Not so Serious Movie Review: The Craiglon Incident Part 1, 2, 3

The Craiglon Incident is independent film legend Joel D Wynkoop's 6-hr COVID-19 project. I watched all the parts, in three 2hr DVDs. I reviewed them all on Letterboxd. Here are my reviews:

 

THE CRAIGLON INCIDENT PART 1:

Gotta appreciate the creativity and effort deep in the midst of the era of COVID-19. I also love a good alien invasion movie. Minus one star for the audio, which is sometimes either way too loud or too low. And the end zoomcall drags too long. But I see what they were trying to do. Fun project.
Bracing myself for 4 more hours of Craiglon sequels.

Grade: 3 stars of 5

 

THE CRAIGLON INCIDENT PART 2: AFTERMATH :

Slightly better than the first as there is more action. Also sound is more level. The aliens finally meet their match in Parsons and his elite strike team. Many aliens died during this movie. But that's not a bad thing. As a matter of fact, it's a good thing because the aliens wanted to kill all the humans on all the different earths in all the different dimensions. But Parsons is a good shot and the aliens are not good with firearms so they miss a lot. But Parsons doesn't miss. He is kinda like Judge Judy in that he is the best at what he does.

Grade: 3 stars of 5

 

THE CRAIGLON INCIDENT PART 3: ANNIHILATION:

 Not as good as Part 2. Slowed down the momentum. Had some fun scenes - especially when Joel D Wynkoop met his other characters - but then the movie veered off to material that should have fit Part 1 until the final 30 minutes wrapped it up. Audacious project and overall fun. But getting through the whole series is an accomplishment.

Grade: 2 stars of 5

 

Overall, I would give the 6-hour project 3 stars. It is a lot. But it is enjoyable. 

When I was quoted in USAToday about the Rays

 

(This is a cross-post of an article I wrote on my professional website years ago. I am closing that site down to save some money.)

A few weeks ago, I closed down my blog on baseball in Tampa Bay. It was a great research project, one I put a lot of hours into, but one I couldn't see continuing from 7,000 miles away. I wrote 1,200 words on why I was putting the site on hiatus and as well why I was not positive the Tampa Bay Rays would ever be able to make things work in Tampa Bay.

 

Final posts are always tough and I was sad to close it up, but as I mentioned on the blog, it was time.

 

Little did I expect after writing that post that the Tampa Bay Rays would ship off several of their veteran players, claim to be "rebuilding", and be in the critical crosshairs of many national sports writers.

 

Even less did I expect to be cited in one of those articles. Definitely a nice surprise.

The USAToday.com article, "The Tampa Bay Rays haven't outdrawn the Lightning in 5 years and desperately need to relocate", was written by baseball writer Ted Berg. I'm pretty sure I have corresponded with Berg a few times on twitter.

 

In the article, Berg cites me often, writing about my blog overall and then linking to several of my research posts, including my posts on baseball research site Fangraphs.com. All great compliments that made me smile from across the world. Berg sums up my blog well, writing,

Lortz’s site has an incredible wealth of information on the topic and is well worth checking out.

He also sums up my current attitude about Tampa Bay baseball well:

Essentially, a baseball fan in the Tampa area spent years diving deep into data to try to figure out how to make Major League Baseball in the Tampa area work and concluded that, given all the factors in play, it might be hopeless.

Perfectly written.

 

It is always nice to be recognized as a subject matter expert, especially in the crowded field of sports writing. I was able to bring a unique look at a niche subject. And people in the know read my work and shared it.

 

That makes the effort all worth while.