Symmetrically Speaking, Dreamscape Is a Dream Come True

Posted on May 31, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

If you were to go back in time a couple of months and predict that one of my readers would be able to pick three films that are each perfectly symmetrical in their story structure, I would have answered, “In your dreams!” Well, I’d have to eat those words right now because that’s exactly what happened. It turns out that an amazing man named Jordan is a dream come true!

That’s right, the same one who inspired the Tron and Escape from New York Cinematic Chiasmus articles is back again. This time, it’s Dreamscape, a 1984 movie with a star-studded cast. I’m so excited to share this one with you. Not only is Jordan a perfect 3 for 3 when it comes to predicting movies that follow a chiastic story structure, but this is a unique one in another way.

This is the first time I’ve done this sort of analysis on a film I’ve never seen before. I had heard of Dreamscape, but I had never actually sat down and watched it until I was told it might be a chiasmus. So it was quite a unique experience to write my initial overview of the chiasmus with no idea of when or where the turning point might happen. But I found it on my first viewing! After that, everything fell into place perfectly.

Let’s see what dreams may come as we explore the symmetrical nature of Dreamscape. Continue reading →

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My Younger Brother Hates Every Martin Short Performance Except This One

Posted on May 24, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Martin Short is an acquired taste. He plays an obnoxious guy really well. Think Father of the Bride, Three Amigos, and Captain Ron. So I can’t really fault anyone for not enjoying his schtick. Personally, I find him endearing. My younger brother, however, does not. He finds his over-the-top performances to be the most annoying parts of otherwise good movies. Most films he’s in succeed despite his presence, in his opinion.

Except for one. A little movie called Innerspace.

For some reason my brother just loves that movie. My older brothers and I do, too. The most surprising part is that my younger brother finds Martin Short to be an integral part of that enjoyment. Why is that? Let’s find out. Continue reading →

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What Happened After the End of Flight of the Navigator?

Posted on May 17, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I know I already talked about Flight of the Navigator last week, but there’s just so much more to say about it. After all, it has one of the best science fiction premises I’ve ever seen put to film. What would a kid do if he came back to Earth after traveling at the speed of light for several years, and everyone he knew had aged? It’s a brilliant setup, and it brings up all kinds of interesting questions. Especially about what would happen after the movie ends.

Like The Black Hole, Flight of the Navigator is a rare gem of a film that leaves far too many loose threads for me not to think about them all. It ends in a hurry before it can really resolve a lot of the issues it created. So I’d like to correct that oversight by offering satisfying answers to its questions. Continue reading →

Posted in After The End | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

Flight of the Navigator Predicted Modern Discourse in a Few Lines

Posted on May 10, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Flight of the Navigator is a good movie that inadvertently predicted the contradictory depths of the way some people speak these days. There seems to be a lot of confusion on topics that have never really been up for debate. Rather than stating outright what I’m referring to, I’ll just let two characters from Flight of the Navigator do it for me.

Continue reading →

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A Significant Change in My Personal Life

Posted on May 3, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Normally I don’t talk about my day job. It’s ironic that the work I do publicly tends to be something I try to keep private. I’ve worked at the same company for a little more than 12 years. That stability has been wonderful. I was grateful to get this job back in March 2010. I talked about the funny way my interview for it went in my article “I Hated Avatar, But Here’s Why I’m Going to Watch Avatar 2.”

The reason I don’t like to talk about my job is because I don’t want to come across as bragging. But something happened on April 14, 2022 that deeply affected me and my coworkers. And I’d like talk about it. Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

My Improved Version of ‘Uninvited’ from City of Angels

Posted on April 26, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

My wife and I recently went to our local library to look for good movies to watch, and I saw City of Angels there. I never actually watched the whole thing when it first came out, but I heard good things about it. So we borrowed and watched it. It features several famous songs, including “Uninvited” by Alanis Morissette.

That song has a hauntingly beautiful melody. But we couldn’t help being disappointed by its lyrics. They’re all about unrequited love. Such a disappointment when it seems like the song should be so much more meaningful. In addition, the lyrics don’t match the cadence of the music. So the singer has to misemphasize every other word to make them all fit. And there’s no consistent rhyming scheme.

Basically, it’s a mess when you look at it too closely. And I thought it would be fun to fix it. Right after we finished the movie, my wife challenged me to come up with better lyrics. So I did.

Continue reading →
Posted in Random Stuff, Videos | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

How to Write the Best Possible WordPress Blog Post

Posted on April 19, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve been blogging since 2007. It was several years later in 2011 that I started the Deja Reviewer website. You can search online and probably find a lot of my old writings on real estate, search engine optimization, inventory management, and many other subjects before I got around to analyzing movies in new and unique ways. In all that time, I’ve learned quite a few things that I’d like to share with my fellow writers.

If you have a WordPress blog, you will likely benefit quite a bit from what I’m about to share. Over the course of putting together thousands of blog posts, I’ve figured out how to get perfect SEO scores on them every single time. It’s almost a formula at this point. That doesn’t stop me from having fun in my writing. It’s just good to know the rules before you decide whether or not you want to break them.

Continue reading →
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Battle of the Message Movies: Turning Red vs. Teen Wolf

Posted on April 12, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

It’s funny. When I first heard about Turning Red a few weeks ago, I thought it was going to be one of Pixar’s lesser films. Like Brave or Soul. Little did I know that it would turn out to be basically a remake of the 1985 Michael J. Fox vehicle, Teen Wolf.

Just so we’re clear, we’re talking about a red panda movie imitating a Fox wolf movie. If that’s too many animals to keep track of, I recommend jumping ship immediately. Because this is going to be a beast of an article. But I hope you’ll join me as we compare these two films’ messages. Continue reading →

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Let’s Explore the Symmetry of Escape from New York

Posted on April 5, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

This is getting scary. In the Tron Cinematic Chiasmus, I noted that it wasn’t my idea to analyze that movie. But once I did, I couldn’t deny it worked perfectly as a chiasmus. I have to give all the credit to a longtime reader of mine named Jordan. He suggested I take a look at it. In addition to Tron, he also gave me two more films to look at when he first contacted me. The second one was Escape from New York. And guess what. It’s a chiasmus, too! That means that the first half mirrors the second half.

I promise I’m not trying to force something that’s not there. But when I looked at Escape from New York objectively, I found that its two halves form a beautifully symmetrical structure. So Jordan is now batting a perfect two for two! That’s really impressive, and I’m starting to wonder if he might be trying to upstage me by showing off how awesome he is. Just kidding. Some people are just naturally gifted, and I love that he has shared some of his talent for spotting symmetrical films with me.

Let’s go ahead and see how Escape from New York follows an incredibly elegant story structure. Continue reading →

Posted in Cinematic Chiasmus | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 17 Comments

Is My Good Opinion, Once Lost, Lost Forever?

Posted on March 29, 2022 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Something has been on my mind this week concerning food. Perhaps it’s a luxury to even have this problem, but I still wonder if it’s either a virtue or a vice. And I think, even though it’s about food, it hints at a larger issue with my character. Continue reading →

Posted in Random Stuff | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments