Star Wars (no spoilers)
Just got back from seeing Star Wars with Austin. It was really important to him that we see it together during the first day (Thursday's showings don't count.) It was important to me, too, but I had several business obligations yesterday and today that almost killed the chance for us to go. It's so nice to know that, a few weeks shy of turning 18, he still loves sharing stuff like this with me.
What follows is my brief, non-spoilery first impression.
If JJ Abrams had loved Star Trek even a quarter as much as he loves Star Wars, the first Trek reboot movie would have been the greatest movie ever made. I wish JJ would remake Episodes 1 through 3 because 7 was amazing. That is not easy for me to say, since I was a devoted fan of the Expanded Universe for many years, and was expecting to be bothered by the differences in Episode 7 from that beloved continuity. Grand Admiral Thrawn? The Solo twins? Mara Jade? You were great, I didn't miss you a bit.
There were actually no surprises in 7 for me - I saw it all coming. It is just so right as a follow-up to 6 that it all made sense. There were a couple of continuity errors from things established in 4, 5 and 6, but only if you are a fanboy into all the technical details like me. I have zero regrets about the money spent on tickets and snacks, the nearly 3 hours we waited as first on line for the 11pm show, the 2 hours and 16 minutes we got lost in a galaxy far far away, or even the lost sleep right now as I peck this out on my Galaxy Nook Tablet. Most entertaining thing I've seen in a theater in a long time.
(Note that I call it "Star Wars", not "The Force Awakens" for a simple reason - it is a full-on Star Wars experience that does need to hide behind a chapter title (unlike a certain prequel trilogy I could mention). I left the theater with the same sense of wonder that I did in the 70s after the original movie came out.)
Off to bed now, humming - da da da da da da da da...