hELP #sithmas
A visual comparison of the ROTS Force push vs TLJ tug-of-war via @the_meghatron (I'm so proud that I guessed this back when we were watching the prequels) #sithmas
A few I wanted to do going into a series rewatch: walk through my enthusiasm for the new movies, but also go back and seek out 1) why people love the movies I don't and 2) what the criticism is for the movies I do love 2b) as separate from "SJWS RUINED STAR WARS." #sithmas
This morning, I see this. You see what I've been talking about now #sithmas
While Rotten Tomatoes has denied this affected the TLJ audience score, look at the fact that people even WANTED to tank it: #sithmas washingtonpost.com/news/comic-rif…
This was a tweet about publishing, but it caught my eye the other day. #sithmas
But like I said, I feel like there's perfectly reasonable criticism of this movie outside the weird culture war vitriol. At this point, I love TLJ, but there's one thing I can't get to stop bothering me. We'll get to that at the end. #sithmas
Picking up with the base on Crait. Some lovely shots of Leia deep in her high collar, like something out of the Vanity Fair photoshoots. I really don't know what Episode IX is going to do. #sithmas
THE RUNNING OF THE CRYSTAL FOXES. I love them, I want six #sithmas
I feel like we should have shut the door way before the TIE fighters were that close, but that's how Finn and Rose are able to squeak in their stolen FO ship just in time. #sithmas
On the extras, you can see Carrie Fisher throwing out different intonations of "....Finn? Finn....? Finn?!" She seems to have gone with a maternal yell of "FINN?" #sithmas
I loved that so much, she has some awesome rings #sithmas
Poe giddily scritches BB-8's tummy (?) like he's a dog. I can't handle it #sithmas
So this is how you end up in a salt mine. Rose looks around and whispers, "Is this all that's left?" This is why the "we fucked up" storyline hurts my heart. #sithmas
"I hope this big-ass door holds." No, it won't. "We have a way out of here, right?" No, we don't. "We have allies. People believe in Leia." Uh, about that #sithmas
I love Crait so much, I love the idea of the trench and the salt ("SALT") and the snowy white crust that gives way to a blood-red under any kind of weight or pressure, AND it's a plot point. #sithmas
Back to the color red: my best guess now is "conflict," conflict as life blood, inevitable, natural, something to be accepted and lived through rather than suppressed ("bring order to the galaxy") #sithmas
We also had the idea of the red thread--more than one meaning, but also maybe conflict tying people together? The red throne room for Kylo and Rey, but also Crait for Kylo and Luke? #sithmas
Perhaps more grimly, the red ties into the way the Resistance continues to get killed off, without showing bloodshed. There's a burst of red as Finn's bucket-of-bolts speeder bounces off the ground. #sithmas
The skim speeders are *so sad* (Poe's floorboard falls out while he's giving orders) but the red lines of salt spray across the white plain are so gorgeous. #sithmas
Here's the new "gorilla" AT-ATs, walking on their "knuckles." I think in the extras they say it's meant to show how heavy they are; it feels more like creeping inevitability to me than the looming terrors in Rogue One. #sithmas
I can't get over the use of red, exploding everywhere as shots start flying, huge bursts and waves and curving trails like skating on ice, it's SO GOOD #sithmas
CHEWIE-COLORED PORG BATTLE CRY #sithmas
The Falcon reminds me a good bit of Poe's fighters swooping in during TFA and Finn cheering both on; another parallel, Rey is delighted by the gunner's chair this time #sithmas
Yeah, I enjoy how completely out of hand Kylo gets during this whole business, I would argue the First Order loses the battle because he lets !FEELINGS! run wild. #sithmas
"Blow that piece of junk oUT OF THE SKY!!!!!!111!!!" Hell hath no fury like an entitled dude scorned #sithmas
And bear in mind, this ship belonged to his "weak, foolish" father that he, uh, murdered, with the girl who rejected his proposal in the gunner's chair, piloted by Uncle Chewie, who fucking shot him #sithmas
Digression while Rey and Chewie draw the TIEs off from the Resistance speeders: earlier, we kind of had a Scar Watch 2018 going. #sithmas
We're officially at "he got a little of it fixed but it's mostly staying there to keep the Rey relationship/conflict/disappointment on his face. BUT ALSO #sithmas
Then I remembered this part from AOTC and started laughing. Like you can just feel his grandson looking back through time like "oh she gave YOU a scar, huh? her KISS is a scar? yeah, come talk to me after you get a lightsaber to the face" #sithmas
Wait, what do you mean we don't know how Anakin got his face scar? George Lucas, what do you mean "That [...] that happens in the novels between the movies. I think Anakin got it slipping in the bathtub, but he's not going to tell anybody that"? #sithmas
thoughtco.com/how-did-anakin…
thoughtco.com/how-did-anakin…
I swear to God I thought Anakin got the scar in the fight where Dooku lopped off his hand. How... how did they just leave an opportunity like that on the floor and not DO ANYTHING with it? #sithmas
Meanwhile, Poe is delighted by Rey's strategic interference, but I LOVE Finn yelling, "OH, THEY HATE THAT SHIP!" And so now, Kylo has no aerial support because He Got Mad. #sithmas
Now there's a traditional swoop-and-shoot in a red crystal ravine with a porg plastered to the Falcon window. I am 100% here for porg comedy and I'm not even sorry. #sithmas
We've been told there's only 13 skimmers; I think only the named characters are still alive at this point. And here's Poe's character reversal: he decides it's a doomed mission and everyone should pull back. #sithmas
It's specifically the reverse of "but we could take out the dreadnought (at the cost of everyone else). And Finn's insistence on continuing is the reversal of him "running away" to save Rey. #sithmas
Rose seems to be saying that it's too late and Finn can't succeed (as opposed to Poe, in fact, taking down the dreadnought). So Rose's reversal is, okay, I get why you intervene to save one person. #sithmas
Well, I'm conflating the two. Growth via "we have to do things differently" #sithmas
Huh, I wasn't aware of that. I was using "reversal" more in a scripting sense, this character has changed by moving from one perspective to the opposite of that perspective. #sithmas
It reminds me of how Rey is right, so that's it's not solidly "the young people are always wrong." It adds some nuance to a "group over individual" theme. #sithmas
I love that we don't actually have a Death Star in this movie--we have *miniaturized Death Star tech* so basically it's the beam, just from a cannon. What IS a star war without a death star, really #sithmas
I had that moment for about three seconds--then I realized I hadn't seen a massive outcry on social media. #sithmas
Watching it closely now, I see that Rose has told us *Finn's effort would fail,* and he would be throwing his life away (to prove something to himself?); she's already lost her sister to Poe's dreadnought mission, but at least that worked. #sithmas
When I first saw it, I was still thinking Finn could have succeeded--I don't know why that difference made this plot point a little shaky for me. #sithmas
(Poe's slide into the trench is obviously fantastic) #sithmas
I was a little shaky on Rose's big moment here, "That's how we're going to win. Not fighting what we hate, saving what we love," because I am overly literal and thinking "okay, I feel you, but that's not--that's not how war works, that's not how any of this works" + #sithmas
I mean, it's a lovely line, but it feels like one of those "it sounds nice, but how does that WORK" moments. I'm guessing "you can't just throw your life away in hate," but, we're not saving what we love because there goes the cannon blowing up the door #sithmas
The ONLY reason this is not completely nonsensical to me now is that Finn could not, in fact, have stopped that cannon. Before, it felt like, "Well, to hell with everyone else, at least I saved you." #sithmas
Again, I think it's a lovely sentiment, and now that I realize Finn *could not have saved anyone anyway,* it makes more sense. #sithmas
And then Rose kisses Finn. Have we considered Finn-centered polyamory? I'm a problem solver. #sithmas
And it's a beautiful shot, the kiss against the "fireworks" of the door exploding, but, uh, also, the door is exploding, I think that may be a problem #sithmas
At first I thought it seemed a bit soon for Rose to be in love with Finn, but then I remembered: #sithmas
How'd that distress call go? "They've heard us... but no one's coming." In Rogue One, at least the other Rebel factions had the decency to SAY they weren't going. #sithmas
"The galaxy has lost all hope." This is obviously when Luke "A New Hope" Skywalker appears, silhouetted against light. #sithmas
Right? I was like, the fish nuns also do hairstyling? #sithmas
Luke and Leia's reunion is so tough, wow. You're saying goodbye to one of them but, in real life, it wasn't the one you thought. "I changed my hair," that little bit of levity, is such a nice grace note. #sithmas
Luke: "I can't save him." Leia: "I know my son is gone." But, Luke: "No one's ever really gone." Which he is also saying about himself. And about Han, as he puts the Falcon dice in her hand. It's not the last time we'll see them. #sithmas
I suspect people have varying opinions about whether "my son is gone" is or should be true. We also don't know what Rey's feeling about it is. I am sure we will find out in the next movie. #sithmas
Luke is so badass and cool now that he's decided to be, he WINKS AT THREEPIO, I love it, it just took him a minute to reach that point in his storyline. (I kind of miss Rude Hermit Luke though? Basically Mark Hamill is just great.) #sithmas
Everyone comes out of hiding to watch Luke stride out between badass walls of flame to face The Entire First Order on a blood-red battlefield, and I mention this because creating a legend is his entire goal here. #sithmas
I love how alarmed Hux is that Kylo wants to shoot the fuck out of Luke. Like, a dozen AT-ATs and he's like "MORE!!!" "Stop killing him, he's already dead!" Also, yes: #sithmas
Here's the concept art of what happens next, remarkably unchanged: #sithmas
I always laugh like a seal when Luke does the shoulder brush. I think they say in the extras that Luke also wanted to make sure he looked exactly the way Kylo last saw him, the last time they fought, for bonus mind games. #sithmas
What Kylo does in response to Hux saying "Supreme Leader, don't get distracted from our goal" is extremely Hulk and Thor, I'm just saying. This whole movie is just not a good day for Hux. #sithmas
(There's an extra beat for Hux to slide down and hit the floor. I feel terrible for laughing so hard at this) #sithmas
Okay, but I once saw a Galaxy of Heroes demo video where an ewok team converged on a Kylo using Chirpa's full squad assist, and then he just *wasn't there,* and one of the comments said, "I think they ate him" #sithmas
Which reminds me: I DO TOO #sithmas
I love the shot we see through Poe's binoculars as Kylo approaches Luke; it's a strangely "realistic" visual in the middle of a fantasy movie. #sithmas
MAN, this wide, wiiiiide shot of the two of them facing off is so good. I can't even begin to understand lightsaber stances but it's SO GOOD. #sithmas
And Poe realizes the Holdo parallel, that "Luke is doing this for a reason," giving them a chance to escape, and he echoes her words that they must survive and be the spark to light the fire. My Holdo feelings ;_; #sithmas
Another way in which Poe is Sequel Han Solo: not being able to cope with Threepio talking #sithmas
In trying to find a way out, Poe asks a telling question: "Hell, how did [Luke] get in here?" But set that aside for a moment to follow the crystal fox road #sithmas
Even to the end, we've got a porg helping Chewie and Rey look for the mountain opening, I love it. And a nice callback to "The Force is not about lifting rocks!," except when it totally is. Somewhere, Yoda is laughing his ass off. #sithmas
I love the red lightsaber reflections in Kylo's ("pretty") eyes and the [BREATHING HEAVILY] caption, he's SO MAD and Luke so doesn't even care. And unlike Kylo, he doesn't leave footprints. Maybe you notice the first time, maybe you don't. #sithmas
Kylo informs Luke that he will be the title of this movie! This movie REALLY likes its callbacks: "Amazing. Every word of what you just said is wrong," as Rey... lifts rocks. ALL the rocks. #sithmas
You will also notice that Luke has dodged every single lightsaber blow (shit, he has some moves, too) and kept Kylo yelling--distracted him, prevented him from realizing Luke's not physically there, *and* achieved non-violence. #sithmas
"Strike me down in anger and I'll ALWAYS be with you." This is what I meant by feeling like it doesn't pay off for Obi-Wan quite ecifically the way it does here. ("Just like your father." OHHHHHH) #sithmas
I mean, yes, I get that Obi-Wan becoming a Force ghost meant that he could be by Luke's side anywhere, but the idea of a deceased Jedi becoming POWERFUL seems more fully expressed with the Legend of Luke Skywalker here. #sithmas
And as Rian Johnson points out in extras/commentary, Luke isn't the Luke of this movie, he's the Obi-Wan, who specifically sacrificed himself to distract Vader from the escape. That may not have been what people were expecting. #sithmas
Aaaand Kylo realizes he's been had by a Force hologram, pushing his lightsaber through "Luke" exactly the way he killed his father, just to be sure. I'm still enjoying this way too much #sithmas
I'm laughing so hard at the way Kylo suddenly whirls around and realizes the Resistance peaced out. Sing it with me if you know the words: #sithmas
I also just realized that Luke's last words to Kylo are "See you around, kid," which is the most Han thing he possibly could have said. MASTERFUL. #sithmas
Calling back to the way Kylo casually told Rey she couldn't be projecting herself to him, "it would kill you," the effort's also doing Luke in; both Rey and Leia sense it. But "no one's ever really gone." And so Luke transcends willingly, looking to the horizon, at peace #sithmas
So here's Kylo alone in the abandoned base. One more Force Skype for Rey to shut the Falcon door in his face. And what does he find on the base floor? The dice his father won the ship with. Are you ready for it to be terrible? Are you ready? #sithmas
(And then the dice disappear? They survived Luke long enough to stay there for Kylo to find them? I--listen, it's Star Wars, whatever) #sithmas
All I'm going to say is, when your entire rebellion can fit on the Millennium Falcon, you may be in trouble. But Leia reassures Rey (who got custody of the broken lightsaber) that they have all they need. This is really tough to watch knowing that... they don't. #sithmas
I don't know how they'll write around Leia's absence, but I'm inclined to go with whatever they think of; it's not like anyone wanted it to be this way. It is what it is. #sithmas
But yeah, in-story they have what they need: a final shot of the Canto Bight kids retelling the Legend of Luke Skywalker, Jedi Master. And I just realized that one boy Force-drew that broom to his hand, and he's now holding it like a lightsaber. #sithmas
He looks up to the stars, a Rebel ring on his hand. #sithmas
Which, like I said, Canto Bight already had a social commentary going at the time, but now you see what it's setting up for the trilogy as a whole. #sithmas
oh my god #sithmas
That does make sense, yeah--the dice still being with Leia, and the Falcon leaves after Rey shuts the door in Kylo's face. #sithmas
That's something I was touching on with the idea of tight storytelling--in one sense, it's so tight given what it does choose to cram in. In another sense, it's more than a lot of writers would have put in. #sithmas
At this point, "too much movie in the movie" feels like something of a Star Wars tradition; I think I'm beyond minding it. Most of the TLJ criticism I've heard, I either disagree or I get it but I don't mind. But: #sithmas
The one, one thing I wish they'd done differently, that really bothers me, is the "Our heroes fucked up and grew from it. It also caused ~400 people to die." #sithmas
I really kept looking for any other cause-and-effect there, and I don't see it. Have the heroes make mistakes and learn from it; have the Resistance nearly wiped out. But it stings that one happens because of the other. #sithmas
On the whole, I still love the movie and the stuff that is good is so good (SO GOOD!). But if we're being honest: yeah, I'll give you that one. #sithmas
So that's all the movies, and probably all of your patience. Thank you all for some lovely discussion; I will leave you with this link. Merry #Sithmas to all, and to all a good night.
