Movies You've Seen (or would like to see) Recently

[aluminiumtrioxid]

Yeah, Polish, not Hungarian. Good call, .

 

[ShadySands]

Star Wars.

 

I didn't much like it.

[Enoch]

Kids are at Grandma's, so the wife and I went to an 8AM showing of TLJ.  (An acronym which I still associate mostly with The Longest Journey.)

 

 

For my part, some it was very good and some of it wasn't.  I loved everything about Hamill's performance in this film.  The Rey-Ren stuff was also very good, for my money.  I liked the character element of the Finn-Rose arc, but everything they were given to do was just stupid.  Worst character by a mile is Poe.  Cool stuff happens when he's in an X-Wing, sure, but otherwise he's a total bore.  And the whole mutiny/casino nonsense stemming from a rom-com style "there would be no problem if you people just talked to each other!" mix-up (why didn't Purplehair just give Poe, etc., some assurance that she had a plan with a chance of success?) was infuriating.

 

Although I do enjoy Driver's performance as Ren, I also agree with what others have posted about the villains all looking dumb.  Gen. Ginger McSideburns' only moment of competence (enabling the lightspeed tracking trick) was off-screen technobabble-- he'd come across much better had that been the result of something clever that the audience actually got to see him do.  Snoke in TFA presented an interesting mystery, and he started this film as a suitably menacing threat, but they overexposed him and dumped him so quickly.  There was potential there, but now he'll be remembered as another Dooku with a slightly less silly name.  With enemies like this, it's hard to believe that the fate of the resistance rests with the few survivors who fly away on the Falcon at the end--Ren and McSideburns' bumbling malice will surely bring plentiful (and effective) resistance wherever it goes.

 

I am very confused about Republic/Resistance rank structure.  Poe is called Commander, a General demotes him, and then a Vice Admiral calls him Captain.  Huh?

 

Shiny Stormtrooper Chick was a much more egregious "just here for the toy sales" gimmick than the Porgiewoks.

 

I see potential going forward.  If Ep. 9 gives us heavy doses of Rey-Ren, Finn-Rose, and BB8-R2D2 interactions, building on what we've seen from those characters so far, I'd probably like it very much.

 

Thinking a bit more about this,

 

 

I was too easy on Poe.  Ain't no reason why Adm. Sandy Williams should've said a thing to him.  The fault is all his for assuming his plan was better than hers, for assuming that she'd say no based on his one 90-second conversation with her, and for going ahead with the scheme behind her back.

 

[Bartimaeus]

 

Yeah, Polish, not Hungarian. Good call, .

 

 

 

My gosh, what's wrong with my brain. HUNGARIAN, not Polish. Good lord. Actually making me cringe a little that I got it wrong again.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Bartimaeus

[Oner]

I've watched this ridiculous, crazy, epic and amazing movie.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Oner

[ShadySands]

TLJ makes me worried about Rian Johnson's own trilogy. It was a beautiful movie but I didn't care for the direction most of the various subplots took. I know he had to color between the lines that JJ left him but still. :/

[Keyrock]

I watched The Last Jedi.  It was...  okay, I guess.  Since my own inner Star Wars fanboy died a long time ago in a galaxy far away (thanks, Episode 2), I can watch the movies without getting giddy every time they sneak in some callback or fan service.  I feel like The Force is the ultimate Deus Ex Machina and also a crutch too often leaned on that makes for sloppy storytelling.  So much of what happens in Star Wars movies, and this goes all the way back to the original trilogy, relies on incredible coincidences and flat out ludicrous luck.  All of this can easily be hand waved away because The Force.  It's weaksauce storytelling.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Keyrock

[Enoch]

TLJ makes me worried about Rian Johnson's own trilogy. It was a beautiful movie but I didn't care for the direction most of the various subplots took. I know he had to color between the lines that JJ left him but still. :/

 

I'd argue that coloring between the lines is exactly what he was trying not to do.  TFA colored within the lines; TLJ sought to scribble all over the page. 

Johnson clearly thought that it would be boring to have Snoke repeating Palpatine, Luke impersonating Yoda, Rey having mysteriously important parentage, etc., all of which TFA clearly set up.  So he spent most of this film clearing out the been-there-done-that characters and storylines, and setting the stage for the more interesting characters to shine in the next installment.  That's an approach that I can appreciate-- it just kinda sucks that so much of this film was spent watching fleeing Rebellion folks spin their wheels and never do anything useful, and that they needed the silly casino sidequest just to get a location in the film that wasn't Porg Island, Generic Spaceship Interior, or Salt Hoth.

 

Edited December 18, 2017 by Enoch

[Amentep]

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI

 

Overall I liked it.

 

Some random spoilery observations:

 

 

 

1. The whole side-plot for the code breaker seemed rushed; I know the film got cut down in running time and I can't help but feel that a lot of it was cut from this sequence (which in turn undercuts the end).  Benicio's character didn't even get a name!
2. While most likely this is the end for Phasma, she was wearing most of her armour in her fall so I could see an argument that has her survive it not unlike Luke surviving his seeming death fall in ESB.  Given the relative weakness of the First Order command, could a revenge driven Phasma be the ultimate villain for the third film?  Someone whose lost all perspective about trying to establish a new empire and just wants the rebels dead-dead-dead and perhaps has some weight (that Hux lacks) and direction (since Ren seems to be less interested in the First Order at this point that his ideas about balancing the universe)?
3. Ren says Rey's parents were nobodies.  Rey, when in the dark-side tunnel asks to see her parents but instead is shown herself.  Some people have interpreted this as indicating that Rey is the one who made herself.  But in light of The Phantom Menace, could Rey actually - like Anakin was implied to - have been generated by the force itself? 
4. Did Rey steal the teachings and hide them on the Falcon, or did Yoda?  Either way Yoda should have known they weren't there when talking to Luke, but he implies that the writings aren't important to Luke which in turn makes his lesson to Luke seem slightly off.
5. I have mixed feelings on Luke's role in the story.  On the one hand its tough to see the classic hero at a low point; on the other hand it makes sense that the farmboy 'always scanning the horizon' probably wasn't going to be the wisest or most natural teacher either.
6. So who was Snoke?  Don't get me wrong, Ren killing him I think ups Ren a good deal in the villain stakes, but he was a hollow core at the center of the first order.

[ShadySands]

 

TLJ makes me worried about Rian Johnson's own trilogy. It was a beautiful movie but I didn't care for the direction most of the various subplots took. I know he had to color between the lines that JJ left him but still. :/

 

I'd argue that coloring between the lines is exactly what he was trying not to do.  TFA colored within the lines; TLJ sought to scribble all over the page. 

Johnson clearly thought that it would be boring to have Snoke repeating Palpatine, Luke impersonating Yoda, Rey having mysteriously important parentage, etc., all of which TFA clearly set up.  So he spent most of this film clearing out the been-there-done-that characters and storylines, and setting the stage for the more interesting characters to shine in the next installment.  That's an approach that I can appreciate-- it just kinda sucks that so much of this film was spent watching fleeing Rebellion folks spin their wheels and never do anything useful, and that they needed the silly casino sidequest just to get a location in the film that wasn't Porg Island, Generic Spaceship Interior, or Salt Hoth.

 

 

Not really spoilery but I'll tag it just in case

 

 

I'm glad he tried to pivot but the problem I had with it was that I didn't much like how he wrapped up a lot of JJ's mess. Hopefully he can do better with his own story because I thought he struggled to bring all the things he wanted to get rid of from TFA to a satisfying conclusion.

 

 

and now that JJ has the reins again...

Edited December 18, 2017 by ShadySands

[Blarghagh]

Upon reflection, I decided I did like TLJ. I have issues with it, but even those issues stem from that it made me care more about the stuff that TFA made boring.

[Keyrock]

TLJ was definitely better than TFA. TFA was decidedly mediocre while TLJ was decent. I just wish SW could finally buck the protagonists survive seemingly impossible situation through an astonishing string of good luck trend. I know that's a trope of adventure movies, but SW takes it several levels further than most and it's quite frankly rather tiresome at this point.

Edited December 18, 2017 by Keyrock

[Tale]

I think I should just read the Thrawn trilogy again.

[Malcador]

Well saw it today, hmm, felt it was decent. Wasn't all that bored, still wish Finn wasn't in it though.

 

The mini deus ex machinae were a bit annoying.

[Keyrock]

I think I should just read the Thrawn trilogy again.

I mean, you should do that regardless.

[Hiro Protagonist]

The Last Jedi. Thought it was ok but nothing special.

 

Some things I found odd...

 

 

 

Slowest space chase in the history of cinema. Seriously, I'm thinking they're not going to have Finn and Rose go to another planet, pick up some guy and come back and the Rebels haven't been caught. And the First Order's ships / fleet is still crawling after them?

 

You could delete all of Finn's scenes and it wouldn't have had a negative impact on the movie. I'm not sure what his character is meant to be. 

 

Same with the Casino. Delete that from the movie as well. The whole sub plot of the code breaker adds nothing.

 

Poe adds nothing as character to the story. He might be a good pilot but so was Wedge in the original series. He should be a background character like Wedge.

 

The Rebel Admiral keeping the cloaked escape ships a secret. If it wasn't a secret and the Admiral told Poe her plan, then Poe would never have sent FInn and Rose to the Casino planet and no need for the codebreaker. And with no codebreaker, then no double cross and the First order finding out about the cloaked ships.  

 

The direction they took with Luke. Seems to go against his character imo. If he found out Snoke was such a threat he should have gone after Snoke instead.

 

Didn't need the ewoks porgs on the island or the Millennium Falcon.

 

 

 

 

 

I felt I've seen all this before. There's probably more but these are off the top of my head.

 

 

 

Infiltrate the Death Star Snoke's ship and disable the tractor beam hyperspace tracker.

 

Battle of Hoth Crait aka Salt Hoth with Walkers and Speeders.

 

Enter the Dark Side Tree Tunnel and see a reflection of yourself.

 

Yoda Luke training Luke Rey on a faraway planet and Luke Rey leaving before their training is finished.

 

Darth Vader Kylo Ren handing in Luke Rey in hand cuffs in front of the Emperor Supreme Leader Snoke and the Emperor Snoke dies by his apprentice.

 

 

 

[Blarghagh]

You know what bothered me most, though? That time Luke says "lasersword" instead of lightsaber.

[Tale]

I liked the Porgs. And I'm pretty sure Luke said it that way to be flippant. That aspect of his characterization was perfect, IMO. Maybe just saying it to be dismissive of people expecting him to be a hero, but also maybe showing disrespect for a weapon that's not really what a Jedi was about. Despite the prequels.

[Hurlshort]

I also liked the Porgs. For me, there was a really good movie with Kylo, Rey, Luke and Snope (and Chewie) while the rest was pretty meh.

 

Luke is pretty salty, but then again he live by the ocean.

[Blarghagh]

I liked the Porgs. And I'm pretty sure Luke said it that way to be flippant. That aspect of his characterization was perfect, IMO. Maybe just saying it to be dismissive of people expecting him to be a hero, but also maybe showing disrespect for a weapon that's not really what a Jedi was about. Despite the prequels.

 

Oh yeah, I get it. It just... took me out of the movie? The term somehow feels like what an old grandpa who has only heard of Star Wars would say to make fun of their grand kids. I know it's been used in-universe before, even in the movies, but I suddenly felt as if the screen writer just hated Star Wars.

Edited December 19, 2017 by TrueNeutral

[ShadySands]

Now that I've had a few days to process the movie I think the things that I didn't like about it overshadow all the things that I did. Maybe I'll go see it again this week to see if I like it better on a second screening or maybe I'll just go watch something that I know I'll enjoy and just move on from Star Wars

[Malcador]

Laser sword was ridiculing Rey. I am surprised people found the porgs funny or cute, I only laughed at Ren's reactions to Hux restating his orders, all the other jokes felt flat as everyone is a snarky one liner

[Maedhros]

Yeah I did not like how "Marvel" it felt like in terms of humour. I like funny creatures doing their things though, that's definitely Star Wars. Didn't mind the porgs or the custodians.

[ShadySands]

[Malcador]

Rihanna is a good sign