family | At Home with Tech

December 12, 2021

The Pain of having to Wait after a Cliffhanger

To quote the original “Lost in Space” franchise, “Oh, the pain… the pain”… of having to endure the wait for a show’s next season.

Cliffhangers are the norm in movie and TV storytelling these days. It’s not unusual to get to the credits of anything without a significant hanging thread compelling you to get to the next episode as fast as possible.

My family and I just watched the third (and final) season premiere of Netflix’s “Lost in Space.” And of course, our 11-year-old son was pleading at the end of the episode that we blow through his bedtime to watch the second episode. (As there are only 8, I held the line to extend the joy over these upcoming viewing weeks.)

Keeping Track of the Jupiter 2’s Course
This fun, non-stop sci-fi series has been constructed on an endless number of cliffhangers, and it’s been especially challenging as a viewer to wait between seasons to see what happens. It’s helpful that Netflix automatically served up a recap of season 2 to kick things off. The writers enjoy dropping breadcrumbs, and you really need to keep track of developing plot points across the seasons.

Yes, it’s been hard to handle the long pause between the second and third seasons of “Lost in Space.” It’s been almost 2 years! (Yes, there were Covid-19 production delays.) But the producers have committed to get the fans to the finish line. (I can’t yet speak to the characters’ success on that important question.)

Danger
You’d think that properly ending any story is an essential technique. But of course, viewership numbers can sometimes kill off a series prematurely and leave the cliffhanger… hanging.

It’s not bad storytelling. Its economics. But ultimately, it actually is bad storytelling.

For a time, I wondered if the new “Dune” would fall into this category.

Why do Movies have Cliffhangers to Sequels that aren’t Greenlit?
The writers and producers of “Dune” wisely chose to tackle just the first half of the book (unlike the 1984 flick, which tried to cram it all in).

The start of “Dune” even includes a title graphic that say “Part One.” And yes, the movie ends on a cliffhanger, although it plays more like a chapter ending. It’s arguably the film’s weakest element. But you accept it, because there’s going to be a part two… right?

Well, after I watched it with my son on the day of its premiere in October, I immediately did some Googling to see when the sequel was coming out, and I was shocked with what I found.

It’s not that they hadn’t shot the sequel yet. It’s that the sequel hadn’t even been greenlit! They were waiting to see how successful the first film is.

I get the economics, but come on!

How Good is Half of “Dune?”
Okay, so they did green-light the sequel a few days later. (The sequel will be released in October 2023.)

But imagine if the box office wasn’t so kind to “Dune.” We would only have gotten half a story.

As it turned out, “Dune” was a big success. And my son and I liked it too.

It’s a perfect family film if you’re regulars in the Marvel Cinematic Universe. Sure, there’s lots of action and PG-13-level violence. But If your kids can handle “The Avengers,” “Dune” shouldn’t be a problem. “Dune” is more mature in its storytelling style and more serious in tone. And I think it’s a great next step for a young sci-fi fan.

The Economics can Ruin a Movie Fan’s Day
I can’t dispute economics, but it would have been so much better from a viewer’s perspective if both movies were made back to back, like the second and third installments of “The Matrix” series. (Can’t wait for the fourth one, even though it’s been 18 years!)

Hey, what about a three or four-part “Dune” miniseries for HBO Max? (Yes, again that means covering all of the content.)

Ultimately, If you’re going to tell one story, I feel you’ve got to commit to telling the whole story! Waiting for box office numbers can tragically lead to movies without an ending and very cranky fans.

Patience
On the other hand, maybe you’ve just got to have some faith that things are going to work out the way they should. I’m sure director Dennis Villeneuve had faith that he’d get his shot to direct his “Dune” sequel.”

And remember when the pilot of the “Battlestar Galactica” reboot came out in 2003 with a huge cliffhanger? The actual ground-breaking sci-fi series didn’t show up until 2005. So having to wait is not without precedent.

And then there’s “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.” We had to wait another three years to find out Han’s fate.

But in this age of countless streaming options and a glut of great content to watch, fans can be fickle.

If there’s a cliffhanger, please don’t make us wait too long for what comes next.

November 28, 2021

3 Holiday Gifts to Buy a Tween Boy

Our son is eleven, and It’s unavoidable that technology is at the center of what he’s asked to receive. Here’s how I handled this complicated gifting terrain.

It’s that time of year again, and I must admit it’s been hard to figure out which gifts to get our eleven-year-old boy this holiday season. He’s simply aging out of traditional kids toys. (Time really flies!)

Of course, now he’s on the cusp of wanting major technology like an iPhone. But my wife and I are waiting as long as we can on that one. He does have access to the ‘family’ iPad, which he now dominates. (He loves playing Minecraft.)

But the iPad is not enough. His growing interest in traditional consumer tech is unavoidable. And I know he’s not alone in his age group. For better or worse, it’s today’s perceived path to growing up.

If you have a similar shopping dilemma for your tween, here are three gifting decisions I made for our six grader that might be helpful to hear about.

Casio Watch
Recently, our son has become enamored with my Apple Watch. So much so that he’s hesitantly suggested that it would be really cool to have one. But it’s clear he knows it’s a stretch request.

I like the idea of my son having some kind of smart watch, but an Apple Watch is just too fragile (and expensive) to survive on his wrist for long. And there isn’t another option out there for tweens.

That said, he definitely needs a new watch. The band on his cheapo ticker that I bought him two years ago broke recently. He still loves that watch, but it can barely count off a minute without losing a couple seconds. My boy would often call me over to resync the time on his watch with my Apple Watch.

It was clearly time to move him to an adult-level timepiece.

I grew up wearing Casio watches. I got my first one when I was in high school. Though I haven’t bought one in over a decade, I’m still sweet on the brand. Plus, many models are relatively inexpensive.

I think Casios are a smart choice for any age group, and many models contain interesting features behind the standard alarm, timer and stopwatch (though still nowhere near what a smartwatch can do).

After doing a little research, I identified this Casio which sports a digital thermometer and compass.

Casio Men’s SGW-100-2BCF Twin Sensor Digital Display Quartz Black Watch
$41.99 on Amazon

My boy loves figuring out technology settings, and I expect this watch will be a perfect time keeper for him.

Click.

Apple HomePod Mini
Let’s recap which Apple products we’re not getting our son:

No iPhone
No Apple Watch
And no AirPods… He’s still absolutely fine with wired headsets.

But I wanted to find another way to give him his own access to a piece of the Apple ecosystem.

He loves talking to Siri and Alexa on my devices. So I thought about smart speakers and an Apple HomePod Mini ($99)

A voice-operated speaker for his bedroom seemed like a reasonable bite into Apple for our tween. Plus, I can give the HomePod Mini access to my new Apple Music subscription (six months free with my new AirPods 3).

Click.

Nintendo Switch OLED
Our sixth grader’s main ask for a holiday gift this year was a Nintendo Switch. (No, he doesn’t have a video game system yet.)

It’s a huge request, and he knew it. (He’s familiar with the Switch, because a close friend has one.)

Actually, he didn’t really know how big an ask he made. He understood that a Nintendo Switch is expensive, but he seemed unconvinced when I told him that they’re mostly out of stock. (I think he may feel that our broken global supply chain is just an excuse I used.)

Plus, there’s the new Nintendo Switch OLED model out there, which is even harder to find and costs $50 more. Our son wasn’t aware of the newer model, and when I brought that detail to his attention, he said he didn’t care which model he might get. He was more focused on the when as opposed to the what.

That said, this daddy is inclined to impose his own technology purchasing strategies on this decision… Newer tech usually lasts longer.

Against all odds, I did spot the Nintendo Switch OLED in stock online at GameStop on Thanksgiving morning at 6am. But there was a catch. The system cost more, because it was packaged with a few items I might not otherwise have bought (including a screen protector and case).

Well, at least I was getting something for the added cost, as opposed to paying over list price for the base system. (Sadly, Walmart has been offering that terrible option.)

Click.

At Home with Expensive Tech
There’s no way around the fact that this is an expensive group of gifts. And I need to admit that I drove the forward momentum on these choices, not my wife. Of course, I’ve tried to rationalize these purchases.

Every kid needs a decent watch. So, the Casio was an easy decision.
Yes, there are less expensive smart speakers out there, but I like taking advantage of my Apple Music subscription.
As for the Nintendo Switch OLED, you could say that a video game console is unavoidable for this generation.

No?

Okay… I spent a lot of money. That’s what happened. I acknowledge that I didn’t need to do it. But I did. For now, let’s leave it at that.

Happy Hanukkah. Merry Christmas.

And a big thank you to the greater universe that my family is safe and healthy, and that we have the means to afford this tech for our ‘not-so-little’ boy.

October 31, 2021

Why Movies are Ignoring Old Boundaries of Storytelling

Upcoming films are betting that the legacy of iconic characters will successfully transport to new stories and even into the next chapter of a different movie franchise.

I stumbled upon the teaser trailer of Pixar’s upcoming “Lightyear” quite by accident last week. I didn’t know the 2022 animated flick was in production. So when I watched the spot on YouTube, my experience was similar to how we viewed movie trailers in the old days.

And I was delighted.

I especially enjoyed the opening sequence of the spaceship launch. It was visceral. Pixar’s animators keep upping their game.

But my immediate interest in the movie was based on more than a great trailer. That’s because “Lightyear” is connected to an existing franchise. (This flick is apparently the origin story of Buzz Lightyear who the “Toy Story” character is based on.)

But this hero is someone else. So this movie is really a blank slate as storytelling goes.

Clever.

A Prequel or Sequel?
Yes, you’ve got immediate brand recognition. But as a ‘prequel’ of sorts, the writers are not limited by the audience’s knowledge of a character’s future (something like what J.J. Abrams did by creating “Star Trek’s” Kelvin timeline).

But whether a movie is a prequel or sequel, there should always be a good reason to excite the audience beyond familiarity.

And a good movie trailer is usually the way to do that.

The Matrix Resurrections
I enjoyed “The Matrix” trilogy, but you can’t really say the last one ended on an especially happy note. Not that movies must always have a happy ending, but I usually appreciate it when they do. And if you’re committing your time to multiple sequels, I feel it really stinks if the ending is a bummer.

Almost 18 years have passed, and now they’re making a fourth and seemingly rewriting history.

I did know that “The Matrix Resurrections” is due in December, and I was eager to catch the first trailer. It did not disappoint, though it didn’t offer anything dramatically new.

I think the key draw is bringing Neo and Trinity back together. The trailer teases the opportunity to rewrite their tragic story. Or perhaps, tell it again, but differently.

How to Bend the Past to Fit with the Present
The idea of rewriting history in established movie storylines is definitely in vogue now. Both the MCU and DC’s “The Flash” are exploring the ‘multiverse.’ As a storytelling device, you can redo a story infinitely in different, but parallel universes, as the Disney+ series “What If?” demonstrates.

Or we can use the multiverse as a unifying theme to incorporate every iteration of a movie franchise ever made with different actors. Then you can cement it all into one accepted multiverse movie canon.

Whoa.

Upcoming examples are Michael Keaton’s Batman from 1989 and 1992 showing up in next year’s “The Flash” and Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield’s versions of Spider-Man reportedly coexisting with Tom Holland in the upcoming “Spider-Man: No Way Home.”

Really clever.

Plus, it taps into our sense of nostalgia for these earlier movie franchises. I think “Lightyear” and “The Matrix Resurrections” also appeal to the same feeling.

Nostalgia is a powerful emotion, and I think it’s plenty enough to get you into a movie theater (or in front of your TV and pay channel).

Back to the Future
If this all this sounds like Hollywood is focused on reaching way back to help jump start its future, it sure seems that way.

“Ghostbusters: Afterlife” in a few weeks
“Top Gun: Maverick” in 2022
The next Indiana Jones movie in 2023

And if the writers also want to stretch reality and break a few laws of this universe to bring a few iconic movie heroes back into the fold, I’m game.

First give me a good trailer with characters I want to root for. Then surprise me with a new multiverse twist.

That’s a recipe for success.

Category: family

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