Star Wars: Episode VIII: The Last Jedi

[LoathedVermin72]

It’s a fucked up world we live in when we allow numbers made up about what other people supposedly think, to think for us. So depressing.

I would never. However, a girl I dated for a while always wanted to watch what I considered poor movies, and upon a viewing of the last Twilight movie on a otherwise really nice date night, I couldn't quite hide my distaste for it. Looked up the score and it was about where I had imagined. I mentioned it to her, and she went all Han Solo on me: "never tell me the score".

All the Twilight movies are massively superior to TFA and TLJ

[Strat]

It’s a fucked up world we live in when we allow numbers made up about what other people supposedly think, to think for us. So depressing.

I would never. However, a girl I dated for a while always wanted to watch what I considered poor movies, and upon a viewing of the last Twilight movie on a otherwise really nice date night, I couldn't quite hide my distaste for it. Looked up the score and it was about where I had imagined. I mentioned it to her, and she went all Han Solo on me: "never tell me the score".

All the Twilight movies are massively superior to TFA and TLJ

oh my god shut up

[LoathedVermin72]

It’s true, Strat

[Strat]

You need a new hobby.

[LoathedVermin72]

lol stip wrote like five bajillion words about this movie but okay

[Anders]

It’s a fucked up world we live in when we allow numbers made up about what other people supposedly think, to think for us. So depressing.

I would never. However, a girl I dated for a while always wanted to watch what I considered poor movies, and upon a viewing of the last Twilight movie on a otherwise really nice date night, I couldn't quite hide my distaste for it. Looked up the score and it was about where I had imagined. I mentioned it to her, and she went all Han Solo on me: "never tell me the score".

All the Twilight movies are massively superior to TFA and TLJ

I enjoyed the first one, and thought many men were too harsh when talking about it. The second is much worse. The last two are so awful that TLJ easily rules supreme over them.

[LoathedVermin72]

It’s a fucked up world we live in when we allow numbers made up about what other people supposedly think, to think for us. So depressing.

I would never. However, a girl I dated for a while always wanted to watch what I considered poor movies, and upon a viewing of the last Twilight movie on a otherwise really nice date night, I couldn't quite hide my distaste for it. Looked up the score and it was about where I had imagined. I mentioned it to her, and she went all Han Solo on me: "never tell me the score".

All the Twilight movies are massively superior to TFA and TLJ

I enjoyed the first one, and thought many men were too harsh when talking about it. The second is much worse. The last two are so awful that TLJ easily rules supreme over them.

Breaking Dawn: Part 1 is my favorite! The pace is so slow and so little happens in the narrative...it’s almost like The Big Chill with vampires.

[dimejinky99]

It’s a fucked up world we live in when we allow numbers made up about what other people supposedly think, to think for us. So depressing.

I would never. However, a girl I dated for a while always wanted to watch what I considered poor movies, and upon a viewing of the last Twilight movie on a otherwise really nice date night, I couldn't quite hide my distaste for it. Looked up the score and it was about where I had imagined. I mentioned it to her, and she went all Han Solo on me: "never tell me the score".

All the Twilight movies are massively superior to TFA and TLJ

I enjoyed the first one, and thought many men were too harsh when talking about it. The second is much worse. The last two are so awful that TLJ easily rules supreme over them.

Breaking Dawn: Part 1 is my favorite! The pace is so slow and so little happens in the narrative...it’s almost like The Big Chill with vampires.

Know How I know you’re trollin? Cos if you really stood by this you would have said team Edward in your first post

[stip]

lol stip wrote like five bajillion words about this movie but okay

but when I do it it’s cute!

[dimejinky99]

lol stip wrote like five bajillion words about this movie but okay

but when I do it it’s cute!

We’re all waiting on you to finish the walk through. Cmon!!

[dimejinky99]

Hair brained idea. You know the way we see different Star Wars trailers that are edited differently to pitch to Asian markets... could the Last Jedi been edited that way to appeal to that market? It is a very different than we’re used to style and Rian is a huge fan of Asian cinema and some of its great directors. I wonder.

I’m reading a sci fi book by a Chinese author at the moment and it’s structurally and tonally different to anything I’ve ever read. So they definitely have a different set of building blocks and view than we in the West do. Just made me wonder.

[stip]

you mean the movie? that's more likely to happen with a transformers or warcraft where the primary market is international (and apparently asian in particular). Last Jedi wouldn't be altered to reflect those sensibilities as the vast majority of the money is coming from English speaking markets

[stip]

lol stip wrote like five bajillion words about this movie but okay

but when I do it it’s cute!

We’re all waiting on you to finish the walk through. Cmon!!

starting in a moment

[dimejinky99]

lol stip wrote like five bajillion words about this movie but okay

but when I do it it’s cute!

We’re all waiting on you to finish the walk through. Cmon!!

starting in a moment

Good man.

[LoathedVermin72]

It’s a fucked up world we live in when we allow numbers made up about what other people supposedly think, to think for us. So depressing.

I would never. However, a girl I dated for a while always wanted to watch what I considered poor movies, and upon a viewing of the last Twilight movie on a otherwise really nice date night, I couldn't quite hide my distaste for it. Looked up the score and it was about where I had imagined. I mentioned it to her, and she went all Han Solo on me: "never tell me the score".

All the Twilight movies are massively superior to TFA and TLJ

I enjoyed the first one, and thought many men were too harsh when talking about it. The second is much worse. The last two are so awful that TLJ easily rules supreme over them.

Breaking Dawn: Part 1 is my favorite! The pace is so slow and so little happens in the narrative...it’s almost like The Big Chill with vampires.

Know How I know you’re trollin? Cos if you really stood by this you would have said team Edward in your first post

At first I was Team Jacob but then Jacob became a creep just like Edward so eventually I was just Team Kellan Lutz

[dimejinky99]

Has anyone tried to watch the OT since they’ve seen it? I haven’t. Kinda intrigued. Did watch TFA and it changed it in weird ways and it would now that we have more info.

Can’t wait til we have the last one and then we can see the whole triptych of trilogies and see how they play together. And of course Rogue one Solo and presumably / hopefully Kenobi.

[stip]

I may try to watch the whole sweep of R1 through TLJ over the next two weeks. Maybe I'll go watch TLJ one final time in theaters to close it out.

[dimejinky99]

I may try to watch the whole sweep of R1 through TLJ over the next two weeks. Maybe I'll go watch TLJ one final time in theaters to close it out.

Good idea.

[stip]

Cruiser Hanger: We get the scene between Leia and Holdo which reframes basically the entirety of one of our major storylines. The Resistance is escaping. Poe is unconscious, and Holdo leans over him, affectionately making sure he is okay.

“That one’s a trouble maker. I like him”

Now that she is no longer burdened with command she can act as herself, rather than her role, and as she makes clear to Leia she quite likes him, and his spirit (perhaps this was a young Holdo prior to Leia’s tutelage)

Leia tells Holdo to board her transport, and Holdo informs Leia of her intention to stay behind and steer the cruiser, maintaining the illusion of escape and providing what cover and support she can. The implications are stark and clear. She is sacrificing her own life to safeguard the Resistance’s escape. When Leia was incapacitated she took on the responsibility of saving the Resistance, and she means to carry it through to the end. It is one of the most quietly heroic moments in all of Star Wars (eclipsing even the infiltration of Scariff on R1) since it is the first time we’ve seen a character engage in a mission they KNOW will end in their death (the R1 crew knew their mission was dangerous, and that there was a high probability of death, but not certainty). She undertakes a mission in which there is no hope, to gift that hope to others (a maternal sacrifice)

The dynamic between Leia and Holdo is wonderful (and it’s rare that you get moments like this between female characters in these sorts of movies). Holdo broaches the conversation with a smile, like she’s asking a parent or teacher to do something that they know they aren’t allowed to do, hoping that their charm will carry them through. What follows is one of my very favorite exchanges in all of Star Wars (rivaled in this movie only by Luke’s final conversations with Yoda and Kylo).

Leia: “Too many loses. I can’t take anymore”
Holdo, with affection: “ Sure you can. You taught me how.”

It’s a great line in its own right. Framed both by Carrie Fisher’s death, and the historical importance of that character for the girls who grew up with her as a role model, it’s incredibly powerful, and one of those moments I tear up for every time I watch it. Leia’s story goes on for the rest of the movie (to her goodbye with Luke and passing of the torch to Poe), but in terms of an encapsulation of what defined her character I can’t imagine doing this better.

They trip over each other saying “May the Force be with you, always”, and Leia lets Holdo have the final word (the last time, I believe, that the line is uttered in the movie). And the line, delivered to Leia and knowing that this is Carrie Fisher’s final performance as Leia, makes it an incredibly impactful moment, followed by a beautifully shot clasping of hands – two strong female heroes saying goodbye.

The ships leave the hanger, we are informed over an intercom that cloaking devices are active, and the other older Resistance officer (the woman with the larger nose) whispers “lets hope this works.” It’s the line you would have expected Han, or Poe, to say, but this is not about flashy heroics and individual risk and masculine heroes. This is about the community of the Resistance doing their part, and about faith in the (female) leadership of the Resistance taking the steps necessary not to win, but to ensure the survival of the community. And with that line this character is also reframed as someone in on Holdo’s plan, who was in the right, and should be respected as a leader.

The shuttles leave, and Leia stares pensively out the window as Holdo stands tall and stoic, secure in the cost and meaning of her sacrifice.


Although there is one final spectacular moment, this is the end of Holdo's story. Her death is inevitable, just the circumstances of it are up in the air. And Holdo, maybe more than any other character, really opened up for me in a major way in subsequent viewings. I was not particularly impressed the first time through, swept up at first in the narrative conventions that had me thinking she was a rival to the real hero. I loved her exchange with Leia from the gate, and of course she has an amazing death, but it wasn't until I was able to watch the performance knowing the destination that I could appreciate it. Laura Dern is really excellent in this role, giving a nuanced and subtle performance that cannot be fully appreciated in the moment. She plays both her expected character and the real character who exists underneath it at the same time, but the later is only visible once you know to look for it.

And since it is looking like Poe will likely be one of the leaders of the rebellion in IX, I hope he has a moment where he acknowledges the centrality of this character to his own development as a leader.

[Jorge]

Did you post that on the wrong thread?