I know all the answers. I hope to improve my attitude, regardless of how cynical the rest of the world becomes.

In other respects to obtaining discipline, I also wish to control my time and actions in a way that facilitates my other goals. One of those goals is to lower my weight--it is something I thought I could control, but it's become apparent that my eating and exercise habits need more accountability, and that's a process that's already been implemented.

If I hope to become a better writer, I always hear that I need to read more. Maybe a lot more. Last year, I succeeded in reading 16 books all the way through--some of which were graphic novels. More should be easily possible, I just need to set aside the time for it. Doing so will mean cutting the amount of time I spend on movies, TV, and video games. Limiting those kinds of activities will probably do me good anyway.

At the same time, my media collection remains rather huge and full of titles that I have never seen. Many of these come from box sets I've collected. It would be nice to get through all 300 or so blind-buys, but one thing is certain: I will be collecting a lot less in the upcoming year.

Last year, I had the goal to have a new novel ready for publication. Or at least something presentable to beta readers. This never happened. Most of my manuscripts remain in pieces, and it's become clear to me that I need to do more work on plotting, outlining, and making developmental edits. I intend on spending more time to do this on old and new projects, but it may also mean more study, reading, or critiquing. Whether editing or doing actual writing, I'd like to make it a focus every day, even if for just an hour.

Those are the broad resolutions I have this year, and it amounts to becoming a better, healthier, more proactive person and a better writer. If I can keep it all up, I anticipate that the 2020s could be a successful decade, no matter how frightening the future and all its challenges and changes may be.

An Appreciation of Star Wars Episode VI: Return of the Jedi

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW

In 1983, two things happened of rather significant importance to me personally. First, I was born. Yay! Second, the original Star Wars trilogy ended with Return of the Jedi. This would be the last adventure for a generation, in which evil will be vanquished once and for all.

Now witness the firepower of this fully armed and operational third act climax!

Return of the Jedi is one of a fistful of movies that made me appreciate the cathartic value of a grand finale. The film is as grand as they come, and to this day, I’d contend that the Battle of Endor boasts the best-looking space battle on film. The sheer ambition with the models, animation, and scale really shows in the final product. All of that juxtapose to all the shenanigans in Jabba’s palace and Endor’s forests, and the film exudes the same spirit of adventure I loved in A New Hope, but with more polish.

Of course, the film is hardly perfect. But I’m okay with that, especially given my feelings over the perfection of The Empire Strikes Back. There are goofy moments in Return of the Jedi, but I never minded them at all. To me, this movie represents a return to joy and the spirit of adventure. But the most important thing the film does is resolve the lingering threads of previous films and achieve a genuinely satisfying conclusion.

One Perfect Finale

If the entire Star Wars trilogy is a three-act story overall, then Return of the Jedi embodies the entire last act—in itself, an all-out climax. And really, the film is a long string of action sequences—half of which takes place on Tatooine to resolve the issue with Han, and the other half takes place on Endor for everything else. Scenes in between on Dagobah and Sulust are very brief before the “endgame” commences. What keeps me glued to the screen the whole time is that both halves of the story are built-up by having the characters make a plan and execute it. Their plans ultimately don’t work, causing them to improvise, adapt, and execute new plans throughout the story. This keeps the battle scenes rolling for very long, consistent periods of time without coming off as repetitive, boring, or overly-noisy.

There is a crap-ton of action in Return of the Jedi, but the moments in between the action remain compelling thanks to the way the scenes address the characters and the outstanding conflict between them. Previous films had set up at least a couple of arcs that needed to be resolved—the biggest and most important one is between Luke and his father. This in turn winds up tapping into an implicit conflict between Vader and the Emperor. It all collides in the Throne Room fight, which remains my favorite scene in the whole series. The actual fight is incredible in the raw emotional power Luke shows as he’s tempted by the Dark Side and skirts its edge. But what happens afterwards are the moments that alters the galaxy’s destiny—Luke chooses the way of the Jedi (through non-violence) once and for all. When the Emperor tries to kill him, Vader chooses to overthrow him (literally), thus choosing his son’s life over his own well-being once and for all. These choices, though simple, result in consequences that lead to an Emperor’s demise, a father’s atonement, and a hero’s affirmation in goodness. This is the way the Jedi returned. All of it carries an emotional power that hits me harder than everything in The Empire Strikes Back.

There are other threads that are wrapped up. The three-way love triangle between Luke, Leia, and Han is tidily resolved by pegging Leia as Luke’s sister, which seems to make Leia’s relationship with Han more validated (even if it makes the kissy scenes with Luke more cringey). In the scene where Luke tells Leia about their relationship, we can see a brief burst of tension erupting when Leia pushes Han away. This lasts only a moment before Han turns around and apologizes—I appreciate this moment because it shows a certain nobility in Han, and in turn this shows how far he’s come since the first movie.

The issue of Obi-Wan telling Luke a different story about his father is addressed, and it never was a hard thing to fix anyway. All it took was Obi-Wan's ghost reappearing and brushing it all off as a "different point-of-view," suggesting that he never really lied because to him Anakin had actually died and was supplanted by Vader as an alter ego. It does little to mask the disparity between movies--I am pretty certain that Vader being Luke's father was never planned in A New Hope, so this becomes a kind of retcon. But for all intents and purposes, this is a sufficient explanation. What helps is that it remains within Obi-Wan's character--he always had a sly way of nudging Luke in certain directions, and if you rewatch A New Hope with the sequels in mind, it seems as though he does know more about Vader than he's willing to admit.

By the film's end, all the heroes unite in a victory celebration. All the antagonists--both major and minor--are dispatched in some way. The Empire is (supposedly) fallen. There are no story questions left to answer. No more threads left hanging (although the adventure can continue in a new era or generation, as numerous novels and the Disney movies proved). The film ends on a high note, with Luke and all his companions together, and the ghosts of Anakin, Yoda, and Obi-Wan watching them fondly. It's as good of an ending as I could ask for from this film series.

Jabba No Bother

Jabba is amused by his own subplot.

Han could have been written out of the movie entirely, given the behind-the-scenes tension between Harrison Ford and George Lucas. The actor had expressed an unwillingness to continue playing the role, which promoted the direction in Empire Strikes Back to freeze Han and have him shipped away. Ford ultimately did return for one more episode, and it does prompt the story to address how he’ll rejoin the team of heroes for the final fight. Jabba the Hutt was always teased in the previous two movies, so this subplot always felt inevitable to me. One lingering thread that had to be addressed.

Scenes in Jabba’s palace always interested and excited me. It is a literal hive of scum and villainy—there is an air of sleaze, grotesqueness, and grit that’s very fitting in a series full of bounty hunters, smugglers, and rebels. It’s as if they took the cantina scene in A New Hope and amplified it tenfold.

The film has a sly way of stringing its audience along, first following the two droids into the palace with no context concerning what will happen. They are unaware of the full plan, so we are too--when Luke's hologram reveals that the two droids are to be gifted to Jabba, it's a shock to all of us, and it's one of the first twists that happens in the whole sequence. The next big surprise is that the bounty hunter claiming Chewbacca's bounty is actually Leia, and she's the one who frees Han (although Jabba anticipates this move and captures them all--fortunately, Lando remains hidden among his rabble, so we know that there's more to the plan). At this point, Luke enters the palace to take care of the rest. I don't think he goes in with a plan at this point, but he prepares himself by hiding his lightsaber in R2 (who is now also among Jabba's gang). By the time they're all on the sail barge, all the pieces Luke needs for success are in place, and it's just a matter of fighting his way out (which, in turn, comes together thanks to how all the heroes overcome their respective challenges--Leia kills Jabba, R2 saves C3PO, Han saves Lando, Boba Fett is killed by accident).

It is inherently satisfying to watch the heroes succeed though their own machinations. But it would have been really boring if their plan went off without a hitch. There is no way they could have expected Jabba to discover and capture Leia, or trap Luke in the Rancor pit. For these instances, Luke had to rely on improvisation to escape danger and protect his friends--this called for a combination of skill, luck, guile, adaptation, and strength to get out of it all alive. These are all heroic traits that Luke embodies--he's had some of them since the beginning, but with his experience and past failures, he taps into his qualities in a more sublime way.

Luke Skywalker, Rise

Luke's greatest enemy--his own right hand.

One can argue that Luke has no real arc in Return of the Jedi. He remains the same person in the end of the movie as he is in the beginning. In between this and Empire Strikes Back, there is a notable difference--after all the defeat he faced before, he bounced back stronger, wiser, calmer, and more prepared. That alone made him a much more appealing character, and I love watching him kick butt throughout the movie.

In the last couple of movies, Luke's role in combat has been rather modest. He did land the winning shot against the Death Star, took down a few walkers on Hoth, but he's had very few scenes where he's shown in shootouts, duels, and close quarters fighting. In Return of the Jedi, Luke is finally given a plethora of scenes where he's the centerpiece of the fighting--he fights against the Rancor and wins (without the use of his lightsaber nonetheless), he escapes execution and fights a small army of ruffians on skiffs, he takes out scout troopers on speeder bikes, and in the end he lands a crippling blow against Vader. He has way more awesome wins here than in any other movie. All of this could only happen here because of the nature of his arc--at this point of the story, he has finally gained the skills necessary to become a more formidable fighter. It's a far cry from the whiny farmboy he started out as.

And yet, there are more important traits he shows that he's never had before. Patience, for one. He comes off as a calmer, quieter character who doesn't rush into combat or show as much impulse. Many of the exchanges he has with other characters are heartfelt and somber, in contrast to previous movies where he seems to brim with energy.

Luke's temper is tested in the end, but even in those moments he knows better than to cross the line into rage and he chooses to discard his weapon rather than to murder his own father. With this action--one of the most important character decisions in the series--he chooses nonviolence, which reflects the Jedi way (at least in a fundamental form, the Jedi Order is shown in the prequels to have become warfighters, but that may have been one of the reasons why it collapsed in the end).

The contrast Luke shows with his former self shows that he has changed, and he makes the final transformation in the movie's endgame. I've known one or two people who've said that in final victory over the Emperor Luke becomes useless. He just lies there and lets himself become zapped, calling out for his father for mercy. This is a moment where all the badass traits seem to dissolve, and you could say that Luke becomes a wimp. And yet, this is an inevitable direction to push Vader to make the right choice. It might even be the case where Luke martyrs himself on purpose, to help save his dad. Either way, this becomes Vader's victory in the end moreso than Luke's. And that's the point--a villain becomes redeemed, and Luke would go on to become the person Anakin failed to become.

Luke is a character I could always take or leave in the other movies, but in Return of the Jedi, all these aspects makes him much more interesting in my eyes.

It's A Trap!

Eywa is not pleased.

As I noticed with The Phantom Menace, Return of the Jedi handles its last battle by layering multiple narratives and intercutting between them. Once the Battle of Endor commences, it gradually unspools into a sprawling conflict that takes place on the planet's surface and in space. Both arenas have their heroes who have to overcome a myriad of obstacles and problems. It's especially deceptive since it seems like it'd be a straightforward victory, but the ground forces are ambushed and captured before they can rig up the bunker to explode, and the Rebel Fleet is caught between the Death Star II's shields and the Imperial fleet.

Between the two arenas, things only get worse. The Rebel Fleet falls under fire from the Death Star's main cannon, and the Ewoks seem to fail repeatedly. Yes, it's silly that the Ewoks are involved at all, but the way I see it their victory is enabled with one fairly creditable twist--it happens when Chewbacca takes over an AT-ST and obliterates the other walkers. Once that happens, Han has a way to fool the Imperials into opening the bunker, and it allows them to finally take out the shield generator. Ewoks alone couldn't have done this--they were best served as a distraction to spring the heroes from captivity (and as a kind of guerilla fighters, they did succeed in a few minor wins). The original concept to use Wookies on Kashyyk would have probably been more awesome, but I wouldn't want to mess with no Ewok either. Those little psychos nearly ate the main characters.

These threads are further entwined with the Luke/Vader/Emperor fight in the throne room. What's notable is that the Emperor's threats offer some short-lived dramatic irony, as he tells Luke outright about the forest ambush and the operational Death Star canon.

The way the three narratives are cut overlap each other so that dialogue and actions in each have impacts across the whole battle. It allows the battle to carry on for nearly half the movie without suffering any drag. Even the most prolonged sequence is pieced together from a myriad of micro-tensions and scenes that always pit the heroes against new challenges, forcing them to improvise as they go. Victories do eventually happen, but the film is careful to show a string of failures leading up to them (which includes seeing some Ewoks getting blasted, some rebel fighters exploding, rebels losing space and ground, and the heroes losing their chances or opportunities to gain an upper hand). The problems have gravity that weighs things down, but when there's an upswing it feels quite triumphant.

There are films where the ebb and flow of battle are less prevalent, or even non-existent, and it results in long battle scenes that bore audiences. It could be that some of these movies fail to engage their characters in the events, or vice-versa. Characters might not be in danger at all, so the stakes fall flat and we wind up not caring about them. For the most part though, it boils down to spectacle overriding the story--it's obnoxious at best and exhausting at worst. Thirty or more minutes of Endor is consistently brisk and fun--by comparison, thirty minutes of anything from Michael Bay's Transformers series will make you want to gouge your eyes out. Thirty minutes of the Metropolis fight in Man of Steel will give you a headache. All of the Battle of the Five Armies from the third Hobbit movie will make you shrug. These and other lengthy battle scenes fall short for one reason or another. Return of the Jedi manages to avoid all these problems thanks to the way it tracks each character and engages in the problems they face, rather than focusing solely on the spectacle of battle.

End of an Empire

You maniac! You blew it up!

When the fighting stops, the film gives a very brief denouement that amounts to nothing more than Vader's cremation and the heroes partying it up with the Ewoks (and in the Special Edition cuts, we see celebrations break out across the galaxy, including Coruscant (which, in 1997, was the first time anybody had seen the awesome city-planet on-screen)). Amidst all the goofy dancing and shenanigans, the movie ends on an earnest note with the Force ghosts and a final shot of all the heroes grouped together. For the intents of the three original movies, this is all that's needed--a simple focus on characters enjoying the moment of their victory.

With other movies contributing to the Star Wars universe, there are larger questions that the film doesn't address (and it really can't, given that for the longest time this was the end of the saga, period). Was "balance of the Force" actually achieved? I'm still not entirely certain--I would have thought this happens with both the Jedi Order and the Sith defeated, leaving Luke as the last Jedi standing (and I think think this is Lucas' intention or canon--that "balance" means all good and no bad). But I have seen arguments from other fans pointing out that balance should be an even number of good and evil, or none of either, or something. Funnily enough, that's a concept Snoke alludes to in The Last Jedi. But the fact that we have a Sequel Trilogy also indicates that nothing is actually over with this series--the Empire may have fallen, but new evil takes root and a new round of heroes has to rise to the challenge. In that sense, if balance was achieved in Return of the Jedi, it's a short-lived victory. Vader's sacrifice might not even mean much when Palpatine returns in the Rise of Skywalker (although that's not a hard twist to follow given that Palpatine may have stolen the secrets of life and death from Darth Plagueis). The Force is thrown out of whack again, despite everyone's best efforts.

The political ramifications of the Emperor's (temporary?) demise is not covered by any movie. Somewhere between Return of the Jedi and The Force Awakens, there is a New Republic established. It wouldn't have happened overnight--the whole galaxy would have surely been in turmoil given the sheer power vacuum the Emperor would have left behind. Anarchy--literally, the transitional chaos between transitioning forms of government--would have consumed many worlds (including Coruscant) and probably led to civil unrest, warring factions, and a divided universe. All of that is glossed over. Probably because it's not as nice of an ending as watching Ewoks use Imperial helmets as drums. It's also something that goes beyond the story's immediate scope, which is more interested in showing the end of Luke's and Anakin's journeys amidst a Rebel victory. What will happen the next day? It's nobody's concern in this movie, but I think a line or two could have addressed the issue adequately.

There are other things I admire in Return of the Jedi. Some additional praise I have are as follows:

• Luke Skywalker in black. Hell yeah.
• You know, despite all the gripes about Ewoks, I still like certain things about their scenes. I like how they regard C-3PO as a god--there are sci-fi writers who've written entire books about how aliens, robots, or technology can be easily misconstrued as magic, and the film works that angle in pretty smoothly, even if it's not a theme that's explored to its fullest potential. I like the peril the heroes are in when the Ewoks capture and threaten to cook them. I like Leia's first encounter with Wicket (the sequence with the sniper is actually fairly suspenseful). I even like some of the nonsense words the Ewoks used (there is one instance in which one of them says something that sounds like "he is nice," and it can't be unheard. For some reason, when I was a kid I adopted "yub yub" as some kind of nonsense I said all the time, and it stuck with me and a couple of my friends).
• Just as The Empire Strikes Back did, the film introduces awesome new things--ships, vehicles, weapons, aliens, and entire worlds--that help expand the universe. Some old things are brought back, including more AT-STs, and so many stormtroopers. What we also get are speeder bikes, sail barges, flying skiffs, Mon Calamari cruisers, a myriad of new fighters (including TIE Interceptors, A-Wings, and my personal favorite, the B-Wings). We see scout troopers and red guards for the first time. Not to mention the insane number of new aliens we see bumming around Jabba's palace.
• We also see much more of the Emperor Palpatine. This is the first time we see him in the flesh, and when he gets out of his chair, we see Force lightning being used for the first time. 
• I always liked Admiral Ackbar. I don't even know why. Mon Mothma deserves a shoutout too, and her being the leader of the Rebellion I wish she was in more of the movies (thankfully she is seen more in Rogue One).
• On occasion, there are scenes or individual shots that elicit thoughts and emotions with mere images and no words. Even though there are a lot of punchy images to behold throughout the trilogy, Return of the Jedi manages to grab my heartstrings the most with these specific scenes:
• Much of the throne room scenes look decent, but it really hits home when Palpatine finally tempts Luke into a fight, and we see the Emperor laughing through the two lightsaber beams. What really gives me chills is the last bit of the fight, when Vader elicits Luke's rage he furiously backs Vader into the walkway--the combination of camera movement, choreography, and music elevated the scene to cathartic levels.
• Vader's cremation scene is appropriately somber and feels like the right way to tie up the father/son conflict. Between the flames and the medium shots of Luke's expression, I can genuinely feel for it.
• Visually, the film overall looks unique. The last couple of Star Wars films were deeply steeped in grunge, desolate, and industrial settings, which often looked oppressive and scummy. We still see much of that with Jabba's palace, but afterwards the film shows a lot more blue and green, and it's a pallet I find appealing and wish was in more space movies. Something about the forest scenes, especially when composited with the ships and walkers, look pretty cool to my eyes.
• John Williams' score is on-point, as usual. What stands out to me in Return of the Jedi is the dramatic cue used when the Rebels first approach the Death Star (on the soundtrack it's labelled as "Into the Trap")--I rather wish that theme was used more and for longer, but for the one scene it's pretty chilling.
• The dance number in Jabba's palace always called for something sleazy to match the setting. The song used in the original theatrical release--a bizarre alien number called "Lapti Nek"--fit the bill perfectly. It doesn't have any of the swing of "Jedi Rocks," but that's fine--"Lapti Nek" still had beat, but with some combination of blues, disco, and 80s style synths. Sy Snootles' vocals were lower-pitched and a bit grody perhaps, but it seemed fitting.

There are a few things to dislike about Return of the Jedi. Those things are:

• Tonally, the film seems to flip-flop between the darkness and grunge we see in the other movies, and an elevated level of light-heartedness. Ewoks betray the lighter tone the most given their cute nature and the funnier antics they share with the heroes. There's no denying that most of it is aimed as a younger audience. I have recently heard somewhere that the original script called for Wookies to be used instead of Ewoks, and that the movie's battle was supposed to be on Kashyyk instead of Endor. How awesome would it have been to see an army of Wookies winning the final ground battle against the Empire (especially since the Imperials enslaved the Wookies--the battle could have entailed their liberation). The decision to make them all Ewoks was a business decision that would have sold more toys to more families, and it shows in the final product. What could have been epic is made a bit tame. When you're a kid in the 80s, I just rolled with it and accepted that Ewoks could defeat an Empire, sure. Recently, fans have expressed their dislike of the little critters more, citing it as an unlikely victory (I think it still works because of Chewie's involvement, as mentioned above). I think the real issue is that we can see the business decision for what it is.
• As much as I enjoy watching the ground battle, it did occur to me recently that I have no idea how the Ewoks were able to do the things they could. They have catapults that seem to appear out of nowhere. They somehow arrange for a pair of logs to swing from trees and smash one of the walkers. They somehow arrange for a whole bunch of logs to roll down a slope and topple another walker. Logistically, all of these things would have required a lot of manpower, heavy lifting, and coordination that would not have been possible on the fly, especially for critters of this size.
• The film, as it was with Empire Strikes Back, starts off strangely weak. Both movies open with, simply, ships in space. They move. They launch shuttles, which dock and unload people. The opening lines of Return of the Jedi serve only to inform us that the Emperor will he hanging around the Death Star II. I mean, sure, the ships look cool and all, but what ever happened to the in media res method that A New Hope (and Revenge of the Sith) used? I much prefer it when these movies open with a bang. I would have even accepted this one opening with the two droids approaching Jabba's palace, which is where the story really seems to start anyway. You could skip the first few minutes of the movie and miss nothing.
• The three original films were handled by three different directors, and you can see the differences in their styles when you look at how scenes are paced, how the actors are blocked, and what kinds of camera angles they use. Ivan Kershner probably found the best balance of cinematic technique for The Empire Strikes Back, whereas Richard Marquand offers little new to the table. Return of the Jedi looks good and all, but its best scenes are the more dramatic ones (like the throne room scenes). The film bears a more workman-quality look, with little in the cinematography and composition that I find particularly moving. But from Lucas' comments, it seems as though Marquand was picked for how well he worked with actors and his previous work on suspense films. I think those qualities come through fine when evaluating performances. But the other odd thing I noticed about Return of the Jedi is how it slows to a crawl between the major story scenes, resulting in large chunks where characters share a sentimental chat (this seems to happen in any scene between Luke and Yoda, Luke and Obi-Wan's ghost, Luke and Leia, Leia and Han, and Luke and Vader). It's not such huge drag, but it feels tonally soft when these scenes happen, and I suspect is might stem from Marquand's style.
• This is the second time the Death Star is used as the core problem of a Star Wars movie (and sadly it won't be the last). I suppose the Empire could just build another one, sure, and it does present huge stakes, but it retreads old territory. It would have been more exciting to see something else in its place. 
• Speeder bikes in a forest are utterly impractical. There's no way a scout trooper could navigate through the dense trees at such high speeds without regular crashes. Walkers make more sense here (and there are some, yes). The speeder bikes should have been introduced in the last couple of movies, where the environments were much more open.
• Boba Fett goes out like a chump.

And that's it. Few major nitpicks, but for the most part I've always loved the movie. Its entire runtime is a climax to a film arc that pushes its characters to the tops of their peaks. This is the only film where I find Luke to be pretty awesome, because he does a lot of awesome things instead of whining. It's also a joy to watch Han come out of the carbonite, even if Harrison Ford got sick of playing the character. Watching cuddly Ewoks in action is a small price to pay for some of the best space battles in the series, and a heart-wrenching finale that pits Luke against his own father, and even himself. It helps that the story is woven with multiple strands that intersect and keeps the long-winded finale interesting and compelling.

It is done.

For a time, I would have pegged this as my favorite of the original trilogy. Right now, I'd probably place it second behind A New Hope. Both exude a kind of adventurous spirit that I find wonderful and exciting. Even though new threats would pop up in the galaxy, the film ties up all the story threads it has to, and it does so with heart. I still think this is a great ending for a great trilogy.

An Appreciation of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back

WARNING: SPOILERS FOLLOW

As an 80s kid, there was never just one singular Star Wars movie. The original three films constituted a complete, coherent trilogy, and to watch the entire saga meant sitting through all three movies beginning-to-end. In this respect, The Empire Strikes Back was always the obligatory middle bit. In my youth, I regarded it as that cool film with the walking machines in the snow, the Millennium Falcon navigates an asteroid field, Luke falls down a hole in some sky city, R2 spits mud, and Yoda trolls everybody. There's plenty to love.

Oh no! They're striking back! RUN!

As an adult who frequently engages the film forums, I find that Episode V always tops everybody's lists of all-time favorite films. Even more than the '77 original. And it's not hard to see why--the film is damn near perfect. The story is on-point in the way it continues the adventure and pits existing characters against dangerous new enemies and perils. It's to the point where the story takes daring twists that offer compelling challenges, and this extends to the famous reveal in which Darth Vader tells Luke "No, I am your father!" Just five words, but the dramatic weight hits squarely in the audience's hearts and minds. It forces us to recontextualize everything that was told to us in the previous episode, and it sets up personal stakes that have to be reconciled in the next. It's such a famous line and moment that it's been parodied and spoken ad nauseam--often incorrectly to add context outside of the movie, resulting in a Mandela Effect (which is just bogus in my opinion, Vader always said "No" first).

As a film, I can't fault it for anything. Cinematography is top-notch. Acting bears a lot more gravitas than in A New Hope, and it works. The production looks decent, to the point of pushing the scope and scale of the movie and showing exciting new ships, monsters, and effects. And, of course, the writing is decent.

And yet, I find it hard to get excited over this episode like everyone else. When I was younger, I found myself bored with certain parts (most especially the Cloud City scenes). In my later years, I've fallen asleep during it. It seems unheard of to be bored, but in time I realized why this happened. There is such a thing as being too perfect, and this film is the prime example of it.

The Riddle of the Middle

Wow. So exciting. Much adventure.

Most of my gripes about The Empire Strikes Back stems from the nature of the film--as the middle part of the trilogy, it achieves all the things that the middle of any story should do. But that is the entire film, and it has the effect of dampening action, both dramatic and theatrical. It shouldn't be the case given the sheer amount of action the film has--we spend the first quarter or so of the movie watching the Battle of Hoth, and everything afterwards is the Empire chasing the Falcon.

And yet, that's part of the problem--most of the film is driven by chases. It is interesting and exciting when the Falcon hits the asteroid field, encounters the exogorth, or hides on the side of a Star Destroyer. But every other scene involving the Falcon seems to be about flying from (or even flying towards) Star Destroyers with little more variance. And it all happens again when they leave Bespin and have to evade the Executor one last time. By that point, I just want the film to end already.

Even outside of the space chase scenes, we're treated to scenes that are either characters talking a lot (which happens on Hoth, Bespin, and Dagobah), or characters running from one point to another--throughout the last act it feels as though Leia, Lando, and the two droids spend their time rushing across the whole city, and it becomes repetitive and tiring.

My fatigue stems from the movie's place in the overall trilogy. Even though A New Hope has a complete three-act structure on its own, it also serves as the first act of an overarching three-act trilogy. It is the film that introduces the core characters, the universe they live in, and important concepts like the Force. As the middle part of the trilogy, The Empire Strikes Back has the burden of lifting the second act of the trilogy, which means bridging the story from the beginning (which is enthralling in how it hooks the audience and pulls them into a sweeping space adventure) and the end (which is enthralling in how it wraps all the lingering strands together in a grand finale). What does the middle offer? Changes primarily, and it's good because the film makes the effort to evolve the characters through challenges and failure. But in a series that's most memorable for its epic battles and special effects, the film makes the unusual decision to front-load itself with its biggest setpiece (the Hoth battle) and leave the rest to focus on the story. It is an important story worth telling, but the structure has the odd effect of seeming to diminish more as it goes on. I suspect this is because the biggest stakes are with the Hoth battle, and everything else at the film's actual climax is whittled down to strictly personal stakes. To me, it betrays the film's role as a middle chapter, not as a film that can stand on its own.

Laugh It Up, Fuzzball

It wouldn't be Star Wars without some kind of comedy, and there are some great zingers in Episode V. And yet, after hearing the lines hundreds of times, they don't make me laugh anymore. I think the film's funnier parts occur with Yoda's introduction and some of the bickering between Han and Leia. But every other funny scene is usually something with C-3PO, who comes off as incredibly annoying. That's probably because everything he says is contrarian or a complaint. And it seems to be done on purpose to generate some of that comedic banter between him, Han, Chewie, and everyone else. For the most part, I just wanted him to shut up.

The bigger issue with the comedy is that it's so on-point that it doesn't really surprise, please, or illicit laughter. It's just kinda there. You see it coming. You see it going. That only leaves the dramatic scenes to carry the movie, which they do admirably. But it has the effect of draining the life out of this film. It's all important and I wouldn't ask for the film to be made any other way, because it really is perfect. But in its perfection, it is missing a certain spark or pop that made A New Hope, Return of the Jedi, and The Force Awakens so much fun. Heck, I even get a kick out of all the ill-advised humor of The Last Jedi.

I suppose that most film fans are drawn to the dark, dry, serious nature of Episode V, and many probably wish that all of the films in the series had this same quality. For whatever odd reason, I prefer a little more camp and goofiness in my Star Wars diet. Without those qualities, it all comes off as overly stiff.

One Perfect Twist

"Junior, give me your other hand!"

Despite all the qualities I dislike about the film, one can't help but to admire the one thing it's most remembered for--the "I am your father" twist. This scene could have gone any number of ways--the original script read it as if Vader told Luke that Obi-Wan killed his father, but the real reveal was kept under wraps and not given to the actors until they were on-set. Even the cast members were blown-away by the big twist.

It's all led up to this moment--all the exposition given in A New Hope set up audiences to accept Luke as the son of some great Jedi who was betrayed and murdered by Vader. To conflate Vader and Anakin as one and the same is a jarring revelation with immense implications. The first and most obvious issue that's addresses is that Obi-Wan lied (or told the truth from his "point of view," suggesting that Vader and Anakin are two separate and distinct personalities, one good and one evil). Luke vocalizes this inconsistency in the film, assuring us that the filmmakers didn't forget what Obi-Wan told Luke originally--it's simply a good question for another time.

What has probably captivated audience's imaginations the most is simply the notion of being related to evil. One could read into the lore a little and realize that at some point Anakin had to turn on the Jedi Order and do some pretty nasty things to become Darth Vader (and this is indeed shown in the prequel trilogy). Vader is no longer just a two-bit Imperial thug, he is a fallen hero. This puts Luke in the precarious position--as the next in the bloodline, he may have inherited all of Vader's traits and capacity for evil (and we see this emerge in Return of the Jedi, even if just briefly).

Vader's character is further deepened by this twist thanks to the way it reveals his motivations. Despite him and Luke being enemies, Vader never shows any intention of killing Luke outright. Everything he does in the movie he does to preserve Luke's life, which shows that he cares deep down. This may be the sliver of good that Luke sees in him. Vader seems to always cover this up by promising the Emperor that Luke will be turned to the Dark Side. What winds up happening is that Vader's actions say one thing and his words say another--this in turn shows the inner conflict he feels concerning his son.

It is at this moment in the series that the past, present, and future intersect and becomes a sucker-punch to Luke's face. His realization is a profound turning point for the series, for it is the precise moment in which the pretense of his youthful adventures are town down and he's shown a cold, cynical truth that will affect who he becomes. It's a turning point that just about any good character will go through in order to change, and a changing character is the most profound type. All great stories have changing (or dynamic) characters in some form--Luke's pattern is on-point, and we can all tell by the film's end that he won't be the same after all these events.

Luke's decision immediately after the reveal is to simply fall. This simple action shows that he was more willing to sacrifice himself than to succumb to evil, regardless of the fact that it was his father temping him. This is the last hurdle he overcomes before returning in the next chapter as a matured Jedi Knight. This is the moment he changes--the culmination of a long string of lessons and failures.

That Is Why He Fails

Very helpful Ben. Thanks.

Luke's arc in A New Hope was subtle, amounting to little more than realizing his full potential with the Force. It is a big enough step to make the movie feel uplifting and triumphant, but Luke doesn't change as a character. The person he was at the beginning remains the same by the end.

The same is not true by the end of The Empire Strikes Back. When we first see Luke, he seems chipper as ever. Just moments into the film, he's smacked by a wampa and dragged to an ice cave to be eaten. Even though he uses the Force to escape (really, him relying on the same heroic qualities that were established beforehand), he faces the next problem of surviving in the wilds. He only gets out of this mess when Han saves him (and later a snowspeeder squad).

After the battle of Hoth, Luke is on his own. He manages to crash his X-Wing on Dagobah, and it looks hopeless that he'll be able to leave again. He searches for Yoda, finds the little guy right under his nose, but doesn't have the foresight to see through Yoda's pretense and recognize him as the Jedi Master. Yoda himself shows skepticism that Luke actually has what it takes, but the training commences anyway on Obi-Wan's insistence. What follows is a training montage with a string of lessons--just about all of them stem from Luke's misunderstanding of the world or an outright failure to complete a task.

Luke spends the entire movie falling flat on his face--a complete opposite of A New Hope, where he had so much success and enabled the Rebels' victory. The things that made him successful in the past now work against him--his impulsiveness, nativity, and lust for adventure. All of that, combined with his relationship to Han and Leia, forces him to fall right into Vader's trap, where he experiences the ultimate failure. He isn't able to save Han in the end. Leia and the others save themselves before saving Luke, now battered and missing a hand.

The events of the film, like life itself, had beaten Luke to the point of humility. The lessons of Yoda and the words of Vader stick with him because his previous experiences without all that knowledge had failed him. With new knowledge and experience, he will come back stronger and wiser. Thus, a character is successfully morphed through the process of repeatedly failing.

All of this also has the effect of reinforcing Yoda's speech concerning a Jedi's indifference towards adventure and action. As an adventure film, Empire Strikes Back places much emphasis on danger and peril, to the point where it's bleaker, crueler, and more nihilistic than any other Star Wars film. From the opening scene onward, everything in the universe seems to want to kill or hurt Luke, including his own father. Any pretense he has about "adventure" in its most idealistic form (something that A New Hope emphasized more) is torn down, adding to the truth and humility that Luke experiences.

Of course, all of this taking up one movie makes the experience a downer. Some folks find this admirable for a Star Wars film, and I'll admit that the mournful finale fits the tone and story aptly. That doesn't make it satisfying though. There is still an Empire to fight. Luke will have to face his father again at some point. Han is still in peril. The whole galaxy remains oppressed. Even though Return of the Jedi addresses all these points, I could never truly accept the ambiguous ending of Empire Strikes Back as the end of a stand-alone adventure--it might as well end with a big "to be concluded" title card.

The Power of the Dark Side

So many stars, so many wars...

Despite my reservations about the film's pacing, structure, and a certain "stiffness" to its presentation, there are other things to admire. And those things are:

• As a film, it is indeed objectively better than A New Hope and Return of the Jedi. This extends to:
• The script--it's on-point and I really can't recall any lines I consider to be awkward or goofy.
• The performances, all on-point.
• The production design, now seeming bigger and expanded with a wider range of filming locations, big sets, elaborate props and costumes, and elaborate special effects (including a whole new slew of awesome-looking ship and vehicle models, new creatures, and more).
• Sound design, which is strong and punchy.
• John Williams' music score, which is still phenomenal.
• The filming style, which I believe is something Irvin Kershner brought to the table. Camera angles are often really interesting, and there are a few movements that evoke a stronger emotion--it's a grade more powerful than George Lucas' style, which is more distant and objective in nature.
• The film expands on the Star Wars universe in pretty exciting ways. Some of the great new things we see in the film include:
• Ice planet Hoth, with its tauntauns, wampas, and blizzards.
• A slew of technology, including probe droids, bigger Star Destroyers, TIE Bombers, AT-ATs, AT-STs, Snowspeeders, cloud cars, and carbonite freezing. Among other things.
• A city in the clouds. In fact, it's not that common to see (or read about) settlements on gas giants, and I admire that Bespin is something more unusual and exotic than a typical exoplanet.
• We see the exogorth--a huge creature literally living in the vacuum of space. 
• We are introduced to Yoda.
• We see the Emperor for the first time. Which only makes sense for a Galactic Empire. Duh.
• We see bounty hunters for the first time, of which Boba Fett gets his fair share of the spotlight--enough to peg him as a quiet, dastardly villain, but not to the point of overkill.
• We see the Force being used in a more tangible way, with Luke using it to lift things for the first time. We also see the Dark Side in more use as Vader chokes his command staff arbitrarily and throws things at Luke. We are also introduced to the notion of the Force being used to foresee future events.
• We see Force ghosts for the first time. In A New Hope, we only heard them.
• This may be more of a character-driven reveal, but it is worth noting that we see a brief glimpse of Vader without his helmet from the back of his head. The scarring we see is an important indication that Vader is still a human being beneath his suit and mask, and he suffered through horrific pain previously--pain that shaped him into an icon of evil.
• One scene that stands out is the scene where Luke crawls into a cave and fights a vision of Vader. When he beheads Vader, the mask explodes and Luke sees his own face. One could argue that this scene stops the movie dead in favor of a metaphor, which becomes shorthand for the psychological conflict Luke faces. And yet, this is one of those scenes that encapsulates what the film is about thematically, and I feel it's important enough to warrant the extra few minutes to watch. The battle with oneself is probably the most compelling conflict any story can tackle, and this is a creative (and visual) way for the film to address it.
• As I mentioned in my post about Attack of the Clones, the romance between Han and Leia works pretty well. And it works not because the characters tell their feelings outright, and nothing in the script tells us that they love each other. It is shown, gradually as they spend time bickering and sniping each other, before drawing closer in the midst of conflict and finding chemistry. All of this happens because the characters change each other--Han stuck with the rebellion across two movies, proving to Leia that he's not just a scoundrel. Leia in turn lightens up around Han. Opposites always attract, and it makes sense for these two to come together. It even gets to the point where their fighting becomes a form of playful banter, and it's kind of charming that way. Even the whole "I love you" "I know" exchange is on point (it's worth noting that the cast spent a lot of time deciding on Han's best response in this scene). 
• I like how Piett watches all his fellow officers die, and he winds up living in the end despite losing the Falcon in the last scene. There's a morbid irony to his constant promotions.

It is a perfect film in the end. So much so that I find it a tad overrated. And yet, I wouldn't fault anybody for praising it as the best or an all-time favorite--the film does exactly what it's supposed to do with competency, emotion, and thought. I just wish there was more zing to it--something that A New Hope and Return of the Jedi provide with their spirited adventurism and humor, but it comes at the expense of gravitas.

What's admirable is that The Empire Strikes Back is a film that beats the sh*t out of its hero and leaves him half-way dead, hand-less, and hanging off the bottom end of Cloud City, left wondering about all the lies he was fed throughout his sheltered life. It might even resonate more with me now, in a time when I'm personally reflecting on failures and the misconceptions I once believed in. Watching the Empire strike back is hardly a feel-good experience (and it tries my patience sometimes), but it is an important step in the overarching journey of Luke Skywalker and his eventual rise as a Jedi Knight.