Star Wars VIII: The Last Jedi

[The Cat]

Also we need to accept that Star Wars names are really dumb.

 

[Totenkindly]

I never watched Red vs Blue but I'm a semi- RWBY fan.

 

[The Cat]

I never watched Red vs Blue but I'm a semi- RWBY fan.

Is it good, Ive not seen it, but I know its by the same group

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

I never watched Red vs Blue but I'm a semi- RWBY fan.

I have no idea what the hell this is (don't follow anime except for Ghost in the Shell because spider robots with killing weaponry and baby voices are awesome), but I will just say that I'm preparing for Rise of Skywalker by enjoying a bomber of New Holland Dragon's Milk Stout. At 11% ABV, Milk Stout does a body good.

Oh, and because it's Illinois and not Pennsylvania, I can purchase in theater refreshments as well. Leaning towards Tequila Sunrise at the moment, though if they had special "lightsaber" themed cocktails like for TFA, I might go with one of those.

 

[The Cat]

I have no idea what the hell this is (don't follow anime except for Ghost in the Shell because spider robots with killing weaponry and baby voices are awesome), but I will just say that I'm preparing for Rise of Skywalker by enjoying a bomber of New Holland Dragon's Milk Stout. At 11% ABV, Milk Stout does a body good.

 

[Totenkindly]

I have no idea what the hell this is (don't follow anime except for Ghost in the Shell because spider robots with killing weaponry and baby voices are awesome), but I will just say that I'm preparing for Rise of Skywalker by enjoying a bomber of New Holland Dragon's Milk Stout. At 11% ABV, Milk Stout does a body good.

May the Stout be with you.

 

[The Cat]

May the Stout be with you.

He's gonna need a bigger glass.

 

[Totenkindly]

Is it good, Ive not seen it, but I know its by the same group

I have no idea what the hell this is (don't follow anime except for Ghost in the Shell because spider robots with killing weaponry and baby voices are awesome),

yeah it is by the same guy that created Red vs Blue but he died of an unrecognized heart issue after the first season. But his team kept going, they are up to five seasons now.

It's kind of a quirky anime fighting series -- like harry Potter, all the kids are in school, but the headmasters are more like Xavier/magento, and the kids all have a favored weapon and fighting style. They also all get put on four-person teams. RWBY is named after the names and colors of the main team (four girls):

Ruby Red = Red [she's kinda the main character], she's got this wild large scythe that also fires heavy-caliber bullets
Weiss = White, she uses a rapier that can be channeled through different element attacks. She's also pretty snotty / rich kid.
Blake = Black, she wields a cleaver-like sword that can turn into a gun and a katana, she has/wears cat ears
Yang = Yellow, she's Ruby's sister and sounds super-American, she has these awesome power gloves that also fire bullets

I've only watched two seasons. It started a web series, so the initial anime isn't super fancy but pretty good considering it was made for super-fast stream through channels with not a lot of throughput at the time.

I like the four character trailers before the series aired.

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

This is my short, drunken review

Disclaimer: i finished a full 22 oz. bomber of 11% ABV New Holland Dragon's Milk Stout as well as ordering something called a "Glory Daze" at the theater. It looked red in the laminated menu but it was purple, perhaps because they used Blue Curacao (I think). I spaced things out, however, I am nevertheless still under the influence as I type.

I liked it much better than I thought I would.I think there's a benefit to low expectations. There were certain things I hated, but there were more things I liked and weren't nearly as stupid in context. It doesn't piss over TLJ nearly as much as I thought I would, with one glaring expectation which touches on a particular pet peeve of mine with regards to the way the Abrams-directed episodes of this trilogy handle a certain object. More on that in future, more sober posts.

Billy Dee is good,

McDiarmid is good (as always)

, Ridley and Driver are good, and Fisher works better than I would have thought with one or two exceptions. Finn is handled better here than in the preceding film, and Poe's character arc is not ignored.

I'd rate this one above TFA, but I'm not sure if I'd rate it above Solo or not. I don't think like it as much as TLJ. It's much less conservative visually while still having better acting and dialogue than the prequels. Some of the new worlds are very atmospheric.


I do agree with people, however, who say that they really should have had a basic outline of this trilogy. They didn't, and it really shows, A certain character's return is less of an asspull than I thought for reasons I'll probably discuss later (warning: the reason I feel that way involves a lot of bullshit that requires a deep dive into the lore, although nothing that can't be gleaned from only watching films; I fully recoginize that 95% of people watching these movies don't know or care about these things, nor should they), but I honestly think that if they were going to bring back that character, they should have done so in episode VII. Leia and Finn's journeys particularly highlight this fact. The trilogy as a whole is definitely a mess (and they definitely should have had more coordination between Johnson and Abrams), but as an individual movie, the Rise of Skywalker works better than I thought, and respects what came before more than I thought.

I like something that makes me feel optimistic in this particular season and this did that for me. Maybe it's just because I'm drunk. I don't know. To make a long story short; TFA bummed me out a little when I watched it, TLJ and ROS did not (although to be fair, I was extremely depressed when I watched TFA so that might color the way I view the film). The plot is not as incoherent or as stupid as I was afraid it would be (which doesn't mean it doesn't have flaws), for the most part, and I kinda prefer a movie that

centers around obscure Sith lore rather than a third Death Star that the characters take less seriously than the other two. The superlasers star destroyers are in the movie, but the main focus is really Palpatine and how the various characters deal with that.
.

.

So, I gotta say my life philosophy of low expectations is further buttressed by my viewing experience with the Rise of Skywalker.

 

[Totenkindly]

Well, I know you are drunk -- you posted your review in the wrong thread.

 

[The Cat]

I love this fandom y'all are magic

 

[Julius_Van_Der_Beak]

Well, I know you are drunk -- you posted your review in the wrong thread.

The sober review will be in the correct thread.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

Things I liked

I liked what Luke’s and Leia’s arcs represented in TLJ. Luke was the former idealist who saw his dreams of a new peace shattered. He represented aging people who see their ideals betrayed and became disillusioned. Leia, who was always the more pragmatic and practical minded sibling, represented an aging person clinging to ideals when all obvious odds were stacked against her. It’s interesting how they have both gone about 180 degrees in their outlooks by the time TLJ begins.

I liked Kylo’s conflicted feelings. He comes across as less of an Emo Vader fanboy than he did in TFA.

I liked Poe. Oscar Isaac is a terrific actor and I’ve liked him since I saw Drive. I think he’s quite versatile.

I liked Luke’s final sacrifice and thought it was pretty much in keeping with his development at the end of ROTJ. I never expected or wanted him to be some OP mega Jedi in his old age, or at least not what a lot of OT fans expected. Yes he was OP in a way, but where he is emotionally and mentally feels like a real development from what he learned in the end of RotJ


Things I disliked

The space bombers.

Holdo

The Casino sequence

Generally shitty pacing

Hux

Etc

 

[Totenkindly]

I liked Kylo’s conflicted feelings. He comes across as less of an Emo Vader fanboy than he did in TFA.

Yeah! Aside from the ending where he loses his shit when Luke appears (ROFL, I still find that hilarious -- "CAPTAIN, FIRE EVERYTHING WE HAVE AT THAT MAN!"), the only place I remember him flipping out is when Snoke calls him a "child in a mask."

So he goes in the elevator, and he slams his mask against the wall -- and then continues to do it until the mask is in pieces, and he doesn't use it for the rest of the film.

The first slam was his hot-headed rage... and then the rest was a conscious anger directed at his own chlldishness and his attempt to emulate his grandfather by using a mask of his own. He recognizes Snoke was right and he HATES it, he hates that he was still deriving his direction in life from others. It is like the moment the boy becomes the man. He is now on his own path, wearing his own face, not trying to be anyone else. Everything forward is an act of his own creation, his own road. That is why Snoke now says he senses resolve and certainty (versus the weakness of the fist throne room scene) in him.

 

[The Cat]

Yeah! Aside from the ending where he loses his shit when Luke appears (ROFL, I still find that hilarious -- "CAPTAIN, FIRE EVERYTHING WE HAVE AT THAT MAN!"), the only place I remember him flipping out is when Snoke calls him a "child in a mask."

So he goes in the elevator, and he slams his mask against the wall -- and then continues to do it until the mask is in pieces, and he doesn't use it for the rest of the film.

The first slam was his hot-headed rage... and then the rest was a conscious anger directed at his own chlldishness and his attempt to emulate his grandfather by using a mask of his own. He recognizes Snoke was right and he HATES it, he hates that he was still deriving his direction in life from others. It is like the moment the boy becomes the man. He is now on his own path, wearing his own face, not trying to be anyone else. Everything forward is an act of his own creation, his own road. That is why Snoke now says he senses resolve and certainty (versus the weakness of the fist throne room scene) in him.

I also liked that he seemed less like he was hiding from himself. Which i think was a big part of why he wore it at all

 

[Totenkindly]

I also liked that he seemed less like he was hiding from himself. Which i think was a big part of why he wore it at all

So it is really operating on many levels. It now also foreshadows his relationship to Ren -- because he is the first person he takes it off around, back in the first film. She calls him a "creature in a mask" -- and he first expresses his desire to be known by taking it off. It's the first time we see his face. He trusts her, although he barely knows her.

And yeah, he also used it to hide his shame and fear. Part of Snoke's comments came because Ben was hiding his scars from Rey under the mask... his shame over being beaten by a Force neophyte.

See? it's not just superficial fluff! It's nuanced multifaceted storytelling!

 

[The Cat]

So it is really operating on many levels. It now also foreshadows his relationship to Ren -- because he is the first person he takes it off around, back in the first film. She calls him a "creature in a mask" -- and he first expresses his desire to be known by taking it off. It's the first time we see his face. He trusts her, although he barely knows her.

And yeah, he also used it to hide his shame and fear. Part of Snoke's comments came because Ben was hiding his scars from Rey under the mask... his shame over being beaten by a Force neophyte.

they really seemed like they were gearing up to a really deep and complex climax for those two characters, Id really be interested to see everyone's faces when the final product came down for filming in the new one I bet it was heart wrenching.

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

There was a great film hidden in the poorly edited, poorly paced, overly woke mess we got. I’m so depressed by what JJ has done with the latest.

This makes two classic franchises he has now ruined.

 

[Totenkindly]

There was a great film hidden in the poorly edited, poorly paced, overly woke mess we got. I’m so depressed by what JJ has done with the latest.

This makes two classic franchises he has now ruined.

Third time is the charm will complete the set!

 

[Doctor Cringelord]

I also think it’s the weakest score since maybe episode 2. Though that’s a tough one because even 2 had Across the Stars