Big Is a Bridge Between Tom Hanks’ Early and Later Film Career

Posted on February 4, 2025 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Like two parts of a piano duet, Big feels like the perfect bridge between Tom Hanks’ early and later career in film. He may have made a Splash in 1984, but it wasn’t until 1988 that he really hit the Big time. He had a few rocky years before and after that year, but he eventually reached extraordinary heights.

This film revolves around an almost 13-year-old boy named Josh Baskin who wishes to be big, and he wakes up the next morning in the body of a 30-year-old. It’s rather poetic that a movie about the past and future versions of a person would also encapsulate so much about the main actor’s career beforehand and afterward.

I’d like to highlight all the things I’ve noticed in Big that point to Hanks’ previous work and many of the future projects he would be involved in. Continue reading →

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An Even Better Title for the ‘Deja Q’ Episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation

Posted on January 28, 2025 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

“Deja Q” is one of my favorite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It manages to be equal parts funny and poignant, adding a new dimension of nobility to the Q character that gets explored in later Q episodes like “Tapestry” and “All Good Things.”

“Deja Q” is from season 3 when the show was reaching its long-lasting zenith. There are two parts of the story: Q loses his godlike powers, and a planet is about to be destroyed by powerful gravitational forces when its moon falls out of orbit. Q helplessly spends the first part of the episode in the brig of the Enterprise, and he’s also imprisoned in a lowly human form. Continue reading →

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Which Is the Best Adaptation of Dune?

Posted on January 21, 2025 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Dune is one of my favorite books. I’ve only read it once, but it stands out in my mind as one of the most immersive literary experiences I’ve ever had. And I’ve admired the many attempts to make it into a film. The first attempt spectacularly collapsed during pre-production, but its supernova created the genesis for Alien and other sci-fi classics.

There have been three other adaptations that successfully made it to the finish line. I recently watched Dune: Part Two, and I couldn’t help comparing it to the previous two versions of that story. And it begs the question, which one is the best? Let’s explore that question as we examine the 1984, 2000, and 2021-2024 versions of Dune. Continue reading →

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The Natural and Overcoming Addiction

Posted on January 14, 2025 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

In The Natural, Roy Hobbs is a gifted baseball player who wants to use his God-given talent to make a name for himself. However, he’s brutally shot in the prime of his life and forced to put off becoming a baseball player for nearly two decades. As it turns out, he has a tendency to be tempted by beautiful, mysterious women.

Later in the film, he finally gets a chance to excel in baseball, and that gets the attention of a ruthless businessman who wants Roy’s team to lose for financial reasons. He tries to tempt Roy with heaps of money, like he had another star player. But Roy rejects the offer of money. That isn’t his weakness. Women are. So the businessman employs that tactic, and it works for a time.

Thankfully, by the end of the film, Roy overcomes his weakness and defeats his enemies. How does he do it? A lot of it comes down to the love of a good woman. His childhood love believes in him, and she inspires him to rise up to the goodness he’s capable of. He has to believe that he’s more than just a great baseball player. What really counts is that he’s a good man, a good father, and a good husband. Continue reading →

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I Feel Sorry for Baby Boomers

Posted on January 7, 2025 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I recently watched a clip from a 1990 documentary that gave me a new perspective on the Baby Boom generation. I must admit I’ve never really understood that generation. I’m kind of a hybrid of Gen X and Millennial, being raised by Baby Boomer parents and having lots of Gen X siblings, though I’m from the early Millennial period. And I find myself relating most to the Silent Generation.

The video I watched tells Baby Boomers’ story from their own perspective. The filmmaker is of that generation, and he interviews many of his fellow Baby Boomers about their experiences growing up in the 1950s and 1960s. They have some fascinating things to say. As I listened to their words, I had compassion for them and better understood why they made certain decisions that led to the world today. Continue reading →

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I’m Dreaming of a Mild January

Posted on December 31, 2024 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

The last five Januarys have been hard on me. But I hope January 2025 will be much better and break that challenging streak. Continue reading →

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How to Keep Christmas with Us All Through the Year

Posted on December 24, 2024 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve talked about Christmas Eve on Sesame Street before, noting its impact on me as a child. As a grownup, I’ve discovered something even more profound in it that I want to share with you to possibly change your whole perspective on this special holiday. Continue reading →

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The Chiasmus of the World (So Far)

Posted on December 17, 2024 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

I’ve been nervous about writing this article for some time because it’s about as big a topic as they get – spanning the whole history of the world. But I know it must be written because the history of our world as we know it is swiftly coming to an end. So I will push past my fear and share what I have so far in order to help as many people as possible be prepared for what is coming. Continue reading →

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Marty McFly and Overcoming Stage Fright

Posted on December 10, 2024 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Back to the Future is a perfect movie not only because it’s endlessly entertaining but because it also has numerous life lessons we can glean from it. I’d like to share one such lesson from Back to the Future and liken it to my eldest sister. Continue reading →

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The Lion King’s Circle of Life Forms a Chiasmus

Posted on December 3, 2024 by Robert Lockard, the Deja Reviewer

Jo is back! She asked me if I could look at The Lion King (1994) to see if it’s a chiasmus. That sounded like a reasonable request to me. After all, she sent me her fully fleshed out How to Train Your Dragon 2 chiasmus, and I did an analysis of How to Train Your Dragon: The Hidden World at her request. So I figured if she saw something in The Lion King, it would be worth checking out.

The Lion King is acknowledged by many as one of the greatest animated films of all time, up there with Beauty and the Beast and How to Train Your Dragon. And both of those films are examples of Cinematic Chiasmus. So why not The Lion King, too? I’m never able to create any suspense in these introductions because if this article is published on my website, you know it’s going to be a chiasmus. Thus, I’ll spare you the long preamble and say yes, The Lion King is a perfect chiasmus.

The first half mirrors the second half, giving the film a beautifully symmetrical structure. It makes sense. A big theme of the movie is the Circle of Life, how history repeats itself and each event in both life and death is meaningful. That’s definitely true when every scene matches up with a previous one in this film.

I’ve got a secret to share about this chiasmus. Meet me at the water hole at the end, and I’ll tell you what it is (*wink). Let’s take some pride in our work as we explore the great circle of The Lion King’s chiasmus. Continue reading →

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