Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

[epilogue]

the OT is simple but resonant characters and themes and epic set pieces with a surrounding mythology that works because you dont question it or look too closely (nor does the trilogy)

the prequels confused plot with theme, answered questions that didnt need answering (and impoverished the universe in the process) forgot to include real characters (for the most part) but did expand the scope of the galaxy (largely a plus)

the new movies (tfa, r1, tlj) return to the strengths of the OT with new characters, themes, and set pieces, almost universally more sophisticated than the OT. what it cant do for older audiences (usually) is recapture the magic of discovery and creation of the basic vocabulary of your imagination. that already exists and cant be recreated. But it can and has been for younger audiences, which has saved star wars from being ‘the thing your dad likes’

1000 times, yes. This, this, this.

[epilogue]

that’s also why (to me) the luke critiques feel a bit misguided. they strike me as based more on the vision of luke/jedi that existed in our childhood imagination (carried forward)and was reified in the EU, rather than the character that actually exists in the three movies. thats not to say other interpretations of luke couldnt exist or be equally plausible, but the TLJ version is both consistent with the lore that exists and is the more interesting story. it gives the character somewhere to go, explores the idea and disconnect between our myths and reality, AND gives us the rejuvenated heroes ending we wanted him to have

Agreed.

There's this sort of backward way of looking at this that people are taking issue with. Maybe, rather than #notmylukeskywalker or "Luke would never ever..." people should look at the film and go, "Oh wow, I can't believe that's what Luke did." And then start to think about why Luke makes the choices he makes rather than getting hung up on why one thinks Luke would never make those choices.

Most of us never imagined Bill Cosby would be the person he's been revealed to be. If his story was a movie, people would have a really hard time accepting his arc. But it fucking happened. And here we are.

Why Luke does what he does is so much more interesting to me.

[stip]

See, the problem with the prequels at this point is that Rogue One exists. The Death Star is in the prequels as being built by the insect guys but they're never brought up in R1. Unless I missed something? Maybe a crawl would have helped explain how they went from them to the Empire.

Or I could just read the wiki. I'm off!

White House petition[edit]

In 2012–13, a proposal on the White House's website urging the United States government to build a real Death Star as an economic stimulus and job creation measure gained more than 30,000 signatures, enough to qualify for an official response. The official (tongue-in-cheek) response was released in January 2013:[45] the cost of building a real Death Star has been estimated at $850 quadrillion by the Lehigh University, or about 13,000 times the amount of mineable resources on Earth, while the International Business Times cited a Centives economics blog calculation that, at current rates of steel production, the Death Star would not be ready for more than 833,000 years.[46] The White House response also stated "the Administration does not support blowing up planets," and questioned funding a weapon "with a fundamental flaw that can be exploited by a one-man starship" as reasons for denying the petition.[45][47][48]

Remember when the government could have fun?

i forgot about that

[EJ]

Luke really should have had Rey carrying that giant fish in a backpack while doing backflips as part of her training.

[epilogue]

Luke really should have had Rey carrying that giant fish in a backpack while doing backflips as part of her training.

[dimejinky99]

Luke really should have had Rey carrying that giant fish in a backpack while doing backflips as part of her training.

I’d say she was milking that seacow every day she was there.

[dimejinky99]

Money quote.

James Emanuel Shapiro did the hard work over at Birth.Death.Movies detailing that, of 100 random negative user reviews from Rotten Tomatoes, 94% of them either had no account or were first-time users. Of 100 random negative Metacritic user reviews, 72% of them were new users.

[VinylGuy]

yeah, i dont really get it.

[dimejinky99]

I love the idea that Luke has been the new hope twice. And more importantly so the second time. All the more powerful coming out of his reclusivity and reluctance to take part. Inspiring the kid just by hearing a story about him.

This is Star Wars but also real world brought into Star Wars and on a loop.

It’s wonderful

[stip]

yeah, i dont really get it.

the larger article that it references is making the point that there seems to be a smaller, demographically unrepresentative group of fans posting negative reviews as part of a concentrated (though not necessarily guided) effort to create a narrative that the movie is unpopular/unsuccessful with fans. Lots of repeat comments, accounts created to post a review and then deleted (to repost again), stuff like that. It helps explain why exist surveys of the movies themselve are overwhelmingly positive (and in line with reactions to TFA and R1) and the less statistically valid/more prone to manipulation user results on sites like RT and Metacritic tell such a different story.

[VinylGuy]

Metacritic?

Man, im glad i dont give a fuck about that kinda of stuff.

[bune]

ALT-RIGHT GROUP CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR HUGE BACKLASH...
http://www.nme.com/news/film/alt-right- ... di-2182064

[dimejinky99]

Broom boy. I like his real name.

[Anders]

Sounds too easy an explanation and dismissal to me. Just look at all the reviews on imdb by a wide range of users, and the dropping rating.

[stip]

Sounds too easy an explanation and dismissal to me. Just look at all the reviews on imdb by a wide range of users, and the dropping rating.

feel free to read the article

[EJ]

Probably second accounts. They really should utilize Stip's crack system of barring posters with less than 250 posts in the PJ tourney.

[epilogue]

It's just so incredibly meaningless to me.

[stip]

Probably second accounts. They really should utilize Stip's crack system of barring posters with less than 250 votes in the PJ tourney.

i should be in charge of the world’s cyber security

[epilogue]

Probably second accounts. They really should utilize Stip's crack system of barring posters with less than 250 votes in the PJ tourney.

i should be in charge of the world’s cyber security

Please and thank you.

[Sgt. Crackpot]

Took my kids tonight. They loved it. They laughed at Snoke getting annihilated. They were in awe at the throne room scene. They thought Luke was a badass in his final act.

Second viewing for me, and I still really enjoyed it.

We'll probably go see it again after Christmas.

This reminds me, when I went to see it...during the throne room fight.

At the end of the fight, when the lightsaber goes through the guards head, and you see the hole...a young kid (7-8?) behind me and my brother chuckled. That's messed up.

I quite liked that move by Ren, and they way the camera pans to reveal the hole.