Just wanted to make sure we were covered. Plus, I know it's a pain to come up with those daily, so I wanted to let you have a break and fill in a few (even though you think it's Rob and Terence helping out).
I use Trader Joe's paper bags to transport my books, because the books slot in well, the bag isn't too heavy and double-bagging means it survives a car trip.
When moving in to my first apartment after law school, I had 13 bags. When moving out, 39.
One of my bucket list goals was to have a residence with a view of the Hollywood sign. It was a clear day when I moved out of my last apartment and realized it was visible from my bedroom window.
The answer is Dave Barr, 1993. 164.5 Efficiency on 68.0% completion rate for 2619 yards, 21 TD, and 12 INT. That was even better than the best seasons for Goff (161.3 efficiency in 2015) and Rodgers (154.3 in 2004).
Wait, it might not have been 2009 because that's the year Best was injured; however, Best went crazy on the winless Huskies. Did we just play them early in the 2009 season or was it 2008 instead?
Yes. 2008 UW. Willingham got fired midway through the season. They even lost to a putrid WSU team in the "Crapple Cup", a team that had six different opponents hang 58 or more points on them.
The amount of money theyre saying some colleges will lose if they dont have a football season is showing that theyre not even really colleges. Theyre just football programs that teach classes as a side hustle
I googled because I haven't seen it. Wikipedia called it a 'black comedy' and I was very confused by the white people on the poster for a split second.
Hicks. Talented Cal safety who had career marred by injuries. Ended up suing Cal, Tedford, and a bunch of other people due to CTE. You can buy his signed jersey off ebay, if you so wish.
Cal professor and mentor to Julia Morgan and William Wurster. He designed Cal's Faculty Club, the original Hearst Hall (destroyed by fire), Berkeley's Rose Walk, and perhaps most famously - the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
It's my middle name. For some reason I hid it for the first 20+ years of my life, then I started to embrace it. People still find the name inherently funny for some reason when I tell them.
That's interesting! I feel the same, that he agrees with my take. He noted that 1) this is an obvious letdown for the progressive wing of the party; 2) the political merits of picking Kamala are far from clear, because it's not exactly obvious what core group of voters she appeals to, and she frankly did kind of shitty in the primary; 3) It's not even clear what actual difference she will make with black voters, and certainly it's it's unclear how BLM activists will view the selection a former prosecutor in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
All of that very much in line with what I've been saying about how I think she's a relatively safe pick, but it's far from clear what she actually brings to the table electorally, aside from being generally a sharp and polished politician, which again... all the contenders were. Certainly she isn't associated with any particular set of policies or positions. Even people who seem to be excited about her are largely excited by her identity rather than anything specific she is going to accomplish. Of course, it's perfectly reasonable to be excited because of her identity! It's historic. I'm excited by it. But we're in such a critical, pivotal moment in this country's history, our next set of leaders will *also* need a sweeping plan of action to lift us out of this mess, and I'd like to see some indication that they're up to the challenge.
That's NOT what he said Re: 2) he said this was a obvious choice that ticks all the right boxes. 3) he said it not slam dunk that she will increase turnout among Black voters, but it is a possibility, that is important in many swing states. I happen to think she will have a positive effect on this group in general. Her policies are in line with Biden's, and what you need in VP; no she's not going to make BLM activists jump for joy, but nobody on Biden's list was going to do that anyway, so that's a total red herring.
You are not completely objective about this choice: E Warren was pretty shitty in the primary as well, but you ain't holding that against her.
First of all, this was about Harris, so let's start with that part... "ticks all the right boxes"? Did we read the same article? He said it was predictable and answered the clamoring of certain specific prominent black Dems like Clyburn for a black woman to be selected, and then spent the rest of the article saying who knows if it'll actually help Biden win or what she brings to the table electorally. I agree it's unknown if she can help with black voters in swing states, and maybe she will, but I gave two specific ways in which it wouldn't: older black Dems were already on board with Biden and younger ones are more progressive and like I said, preferred the more progressive candidates in the race. Moreover, you completely glossed over the fact that progressives and younger voters are a key Democratic constituency as well, even in swing states. They increasingly need a seat at the table, and Dems ignore this at their peril.
Lastly, regarding Warren, I'm certainly not unbiased, but respectfully I think you've got a real hangup about her for some reason. She was the only woman in the field who made it to Super Tuesday when the race was effectively over, was a very successful fundraiser (both for herself and for Biden), got nearly 3 million votes, and was 3rd only to a guy who had been running for 5 years straight and occupied the same ideological space (Sanders) and a former vice president to an extremely popular president (Biden) who was considered to be the safest pick in a very scary and uncertain time. She was the pick that Democratic voters said they'd choose if they could wave a magic wand, but alas Hillary lost in 2016 so god forbid we nominate another woman to run against Trump. Her policy ideas and her campaign team have continued to make their mark on the Biden campaign in the months since. Meanwhile, Harris didn't even make it to Iowa, she dropped out at the beginning of *December 2019*. But sure, both did about the same 🙄
It's early still, but the Republican efforts to define Kamala Harris seem kind of haphazard and contradictory. She's a ruthless, calculating leftist who will push Biden towards supporting Antifa, and she's a former cop who is hated by the left, and she's an incompetent boob who slept her way to the top.
I'm by no means a big Star Wars fan, so I thought I missed something when the Emperor came back.
Nope... turns out it was indeed just randomly thrown out there. Apparently they put out a clue or the reveal outright on Fortnite for the that Venn of fans, but I still don't get it.
in some ways, if they had gone totally off the Disney/Star Wars reservation and made a romantic dramedy about them after ep 8, it might have been better received.
My daughters started with 7, and have seen 8 and 9 in the theaters, and honestly those are the ones they like watching the most. I have screened 4, 5, and 6 for them, and they're fine, but they haven't wanted to go back.
I don't think I've mentioned to them that 1, 2, 3 exist. I actually enjoyed all of them in the theaters (even The Phantom Menace had some good parts!), but I don't consider any of them particularly essential or interesting.
Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie post-Original Trilogy.
I think for younger kids they look at 4, 5, 6 and compare them to special effects today and they don't interest them. Whereas for us older ones the special effects were amazing back then.
My thoughts (about all but the first ones 4-6) and about pop culture in general: it's the stories that count - and so many Hollywood se& prequels with established franchises forget this. We've been watching Clone Wars (only 2/3rd way through 2nd season) and there are so many better, more interesting stories there because they can be more free, and not have to carry so much weight. Same goes for Batman TAS - so many better and more interesting concepts than so many of the movies.
After I married my wife, she admitted that she never saw Star Wars.
"Great timing! There's a new one coming out, it's the fourth movie - the first prequel in a series of 3." (penny-whistle downslide)
Not only has she never see any of the other ones, but that movie permanently damaged my lobbying power to choose any movie we have seen for the past 21 years and will ever see in the future.
I have a slightly different Star Wars take than many. I was 13/14 when the first one came out and saw it in a movie theater with popcorn and red vines and the whole thing. Saw the next ones right when they came out. I was a fan but not a dress up and stand in line fan. Have not seen eps 1 or 3, ep 2 was barely watchable. While they might be good for expansion of the lore/etc., meh.
I very much enjoyed eps 7, 8 and 9. As movies, they suffer from what all Disney properties do. Disney does not care one tiny bit about making good movies. They care about making movies you will pay to see, and buy a toy for your whiney kids. So, for star wars, you already care about most of the characters, they just need you to have an emotional reaction to something that happens to them, even if it doesn't make sense in the story. Hence, Rey living in an abandoned AT walker thing. Hence, Kylo having a melty darth vader helmet. In the lore of star wars that sort of attachment to a thing would make him incapable of being the active dark side leader snoke/the emperor needed.
In ep 8, the whole 'get off my lawn' Luke situation....That is the character I saw in the first one in 1977. He was not the stoic hero/leader of return of the jedi. The last 3 are better entertainment than people give them credit for, living too far into their nostalgia (imo).
8 is honestly a pretty brilliant movie, if you can let go of your expectations of what Star Wars "should" be. Rian Johnson is a real-deal filmmaking talent.
And yes, the characterization of Luke is probably the best thing about it. People need to return to the original movies and honestly see what a whiny snot Luke could be in his worst moments. He always comes through in the end, but the rough patches were also always there.
8 just had some really dump moments. Space bombers, captains having to go down with their ships when they run out of fuel, the whole casino subplot was a waste of time.
I didn’t enjoy the hyper space jump scene and that did answer a long running question in my head what that would look like and it didn’t disappoint.
And JJ decided to take another page out of WWII and have the Polish/Rebel Cavalry ride into battle on HORSES while on a Star ship going into orbit!!!! That scene was so bad.
While I enjoyed 8, there are some easily fixable things to do differently to make it hold together as a piece better. Change up how you handle Holdo/Lea/stall the chase ending. Make the casino planet thing a Lando teaser with them a bit less obviously out of place, and keep it shorter.
I do not want to see Lando anywhere in that movie. I like that it's trying to chart a new path forward and not constantly looking back to the old characters (a plan that JJ immediately overrode in the next movie, but that's not this one's fault).
a perfect Lando tease would have been to have the casino they go to be 'Lando's" and have a huge hologram of his mug over the door. cheap nostalgia, that doesn't detract from the actual story.
Recently had my girlfriend watch the prequels as she'd never seen them. Her opinion, and one that I generally agree with, was that as poor as the execution was, the thematic cohesion and expansion of the lore made them more interesting than the sequels. Acting and effects don't make a muddled retreading of the original trilogy worth it, especially not with what 9 did.
They are good and bad in different ways. I would agree that the prequels fail on execution but do have a consistent thematic vision. The new sequels are better executed individually but do not cohere thematically (because that's not something JJ Abrams has ever been able to do).
Not great, but good. I think maybe people had high expectations for it, but IMO they smartly made it a small-scale episodic thing that didn't attempt to carry a ton of weight for the larger Star Wars lore.
depends on how much you like the whole franchise/story arc.
personally i think that despite misses on episodes 1, 2, and 8, the overall story is amazing.
as bad as episodes 1 and 2 are, they have important foreshadowing that is generally well done.
so my vote is to take the good w/ the bad.
a friend who had never watched any of them, recently watched them all episodes 1thru 9. seems like a mistake not to watch them in the order they were released.
a mind boggling stupid scene that put the finishing touches on my meh reaction to that film. My expectations were too high based on the reviewer fellatio that was being published at the time. I found the film watchable, for the most part, but the story was a complete rehash of EST and I left the theater thinking that if I never saw the film again, I would be absolutely ok with that.
I'm a bit tired of the franchise and I think Disney has overexposed SW here in the last couple of years. Of course that could just be age as I loved 4-5-6 as a kid. Anything with Jar Jar Binks was insufferable.
I am also a bit tired of the franchise. I think the best Star Wars movie to come out Since Disney took over is Rogue One. Solo also wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be.
I really liked Rogue One, not least because it’s so gloomy at the end. I rewatched Solo the other day and I think it’s better than people’s reaction suggested.
I watched 1 when it came out and still have not watched 2 or 3. Mind you I made my peace with watching 7, 8, and 9 even though they weren’t really all that good, so maybe I should reconsider
Learning about retirement options! I feel so responsible!
What's your age goal?
My dad says he's going to keep working until my mum qualifies for Medicare.
DBD logistics
Looks like Leland is posting for the next three sessions. Not sure if I got demoted or what. Please post topics and help him out.
Just wanted to make sure we were covered. Plus, I know it's a pain to come up with those daily, so I wanted to let you have a break and fill in a few (even though you think it's Rob and Terence helping out).
the boss!!
“You can’t fire me, I quit!”
Stories about moving
I use Trader Joe's paper bags to transport my books, because the books slot in well, the bag isn't too heavy and double-bagging means it survives a car trip.
When moving in to my first apartment after law school, I had 13 bags. When moving out, 39.
One of my bucket list goals was to have a residence with a view of the Hollywood sign. It was a clear day when I moved out of my last apartment and realized it was visible from my bedroom window.
😂
Trivia (no cheating, please)
What country has a flag with greater than 5 sides?
Nepal's flag was 5 edges? Can't think of any with more than that.
That's the only one I could think of.
I thought of that as well.
Well the Royal Standard of Sweden has 7, but not sure if that counts.
Qatar. I will atoms you and say it has two sides, but many edges.
FB: Who holds the single-season record for tackles-for-loss?
** Bzzt ** time's up.
Ron Rivera, despite playing MLB on a 4-3 defense.
Sekou Sanyika? (I did cheat to look up how to spell his name.)
Is it a LB? Maybe Jarott Willard?
FB: Who holds the single-season record for passing efficiency?
** Bzzt ** time's up.
The answer is Dave Barr, 1993. 164.5 Efficiency on 68.0% completion rate for 2619 yards, 21 TD, and 12 INT. That was even better than the best seasons for Goff (161.3 efficiency in 2015) and Rodgers (154.3 in 2004).
Pawlawski?
FB: Which opponent holds the record for fewest rushing attempts vs. Cal
** Bzzt ** time's up.
The 1993 Big Game at Stanfurd. Stanfurd had won the previous 6 Big Games.
'furd only attempted 14 rushes, one less than 2018 Wazzu
Keith Gilbertson (Gilby's only winning season out of 4) vs Bill Walsh
Dave Barr vs. Steve Stenstrom, the latter set a Pac-10 record for passing yards that season
Lindsey Chapman vs. Ellery Roberts/Ethan Allen for a 'furd team that averaged less than 64 yards rushing/game
Cal blasted 'furd 46-17 with Jerrott Willard starring on defense
Wazzu?
that was going to be my guess. During the Pirate's tenure. Maybe Connor Halliday was the QB?
This is a trick question because Wazzu is the obvious answer, but it's not it. There was one team that had fewer.
Was it SC in that game a couple years ago when Cal kept turning the ball over / punting to someone who rudely housed it?
A team that kept passing it over and over to their TE because we couldn't defend it?
The only Pac-12 team to go winless in football
100% Washington, when Wittingham was coach, 2008
Willingham, right? Wittingham is at Utah?
Ah yes, you are correct
Washington. I want to say 2009?
Wait, it might not have been 2009 because that's the year Best was injured; however, Best went crazy on the winless Huskies. Did we just play them early in the 2009 season or was it 2008 instead?
2008
Yup, and Best's big game against them was their final game of the season. I think UW's players may not have been giving their best effort.
Yes. 2008 UW. Willingham got fired midway through the season. They even lost to a putrid WSU team in the "Crapple Cup", a team that had six different opponents hang 58 or more points on them.
Best could have had 500+ yards if not pulled mid 3rd quarter.
Beavs?
Elsewhere in college
Guinness now sponsors Notre Dame.
https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/nearly-two-centuries-in-the-making-guinness-the-brewing-irish-are-partnering-with-the-fighting-irish-of-the-university-of-notre-dame-301110733.html
I suppose now that Guinness brews in Baltimore it’s appropriate for them to sponsor a team that’s not actually Irish either.
Big 12: 9-game conference only schedule
https://twitter.com/Big12Conference/status/1293570940689944578
https://twitter.com/Frediculous/status/1293215574395240451
The amount of money theyre saying some colleges will lose if they dont have a football season is showing that theyre not even really colleges. Theyre just football programs that teach classes as a side hustle
Funny because it’s true!
Ohio State position coach with the tweet of the week
https://twitter.com/ramzy/status/1293197861698576384
I did not expect him to go full Rishi
Ramzy is hilarious, not least because he pokes fun at “his” guys.
oh dear.
heh...took me a second.
Today in Covid-19
Pandemic hoarding has led to a nationwide Dr Pepper shortage
@heyalumnigo
https://www.eater.com/2020/8/12/21364900/dr-pepper-pandemic-covid-19-shortage
people are so weird.
In much the same way that you can’t tell if I’m boycotting Florida, I had no idea there was Dr Pepper shortage. Doesn’t it have a half-life to manage?
I first saw something about it yesterday so not sure anyone knew, unless you are a Dr. Pepper drinker.
I'll have to see if my ex is hoarding. In Ky it's Mountain Dew.
NZ has 4 cases after 100+ days of nothing, and they are cracking down!
www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/08/11/901304243/new-zealand-on-alert-after-4-cases-of-covid-19-emerge-from-an-unknown-source
Weekend at Bernie’s
Timely:
https://twitter.com/THEHermanCain/status/1293835188351377409
I hate to say this but the Democrats might have to pull a Weekend at Ruth’s
I googled because I haven't seen it. Wikipedia called it a 'black comedy' and I was very confused by the white people on the poster for a split second.
Don't look up White Chicks.
Or Soul Man.
pqtm
Swiss Army Man was good.
I'm ready for the third comedy about using a corpse for practical purposes.
Pools at houses next to lakes or beaches
Yes to pools in general.
If by a lake or beach, it's better if the pool has a view of the lake or beach.
I want to go to one of those resorts with an infinity pool by a beach
This one's pretty sweet too, in the Bahamas. https://3j0grh44ocny4a6kcn288izx-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/ocaen-950x530.jpg
I was quite fond of this one in Anguilla.
https://www.tripadvisor.com/LocationPhotoDirectLink-g671490-d1456492-i141696891-Four_Seasons_Resort_and_Residences_Anguilla-West_End_Village_Anguilla.html
I’m not typically a beach or resort person but I’d be willing to reassess by going there
It rubs me the wrong way in principle but I’ve never tried it. I’m willing to be persuaded that it’s the bee’s knees.
Nah, it's awesome, especially the pool/hot tub combo overlooking the Pacific ocean at sunset with a drink.
I am a huge fan of this setup. Jumping into the pool after coming out of the freezing lake is one of life's greatest pleasures and luxuries.
or the hot tub
I am not a big hot tub fan because they feel like germ pits to me. 🤷🏽♀️
You are not the only lady whom I’ve seen take that view.
They are germ pits, but can be cleaned.
Properly cleaned and maintained ones can be very nice, especially under some circumstances.
+1 for pools at beach houses in Del Mar or Malibu.
Bernard
Also, is your default pronunciation Burr-nerd or Burr-nard?
I work with a Brit who answers to Burr-nerd and Burr-nard. I still don't know how to say it for real, and he's too nice to correct anyone
You should just ask him! I know I appreciate it when people clarify how I'd like my name pronounced, no matter how late in the game it is.
Wait, do I need to ask you to clarify how you'd like your name pronounced?
You’ve been rhyming it with trapeze, so you’re doing just fine.
It's not IMALA-smax?
Burr-NARD, except to our South African friend who is BURRnuhdt
Burr-nard
More like Buh-nuhd to be honest
Black, proprietor and alcoholic at Black Books (a fictional bookstore and underrated British comedy series you should watch)
Goetz, subway vigilante
, Marvin. A moderately talented outfielder who bizarrely got paid a lot of money by the Giants in the early '00s.
Hicks. Talented Cal safety who had career marred by injuries. Ended up suing Cal, Tedford, and a bunch of other people due to CTE. You can buy his signed jersey off ebay, if you so wish.
Maybeck
Cal professor and mentor to Julia Morgan and William Wurster. He designed Cal's Faculty Club, the original Hearst Hall (destroyed by fire), Berkeley's Rose Walk, and perhaps most famously - the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco.
http://www.maybeck.org/maybeck.html
St.
It's my middle name. For some reason I hid it for the first 20+ years of my life, then I started to embrace it. People still find the name inherently funny for some reason when I tell them.
OUR CRUMBLING DEMOCRACY
I think this is a good analysis of the Kamala pick: https://fivethirtyeight.com/videos/what-a-biden-harris-ticket-says-about-the-democratic-party/
Actually I specifically meant this guy's take: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/kamala-harris-biden-vice-president/
I see he agrees with my take as well.
That's interesting! I feel the same, that he agrees with my take. He noted that 1) this is an obvious letdown for the progressive wing of the party; 2) the political merits of picking Kamala are far from clear, because it's not exactly obvious what core group of voters she appeals to, and she frankly did kind of shitty in the primary; 3) It's not even clear what actual difference she will make with black voters, and certainly it's it's unclear how BLM activists will view the selection a former prosecutor in the wake of the George Floyd killing.
All of that very much in line with what I've been saying about how I think she's a relatively safe pick, but it's far from clear what she actually brings to the table electorally, aside from being generally a sharp and polished politician, which again... all the contenders were. Certainly she isn't associated with any particular set of policies or positions. Even people who seem to be excited about her are largely excited by her identity rather than anything specific she is going to accomplish. Of course, it's perfectly reasonable to be excited because of her identity! It's historic. I'm excited by it. But we're in such a critical, pivotal moment in this country's history, our next set of leaders will *also* need a sweeping plan of action to lift us out of this mess, and I'd like to see some indication that they're up to the challenge.
That's NOT what he said Re: 2) he said this was a obvious choice that ticks all the right boxes. 3) he said it not slam dunk that she will increase turnout among Black voters, but it is a possibility, that is important in many swing states. I happen to think she will have a positive effect on this group in general. Her policies are in line with Biden's, and what you need in VP; no she's not going to make BLM activists jump for joy, but nobody on Biden's list was going to do that anyway, so that's a total red herring.
You are not completely objective about this choice: E Warren was pretty shitty in the primary as well, but you ain't holding that against her.
First of all, this was about Harris, so let's start with that part... "ticks all the right boxes"? Did we read the same article? He said it was predictable and answered the clamoring of certain specific prominent black Dems like Clyburn for a black woman to be selected, and then spent the rest of the article saying who knows if it'll actually help Biden win or what she brings to the table electorally. I agree it's unknown if she can help with black voters in swing states, and maybe she will, but I gave two specific ways in which it wouldn't: older black Dems were already on board with Biden and younger ones are more progressive and like I said, preferred the more progressive candidates in the race. Moreover, you completely glossed over the fact that progressives and younger voters are a key Democratic constituency as well, even in swing states. They increasingly need a seat at the table, and Dems ignore this at their peril.
Lastly, regarding Warren, I'm certainly not unbiased, but respectfully I think you've got a real hangup about her for some reason. She was the only woman in the field who made it to Super Tuesday when the race was effectively over, was a very successful fundraiser (both for herself and for Biden), got nearly 3 million votes, and was 3rd only to a guy who had been running for 5 years straight and occupied the same ideological space (Sanders) and a former vice president to an extremely popular president (Biden) who was considered to be the safest pick in a very scary and uncertain time. She was the pick that Democratic voters said they'd choose if they could wave a magic wand, but alas Hillary lost in 2016 so god forbid we nominate another woman to run against Trump. Her policy ideas and her campaign team have continued to make their mark on the Biden campaign in the months since. Meanwhile, Harris didn't even make it to Iowa, she dropped out at the beginning of *December 2019*. But sure, both did about the same 🙄
Kimberly Carol, president of Iowa Postal Workers' Union, says sorting machines are being removed from facilities to sabotage the election
https://www.npr.org/2020/08/11/901219097/how-are-postmaster-general-dejoys-changes-affecting-workers
This is a good effort, but he forgot the part about eating babies.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/1293517514798960640
It's early still, but the Republican efforts to define Kamala Harris seem kind of haphazard and contradictory. She's a ruthless, calculating leftist who will push Biden towards supporting Antifa, and she's a former cop who is hated by the left, and she's an incompetent boob who slept her way to the top.
Apparently these are all the same person.
PRO
Rockies are 28% through the season. Charlie Blackmon is batting 0.500
https://www.espn.com/mlb/boxscore?gameId=401225928
He is absolutely on fire.
Bundy has his way with A's. Does not end well for A's. 0-6
https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401225931
Giants come from behind to beat Astros 7-6 despite relievers still putting runners on base
https://www.espn.com/mlb/recap?gameId=401225930
jfc, the giants are bad this year.
They're honestly a little better than what I expected them to be.
Last season caused me to set my standards to a new low.
it's going to take a few years for the talent and depth to build up...a few very rough years
CAL
Go Bears!
Star Wars
I wish Rona could have cancelled Jar Jar, episodes 7-9, the Emperor in Episode 9 and JJ Abrams.
When the opening crawl for 9 casually dropped that the Emperor was still alive I just laughed out loud. I knew this wasn't going to go well.
Not only was the Emperor alive but he built a whole fleet of Death Star ships that couldn’t even get out of orbit.
I'm by no means a big Star Wars fan, so I thought I missed something when the Emperor came back.
Nope... turns out it was indeed just randomly thrown out there. Apparently they put out a clue or the reveal outright on Fortnite for the that Venn of fans, but I still don't get it.
I still haven't seen it and you are not making it sound all that appealing.
I still haven't seen the last of the sequels, but I have read plenty of Ben/Rey fanfic so I think I'm good for now.
in some ways, if they had gone totally off the Disney/Star Wars reservation and made a romantic dramedy about them after ep 8, it might have been better received.
I sort of assumed the awkward kiss at the end was what was meant by "The *Rise* of Skywalker"...
Seems like an opportunity to talk about sparks flying figuratively and literally
You're probably better off that way
My daughters started with 7, and have seen 8 and 9 in the theaters, and honestly those are the ones they like watching the most. I have screened 4, 5, and 6 for them, and they're fine, but they haven't wanted to go back.
I don't think I've mentioned to them that 1, 2, 3 exist. I actually enjoyed all of them in the theaters (even The Phantom Menace had some good parts!), but I don't consider any of them particularly essential or interesting.
Rogue One is the best Star Wars movie post-Original Trilogy.
I think for younger kids they look at 4, 5, 6 and compare them to special effects today and they don't interest them. Whereas for us older ones the special effects were amazing back then.
my kids appropriately can state that Empire Strikes Back is one of the best movies of all time.
they say Episodes 4,5,6 as young kids and then worked their way up to the prequels.
they got to see the sequels in their teenage years so they are able to have all the correct opinions
My thoughts (about all but the first ones 4-6) and about pop culture in general: it's the stories that count - and so many Hollywood se& prequels with established franchises forget this. We've been watching Clone Wars (only 2/3rd way through 2nd season) and there are so many better, more interesting stories there because they can be more free, and not have to carry so much weight. Same goes for Batman TAS - so many better and more interesting concepts than so many of the movies.
After I married my wife, she admitted that she never saw Star Wars.
"Great timing! There's a new one coming out, it's the fourth movie - the first prequel in a series of 3." (penny-whistle downslide)
Not only has she never see any of the other ones, but that movie permanently damaged my lobbying power to choose any movie we have seen for the past 21 years and will ever see in the future.
oh wow.
This is Jar Jar's legacy.
Heesa sorry...
HAHAHAHA
I have a slightly different Star Wars take than many. I was 13/14 when the first one came out and saw it in a movie theater with popcorn and red vines and the whole thing. Saw the next ones right when they came out. I was a fan but not a dress up and stand in line fan. Have not seen eps 1 or 3, ep 2 was barely watchable. While they might be good for expansion of the lore/etc., meh.
I very much enjoyed eps 7, 8 and 9. As movies, they suffer from what all Disney properties do. Disney does not care one tiny bit about making good movies. They care about making movies you will pay to see, and buy a toy for your whiney kids. So, for star wars, you already care about most of the characters, they just need you to have an emotional reaction to something that happens to them, even if it doesn't make sense in the story. Hence, Rey living in an abandoned AT walker thing. Hence, Kylo having a melty darth vader helmet. In the lore of star wars that sort of attachment to a thing would make him incapable of being the active dark side leader snoke/the emperor needed.
In ep 8, the whole 'get off my lawn' Luke situation....That is the character I saw in the first one in 1977. He was not the stoic hero/leader of return of the jedi. The last 3 are better entertainment than people give them credit for, living too far into their nostalgia (imo).
Nobody hates Star Wars as much as Star Wars fans.
8 is honestly a pretty brilliant movie, if you can let go of your expectations of what Star Wars "should" be. Rian Johnson is a real-deal filmmaking talent.
And yes, the characterization of Luke is probably the best thing about it. People need to return to the original movies and honestly see what a whiny snot Luke could be in his worst moments. He always comes through in the end, but the rough patches were also always there.
8 just had some really dump moments. Space bombers, captains having to go down with their ships when they run out of fuel, the whole casino subplot was a waste of time.
I didn’t enjoy the hyper space jump scene and that did answer a long running question in my head what that would look like and it didn’t disappoint.
I meant to say I DID enyoynthr hyper space jump scene.
I can’t type today. Too distracted.
It was a bit odd to see a WWII bombing run in space.
Is it? Isn't that basically the ending of A New Hope?
In the form of slow ships with tail gunners that “drop” bombs out of racks, yes, it is odd.
And JJ decided to take another page out of WWII and have the Polish/Rebel Cavalry ride into battle on HORSES while on a Star ship going into orbit!!!! That scene was so bad.
Giddy up!
While I enjoyed 8, there are some easily fixable things to do differently to make it hold together as a piece better. Change up how you handle Holdo/Lea/stall the chase ending. Make the casino planet thing a Lando teaser with them a bit less obviously out of place, and keep it shorter.
I do not want to see Lando anywhere in that movie. I like that it's trying to chart a new path forward and not constantly looking back to the old characters (a plan that JJ immediately overrode in the next movie, but that's not this one's fault).
a perfect Lando tease would have been to have the casino they go to be 'Lando's" and have a huge hologram of his mug over the door. cheap nostalgia, that doesn't detract from the actual story.
Oh yeah, that would be fine. Though does that square with how he's reintroduced in the next one? (I've honestly forgotten a lot of the plot of 9.)
That is a good point about episode 8.
Heh, to your last comment, too true.
Recently had my girlfriend watch the prequels as she'd never seen them. Her opinion, and one that I generally agree with, was that as poor as the execution was, the thematic cohesion and expansion of the lore made them more interesting than the sequels. Acting and effects don't make a muddled retreading of the original trilogy worth it, especially not with what 9 did.
Prequels>>>>>>New Sequels
Not sure I can agree, but I can't work up the emotion to disagree either.
They are good and bad in different ways. I would agree that the prequels fail on execution but do have a consistent thematic vision. The new sequels are better executed individually but do not cohere thematically (because that's not something JJ Abrams has ever been able to do).
hot take: aside from baby Yoda, the Mandelorian wasn't all that great
Not great, but good. I think maybe people had high expectations for it, but IMO they smartly made it a small-scale episodic thing that didn't attempt to carry a ton of weight for the larger Star Wars lore.
Great? No, but I thought some of the episodes were very good, and all were baseline good enough to enjoy. For a TV show, it was fine.
I enjoyed it 🤷🏼♂️
I liked Gina Carano's character more, I sort of want a series about her
She was a compelling character (also excuse the juvenile observation but hubba hubba)
She's a compelling side character in Deadpool also. I hope she comes back for more there, as a real villain, not the main goon for the villain.
It was certainly a questionable decision to focus on the post–Deal or no Deal life of Howie Mandel.
I deserved that
depends on how much you like the whole franchise/story arc.
personally i think that despite misses on episodes 1, 2, and 8, the overall story is amazing.
as bad as episodes 1 and 2 are, they have important foreshadowing that is generally well done.
so my vote is to take the good w/ the bad.
a friend who had never watched any of them, recently watched them all episodes 1thru 9. seems like a mistake not to watch them in the order they were released.
I'm hoping for Lucas to come out and say the sequels are non-canon.
8 is not a miss, it's one of the best episodes.
Leia floating through space refutes that statement
I still don't understand why people have a problem with that.
That's just one scene.
a mind boggling stupid scene that put the finishing touches on my meh reaction to that film. My expectations were too high based on the reviewer fellatio that was being published at the time. I found the film watchable, for the most part, but the story was a complete rehash of EST and I left the theater thinking that if I never saw the film again, I would be absolutely ok with that.
I'd say Force Awakens is more a remake of New Hope than Last Jedi is of Empire.
I'm a bit tired of the franchise and I think Disney has overexposed SW here in the last couple of years. Of course that could just be age as I loved 4-5-6 as a kid. Anything with Jar Jar Binks was insufferable.
I am also a bit tired of the franchise. I think the best Star Wars movie to come out Since Disney took over is Rogue One. Solo also wasn’t as bad as people make it out to be.
Solo is a fun heist movie, and if you just let it be that, you'll enjoy it.
I agree and that is how I view it. It’s a fun heist movie set in space.
I wish the filmmakers themselves had just let it be that.
I really liked Rogue One, not least because it’s so gloomy at the end. I rewatched Solo the other day and I think it’s better than people’s reaction suggested.
I liked Solo
I just want to be entertained and Solo and Rogue One did. Same with 9 more than 8.
I prefer the version of Rogue One done by Akira Kurosawa
If you’re going to steal, steal from someone good
Not to mention the version of A New Hope he did.
Heh
I watched 1 when it came out and still have not watched 2 or 3. Mind you I made my peace with watching 7, 8, and 9 even though they weren’t really all that good, so maybe I should reconsider
3 is a decent watch. 1 was an abomination and 2... I actually dont remember a single thing about 2 which sums it up pretty well, I think.
"I don't like sand . . ."
3 is really good. It is probably my second favorite after EST.