I *truly* cannot say enough about how this character functions, it's so incisive. #sithmas
I would also posit that Darth Vader : Slow Zombie :: Kylo Ren : Fast Zombie. For that matter, a Semi-Fast Zombie upgrade is why Vader's so scary in Rogue One. #sithmas
I don't know who made the decision to cast Oscar Isaac, but it's genius. He manages to steal this sequence and is able to land the humor undercutting Kylo (and later, General Hugs) #sithmas
Since it's coming up in the replies, I'll add that I have always argued that this movie HAD to be a throwback to A New Hope, because fans were so disgruntled about the prequels shaking things up. #sithmas
The franchise desperately needed to get across, "We hear you, we're new but we get that you're afraid we can't stick the landing on this, we want to show you that we grew up on these movies too and we get it." #sithmas
Re: Poe: I believe this to be the case #sithmas
I would also posit that Poe is perhaps the Han Solo of the sequels, except with better social skills. #sithmas
I've heard that Phasma's armor was made out of Padme's shiny silver Naboovian ship [citation needed] #sithmas
fucking Sheev #sithmas
I went into this movie not knowing *shit,* by the way. I saw the Vanity Fair pictures, saw one trailer one time, and endeavored not to see anymore. As such, I had THE BEST TIME in the theater. #sithmas
I was initially pretty down on the idea that we were going to do YET MORE STAR WAR, remembering Jar Jar on all my pizza boxes, but then went, you know, let me make life easier for myself. Just open your heart to this now. #sithmas
It's also kind of how I went into the prequels last week, because, as I always used to say, Life Is Too Short to Just Go Around Recreationally Hating Things. I mean, feel free, but my blood pressure is too high for that. #sithmas
istg we'll actually get to another scene at some point. Phasma immediately notes that Finn is freaking out--"And who gave you permission to remove that helmet?" Who gave you permission to be a person? #sithmas
Reeeeey, I love her. Her first scenes are so lovely; in general this movie has the practical beauty of the OT rather than, say, the "Blade Runner on Adderall" feel of Coruscant, but with modern cinematography. #sithmas
Yeah, maybe it's "Tattooine, but girl," but instead of having a farm and family, she's scratching out a living for herself (foreground: space vulture), teaching herself what skills she can scavenge. #sithmas
Man, I seriously wanna punch One Quarter Portion in the face. It's even worse when (TLJ SPOILER) you find out it's not like he's secretly guarding her on someone's orders. This is as good as it gets for Rey. #sithmas
And then you realize she's living in an fallen imperial AT-AT. This is on par with Jyn's stormtrooper doll in terms of setting the cultural scene in a single casual image. #sithmas
I love BB-8, despite my early fear that he might turn out to be the Elmo of Star Wars to R2's Grover. I actually splashed out on the little Sphero BB-8 one Christmas Eve's Day, it's so awesome. #sithmas
How is a ball and a hemisphere so expressive? idk. I actually went to a con panel for the puppeteers; a wheelbarrow-type contraption was involved and CGI'd out. From what I saw of the TLJ extras, by then BB-8 was free-rolling. #sithmas
The way the Sphero BB-8 works is that there are little rollers on the underside of his head, with a magnet that keeps it attached to the body; the production may have switched to that concept, I'm not sure. #sithmas
Kylo interrogating Poe: behold my google skills (I really want to know what the initial voice sounded like) #sithmas adamdriverxlife.tumblr.com/post/169136267…
You know, side note, I finally watched Avatar: The Last Airbender with a friend a few months after TFA, and I was like, "..... is Zuko a proto-Kylo?! MARK HAMILL IS DOING A VOICE?!?" #sithmas
(งಠ_ಠ)ง #sithmas
"Because it's the right thing to do." Fiiiiinnnnnn
Also: "I CAN FLY ANYTHING."
NARRATOR: "Eventually." #sithmas.
Also: "I CAN FLY ANYTHING."
NARRATOR: "Eventually." #sithmas.
I cannot deny that this is happening in this scene right now as they blow away the stormtroopers in their way #sithmas
When Finn says "FN-2187" is the only name he's ever had--there's another "this culture in a nutshell" moment, good God. Between that and Poe's "Well, I ain't usin' it," there's sort of a "rejecting colonialism" vibe, IMO. #sithmas
I can't say how intentional that was or was not. But it feels more than accidental that the three protagonists fighting fascism and white/male toxicity are, in order of appearance, a Latino man, a black man, and a white woman. #sithmas
I'm not qualified to write the Racial Aspects of Star Wars (Sometimes Bad, Sometimes Good) thesis, but TFA is at the very least a distinct step up from, say... whatever was going on in Phantom Menace. #sithmas
(I keep saying "I'm not qualified" when it comes to that kind of thing. Because I'm not. You know what I AM qualified to discuss? Creepy relationship dynamics and Gothic romance, and ARE YOU IN FOR A TREAT) #sithmas
Can you imagine if the TIE fighter collapsing in the sand had been the last time we saw Poe? Like... not even just missing out on him, but what a mood killer that would have been? #sithmas
I also enjoy the pissy little pseudo-sibling rivalry between Kylo and Hux, which actually pays off in the next movie. Side note: Kylo snipes that maybe Snoke SHOULD get "a clone army," i.e., Hux isn't using them. #sithmas
It's interesting to compare Kylo and Hux to their ANH counterparts--Tarkin clearly had a little superiority over Vader and could tell him to knock it off, whereas these two seem to be battling for supremacy (literally). #sithmas
The one thing I can't stand is being hot, so I felt Finn's Jakku entrance on a visceral level. And here's the "dude surprised that girl can take care of herself" trope, as also seen with Cassian and Jyn. #sithmas
(It helps that the male protagonist isn't surprised that girls can fight at all so much as "whoa, that dude is not getting up again") #sithmas
BB-8 sees Finn: "SCREEEEEE!!" The little stun appendage is BB-8's basic move in the game, and he hits *surprisingly* hard with it; his real function is a countdown to giving your squad ALL THE BUFFS. #sithmas
BB-8 hearing that Poe supposedly didn't make it is up there with the grieving ewok, y'all #sithmas
I just noticed that Rey's "so you're with the Resistance" is a low key parallel to Luke's "You know of the Rebellion against the Empire?!" As we see in the next movie, people light up over just the *idea* of this faraway backlash to their crapsack environments. #sithmas
"Luke Skywalker?!" Rey in particular has a sort of hero worship that--well, think of how she's not unlike fans of the movie that way, and then she goes from that to holding the lightsaber herself. #sithmas
"CALL IN THE AIR STRIKE"?! You're looking for one (1) droid so you're gonna WIPE THIS TRADING POST OFF THE MAP? This is what I'm saying about the First Order, y'all #sithmas
Here's what a ~bad fan~ I was: "The garbage will do!" Cut to the other ship; the entire theater laughs. I completely do not recognize the Millennium Falcon #sithmas
I mean, I did EVENTUALLY. I actually can say for once that I do remember what it was like to watch the traditional spaceship swoop-and-shoot sequence in the theater. #sithmas
Tired: Rey is a Mary Sue
Wired: Finn ALSO figures out how to do things quickly and excellently and they are both thrilled for each other about it #sithmas
Wired: Finn ALSO figures out how to do things quickly and excellently and they are both thrilled for each other about it #sithmas
(I do not even have time in my life on this earth to get into what a Mary Sue is and is not, except to say that we are not having that shit around here today, Satan) #sithmas
I always laugh way too hard at "The droid............ stole a freighter." Also, having the OT fresh in your mind really gives some subtext to how that FO officer completely expects to die right then. #sithmas
So this is the first of two Kylo Temper Tantrum scenes, and this movie is so good at leaning on the reactions of others for humor while still having Kylo himself be really, really alarming. Vader at least never actually lost his shit when he was mad. #sithmas
"WHAT GIRL?" I'm still not sure whether Kylo is reacting to completely new information, or they were trying to tell us that "a girl" *already* means something to him (which helped spark a lot of "totally cousins" theories; guilty as charged) #sithmas
Poor Finn and his "Resistance" lie, negotiating with BB-8, and BB-8 reeling back in shock/betrayal. How does a ball and a half DO that? Also: iconic: #sithmas
The smooth-worried "you got a boyfriend, cute boyfriend?" is one of my favorite line readings in the entire movie. #sithmas
Ah yes, the compartments where they smuggle themselves. "Chewie... we're home" seemed a bit overdone at the time, but now that I've watched six movies, I feel it more. #sithmas
You know, to everyone who got upset about Luke in TLJ, the time to get mad was this movie, where the entire concept of the original trio not doing so well with their lives was introduced. I'm not helping, am I #sithmas
"Your game is old! There's no one left in the galaxy for you to swindle!" is basically the Han Solo storyline in a nutshell. Either he's got to find a new hustle, or they're telling you there's nothing left for him, and... well. #sithmas
I don't dislike the rathtar sequence, and there's some good stuff with Finn and Rey, but 12 hours of tweet-discussing prequels has given me an eye for Things What Go On Way Too Long. We might could have had less of this. #sithmas
"What if we had the asteroid monster from ESB on their window again, but way more Freudian?" I also have a better appreciation of the Falcon constantly being repaired on the fly (literally) #sithmas
So here's Snoke in his Emperor-like hologram, and here's what I said about that comparison back during Return of the Jedi. Short version: I don't know who he is and I don't care #sithmas
Although, having seen the TLJ extra where we get to see Andy Serkis performing in the mocap suit, I honestly wish they'd just let him play Snoke with a little makeup? He's SO SCARY by himself. #sithmas
I'm not sure, but I *think* I have seen an alternate version of the "your father... HAN SOLO" scene where Adam Driver was not wearing the helmet (and they CGI'd it on?! You absolutely cannot tell) #sithmas
And Abrams ended up saying that he wanted to keep Kylo's reaction a little more obscure as of yet. Something interesting I've heard: good acting is often underreacting, because the audience will imagine the emotion. #sithmas
Because somehow, that expressionless helmet seems to carry a lot of reaction through that entire scene, even though that shouldn't be possible. But we know how we'd react to, say, Hux brown-nosing. #sithmas
oh my GOD I just missed the biggest opportunity this past week #sithmas
"By the grace of your training, I will not be seduced." Yeah, see... that was already... ugh, fucking Snoke. #sithmas
Oh, and I'm not saying I NEED a huge back story on the Knights of Ren (some of his fellow Jedi students?), but this is two movies now where they haven't expanded on that. Just say Kylo killed them later, I don't care; it just feels like a whole THING, though. #sithmas
Have we discussed how I'm pretty sure young Ben mashed together Sky[walker] and Solo for his nom de guerre and that's not helping me take him seriously? #sithmas
Listen, if this were EXACTLY like A New Hope, BB-8's message wouldn't be a map, it would be "Luke, get your ass back here, you're our only hope" #sithmas
Why'd Luke run off? "Weeeellllllllll that's a really long story and it involves my jackass son sooooooo" #sithmas
Wow, we're already at Takodana. Poor Rey being like "there is WATER and GREEN and NOT-SAND" #sithmas
I like how Han immediately clocked that "Big Deal" was not telling the truth, you can see it on both his face and Finn's even before this scene. #sithmas
OMG, that is some "I am NO MAN"-level shit #sithmas
They don't get to know each other very long, but Han and Rey do have a really nice dynamic #sithmas
I really want to know if Rey's family situation was intended to be different before The Last Jedi, because the idea that she would give up a job on the Falcon for... THAT... is so, so sad. #sithmas
So, Maz's castle. Lin Manuel Miranda apparently had a little to do with this cantina-esque scene #sithmas rollingstone.com/music/news/see…
Flashback: Snoke writes out "BEN," erases a little off the B, ta da! #sithmas
I also laugh inordinately hard at Maz's "Where's my boyfriend? I like that wookiee" #sithmas
"I assume you need something... DESPERATELY" Lupita Nyong'o is stealing this movie out from under them and she's not even on screen #sithmas
Kylo talking to his dead grandfather's burnt helmet (maybe also his skull, I am not yet sure), as you do. I want to say this may also have a CGI helmet, but I don't have a director's commentary on this. #sithmas
Like. THIS sure is a thing that's happening. Okay, I'm gonna go with "just helmet," but it was designed to have a skull look, so close enough. This seems a little bit edgelord to me but also really sad? #sithmas
It's been so long that I'd forgotten all my theories--the way he pleads to the helmet, "Show me," makes me wonder if Snoke conjured up some visions supposedly "from" Vader. There seems to be expectation there, you know? #sithmas
There seems to be something prayerful about this scene either way, which... imagine if your god is Darth Vader and now you feel like he's abandoned you. You have done some terrible murdery things, all for a deity who stopped answering your calls. #sithmas
I don't know to what extent Kylo was deceived by false visions, or was truly visited, or only hallucinated things, or is simply using metaphors. And that ambiguity is so sad and creepy to me. #sithmas
"There is no fight against the First Order!" You're... not doing a real good job of Resistancing, Finn. I mean, I know, he's scared and with good reason, but that's your cover, man #sithmas
Rey! Come with me and rule the Outer Rim! by rule I mean work odd jobs and probably live under a spice miner's tarp #sithmas
Yeah, and apparently it's really alarming in the tie-in book. Like corruption in utero. I don't feel so good #sithmas
Maz asking "Who's the girl" and the camera cutting away always had me theorizing that Han actually knew, because they were related somehow, and he was about to tell Maz. Now I have no idea what his answer is. #sithmas
(Don't get me wrong, we will discuss Rey's background when we get to the next movie and I am extremely in favor of it) #sithmas
I really love Finn and Rey's relationship, and I have no idea what they're going to do with it--romance? friend love? I don't care, I love it #sithmas
Rey's vision is starting. bb Rey's voice screaming for her parents not to leave is now SOMEHOW WORSE. (BB-8 carefully clonking down the steps, looking down first each time, is just the best) #sithmas
I was trying to remember how Luke's lightsaber got down to Maz's basement and then I realized that I don't actually care. I say this with love #sithmas
Having rewatched the OT this week, I do have a much better idea of what I'm seeing in Rey's vision here. There's a hallway (Death Star?) at the beginning that I hadn't recognized. The idea that it's all bound up together. #sithmas
Yeah, I *was* thinking it was one of their duels. So many duels that their duels have duels #sithmas
"I am no Jedi, but I know the Force": we've begun to see more and more characters like that, including Baze and Chirrut, and quite honestly, Leia even in the OT. It's also been suggested that Han isn't just "lucky" #sithmas
"I'm never touching that thing again. I don't want any part of this": so between this and Finn peacing out, is this considered the Refusal of the Call in the hero's journey? #sithmas
Okay, let's talk about Hux's Literal Space Nazi Rally. I am really, really glad they had this, because I feel like people forgot where the word "stormtroopers" comes from. They needed to make the quiet thing loud 40 years later. #sithmas
I have heard that there are people who try to argue that the Empire was right, maybe realizing the Space Nazi thing and maybe not. But it was always there. #sithmas
YOU SEE #sithmas
And the idea that we are gonna do the same damn things until we finally face the root cause, and in fact they're gonna get WORSE, really feels like both the subtext and the zeitgeist here. #sithmas
oh my god did the stormtroopers just literally do the one-arm salute #sithmas
There's a deleted scene where we see that a woman on the targeted planet was Leia's aide; it's a more visceral take on Alderaan, where we really sit with the traveling beam and the faces of the people who perish. #sithmas
Side note #sithmas
This is honestly as plausible as anything else #sithmas
Which is a good point, because that's exactly why it's so awful/depressing IRL as well #sithmas
I remember people saying that the Space Physics of the Starkiller beams were wrong and bad, and I am delighted to announce that it's Star Wars and I don't care #sithmas
I mean, you are free to care about the Fantasy Space Physics of the Star War, I'm just saying that I have a limited amount of time to walk this earth and I've decided not to #sithmas
“Where’d you get [that lightsaber]?” “A good question. For another time.” #sithmas
Finn takes the lightsaber! I don't know if they're going to do anything with that in the future, but I fully believe his ability to learn gunning so quickly is Force sensitivity #sithmas
The shot of the TIE fighters coming in through the sunset is so, so lovely. I mean, not good for Our Heroes, but lovely. #sithmas
Rey running back to Maz's castle is I Leave You People For Five Minutes writ large #sithmas
I did notice that Kylo's shuttle is similar to Vader's, although with two... pieces? wings? instead of three. I notice this because I spent months earning shards for that accursed thing in the mobile game. #sithmas
Since we’re at the big battle, here’s the Resistance characters in Galaxy of Heroes (some not easily obtainable yet). Finn is actually your best bet for leader if you don’t have Jedi Training Rey (very difficult to get). R2 counts but TFA Han and Chewie don’t? #sithmas 
And here’s the First Order synergy. Phasma was a longtime mainstay, but now TLJ Kylo has a better leader kit, IMO. Look at my beautiful tantrum jackasses. TFA Kylo hits SO HARD and TLJ Kylo TWIRLS. True fact: when I only had 4 ewoks I used to run Kylo as the fifth. #sithmas
Interesting note about Rey having to fumble with the safety on her new blaster: the movie gives her the moral high ground of Stormtrooper Shot First. #sithmas
Yeah, Han shoots three stormtroopers, one without even looking. Hope those weren't Finn's friends or anything #sithmas
Oh, and here’s Veteran Smugglers Han and Chewie, who don’t have Resistance synergy, but Chewie WILL wallop the fuck out of you. You will note Han’s ability “Can I Try That?” and Chewie’s “Let the Wookiee Win” #sithmas
Now, here is one of Finn's former comrades ("TRAITOR!") and he IS pissed. Colloquially he is known as TR-8R, because lol #sithmas knowyourmeme.com/memes/tr-8r-th…
IT'S THE RESISTANCE! I like how Finn immediately starts cheering Poe on, without even realizing it's him. #sithmas
omg, I love Kylo chasing Rey through the forest so much. This is what I mean about Kylo = Fast Zombie. We don't even know what he looks like yet, he's just this unstoppable THING in the WOODS. #sithmas
Okay, so Kylo waves Rey out and carries her off; in the theater my antennae kind of went up. He could have hauled her off over his shoulder like a sack of meal, but no. The only reason it's not a full bridal carry is how awkwardly she's stretched out. #sithmas
It's both a gothic trope and a refusal of it--I think this carries into TLJ as well, we're admitting here that there's some gothic villain/antihero tropes ("seduced" by the dark side), but letting Rey subvert them. #sithmas
A DIGRESSION INTO GOTHIC TROPES: The thing is, some guys hear about the "villain carries off the heroine" fantasy and go, "I thought we were supposed to respect women? Why doesn't she want a Nice Guy like me?" You know the drill. #sithmas
Here's the real fantasy: "Oh no, I mustn't eat candy! It is so bad for me! My doctor! My dentist!" *SWOOP* "MADAM, I GIVE YOU NO CHOICE" "nooooo not the assorted chocolates!!" Assume whatever happens next in the fantasy is the fantasizer's personal candy store. #sithmas
Well I feel less weird on *my own behalf* for sure now #sithmas
And it's long been pointed out that that kind of villain-hero is allowing women to take something that society disapproves of them having--the character passively receives it, free of blame, even as the writer/reader TAKES IT in choosing to indulge in this fantasy. #sithmas
And I say "it" because traditionally it's some kind of sex but honestly it doesn't have to be. "I'm going to carry you off and force you to take some time off work!" "NOOOO NOT THE TROPICAL ISLAND!!" #sithmas
The reason that Rey never gives into this, though, is that the Dark Side isn't her candy store. IMO her "candy store" is human connection and emotional intimacy. And in TLJ, it's a third party who figures that out and uses it against her. #sithmas
So Kylo is hauling her off unconscious--no emotional connection at that moment--while Finn, the person she actually has a connection with, is freaking out and running after them. #sithmas
Don't get me wrong (I can feel people getting me wrong), I'm not saying these two have no connection ever, later we see that they do. But right now, it's a subverted trope. #sithmas
Okay, on that note I'm gonna go take a dinner break. Got some good stuff coming up. #sithmas
While I'm getting settled back in, question: do we want to go ahead and do The Last Jedi in the next day or two, or do we want to give people more time to get the DVD? #sithmas
General Leia has arrived. And so has Threepio. And so has Han's eternal loathing. This scene, re: the time Threepio interrupted their first kiss, was what I was thinking of: #sithmas
Man, the way Han says, "I saw him. Leia, I saw our son"--I had forgotten that was even an aspect of it because their son was tearing around the woods like a goblin. Man, that's gotta be rough. #sithmas
Back to the Resistance base! Listen, I know Star Wars shipping is extremely contentious; I do not take sides. We have to admit that Poe looks at Finn like he's a snack though. I'm just here to report #sithmas
That said, the way BB-8 just body-checks Finn to get to Poe, and how happy Poe is to see him, we may need to consider Droidpilot as one of the great OTPs #sithmas
One of the things I love about this movie is how earnest the emotional relationships are. Finn and Poe knew each other for like one morning, but they're already running breathlessly to each other. #sithmas
On the other hand, my favorite depiction of the OT3: #sithmas cal-cla.tumblr.com/post/138036779…
lol, Chewie getting his wounds tended. "That sounds VERY scary. You must be soooo brave." Isn't he a relatively young wookiee, given their lifespan? I can't remember #sithmas
Although someone pointed out that he was probably around during little Ben's childhood and maybe even babysat, soooooo that's gonna hurt #sithmas
Yeah, I have no idea how the sequels are going to resolve this. Cuddlepile? Open-ended, no romances confirmed? People being mad no matter what they do? I would not want to be in charge of this decision. #sithmas
I love BB-8 trying to wake R2 up. I also love someone's joke that he did, but it took R2 the rest of the movie to download the Windows updates #sithmas
I like the way Leia starts telling Han it was all Snoke's fault (I mean, she's not wrong), but the look he's giving her is "Who the fuck IS that guy, anyway?" #sithmas
Leia channeling OT Luke by insisting there is still "light" in Ben/Kylo, which--I honestly feel like the movies are heading towards the Gray Jedi concept, so we'll see what that means. #sithmas
Oh man, everything about this next scene is wild. I'll say that Rey here reminds me of my baby nephew--always watching us very carefully, trying to figure out how to do the things we do (talking, clapping, eating). Rey is a baby Jedi. #sithmas
So first of all, Kylo is like crouching down on the other side of the room, like what the fuck my dude, and then he slams his helmet down onto the ashtray of his defeated enemies. I'm REALLY upset about Max Von Sydow now. #sithmas ew.com/article/2016/0…
But hold up we gotta talk about the moment when he actually takes his helmet off, he’s got like a HAIR BREEZE or something, like I think it is in fact Maybelline, I 1000% did not expect the glamour shot AT ALL #sithmas
And we're used to this inevitable discrepancy between the James Earl Jones voice and Hayden Christensen, and then Kylo opens his mouth and it's pretty much the same voice as before except a little less helmet soundsystem? #sithmas
I was sitting there in the theater like "my goodness, this is going to be a problem." #sithmas
Anyway, Kylo's a dick #sithmas
Yeah. "You know I can take whatever I want" always makes me physically recoil. I mean, it's the epitome of entitlement and it's incredibly effective. But ~eugh #sithmas
Now, it's also an incredibly effective thing for a villain-hero to say if that's your candy store. Given that Rey is fighting off tears in a torture chair, it's not mine. I feel like at this point they're wanting you to flinch, and I do. #sithmas
I think I broke the threading there. WE WILL PERSIST. Interestingly, Rey says "GET OUT OF MY HEAD" and HE DOES, he backs away as if pushed. #sithmas
She then turns it on him, fends him off, goes into *his* mind, and IMMEDIATELY pinpoints his worst fear, all from simply, shrewdly observing him. #sithmas
Ayyy, here's JB-007, I am not kidding, that is the name they assigned the Daniel Craig stormtrooper. #sithmas
Okay, had to take a break there, and I think I may finish up the rest tomorrow. Maybe we'll segue into The Last Jedi after that and break it up over a couple of days as well. #sithmas
All right. I'm gonna try to do at least a little more TLJ before my back starts yelling again. Disc seems to indicate that we're 3/4 through, I have hopes. #sithmas
IMPORTANT #sithmas
When we left off, Rey had just kenobi'd Daniel Craig into letting her go, and--now my blu-ray disc is freaking the hell out, SHE WASN'T TALKING TO YOU, GET IT TOGETHER #sithmas
I am now playing whack-a-mole with the rapidly cycling setup options. This is fine. This is completely fine #sithmas
Okay, we're gonna act right now. This whole sequence ends with Kylo discovering that she's escaped; bear in mind that he has just positioned her to Snoke as a project rivaling Hux's. He is now extremely screwed. #sithmas
This then leads into the fantastic scene where he throws Tantrum #2, screaming for the guards, and they just completely turn and walk away, and the movie lands this moment of being both funny and alarming. #sithmas
Y'all, I have lived that life. I have lived with more than one Kylo type and I have completely done the thing where you walk five feet out of your room and then just totally Grandpa Simpson back where you came from. #sithmas
You hear someone yelling about Days of Our Lives, throwing college caf takeout, you see your roommate doing coke off a Tennessee license plate, you just #sithmas
Meanwhile, Hux is Charging the Weapon because his ~project is going a little more smoothly. Back at the base, Poe explains with holograms that Starkiller Base is 3198139994875x larger than the Death Star(s) and they, too, may be screwed. #sithmas
Ackbar (it's Ackbar!!) asks an extremely pertinent question: how do you power a planet-sized weapon? Finn explains that it uses the power of the sun. Sure, that sounds cromulent #sithmas
And, as I'm sure people want to add, "Starkiller" was one of the original names in the early Star Wars (New Hope) drafts. #sithmas
"The sun is drained until it disappears." Okay, like... forever? Do you... move your planet (planet? planet-sized?) base to a new sun after that? I... you know what, never mind #sithmas
Aaaand the base is the next target. Han asserts that there is ALWAYS a way to blow things up. "Han's right," says Leia, and he shoots her this look like "wait what," heh #sithmas
And this time, they're going to be able to blow it up not because anyone put in a weakness, but because they have an actual former First Order employee to tell them where it's vulnerable. IT IS SO NOT THE SAME MOVIE #sithmas
How do we disable the shields? "Kid, you worked there," says Han, turning to Finn. I have long maintained that you can make any sentence sound like Harrison Ford if you put "kid" in there somewhere. #sithmas
It is really something to watch Han and Leia have their moment alone before the plan goes into action, now that I just spent the week watching the original trilogy. I can see the past in their faces rather than just the actors. #sithmas
"You still drive me crazy" obviously has multiple meanings, but--as sad as it is that their marriage didn't work out, it makes sense to me that they fell apart after the Kylo thing. It's just that we don't usually see this happen after a happily-ever-after. #sithmas
There's a lot of things--including Luke's eventual storyline--that make a lot of sense if you consider how little we saw him train, or what an early stage we saw of Han and Leia's (contentious) relationship. It all could have improved later! Or... not. #sithmas
But yes, I think this is also part of it. And their parting words are Leia asking him to bring their son home. I didn't know for sure what was going to happen when I first saw it, but I had A Bad Feeling About This. #sithmas
Rey is now stealthing through Starkiller Base with Daniel Craig's gun; the Han Squad make a cliffside lightspeed crash-landing in what is perhaps the most Han Soloian move in the entire movie. #sithmas
Speaking of which, I feel like Finn is seat-of-pantsing it to save Rey in a very similar manner, and now Han is SCANDALIZED that someone would just bluff their way through something #sithmas
"We'll use the Force." "THAT'S NOT HOW THE FORCE WORKS!!1" Idk, the next movie seems to be saying that the Force is for everyone, you didn't even believe in this shit three movies ago my dude #sithmas
How much polish does Phasma have to use to keep her armor shiny, you think? Does she have a walk-through buffing machine? A team of personal polishers? #sithmas
Man, I am really glad Rey has experience rappelling all up and down imperial ruins because these giant death chasms they seem to build into every Villain Base make me want to hworf #sithmas
I think I most enjoy discussing character, so when we get into third-act action scenes I just tend to be like "and, uh, now they're doing things? I'm running low on commentary" #sithmas
I love "we came back for you" so much. That may be literally the first/only time anyone has actually come back for Rey, that's such a huge moment for her. "Hug later"--NO HAN HUG NOW THIS IS IMPORTANT #sithmas
"It drains the sun" is technologically very [citation needed] but it looks great--the sun slowly waning into darkness like an aesthetic countdown. #sithmas
I didn't know what was going to happen but I KNEW, and I was just sitting there in the theater DREADING it. The shadowy wide angles, the vast dark chasm with the pinpoint red lights, it's just DOOM. #sithmas
Okay, I know someone knows this, I think I even heard the answer once, but here's what I can't ever figure out about this scene: who knew what when. There are four options to mix and match: #sithmas
A) Kylo is 100% ready to kill his father and any "hesitation" is just him luring Han in (he will tell Snoke he never hesitated)
OR
B) Kylo is extremely conflicted and doesn't know what he'll do until the sun symbolically goes out and he does it
PLUS +
#sithmas
OR
B) Kylo is extremely conflicted and doesn't know what he'll do until the sun symbolically goes out and he does it
PLUS +
#sithmas
C) Han truly thinks until the last moment that he can turn his son around
D) Han realizes that he can't save his son's soul (as it were) but he can save Kylo's life by sacrificing himself and letting Kylo go through with it
#sithmas
D) Han realizes that he can't save his son's soul (as it were) but he can save Kylo's life by sacrificing himself and letting Kylo go through with it
#sithmas
I want to say that I heard the intended answer is A + D. My personal preference, for maximum agony as you watch, is B + C: "come on, come on, you can turn it around, it's not too late AWWWW SHIT" #sithmas
I fully believe that when he tells Snoke he didn't hesitate, he is lying his face off. At the very least, he pretended to hesitate. Also, these two guys play the hell out of this scene. I read that Han truly had not seen his son's face since before... well, what happened #sithmas
I mean, I don't recall how thrilled Harrison Ford was or was not to have to come back and do another star war, but he brings it when it counts. #sithmas
As wrenching as I feel this is, I'm also okay with it given that Harrison Ford spent 35 years insisting Han Solo needed to be killed off. I'm like 83% sure he made it a condition of his TFA contract #sithmas
Okay, but how differently would this scene have gone down if they'd sent Leia. There were a lot of jokes at the time about how she'd be dragging Ben home by his ear. (In seriousness, he thinks Han is "weak and foolish." What does he think of his mother?) #sithmas
Listen, I'm watching this now and I just don't think Kylo's that good a liar. He can't even control his own temper, how is he supposed to be faking internal angst as bait? He's like Angst: The Person #sithmas
He was begging A BURNT HELMET for help, I feel like when he expresses that he's scared, he means it--okay, yeah, once he asks Han for "help," I can see "C moving into D" like y'all are saying. #sithmas
This is an excellent counterpoint. Although I would counter that maybe that's character growth and he's gotten better at it since, he's realized that Han was right about Snoke using him. #sithmas
Okay, now I kind of think Han expects "help me" to be "take this lightsaber away from me" (C rather than D) except it's... not. Kylo seems to be real into the sneaky kill. Alternately, Kylo truly meant "take it from me," but then the sun goes out, symbols, etc. #sithmas
This was really something else to watch in a huge dark theater. It was agonizing to watch it drag out the second time I saw it, even. And Kylo has the nerve to say thank you. THANK YOU!! #sithmas
I honestly can't parse exactly what's going on, and that may actually add to the whole thing. I will say that Kylo suddenly gets this look like "wait, what did I just DO?" And Leia force-senses Han's death, thank you very much #sithmas
Yeah, that may well be what that look means. "Wait, it didn't help, what have I DONE" #sithmas
Oh God, Chewie's reaction. Are you ready for this to hurt? Are you ready? Because, like I told you: #sithmas tysonmurphy.tumblr.com/post/136936953…
And Rey and Finn saw it all and they're devastated. I feel like this movie takes place over the course of a day--Jakku in the morning, Takodana for lunch, Starkiller at "night"--but the relationships feel deeper in a timey-wimey way. #sithmas
I mean, who knows what "a day" is in space with different suns and planetary rotations and also it's Star Wars and time always flows like this. The people you met at breakfast are your family by dinner #sithmas
Captions: [CRUMPLING EXPLOSIONS] as Han and Chewie's detonators go off. Also timey-wimey: the "two minutes" we have for like the next half hour of movie ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ #sithmas
*clutching my face* #sithmas
We're now running into the dark snowy forest on Starkiller Base and it's just so gorgeous, the blue darkness with Kylo's red saber. And then Kylo starts hitting his wound and blood falls onto the snow. #sithmas
(Which is such a weird character touch but it feels right? I can't quite pin down what it means. One suggestion is that anger/hate/pain = the Dark Side, so Kylo's trying to draw from literal physical pain) #sithmas
Oh God. I have heard it said more than once that Han is like Chewie's dog rather than the reverse. The end of ANH: "Aw, look, he's getting a medal! Good boy!" #sithmas
I've also heard it might be some kind of self-punishment, like he's subconsciously not quite okay with what he just did to Han yet. #sithmas
Question: Can anyone use a lightsaber, or only the Force sensitive? Because we saw Han use Luke's with the tauntaun (but Han is also possibly Force "lucky"). Is it telling that Finn can use the lightsaber, or just normal? #sithmas
I'm being told anyone can use lightsabers. Also, The Force Is For Everyone. But also-also, Finn is really getting along better in this fight than you might expect. Alternately, Finn has had the same staff-type training that TR-8R did. #sithmas
My point is, BOTH Finn and Rey are able to hold up against Kylo for a good long while, and with an appropriately ragged amateur style, get out of here with "Mary Sue." (While Kylo shows off with fancy twirls just to be extra.) #sithmas
Oh man, Finn even lands a hit on Kylo, I'd forgotten that. You KNOW that had to piss Kylo off, one of his lowly troopers daring to handle his grandfather's lightsaber AND STRIKE HIM. #sithmas
Let it be noted, then, that both Finn and Rey have "hit you with some kind of stick" training they can draw from. #sithmas
I also really like this. I always liked the way that, in The Matrix, Neo always seems to be fighting for his life, as opposed to the sleek mechanical choreography of the sequels. #sithmas
I want everyone to be safe when they're making a movie, and if it can't be safe then don't do it, but I also want you to trick me into thinking "how are all of you not dead" #sithmas
Ohhhh man, here's The Moment. I talked to so many women who said they cried when the lightsaber whipped past Kylo and went to Rey. The music, the way we take our time waiting for her to ignite it, it gives you chills. #sithmas
And she goes after him like a tiger, too. In retrospect, I think a lot of her power here is motivated by fear (for Finn and herself) and anger/grief (for Han) and there's a reason she's got murderface before an earthquake saves her from herself. #sithmas
I'm not saying much about the scenes where Poe's leading the X-wings to bomb the base because... it's the thing we do in these movies. "I'M HIT" *EXPLODE* it's textbook. As controversial as it was, Poe gets more character work in TLJ #sithmas
Although, the fact that he's the one to fly in and shoot everything the fuck up does suggest why he feels like he's the hero who's right and gets the job done. Like, what if Luke actually developed a huge ego after being Fighter Pilot Savior? #sithmas
I have actually been waiting to drop "We Need to Talk About Kylo" and never found the chance #sithmas
And the trees are falling around Rey and Kylo, their red and blue lightsabers, while the snowy earth cracks open with a fiery red glow. It's just so gorgeous, I don't know how anyone could hate this movie #sithmas
"YOU NEED A TEACHER!" Yeah, that was you, in that she stole all your moves just by watching #sithmas
Like he even starts shouting about the Force and she's like "oh wait the Force" and he's like "wait what the fuck no" and then the murderface comes out and she completely wrecks him. Like PROWLS around him. I don't know how he has a face LEFT. #sithmas
Oh good. Although Luke will note later that she seems to have a problem with the darkness being pretty strong in her. #sithmas
OOPS #sithmas
While there is plenty of movie in this movie, I feel like it ticks along pretty nicely. It benefits, as A New Hope does, from a fairly streamlined progression: #sithmas
I've always thought that Fellowship of the Ring is the best of the LOTR movies simply because the pacing is irresistible. Literally, I cannot resist it, if I happen to come across it on cable. Both trilogies then slow down once the main group splits up. #sithmas
I don't think TFA has a problem with too much movie in the movie so much as we have so much discussion in the movie, and that's why we're here, so. TLJ... I love it, but it actually may have too much movie in the movie. We'll see. #sithmas
I don't recall the Empire officers abandoning their posts, but the First Order officers don't seem to be quite as loyal. "Even Hux is gone!" I also like that Snoke made Hux trudge out to the woods and scrape Kylo off the ground. #sithmas
Aw, Chewie was fighting off Finn's attempts to patch him up at the beginning but now he's gently carrying Finn to the Falcon. MY CHEWIE EMOTIONS #sithmas
Leia hugging Rey--a stranger, but Leia force-knows what she's been through--was another piece of our "totally related" theory at the time (also, hair buns are hereditary. It is known). #sithmas
Aw, BB-8 and R2. Sphero now has a little app-driven R2 (maybe someday it will be mine), as well as a "BB-H8" from TLJ. I think they interact with each other as well. #sithmas
Aw, Rey and sleeping beauty Finn. Different reference, but nailed it. #sithmas tamaro606.tumblr.com/post/144120659…
And here's Leia seeing Rey off. I love how someone painstakingly reinterpreted Rey's original outfit for her, arm warmers and all, rather than just hand her a spare Resistance jumpsuit. And the way Chewie smiles always gets me. #sithmas
Man, the final scene is so good. We had no idea at the time what, precisely, Luke was thinking--there were all kinds of theories about how he and Rey might be related, does he recognize her on sight, does he force-know what happened? #sithmas
Remember what I said about viewers being able to imagine emotion so an actor may need to underreact? I feel like that happens here--it was so incredibly emotional even when we weren't sure why. And the proof of this is in the way TLJ then completely subverts it. #sithmas
It's such a great place to end, even mid-scene--the entire visual pf the two of them just standing there is an open-ended question. It's not the sentence-ender of the ANH medal ceremony; it's all the questions Rey still has. #sithmas
Meanwhile, you get to TLJ and he's like, "Get out. Who the fuck are you. Where's Han?" I love it. Although yes, I think he would have an initial emotional reaction to being tracked down. #sithmas
All right, merry #sithmas, I need a dinner break. I really wanted to go straight into The Last Jedi, but my back may need a rest. We'll see if I can get some of it (I'm realistic) done tomorrow. ONE MORE NIGHT TO WATCH TLJ ON YOUR OWN. MUTE THE TAG TO AVOID SPOILERS
