DJariya

I like how in the Wonder Woman thread no one seems to know Pedro Pascal (Mando) is playing Max Lord. Everyone just seems to be referring to him as "The actor"

GoldenJCJ

He should probably take his helmet off more so we can recognize him!

I first noticed Pascal in Game of Thrones (THAT scene is one of the all-time memorable GoT scenes!) but I became a big fan after his appearance in the Kingsman sequel.

Though, to be fair, he’s one of those actors that has been popping up here and there for years but no one notices him until they re-watch years later.

devilshalo

My first experience was Narcos.

TGM

I think it's accurate, and I think anyone with a problem with it needs to grow a pair. Jesus fucking christ, have we become this fucking sensitive?

ZOMGG FOR LIKE 0.7 SECONDS YOU MADE ME WORRIED

Give me a break, and give it a rest.

OldBoy

i don't think it has anything to do with growing a pair. i have my pair hanging loose as we speak and still think it is in bad taste because it looks real and until the last sentence seems very real. my heart literally sunk when i saw headline and subsequent first few sentences. why would seeing someone being "Critically Injured" with a "Breaking News" headline be a joke? and then written in a way that it keeps you sad till the reveal at the end. maybe a bad, cruel joke, but just with what has been going on this year and just the fact that it looks like a real life super star and overall great guy is biting the dust is seriously in poor taste. it has nothing to do with growing a pair and in 2020, who the fuck isn't overly sensitive???? for fuck's sake people are still dying in record numbers across the US, across the globe and there is only some hope for most in site some time in the near, certainly not immediate future. it's a bad fucking joke. pure and simple!

TGM

eh, but you got over it after 0.7 seconds. Calling for the post to be pulled here is the true epitome of 2020. it's not a hoax, it's a meme. and in case you were concerned, that little girl didn't burn that house down.

OldBoy

It’s “fake news”, but of the worse kind. Even orange man gets his lying, pointless, dribble taken off Twitter. This is more serious though then Trumps stupid BS and really doesn’t have a place here. Imo.

windom

We all know that it was JJ Abrams that literally broke his back saving Star Wars.

beavis69

So I threw this series on randomly yesterday. I am not a big Star Wars fan. I've seen all the movies, and even like the original movie and Empire. I think there is a really good story in the other movies, its just brought down by poorly developed subplots, terrible CGI, and haphazard fan service. Over the years fans seemed to have made this worse by demanding new things yet only showing excitement for established characters (kinda reminds me of wrestling actually...or I guess any fandom).

When I started watching this I had no expectations. I have never finished a season of a show in under a week and I knocked out both seasons in less than 2 days. I was absolutely blown away. By the end of it I was looking up timelines and what I should watch to get the backstory on some of the characters that I was unfamiliar with. After each episode I would read through the forum's episode thread and I want to thank those who have provided some details on characters as well as some of the other mythos. Couple thoughts I now have after finishing season 2:

1. I think Disney has recognized their mistake with the films and have gone back to the drawing board. There is too much baggage with the original 6 movies and they thought they could just continue that story and it wasn't very successful. As such they are using this show much like Marvel did Iron Man, to test if audiences are ready for an expanded universe. The first season was the litmus and they found they had a hit, so with the second they began bringing in lesser known characters that will eventually get their own series or at least make cameos in future series or films. From what I've read on this forum, Clone Wars helps flesh out Anakins story a bit to make the prequel trilogy make a little more sense and I have a feeling they can use this series as well as future series/movies to make the sequel trilogy a little bit better as well as continue the next line of movies.
2. The creators and FX people have done a great job of combining cutting edge technology with puppets and animatronics. This is something that I think has been lost with the prequels and the sequels.
3. Reading the forum its clear that the bulk of society has little tolerance for week by week episodes anymore. I'm in the minority that hates full seasons released at one time. Week by week gives me something to look forward. Plus it doesn't feel as long between seasons because you have 8 weeks of watching rather than 1-2 days.
4. The amount of times "filler" episode was mentioned each week was pretty funny. I think people really forget what a filler episode is (please see "Expose" episode of Lost for true filler). You can't really have a filler episode in an 8 episode season. I don't think we see many true filler episodes anymore because they were often needed to maintain the god awful 22 episode season arcs that were common in the late 90s and throughout the 00s.

All in all this show has made me a Star Wars fan and I'm looking forward to checking out the Clone Wars series as well as rewatching the movies and possibly reading a book or 2. Can't wait for next season.

milo bloom

I'm also in favor of the slow release, it helps give a sense of structure to life, especially in our current hellscape.
And you're definitely right about Clone Wars fleshing out Anakin. I'd almost say someone shouldn't watch the prequel trilogy without watching at least a some of TCW to better understand Anakin. For me, when I do a big saga rewatch, I always watch the Genndy Tartovsky Clone Wars mini-series in between ATOC and ROTS. It's just over 2 hours and manages to give Anakin a lot of characterization, especially the last story on the frozen planet (not Hoth).

I do want to say something about "filler" episodes. I think they have their place. Looking back at older Trek series like TNG especially, one of the things filler episodes did was give us character moments that add depth to the crew that aren't necessarily plot related. If TNG were done like Disco or Picard were done today, we wouldn't get scenes of Deanna having chocolate orgasms in Ten Forward or Riker trying to play the trombone. To circle back to The Mandalorian, I've seen arguments that one of the reasons it's so good is that it's almost all filler. Like, there's these grand plots happening in the background (Moff Gideon trying to rebuild the Empire, Bo Katan trying to retake Mandalore) and our guy Mando is getting drawn into these things, but they're not his thing. Like, he's a single dad driving a beat-up Civic trying to find a good pre-school for his gremlin child with anger issues and he keeps getting dragged into this other nonsense. It hearkens back to how Luke got sucked into everything - he was just a farm kid chasing a lost robot and suddenly he's joined a terrorist cell attacking the government. Any more SW projects need to understand that type of character beginning and development to keep on the right track.

Jason

The original SW trilogy focused on rebels, outlaws and scoundrels. Apart from Anakin's beginnings, the prequel trilogy was focused solely on the power elite. Not something most of us can really relate to.

milo bloom

Yeah, as others have mentioned in the past, the prequels needed a Han Solo type character. The thing is, Anakin kinda fit that role (former slave makes the big time) so it needed somebody else, like a pilot they hire to help them hunt down Count Dooku or something.

Toddarino

What I’ve learned from reading these episode threads is that I have a very different idea of what makes a filler episode than most other people it seems.

candyrocket786

Anyone else following this story? I watched that live stream and definitely had a similar reaction, but it seems there are some folks at Lucasfilm that really despise the fandom. Seems to be blowing up all over Youtube.

coli

Pablo Hidalgo is one of the bigger D-bags at Lucasfilm as I remember him going at it with fans on Twitter during The Last Jedi. It looks like there are 2 factions at Lucasflim right now: Team George Lucas with Favreau and Filoni who are doing the Mandalorian. Then there is team Kathleen Kennedy who have done the movies and Pablo Hidalgo is a part of that storygroup. You can say that there has been a civil war among the fans since the Prequels, but it looks like there is a Civil War within Lucasfilm too. They keeping giving each other 'the finger' with each new movie/TV show. Rian Johnson says 'F-U' to JJ Abrams and his mystery boxes in TFA. JJ Abrams says 'F-U' to Rian Johnson and his subverted expectations in TROS. Then Favreau/Filoni say 'F-U' to Rian Johnson with their portrayal of Luke in The Mandalorian. Pablo's Tweet was an 'F-U' to the Favreau/Filoni fans who didn't like Luke in The Last Jedi.

It's just another example as to why would Lucasfilm allows their employees to continue on social media, because it just causes backlash. Whether Pablo Hidalgo was right or not to mock a fan who cried during the Luke scene, the basic premise of running a business is don't shit on your paying customers.

candyrocket786

This must be their solution to the problem.

https://thewaltdisneycompany.dejobs....6817487CA/job/

story

The Star Wars Theory guy makes tons and tons of ad revenue basically summarizing Star Wars novel and comic book stories in 5-minute videos with images he doesn't own and from stories he doesn't own, then at the end tosses out a question or two to make a "theory" on how it's all connected. He was one of the full-bore Snokeplanation people between 2015-2017. Snoke means everything and we must know everything. When The Last Jedi didn't go the way of his fanatic, he threw an absolute fit for two years and made tons and tons more ad revenue complaining. His videos were a little fun when he first launched and then it became all about emotion - negative emotion - and the comment section became an echo chamber of negativity. It doesn't surprise me he will probably get more ad revenue out of this, as well.

GoldenJCJ

I’m just shocked that there’s a “Team Kathleen Kennedy” among Star Wars fans.

Are there actual fans who think Kennedy did a bang up job on the sequel trilogy?

milo bloom

TFA's use of practical FX and bringing back the old cast was a great way to rejuvenate the franchise after it had taken a beating with the prequels. But the lack of planning of the whole story and allowing RJ to go arthouse film* on what is essentially a fairytale-in-space story sent the whole thing off the rails. And the Kylo Ren character was an outstanding character done by an excellent actor, so there's things to enjoy in the ST, it's just the parts don't all hold together. So, I can see why some would defend Kennedy.

As for Hidalgo, he did a lot of work in the past keeping track of all the Star Wars lore, which got tossed in the trash when the new movies reset the canon (which I still maintain was a colossal mistake), so I think he got bitter and became an angry fanboy type. One of my favorite type of Youtube videos is people reacting (showing emotions!) to the Star Wars movies and shows.



*Knives Out was fantastic, it's so hard to understand how TLJ whiffed it so badly.

Jason

Absolutely. Anakin could have filled that role, but he ended up being buddy buddy with the Chancellor. I know why that had to happen, but it doesn't make it better.

Jango Fett would have been a good choice. He could have been kinda working for the Jedi, kinda working for Dooku, but mainly in it for his own interests.

milo bloom

Ooh, a double agent - that would have been fantastic.

coli

I watched the Luke/Mandalorian scene again and I think I realized why I didn't work for me (trust me, I know I'm in the minority). If this same type of scene happened in 2015 or 2017 when we first see Luke in the ST, than it would have really struck a chord with me (I would have been just as giddy as much of the fanbase reacted to this episode). But after the last 3 ST movies where we essentially see Luke for 30 seconds in TFA, a grumpy old man in TLJ, and for 5 minutes in TROS, everything else after that was going to be anti-clmatic. I kind of moved on from the OT characters after the ST as it was sort of a letdown altogether. It still boggles my mind that Disney had 3 of the most iconic characters return after 30 years, and we never got one scene with them together? That would be like making Back to the Future 4 in 2021, and Marty and Doc never have a scene together in the movie. What's the point?

milo bloom

It is a little melancholy to realize that the ST still happens, but for just a few minutes we got to see Luke in his absolute prime and I'm okay with that and will treasure it for a long time.

Josh-da-man

I firmly believe that this is one of the reasons Solo bombed at the box office. The Force Awakens completely destroyed his character. No matter how good Solo may have been, in the back of your mind, you know that Han Solo is going to end up a lonely, broken old man who lost the Millennium Falcon and got murdered by his own asshole kid.

I'm sure it's sort of appealing to certain writers and executives who want to put their own stamp on a franchise to want to arbitrarily tear down the legacy characters to make way for their own vision, but it will do nothing but damage the franchise in the short and long run.

And I'm shocked that Disney, of all companies, let them do this to Han, Luke, and Leia, who are as pop culture icons along the lines of Mickey Mouse, Superman, or Batman.

milo bloom

I can understand why they killed Han, Harrison Ford has wanted him dead since 1983. He probably only agreed for the chance to work with Carrie again.
I agree it would have been better if he had still been with Leia and been a general in the resistance but the rest of the story could have played out the same.

And him coming back in TROS was almost certainly only because Carrie had died. It would have been her as the Force ghost that brought Ben back to the light if she had lived.