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Movie: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

After I saw it early this morning I came back and read a bunch of reviews which I'd been deliberately NOT doing before seeing it....

And I think the line which sums up the entire movie for me is something like "The only emotionally honest moment in the movie is Chewie's reaction to learning of Leia's death, and we aren't even able to experience that directly, only from a very wide shot."

Honestly, his reaction on hearing that news made… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 3:44 PM on December 21, 2019

The next one had better get really great fucking reviews because I won't feel obligated to see it blind like I have felt for 8 previous movies after i obsessed over the first one. They've ran out their get-out-of-jail-free card for me. I enjoyed Rogue One and anyone of my mindset knows why. But they've strayed far far away, and I won't be giving them the benefit of the doubt from now on.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:21 PM on December 21, 2019

Honestly it's the timeline that bothers me the most. How did Lando manage to get THAT MUCH support over the course of what seems to maybe be just a day or two? I know hyperspace travel is fast, but it's not THAT fast.

I have so many issued with timelines in this movie in general. It's just a bunch of events that have been stitched together in order to make a good movie, but logic and basic demands of physics don't allow much of it to be real or true outside of "this… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 5:12 AM on December 22, 2019

Palpatine is the ultimate villain in the final film of all three trilogies. It didn't have to be that way, but here we are.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 2:27 PM on December 22, 2019

Yes yes. I misspoke. I don't know what drove me to make such a typo.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 5:30 PM on December 22, 2019

Palpatations! (Please administer CPR)
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 5:53 PM on December 22, 2019

Honestly what I've always wanted from Star Wars was stories told in that universe that weren't all about The Giant Big Thing. It's a setting that could hold any number of stories, but they always are all about this one central thing. I haven't seen The Mandelorian yet, but even that has baby Yoda (whom I love based on the memes and clips I've seen) so even THAT is back being part of this Big Thing.

Let's just have some stories set in this universe that are... outside of that? maybe? please?
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 7:22 PM on December 23, 2019

Riley Howell, Who Lost His Life Saving Students From A Gunman, Is Now A Jedi Master
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 5:07 PM on December 24, 2019

(from this tweet from Mark Hamill himself)
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 5:08 PM on December 24, 2019

So, my best friend whom I've known since middle school and who I talk to all the time even though we're both in our 50s TOTALLY LOVED THIS MOVIE AND HE WAS GLOWING ABOUT IT and my best response was "oh, man, I'm so glad this movie did that for you!" because truly, I am glad it did it for him. It didn't for me, but it did for him, and for anyone who got that out of it, I'm totally on board for them feeling that way.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 6:39 PM on December 24, 2019

I think The Empire Strikes Back is why we want more from Star Wars movies. It's not like any of them have really offered anything that feels philosophical other than that one movie, entirely through the Luke/Yoda stuff.

And I'll tell you, at the age of 12 when that movie came out, it was like I was being told, personally, if I could just figure out how to tap into this thing called The Force, if I could just feel that somehow, I'd be able to do all this stuff!… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 11:49 PM on December 25, 2019

Rey... didn't die?
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 6:20 AM on December 27, 2019

Mr. Robot: "whoami" / "Hello, Elliot"

The whole series comes together as a glorious coherent whole. I just did a rewatch across the week timed to get me in line for the finale, and I feel so glad I've done it. It's a novel in four parts, an entirety in and of itself. It doesn't feel improvised or meandering. Once the arrow is fired, it moves toward its destination on a single path.

This is one of the best television series I've ever seen, truly.

Esmail has a 10 episode special series… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 4:53 PM on December 23, 2019

Mr. Robot: 407 Proxy Authentication Required

I really enjoyed this episode. I felt like it's structure and presentation (loved the dramatic thunder) worked well to underscore Elliot's emotional landscape across the entire episode. Both underscoring and also animating and it's possible that the thunder strikes are the cues across the episode that show Elliot's unwinding.

The tight cast, the close setting, and 5 act structure, I felt like this was a really great episode of a really great show. The facial breakdown of… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 10:40 PM on November 19, 2019

I'm in the midst of a marathon rewatch (timing out perfectly for tonight's finale! go me!), and this episode is beautiful and epic and there are hints about this going back to the first season. The rewatch has been well worth my time.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 4:34 PM on December 22, 2019

Mr. Robot: eXit

Broke out of my rewatch (the only I have done of the whole series) to watch this and... I'll see it again in a few days on my way to finale! There are a lot of things I hadn't remembered from the early episodes which I'm surprised were early seeds planted. Kind of fun.

When I do rewatch, I'll write more about it. It was a bit jarring to go from S2 to nearly the end.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:13 PM on December 18, 2019

It appears that this entire story takes place over 9 or 10 months. I don't know why that feels significant, but it does to me. It's a very small time frame.

This rewatch I'm on has been fascinating.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:41 PM on December 20, 2019

Mr. Robot: 410 Gone

The scene with the money transfer and the crowd of strangers at a rest area all together in that moment is actually quite beautiful.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:35 PM on December 10, 2019

Also I'm a sucker for Carly Rae Jepsen.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:47 PM on December 10, 2019

On a couple of rewatches of the episode, I think things are complicated. I'm going to have to rewatch the whole series to have any deep knowledge of exactly how their relationship has unfolded, but I think Eliot backing out of leaving changed the stakes for Darlene. I'm not entirely sure why Darlene was pursuing having her accompany her and Eliot as they flee other than maybe the whole "knife in the chest still three of the best bullet placements ever" bit of heroism. Maybe that was… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:38 PM on December 11, 2019

Mr. Robot: 409 Conflict

The total hacking-centric focus on this episode including all the satisfying real code results on screens was utterly delicious.

I've been Oddly Compulsively Rewatching episodes this season, starting with the "we don't have to talk" episode, and the experience has been rewarding. Lots of details, lots of appreciation for structure, utter amazement at the acting by all involved but esp. Malik...

I'm waiting for this series to end so I… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 2:02 AM on December 5, 2019

Also, a shoutout to all the various recaps who have helped me keep in touch with a series like this -- very few episodes over a zillion years. Like, yes, someone mentioned "Alexander" in S4E3, but how was I supposed to remember Alexander being this guy in S2E2?

Recaps are great.

I'd love for there to be a genre that was recap recaps, where the people who wrote the recaps first-run binge watch the show and then also read their recaps on… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 2:06 AM on December 5, 2019

The first scene in this episode would imply that the fourth personality is his mother.

Like, that's why that scene sort of bothers me. There's two, right? Eliot and Mr Robot? But then there's a third, Young Eliot. Okay, he was a secret, but he's been active all along.

But now there's this room with Mr Robot and Young Eliot and Mother? Like, why is she even there? She's not on the list.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 1:41 PM on December 8, 2019

Book: Hollow Kingdom

I picked this book up at an airport bookstore yesterday and read it mostly on the 3.5 hour flight and then just finished it this morning. I thought it was a pretty astounding work, really. S.T. really worked for me as a narrator and as a lens through which to view humans. The end is a total mess, but I have to say I cried when that one thing happened.

I'm recommending this to people as a laugh-out-loud read (I rarely laugh just from text) and as something sort of… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 11:10 AM on October 29, 2019

The Dark Crystal: Age of Resistance: Season 1

Okay, so I am 4 or 5 episodes in now, and I Have Opinions.

First of all, the world building and the puppetry and in-camera effects are amazing. The CGI is supplemental and not at all distracting because I'm spending so much time thinking "holy shit they're doing this with puppets" that when bits that aren't puppets happen, I'm not upset at all. The puppets, especially the Gelfings, are much more expressive than you first believe they are. It's like, the more… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 3:00 PM on September 7, 2019

Okay, the puppet show within the show made with puppets is transformative magic squared.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 6:49 PM on September 7, 2019

Was there some secret hidden clause in the contract when Disney acquired the muppets?

Jim Henson Productions is NOT part of Disney, and they retain rights to several properties. This whole thing was likely Brian Henson going out and selling his father's vision strongly (and based on what I've seen accurately) and managing to get a ridiculous TEN HOURS of this world onto the screen.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 6:42 PM on September 9, 2019

At some point he decided to be the Heretic.

Did he DECIDE to be the Heretic, or is he living with massive brain damage from whatever is sticking out of the top of his head?
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 6:07 PM on September 10, 2019

If you watched the Age Of Resistance Making Of and you want something more, here's The Making Of The Dark Crystal on Vimeo [~1h].
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:04 PM on September 10, 2019

It's a hat.

Wow, I had fully committed to him having brain injury, with his Mystic doing his best to humor and babysit him because what other choice does he have... Is this something in the script and I missed it, or the World Of Dark Crystal book, or do you have Secret Knowledge?
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:07 PM on September 10, 2019

My question when I was six or seven episodes in was "how did this get made?" Not the technical and effects stuff - I'm looking forward to watching the feature on how that was done. But like, who sat down in a meeting with whom and convinced them to make all this happen? How did they get all this money for a prequel to a beloved but relatively obscure movie over 35 years old?? Between the puppet building/tech, stage construction, linguists, costume designers, seamstresses,… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 7:40 PM on September 11, 2019

hmmmmMMMMMMMmmmmmm!
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 6:38 PM on September 19, 2019

Samantha Bee just referred to McConnell as a "fleshy Skesis". I'm... sort of enjoying that.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 7:49 PM on September 25, 2019

Legion: Chapter 27

Legion all across its run was one of the most inventive things I've ever seen on television. I found this final episode satisfying, and really truly enjoyed watching the series all across its run. I have never seen anything as surreal and psychedelic where the surrealism and the psychedelic elements have been directly and clearly in service to the story before.

Really great, glad to have watched it. I recommend it to people all the time, but I don't think anyone has… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 10:13 AM on August 18, 2019

Mr. Robot: eps3.9_shutdown-r

I heard an interview with Esmail around the premiere of season 2 where he said they had planned out what they thought was a 5 season story arc and they hoped they would get to tell the whole story.

I'd assume knowing how the Whiterose plan would play out is part of that planning.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:09 PM on December 15, 2017

Mr. Robot: Eps3.7dont-delete-me.ko

not that I think the character is incapable of that, but I didn't really feel like the show set it up so that I felt it was a real possibility

Well, you kill the character, you kill the show, unless you're doing some seriously heavy Psycho-type main character shift at this point. The show is planned for a 5-season run (it looks like it will get it, fingers still crossed), so...

I thought the character earned his deep sorrow… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:02 PM on November 30, 2017

Apologies to anyone for whom I spoiled Psycho.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:30 PM on November 30, 2017

Twin Peaks: The Return, Part 18

He says he wanted it to just be a machine, but then why was it actually a kettle on someone's stove in, like, episode 2 or something?
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 7:15 PM on September 21, 2017

https://twitter.com/madchenamick/status/934835351146807296
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:20 PM on November 28, 2017

Mr. Robot: Eps3.6fredrick&tanya.chk

I haven't gotten Chinese=evil from this series. It's all individual players. I suppose some could draw generalizations from how different race actors are used to depict various characters, but that would also involve questioning how Rami could possibly be Christian's son, and other things. I see Whiterose as threatening not because s/he's Chinese but because of the scheming and backroom power-wielding and the willing nefariousness of what is being carried out. Post USSR Bond villains aren't… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 12:25 PM on November 25, 2017

Mr. Robot: Eps3.5kill-process.inc

I like how after a continuous flow of time given to us last week, this week was all about time being broken and not being able to know what happened during the lost minutes and hours. Nice juxtaposition.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 5:56 PM on November 16, 2017

*clap* CUT! No sorry, we have to do that again.

*clap* CUT! No that still wasn't right.

*clap* CUT! Once more, with feeling!
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 3:20 PM on November 18, 2017

Mr. Robot: Eps3.4runtime-error.r00

One of my favorite moments in this episode was when Elliot said something utterly scathing to another character, and then his voice-over said something like "Oh shit, that was meant to be for you."

He's confusing his audience (which we are, but who are we in his mind?) with his real world. Has he done this before?
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:24 PM on November 9, 2017

The Einstein On The Beach use gave me goosebumps in a way that I don't think it would many others. I, of course, expect Nelson to be one of them.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 10:01 PM on November 9, 2017

I can think of parallels with real world consequences to which that apply. Wahhabism chief among them.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:08 PM on November 10, 2017

Please no real derail, just an observation. There are many others.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:09 PM on November 10, 2017

Mr. Robot: Eps3.1undo.gz

I thought the Trunk Club thing was sort of a sideways slam. "Here, you want to fit in? Do this thing and you'll have an endless stream of ways to not be noticed at all."
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:43 PM on October 26, 2017

Mr. Robot: Eps3.0power-saver-mode.h

After Twin Peaks ended, I'm thrilled this is back. This has been one of my favorite new series in ages. The creator says it has a 5 season arc, so I hope it keeps going because it feels like a well told story. I love the unreliable narrator, I love the arc so far, and it's difficult but worthwhile. Like Twin Peaks.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:16 PM on October 18, 2017

The Vietnam War: This Is What We Do (July 1967-December 1967)

The use of Paint It Black at the end of this episode very well remastered, I should say, makes one listen to the song in a new way, and I think that's ultimately beneficial for both the audience and the Stones because that song is so often referenced by people who have never really listened to it.
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 9:28 PM on September 22, 2017

The Vietnam War: Resolve (January 1966-June 1967)

I'm finding this series increasingly difficult to watch but also increasingly important to watch. I've been talking about it to my co-workers, none of whom are watching it. I'm DVRing it and might do a rewatch with mr hippybear when he gets back from working away for a week. I'm finding it horrifying but educational.

The NIN material in the series has been unexpected any time it has appeared. I don't disapprove, it's just strange to have things I recognize from NIN… [more]
posted to FanFare by hippybear at 8:03 PM on September 21, 2017