Star Wars, Episode VIII

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yovargas
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by yovargas »

Definitely going this weekend. The BF is a big Star Wars fan. :)
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

I hope you enjoy it, yov! (And that LW is satisfied.) Let us know what you think. I'm sure I'll go see it eventually, but I have no desire to brave the inevitable packed houses (although in this day of pre-bought assigned seats that is less of a problem that the old days of a free-for-all general admission).
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Primula Baggins »

I'm very definitely going to see this! I'm stoked (as we used to say at Wazzu). I'm going to wait until my brother gets out here for Christmas, though. We saw the original together when we were teenagers.

Reserved seating has finally reached Eugene, and we've found that seeing a blockbuster early on takes far less time and planning than it used to, at least if you're willing to go to a matinee. Even when the theater ends up full, it never feels like a mob scene because everyone knows they have a seat.

And I do like seeing a big movie in a packed theater—we always managed it for the LotR films. Though that meant a lot of planning, to get our teenaged kids and all their friends to the theater and into line for our showing two hours in advance, and to bring in food to them while they (and we) waited sitting on the floor. At least the theater looked the other way on the food.

It was worth it. I always liked the energy of a jammed theater full of people who were excited to be there. Those Star Wars and LotR experiences are some of my favorite memories.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

Yeah, I did it for the LOTR films, and the original Star Wars films, but I'm old now.
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Primula Baggins »

Aren't we all? Except yov, I mean? :D

I've still got the energy, but that doesn't mean I'm not really really glad that there's now a simpler way.
“There, peeping among the cloud-wrack above a dark tor high up in the mountains, Sam saw a white star twinkle for a while. The beauty of it smote his heart, as he looked up out of the forsaken land, and hope returned to him. For like a shaft, clear and cold, the thought pierced him that in the end the Shadow was only a small and passing thing: there was light and high beauty for ever beyond its reach.”
― J.R.R. Tolkien, The Return of the King
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Frelga »

I'll wait a bit. My beloved movie / dinner place never feels crowded even when it's full, because tables create space, but they don't have assigned seating and I don't want to line up.
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Impenitent »

I saw the last two during our summer camping trip to Wilsons Promontory, in the famous outdoor cinema, and I have high hopes I'll see this one there as well.

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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Alatar »

I went to the midnight viewing last night. I loved it.

To paraphrase what I wrote on Facebook: Lovely balance of humour and action with a strong emotional core and a storyline that kept us guessing all the way. Also, feels like there's five acts instead of the usual three.

I was lying in bed at 3:30am thinking "Wow. Its amazing to think how rarely I will ever get to experience a Star Wars movie for the first time"! Even A New Hope and Empire, I knew the story in broad strokes going in (and this was before the Internet). So my only "virgin" experiences were Return of the Jedi (great, but hardly a classic), The Phantom Menace (huge disappointment), Attack of the Clones (Moderately better), Revenge of the Sith (also disappointing), The Force Awakens (great return to form, but similar to ANH), Rogue One (possibly my favourite SW experience in the Cinema) and The Last Jedi (probably second only to Rogue One on first viewing).

Non-spoilers. The characters are all great, even the new ones. The new critters (Furry penguins, racing beasts and Ice Critters) are all cute without having Ewok annoyance factor.

This movie WILL surprise you a couple of times. Try to go in unspoiled!
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by yovargas »

I saw it! I liked it! I had a few issues here and there, some stuff that was a bit dumb or silly, but the stuff that worked REALLY REALLY worked, and there are some surprising, excellent emotional payoffs.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists


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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Alatar »

Second viewing tonight. Definitely bears repeated viewing. So much foreshadowing, layers and just... nuance!
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Impenitent »

Saw it tonight at the outdoir cinema at Wilsons Promontory - three years in a row we've seen the Stsr Wars films here, which means it's now family tradition.
Was entertaining, harks back to the days when they included some laughs at themselves, but really falling over that important line bw the rules internal to the world and magic IMO.
Luke's 'mindfulness' on the other hand was a beautiful thing.

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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Voronwë the Faithful »

One person who apparently is not a big fan of the film is Mark Hamill

Mark Hamill Rips His Role In 'Last Jedi': 'He's Not My Luke Skywalker'
"Spirits in the shape of hawks and eagles flew ever to and from his halls; and their eyes could see to the depths of the seas, and pierce the hidden caverns beneath the world."
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

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I said to Rian, I said ‘Jedis don’t give up.’
Yoda.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists


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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

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Order yours from https://shirtz.cool/collections/frontpa ... 7436380618


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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Smaug's voice »

That Leia scene and Canto Bight.
The only two things I disliked about the film. And those two would've been major negatives for me, but it made up for it with all the other things going on in it.
Kylo Ren is hands down the most intriguing Star Wars villain. (Vader's badass and all but very bland)
And the light speed sequence (you know what I'm talking about) one of the most memorable scenes ever.


I don't get the fanbase hate for it. At all.
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yovargas
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

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To be fair, Canto Bight was really bad.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists


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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Alatar »

This is great. Language and Spoiler warnings!

https://twitter.com/McJesse/status/943573474999783424
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by kzer_za »

Well, the Rey and Kylo Ren stuff was good, sometimes great. Luke's storyline worked to a lesser degree, even though they went too extreme with his cynicism - he could have still been jaded without just abandoning everything.

Almost everything else was bad. Finn and Rose's storyline is of course pointless and awful (Canto Bight is as bad as anything in the prequels and takes up enough space that it can't just be overlooked) with a really stupid emotional payoff. But also completely resetting the galactic situation to even weaker rebels vs. even stronger empire is a bad idea. It goes against the movie's theme of "let's start new!" too. The whole story structure is incredibly messy and all over the place.

In its best moments it's the best Star Wars movie since the originals, in many other ways it's a disaster.
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yovargas
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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by yovargas »

I liked it a lot when I came out of the theater but the more I thought about the more I agree. In the best moments, I was more emotionally invested than I have ever been in any SW movies. The Rey/Ren stuff was fantastic and, despite what a lot of fans are saying, as someone who isn't much of a fan of the originals, I find Luke and Leia more interesting and engaging than I ever did in the originals. (Luke's acting has certainly improved.)

But also....man, the story is *super* messy. Finn's stuff is obviously a major low point but also just in general, a lot of story is extremely contrived and often fairly non-sensical. So overall I'd say, it's the character's emotional beats were among the best in the franchise, but the actual story is among the worst in the franchise.
I wanna love somebody but I don't know how
I wanna throw my body in the river and drown
-The Decemberists


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Re: Star Wars, Episode VIII

Post by Alatar »

We'll have to agree to disagree. I think its stronger in almost every way after a second viewing than pretty much all the other movies bar Rogue One. The Canto Bight stuff is pure Cantina/Mos Eisley/Jabba's Palace/Cloud City, which is why I can never understand supposed fans having rose tinted glasses with the original movies but then being damningly critical of anything new.

Contrived story? Have you even seen the original trilogy? :)
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