Star Wars Movie and Streaming Series Discussion

[Popoman]

Caught up on Andor last night and I am just blown away. This is Star Wars at its best.

They've set a very high bar.

 

[Ru1977]

Spoiler: not much of a spoiler for Andor but it's about the latest episodes, and recasting/deep fake actors

Recasting Bail like they did really gives me hope. I know they recast Baylan Skoll as well, but that seemed like more of a necessity assuming the character is getting a lot of screentime. Luke in Mandalorian, and Tarkin and Leia in Rogue One, were somewhat limited on screen, but if Baylan is getting a lot of scenes across several episodes, recasting made more sense to me. But Bail, they probably could have done something in the computer. And it would have been horrible for multiple reasons. Maybe there's some legal thing Smitts was able to pull to prevent it and I'm giving Disney too much credit, I dunno. But I'm glad they did it, as much as I would have liked continuing with Smitts. But Bratt managed to own the role anyway and I was pretty happy watching him in his scenes.

My wife asked if I'm gonna put on Rogue One after the finale, and maybe... but I'm more in the mood to start Andor over immediately after, then watch Rogue One heh.

 

[Ru1977]

Y'know, they absolutely did Finn dirty with the writing, but they did POE dirty too. Two astoundingly wonderful actors with amazing chemistry both with each other and with Daisy and... phfffffftt.

Agreed. Force Awakens can be easy to hate on, but there are moments in there that show how good it could be. Again, if the trilogy had a consistent throughline, episode 8 could have really elevated 7. It had some good pieces to play with.

Ru, the Kanan payoff is something I won't post about cos it's kind of the culmination of the heart of the entire journey of the show but... if you can ever bear to sit through it, I find it to be one of the most profoundly moving moments in all of this 48-year-old franchise's history.

I promise I will give it a try, maybe this summer.

I will say the most off-putting thing about the animated shows are they are FRANTIC

Hard agree. Like I said, especially after watching Andor, I felt on the verge of a conniption.

One of the things I love about Andor is how it elegantly takes its time at every turn and lets the audience savor the tension.

Agree again. Elegant is the right word. I can't wait to rewatch the series already. The tension can almost sneak up on you sometimes, and it hits even harder after so much 'slowness'.

I was so bummed out by so much of the sequels that the Holdo Maneuver didn't even show up as a blip on my radar of stuff I had problems with. I think my reaction was "oh. Huh. Okay." Because I was still baffled by Leia Mary Poppinsing her way through space.

Ah that's a shame, the Holdo Maneuver is always one of the first things I think of when I consider that movie. Yes, even as someone who tries desperately hard to watch every Star Wars with a very open mind, the Mary Poppins moment was jarring for me.

 

[Ru1977]

I don't know if ya'll have read Colin Trevorrow's unproduced script for episode 9, but you should if you haven't. It's not perfect

I think I read some of it, and definitely read a lengthy summary, and I agree it was better but not perfect.

as promised

This is such an issue I had with the ST. The PT had some little things that Clone Wars probably picked up for them, but the ST really suffered from JJ's obsession with mystery boxes and his inability to pay them off. Set things up, then never come back to them. AND, throw things out there without ever setting them up.

Finn led a freakin' Stormtrooper rebellion

Probably the part I felt the dropped the ball on. They kinda kept the setup for this, then fumbled pretty hard on the execution.

Andor would have had a Stormtrooper rebellion, damn it.

 

[Ru1977]

Then we have the Rise of Skywalker. It's got a video game quest to find a MacGuffin.

I forgot to respond to this bit, but absolutely! I couldn't believe what I was watching when I went to see that movie. It's just a quest to get the thing that'll lead to the character that'll give them the thing to help them on the quest to the place where they meet the person that takes them to the thing to defeat the place, and it's done at such a pace that it hopes you don't stop to question how dumb and pointless it all is.

The long and short of it is why couldn't it have worked against the Death Star?

Ah, thank you! I get that. It doesn't ruin it for me because I just loved the moment.

100%. A trilogy of The Last Jedis would've been a million times better than three movies pulling in opposite directions—especially when two were creatively bankrupt. This is why films need a singular vision to succeed.

200%! Like I said, a trilogy of fan service or a trilogy of turning the concept of star wars upside down, or even a trilogy of all new ideas... whatever, but pick one and see it through. Now we have dumb canon.

 

[docsilence]

TSI, completely in agreement with your last point - the only time I ever want to see a dead actor CGIed is in a case like Oliver Reed in Gladiator where almost all of his scenes are done and they just need to have him breeze through a scene for a few seconds to complete the arc. No more uncanny valley mapping Luke's face onto another actor's body.

 

[Ru1977]

Anyone been following the Marvel comics under Disney? And if so, anyone else think they could be adapted into an awesome set of movies or a series? Stuff like Dr. Aphra, the Sabe/Vader stuff, or just Scar Squadron.... I mean, come on. Wanna stick with the OT era? How about like that?

 

[Chooch555]

I'd love a Scar show. Aphra was great in the beginning, but I personally find they've stretched that taffy pretty thin.

 

[Ru1977]

Well... Maybe a show like "Star Wars: Empire," to follow some of the characters that survive Andor, AND introduce Aphra and the Scarries. And hey, Keira Knightly has done tv before... maybe she'd like a recurring role?

Spoiler: slight Andor plot spoiler

If Andor can revisit events already done in other releases, I really hope that means we can revisit comic and other events in live action now. I don't even mind if they do faithful adaptations, but there's some screen gold to be mined damnit.

 

[docsilence]

Yeah, I lost interest in Aphra after a great start, but I think she'd be fun in a show format.

 

[Revox]

I loved Aphra when Gillen was writing her but the subsequent writers who took over after him were all incredibly mid. Still, I would really love to see her make the move to live action, providing they keep her edge and don't soften her up too much - she has to be a relentlessly backstabbing PoS with a smile.

 

[Goldbug]

I'm not here to rehash tired, old arguments, I'm here to praise the absolute fuck out of this week's arc. Episode 8 in particular isn't just the best ep of the season or even series, it's possibly the best episode of anything I've ever watched. Just completely absorbing, unbearably tense, heartbreaking, and brutal.

The biggest surprise to me was that

Spoiler

Syril was the only one to cash out this week, I was dreading a main cast massacre to go along with the poor Ghormans. And even then, Syril's reaction to the horror unfurling to these people he'd come to respect was just and good and I wish he hadn't spotted Cassian in the plaza because maybe he could have gone on to make a positive difference from there (if he were able to get the hell out).

Spoiler

I was very disappointed with that. I was really expecting him to pick up a blaster & start shooting Imperials. It seemed he was heading in that direction. Instead he snapped the wrong way.

 

[joshsquash729]

Rewatched the latest batch of Andor episodes so I could really take it in, and watched Mon's Rebels episode after, and hot diggity- it's just so good. Obviously a huge shift in quality from Andor to Rebels (which isn't a knock on Rebels- I love that show too, and would definitely recommend anyone give it a watch). But man, what an arc. Truly some of the most powerful stuff I've seen in a long time, and in Star Wars, maybe ever. I'm glad it's sparking discourse. I'm hopeful that, since season 1 at least got some nominations, that season 2 is a lock as well. If there was any justice, the Ghorman arc would get nominations across the board, including acting for at least Diego, Denise, and Genevieve.

One of my favorite little details that didn't quite register on the first watch was

Spoiler

the two senate technicians who help lock the door. They don't say who exactly they are or what side they're on, but it ties back to Nemik's speech in season 1- those "little acts of resistance" popping up all over.

 

[yojoebro82]

Tonight I finally introduced my two girls, 7 and 5, to Star Wars in the only correct way to do so, with A New Hope. While I do not anticipate they react like the male audience of 1977, going back to rewatch again and again, they did express interest in seeing the other two. I tried to build little girl anticipation at the closing ceremony by asking, "Who do you think the princess falls in love with, Han or Luke?" They both thought Luke.

 

[Ru1977]

Leia is definitely an outstanding role model. The smartest, the most capable, and the best shot.