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Ace_Spade's Replies
I watched your Last Jedi review on youtube. I think it was pretty good, but it felt like you were rushing, like you could stand to take a breath, pause more, that kind of thing. I think maybe more structure to the review, too. Siskel and Ebert would start with a plot summary (no spoilers, not exhaustive, but just enough to let us know what the movie is about), then move into what they thought, and finally they would converse together, in agreement or disagreement.
Nitpicking: a couple edits were off.
Finally, I wasn't sure what tone you were going for. You had rapid cuts, which suggests a fast-paced, quick review, but I think you need slicker editing for that kind of thing. You need different camera angles, cutting to movie footage, etc. Your speech patterns, on the other hand, were similar to a news show, but you're not in a suit or anything like that. That speech pattern even changed, too. Later, you go into, "this is just my opinion, of course," and it's kinda wishy-washing, losing that authoritative feeling. The cursing comes out of nowhere, too.
That's my big question: what tone are you trying to set for your channel? It can be anything you want, but you need to be more deliberate about it.
All the positive stuff: you didn't "um, er, uh..." your way through the review. You were clear, concise, and gave a good impression of what you thought of the film. Your summary at the end was good - you finished off by succinctly telling me what you had said during the review (a capper like that is nice). You covered several different aspects of the movie. You didn't talk down to anybody. You were clearly aware of the dialogue around the movie - you didn't review it in a vacuum (the point where you talk about fan theories, for instance, shows that you have researched things pertaining to your subject).
I would love to see Hamill finally get recognition for his brilliant abilities, even if it had to be in this...thing...
Brick's a neat take on film noir - I liked it a lot. I liked Brothers Bloom, too, although it was flawed. I thought Looper was pretty good. Beyond that, he directed some really great Breaking Bad, as well, although I know that's hardly movie experience.
I would wager Solo. I think The Last Jedi had interesting ideas and themes and just was a really dirt-poor execution of them. Solo is a bad idea (we don't need this story) and will be dull as paint, methinks. I could be wrong, but I think it will be superfluous, unoriginal, and boring.
When they walked into that throne room, I didn't know if Kylo would turn Rey or if she would turn him. I didn't know that they would kill Snoke (although I figured it out before they did it, but I didn't know they'd kill him or how it would go down). Sure, I knew that the red ninjas wouldn't kill them, but that fight was well done.
I'll agree with you that the scene could have ended better. I would have preferred somebody actually getting turned, Rey or Kylo, but the scene itself was still excellent.
Farther afield, as it were, I think your point - big twists promised, none delivered - is one of the film's big failings. It's a movie that states that things won't go how you think, and it does undermine a lot of stuff (Po's plan fails, Luke is mopey, etc.), but if never follows through by having the good guys really lose, Rey turn to the Dark Side, or Finn sacrifice himself. So, generally I agree with you, but I still think the throne room scene was top notch.
No, but I wish Gary Kurtz was.
I forgot that scene; that was terrific.
I agree with you, TexasJack. The new stories feel weird, out-of-place, and disjointed is a great word for it. Rey is sorta the main character, but they waste time with Finn-and-Rose-go-to-Las-Vegas. The character I was most interested in was, surprise, surprise: Luke Skywalker. He was crafted to be the hero of Star Wars, and I think the arc of farm boy to Jedi hero to fallen master who needs to redeem himself is such a good one...but they didn't do that. They started up the new bunch who aren't as interesting.
Those were the little creatures running around the island with Luke and Rey. They first show up when Rey fires her blaster through the wall of her hut, angry at needing to repair the masonry because of her sudden discharge.
Overall, I wasn't a big fan of The Last Jedi, but it did have some great moments.
1. Rey in the cave. I thought it was just trippy enough.
2. Luke teaches Rey what the Force is.
3. Luke says that preserving the Jedi is vanity. These two moments are the only moments that I bought Luke being a Jedi master. He had actual interesting, profound things to say and was behaving like the old, wise version of Luke. All the other stuff on the island was pretty terribly written.
4. Kylo Ren and Rey in Snoke's throne room. I didn't know what would happen, who would turn from their path, and the fight at the end was an excellent capper to the whole thing. It felt like a scene from a much better draft of the script had sneaked into this film.
5. Luke vs. Kylo Ren.
6. As dumb as it was, particularly given the repercussions for the rest of the Star Wars universe, the hyperdrive battering ram was really, *really* beautiful, visually speaking.
...but good.
I think fans think they were solid from beginning to end because that's the story Lucas keeps telling. "I always thought there would be 1/3/6/9 movies," things like that.
That doesn't sound like much of a spoiler. It barely gives away anything - certainly not the nuances of the twist or the extent of the betrayal. It also doesn't give away the double-double-cross which redeems Lando. Even if it was, it's not Williams' fault. The interviewer said, "evil character", so Williams' response doesn't give away anything extra.
I love Glover's story. "Just be charming." Perfect.
I always assumed that Lando was plugged into be a possible "replacement Han" if Ford had elected not to return.
I think it means that to give in to his anger, impulses, and aggression might bring him victory, but will destroy himself in the process - turning to the Dark Side.
I love the idea of Palpatine having a mail room, ghost writers answering letters from his fan club.
I don't know why they have personalities. It could be that they're deliberately given them, but I'd guess that it's actually a bi-product of the advanced AI. Why? Well, C-3P0 is annoying, jittery, and cowardly (not traits you would want in your droid), and R2-D2 is headstrong and rebellious (and rude), and you *definitely* don't want a droid with those traits.
They are bought and sold with no moral problem for even the purest hero, so I'd say they're like smartphones: property. Slavery seems to be rampant in the Star Wars universe, but the heroes don't like it, so that gives us an idea of where they are, property-wise.
Socially, they were kicked out of the cantina. So some people don't like them. They're treated as friends by those closest to them, but that's probably the same way people get sentimental about, for example, a car or a guitar - amplified by the fact that you can converse with them.
I agree. I think you can already start to see the decay setting in a bit in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi. They're still brilliant, of course.
The long hiatus, fan expectations, too many cooks, and the idea not being fresh and exciting anymore have made subsequent endeavours lackluster.
Ah, heck, even during the era of the original movies they were already squeezing it for gimmicks and spin-off films. Remember "Caravan of Courage"?
Snoke was still working his way up the ladder during A New Hope. He's the stormtrooper who bumps his head.
Maybe Han's Jewish and meant it like, "You're a real mensch."
Either way, it's obviously sarcasm.