3 Hour Snore-fest: Kingdom of Heaven

I had so much hope for Kingdom of Heaven. I had never seen this film before and had not heard anything about it. I purposefully didn't look at reviews or ratings before watching. I went in with such high hopes for a number of reasons.

1: The film was directed by Ridley Scott. The man behind American Gangster, Blackhawk Down, Alien, Blade Runner, and one of my favorite movies of all time, Gladiator. I tend to enjoy this guys work and think he is a great director.

2: The subject matter. Placing the film in Jerusalem during the Crusades is a great idea. It is a period of time that is often ignored in historical film making. People like films set in the 1700-1800s, or during and before the Roman Empire. These periods often get romanticized. Because of this, the Crusades is a goldmine for great stories. It is a period where the search for land and wealth was rampant and religion was used as an excuse to wage bloody wars that killed countless millions of people. There is so much space for doing thought provoking stories.

3: The cast should be great. Orlando Bloom, Eva Green, Edward Norton (I couldn't find him until after the movie ended), Jeremy Irons, and of course Liam Neeson. This cast should have been great.

4: This is a personal reason, but I love historical period films. I give any historical film a shot just because I wish more films would try and do it.

But alas, this film was an utter disappointment. I have a few reasons why.

1: Absolutely no emotional connection. A film-goer's emotional entrance point to a film is through its characters. Characters need to be emotionally relate-able almost from the very beginning. If not the film may loose its audience. People make judgments very quickly and those judgments can sway perception of a whole film. This film did a horrible job creating characters that you had sympathy for. I didn't know if I was supposed to like Orlando Bloom's character for at least 20 minutes. Liam Neeson does a decent job with his character, and I would argue he is the only relate-able character in the entire film. And then there is Eva Green's character. I love Eva Green. She is a wonderful actress and often is the bright spot in some bad movies (Like 300: Rise of an Empire). But her character completely falls flat. You don't understand her motivations. She is confusing. Her and Bloom very quickly fall in love. I didn't even realize they were "in love" until the effectively "broke up". Because these characters fell flat emotionally, the rest of the film suffered. Epic battles where you were supposed to worry for characters didn't mean as much. When something traumatic occurs you don't feel the type of sadness that is supposed to be expressed. The whole film suffered.

2: The story was way to convoluted. There were too many plot lines running through this film. Bloom's search for redemption. Bloom's actual parentage. Bloom's relationship with Green. Bloom's mission to uphold his "father's" values. The political situation between the King of Jerusalem and Saladin. The political infighting between the Kingdom of Jerusalem and the Knights Templar. Bloom's rivalry with one of the leaders of the Templars/Green's husband. The movie was just all over the place. Bloom's character went from brooding and troubled to noble, charismatic, and "pure" almost instantly. The film was an absolute mess. It had 3 hours to create a coherent story, but instead it jumped all over the place and never felt consistent. Parts felt rushed and other parts felt drawn out. The plot needed to be simplified. Too much was going on at all times and nothing seemed to be the most important part.

3: The film's message was completely lost and blatantly shoved in the viewers face all at the same time. The film tried to tell you that it doesn't matter what you believe, whether you are Christian, Jewish, or a Muslim, and that we can all live together in peace. That we can learn to understand each other and that fighting is pointless. All it results in is death and more death. Nothing good comes of it. The nature of this film made this perfectly clear. The political relationship between Jerusalem and Saladin made this apparent. But the film went out of its way to preach at the viewer. This was off putting because I already got the memo. I didn't need to hear it over and over again. I could see it with my own eyes. It became a little too repetitive. Even though the message was evident, it lost its emotional connection as well and got lost in the mess that was this movie. I didn't care about the characters or their goals or desires or motivations, so I never made an emotional connection with the films message. It was rough.

Story, characters, and emotion are critical to a movies success. This one missed on all marks. Visually it was stunning. The battle scenes looked great. The music was phenomenal. But these things couldn't save this movie. The lack of well crafted characters, a concise linear story, and emotional gravitas took away the potential soul of the movie. It destroyed the potential this movie had to be fun and muddied the message too much. This film had so much potential, but just fell flat on its face. I have read that the Director's Cut was better, so maybe I will seek that out, but man this movie was no good. I give it 3.5/10. I really wish I had liked it.

I Just Saw "UP" for the first time

Before Monday night I had never seen the Pixar movie Up. I know what you are thinking. The normal reaction to that is pure shock and then the overemphasis that I should see the movie. Its the same reaction I give to people when I find out they never saw Star Wars. Before I talk about Up, I want explain why I never saw Up.

Pixar's previous film was Wall-E. This is also shocking, but I hate Wall-E. I think it is terrible. I didn't like it when I first saw it and I still don't. I thought it was a complete failure in comparison to Pixar's amazing other films. Wall-E has left a very bad taste in my mouth. I may be the only one in the world that feels this way, but it is just the way I think.

The horrible taste in my mouth left over from Wall-E was very strong, and when I saw the first trailers for Up I was unsure about it. I saw this house flying using balloons and a talking dog. I was confused and it didn't really interest me. It looked like a backwards step for Pixar. Something that was a little too cartoony or childish for a studio that makes great films with more grown up themes. And with the existence of Cars as well, I was feeling that Pixar had lost it and I never saw up. I was completely disinterested.

Fast forward 6 years and I finally decided to give it a shot. Mostly because I was really interested in the much talked about opening sequence. I had heard so much about the sequence that I pulled up the movie and sat down to watch it. What I watched shocked me. The film was way better than I ever imagined it could have been. The flying house and the talking dog, which were featured in the trailer, really didn't have much to do with what the movie was about. The themes of love, friendship, loss, and moving on were central to the movie and I couldn't have been more impressed. It hit on all the great things I love about Pixar movies. It was truly fantastic. And the opening sequence was amazing. You instantly fall in love with the characters and they go through an entire life before your eyes. They are completely developed and by the end of the sequence you are an emotional wreck because you can understand the characters feelings and you care about them. In my opinion it was the most effective opening sequence to any Pixar movie and maybe the best ever in all of cinema. The sequence was a masterpiece.

Beyond that I thought the movie was great. I loved how it developed the main characters and took them on a journey that changed their outlooks on their lives. It was so good and I am so glad that I finally sat down and watched it. It was a mistake to ignore it all those years ago. But I still refuse to watch Wall-E again. I would give Up a rating of 8/10.

Throwback Thursday: Cleopatra - The Death of the Great Epics

This week's Throwback Thursday post focuses on the opulent epic, Cleopatra. The film had a budget of $44 million ($338.94 million in 2015). The cast numbered in the thousands and it took years to shoot and reshoot the film. Much of the gold color in the props and on the sets was actual gold leaf. This was one of the most expensive films ever made. Filmed using a wide aspect ratio like other films like Gone With The Wind, The Ten Commandments, and Ben Hur, the film runs an astounding 4 hours. Starring Rex Harrison, Richard Burton, and Elizabeth Taylor, Cleopatra was nominated for 9 Academy Awards and won 4. Critically it received mixed reviews and currently stands at 48% on Rotten Tomatoes.

For me, Cleopatra is an interesting moment in film history. The great epics that came before were just that, great. Cleopatra had so much potential but just fell flat. It has the look of the greats, the great actors, the largest budget of all of them. The scope and ambition of this film is something to admire. Rex Harrison is wonderful (he won an Oscar for his role). Elizabeth Taylor was great and stole scenes from her male counterparts and she was radiantly beautiful. Plus her 65 costume changes was a world record until Madonna had 85 in 1996's Evita.

However, for all its wonder, Cleopatra falls short of being and equal to Ben Hur and The Ten Commandments. The story has potential. All about the political maneuvering and wars during the transition from the Roman Republic to the Roman Empire, the film's source material is full of potential plot lines and intriguing film making. Cleopatra attempts to hit every single possible plot point, some of which are only rumored to be true about the actual events. The film suffers from jumping from point to point without any real flow. It drags on and on for 4 hours. If the film had better pacing, the 4 hours would not feel so long. Unfortunately the film's pacing is all over the place. It spends too much time on pointless scenes and not enough on ones that matter. I would love to see a remake, a bit shorter and cleaned up, that has a focused plot. It has so so so much potential.

The devastating result of this movie was that the epic genre never recovered. Films were never as long, never as opulent, never as ambitious. Some films tried to capture the glory of the epics afterwards. Some came close, like Braveheart and Gladiator, but others failed like Troy or Alexander. They heyday of epic films, the Golden Age of Hollywood, began to end after Cleopatra. It almost bankrupted  20th Century Fox. 20th Century Fox eventually recovered, a large part in thanks to Star Wars in 1977, but the film industry was never the same. Corporations began purchasing and running the studios. The film epic was essentially dead, never to return to its former glory.

I love the old epics. Not enough old films are seen today. The classics are exactly that: classics. And whether or not Cleopatra was a great film or not, it is still a classic. Even with its faults, I still thoroughly enjoy this film as I do Ben Hur and the Ten Commandments. I love this genre and wish that more were made. I would happily welcome a remake of this film. If a new director feels they can do it justice and perfect the potential. As for the original Cleopatra, I give it a 6/10.

R2-D2: Kind of a Jerk

Don't get me wrong, I absolutely love R2-D2. He is funny, caring, brave, and incredibly intuitive. He is more human than many of the characters in Star Wars and his smart-ass personality is endearing. But he is also a pretty big jerk for one pretty glaring reason... he knows the whole story and never tells anyone!

R2 first came into the Star Wars picture when he is introduced to Obi-Wan and Anakin in The Phantom Menace after saving the Queen's ship from destruction during the escape from Naboo. From then on he and Anakin are almost inseparable. He his Anakin's loyal companion throughout the events of the Star Wars prequel trilogy and Star Wars: The Clone Wars. When Anakin is in danger, R2 is always there to help and can stand up for himself as seen on Geonosis and on Count Dooku's flagship. While witness to some of Anakin, Obi-wan, and the rest of the Jedi Order's greatest moments, he is also witness to one of its darkest. He is there when Anakin chokes Padme on the landing platform on Mustafar and sees the ferocious fight between Anakin and Obi-wan. He was privy to the information that Anakin was Darth Vader, that he slaughtered the Jedi younglings, was involved in the death of Padme, and was a willing participant in the almost complete eradication of the Jedi. He also knew that Padme gave birth to twins called Luke and Leia, that they were seperated at birth, one went with Obi-wan to Tatooine and the other with Senator Bael Organa to Alderaan. He knew absolutely everything. It is at this point that R2's story gets interesting.

Then aboard the Tantive IV docked at Naboo, Senator Organa places R2 and C3PO under the care of Captain Antillies (who will eventually be killed by Darth Vader in the opening of Episode IV). He also orders C3P)'s memory to be wiped. I have always assumed this is because C3PO has a tendency to say the wrong thing at the wrong time and can't keep secrets well. But it also seems like a security risk. If the wrong person happened to capture him and manually extract sensitive information, Luke, Leia, Obi-wan, and the entire galaxy could be at risk. So why wasn't R2's memory also wiped? Wouldn't he have been the same security risk?

In the end, R2 is allowed to walk (roll) free and also laughs at his friend's misfortune. So what does this mean in the long run? Well, it means that R2 knew critical information that could have aided the rebellion and Luke and Leia during the entire original trilogy. He knew who Luke Skywalker was, that he was the son of his former friend and master Anakin Skywalker who was now Darth Vader. He knew that Obi-wan was hiding on Tatooine. He knew that Leia was Luke's sister. He also knew Yoda when he and Luke meet him on Dagobah. He even fought over a flashlight with a former colleague whom he had actually traveled with to Dagobah before! He lets Luke be a jerk to the greatest Jedi in the galaxy. He had so much stored knowledge about the history of the Jedi and the Skywalker family that it isn't even funny! He lets Luke become shocked and emotionally scared when he learns that Vader is his father when he could have lessened the blow. He could have prevented all of the flirting Luke and Leia did early on. He could have helped the rebellion with a plan because he was a brilliant strategist who knew all the ins and outs of the Imperial Palace on Coruscant and many other places in the Empire. He could have helped with assassination attempts, battle plans, anything. Instead he seems to tell no one anything, lets them all run around misinformed, and look stupid. Its almost if he was playing some sick game and was enjoying it. For example, when he and 3PO split up after landing on Tatooine with the Death Star plans, he is adamant about going one direction, and chastises 3PO for wanting to go the other direction. He never explains that he as been here before and probably knows around where Obi-wan lives. He just lets 3PO go off on his own with no guarantees that 3PO will survive.

Long story short, R2-D2 is a kind of a jerk. This all can be rectified if in Rebels or in a spin-off movie R2 is given orders by Obi-wan or Ahsoka or Senator Organa not to reveal ANY information to anyone. It also needs to be paired with adequate explanation why revealing such information would be more damaging than not. It would be nice if this possible character flaw could be resolved in a way that makes R2 even more of a hero than he already is.

The Most Underrated Sci-Fi Film of 2014: Edge of Tomorrow

Last summer's epic action/science fiction movie, Edge of Tomorrow (or Live Die Repeat: Edge of Tomorrow), was one of my favorite movies of last year and I think it was the most underrated blockbuster film of last year and maybe the last five years. It was absolutely amazing. The basic premise is that a stuck-up officer in the US military with no field experience, played by Tom Cruise,  gets dragged onto the front lines on the beaches of Normandy during a war with alien invaders. During the battle, this untrained man comes in contact with one of the leaders of the alien force and kills it. By doing so, he temporarily appropriates the being's ability to replay specific events until they end in a favorable way. For the rest of the movie Cruise's character continues to replay a series of events which begin with him waking up on the tarmac of a military installation. Every time he dies he wakes up to start all over again. He finds some help and is trained by a war hero, played by Emily Blunt, who had this same ability during a previous battle. They replay events trying to get them just right to destroy the brain of the alien force. It is essentially a hive mind. One mind controlling all the actions of its underlings. Eventually Cruise looses the ability and on the final attempt they travel to Paris and destroy the hive mind. Once again the day is reset and this time the aliens have been defeated and are retreating and on the run from the human military, with the original battle the movie is framed around never having taken place.

This movie is awesome. First off, Tom Cruise is at his absolute best in this movie. He plays a character who is completely reluctant to fight and doesn't want to be involved or be a hero, but as the film progresses he accepts his role, learns what he needs to, and eventually steps up to be the hero that he is needed to be. Furthermore, it would be really easy to play the same beats over and over again every time his day resets, but Cruise never does this. His reactions to situations are different every time and he uses his resets to learn valuable information that could help him in a later instance. The movie features dozens of these instances, but also hint that he has been waking up and dying over and over again, possibly hundreds of times. Cruise does an amazing job in this film and is completely believable. It may be his best role in an action movie besides Mission Impossible and Top Gun.

The breakout star of this film, and possibly my favorite part of it, was Emily Blunt. She has been in a few action movies over the years such as alongside Matt Damon in The Adjustment Bureau and alongside Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Bruce Willis in Looper, but in this film she stands completely on her own as a full fledged character and is real muscle in the movie. Excuse my french, but she is a complete bad-a## in this movie. Her character is the actual soldier with the incredible training and the experience needed to win the war. I honestly didn't really know who Emily Blunt was before this film, but I sure do now. She was fantastic. She played a wonderful character that immediately was taken seriously. Plus she was never marginalized to Tom Cruise. She was just as much the focal point as he was. If it hadn't been for her character nothing would have changed. She was great.

The rest of the cast for this movie was also spectacular. Many of the Cruise's companions were full fledged characters and were well developed. It helped that the frame of the movie, the repeating time frame, allowed for off-screen development which then could be quickly referenced in dialogue. Many of these characters you recognized and they were not just pawns. The funniest of these side characters was played by Bill Paxon. He was hilarious. Playing a pompous, condescending platoon commander, his back and forth banter with Tom Cruise injected humor into a very thoughtful film. He is not a lovable character to say the least and its fun to see how Cruise will outsmart him next, but his reactions to Cruise answering questions before they were even asked or repeating catchphrases before they were initially spoken was hilarious. He was a pleasant surprise in an already amazing movie.

I think part of the problem with why this film was so underrated and not widely popular was because of the advertising campaign and its title(s). It was never very clear what the title of the movie was and this continued into the dvd/vod release as well. The studio also did not do a good enough job advertising for this movie. I think they relied on the name draw of Tom Cruise way to much. Cruise is great, but he does not have the same instant draw that he once did. I would argue that a film franchise like Mission Impossible draws more because of that name recognition that because of Tom Cruise. Furthermore, I'm not sure how many people were completely familiar with Emily Blunt. I definitely wasn't, so relying on her own name recognition on the posters and in the trailers wasn't enough.

I think the biggest problem was the oversimplification of the film's premise  by critiques and those talking about the film on TV. Critiques loved this film, as can be seen by its 80% rating on IMDB and its 90% rating on Rotten Tomatos, but they explained the premise as Groundhog Day but with aliens. I think this did the film a disservice. Groundhog Day is a great film but this comparison takes away the uniqueness of Edge of Tomorrow and makes it sound silly and gimmicky. The trailers tried to explain the point and plot of the film without giving too much away, and I think they did a good job of this. But the comparison to Groundhog Day was severely damaging. People who may have initially been interested turned away because they assumed it was going to be corny. The movie came in third on its opening weekend behind #2 Maleficent and #1 The Fault in Our Stars. It earned almost $20 million less than The Fault in Our Stars. Drawing only $100 million at the domestic box office in the US, this movie made less than arguably worse action films like Amazing Spider Man 2, X-Men Days of Future Past, Godzilla, and Divergent.

I have to admit that I did not originally see this movie in theaters. After seeing the trailer I wanted to, but then the comparisons to Groundhog Day came and I started to think of it as gimmicky. I said I was going to go, but I never did. That was a huge mistake. I finally saw the movie because the guys at Screen Junkies on YouTube kept saying how great it was. I decided I just had to see it and am so glad I did. It was the farthest thing from gimmicky and one of the most unique stories seen in an action movie in a long time. In a world filled with mountains of superhero films (which I absolutely LOVE), it was really nice seeing a piece of science fiction that was gritty and interesting and thought provoking that had me thinking and talking about it for days. I really with that I had seen this in theaters, but now I recommend this to anyone who is looking for something new and interesting to watch. This film was SO good and I would give it a rating of 9/10. It was by-far one of the BEST science-fiction films of 2014. If you haven't seen this movie, please do. You will not regret it.

Throwback Thursday: 1964's classic Goldfinger

In honor of my first Throwback Thursday post, we travel back to 1964 and revisit one of my favorite films of all time... the epic spy thriller Goldfinger! From the moment that James Bond emerges from the water wearing a bird on his head until Goldfinger is sucked out a plane window this film is GREAT! It is quintessential Bond and no Bond film came anywhere close to matching it in excellence until the recent Skyfall. So why exactly is the movie one of the BEST Bond films of all time? I have a list.

1. We all know that James Bond is great, particularly when played by the amazing Sean Connery, but the best Bond films have memorable villains who match Bond's intelligence and ingenuity. Goldfinger is ruthlessly brilliant. He is consistently one step ahead of 007 and he has one of the most ingenious plans of any of the Bond villains. So many Bond villains plans lean on the slightly ridiculous, but Goldfinger's plan actually makes sense. By irradiating the gold held in Fort Knox he would dramatically increase the value of the gold he already owned. Everyone was convinced he was going to pull a heist but the reality was way more devious!

2. Goldfinger's henchman, Oddjob, is the greatest henchman ever. He says nothing the entire movie but is intimidating and almost impossible for Bond to defeat. He is super strong and his weaponized hat is the most iconic weapon used by a henchman. It is so ridiculous that it is awesome. Bond has to electrocute Oddjob using a high-powered conduit and the metal bars of the Fort Knox vaults. Oddjob is just cool. Plus he crushes a golf ball with his bare hand.

3. Bond's Aston Martin DB5. It is the first Aston Martin used in the Bond franchise and it is the most iconic of them all. A classic design with a plethora of useful gadgets and the iconic ejector seat. The car is so cool and ever since I first saw this movie, an Aston Martin became my dream car. They are the epitome of cool. You know that this car is the best Bond car when it reappeared in its tricked out form in Skyfall.

4. The memorable lines. Q's quote, "I never joke about my work 007." As Bond is strapped to the laser table Goldfinger says, "No Mr. Bond, I expect you to die." Lines like this are a staple of Bond films, but these are the best.

There are so many other reasons why this is one of the best Bond films and one of my favorites. Simply put it is just great!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. "Aftershocks": INHUMANS! And thoughts on Trip (Warning: Spoilers Included)

Last nights episode of S.H.I.E.L.D. asked more questions then it answered. HYDRA is pretty much done. Coulson's plan for Hydra to destroy itself was pretty great. By removing almost all the heads at once HYDRA is severely crippled. Baron Von Strucker is still out there, but that will be dealt with in Age of Ultron in a few months. Everything else is still up in the air though. How will Skye/Daisy/Quake deal with her new found abilities? Will she be accepted by the team? Will Raina come to terms with her metamorphosis and will she use it to wreck havoc on the world? Will Simmons relax about what happened in the Temple and rediscover her scientific curiosity? How will this new trust between Fitz and Skye evolve? And what the heck is going on with Mockingbird and Mack? All of these questions will remain unanswered for a while but I am extremely interested in seeing where they are going with this show now. The show started out being about a team without access to superpowers in a world with more and more highly powered people, but now those powers are part of the team and that will be an important issue going forward. I think using the Inhumans as a plot generator for S.H.I.E.L.D. is a perfect scenario. I always thought some of the main characters needed powers and by having Skye be the powered one, her character takes center stage and is now one of if not the most important characters on the show instead of being mostly a supporting character for Coulson.

Something that really bothers me is the discussions about Trip on the show. His loss was completely tragic and should play an important emotional role for the characters. However I would love for the characters to learn that Trip's death was entirely his fault. Tragic yes, but still his fault. And the team needs to learn this soon. The team never really knew what was the true purpose of The Diviner last fall and never tried to find out. They trusted HYDRA that it was a key to a weapon of mass destruction, never realizing that HYDRA didn't know what it really was and that Skye's father was manipulating everyone. Skye and Raina were being affected by the Mists, and Trip was not. He kicked The Diviner off of the pedestal and it shattered, sending two pieces into his torso. He was not an Inhuman, so the diviner turned him to stone. I firmly believe that if he had not done anything he would have survived and if the team had actually done its homework and figured out what they were dealing with they would have been more prepared. The information was available. Skye's father kept trying to tell them but they would not listen. Trip's death was tragic but completely avoidable. There was no possible epidemic. No weapon of mass destruction. Only a device that gives abilities to the Inhumans which had a self-defense mechanism. Trip caused his own death. He didn't save thousands of lives and he didn't save Skye. He died for no greater good. And that is why it is so tragic. If the team could know that, it would add a whole new element to the stories they could tell and give new motivations for Skye to use her new powers to make up for his loss. To try and uphold his values and to continue to fight against the forces of evil in his name. Playing the "Trip was a hero" card is useful, but I believe that the "Trip died for nothing, so I must make up for that" card is way more meaningful and powerful to the motivations of the characters of this show. It could be difficult and a little dark, but they need to go down this road. Make his loss meaningful, because right now I don't see a long-lasting effect in his death. They are grieving now, but that will end and then what? How will the tragic loss push the team if it doesn't significantly change the way the characters think, behave, and act? Maybe these question's will be answered in due time, and maybe they will use the "heroic loss" story as motivation. I just think that doing so would diminish the gravity of what Trip actually did. A tragic, pointless death can have even more of an effect than a heroic loss can.

Star Wars Rebels Reaction: HOLY SITH!

That was awesome!! Last night's season 1 finale of Star Wars Rebels was amazing. It was by-far the best episode yet. I thought it did a great job turning the tone of the show in a new directions, which in my opinion is better than what the show started as. In one shot the show became a little more serious and felt like what The Clone Wars was. I'm still convinced that Ezra will be connected to Kylo Ren in some way, but I'm glad they didn't jump to that right away. Instead we are going to get at least 1 more season with Ezra learning about the force and how to be a Jedi. Plus I think he is going to have someone else to go to for advice because.... AHSOKA TANO returned.

Ahsoka's departure from The Clone Wars was always weird in my mind. They seemed to write her off and then never really dealt with it. I always felt that there was more to her character and that she was meant for something greater than being a temporary character relation with Anakin. Now she is front and center as one of the founders of the Rebellion and I love that. Gives her character greater importance and allows for her to help train new Jedi. The other reason I am excited is because of VADER. That's right, Darth Vader has returned to our screens and the way that they did his return makes it seem that Vader will be sticking around for a while. This would be great! And I am totally looking forward to the inevitable confrontation and battle between Vader and Ahsoka. It has to happen! But I also want to know if Ahsoka knows that Vader is Anakin. If she doesn't, there could be a Empire Strikes Back like moment where Vader reveals his true identity to Ahsoka. The potential storylines dealing with ramifications of Ahsoka's former master being a dark lord of the Sith. I think it could be epic.

Rebels season 2 is set up to be great and I hope it shows up sooner rather than later. I want to know what happens next. Plus its the only thing that can appease my desire for new Star Wars content until the new film. Good thing Agents of SHIELD returns tonight. I need the distraction!