The updated Starkiller destruction looks great!
And I don’t think you should do more of the Sith eyes. I really don’t like the Sith eyes too much, personally. If you wanted to have it, I sorta wish it was a bit more subtle.
Yeah, the Zori stuff in general is weird. I wish it was more of Poe who was convincing Zori that there are “more of us”, rather than Poe being so hopeless. But, I guess it is sort of necessary for his arc. But he even gives up at the battle of Exegol basically. Everyone is begging Poe to tell them what they should do, and he basically says, “Well, I guess we’re all gonna die now…” I guess it isn’t bad, just wished they would’ve expressed Poe’s growth as a leader in a different way.
Could Zori just say “No, you don’t believe that”?
For some reason I expected Ewan to have a short cut, since that’s what he had in ROTS and ANH, but his hair being long and disheveled makes sense too, especially if this a period in Obi’s life where he is still dealing with the trauma of what happened.
Yeah, I’m not suggesting to punish the characters for the hell of it. Just spitballing ways that the show could develop the characters more. It’s fun when things don’t go perfectly as planned. Yeah, Wrecker went berserk momentarily, but it gets resolved with no lasting consequences on the characters or their relationships. Of course things can work out perfectly for our heroes sometimes. And it does look like things may take a turn for the worse in the next episode.
Despite everything I’ve said, there could be a really great benefit for things working out well for them in this episode. All of their procedures being successful might lead them to believe they could do the same thing to Crosshair and he will go back to “normal” after the procedure, just like Wrecker did. What would be great is if they somehow incapacitate Crosshair and remove his chip, but once he comes to, he is still loyal to the Empire.
If they go that route, I will take back my critiques! And again, there not really complaints. I’m still enjoying the show!
Mentioned my hope for some flashbacks. Well, it turns out there will be.
https://editorial.rottentomatoes.com/article/temuera-morrisons-five-favorite-films/
“Well, we can’t say too much, but we’re going to see his past and where he’s been since The Empire Strikes Back. Somebody pointed out he’s been kind of stuck in this one place, and now’s the time to actually go back in time and check out his journey and find out more about him.”
This quote fro Temeura seems to indicate we’ll at least see what he was up to between ROTJ and Mando, if we don’t go back even further.
EDIT: Also, Daniel Logan replied to someone on Twitter in a way that makes me think we might see Logan play a young Boba as well. I don’t know if he would reply this way if he wasn’t appearing, since the show has apparently wrapped. Who knows, though?
https://mobile.twitter.com/Daniel_Logan/status/1403382534797291528
I also really enjoyed this episode. A lot of nice little moments, like Rex looking at his helmet (like jedi_bendu mentioned), or Omega realizing how big Star Destroyers really are.
This is me being nit picky, but I do wish that there would’ve been a little more consequences by the end of the episode. I thought the inhibitor chips created a nice conflict for the Bad Batch. I feel like they were able to remove that conflict with very little consequence. Yeah, Wrecker went berserk, which was very fun and dramatic, but by the end it seems that problem is good and everyone is hunky dory.
I’m not suggesting someone should’ve died, but it would’ve been dramatic if Omega actually had to shoot Wrecker, and then they would have had to quickly save him using that medical device. How would have that affected Omega?
Maybe he could’ve still been stunned at the last minute, but it would have been interesting if Hunter talked to Omega about how if she were ever in a similar situation, she would need to take the shot if it meant protecting herself.
I also think the procedure itself could’ve potentially had a bit more consequences as well. After all, they’re basically “winging” neurosurgery in a rusting, broken starship. What if after the surgery, we discover that removing the chip hurt their skills in some minor way. Like, it could have negatively affected Tech’s memory or intelligence. He begins to notice he makes more mistakes. It would be interesting to see how Tech wrestled with that, since his identity is wrapped up so much in his intelligence.
I mentioned this before, but I do wish there was more differentiation between Tech and Echo. Like, Tech is exclusively the “hardware” guy, while Echo is the “software” guy. Or Echo could have still been struggling to embrace this cybernetic side of himself, and Tech could have helped him unlock his potential more over the course of the season. I think because of their similarities, it makes them both stand out less.
Again, this is all really nit picky stuff. I still really enjoyed it, I just wish there had been a bit more cost or consequence for the Bad Batch getting their chips removed.
The title, “The Book of Boba Fett” does make me think, and hope, that will series will have some flashbacks to different parts of Boba’s life. Maybe some snippets bridging the gap between ROTJ and Mandalorian, showing what Boba was up to all that time. It’s probably wishful thinking, but it’s also be cool to see flashbacks to Boba in his prime bounty hunting days as well.
Before Boba was revealed to be alive, I had imagined a film or series that I was calling “Boba Fett is Dead”, the premise being Boba trying to reevaluate his identity after the Sarlaac and the loss of his armor. But the series would also show flashbacks, contrasting Boba at his peak and at his present, lowest point.
I’m really open to anything with this show, but seeing Boba at different points in his life and career would be really fun. But if not, it will still be cool to see Boba does with his new criminal(?) empire he’s apparently setting up.
Did you sort of make the Falcon light a little red and ominous at first to make the audience think it is the planet’s erupting magma (hinting at eminent danger for Rey and Finn), but then it becoming the white light of the Falcon’s spotlights? If so, really nice touch!
Maybe it is because I’m looking at the scene independently from the film, but the pacing of the shots feel a little prolonged, in particular the wide shot we sit on before it cuts to the chasm opening shots.
I’m just spitballing, but I wonder if it would help if the sound of the earth cracking could slowly get louder as we get closer to the actual cracking shots. I also wonder if that second wide shot could use a little more camera shake, and then become more stable as the Falcon light becomes more prominent.
Apropos of nothing, but with the improved puppet show this project has taken the prize of ‘best single change of all time’ from Adywan’s ESB Revisited and the AT-AT falling on the AT-ST.
Just wanted to say that, now back to your regularly scheduled discussion.
Oh wow, that is some high praise! The puppet stuff was probably a lot less work than what Ady did (I also loved his addition of the creature on Dagobah). But I appreciate the compliments!
But yeah, I think visually it is done. I implemented most/all of the advice regarding the visuals (like masking out the storyteller’s hand from the second shot). The audio isn’t actually finalized yet, but what is there now would probably work fine.
Speaking of finalization, Hal, I may need to message you about the proper export settings for the scene so I can get it to you.
I think so. I’m limited in my options, but certainly the audio over some imagery. Perhaps the new CG version. Perhaps just a crackling fire in the sand. Perhaps some sort of dreamy VFX over it. It’s totally not something I currently have much skill at, if any. I’d be interested in ideas.
I just feel like pairing the “memory” of discussing Ahsoka’s loss with the imagery of Anakin being jealous and violent is the best we can do with what we have.
If you couldn’t make a “dream” sequence work, perhaps you could do something similar to the politics of war episode, where you put audio over Padmé walking the streets of Coruscant, illustrating what is currently going through her mind. You could probably trim that fireside conversation down if necessary as well. Perhaps you could have a scene of Anakin brooding, but also cut to flashbacks of Ahsoka leaving, of Obi-Wan, etc, to extend the moment a little as well.
I haven’t rewatched that arc in awhile, so I can’t think of a particular moment where it could fit. Are you including the Trace and Rafa arc for Season 7?
Oh right! I do recall that. So is it supposed to be like a voiceover during a dream sequence/montage?
Lol, digging the titles! My dad and I might try to go through Restructured together, and he will definitely get a chuckle from “Ocean Commotion”.
I like the inclusion of these extra bits from non Clone Wars 2008 sources. I kind of picture these as specials that would’ve been released during the gaps of time between each season. Not exactly necessary to the overall narrative, but extra little characterization for fans who like it.
I don’t know if there is enough content to make one of these between each season, but treating them as “bridges” is a great place for them I think.
Since these include different animation styles (Tartakovsky, FoD) it might feel weird, but one of these anthology episodes might be a good place to include that animated short someone did of Anakin and Obi-Wan’s fireside conversation from Crystal Crisis.
I feel pretty confident that we can get Kylo’s existing lines to work for a Rey Nobody version. Just have to sit down and actually put it together…
It can be whatever we want it to be!
I wasn’t sure about adding the Forces of Destiny stuff at first, but it does give you more Padmé content. And Padmé and Ahsoka teaming up regularly helps build up their friendship in their Clone Wars episodes. I think it makes sense that Ahsoka would kind of know about Anakin and Padmé, so I think it would benefit to include that implication.
Also, I LOVE the new Revival title, Pirates of the Outer Rim.
Yes, Jordan! If we could just get some art, I think either myself or someone else can do the work putting it on a wall.
I do think how the whispers are in the current version already helps get that idea across, that Rey is sort of flirting with the dark side, even if it isn’t explicit.
I can always use Google Translate, but can anyone translate the following into French, Spanish, Portugues, Spanish, Italian, and/or Dutch?
“Who are you?”
“I am a highly trained Resistance spy.”
“Then why are you… What?”
In Australian:
“Oi! The fack are ya?”
“Yeah nah I’m like some top narc shiddcant mate.”
“The fack yonnabout?”
I’ve never been to Australia but I can somehow clearly hear this in my head.
This is definitely a yes and no question, in my opinion. Maybe I can try to give an example to illustrate my mindset.
Beauty is a lot like art, in the sense that it’s objectivity is often argued over. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder” and all.
Beauty Standards definitely exist, but what those standards are change with trends, countries and cultures. So, yes, someone could be objectively beautiful based on a certain set of beauty standards, and those standards may even have a psychological effect on our subjective tastes, but those standards aren’t some objective universal truth. There is really no such thing as objective truth when it comes to art and beauty.
Artists have learned techniques to manipulate our emotions through whatever medium they work with, and I believe you can judge art through the artist’s execution and/or subversion of those techniques. But I think our judgements are still bound by generalization and shifting standards. So I don’t think it is fair to say something is objectively better than something else unless you state by what standards you’re rating this thing by.
But I think a lot of times when a person tries to argue that something is objectively better than something else, they’re typically judging them by a set of unspoken standards. So I guess the question becomes whether or not they are aware of the standards they’re judging this thing by?
Portrait of a Lady on Fire (2019) dir. Céline Sciamma
With Portrait, you can tell that Sciamma has mastered the philosophy of “less is more”. Minimal characters, minimal locations, minimal score. I tend to struggle maintaining my attention with scoreless films, but this movie captivated me from beginning to end. Every pause, breath, and glance these characters make feels both natural, yet meticulously thought-out by Sciamma. There’s a lot to learn (and feel) from this film. It is on Hulu, so if you have a subscription I would certainly recommend this to anyone in the mood for love.
Wouldn’t they be fighting the Final Order though? Like, the only First Order present on Exegol are on the Steadfast.
to have an idea / creative thought be broken down into a thousand pieces no matter what it is every time gets abit jarring.
Making one measly suggestion/observation is considered that? Like I said, the audio is great, but that was my one reservation with it. I figured voicing my concern might have been worth something, but I guess not. Sorry.
It’s not something you have to apologize for.
The Final Order is so dumb, and the least it is mentioned in this movie, the better.
(To preface, I’m not saying this because I want this idea to go either way. If we choose not to go with it I won’t really mind.)
I don’t think Kylo knowing where she is going is any less confusing than the theatrical.
In the theatrical, we can assume Kylo had the dagger translated, I guess. All he knew was that he had to go to Endor. He didn’t have the dagger to figure out where exactly on the Death Star he needed to go, Goonies-style. Despite that, he still found his way into the Emperor’s throne room. That’s never addressed.
With this dagger edit, we could also assume Kylo used the dagger to get a glimpse of the Death Star ruins, just like Rey would in his chambers in this version of the movie. We could even show a glimpse of the Emperor’s throne room itself. So this version would arguably have a better explanation for how Kylo knew where to go than the theatrical version. Or, we can assume Palpatine just told him. The scene where Palpatine speaks to Kylo through the Force makes it seem like Kylo knew where Rey was going without his help, but since we moved that scene, it wouldn’t be crazy to assume Palpatine told him where the other Wayfinder is.
But like Jar Jar is saying, we would need to make it clearer why Rey received a vision when she picked it up on the Steadfast, but not on Pasaana. Maybe if we had Rey say “Show me” or something could help with that.
But if the Auralnauts actually agreed to it, then I think we obviously would have to go through with this, no question. 😂
EDIT: I personally think the vision/glimpses would need to be on the more subtle side, if we did it.
Good point! I do think it would be fun to mock up a montage of Lando flying around and random planets “receiving” the message.