the groundhog day project

Took a break from Charlie Kaufman today, was going to try to see one of the few Golden Globe-nominated films I haven't seen yet (the awards are tomorrow), watched Star Wars The Force Awakens again, instead. While there is always room to say more about any given film, I actually do not have much to comment on today. I had considered a response to Andre Seewoods's IndieWire piece about Maz Kanata and what he calls the "othering of the black female body"--in short, I don't totally buy his argument and think he deals a little too much in attractiveness (and winning an award as experience, but that's not that big an issue). I also was thinking about all the plot holes--my three days ( 1 2 3 ) picking apart Seth Abramson's Huffington Post pieces--and getting a little bitter because the Groundhog Day Project doesn't get much play online, people don't get excited by my insights here enough to share all over Twitter or Facebook or what have you... No...

The internet always includes a bit of backlash to any film that people love. Whether it is deserved or not. Whether more voices speak positively or not. I am here, for the third day in a row to speak against some of that backlash. Like Michael Hiltzik at the Los Angeles Times , who describes Star Wars The Force Awakens as "depressingly unimaginative and dull in long stretches" then just a sentence later says, "This isn't to say that it's not an enjoyable way to spend a couple of hours." That kind of contradictory bullshit pisses me off. Does The Force Awakens hit a few too many of the same plot beats as A New Hope ? Of course it does. But, here's the thing... Or my thing, anyway--I still watch A New Hope sometimes. Those plot beats are worth hitting because they're good. In fact, I'm thinking of watching The Hidden Fortress tomorrow to see those same plot beats even earlier than Star Wars . There are only so many plots available to wrap stor...