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They fly now?

They are indeed capable of airborne self propulsion, Captain.

Fascinating.

Interesting to see David Productions listed there, since they've done a fantastic job of adapting Jojo's Bizarre adventure so far, so that's probably the one I'll clue in to watch out of the anthology.

Going back in for a rewatch of The Acolyte.

The design work is really strong here. It’s not quite TPM’s rather jarring shineyness. Rather, it suggest a time better cared for. Things are still repaired, but aren’t as bodged as the original trilogy.

I’m still bummed Disney chickened out on a second season, because whilst not necessarily well told, the underlying story is pretty decent. It also demonstrated some of the best lightsaber fights committed to screen thus far. More accomplished than the OT, and much less frenetic and overly showy than the Prequels.

And it still felt like Star Wars... unlike that other Disney+ series that I was supposed to like, but didn't feel like Star Wars.

It definitely feels like Star Wars, that’s true.

I particularly enjoy how it works with the arrogance of the Jedi at that point. It’s been so long since they had any real challenge, they just assume they’re fully in control.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
I’m still bummed Disney chickened out on a second season...

Leaving stuff unfinished is unfortunate, but at least in this case it was deserved. Unlike Willow.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
And it still felt like Star Wars... unlike that other Disney+ series that I was supposed to like, but didn't feel like Star Wars.

Which one were you supposed to like but didn't?

Skeleton Crew.

Acolyte feels like the Republic Alec Guiness described to me back in the day. I'd love to see a better story told with the same designs.

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Skeleton Crew.

Get.

Out.

Bad boy! Dirty boy! In your bed, your rug! DIRTY BOY!

 LunarSol wrote:
Acolyte feels like the Republic Alec Guiness described to me back in the day. I'd love to see a better story told with the same designs.

I would have liked to see more of the High Republic. It's a shame The Acolyte didn't do much in that regard before it got taken out back.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Skeleton Crew.

Get.

Out.

Bad boy! Dirty boy! In your bed, your rug! DIRTY BOY!

Now now. He's entitled to his entirely and irredeemably wrong opinion.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

 Lathe Biosas wrote:
Skeleton Crew.

Get.

Out.

Bad boy! Dirty boy! In your bed, your rug! DIRTY BOY!

See.
This is why I didn't tell you that I liked better than .

I only sent you to bed.

I didn’t say anything about Without Any Supper.

I’m not a tyrant.

Woof!

I don't think it's a terrible crime to enjoy Book of Boba. I did, although it appears I'm in the minority. Nothing wrong with that.

It does a few things well, and importantly even when it's not good it's at least entertaining. The big fight in the final episode is the biggest letdown for me, but I'm particularly sensitive to, ummm, fluctuation of soldiering skills grounded in shifting plot needs. Book of Boba is unfortunately very guilty of that, but still manages to be less egregious than Mando.

You could even do something with the premise of a crime lord who aspires to be mostly law-abiding. But that is something better handed to the folks behind Andor. Because let's face it, the way it turned out in Book of Boba is comedy material at best.

I also enjoy Book of Boba Fett. But it just felt….a little flat.

But in terms of Actual Facts? It was filmed during COVID, with resulting set restrictions.

That must’ve impacted the final product. For instance, Boba becoming a crime boss with like….12 people, tops, as his private army.

Most importantly? Those combat droids rocked, the Twi-Lek bar owner does things to me, and the Rancor was superb.


Automatically Appended Next Post:
Thinking more about how much I love the RoS scene where the People’s Fleet arrives over Exegol, and why I still find it disappointing.

Swarms of fighters are cool. Shooting the Bad Guy Ships in the metaphorical Wanger to make them explore is cool.

But…let’s compare it to the Battle Over Endor. And those crucial establishing shots.

Before the big fight? We get some truly impressive establishing of not just the size of the Rebel Fleet? But the relative scale of the ships. From the tiny A-Wing, to the largest Mon-Cal Cruiser, it really sells the ragtag nature of the forces gathered.

This is then neatly reinforced when they realise the Shield is still up, they’re being jammed, and things are far from peace. We see the Falcon and fighters pretty much turn on a sizpence, whilst the larger ships each describe their own turning circle. This again heavily reinforces that size and scale difference.

Then, whilst not enough, we get some Capital Ship on Capital ship red hot broadside action - including one glimpse of an exchange I really appreciate, where the Mon-Cal Crusier is attacking just below the level where the Star Destroyer’s octuple turbo laser batteries sit, showing some sense of fleet tactics.

Exegol? Nothing, and I mean nothing will top the reveal of the People’s Fleet arriving. So, so many. Hundreds, possibly thousands of the buggers of all makes, models and vintage……most of which appear to promptly sit out the resulting scrap.

Only Rogue One has really offered us a properly satisfying Fleet Scale Engagment, outside of the Clone Wars series. Which is a shame, as modern CGI must surely make consistent scaling of ships, layering and compositing of exchanges and all that good stuff much more straightforward than doing it with physical models, yeah?

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:

Most importantly? Those combat droids rocked, the Twi-Lek bar owner does things to me, and the Rancor was superb.

Presumably, not having to pay extras must have let them pump more into the special effects budget, because on that level at least BoBF is excellent.

I just wish they had devoted series one entirely to his time with the Tuskens instead, and picked up the crime lord story later when they had the resources to tell it properly.

Oooh! New series of Visions is up on Disney+

First one is amazing, and is a sequel to the first from the first season.

So apparently season two of Acolyte would have revealed smiley as the first Ren.

 AduroT wrote:
So apparently season two of Acolyte would have revealed smiley as the first Ren.

That would've been cool.

Instead we got more Lone Wolf and Cub... and soon to be coming to theaters: Top Gun in Spaaaaaaace!

So, Visions S3.

Again I’m impressed. Normally I find the whole Anime aesthetic a challenge. But Visions makes it a triple in challenging my preference.

I don’t think this is quite as strong as the first two, or quite as adventurous in playing with the overall tropes. But it is bloody good fun all the same.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Oooh! New series of Visions is up on Disney+

First one is amazing, and is a sequel to the first from the first season.

Only had time for the first one myself but it is very good. That first fight sequence is just super clever and goes to show what can be done with lightsabers in creative set pieces.

Only one I didn’t get on with is the last one. Just a bit too out-there for me. I appreciate the artistic skill like, but the end product just isn’t my bag.

Thru the first three so far. The animation quality of the second episode is quite incredible. Some of the tech and action gets an eyebrow raise out of me, but it Looks amazing as it happens.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Oooh! New series of Visions is up on Disney+

First one is amazing, and is a sequel to the first from the first season.

I just finished the entire third season and overall, I think that this is the "best" season in that I actually enjoyed every single episode though the best episodes of season 3 were not quite as good as the best episodes of season 1.

My favorite episodes of season 3 were the Lost Ones (the sequel to the Village Bride), the Duel: Payback (obviously the sequel to the Duel) and the Smuggler.

The Lost Ones was particularly good in my opinion because I really liked the visuals which were even better than in the original in my opinion. The story, while fairly typical for a Star Wars piece of media, was well told and I really liked how "Jedi" F feels as a character. It's only after re-watching the episode that I realized how much she's basically the "anti-Anakin" and a proper representation of how I think a traditional, young, but wise Jedi should be. The Village Bride is better than the sequel in my opinion, but this sequel is certainly very good. I sort of hope for a third and last episode where F finds her own padawan to make it a full circle.

The Duel: Payback was probably the best episode of the new season. The visuals were improved upon the first and while the story was a very classic samurai story it was certainly entertaining. I think the world building was very well done in a "show don't tell" sort of way. I especially liked the way they showed the ridiculous speed of the Jedi master in animation.

The Smuggler was a well built self contained story with a hook for a sequel that sits perfectly well in the Star Wars canon. It doesn't do anything particularly well, but what it does it does correctly and competently and remains interesting throughout.

Saw the next two. Song of Four Wings is really fun, a little over the top in the end given how close most of it fits in cannon but the final bout of silly action was definitely cool, memorable and anime if a little less Star Wars.

The Ninth Jedi 2 was a little disappointing if only because I liked the original so much and this felt like a fitting second episode had it been released a week later rather than 4 years. Just let IG make their show already!

Well then, Visions season three. Much like the other seasons it's got a few interesting things. Fine to watch once as far as I'm concerned. As usual the more out there stuff isn't for me. Especially...

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
Only one I didn’t get on with is the last one. Just a bit too out-there for me. I appreciate the artistic skill like, but the end product just isn’t my bag.

Yeah, that one.

Worst one is easily the last one. Just… wtf.

Favorite animation is easily the second one, Four Wings. The action is Definitely too over the top for Star Wars, but it’s just looks So Pretty while doing it.

Favorite story is The Smuggler. I like those characters and want to see more of them. Surprisingly very grounded for a Trigger product.

I’ve forgotten half the others already.

The last one isn’t helped by my distaste for jazz music. I appreciate it’s quite big in Japan, but it’s just discordant noise over discordant visuals.

 Mad Doc Grotsnik wrote:
The last one isn’t helped by my distaste for jazz music. I appreciate it’s quite big in Japan, but it’s just discordant noise over discordant visuals.

Discordant noise over discordant visuals describes all the live action Transformers movies.