Matthew's Film Logs

     One day, in my Seventh Grade year, I remember the robotics club was opening its doors to newcomers on one of its first meetings ever. The presidents of the club were telling us that anyone could join, and that they'd teach us the ropes of how to build, and how to think like an engineer. Of course, a wide-eyed Matthew took this opportunity up, knowing that he wanted to pursue a STEM career, but not sure what in it. So, on a Friday afternoon, I rushed over to the Chemistry room, excited as for what was in store for me. When I was there though, it was a terrible experience. Essentially, the people just let me roam around the room without a clue in the world as to what was going on. Programming the robots? Out of the question, because I knew nothing about how to even write code. Building the bots themselves? Nah, there were already people for that, and I myself wasn't that adept with LEGO. The worst part of all was that everyone there expected you to know everything abou...

    If you could sum up the soundtrack of my childhood, you would have a mix of film orchestration, weeby anime songs, and most prominently, the entire musical library of the KOST 103.5 station. Yes, that squeaky-clean, family-friendly pop soundscape was what defined every single car ride of my early years. All of those Kelly Clarkson songs have been etched into my memory, but what I find more interesting is its blending of safe modern music with all of the number one hits that defined Generation X. Yes, I'm speaking specifically about New Wave and 80s music.        The reason my whole family would only listen to this station is that my Mom liked the music. It was nice music, and it also called back to a time where Gen X was young, and through the music, they could vicariously recall their youth. The problem with KOST 103.5 came in its format. All of the songs played were pop songs, and there was an unusual lack of genre within the radio.    ...

     Disney sequels. Sigh... That's the post, that's it.    Alright, obviously that was a joke that failed miserably, but let's start this over once more from the inception. It's a common stigma that sequels are generally a lesser product than the original which they are stemming from. Those Land Before Time sequels, the constant Transformers installments, all of these different examples have exhibited why the stereotype of bad sequels has been so generally accepted among not just cinema fans, but the common consensus as a whole. The insipid "next installments" in franchises often do nothing to expand on the original, but far too often retread familiar ground, or demonstrate inferior craft and care in the production of such sequels. Nothing exemplifies the notion of bad film sequels than the infamous Disney direct-to-DVD sequels.        For a bit of history surrounding the necessity of these sequels, their existences are not even faintly just...