I wasn't sure what the high levels of skeeviness Maul was laying on were about.
― Andrew Farrell, Monday, 4 June 2018 12:40 (five years ago) link
I’ve heard Maul does in a different cartoon series, maybe after he kills Kenobi finally? I hear that guy is actually alive, escaped the jedi purge
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 12:54 (five years ago) link
I saw this. This was fine, better than expected really. Lots of things to dislike (drab color palette, clumsy inclusion of kessel run, kind of boring main villain) but mostly made up for by the good stuff (droid rights!, train heist, the cool looking rebels).
The whole thing felt a bit rushed and obviously was shot quickly (I'm thinking of the trench warfare scene in particular seen where all we see is a couple of guys at night shooting some guns) which makes me wonder if this would have been a much better movie if they'd have pushed back the release date 6 months or so (also Christmas is when people expect Star Wars movies at this point anyway).
― silverfish, Monday, 4 June 2018 13:57 (five years ago) link
the oddest thing about this movie is that if i had to rank ron howard movies this would probably be near the top even though i didn't like it very much
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:04 (five years ago) link
is that really that odd?
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 14:11 (five years ago) link
well, probably not tbh
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:12 (five years ago) link
apollo 13 remains great but you'd have to work pretty hard to fuck up that story imo
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:13 (five years ago) link
still scratching my head at young han solo, outspoken imperial mutineer over the rights of offscreen indigenous people. fine idea, especially for a movie that notionally should end with a once-idealistic young man turned cynical.... but totally dropped until the end bit with the masked rebels, since the empire aren't the bad guys in this movie. the idea is to weld this together by having the crime syndicate be the ones who colonized and exploited this refinery planet, thus giving han a moral choice to make: stick with the plan and give the monstrous villain the money (saving his own neck), or help the heroic rebels (risking his neck, and tanking his characterization in the original star wars). but the preceding two hours of film haven't been testing han's ethics or leading him to where he makes this decision, and the early scene with him mouthing off to his commanding officer comes off more like an adolescent rebellion, consistent with his mouthing off to Madame Millipede at the beginning. so it just comes out of nowhere and the decision isn't in doubt, making the whole rebel bit into padding.whether the lead character is driven by his ethics or his ego seems like an important thing to have pinned down when writing a script. but of course, three-quarters of the film were reshot; i assume howard shot woke han, and lord-and-miller shot insouciant han.
― noel gallaghah's high flying burbbhrbhbbhbburbbb (Doctor Casino), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:20 (five years ago) link
either way, han shot first
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:25 (five years ago) link
when the head of the pirates took off her helmet, I first wondered if she was supposed to be the long-lost daughter of Harrelson and Newton's characters but I may have been the only one
What was weird about this scene is that it was shot as if seeing the face of this person was some sort of revelation. I was trying to figure out if this was some important character I'm supposed to recognize.
― silverfish, Monday, 4 June 2018 14:37 (five years ago) link
yeah that was really weird - having heard that darth maul was gonna appear in this i was half-expecting him to be under there when the helmet came off but it was... someone we'd never seen before
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:42 (five years ago) link
Yeah, I also thought she was Woody and Thandie's daughter.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:44 (five years ago) link
I think the shock was supposed to be that she was a kid, or if we're going to really be uncharitable about how jaded the filmmakers are, a woman
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 14:45 (five years ago) link
it might have been shocking if she was like 11 but it just landed with a thud
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:47 (five years ago) link
maybe there were supposed to be scenes building up what a terrifying badass she was but tbh i spent most of her screen time trying to remember whether it was her and her gang who showed up to foil the train heist near the beginning
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 14:50 (five years ago) link
I'd poke fun at that but it's refreshing to hear after all the times I've missed something really obvious in a movie and everyone on ilx has been confused that I missed the plot
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 14:59 (five years ago) link
look this movie is 400 hours long and not exactly gripping, u can't expect me to remember every detail
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:05 (five years ago) link
i also thought it was supposed to be their kid. and then i got distracted trying to remember what her name was. they said it a lot but it always kind of slipped past. it's really a problem now that almost every character in these movies has a syllable-soup name. again I would not mind some by-the-books, obvious filmic moves here: a hologram file with last-known-photo, a list of planets they've robbed, and a big name caption at the bottom pops up, midway through bettany dressing down woody: "i'm deeply disappointed to hear you were swindled by ENFYS NEST once again!" instead it's just this swish of N and S sounds that gets said a few times in the movie but never really glues itself to that one masked marauder.
― noel gallaghah's high flying burbbhrbhbbhbburbbb (Doctor Casino), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:20 (five years ago) link
In a galaxy full of Nien Nunbs and such, how does someone end up with a name like Tobias Beckett? Was he teleported from Earth?
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:24 (five years ago) link
he’s from space-ireland iirc
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:33 (five years ago) link
i have no desire to ever see this, but since Han's "arc" in STAR WARS (that's what i call it) was clearly modeled on Rick in CASABLANCA and similar characters -- the cynic who eventually does the right thing -- it makes total sense that he would've had some youthful idealism, like Rick.
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:37 (five years ago) link
Was the marauder's mask removal supposed to be a call back (call forward?) to Leia's unmasking in ROTJ?
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:38 (five years ago) link
Morbs, not that you saw it (or did you?), but The Last Jedi had a Casablanca-in-space scene. War profiteers in a casino.
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 15:41 (five years ago) link
yes, I saw it. There was a traveling shot in that sequence directly modeled on one from Wings (1927).
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:44 (five years ago) link
lol Morbs totally otm. Feel like there's a lot of calls for everything to be spelled out here, from the same quarters that also deride the idea of these "adventures" side-movies that... spell everything out
Presumably there is plenty of time for Hand Rebooto to turn cynic in the next two movies eh? THEN WILL YOU BE HAPPY??!?
*Narrator* They won't be
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:50 (five years ago) link
there’s a difference between wanting things to be spelled out and being confused by poor storytelling tbf
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 15:52 (five years ago) link
I mean the general vibe I'm hearing is that storytelling-wise Han should by rights should be an embittered cynic at the end of this one, to connect up to the Han of Star Wars but that just seems too neat for its own sake, like if the Young Indy movie had a grad-school montage where a snake came out of the toilet and bit him on the nuts. I don't need it dramatized (unless there's a great story connected to it of course! which may be coming in Eps 2-3 of this swizz)
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 4 June 2018 16:01 (five years ago) link
the snake thing is in the River Phoenix prologue in Last Crusade
(not nut biting)
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Monday, 4 June 2018 16:03 (five years ago) link
if the Young Indy movie had a grad-school montage where a snake came out of the toilet and bit him on the nutsthat’s almost exactly what solo is, though - we see the origin of virtually everything we know about him played out onscreen: the kessel run! chewie! the falcon! lando! his blaster! it adds nothing and overexplains everything
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Monday, 4 June 2018 16:04 (five years ago) link
I figure we're still 10 years or so before the original Star Wars at the end of this movie. Having Han already be exactly the same as in Star Wars at the end of this would be weird.
― silverfish, Monday, 4 June 2018 16:07 (five years ago) link
how quickly we forget The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 16:12 (five years ago) link
Lol I forgot that the snake thing was explained in Young Indie
xpost to silverfish yeah that's all I mean, there's plenty of time for Han to get crusty
bizarro no I get that. But like.. the Chewie meet-cute was FUN. Lando was FUN. His blaster was.. OK that was kind of a dud but took up 10 seconds of screen time. It was all pretty fun to me! Why not tell those stories if they're going to be fun! Getting away from that monster in the maelstrom was fucking HORRIFYING. And I love the idea that L3 is somehow.. guiding Han through the asteroid belt in the OG series. That's got nothing to do with explaining any backstory but is nonetheless a cool addition to the whole thing
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 4 June 2018 16:15 (five years ago) link
the important question is who will star in Young Fugitive
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 4 June 2018 16:20 (five years ago) link
when did "meet-cute" become omnipresent in our culture and how the fuck can I delete it from my brain
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 16:35 (five years ago) link
1998 and watch all the episodes of friends backwards
― illegal economic migration (Tracer Hand), Monday, 4 June 2018 16:37 (five years ago) link
I swear I only saw it a few times in my life until the last six months, at which point it has been in a zillion articles not just about comedy and romantic fiction, but about actual dating
there are some threads where I should take this, though
― mh, Monday, 4 June 2018 17:36 (five years ago) link
For some reason I thought "meet cute" was one of those Ebert-coined terms bu apparently it dates back to at least 1941: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meet_cute
― Eliza D., Monday, 4 June 2018 17:52 (five years ago) link
The real phrase that needs extermination is "story beats".
― Mince Pramthwart (James Morrison), Tuesday, 5 June 2018 00:54 (five years ago) link
"worldbuilding". Destroy "worldbuilding".
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 5 June 2018 01:03 (five years ago) link
Ah man working in tv you hear stuff like "story beats", "signposting" and myriad other dumb terms flung around endlessly. I blame Hollywood.
― Acid Hose (Capitaine Jay Vee), Tuesday, 5 June 2018 01:05 (five years ago) link
I have discovered who Dr. C is in real life. Some of her criticisms are pretty sharp! (This one also thought what's-her-face was Woody and Thandie's daughter.)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XP8FZ4cBzaI
(That whole taking off the helmet scene was basically this for the audience.)
http://i0.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/newsfeed/000/968/818/6b6.png
― Eliza D., Tuesday, 5 June 2018 12:54 (five years ago) link
Solo now projected to be the first Star Wars movie to lose money!
― Josh in Chicago, Tuesday, 5 June 2018 13:39 (five years ago) link
#freelordandmiller
― and TOWERS MONACO as 'seaman' (bizarro gazzara), Tuesday, 5 June 2018 13:42 (five years ago) link
"meet cute" is a staple of screwball comedy, like the one where Jean Arthur gets dunked by a fur coat thrown out the window
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 5 June 2018 13:47 (five years ago) link
I'm bummed that Inherent Vice didn't propel "meet squalid" into the popular vernacular.
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Tuesday, 5 June 2018 13:58 (five years ago) link
gimme the Maz Kanata movie
― mh, Wednesday, 6 June 2018 00:28 (five years ago) link
― the ignatius rock of ignorance (Dr Morbius),
first Mitchell Leisen allusion in a Star Wars thread
― morning wood truancy (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 6 June 2018 00:33 (five years ago) link
Would watch
A DENGAR stand-alone STAR WARS film where he's in a Salieri/Mozart rivalry with Boba Fett.— Patton Oswalt (@pattonoswalt) June 7, 2018
― Mario Meatwagon (Moodles), Thursday, 7 June 2018 02:19 (five years ago) link
This is the kind of nonsense this universe needs
― YouTube_-_funy_cats.flv (Jimmy The Mod Awaits The Return Of His Beloved), Thursday, 7 June 2018 02:23 (five years ago) link
This was my first thought, I guess because she looked like she could be their daughter, and also because the scene was played like a dramatic unmasking, like we're supposed to be surprised who's underneath the helmet... and it turns out to be someone we've never seen or heard before, and neither have the protagonists. I guess the idea was for the viewer to be shocked, "Oh my god, it's a girl!", a la the first Metroid game, but the SW universe is so full of ass-kicking young women, it's baffling if they thought this would shock us.
What made it worse that this was soon followed by another dramatic unmasking that was almost equally baffling. Tho I've watched some of Clone Wars, I didn't know they'd brought Maul back there, but the idea that he's alive didn't really bother me, 'cos you could clearly see his robotic legs in the hologram, and Vader had already survived worse. No, what was baffling was that they decided to bring back a character who was last seen in a movie almost 20 years ago, and who most people remember as a barely-vocal muscle of the big bad, but now all of a sudden he's the mastermind leader of a crime syndicate. Is Maul still working for Palpatine, or has he developed an intelligence of his own and changed from a lackey to a don? Maybe all of this is explained in the Solo sequels (if they ever get made), but as a revelation in this movie it was completely disconnected from anything that happened before it. As cliched as that would've been, I would've preferred if the mysterious boss had been revealed to be, like, Val or Rio, who'd merely faked his death. Or at least someone who had actually appeared or been mentioned in the movie before.
Another nitpicky thing that bugged me was the whole concept of coaxium. Like, we're told this an extremely important resource, as IIRC coaxium was said be the only fuel that allows starships to go into hyperdrive. And Kessel is explicitly stated to be the only known place where you can mine unrefined coaxium, which then gets turned into the fuel. So why is this crucially important mining site controlled by 20 or 30 crime syndicate thugs, who get easily overthrown by some rebelling slaves? You'd think the Empire would find the only source for hyperdrive fuel to be an extremely important site, so why hadn't they taken control of it ages ago?
― Tuomas, Monday, 18 June 2018 08:28 (five years ago) link