Action.

With people now at home with little entertainment options left, ESPN decided to throw us consumers a bone with an early release of a documentary series chronicling the 1998 Chicago Bulls basketball season. Originally scheduled for release in June around the time of the NBA playoffs, this date was pushed up for obvious reasons. Instead of waiting for release when the series had been already been completed and ready to watch, and with the NBA season suspended indefinitely, ESPN decided that today, April 19^th, is as good as any day to debut the highly anticipated first two episodes. While a documentary series isn’t necessarily a movie, I decided that this culturally relevant work will get a pass and count toward the theme of my blog.

Although the series is targeted to tell the story of the last season of the impressive Bulls dynasty with the appropriate title, “Last Dance,” the series has been promoted heavily as a Michael Jordan documentary. Since Jordan is such a household name and holds a presence unlike any other cultural figure alive, the popularity stemming from this documentary chronicling his career appears to be through the roof. With people of all ages stuck in the house, this docuseries is a great bonding opportunity with family, as grandparents and parents must remember the aura of the 90s Bulls and people my age never experienced watching him play. The nostalgia stemming from older relatives and the new information and footage that us young people will see for the first time serves a great release from the current social climate and an excuse to spend time with family. Since tonight is the first episode, I’ll take a break from writing this and go watch with my parents and brother, then come back for a quick recap…

… Wow. In anticipating a full-on Jordan documentary, I was dead wrong. Of course the series will focus on him since the best player on the team has a huge role to play in the lead up of the last year of a dynasty brought to life through him, however the amount of time in the first episode focused on the coach Phil Jackson and the GM Jerry Krause surprised me. The episode started out with a focus on the ’97 season’s finale of the Bulls winning the championship and preseason of ’98 with the Bulls traveling to Paris to play an exhibition game. Then Michael’s college days were chronicled focusing on his rise from a modest home to a top 3 pick in the NBA draft to quickly becoming one of the best young players in the league. The airtime put toward the tension of Krause and Jackson shed a meaningful light on the tone that the filmmakers want to convey as a tense final season with much at stake. Since I was not around to see this as it was happening, I don’t know if this tension was as hyped up as it is in the episode, or if it’s simply for building the narrative, but I’m already captivated by the team and how everything will play out, knowing that they win the title in the end. The second episode featured the Bulls early years with Jordan before any titles, but also heavily focused on Scottie Pippen and his importance to the years leading up to and including ’98. With the episode ending on a cliff hanger of Scottie demanding a trade from the team, next week’s episodes are definitely at the front of my mind!

Hey you! Yeah, you and your quarantined, social distanced self! If you are anything like me, this new normal of our semester being at home has opened up a ton of free time that you otherwise may not have had at school, and, like me, you’re probably bored of watching pointless YouTube videos, a feed full of silly Instagram “challenges,” and exhausted from the endless stream of unoriginal Tik Toks. You may be thinking that you’re just wasting your time and just treading water.

Well, I’m glad you’re here reading, and you should be too: I’ll be your source of brain stimulus and help occupy your mind with some great movies to watch! Who doesn’t love a good two to three hour journey, advancing along the path and watching people grow and change before your eyes? I sure do, and you probably do, too, even if you don’t know it yet. Today, I’ll give you a movie suggestion and review for one of my favorites that you should definitely check out!

I realize that this time at home may be dragging you down and dampening your mood, so what better thing to do then sit back and take a break to laugh and enjoying a comedy for the ages! I’d suggest you invest in watching one of the most quotable and hilarious movies of all time; The Other Guys, stars the duo of Will Ferrell, a passive desk and accounting detective, and Mark Wahlberg, a hotheaded, immature and impulsive badass, that strive to fill the hero gap left behind by two officers that perished in the line of duty.

Of course, every other detective in the unit feels that this is their turn to step up and enter the limelight, so the other guys enter a power struggle by going after a high-profile financial planner who failed to apply for the proper scaffolding permits on his real estate property. I know it sounds lame and not the most interesting crime, but during their pursuit, Ferrell and Wahlberg discover a much deeper case that involves the financial planner at the top of a Ponzi scheme targeting the NYPD pension fund! Along the way, Ferrell has his gun taken by the police “Captain” Gene after he fires it in the office infamously during the “desk pop” scene, Wahlberg finds himself demoted to “walk a beat down town” to work traffic, re-lives his shooting of Derek Jeter, and the two cops have their car taken by a fake security team only to be found later with a note left by drunk homeless guys who had an orgy in their police car.

If you aren’t sold yet, this riot of a movie features an excellent soundtrack with a mix of TLC, Little River Band, and smooth saxophone solos throughout. You won’t regret going on this journey, as the cinematography does an outstanding job of featuring the New York City skyline, streets, and notable downtown locations. If you still don’t believe me, then watch this video below and I’m sure you’ll change your mind!

My movie blog would not be complete if I failed to include an entire post dedicated to my favorite series of all time, Star Wars. In my previous blog from last semester, I spoke of my introduction to the Star Wars Universe. This post will focus on the films and community surrounding them.

Many people are confused when getting into the franchise. Since the creator, George Lucas, started out with making episodes 4,5,6 first, then 1,2,3 twenty years later, many potential fans are alienated. They don’t know the order in which to watch. Many people say to watch the OG original trilogy then the prequals since that is release order. The people that tell you this are usually older and want you to experience the story the same way they did. Others, like George himself, want people to watch in episodic order; watch the prequels first, then the original trilogy. This gives a flowing order and progresses with character development in the way most stories do. However, if you’re new to this story, I’ll give you my preferred watching order. Dubbed the “machete order” online, I would recommend watching episodes 4 and 5, THEN 1,2,3, and finally conclude with episode 6.

I get it, this sounds ludicrous and confusing. Hear me out. The huge twist in the story occurs in episode five. If you watch the prequels first, the twist is ruined, and the reveal isn’t powerful at all. Therefore, you should watch the first two released to get that shock. After this, the prequels will bring you along for a fun ride and build the universe. The last movie, episode 6, will wrap everything up and tie a bow on top. The suspense will feel real and worthy. This order satisfies the older crowd’s desire for release order, and the creator’s vision of the story, but leaves the last movie for its purpose: being last.

If that tied your brain in a knot, I can understand. And yes, this order neglects the Disney movies. That opens up a whole new can of worms that will divide the community at large, so I’ll just leave it out of this post (however, if you watch any Disney Star Wars movie, watch Rogue One. It’s visually my favorite movie and has a compelling story that is self-fulfilling and doesn’t require expansive background knowledge of the universe). But take my word for it, I’m passionate enough about it to write a blog post so I must know something, right? If you truly haven’t seen the movies yet, stop reading this and go watch!

Of course, everyone knows Star Wars is famous for the effects, music, and spectacle. How many of you know that there are thousands of theories and blogs and YouTube channels dedicated to everything from Jar Jar being the grand master of the Sith to the songs of Max Rebo and the Jizz-Wailers band? Did you know that Star Wars has its own alphabet and language that people actually take time to learn called Aurebesh? Or did you know -and my personal favorite- that there is a substantial online-community of prequel memers? These people make fun of the cheesy dialog of the Star Wars prequels to the tune of individual meme pages with over 126K Instagram followers. With all the hate the prequels have received over the years, the memes salvage what some (not me) call unwatchable movies into comedic adventures. I’ll leave a few of my recent favorites here for you to enjoy.