Star Wars Black Series

docsilence said:
Which is too bad, because one of, say, Marvel's strengths is that each project for a long time was a different genre. This is a spy thriller, this is a Shakespearean drama, this is a sitcom, this is a found family story. So absolutely not everything was meant to be for everybody, but modern audiences expect everything to be crafted in a way that it appeals to the mass audience.
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I think Marvel did this to themselves, and DC's about to follow the path. They can produce shows of different themes and styles, but then make them all the latest episode of an ongoing series. So you've got people like me, who wouldn't necessarily be interested in a Thunderbolts-type movie, feeling obligated to go see it and coming away unsatisfied because it's not the kind of movie I want to see.

It took less than 30 seconds for me to be turned off by Peacemaker, and if that becomes Chapter 1 of the next Superman movie, well, screw you, James Gunn.

Ru1977 said:
I definitely went on at length about the faults of the prequels in the early 2000s. More than anything though, I came at it as a writer than a fan.
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I think fan re-writes get a bad rap. There are certainly the types who are doing it because the creator is an idiot and only they know how to do it right, but I'd say most I've seen are just fans, exercising their writing muscles, and basically creating a fanfic version of what they want to see. It's easy to do it respectfully.

I also kind of enjoy seeing why they would make certain changes. Sort of deconstructing the deconstruction. A Youtuber called Nando v Movies used to be really good at talking about how a single change to a movie would deliver certain, better reactions and possibilities. It was fun to see how something could be done differently, and educational to see how ideas can be implemented.

Long story short, I feel like these kinds of things only make us better writers and shouldn't be discouraged.
 
I had issues with Acolyte, but to be fair it had strong headwinds going in with in that I've yet to find a Jedi compelling. The Jedi actually have issues angle could work, but I don't feel that paid off.
 
Well after seeing all the takes on here I am going to give The Acolyte a shot. I like when things get changed up and I like it is set in The High Republic era. I'm the oddball person who has very rarely watched something that I didn't at least think was okay. I may not love everything but there isn't much I can say I actually hated. Just a handful of movies I swore I'd never watch again because it was a couple hours I could never get back!
 
Another thing that has infected fandoms since the rise of the Internet is the hyperbole virus. Everything is either THE GREATEST THING YOU'VE EVER EXPERIENCED IN YOUR LIFE, or it's total crap. No in-between for many people, and I really hate that. I liked The Acolyte...I thought it was overall a decent show. Was it the most amazing thing ever? No, not even close, but it wasn't complete garbage either. There were many aspects I really liked, and overall those made up for its shortcomings. But people seem unable to even grasp such a concept, especially when it comes to franchises like Star Wars or Marvel. Even the internet language that has developed over time reflects this, in that "mid" used to mean something was "okay, not great", but now people say something is "mid" to mean it just completely sucks like a supermassive black hole.
 
Hey, glad you're giving it a shot. I keep saying it's not the best Star Wars ever made but it was really trying to pull something off that was different, and I found that enjoyable. And if nothing it else it's got some BITCHIN' lightsaber duels.
NORM said:
Rectum-nestled trumpet. You should toot your own horn for coming up with that gem.
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Not gonna lie, as I typed that I made a BRR-BRR-BRR-BRRRRR! trumpet noise IRL.
Ru1977 said:
Well... I don't think I lost my shit exactly, but I definitely went on at length about the faults of the prequels in the early 2000s. More than anything though, I came at it as a writer than a fan. As a fan, I kinda blew it off, but as a writer... they should have done this, that, and the other. As a writer and a fan, I just turned away from the sequels.
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I'll never defend the writing on the prequels, but I will defend the far better stories it inspired. The prequels are a hot mess and at times I felt second-hand embarrassment for the actors. But somehow, miraculously, it spun off Clone Wars and Rebels and Bad Batch and so I have forgiveness in m heart for some epically terrible dialogue. Also pro tip: I once watched the opening of Revenge of the Sith on mute because I was in a very boring meeting and cinematically? That battle sequence is GORGEOUS. If you can't hear the dialogue. :)
 
TheGillMan said:
Another thing that has infected fandoms since the rise of the Internet is the hyperbole virus. Everything is either THE GREATEST THING YOU'VE EVER EXPERIENCED IN YOUR LIFE, or it's total crap. No in-between for many people, and I really hate that. I liked The Acolyte...I thought it was overall a decent show. Was it the most amazing thing ever? No, not even close, but it wasn't complete garbage either. There were many aspects I really liked, and overall those made up for its shortcomings. But people seem unable to even grasp such a concept, especially when it comes to franchises like Star Wars or Marvel. Even the internet language that has developed over time reflects this, in that "mid" used to mean something was "okay, not great", but now people say something is "mid" to mean it just completely sucks like a supermassive black hole.
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Oh yeah, a phrase that kept popping up in my head as I was writing up my own thoughts is the internet has lost the phrase "I didn't like it" and replaced it with IT SUCKED! Like, 100%, "I didn't like it" is a reasonable response to anything, but the internet age of fandom has that all or nothing "I didn't like it therefore we need to burn it with fire" instead of just being like y'know, not my thing, I'll pass on the rest of the series.
 
I'd definitely recommend giving the Acolyte a try. I didn't love every episode, but overall I really enjoyed it and the interesting questions it posed. It took "from a certain point of view" and ran with it- it's all a matter of perspective. I do feel like, since the show had a couple seasons planned, had it been able to tell its full story, we might be looking at it differently, but alas, studios don't like to give things a chance and let them simmer. Imagine if they pulled the plug on Andor or Clone Wars because some folks didn't like one or two slower episodes.

A lot of the hate of the Acolyte mostly came from the vitriolic anti-woke, anti-women, anti-POC crowd who lobbed some really hateful things toward Amandla and crew. To me, looking at where certain comments are coming from is just as important as listening to the comment itself. Glowing or scathing, it's important to do your research on what's being said and by who and for what purpose. Which is another reason why AI scares me- it's removing that part of us that requires folks to think for themselves (but that's a whole other tangent). I can only hope that, much like with Jake Lloyd or Ahmed Best, the folks who said the horrible things come to regret them with time.

There's definitely been a lot of "I wish I'd given this a chance sooner" discussions of late. Saw it with Acolyte, saw it with Thunderbolts, etc. Just goes to show you gotta give things a chance while it still counts.

Anyway, if nothing else- the few things that most folks seem to be able to agree on are that the lightsaber fights are frickin' phenomenal (they are), and that The Stranger is an awesome new character (he is). You'll have to let us know your thoughts, Stinky!
 
Schizm said:
No one has mentioned The Clone Wars as a big part of Anakin's continued appeal. But we spent time with the character for six seasons and he was was given an actual personality. Not to mention The Clone Wars turned into a fantastic show with a beautifully-realized artistic vision.

Hayden is still creepy and idiotic in Eps II and III, but Anakin has improved.

I just watched the first episode of Tales of the Underworld - did Asajj really die off-screen? Huh. Was the outfit the character is wearing in the upcoming version used on-screen?
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Hayden and Anakin are also just hot.

There's a whole fanbase into SW enough solely on the strength of his tortured beauty.
 
As a young gay growing up with the Prequels, I can confirm that it was quite a delight seeing both Hayden and Ewan on screen. Not that I wasn't a nerd anyway and just like the franchise/characters, but it was nice not having to pretend to come up with reasons why I wanted posters of Anakin and Obi-Wan on my wall.
 
Schizm said:
No one has mentioned The Clone Wars as a big part of Anakin's continued appeal.
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It's why I always feel a little bad for people who refuse to watch the Clone Wars. They do so much to make his character more compelling the films kinda become "half a season of poorly written episodes in an otherwise great character arc."

I doubt it'll happen, but I often wonder if they'll ever do something similar that salvages the sequels. I don't know if there's enough time in-world between the films to fix it in a way that adds coherence, though.
 
docsilence said:
It's why I always feel a little bad for people who refuse to watch the Clone Wars. They do so much to make his character more compelling the films kinda become "half a season of poorly written episodes in an otherwise great character arc."
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Honestly, Clone Wars didn’t do much to move the needle for me in that regard. In fact, watching Clone Wars makes me sad because I can tell it would be SO GOOD if it wasn’t shackled to those awful, awful, AWFUL films. Like even when good Anakin stuff happens, I can’t put the dreck of the films out of my mind and also the whole “world” of CW is stuck reflecting all tha prewuels’ ancillary garbage no matter what. Such a bummer, the parts are much better than the whole forced on it.
 
docsilence said:
It's why I always feel a little bad for people who refuse to watch the Clone Wars. They do so much to make his character more compelling the films kinda become "half a season of poorly written episodes in an otherwise great character arc."

I doubt it'll happen, but I often wonder if they'll ever do something similar that salvages the sequels. I don't know if there's enough time in-world between the films to fix it in a way that adds coherence, though.
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Clone Wars was a tough sell at the time for me because it just didn't look like what I want out of Star Wars. Which is fine, I have specific tastes. I also had been more of the 2D clone wars era, and was not so into 3D cartoons (never even liked Reboot or Beast Wars, I know).

Then a friend told me there was an alternate watch order. It's the one where it just batched each little arc together, no timeline needed, just whoever you cared to see and learn about. And that did it. Once I was invested in a few arcs, may as well do it all.

And it does feel like they changed direction by season 2 or 3. But yeah. He gets so much growth. Everyone does. It's amazing.

I liked the little Disney shorts about the female characters and then the trilogy highlights. I wish we'd get something like that to flesh out the sequels, or at least Rey. My dream is an animated prequel about Jyn leading into Rogue One.
 
I've told many people that I consider The Clone Wars to be the actual prequels, while the live action films serve as rather lackluster episodes that slot into CW.

I would actually love to see something similar done with the Sequel era, that would partially make those films a bit better. I really feel bad for the cast of those films, as they are working with some really bad material.
 
I don’t really get the sequel hate. I mean, I get the Rise of Skywalker-specific hate, because that film was obviously just totally cowardly assembled by committee. But The Force Awakens is totally solid, and The Last Jedi is, like, the second or third best SW film of all time.
 
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