Topic: The Movie Thread

@KALofKRYPTON Interesting. Several internet leaks and early spoilers for Episode 7 and 8 ended up being red herrings, so we’ll see. I’m continuing to have an open mind, but will prepare myself emotionally for possible disappointment. 😄

@Th3solution As I say, word is that these were from test screenings that occurred months ago, and that the result of those screenings was Iger instructing Abrams and Kennedy to change the film.
There's more to that scene if you want to read - but I think it is what resulted in reports of Lucas being brought back in to consult to try and fix the ending and flow of the film.

@KALofKRYPTON Ah, I didn’t know it had come to that. I would have loved to be a fly on the wall there! Watching Lucas come in to clean up the mess would have been a sight to behold! 😂

@Th3solution I would say that what Lucas is rumoured to have done isn't much better. He's falling back on some of the more bonkers ideas from his early Star Wars versions.

Now, careful here on in (again) everyone ***MAJOR POTENTIAL RISE OF SKYWALKER SPOILER BELOW***

Midway (Theatre) - Film retelling the events of the Battle of Midway during WWII.

It isn't a heavy or sombre war story in any way. Largely focusing on a group of airmen (though it does feature an intelligence officer on the strategy side of things as a subplot), the battle is recreated as a big budget CGI thrill ride with a raucous, rah rah, attitude.

That said, if you can get over it's depiction of the war, the thrilling air combat, as embellished as it is, is exciting, and as a long time fan of things like Ace Combat, I enjoyed it.

Apparently Joker 2 is in pre production...

@Th3solution I'm gonna avoid contributing to the Star Wars discussion sparked by your Marvel piece, and just say that, despite not being a "fan" of Marvel movies (I enjoy them whilst they're on, then instantly forget about them five minutes later) I loved reading your thoughts, specifically because I could detect the same passionate analysis and genuine "I get this" consideration I often try to apply to the franchises I follow. Congratulations for reaching the end of your marathon, and for coming away fulfilled instead of totally burned out, and thanks for sharing!

@RR529 Sounds like something my Dad might've tried to suggest we see, but also like something that falls squarely into my "wait for Netflix" category. Thanks!

@LN78 The newer Star Wars stuff:

Now, careful here on in (again) everyone ***MAJOR POTENTIAL RISE OF SKYWALKER SPOILER BELOW***

According to the newer leaks, the Lucas thing with the secret Skywalker is either bogus or they chucked it out. Most of the what I put before stands, but the sequence of the 'throne room' scene is different. Palpatine is on life support and Rey confronts him. He introduces his new clone body which is Matt Smith. Kylo is barred from the throne room by the Knights of Ren. He's thrown away his lightsaber by this point and Rey teleports Leia's lightsaber (it's not clear if Rey just has it - or if Leia is meant have been there) to him and he kills the Knights. The star destroyer fleet all have Death Star cannons and are reliant on the flagship. That's the ship that the space horses are riding on as Finn leads an attack on it because ships can't destroy it for some reason. The First Order/Resistance team up is still a thing. Palpatine uses force lighting from the throne room to disable the entire(!) resistance fleet, destroying the Millennium Falcon - killing Lando, Chewie, C3PO, Leia(?) and R2. Rey and Kylo try to fight Palpatine, Kylo is killed and sent flying in to an abyss and Palpatine shoots force lightning at Rey, this is apparently when she 'channels' previous Jedi (Ghosts perhaps) and deflects it back and kills him. Rey uses force lightning herself to disable the Imperial Fleet and the resistance finishes them off. Rey takes the Skywalker name as a title of sorts and there's an ending on Tatooine. So yeah, still sounds pretty bad.

@LN78 Maybe. I think the tales of the reshoots and re-edits are real though, and all JJ seems able to do is recycle things that have already been done, failing that just throw as much as possible on to the screen. He simply can't make a film without visual escalation. JJ also confirmed in interviews as recently as late October that the film wasn't actually finished.

There's talk of Kathleen Kennedy being ousted and Favreau taking over Star Wars as a whole. Though what they actually do movie-wise from here on out is anybody's guess. There's an article out there about predicting box office numbers based on trailer views. Based on that, TROS could potentially 'only' make half of what TLJ did, which only made half of TFA. Literal diminishing returns!

@LN78 @KALofKRYPTON It all sounds a little ‘grade school fan fiction’ to me. Like just a bunch of randomness that a 12 year old came up with for shock value.
As far as the trailer views — I do know that many fans have avoided watching trailers, wanting to avoid spoilers and go in ‘cold.’ They will still see the movie opening week. But if the film has any prayer of getting close to Epi 7’s profits then it will have to stimulate multiple re-watches at the theater. The only way that happens is if the movie is great. It’ll have a great opening weekend, but will it stick around or will everyone just watch it once and then shrug off a second viewing since it will be popping up on Disney+ in a few weeks. That will probably cannibalize box office success unless it’s a transcendent piece of cinema.

@Th3solution Film making by committee! Designed for the sole purpose of making money as opposed to any particular creative vision.

I think a lot of fans are happy enough to go and see it - I'll probably go and see it out of morbid curiosity. I know what to expect, even not having explored the leaks and even if they all turn out to be false - it'll be a JJ/Kennedy film. Lots of flash but mind-numbingly shallow as there won't be any new ideas whatsoever.

I don't think it's a long shot to expect it to be worse than TLJ. TLJ is a bad film, it's badly paced, poorly directed, shot, written, conceived and worse of all - it's just now very good Star Wars. I expect TROS to be better than that in most respects, but I also expect it to be an wholly unfulfilling experience in visual excess and 'paint by numbers' nonsense.

@KALofKRYPTON Yeah, I must say - if the TV series Lost is any indication of how JJA wraps up a beloved long running series, then we are all going to be disappointed.
If they can only get near to End Game in the way it wrapped up the long storyline, yet left things open for future movies from the franchise. It’s a tough task to bring closure yet also leave the door cracked open. Especially the way Epi 8 ended.

@Th3solution They can't get near to Endgame. Whatever else can be said about the Marvel films, they successfully build a world, situations and characters to inhabit them in a running continuity of story, theme and character progression. The entire MCU could stop right now and there'd still be a largely satisfying conclusion for most character's journeys in place - as well as a narrative conclusion that makes sense in-universe.
We've been given nothing even close to that for the last two main sequence films from Star Wars. Our central characters are hollow stand-ins for Luke and Vader, our 'bad guy gone good' stand in for Han has a promising start but gets regressed for TLJ then summarily wasted for rest of the run-time, the series observers in R2D2 and C3PO are hardly ever around and other original characters are sidelined and or killed off in at best, insulting and worst spectacularly belittling and character breaking ways.

We've got nothing endearing here to care about, other than a not-R2D2 droid. The stakes are too vague, the players on each side seem to have little to no sensible motivations since Disney didn't care to share any more money than they had to with Lucas - so we get The Resistance and The First Order as opposed to the Rebellion and The Empire - neither of which make much sense as entities anyway, but TFA does nothing to explain what either faction actually is or why and how it exists.

Biggest problem, I just don't care. I'm just watching a corporation wring money out of a franchise they bought, tore down and tried to remold to their own advantage by wiping away what's gone before and cynically sticking on superficial virtue signalling.

@KALofKRYPTON Well said. I hate to admit it but I think I agree with a lot of your sentiment. I’m just trying to foster some emotional denial, though, and coaching myself up to keep my Star Wars fandom alive. When I go to the theater to see Rise of Skywalker I will check my expectations at the door and adopt a youthful and naive approach to the spectacle and just hope for the best. But the fact that a lot of my friends have already pre-ordered tickets to opening weekend and I can’t seem to motivate myself to do so is telling. Perhaps the closer it gets I’ll feel the hype build and start caring too.

@Th3solution
Thankfully - whatever they do/have done - what I do like is still there.

I watched Mother! on Netflix earlier today. Mind blown 🤯, in a good way. Anyone else seen it?

@jacobia I found it a bit of a head f of a movie, and quite frustrating in places to watch! I had no idea what on earth was going on half the time and had to watch a couple of vids on YouTube to wrap my head around it. I'm not sure if I found entirely enjoyable, but credit to everyone involved for trying something different. It would probably be worth another watch, the film takes on a different perspective knowing what happens at the end.

@JohnnyShoulder haha, likewise! But I do enjoy it when a movie engages me like that and I head to YouTube for analysis stuff.
Definitely felt uncomfortable and a bit anxious during a lot of the film, what with the close camera positioning around Jennifer Lawrence during the bizarre things that start happening around her.

@Arugula Yup, The Perfection was 🦇💩 crazy, great movie. All I knew about it beforehand was to not know anything about it before watching it.
Have you seen The Invitation, also on Netflix?

@Arugula @jacobia Not seen either of those movies, but will give them a look. Mother was released in the cinema though and had nothing to do with Netflix, which makes even more intresting that it was given the go ahead.