The Saddest Christmas Story I’ve Ever Seen

Posted on December 28, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

“If they would rather die,” said Scrooge, “they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population.” These famous words are from Charles Dickens’ classic story A Christmas Carol. They demonstrate Ebeneezer Scrooge’s appalling lack of empathy for the poor and downtrodden in society. For one so blessed with wealth, he sees those beneath him as unworthy of any concern.

Thankfully, he has a complete change of heart by the end of the book. In fact, he winds up taking care of the poor, starting with the crippled son of his employee Bob Cratchit. His Christmas story has a proper happy ending. But there’s another Christmas story that takes Scrooge’s words literally, leading to one of the saddest films I have ever seen. Continue reading →

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8 Things I Love to Do, But Never Do

Posted on December 21, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Is there anything that you absolutely love doing, but (for one reason or another) you never do it? Maybe it’s too expensive or impractical. Maybe it’s difficult or requires too much effort. Whatever the case may be, it can feel disheartening to have to forgo something that would otherwise give you immense pleasure.

I’d like to share eight things I love to do, but I never do them. Or I can only do them under less-than-ideal circumstances. A lot of these could easily be resolved if I simply went out and did them. I mean, how much does it really cost to get a bottle of Sparkling Cider?

But I’ve had to cut out a lot of little expenses from my life for the last decade because I noticed they added up. And I tend to be an all-or-nothing kind of guy. If I do something, it’s all the way. So doing something I love in moderation is very hard for me. Bear that in mind as you read some of my potentially silly foibles. Continue reading →

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Back to the Future Predicted the Cellphone

Posted on December 14, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

There are many reasons to love Back to the Future. It’s the perfect nostalgia movie for the 1950s, 1980s, and even its timeless hopefulness about the future.

It’s also fun to look at the film as being a predictor of the future. After all, Marty McFly inspired Chuck Barry’s career and heavy metal in one fell swoop. And Biff Tannen predicted the cellphone. Continue reading →

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‘Ephemeral’ Broke My Heart

Posted on December 7, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

When I try to explain my feelings, my words usually come out clumsily. So I apologize if I prove incapable of properly capturing everything I long to say. I’m going to talk about fictional characters as though they were real and their feelings mattered in the real world. That’s the power of good stories. They have an impact on the real world. At least they make me feel powerful emotions that are quite real. Continue reading →

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I Promised God I Would Write This

Posted on November 30, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

In the early morning of Friday, November 26, 2021, I was doing my daily workout. I wasn’t even halfway through when I felt an unmistakable feeling, almost like a voice whispering to me to pay attention.

I stopped what I was doing almost immediately and started writing down the ideas that I was having. I would like to share what I wrote down because I promised God that I would publish it the following Tuesday. I don’t mean to imply that this is a heavenly message or anything like that. I just felt inspired to write what I had already thought of writing for my Thanksgiving article. Continue reading →

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Jumanji Is the Right Way to Adapt a Children’s Book to the Big Screen

Posted on November 23, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve wanted to write about Jumanji for a long time, but I couldn’t find the right spark of inspiration. I didn’t want to mindlessly praise it or make an unwarranted comparison to another film. For example, for a while I thought of comparing it to It’s a Wonderful Life, but the similarities between the two films were superficial at best.

And then it finally hit me. Jumanji is a good version of 2004’s The Cat in the Hat. Seriously. Think about the books they are based on. A brother and sister are bored at home, so they start playing a game that gets out of control, and everything gets cleaned up at the end as if nothing had happened.

How do you adapt something small and simple like that to the big screen? By adding higher stakes and introducing more characters and backstories into the mix. Jumanji’s additions work, while The Cat in the Hat’s fail utterly. Let’s discuss them. Continue reading →

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I’ve Reached a Critical Turning Point in My Life

Posted on November 16, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

A few months ago, I wrote about my inability to deal with stressful and frustrating situations. I ended on a hopeful note that I’d try to work on that character flaw, even though I didn’t know how to measure my success.

Well, I recently had a major breakthrough that I’d like to share. Maybe my experience can help someone who’s also struggling with this. Continue reading →

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If I Could Do Anything for a Day…

Posted on November 9, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

My team at work likes to do fun things to liven up our meetings. One of those things is to have participants answer a series of questions. At the start of October, a longtime coworker of mine was the first to answer this question, “If you could do anything for a day, what would you do?” He did so lightheartedly, expressing a wish to play at the Augusta National Golf Club. Golf is something he loves to do for fun.

He then picked me to answer the question at the next meeting. When I accepted, I warned everyone, “My answer is going to be quite shocking.” I wasn’t going to give the expected response of going on vacation or achieving some other fleeting fancy. I was going to do something of much more lasting consequence.

Knowing that I wouldn’t be able to express everything I wanted to on a whim, I decided to write down my answer. And now you get to read exactly what I told them. Prepare to be shocked. Continue reading →

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Forgotten Film Gems: Almost an Angel

Posted on November 2, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

In one of Crocodile Dundee’s quieter moments, the titular character waxes philosophical in the presence of his newfound love Sue Charlton. He notes, “I read The Bible once. You know, God and Jesus and all them apostles? They were all fishermen, just like me. Yeah, straight to heaven for Mick Dundee. Yep, me and God, we’d be mates.” Mate is Australian for friend or buddy.

That was a touching moment because it shows that Dundee isn’t just a worldly man. He understands there’s more to life than just surviving. Wouldn’t it be great if there was a whole movie built on that one wonderful bit of dialogue?

As it turns out, there is! It’s called Almost an Angel, and it was also written by Paul Hogan, and he stars in it, too. I remember hearing about it as a kid, but I never sat down and watched it until my wife got curious and checked it out from the library a few weeks ago. It turned out to be way better than I could have expected.

I’d like to share what makes it a forgotten film gem in my eyes. Continue reading →

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No Article Today

Posted on October 26, 2021 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I apologize to my wonderful readers, but I am unable to publish a new article today. I have several written, but my support staff and I are too sick to make use of them. It’s actually just my wife and me doing all of this. It has been a rough week, so that’s why we haven’t had a chance to add a new article. I try to plan ahead for times like this, but even my best efforts fall through sometimes.

I’ll spare you the details of the illness, but I trust I’ll be fit as a fiddle soon.

This is the Deja Reviewer bidding you farewell until we meet again.

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