Why I Don’t Use Profanity

Posted on January 9, 2018 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Whether you have followed this website for years or you have simply read through a few of my articles, you may have noticed something odd. In fact, you can look me up on my various social media profiles and you’ll find that there is something missing in all of them: swear words. I don’t swear in my interactions or writings. Foul language tends to be the norm in most places online and off, but I prefer to keep it clean no matter where I am.

I realize that this might seem like a contradiction for a film reviewer. After all, I talk about all sorts of movies, from G-rated Disney films to R-rated action films. I’m not oblivious to the fact that a lot of the films I discuss contain their fair share of foul language. But when I watch films like RoboCop, Die Hard, Predator, Lethal Weapon, and Aliens, I focus on their other aspects. There are more important things to me than speaking crassly. I’d like to explain why I don’t use foul language in real life and on the Internet because I think it will offer a key to my character and make my position on the matter clear. Continue reading →

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What We Want from Star Wars, and Why We’ll Never Get It

Posted on January 2, 2018 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Star Wars movies are special. They are unlike any other film franchise because these movies aren’t just seen as movies. There is a reason why four decades after the first film appeared out of nowhere, people still speculate about (and hunger for) its sequels, why dozens of excellent spinoff novels have been written to fit into the Star Wars universe, and why every sequel amasses an enormous fortune, whether or not people actually like it.

Luke Skywalker yearns for some undefined sense of adventure in Star Wars.People are seeking something from Star Wars. We all are, even if we’ve never admitted it or thought about it very deeply. Like Luke Skywalker staring at the binary sunset on the horizon of Tatooine, we yearn for some vague notion of adventure, but we can’t quite find the words to describe it. Well, I’m going to give you those words so we can finally come to terms with what we have been seeking for all these years from Star Wars – and why we’ll never get it. Continue reading →

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Merry Christmas, My Friends

Posted on December 25, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Merry Christmas to all of you, my friends! I would like to offer you a Christmas present by walking you through the various categories of my website and my thoughts on why I created them and how they have turned out.

I started the Deja Reviewer website in June 2011, and as part of its launch I had already come up with seven categories of articles that I intended to explore over the years. I added a few more in later years, but here are the ones I started off with: Continue reading →

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A Philosopher’s Review of Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I have never done this before where I post someone else’s film review on my own website, but I just have to make an exception in this case because the review says so many things that I was struggling to formulate in my own mind. I watched Star Wars: The Last Jedi on opening day with my brother, and I enjoyed it. The only problem was that I felt like the Resistance was completely outmatched and even a little foolish in everything they tried to do in the film. And it turns out that that might have been the point – at least according to a brilliant review by a philosopher named Stefan Molyneux. Continue reading →

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This Is Classic Disney at Its Finest

Posted on December 12, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Remember when an eight-minute cartoon could lift you to emotional heights and then bring you to tears mere moments later? I sure do. And Disney was the master of putting my emotions through the wringer. They have continued that tradition with recent shorts like “Feast” and “The Little Matchgirl,” but I still think a lot of their classic work is even better.

My parents introduced me to the world of classic Disney shorts from the ‘40s, ‘50s, and ‘60s at an early age. I loved the vast majority of them, but there was one that stuck in my brain so firmly that even when I forgot the name of it, I still remembered every moment of it. It’s called “Susie the Little Blue Coupe” and I recently rediscovered it. I’d like to share with you this little piece of perfection that captures the hope of youth, the tragedy of wasted potential, the fear of obsolescence, and the sweet joy of a new beginning.

I find myself loving old cartoons even more as an adult because as a kid I had such a limited perspective on them. Whether you’re a young child or a wizened adult, you are sure to get a lot of enjoyment out of 1952’s  “Susie the Little Blue Coupe.” This is classic Disney at its finest. Continue reading →

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A Behind-the-Scenes Look at How I Uncover Cinematic Chiasmus

Posted on December 5, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve written more than a dozen articles explaining how the story structure of some special films fall into the category of Cinematic Chiasmus. These are films that unfold in a particular way in which the events in their first half mirror the events in their second half almost perfectly.

Some people might wonder how I’m able to notice such a peculiar and difficult-to-spot way of telling a story on film. That is why I would like to share a bunch of examples of the notes I originally took as I watched the films I have dissected in this manner. Keep in mind that I was pretty rushed as I wrote down these notes, so they don’t always have the best handwriting. But hopefully my words are easy enough to decipher. If you can’t read something, leave me a comment and I’ll be happy to translate it. This could be fun to compare and contrast my original notes to the final articles. I’ll be sure to include links to all of the articles.

Unfortunately, I didn’t save all of the scraps of paper that I wrote my original notes on, so there are only nine I can share. For example, I don’t have the very first piece of paper that I used to write about RoboCop (1987). Oh well. The ones I do have will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how I uncover Cinematic Chiasmus. Continue reading →

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My Favorite Scene in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan

Posted on November 28, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan is filled with memorable scenes. But what is the best one of the bunch? For me, it’s not the Kobayashi Maru test, nor is it Khan’s surprise attack, Kirk’s discovery of the wondrous Genesis cave, the Mutara Nebula space battle, or even Spock’s death. No, for me there is no scene in the entire movie better than the one that takes place in Spock’s quarters between Kirk and Spock. At this point in the movie, Khan has set his sinister plan in motion, but there is still a feeling of quiet dread as Kirk is reluctant to take decisive action in response. He needs that one extra push from his best friend to finally make his move.

Let’s take a look at this two-minute scene and then dissect what makes it my favorite in the film. Continue reading →

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10 Important Life Lessons I Learned from My Mom and Dad

Posted on November 21, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Doug and Mary Lou Lockard are amazing parents.Happy Thanksgiving. I would like to give thanks this year to my mom and dad for everything they taught me during my formative years. They are such amazing parents, and they gave me so much by teaching me to be a good man. I’d like to share 10 of the most important life lessons that have stuck with me and served as the basis for a lot of my personal traits and philosophy on life. Continue reading →

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I’ve Missed Jeff Goldblum

Posted on November 15, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Jeff Goldblum is back as the Grandmaster in Thor Ragnarok.I didn’t realize how much I missed Jeff Goldblum’s quirky mannerisms until I watched Thor: Ragnarok. He hasn’t been in many high-profile films in the last decade or two. I know he was in the Independence Day sequel, but I didn’t have any interest in seeing it, so I missed his performance. Maybe it was great.

His performance as the Grandmaster in Thor: Ragnarok was a breath of fresh air to a film that was already a lot of fun. He’s certainly a lot funnier and more memorable than the Collector or the other intergalactic villains from the Thor and Guardians of the Galaxy films.

I’d like to talk a little about how I’ve enjoyed his performances over the years, and why it was so wonderful to see him in Thor: Ragnarok. Continue reading →

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Movies That Managed to Make Mediocre Songs Sound Amazing

Posted on November 7, 2017 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I love movie soundtracks. I own quite a few, which I often listen to as I write. There are some tracks that I enjoy at the start, but once they reach a certain point in the song I find myself hastily skipping to the next track. The reason for this is that they rapidly devolve into an entirely different and inferior tune.

Thankfully, the films that include these songs only use the good parts of the songs on this list and they leave out the lackluster parts. So let’s compare the parts the films used to the full pop songs to discover how the films managed to make mediocre songs sound amazing. Continue reading →

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