jedi_bendu

JGPRIME25 said:

In TFA, Rey declines the offer because she was waiting for her parents, although she really wanted to accept it. In TROS, Rey allows herself to accept to carry on the legacy of her mentors because she knows she is worthy. She always has been.

I don’t like TROS but this is super well put. It’s making me like Rey’s journey across the films more.

I hope one day I can be brave as her. She is a big inspiration to me 😃

And this just makes me happy to read.

I always think that of films, although they cost lots of time, money and effort, and although many may find the finished product mediocre or underwhelming anyway, if a film inspires even one person - it was all worth it. Art should be made primarily to help people; giving inspiration and hope is the greatest thing you can do as a creator.

I’ve come to regard the sequels as more disappointing over time, but I know they have so much value because of people like you who say that the movies helped you through your own struggles. I’m glad they exist and I’m glad you find so much to relate to in Rey.

RogueLeader said:

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.

I like this more rough look for Obi. It’s like half-way between his AOTC and ROTS looks. It’s recognisably closer to ROTS Obi-wan Kenobi, but in a more harsh environment, or something.

In the photos he’s in the wind and hard sunlight so it’s obviously not accurate to what he’ll look like on screen. This artwork by Jake Bartok is closer to what I think Obi-wan will look like in the show.

First Photos of Ewan McGregor on ‘Obi-Wan Kenobi’ Set from http://www.justjared.com/

http://www.justjared.com/2021/06/12/first-photos-of-ewan-mcgregor-on-obi-wan-kenobi-set-cast-seen-covering-up-costumes/

“The costume is probably slightly different than you might expect.” - Ewan McGregor
No kidding… who knew you’d need a raincoat on Tatooine?

(And no, this isn’t the actual costume - just a ‘robe’ of sorts to cover it up from prying photographers!)
Although we’re still able to see a few glimpses, including what looks like Indira Varma as an Imperial officer.

Knight of Kalee said:

And finally, I wonder who was Rex talking to before he left. I really hope it’s not Ahsoka in order to avoid further retcons to her own novel, though honestly I wouldn’t be surprised.

I agree with this, although I love Ahsoka I really don’t think she should be in this series. I would have said Wolffe or Gregor - perhaps Rex is working with them to stage a clone rebellion or something similar (which would line up with Rebels nicely, because the rebellion would fail and the three of them would simply retire) - but at one point Rex says of the chip removal procedure, “I’ve never been on this end of it” which means he hasn’t helped Wolffe or Gregor to get theirs removed yet. Maybe the line is simply an oversight, maybe Wolffe and Gregor have removed their chips independently, I guess we’ll see.

RogueLeader said:

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?

I’m agreed with this. It occurred to me that Omega could have shot Wrecker and that would have a lasting effect on her, but I do like that Omega couldn’t bring herself to do it in time - and didn’t compromise her moral integrity at all. Very interesting thought about the lasting effect the chip could leave on characters like Tech (and I would love some sort of development for Tech). If I had to guess though, we’ll be looking at a more action-packed second half of the season rather than a character-focused one.

Very very good episode today. It’s a shame there wasn’t more spotlight on Echo, because Rex was there, nor more meaningful mentions of Fives because his discovery was the most relevant in this episode, but they wanted to keep the emotional focus of the episode on Wrecker and I think it paid off. I was very relieved that the mysterious figure was Rex - as I said last week, it would have been weird if it was Bail and retcon-y if it was Ahsoka.

Great location, very well crafted tense sequences and touching moments - like Omega and Wrecker sharing food together and Rex staring at his helmet to contemplate how its meaning has changed for him. I really thought this might be a good episode to include a Crosshair scene in, but it’s fine. Now the Empire knows the Batch are on Bracca, I’m certain he’ll be in the next one!

He hasn’t been gone that long, but I hope rodney-2187 is doing ok. Last active 2nd May and now his avatar is blacked out. (If that’s an automatic thing, I don’t know what it means)

The High Republic: The Rising Storm – Book Review by Fabio Fiori at https://tatooinetimes.com/

https://tatooinetimes.com/star-wars-reviews/the-high-republic-the-rising-storm-book-review/

“The Rising Storm (the author’s very first Del Rey Star Wars novel) is probably Scott’s greatest achievement … through and through an absolute masterpiece … This next installment of The High Republic is an essential must-read and one that will without a doubt take its place among the best Star Wars stories of all time.”

Also, interestingly, it seems to be very dark - “Scott’s utterly graphic description of each horrific act is at a level never seen in Star Wars publishing”

The Rising Storm review: An emotional page-turner from beginning to end by Tom Farr at https://dorksideoftheforce.com/

“The Rising Storm is the best kind of Star Wars book. Emotional. Rising stakes from beginning to end. Foreshadowing the Skywalker saga. Deepening the Jedi mythology. A classic page-turner.”

I’m hardly a qualified meme creator, but here’s my contribution.

I think Fallout is the best. Mission Impossible to me is a weird franchise where the films have actually started to get better each time.

Knight of Kalee said:

In a way, The Mandalorian is shaping up to be like Rebels.

FILM REVIEW // Minari (2020)

I’m glad I waited until cinemas reopened to catch up on this year’s Oscar contenders. Minari is a gorgeous film. Director Lee Isaac Chung tells a story, based closely on his own childhood experiences, of a Korean family who have moved to America in hope of prospering - the father (Jacob) is ambitious and wants to start a farm, the mother (Monica) is concerned that he’s neglecting the welfare of his family, in particular their young son David who has a dangerous heart condition. David is perhaps the central character in the film, and its heart; it is mostly told from his perspective. What’s more, the ever-present danger of his heart failing (it is established right off the bat that running is a health risk for him) kept me guessing when something would go wrong, and hugely invested in his safety. When you realise that a film could destroy you inside depending on what it does to the characters, that’s when you know it’s succeeded in creating empathy - which I think should be one of the primary goals of any film.

I particularly enjoyed the great, diverse range of characters that are brought to life on the screen - Soonja, the somewhat irresponsible grandmother; Paul, a religious nut who means well and touchingly starts to become part of the Yi family; Jacob, a proud Korean who becomes overly fixated on career success until it almost destroys him and his family; even minor characters who appear only for one scene are well realised. The film feels extremely authentic, and it’s mostly because of how carefully handled each character is. The actor for Soonja - Youn Yuh-jung - took home the Oscar for best supporting actress this year, and it is fully well-deserved. She played the comedic moments of the character extremely well, then the tragic ones perhaps even better, and it was a gift to watch her rocky relationship with 7-year-old David evolve over time.

Minari’s themes of family and the American Dream shine through its story very clearly. It’s a remarkably touching film which you simply must see. Last but not least, the soundtrack by Emile Mosseri is captivating and is one of those film soundtracks which I’ve immediately wanted to listen to on its own (I’m listening to it as I write this review!) I feel a little betrayed by the director, as he’s slated to direct the upcoming live action remake of Your Name (perhaps the last film which should ever get a remake) but at least he’s proven his abilities to me with this great contribution to cinema. I’ll be rewatching Minari soon.

Vultural said:

One Sings, The Other Doesn’t - 1977 - 6/10
AKA - L’une Chante l’autre Pas

Haven’t been on this thread in a while and am reading some of your reviews which I’ve missed. I’m a big fan of Agnès Varda and this is one of my favourites. It’s one of those films which cover a fairly long stretch of a person’s/people’s lives and is all the more compelling and breathtaking for it. Very relaxing pacing of the story and all, very meditative and the relationship between Pomme and Suzanne is unforgettable for me.

My feelings on Mando season 2 have actually soured over the past few months. Part of that is maybe bitterness at how much Disney seems to be capitalising on its success, and that possibly taking away from a future for animated shows, but in general I’ve come to see the plot of season 2 as too contrived. It’s playing join the dots with its special character appearances, there are too many coincidences, the sidequest structure is a little formulaic, and when Grogu gets kidnapped it’s not actually as emotionally compelling as it should be. Season 2 has some of my favourite episodes - The Marshal, The Heiress and The Believer, and I still find those outstanding - but now I might prefer season 1.

I wonder if anyone else has had this kind of change of feelings now the hype for the new season is over. For me, it’s similar to what happened to my opinion on The Force Awakens: over time I saw many more flaws in the film, but I’m still grateful it gave me an amazing viewing experience when it came out. I still remember the weeks of waiting for new Mando episodes really fondly.

Next episode I reckon. If not, I think they might be moving the story along too slowly. This episode was really nice, but it didn’t progress things that much. I hope we check in with Crosshair in the next episode too.

I’m one of the few people who likes the Martez sisters arc in The Clone Wars; outstays its welcome, sure, but I liked the characters of Trace and Rafa. I was both happy and relieved to see them in the episode, because I was getting worried we’d see a young Han cameo. I also loved the brief mentor relationship Trace had with Omega, and the fact that the sisters have learned from Ahsoka to be forever conscious about what cause they’re aiding. A powerful lesson and one which I’m sure will impact the Batch going forward.

I don’t see Trace and Rafa being so friendly towards a senator like Bail. I first thought Rafa saying “patch him through” ruled out Ahsoka, but then I remembered how Sabine assumed Fulcrum was a he when Ahsoka first appeared, in a cloak, in Rebels. However, I don’t know why Ahsoka would hide her identity from Trace and Rafa - and unless EK Johnston’s ‘Ahsoka’ novel is being retconned AGAIN, it’s much too early for Ahsoka to be fulcrum. Given that at the end of ‘Victory and Death’, we see that Rex has collected the broken pieces of R4-A7 - and R7 is then fixed and given to Trace and Rafa - I’m almost certain it’s Rex at the end. Very much looking forward to his appearance.

Oh, and also Wrecker. Oh boy. Oh no.

Congratulations HAL 9000! Looks like you’ve put yourself to the fullest possible use on this forum, which I think is all any Star Wars fan can ever hope to do.

Knight of Kalee said:

I’ve never felt more anxious about headaches in a show.

Yeah, if we didn’t already know, we now know for CERTAIN that something is going to happen to his inhibitor chip. It’s super obvious. And given how strong the bond between Omega and “uncle” Wrecker is now, I’m very worried how she’ll react to… whatever happens to him.

• https://youtu.be/StlKrJjlVDY

A kinda clickbaity but very good video from Eckhartsladder about how Wrecker’s chip activation could lead to the episode with Rex, plus an episode review touching on the inclusion of Muchi for anyone who’s interested.

With such a big time gap between The Bad Batch and Return of the Jedi, it’s hard to say for certain if Pateesa is actually Muchi (which would make this yet ANOTHER retcon!) Let’s just say that Muchi arrived at Jabba’s Palace but refused to eat anyone, so was sent away to live happily in the countryside before she could be murdered by that horrible monster Luke Skywalker.

When I heard the line “you pull a job for me, I get the information you want” I immediately thought this was gonna be a Mandalorian-style sidequest episode, and I felt fed up with the Mando similarities. In the end though, it didn’t bother me at all. I really enjoyed the episode, its sense of fun and its unexpected turns, and I think stuff like the plot with Crosshair and the regular building-up of something involving Wrecker’s inhibitor chip will stop The Bad Batch from feeling like a formulaic series.

“The new mini-series from Daniel José Older, Star Wars: The High Republic: Trail Of Shadows, will introduce the mystery fiction genre into the new era of Star Wars storytelling as the Jedi call upon one of their own, Emerick Caphtor, to investigate a strange mystery with ties to the Jedi Order. At the same time, Chancellor Lina Soh calls upon Sian Holt, a high-end, in-demand private detective to look into the same mystery. But will either solve this riddle before anyone else dies?”

All this Wave Two stuff is looking very interesting. Although I’m on this thread far too much, I admit I’m behind on High Republic stories. I’ve been reading through the main High Republic comics by Cavan Scott but haven’t started on the Adventures ones yet, so I don’t know for myself how much I like Daniel José Older’s writing. However, from my experience with him on social media, he’s an absolutely lovely person who interacts with many HR fans in a very friendly way. And - like everything from this era so far - his work seems to have gone down very well. I also love when Star Wars branches off into different genres, be it b-movie space horror or Star Trek adventure in the Clone Wars episodes Brain Invaders and Overlords, so a detective story is very welcome (even though we have had it before, of course).

Honestly, off the point about Daniel José Older being really nice, that could be said about all the High Republic authors. For me, the most heartwarming thing about this whole project is that all the writers - Charles Soule, Cavan Scott, Claudia Gray, Justina Ireland and DJO - collaborate closely and seem to be great friends. They’re enjoying it so much and it shows. I’m just glad I get to help make the High Republic project a success for them.

idir_hh said:

Dune may well appear in animation.

Honestly good, because I want more animated projects.

Ah, my favourite Star Wars film… ‘Star Wars’

Happy Star Wars day everyone! And happy anniversary to the movie that first gave us the wonderful Star Wars galaxy.

Here’s a question that I’ve been wondering for some time. How objective or subjective is the quality of art? I’m particularly thinking in terms of stories here, but if you want to bring in music or art - which I’m about to now anyway - that’s very welcome.

I have a friend who says that while personal enjoyment is subjective, the quality of art can be measured more objectively. I can buy into this a little bit. An experienced artist could paint a massive photorealistic oil painting with many different elements, and a young child could draw their family members in a really simple way and colour them with crayons, and they would both be art. Someone could say, “I prefer the child’s art because it’s really sweet and innocent, and is devoid of ulterior motives like the desire for fame and respect”. That would be totally fair, but it doesn’t change the fact that the oil painting took way more time and effort.

Similarly, a film could have a troubled production or have contrived or lazy writing decisions, but a person can still love it immensely. Despite this, it’s still important not to expect half-hearted or badly-executed projects from companies like Disney, so the number of people who like the finished project will be greater.

However, regarding the painting analogy - the oil painting took more time and effort, but how does that make it objectively better than the child’s art? This all depends on an individual’s standards. And once again, in the same way, a plot device can be measured as contrived or not depending on how coincidental or implausible it is - but if a person can still enjoy the story anyway, does it actually matter in an objective sense?

I heard about the new TROS upload too, and saw a collage someone made comparing old and new frames (where there was SOME difference) but it’s much harder to me to spot by comparing my old screenshots from TROS with new ones. I don’t think the difference is drastic enough for a rewatch of the entire film, to be honest, but it is slightly better.

Anakin Starkiller said:

Then recast her, you cowards!

Agreed, I’d be fine with this. Off-putting for some I’m sure, but I like the character enough and dislike Gina Carano enough that I’d be happy to see Cara’s story continuing without her.

SparkySywer said:

Schmara Dune, Cara Dune’s twin sister.

Got a laugh out of me!

Knight of Kalee said:

• Rey’s mother was a dissident Sith Eternal cultist who helped Rey’s father to leave Exegol, and renounced her belief in the dark side.

This could be a really interesting story. I like it.