Star Wars Anthology shit talk (Rogue One, Young Solo, TBD)

Oh yeah - loved the Cthulhoid Octo-thing

Vader's Castle made me go "wow". Remember seeing McQuarrie art for it - I think - as a kid and didn't expect to see it here. Lots of little "wow" moments in this.

"the emperor and the army are building some sort of super weapon! if we show proof to the senate, surely they will act"

"omg shut up they built a giant weapon thing, this is the time to openly rebel, not do a powerpoint presentation"

*five minutes after this movie*

"the senate has been dissolved"

This was pretty good. Had my problems with it in the first half or so but once they get on the beach planet it gets really good.

Like most people I wish they hadn't bothered making a cgi Grand Moff Tarkin and princess Leia. Even Darth Vader looked kind of weird, his suit looked a bit too much like cheap plastic.

These are minor quibbles though, overall.

One thing that speaks to how much fun this was: when they landed on Scarif, I thought "aw man, this is the last place"

I like how Vader in his flotation tank mirrored Luke in his Hoth tank

Pig Nose and his buddy Ass Face on Jedha!

Supposedly loads of cameos in this including some SW Rebels stuff (Chopper, the Ghost) that will hav eto wait for home viewing, Iguess, since the frame is usually *full* throughout the film.

Also loved the use of perspective once they were on the jungle planet (Scarif?) : from the pilot's view looking down in the space battle to Jyn on that transparent platform and the "Data Room" scene which called back Obi-Wan and the Tractor Beam. Good stuff.

oh and the scene in Vader's castle was TERRIBLE. JEJ's voice sounds so different now. Plus that godawful choking pun

― Number None, Friday, December 16, 2016 5:21 AM (eleven hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

i didn't find vader's "ambitions" comment to be a groaner...it didn't really strike me as going for humor. i thought it was pretty badass tbh

there was however too much humor in this movie, same as with TFA. the humor is just too...modern? i don't really know how do describe what i mean. it took away from the gravity of the film. on that same note, for a movie in which literally every main character dies, i didn't find myself really caring about any of the deaths. i guess as a side-movie where we weren't going to see the characters again anyway that matters less, but i really just couldn't bring myself to care about any of them

also...what...the fuck was forest whitaker's character? was he a magical crackhead in the comics or whatever too?

I like how Vader in his flotation tank mirrored Luke in his Hoth tank

https://j.gifs.com/n5Wg8Y.gif

best callback cameo in this was the blue milk in the urso family kitchen right at the start

I actually did care about the characters by the end of this, tho admittedly it took about half the movie before that started to set in. And the cameo stuff makes me want to see it again -- which is the first time I've felt that about a SW movie since the original trilogy in a LONG time.

Also, was anyone else impressed at how seamlessly this ramped up to ep IV? If it hadn't been so late, I'd have watched it straight away when I got home.

It took me a minute to realize what they did with whitaker's character. he was completely paranoid and half robot after being a guerilla fighter for over twenty years. the secrecy, breaking with the alliance because they refused to sanction overt action, living in a stronghold in a place the imperials were fully dropping the military hammer. the kid he pretty much raised shows up and he still can't tell if it's real or just another point of a plot to take him down

in the cartoons it was twenty years earlier and he was trained to fight using guerilla tactics by a few jedi and iirc had all his original limbs and a family

thought 4 sure DV was going to come out of the shuttle when mendelsohn & mikkelsen had their exchange

also was 2 hours of DV just icing dudes

Xpost to Dominique -- Yeah those last 10-15 minutes were spot on. Though still on the fence about Leia's "look".

Vader just completely tearing through dudes in a hallway was very good

Especially surprising since Dirty Vicar stopped posting about 3 years ago

Vader just completely tearing through dudes in a hallway was very good

by far the best bit of the movie. Which says something about it I think. Or maybe about me

Yeah that was good. Though it bothers me that at the beginning of a new hope (15 minutes later) he just sends some storm troopers to take out the rebel soldiers. It doesn't really make sense, continuity-wise.

I figure anybody who chooses to spend their leisure time immersed in a bacta tank probably has a lot of "off days"

"the emperor and the army are building some sort of super weapon! if we show proof to the senate, surely they will act"

#TrumpEraResonance

lol yes I think Disney is probably going to turn out to have been behind the Russians, so this movie would seem extra trenchant

also that early scene where cassian is on an intelligence mission, meets with the paranoid dude, and takes him out when it's clear he'd be unable to avoid capture

saw that and though, wow, they're going to really go for it

yeah thought that was great too

They got the balance just about right on Vader. The choke line felt in character. Several excellent shots - his shadow looming over Krennic, his lightsabre ignition, the tank scene, his staring into space at the blockade runner. I thought the film might even end right there and was almost hoping he'd say "Follow that ship...".

But I was surprised how much I loved the Leia moment and she did seem to look better in those few seconds than Tarkin who got way too much light. I expect they'll be able to refine the look of Tarkin progressively though - he should look realer over time.

K2's 'bad feeling' line was too clunky even with the cut off from Jyn. Didn't need it. Didn't need the 3P0 and R2 cameo either but I guess they have to be in every one.

Episode 3's most enjoyable aspect (of few) was always going to be its juggernaut career towards the visual language and culture of the next installment and it did it relatively well with its final scenes to the extent that Rogue One had few obligations there, allowing it to focus on a lot of great environmental enrichment (locations, background accessories and folk). I was sceptical of the desire for it to end so close to the start of Episode 4 BUT a) it surely does this as well as possible and b) boosts the proposed immediate pick-up of Episode 8 from 7 more as an introductory approach too.

Most 'whoa' visual shot maybe the Star Destroyer emerging from hyperspace to block retreating Rebel ships. So good on 70mm IMAX.

saw this and fucking fell asleep (5 hours of drinking and an 11:30 pm show will do that to you)...going again today in IMAX.

Vader just completely tearing through dudes in a hallway was very good

― mh 😏, Friday, December 16, 2016 7:35 PM (yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

Wonder how much that was influenced by the just-concluded Marvel Comics run, because that's about the closest on-screen depiction I've scene of Vader fighting that way. Just an absolute, unstoppable juggernaut.

Drew's reaction is hilarious. I can't believe he didn't realize how it was probably going to end, though!

http://theconcourse.deadspin.com/holy-shit-we-gotta-talk-about-the-end-of-rogue-one-1790223282

hahaha

yeah, I told my coworker who was wondering if he should bring his six year old to maybe have him sit this one out

The mind-reading squid would probably have traumatised me at 6 (also 16, 36...)

so about that squid

wasn't it supposed to drive the pilot mad or something?

yeah that was the set up

ended up being a bit of a damp squid though

should have had the squid give Forest a hug to close out Act I

it was supposed to read his mind to determine if he was truthful

it only temporarily fucked up his mind, luckily

Got an Apocalypse Now/Heart Of Darkness vibe from the main arc of the first act.

The ending was def Godfather 2

http://io9.gizmodo.com/a-major-rogue-one-character-is-heading-to-star-wars-reb-1790229657

:D

stayed awake this time. loved it. it's what I wanted in the story, not major enough of an arc that it felt epic, but a solid inbetweenquel

the scene on the beach at the end was fantastic

brain squid too please

I need to go see it again and keep an eye out for the Ghost and Chopper cameos

I spent the whole movie thinking that Riz Ahmed (Bodhi) looked like a Pakistani Snoop Dogg

Shit, that's where I recognized him from: "Nightcrawler!"

Maybe it's because I had low expectations, due to some reviews but mostly due to seeing so many crap blockbusters later (Fantastic Beasts and Doctor Strange), but I liked this. Yeah, some tiny quibbles, but fewer than usual for me. Liked it better than "Force Awakens," which my kids apparently disliked so much I could only convince one to come with me this morning. She, astutely as ever, said that it started like A New Hope and ended like Return of the Jedi. She also liked the female lead in this one better, because "she actually did things." She was totally fooled by the fake people FX, incidentally. We left during the credits - did they credit the actual actors as their characters? How was that credited?

Speaking of credits, is Jimmie Smits the first explicit link to the prequels? And speaking of prequels, how is this a "stand alone" Star Wars film, and not a prequel? Because it's a prequel.

Thought midway through: no one in Star Wars world is afraid of heights.

I think Rey is more interesting and a more developed character than Jyn, but Jyn was exactly what this film needed.

not that there are set rules on it, but I don't see it as much as a prequel simply because they made three prequels, then went to episode 7, and then created a film that was sandwiched in between both trilogies.

err the prequel trilogy and the subsequent tetralogy is more accurate I guess.

If anything, it's the Death Star origin story: finally we learn how the Death Star became the Death Star.

Well, the people in the Star Wars Universe who do have acrophobia don't talk about it, and we certainly don't meet any severe cases. If you don't like flying and you don't do well with heights it's the farm for you. farming is good. lots of respectable people in the farm business. One of the Republic programs the Emperor never got rid of? Future Farmers Of The Galaxy.

I'd think given space travel, you'd have to get used to heights. Which is maybe why farmers take buggies or float around on ships that hover a foot off the ground. They're afraid of heights!

Anyway, all these movies feature lots of fights over or around or on long drops/cliffs/towers, and everyone is usually pretty chill. But gravity's a pretty powerful force, too!

I kinda am enjoying Ben Mendelssohn's recent blockbuster turn as the baddie who is in over his head, w/ this and his role in Dark Knight Rises. just love the dude continually getting screwed over every time he thinks he's made it.

xpost that is an action movie trope tho, how many times did John McClane hang on a ledge ffs