Later today I want to do at least a little of The Last Jedi, after I have reviewed the deleted scenes. I also have excellent news: I have discovered @threadreaderapp and can give you all umpteen movies in a readable format: #sithmas
Full Attack of the Clones thread (I did not have Phantom Menace on hand): #sithmas threadreaderapp.com/thread/9768109…
Full Revenge of the Sith thread #sithmas threadreaderapp.com/thread/9769825…
Full Rogue One thread #sithmas threadreaderapp.com/thread/9772076…
Full A New Hope thread #sithmas threadreaderapp.com/thread/9776523…
Full Empire Strikes Back thread #sithmas threadreaderapp.com/thread/9783527…
Full Return of the Jedi thread #sithmas threadreaderapp.com/thread/9786635…
The Force Awakens threads (it broke, woe) #sithmas
threadreaderapp.com/thread/9794213… / threadreaderapp.com/thread/9794300…
threadreaderapp.com/thread/9794213… / threadreaderapp.com/thread/9794300…
THREADING IS HARD. In theory we'll pick up here with The Last Jedi in a bit after I've prepped. Please mute #sithmas if you do not want to see spoilers.
There is a deleted scene that shows how they originally opened the movie with Finn in his medical pod ("at first you think it's a planet"). Here's the explanation for the change from one of the documentaries: #sithmas
Paige Tico had a bit more screentime where her gun jams; there are 14 deleted scenes, which gives me a better appreciation for the pacing of the finished cut. I mean, they DID trim it down. #sithmas
In the process of consolidating storylines into longer sustained sequences, there's a moment cut where Luke does, in fact, have a private emotional reaction to being finally found. #sithmas
More deleted scenes: Poe "sewed" the jacket up and gave back it to Finn, with extras pushing through as an homage to ESB Hoth scenes; BB-8 shows Rey's goodbye (aw) to Finn in "It's Kind of Weird That You Recorded That" #sithmas
I'll probably listen to the commentary later (DVD commentaries were what we had before movie podcasts, kids), but I did see the two documentary extras a couple of weeks ago. #sithmas
Part of me kind of wanted them to just pick up in the middle of the Luke ending of TFA, but TLJ had better judgment than I do. Instead, it starts with a deep-dive shot into the Resistance evacuation. #sithmas
So here's the beginning of the Hotshot Know-It-All Poe storyline, though I do enjoy him prank-calling "General Hugs" ("I can hear you, can you hear ME?!")--oh my god, an officer says "I believe he's 'tooling' with you, sir" #sithmas
oh my god #sithmas
I am still SO SALTY that I did not get to see this on a big screen because I had surgery. Will I ever let it go? NO #sithmas
Okay, I said the other day that Poe gets a huge ego in a way that Luke doesn't. Because I am pretty sure Luke was never like "fuck what you told me to do! I'MA GET EVERYONE KILLED" #sithmas
fffffff #sithmas
And listen, I get it; Poe is thinking that they can win the war so much sooner by taking out the dreadnought, and that's not a bad motive. What Leia and Holdo try to tell him, though, is that maybe they shouldn't burn both people and resources quite so recklessly. #sithmas
And that's why they're leaders: they're thinking of the big picture and the group as a whole instead of "gotta do it now because we can." #sithmas
I love Paige Tico, and I love the other cute lady pilot, and I'm not thrilled that either of them die, like, immediately, but so it goes #sithmas
"Do you want us to end up just twenty people in a salt mine, Poe? Because this is how you end up in a salt mine" #sithmas
Man, Hux is just not having a good movie, I HEARD his face hit the ground there when Snoke showed up there. #sithmas
"Finn naked leaking bag?" "WHERE'S REY?" PREVIOUSLY ON: #sithmas
So here is the scene where Luke tentatively takes the lightsaber from Rey and... tosses it over his shoulder. Mark Hamill is such a treasure in this movie. #sithmas
And I would argue that Luke learns it as well. #sithmas
"Master Skywalker! I'm with the Resistance! I have a message from your sister, she says [checks notes] 'get your ass the fuck back here'?" #sithmas
PORGS! I am delight to report that porgs are everything I hoped and dreamed they would be. #sithmas
And Chewie has busted in to Tell Luke What, and... Luke asks where Han is. Well. About that. It's not gonna help things, that's for sure #sithmas
The movie's answer to "Where's Han" is to cut to Kylo entering Snoke's AMAZING MINIMALIST RED THRONE ROOM. This movie does so much with the color red and that's a thesis for another day if I ever figure out what it means #sithmas
tfw I forget to take my phone off silent #sithmas
Hux gives Kylo such a nasty smile on his way out, he is currently on top of the pseudo-sibling rivalry (even though his starkiller base and his dreadnought got blown up, that's fine) #sithmas
Snoke has literally called Kylo in to be like, "so let's talk about how you got your ass beaten by A GIRL." He also calls him a rabid cur who's failed the Potential of His Bloodline. Son, LEAVE THIS GUY #sithmas
"I've given everything I have to you." Then Snoke tells him to take off his "ridiculous" Vader cosplay helmet. I'm starting to think Kylo might *envy* Rey for having parents who were "nothing." #sithmas
Back to the color red: #sithmas
And here's where Kylo claims he didn't hesitate to kill his father "when the moment came." I mean, what are we counting as "the moment" here, the angsting or the sneak attack #sithmas
Is there ever a point when you hear yourself ranting about extinguishing all hope in the galaxy and go, "Wow, I'm just really evil. Like I hadn't really thought about it in those words, but actually, I'm just the worst"? #sithmas
The thing I like about this next bit is how Kylo going into an elevator and smashing his mask into the wall feels like a very familiar, expected beat. And then he JUST KEEPS DOING IT. #sithmas
By the time he's done, the helmet is literally a smoking pile of scraps and it is *very* reminiscent of the shot of Vader's burnt out helmet that he had been, uh, confiding in. I think Snoke pretty much lost him there. #sithmas
We cut to Rey saying there's no light left in him, an opinion she will eventually reverse, while Luke is trying to cope with the implied news that his wayward nephew is back on his bullshit again. #sithmas
"You think I'm just gonna walk out with a laser sword" (Hermit Luke is SO RUDE AND META, I LOVE IT) "and face down the whole First Order?" (yes) #sithmas
(Daisy Ridley is so good at playing off this in their scenes. "Did you... just hear a word I said?") #sithmas
So Luke proceeds to angrily do his island chores AT her in a series of dominance moves that include dangerous spear fishing and chugging green milk from... whatever the hell that was #sithmas
Ah, the Jedi tree, where we keep the ancient Jedi books on a salty, rainy, windy island. I bet the ink isn't even archival quality #sithmas
Tattooine boy to Jakku girl, "All right, that *is* pretty much nowhere" is basically one of the best line readings in the movie #sithmas
(I accidentally booted myself back to the disc menu. The loading icon is a flapping porg) #sithmas
I am deeply tired of having to set up captions every time the disc wants to reload. The thing is, my hearing is fine, but sometimes my comprehension cuts out, if that makes sense? "I'm sorry, you said a thing, could you repeat that" #sithmas
Having hearing *comprehension* problems is so deeply weird that I'm convinced it happens to a lot of people, because you are never alone on the internet. #sithmas
Also, Rey says she knows "this place" from dreams, which must be how Kylo saw it in her head without being able to figure out where Luke was: Rey didn't know yet either. #sithmas
It's interesting that Rey can't just say "I wanna be a Jedi" (to Luke Skywalker, of all people); she presents it as "something inside me has always been there, now awake, and I'm afraid." Not "this is my dream," but "I need help." #sithmas
"You need a teacher" (yeah, so I've heard) but "I can't teach you" (parents, talk to your kids about the dark side before someone else does) #sithmas
Luke talking about coming to this island to die after his failure--okay, FIRST OF ALL #sithmas
Second of all, it reminds me a lot of my bipolar depressive episodes, when I hide out in my bedroom because I just don't want people to see me like this, or have to deal with my irrational anger/sadness. #sithmas
I am sure Luke has been dealing with the equivalent of post-trauma depression and guilt, and wants to punish himself, but also, how are people supposed to deal with being around him like that? He doesn't want them to have to. #sithmas
So apparently there were umpteen takes of Poe getting "demoted" #sithmas
The First Order has found the Resistance fleet (someone said hyperspace tracking may have been one of the projects on the list Jyn is reading in Rogue One?) and I will say that Kylo's ship is AMAZING offense in the game. It, too, twirls #sithmas
Notice how Poe's like "LET'S USE THE REST OF OUR FUEL TO JUMP TO LIGHTSPEED" and it's Leia (and Finn) who are like "wait, think about that for two seconds, that wouldn't help" #sithmas
Aw, no, there's my other cute lady pilot, which means we're about to *BOOM!* Dammit, Kylo! This movie also does such great things with wide shots, both with the aerial battles and the explosion here. #sithmas
I like how Leia and Kylo have a Force moment and he can't fire on her--leaving everybody else to, because when you sign up with fascist empires, they don't tend to care about your personal feelings. #sithmas
The first time I saw this, I was shocked because I thought they might be resolving the very sad issue of Carrie Fisher's passing this way--I had not expected it to happen so soon and so suddenly. And then... they don't. #sithmas
Honestly, I don't mind the concept of Leia surviving in space; you know I am on the Force Sensitive Leia bus. I'm not entirely sure how well the "Mary Poppins" (alternately, angelic) visual works for me, but how many ways are there to do this? #sithmas
I still don't know how they're going to handle Episode IX, aside from definitely not doing a CG character. I suppose she could succumb to after-effects offscreen, but... man, I just don't know #sithmas
ACKBAAAAAR #sithmas
omg, Chewie and his roast porg AND THE SAD LITTLE WIBBLY PORGS. As someone pointed out, this scene makes this children's book a bit, uh, grim #sithmas amazon.com/Star-Wars-Last…
Aw, Luke goes into the Falcon. There is a very specific shot of him touching the golden dice Han won the ship with that pays off at the end of the movie and basically put me on the floor. #sithmas
Awwww, it's R2. Bear in mind that as far as the story on screen goes, the last time they saw each other was at the flaming ruins of his Jedi school. It's also really something to see them together 35 years after the OT, since I watched that last week. #sithmas
lol, I love the "cheap move" of R2 playing the old hologram of Leia pleading for help in "the struggle against the Empire." DO YOU SEE WHY RETRACING THE OLD STORY WORKS #sithmas
"Sacred island, watch your language!" #sithmas
In retrospect, I'm not sure Luke should be looming over people while they sleep, but he informs Rey that there will be Force lessons at dawn. Chapter one: The Jedi, and Why They Suck #sithmas
I'm going to leave us there for the weekend and pick up on Monday; the next chapter on the disc is Holdo's entrance, so come back for that. #sithmas
So we are picking up The Last Jedi (merry #sithmas!) for a bit, with some scheduled breaks for my back. As promised, here's Holdo's entrance, much to Poe's implied surprise because he seems to think his demoted ass is next in line.
This is what I meant, because I don't think Luke was ever like "CLEARLY I AM A GENERAL NOW" (he was clearly the side-questing Rey of the group, or rather vice versa) #sithmas
That's Vice Admiral Amilyn Holdo to you, motherfuckers #sithmas
She promptly states the overall arc of the film, which is that they are the spark to carry the Resistance forward--leaders to pass on a torch, not necessarily to survive (not unlike Rogue One there), for the good of the group, not the individual. #sithmas
"There’s a sort of a light on and a wisdom that she speaks about in the film [...]. Yeah, her primary goal was to protect the light, to protect the Force, and to keep the revolutionaries alive." #sithmas
Laura Dern is so lovely in this role, so surprisingly gentle and kind and ready to tell you to sit your ass the fuck down. Even her headpiece is like a little halo. I want Holdo to give me a pep talk every morning, I love her #sithmas
I find it interesting that so many people got mad about her character, particularly in relation to Poe. Look, I hang out on Reddit for Relationships and Ask Reddit. The fact that I even know the prevailing TLJ groupthink should tell you something. #sithmas
While I have seen some arguments in favor, largely the party line is that The Last Jedi is a crime against humanity, the worst movie committed to film, and Holdo and Rose in particular are ruiners. Also, Rey, Mary Sue, etc. #sithmas
And I'm lurking there like, can we just get back to [checks thread title] What's the Creepiest Thing That Ever Happened to You in a Gas Station at 3 AM? Why are we litigating this AGAIN? #sithmas
So I'm watching how Holdo and Poe play out with that in mind. Side note, vaguely reminding me of shipping: I would have been more interested in f/f ships, but nobody consulted me #sithmas
(“Heeeeey what’s going on with Holdo, is there someone she’s... aw DAMMIT”) #sithmas
Side note, the way she tells Poe "thank you for making me aware," lingering slightly, airily on the last word--I have lived that tone and I know a lot of y'all have too. #sithmas
Laura Dern also does a great job of completely reading him ("flyboys like you") while still being sliiiiightly into it (so that her later comments make sense). #sithmas
Meanwhile, the entire subplot leans heavily on Oscar Isaac having +30 charisma so that you don't want to boot him immediately out into the frigid depths of space. I'm not sure who else could have pulled this off. #sithmas
Which is a great time to bring up the "Poe is sequel Han" concept: Poe is so earnest, wonderfully so, in his dedication to the cause, whereas Han was trying so hard to stay cynical. #sithmas
Like, I think he IS Sequel Han Solo, but that's an interesting personality difference/function. Like, Poe is never ever going to run away because joining is not his thing and only come back because he cares about his new friends. #sithmas
I will add, I think reasoned criticism is completely valid, and I am willing to say "I don't think this part works" if/when we come to that. I just can't take "THE WORST ATROCITY ON FILM" seriously, is all. #sithmas
Which is another thing--everything involving the Resistance subplots feels messy, and I'm watching the movie now with an eye towards wtf was going on there. It sits badly with me that Our Heroes seem to cause this. #sithmas
It's also interesting to keep this in mind; I like it as narrative theory, but I also wonder to what extent this causes a shit ton of people to die, or if our heroes simply couldn't prevent it. #sithmas
It also contributes to a feeling I get that there's two movies in this movie, the Resistance plot and the Rey/Luke/Kylo plot, and it's A Lot to squish them together, but I don't know that you could have had them separately either. #sithmas
I also feel bad that Finn is accused of deserting, because it's not cowardice--but it IS putting his personal concerns (himself and Rey, both movies) ahead of the group, which is the Big Theme, so. #sithmas
Here's Rose Tico, though--currently grieving her older sister Paige from the opening; just a random crew member, and purposefully (per the extras) put in a fairly frumpy costume. I honestly feel she is the most relatable character in the movie. #sithmas
Much the way I said "I would probably be Rose Byrne's handmaiden character," I feel like most of us would probably be Rose. And yet this is ALSO a rare moment of representation (Kelly Marie Tran is Vietnamese-American) #sithmas en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kelly_Mar…
And I suspect a lot of the angry groupthink brand of criticism was maaaybe pushback to Rose low key being the audience proxy for this movie--that idea of "if you've always been represented in media, you may not know/want to empathize with someone who is Not You." #sithmas
Which is also true--Poe is always like "I'MA DO MY IDEA" when he *does* know the strategy, as well as when he doesn't. But not telling him means he'll *for sure* go off on his own, and now he won't even tell you. #sithmas
So we're distinguishing "some problems with this" from "THE WORST EVER." I'll add, I have hella notes about the other storyline, because it draws heavily on the previous six movies. Finn and Rose are new territory, so I have fewer, but that's a feature, not a bug. #sithmas
It's also worth noting Rose's hero worship of Finn, a newly-minted Resistance fighter. It pays off on a personal level, but it's also in step with the idea of hero worship "lighting a spark." #sithmas
AND YET Rose's high opinion of Finn is instantly shattered when she realizes he's "running away," and the entire Luke plot is about him refusing to be the hero everyone wants--until he finally accepts it in his own way. #sithmas
THIS IS WHY I GET INDIGNANT. HE'S TRYING TO SAVE/WARN REY WHO NO ONE ELSE EVER GOES BACK FOR. HOW IS THIS IGNOBLE. FEELINGS!!! #sithmas
Finn tells Rose that he's got to get Rey's homing beacon "far away from here" so she'll be safe. Rose: "You're a selfish traitor." I FEEL DISAGREEMENT but I also understand why Rose, grieving, would feel this way. #sithmas
They do then start figuring out how hyperspace tracking works, and as in the Resistance base scene in TFA, realize that Finn is familiar with First Order layouts and can spearhead A Cunning Plan. #sithmas
Side note, this is the second movie that has noted Finn was basically a janitor ("I used to mop it") when not stormtrooping, which also puts him in the "probably the character we would have been" group. #sithmas
Now we're explaining the tracker on the Destroyer problem to Poe: "So we blow that one up?" Poe, this is how we end up twenty people in a salt mine. "I like where your head's at, but no." Finn, you are part of the problem #sithmas
And Poe is touching Leia's hand in the infirmary while Threepio points out that Holdo will not be down for this. Poe announces--symbolically turning away from Leia and any damn thing she tried to teach him?--that Threepio is right--so he won't tell Holdo. #sithmas
Which would have been Holdo's opportunity to say, "Yes, I am... aware... and we are already planning around that. Sit your ass down." But he doesn't allow her to have it. And the rogue plan is what tips the First Order off, right? I don't enjoy that. #sithmas
How do we get past the security codes? Let's ask Maz Kanata, coming to you live from... a "union dispute"? That's a bit... at odds with the proletariat uprising theme? (What kind of union? Builders for her wrecked castle? What IS this about?) #sithmas
On one hand, Holdo might should have told everyone the evacuation plan, but OTOH, when Poe finds out he's like "THAT'S COWARDLY, I'M STAGING A MUTINY," right? Which... is why she didn't want anyone to know. The writing IS no-win that way. #sithmas
Here's another thing that bothers me: Maz sends them to look for The Most Interesting Man in the Galaxy, and instead, Rose and Finn end up with Betrayal McSketch. The gullibility hurts me, although IIRC Rose and Finn *were* out of options. #sithmas
I just wish Maz, meaning well, had directed them to an admittedly risky guy, but less openly skeevy, who then betrayed them so catastrophe would feel less like it was 100% on Rose and Finn's heads. #sithmas
Threepio comments that it sounds like The Most Interesting Man can do everything. "Ohhhh, yes, he can," purrs Maz. Oh girl #sithmas
Ah, here's the first cross-cutting scene with Rey and Kylo; she wakes up on the island and he's having his scar... descarred? Johnson does a really interesting thing where they're never in the same shot (until... they are) and we don't see how it looks to them. #sithmas
As in, we see them seeing, but we don't know how much or how clearly they see each other. Here--the scene where she "shoots" him--it seems to be more of an initial sensing, not visual. More on this later. #sithmas
"Leia, Princess of Alderaan," take my money #sithmas
Yeah, it's not coincidental that Holdo comes out all lovely and purple and Poe says, "THAT'S Admiral Holdo of the Really Impressive Battle?" I think there's genuinely some implied sexism here, as much as I would like to think better of him. #sithmas
Okay, maybe the SECOND most evil, there's also fucking Snoke. (Poor Rose and Finn, bless.) #sithmas
Wait, wait, the scene isn't over (lunch/mentions break, sorry!), I think Kylo and Rey may be seeing each other now. He immediately tries to Force-wave her into bringing Luke to him, and she's like, *STARES* #sithmas
Then Kylo realizes, if he's not doing this, and she's not doing this, then who's flying the plane? It's a question these two really needed to keep asking, but to the movie's credit, I forgot to keep asking as well. #sithmas
Okay, they can officially see each other but not their surroundings (or Kylo does; Rey is still busy being mad as hell), and then he realizes Luke is nearby. Uncle Luke: "What's that about?" QUICK, CLOSE THE SKYPE WINDOW #sithmas
(I think it was @LJmysticowl who pointed out that Rey and Kylo are totally two teenagers skyping all night, which is too real.) #sithmas
Luke is referring to the hole Rey shot in her hut, which the fish nuns are crankily repairing; iirc there's deleted footage expanding on "I don't think they like me," which pays off in the deleted Fish Nun Dance Party scene I mentioned. #sithmas
Man, I'm so glad we're back to Rude Master Luke and the space puffins. (He takes Rey through a cave with a yin-yang floor mosaic, I think that's what that is?) #sithmas
Rey delivers what sounds like a prepared statement about needing Luke to come back and stop Kylo because "without the Jedi, we won't stand a chance against him." Luke's current feelings about the Jedi are far off from ANH: #sithmas
This is the scene that "resets" the concept of the Force as not a "super power" but a more existential thing For Everyone. (I always laugh way too hard at the "reach out" scene, these two are such a delight. "OW!!") #sithmas
This scene is so lovely, too--after 3-4 Jedi masters explaining what the Force is, someone finally says, "Okay, you don't know shit about this. What does this feel like to YOU?" And it ends up being the most profound, elemental explanation yet. #sithmas
Luke's reply: "AND THAT FORCE DOES NOT BELONG TO THE JEDI," our other Big Theme, which oddly enough is consistent with "we fucked up" in the prequels. Several people have pointed out that it redeems the "midichlorians" thing by making it part of that realization. #sithmas
Aaaand then Rey is like "also there is a huge Freudian darkness-cave under the island, what's up with that, WE'RE GOING IN" and Luke FREAKS OUT that she "needs" the dark and "didn't even try to stop yourself!" My dude, that's why you need to teach her! #sithmas
I'm sure he's terrified--well, he SAYS he is, he's already traumatized that he fucked up with his nephew, and now he's got his most promising student in years and she practically swan-dives into the dark side. She's interested in balance but he doesn't want to risk it. #sithmas
Briefly, back to the Resistance, where Connix (Carrie Fisher's daughter Billie Lourd, in a bit of plot irony) is helping the gang make terrible choices. Meanwhile, porgs are already nesting in the Falcon, you can only hope to contain them. #sithmas
Again, Kylo asking the important questions ("Why is the Force connecting us?," the movie misdirecting us from *someone* doing it) and Rey, she still mad ("MURDEROUS SNAKE"). "Did he tell you what happened?" OOP. He also cites the murderface #sithmas
"You ARE a monster!" she retorts. REMEMBER THIS FOR LATER #SITHMAS
And then he agrees, and she's like "wait what," like, is this not where the Certain Point of View always comes up? And there is a little bit of island rain on his hand, foreshadowing what "the Force" is going to enable them to do. #sithmas
That's the yin-yang floor mosaic, yeah--you only see it a little bit from the side, I wouldn't have caught it if someone hadn't mentioned it before. #sithmas
Canto Bight! Rose all but calls it A Hive of Scum and Villainy, and then it's like... Space Monte Carlo. This DOES feel a little off-putting (intentionally, as we'll see), knowing that we left the Resistance facing certain death. #sithmas
Tonally, it DOES feel off. However, it's also a cantina type scene, which the series has plenty of; it's just that this movie's settings are so few and so stark that it really, really stands apart in a way that Jabba's palace and even Dexter's Diner don't. #sithmas
IMO the movie's using that tonal whiplash to elicit a moral judgment rather than just for the hell of it: look at these profiteer assholes, while the Resistance is hanging on by a thread. When no one answers their call at the end, think back to Canto Bight. #sithmas
Okay, I'm going to leave us at the beginning of Canto Bight and rest my back for a while. #sithmas
Okay, back to Canto Bight and the big tracking shot homage to the film Wings (1927) (the first Best Picture, not the TV show I was very fond of) #sithmas
For science, here's the original shot in question: #sithmas
Fortuitously, the TLJ shot is listed as a related video, so you can see some of the world-building on Casino Planet as well: #sithmas
In contrast to Rose's disgust, Finn is delighted by all this. I went and looked up his background: "[Finn] was taken as a child from his family to serve the First Order. [He] had been too young to even remember who his family was." #sithmas starwars.wikia.com/wiki/Finn
In a minute, Rose is going to tell us that she grew up in poverty on a mining colony; I'm guessing life in the First Order was at least secure, food and a roof over your head, etc. Finn's led a spartan life, but not in squalor. #sithmas
Finn's delighted to see Canto Bight because he's lived in an *absence* of luxury; Rose is disgusted because she's lived in a *presence* of misery, and she knows more about how society works. #sithmas
