Knives Out: Entertaining Escapism

Rian Johnson has directed five movies (and three episodes of Breaking Bad, just FYI), but Knives Out may be the most important one, because Johnson has been getting flack ever since Star Wars: The Last Jedi came out. Johnson even designed a character based on the Star Wars fanboys who constantly trolled Johnson after The Last Jedi. It’s clear, however, that Johnson has talent, as both a writer and a director, after taking the helm of a whodunnit that stays one step ahead and keeps audiences completely entertained for the full two hours. Knives Out is the kind of movie that people actually go to the movies for – you enjoy yourself, you are engaged and invested, and best of all, you don’t already know how the story is going to end when you walk in.

The Last Jedi: Split Story but Visually Excellent

Trying to direct a Star Wars film must be like trying to work in the government – everyone has a lot of opinions about how you do your job, and no matter what you decide, you’re going to make a lot of people angry with you. Rian Johnson’s latest addition to the galaxy far, far away tap-dances across the line of a fan’s love and hate, with some fans extolling its wonderful qualities and others bashing it for bits and pieces that didn’t flow as well. After the predecessor to this film, The Force Awakens (2015), drew attention for being too much like A New Hope (1977), it does seem as though Johnson’s approach was meant to be as original as it could be, and that didn’t sit right with everyone. Is The Last Jedi as poor a film as some of its loudest critics claim it to be? I don’t believe so – while I’ve always enjoyed Star Wars, I’ve never been a HUGE fan, so all I wanted was to enjoy myself and the newest chapter of the story. In that respect, I was not disappointed. If you are a really big fan of the franchise (we’re talking huge fanboy here), then you might love Star Wars so much that you can overlook anything this movie throws at you, or you can be irritated because it’s not the interpretation you’ve imagined. If you are not as big a fan of the series as a whole and don’t have nostalgia behind you, then this movie might stretch out long and become frustrating because you are more likely to notice its problems. But if you go in only looking for a good time, you should at least find that.