I'm currently playing the Ace Attorney trilogy on Switch. Do you have any thoughts on Case 1-5? (I certainly do but I'll make my own post in due time.)

Case 1-5 is Rise from the Ashes, right? It's been awhile since my deep-dive into AA, but I remember really loving the intrigue of that case. It's not my most beloved case (that probably goes to Turnabout Goodbyes), but I remember really enjoying the twists and turns of how the story for Rise from the Ashes unfolded. I really love Ema too, although she unfortunately doesn't make a story appearance after this for a while in the mainline games. Also it's always fun to make fun of Edgeworth's garish bright red car, which makes its debut in this case...what a hideous car, he never gets rid of it either, I love it.

My Thoughts on Reboots, Remakes, Sequels, and Spinoffs

Hey there everybody! I know that everyone and their mother have an opinion on this topic, but I just wanted to added my two cents on to to something that wasn’t going to be that long.

Part of the reason I’m doing this post is because two series I loved dearly when I was younger, Winx Club and Inuyasha, have gotten a live action remake series and a sequel series. Now I’m not here to talk on the many MANY wrongs of Fate The Winx Saga or the issues of Yashahime because other people have already went into detail on that stuff. Instead I’m going to talk about what I feel like adapting old properties as whole.

As we fully know and acknowledge, nostalgia is a powerful force with an iron grip and Hollywood and other film/tv makers are doing their best to exploit our nostalgia for as much cash as they can get from us. It’s considered less work and less risky to adapt an older project with a ready fanbase than it is come up with an original property. Most of the time these things aren’t made because there is more to expand on in either the work’s world or characters or bring a new fresh take to it, but because it would make money. Manipulative as it is, its sound business logic.

That being said: remakes, reboots, spinoffs, and sequels aren’t inherently bad. When done well, they don’t just keep to the heart and soul of the original work, they SURPASS it. There’s nothing wrong with changing things from the source material, especially if it’s to add more diversity to the line up or correct a problematic element found in the original series. Even if an interpretation doesn’t hold a candle to the original, it’s still fun to see what creators can dream up for a franchise. For example, Batman the Animated Series will always be the definitive Batman experience for me, but that doesn’t mean I don’t enjoy Batman Beyond, Batman the Brave and the Bold, the Dark Knight, Arkham Asylum, or other adaptations of the character.

The problem is more often than not, these projects are not handled well. As I said before, it’s more to make money than to actually be a good and/or faithful adaptation. I think everyone remembers the fiasco that was the live action Jem and the Holograms film from a couple years ago. That movie did the worse thing an adaptation can do for fans: used the the name for brand recognition and threw just about everything out from the original series to appeal to the modern crowd (by the way the makers of this movie didn’t even seem to understand THAT demographic), spitting in the face of the original fans. It honestly wasn’t that surprising the film was pulled from theaters so quickly. As a Winx Club fan, I can relate to Jem fans now in a way that I wasn’t able to back then.

Now some would say fans can be extremely judgmental and toxic when it comes to any changes to their beloved franchises. To an extent, I do agree. For example, I was almost five years old when the Star Wars Prequels came out and thus didn’t really get the hate for it because I didn’t have the nostalgia the older fans did. Now that I am older and have watched both trilogies, I can acknowledge that the original trilogy was better in terms of story and characters, but those films are far from perfect. And you got to give the prequel trilogy credit in that had a distinct definite vision and that it was telling its own story, not just relying on what came before. 

But in my honest opinion, I think a lot of the hate from fans of these series comes from the fact that these adaptations more often than not seem to spite the fans and butcher the things they used to love. And considering this is where the original buzz and money come from for these projects, it feels like those behind these projects are going for short term cash rather than long term gain.

I think sequel series in particular can come as off very problematic if their continuation seems to retcon or destroy a very good and satisfying ending. Part of why I can’t really get behind Yashahime is because it feels like the series kind of invalidates the really good ending of the original series and how poorly it has treated the og characters. A series’ ending is arguably the hardest thing to pull off well, it’s one thing to start strong but its another thing to carry that quality to end of the story. And even if a finale isn’t bad, it can still be controversial or divisive among fans. Ducktales 2017 is a great series, but even it stumbled in its finale. Anyone who’s seen it can probably guess what I’m talking about. 

So, how should we approach these projects? I think the best mindset to going into these continuations is cautious optimism. That way you’ll be surprised if it turns out to be good, but not too disappointed if it turns out to be the opposite.

And if nothing else there is this comfort for us who live in this time: where canon fails, there is fan fiction. Seriously, I see more passion, creativity, and quality from things I read and view for free on the internet than things that have huge production teams and tons of money poured into them.

Sorry if this just seems like a ramble to you guys, but you know sometimes that there are things you just need to get out there. And hey it turns out this my 100th post on tumblr. So yay to me.

Don’t worry for those who are here for my Rewrite post. Next time we’re going to get to Cinder....AND I HAVE THOUGHTS.

See you soon!

The Loud House Reviews: L is For Love

Happy Pride Month Everyone! I have to admit I didn’t realize pride month was in June. Luckily that just meant two things: 1) This was a plesant suprise for once in an escalatingly terrible year when I found out early yesterday morning when most of this review was written. And 2) I already, thanks to thinking about them due to the she ra finale and watching more loud house again now i’m back on cable, planning to do the three Saluna episodes as at trilogy after getting blood moon ball out of the way. 

Today’s ep takes place in late season 2. As mentioned in the “Brave the Last Dance Review’ the series had some growing pains before it got to it’s current shape: the series largely focused on lincoln at first, but as season 2 went on the show slowly eased off him. While he still gets plenty of episodes focusing on him, and still gets the ocasional weird zach morris talk to the camera moment when the episode calls for it, the show wisely decided to make itself into an ensemble piece. INstead of being about the one boy navigating a big house it became about 11 children and their parents navigating being a big family and the perils of adolsence and what not.  As such today’s ep , while focusing on the kids as a whole, evnetually zeros in on my faviorite Loud child, Luna. Luna, as you probably know but what the hell, is an aspiring rock star, most of the time fairly chill and using the word dude a lot but not afraid to get loud, pun intended, or throw up the devil horns at a moments notice. She’s also a loving big sis, cares about her siblings, and is in short a wonderful character that season 1.. really didn’t give much focus. Season 2 rectified that to my delight, giving her a focus episode early on, Roadie to Nowhere, which revealed that she also has some confidence issues that are brought to the forefront here and go on to be a vital part of her character. I also admitely was delighted to see her voice actress, Nika Futterman, in a major role again, and she’s delightful in the role and even does luna’s singing. And this ep while being an “all hands on deck’ episode about all of the siblings, does have a major focus on luna as it goes, and thus I jumped on it immidetly.. that and you know, the fact it canocially made her bisexual, making a headcanon I had about her canon and being something they actually hinted at back in season 1. But we’ll get more into that later. For now, L is for love, lunacy and luna after the cut!

We open with Lincoln getting the mail and then gasping in shock at one letter, before calling an emergency sibling meeting. The sibling meetings are something that had been set up before with Lori,a s the oldest, leading them, and a thing I like: it makes sense with this many kids to have some sort of internal way to solve problems with them or vote on things as a group when needed. Simple, makes sense and i’m glad it’s stuck around. After dealing with the previous meetings minutes, Lincoln reveals what rattled him a bit: A mysterious love letter adressed to “L.Loud”. And it’s a nice way to use the series cute naming gimmick as a plot point: ONE of the siblings has a secret admirer,a nd while Lori, being lori, assumes it’s her boyfriend bobby, sh’es quickly shot down. And that.. makes sense. Bobby is a romantic, and a great character who I love dearly and will watch the spinoff soley because he’s in it.. but it’s been shown before this ep that bobbi’s a big romantic gesture guy. The boy put himself in a giant present and nearly suffocated to death to surprise his girlfriend for Christmas and went above and beyond for their anniversary. The guy’s a peach.. but he’s also not subtle. He’s also, while not lacking in cleverness as his later career as a bodegaman shows, not very bright so if this was him, his name would probably be crossed out somewhere on it.  But each of the louds have their own crushes... which is a problem with the ep. Now to the shows credit, besides the obvious of having Sam come back, two of these characters DO come back later: Chaz, Leni’s crush, ends up mentioned in season 3, and Luann’s crush Benny ends up the focus of a spotlight episode for her in late season 3, voiced by another one of my boys (and girls) stable of voice actors Sean Gambone later on. However even with that in mind this disconnect is the episodes biggest issue: outside of sam, since we see Luna visably struggle in a bit and we’ll get into that then, we have no real investment in seeing the louds get together with most of those people other than because the episode tells us to.  It didn’t really help that Lincoln and Lucy HAD love intrests in previous episodes. And sure Ronnie Anne had moved at this point, but Lincoln had a previous crush before her Cristina to use, and we had an entire episdoe about Lucy having a crush on rocky. And somehow Rocky still hasn’t come back, but his dumbass brother is a recurring character, which if nothing else is my proof that god hates me specfically. Also yeah.. while the crushes all have names I’m purposfully not looking them up as most of them are nondiscrept at best, and the only notable one is LIsa’s crush who looks like a tiny Doctor Octopus..so apparently Otto cloned himself and gave his son black hair? I mean that’s what i’m going with it sounds like the kind of contingincey he’d do and he did die for a while. Twice. Oh and the fact Lily is crushing on a teddy bear which is just really cute.  That being said, the episode DOES get something big right: Doing this kind of stock plot right. I mean “everyone thinks a romantic letter/card/card and flowers’ is for them is a stock sitcom plot and an annoying one at that half the time as the person who sent them comes off as super dumb, or the card has to be smudged or it has to be a nickname or something something, etc etc. Here... while they all think it’s for them, it makes perfect sense for once: They ALL have the same initials, so not knowing which ones which, aside from not Bobby because of reasons I mentoined already and Bear because AS FAR AS WE KNOW he’s not alive... I mean they do live in a house with a 4 year old who tampers with the natural order as part of her to do list every day, so it’s really a matter of when not IF with that.  It also avoids: “Everyone fights and gets petty over it” .. which itself the series has botched at times for other plots, so instead while they all want it to be them and breifly get agitated over it, they instead all work together using the same tactics to try and suss it out. It’s a nice change of pace and part of why this episode works despite the repettition.. more on that later.  Anyways of all of them it’s Lucy who offers the easiest way to narrow it down, knowing how secret admirers work because she reads a lot of vampire fiction and vampires , while inhumanly goregous are also deeply insecure which, having watched all 5 seasons of angel.. yeah that tracks good work. As such she suggests they all send a signal to gage their intrest and if their intrested, they’ll send another letter.  Shenanigans insue, my faviorite being Leni pretending to be a manquin and scaring the shit out of Chaz. Not bad jokes, but we’ll get to more about it later.  The plan actually works and the next poem has a rose and-mentions the targets brown hair, so our bachlerottes are down to Luna, Luann, Lynn and Lisa. It’s also a nice clue for the reveal later. Naturally their all stoked.. except Luna who looks visably depressed. Turns out she never GAVE her signal because she talked herself out of it, thinking Sam’s out of her league. But her siblings quickly all jump in to encourage her. It’s a nice scene. Starting with the easier part to talk about I do love the siblings comradere. Sure they fight, scheme against one another, ocasinally encourage one of their siblings to date a bully or throw him out of the house.. okay the last ones aren’t as typical or easily forgivable but still, the point is despite it all.. they love each other and when it counts, their there for each other. Hell here Luaan, Lisa and Lynn are all directly against Luna, hoping the letter we’ll be there’s.. yet they have nothing but support for her. The rest of her siblings just found out this wasn’t about them.. but the instant they realize Luna is so down on herself she thinks she’s out of the running, they change from disapointi to being her cheer section. It’s really sweet and it’s this among other moments that helps boost the episode up. I also like the special touch of Lori chiming in at the end, not to be lost in with the rest of her siblings, knowing likely that being both the oldest and the only one there having been in a relationship for a while, her words likely carry some weight. The other thing.. is Luna’s character, and how this episode cements self-doubt as a major part of her character. And i’ts a part I really like, a nice contrast from her usual confidence, and most episodes about her afte rthis would zero in on this aspect for good character growth.  So since Lucy was already right, they follow her advice for round 2: Give there crush a token of affection, and wait for at third letter. Which honestly aside from actually giving signals back, she’s not entirely wrong: most “love letter plots” have this sort of rhythm.  Speaking of rhtyum.. yeah this sequence is basically the same one as before just with a diffrent goal in mind.. however I do give the episode credit. In my previous review I spoke about my annoynce at the series love of repettion, and while this episode does suffer for it.. I inflated it in my head that it was worse here. Here the jokes land enough and it does work to the episodes benifit to repeat stuff. Plus here it ends up being plot relevant: After gifts of a pie to the face (Luann), a literal hart (Lisa) and a jock strap (Lynn), Luna has a decidedly less psychotic gift in mind: Her faviorite guitar pic, which even has a heart within a heart and is a very cute gesture... but she once again backs out and accepts not being that lucky. But I also like it because it cleverly shows that it’s not Luna herself that’s the problem: out of the 4 remaning siblings she’s the only one with a valid gift, and it make sense given both her personality and her siblings inexperince. It’s jsut she’s so scared of rejection she can’t bring herself to try.  So the family is familing in the living room when Leni comes in with the final letter from the mail man... and with the final letter admitting to a love of their sounds and all things british, yeah it’s gotta be Luna? So the secret admirer has set up a meting at bangers and mosh, a place that serves british food and is a rock venue. Luna is shocked but happy and the family carry her off.. minus Leni who being Leni wants to make sure the mailman is okay since she tried letting him down gently thinking the letter was from him.  The kids arrive, all coming with for moral support apparently.. only to find their parents. Wah wah wah! In all seriousness, this twist works. With the episode geared towards Luna, most fans probably woudln’t think about their parents or this being some wacky sitcom solution, but the episode gives decent hints: Brown hair, a love of british things , an established trait for Luna as much as Lynn senior, who spent a year abroad, ironically enough revealed in the same ep Luna hinted was bi and all the girls stalked an innocent british person because of course the head writer with a history of sexual harassment would think that was a good idea. Anyways, he also was established to have a band in “House Music”, luna’s other spotlight ep from season 1, So it’ a really good use of continuity, and if you were a diehard fan of thes how or rewatched those two eps a lot, you’d probably be able to figure it out. To their credit though I did not.  Anyways Leni gives out an amaazing line “Sam likes dad?” , Rita, after a bit of confusion at her daughter’s hilarous dumbassery, explains she sent the letter: As it turns out it’s how they met. Now granted you’d think they would’ve told the kids this before but I brush it off as the kids simply not thinking of that: It was a resonable assumption the letter was for them, and none of the letters had anything about Lynn Sr. That didn’t apply to his kids. Anyways, thinking Lynn Sr out of her league, much like her daughter’s current delimma which is a nice touch. ON the third note she asked him to meet her at the very restraunt they are now, celebrating the 20th anniversary of their first date. And to me this little story is just.. really fucking adorable, as is Rita’s love of Lynn Sr.’s pisstake british accent.  Rita, being a great mom, does try and comfort luna hoping she’s not disapointed. However while Luna was at first... her story inspiries Luna to take a risk. After all it worked for her parents, she and Sam could work. She just has to make that move and rallies her family to do the same. We also get one more fantastic gag before we get to the end montage: Lynn Sr: This calls for a celebration! Meat pies for everyone! Restraunt: Yay! Lynn Sr: Actually I just meant my family Restraunt: (grumbles) Lynn Sr: Oh come on theres 13 of us! So we end on one last montage as each loud kid gives their crush a note, some seeing it some not, and for Leni does the manquin bit again, which is adorable. Also the otto kid is apparently not named otto, but in my defense.. I don’t care. So after some genuinely cute bits, we get one last one as Luna leaves a note for sam.. and you see, as you probably know for most of the episode the show hadn’t been specific on which one Sam is, so when it turned out to be one of the girls, it’d be a twist. Of course it isn’t NOW: I called this a saluna trilogy after all and really most people hearing about the loud house probably know about her and Luna but at the time it was a smart twist. 

And I loved it. WHile i’d headcannoned her as bi, there were hints after all, it was, much like the korassmi ending of legend of korra , a plesant shock to have it be REAL. And the ending shot, of luna simling at the above from behind the lockers, is really sweet.  But I also give Nick and the Loud House credit where it’s do. While they weren’t the first children’s cartoon to have an out and out gay/bi/pan protaganist, they were one of the first to not only have a bi protagnist during the context of the show, but to have it be visable.. it was really nice. Even if I do wish they’d use the term bi i’m not greedy and the show to it’s credit, while giving moments like this florish, dosen’t go out of it’s way to pat itself o the back about it’s represenation. The characters who are queer or disabled or POC are just.. there , with enough prominence to be proper representation while not letting that be ALL they are. Now sure at the time of this writing Representation, even within the Loud House itself as it followed up on this, has taken even greater leaps: In Adult Animation we have Harley Quinn having the last act of it’s second season be dedicated to Harley’s emotiona turmoil over being in love with her engaged best friend and said best friend, for now NOT wanting more, a pairing fans had wanted to see played out since the two first met. She Ra had two LEADS angished declartions of loved save teh unvierse and be the emotional climax of the finale. And netflix has gone on to have several gay characters in it’s childrens show on top of that, all leads. But while I think all of tihs would’ve happened without L is for Love, I do still applaud it as a good step forward. Sure the show had Clyde’s  dads’ before, and they are good characters don’t get me wrong, but this was something else and as  Bi person myself.. I really welcome it.  Final Thoughts: Not much to say I haven’t, but overall a realy damn good episode with a hell of an ending that makes use of the repetttion rather than usingit because “Oh shit we have a lot of episodes to get out this season”. Of course we’ll be getting back to sam and luna soon enough with season 3′s followup racing hearts, and with me knowing it’s pride I have tons of review ideas a coming, but for now, reblog this review if you liked it, or just like it if youd ont’ feel like that, send me an ask if you have any other episodes i’d like to cover, or comission one if you wnat to make SURE I cover it, and i’ll see you next time. Later days. 

TROS, mixed feelings

I’m going to try and get all my thoughts in order about The Rise of Skywalker. I had some general points I wanted to write about but lost my focus when I came home to a pet emergency.

The first thing I want to say is that the movie is good, in the sense that the spectacle is enjoyable to watch. There are some amazing sequences and some awesome beauty shots. One that sticks out to me is Rey walking to the throne room and it’s this really wide shot of her underneath that large mass and the blue lighting in the back.

So the pros are:

Beautiful shots I’m sure were taken straight from awesome concept art

Good action movie if you aren’t emotionally invested/don’t know much about star wars

I did find myself enjoying it at parts, but it was at surface level. With each new plot development, I felt the established canon collapsing in on itself and it was upsetting if you decided to focus on the plot.

Kylo and Rey / the Force side of the plot continued to carry the trilogy. There were many cool things done with the force bond, including objects being passed through their connection.

Getting confirmation that the Sith kill one another so their souls transfer to the younger stronger vessel and then continue to get passed down

More talk about the Jedi and Sith in general. I personally always enjoyed this part of star wars more than the rebellion plots

Now onto the cons...

Just.. too much. Way too much plot stuffed into one film, which then contributed to too much force-fed exposition, and just too much dialogue. Characters literally NEVER stopped talking. Less is more, and that showed when the most powerful scenes were ones where the characters would just shut up for two seconds and let the audience form their own thoughts.

Characters were being dragged by their hair through this plot. Their actions and dialogue didn’t feel like it came from internal motivations, but because the plot needed the characters to do things and therefore they did.

The attempts to throw in new characters into the plot, which leaves them half-assed and better off giving that screen time to characters that are already established. I understand there was backlash against Rose’s character but the solution shouldn’t have been to just erase her relevance.

The forced trio dynamic.. it just doesn’t work for these three... Rey spent some time with Finn in TFA, spent a whole movie away from the Resistance in TLJ, and is now forced by the writers to stick around Finn and Poe when she continuously is breaking off from them anyway. They’re all constantly arguing with each other, and the tone is off. They were going for a cute bickering between friends but they all just seemed annoyed with one another.

Chewie’s death fakeout was so absurd. They really tried to explain it off with “it must have been a different ship!” when they were in the middle of the desert and there were no other ships to be seen. It was so forced and dumb it was difficult to feel anything.

The overall lack of direction for Finn’s character in this trilogy. I kept holding onto hope for Finn’s character to stick the landing in the final episode, but the writing failed him. His love for Rey is dialed to 100 and he keeps chasing behind her when she is ten steps ahead. It’s just sad to watch at this point, especially when the story has already established the foundations of Finnrose. The romance set up was completely trashed by this movie in favour of him chasing after a girl who has no interest in him. His entire story this whole trilogy revolved around Rey.

Leia’s Jedi training past we’re just finding out about now..?? I feel this was completely tossed in with no regard to spinoffs. I read Bloodline and there was absolutely no mention or fit for Leia to have done Jedi training (to the skill level of constructing her own saber no less). This is a cool idea, but again it felt STUFFED IN.

Lack of presence from the force ghosts when they’re needed makes their appearance lackluster. It feels deeply cruel for the Skywalkers to not reach out and speak to their own blood when he needed it most, especially Anakin who if he spoke to his grandson in the FIRST FILM, Ben would have been on a complete different trajectory. The OT force ghost characters not reaching out to Ben makes their presence in these newer films all the more bitter. Ben was so desperate for guidance that it resulted in manifesting a memory of his non-force sensitive father. The scene was touching, but it was literally Ben having to talk himself through his decisions all alone while Rey gets love and support from thousands of generations of jedi when she needs it.

Rey’s god force abilities. Now listen, I’ve been adamant about defending Rey’s capabilities in the force, but TROS has just made it too impossible for me to continue to feel that. She displayed far beyond what her skill level should be after receiving minor training from Luke and then some nondescript training from Leia. She used force lightning, life force transfer and healing, and lastly turning Palpatine’s own lightning against him when he’s in a state stronger than he’s ever been before, and the explanation for all of this is...

Rey is a Palpatine... I had made a tinfoil hat theory about this back during TFA. She has the accent and her character story starts out in the ruins of a Star Destroyer. I guess it could have been a decent reveal if they had spent the last two movies actually building that. Over the years I had come to love the idea of Rey truly being no one, that the force didn’t only favor those with bloodline. It could call on anyone, even those who by the world’s eyes is worth nothing. Rey Palpatine should have never been a thing, and Palpatine showing up in these movies at all when Anakin’s entire 6 episode story arc was him eradicating that evil for the love of his son. Anakin’s powerful and sacrificial actions really lose weight within the story when the evil was never really killed.

Things that mattered werent dwelled on enough for the audience to process them. The movie was so eager to race to the finish line that information/events that should have deeply effected the characters didnt.

Im biased but I truly believe that Ben shouldnt have died. That's not how his arc should have ended. It's far too cruel, especially because his death was unceremonious and as an audience we were expected to move on because LOOK!! everyone's hugging!!

The ending felt deeply uncomfortable. It's like watching a tragedy but with happy swelling music in the back and characters smiling.

So yeah.. I feel like there's more I could say but Im sure other people have said the same things with better words. Despite my list of complaints being large it genuinely was entertaining... As mentioned if you try not to focus on the plot too much it can be really good at a surface level.

The Kingdom Hearts III Reaction

First thing’s first: yes, I got the responses to my initial reaction letting me know I could use L2 to cycle through triangle commands, and oh my god that made things so much more manageable, so thank you.

Gameplay wise, I said what I had to say right off the bat earlier: lot of fun, best version of the traditional playstyle. Gorgeous except for when it’s the most gorgeous. Way more game than I could handle on the margins, but it felt like fun available options I could choose whether to pursue or not rather than overwhelming.

Under the cut I’m gonna talk some broad structural stuff; I’ll avoid anything overtly spoilery, but it would certainly be understandable if you’d rather stay away. Under another bolded sign though I’m going to get into MAXIMUM spoiler territory, so those who just want my basic impressions but would prefer to hold off on more than that until they have their own go at it can know where to get off.

So this game does like 90% of everything I ever wanted it to do, plus so much MORE than I ever would have expected, resulting in a finale even more grand and resonant and satisfying than I might have imagined after nearly 13 years of waiting. The problem is that all that stuff is in the last 8 hours, and it is very, very clear that’s the part of the game Nomura and company actually cared about. This wasn’t interested in being Kingdom Hearts III, it wanted to be Kingdom Hearts III Part 3/3: The Finale after Dream Drop Distance and A Fragmentary Passage covered the other biggies, to the point of as mentioned before critically compromising the beginning of the game. It reached the point where Dream Drop Distance went from just baaaaarely pulling ahead of 358/2 Days to dead damn last in my ranking of these, because it not only set the tone for what went wrong here - even if this succeeded in the end in a way that couldn’t - but sponged off vital reveals and the conclusion to Riku’s character arc, both of which 1,000,000% needed to be in here so this could be a complete sequel rather than in an intermediary story where they were weakened by context.

Long story short, Nomura and Square are going to have to think very, very hard about what kind of a role the Disney worlds are going to play in these going forward, because the enthusiasm for them on the part of the writers is visibly dead. Not across the board, passion clearly went into the likes of the Toy Story and Big Hero 6 worlds, but it could not have been plainer that Monsters Inc. and Frozen were checkmarks being crossed off, perfunctory in a way I genuinely don’t feel the Disney worlds were in the past (though that may be in large part because this time around Sora is literally just there for level grinding, rather than an immediate search for friends, stripping away the central underlying emotional urgency of I and II). It would’ve been alright if there had been a major act break of the sort II had to provide a sense of forward momentum, but as is it really is just marking time while characters other than Sora drive the plot in the background, mostly in the form of catching up with what the audience already knows. They’ll always be a part of the franchise, and obviously the iconic Disney figures in Mickey and the rest will always be central, but unless the powers that be find a fresh new angle I think it’s getting to be time to scale the movie settings back in favor of the main story and original worlds, if not to the extent the Final Fantasy elements have received.

So I spent most of the game disappointed, figuring it would pull it all together for the finale and more than satisfy me, but not enough to retroactively redeem the game as a whole. And then it retroactively went and redeemed the game, because when I say it kicks off in the last 8 hours I don’t mean that that’s where things start getting parsed out in time for the finale. I mean it’s 8 solid hours of climax, physical and plot and character, the most intense and overwhelming of the franchise, answers to real-life-decade spanning mysteries and character resolutions and endgame-scale setpieces and catharsis being delivered just one after the other after the other. It’s the entire emotional underpinning of the game in a single titanic endrun, in an experience and at a pitch I’ve never seen before. Even the parts that should have been set up earlier in the game still have the entire rest of the series and years of anticipation leading into them, and while it’s a shame it had to bank on that advantage, it worked, because when I look back on the game in years to come it’s going to be this that I’ll remember, and when I someday a long time from now play through the franchise as a whole, I’ll go through the parts that previously irritated me with a smile on my face because it’ll just be a charming interlude rather than a dead stop. I can’t put this over II’s more well-rounded experience because of those structural issues, but while 0.2 is maybe the purest expression of intent thus far in the series, its brevity, and the fact that as good as it gets its best isn’t as good as this gets, puts III neck-and-neck with it as the franchise runner-up for me.

Okay, BIGGEST SPOILERS IN THE FUCKING WORLD UNDER THE IMAGE

So being a person who exists online in the 21st century, I had some key images of the ending spoiled for me well in advance, which sucked but was also maybe a blessing in disguise, because if I hadn’t been braced when those last three seconds came...that would have been rough. It was startlingly rough as is, which is odd because as much as I’ve always liked Sora as a character and appreciated the odd way his nature as a Disney hero in a Final Fantasy dark epic makes him a perfect lead and counterpoint, I never realized the depths of emotional investment I’d attached to his specific fate until the rug got pulled out. It would be as blatant a “but there’s no body!” moment as any there’s ever been even without the secret ending and the confirmation on Nomura’s part that Sora will remain the main character, it’s an emotional blow and a setback and a mystery for the others to solve rather than a full tragic ending (and one would have to imagine the characters themselves would believe that and will act accordingly given this entire story was itself about bringing back a bunch of Very Definitely Dead Folks), but it’s harsh as hell even if it’s very clearly the next step in a Master Plan rather than purely blueballing players for the cruel joy of it. Still, even if it’s reminiscent of stuff we’ve seen before, a melancholy-at-best ending is fully within the franchise wheelhouse; if I’m right and there’s one full trilogy of main games remaining in the series (I’m guessing without many if any spinoffs, Nomura’s bosses are definitely going to have his nose to the grindstone to get through the remainder of this thing on a sane timescale so as not to have another...well, this), maybe it’ll fully establish a sad-odd-numbered-ending, happy-even-numbered ending pattern, with IV having a gleeful reunion, V ending with all seeming lost, and the grand finale letting the heroes have their happily ever after.*

Before getting into the gushing praise for the rest of it, the reason this is at 90% of everything I wanted rather than complete: Kairi is bizarrely shortchanged here compared to every other central character, especially given her relationship with Sora is the foundation of the very end and she’s the logical main protagonist for IV. Even her ‘death’ isn’t my issue so much - by the end of the game Sora has rescued literally every other main character from beyond the veil of the afterlife or a living hell in fairly rapid succession, she’s just the last and biggest deal to him personally - as that even a few more scenes with her would have shored up so much. Not that her material isn’t good when she is there, I absolutely do think it was, and the emotional buildup from the series up to this point was more than enough in my opinion to carry her stuff through, but it’s the equivalent of, say, Lois Lane appearing out of nowhere at the end of a Justice League story to provide the impetus for Superman: obviously this works and makes sense because we know how much they mean to one another, but in the context of this as a lone narrative it’s a little out of nowhere. Riku gets it pretty bad too, if not as much so, but he has the ‘excuse’ of having his character arc resolved in Dream Drop Distance. Still though, it means the central trio is scarcely a thing in here the way it was in the past, though it looks like the next game is going to be entirely about getting them back together and hopefully they’ll stay as a complete unit from there on out.

Also prior to gushing praise: if Dream Drop Distance hadn’t happened, it would be so easy to restructure this in a way that would make the whole thing satisfying instead of just a perfect chunk of it. Open the game with Sora and Riku going into the Realm of Darkness to save Aqua, have Sora succeed but in the process of THAT lose his powers (making it a noble sacrifice on his part foreshadowing the end rather than a non-fuckup that the player pays for); Aqua has to recuperate, preferably with Kairi and Lea so they can get more screentime, Sora’s off regaining his powers and tracking down clues to the location of Castle Oblivion since it was under Organization control and therefore hidden, and Riku’s off with Mickey having his DDD arc. Stick the reveal of the real Organization XIII midgame, and keep the finale almost exactly as is. That way, plot and character’s doled out throughout, character screentime is rebalanced, and everything that worked stays working and comes to the exact same conclusion.

Gushing praise time: holy fuckin’ cow, this hit me in ways I did not see coming. The reunion of the other two trios was something I looked forward to well enough but not anything I fully expected to outright bowl me over, but by god they pushed those buttons as hard as they could and made them everything anyone could need them to be. But that was expected, to one extent or another; what I don’t think anyone could have seen coming was, in the final gasp of this saga of hilariously, broadly Arch villains, every single one of them turning out to be a real goddamn human being with understandable emotions and motivations and implied history and arcs. Monsters see the light (with the contextually hilarious exception of the one character fandom MOST wanted to see get a face turn with Vanitas, and even he finds understanding and peace) after a whole series of believing there’s one in the darkness when only one or two major characters had made a turnaround, and it doesn’t just make this game richer, it retroactively improves the entire series thematically and emotionally, as well as setting the stage for more of that approach based on what we know of what’s to come. And action-wise, it really does go for trying to beat II’s last Xemnas fight, and while I don’t know that it manages it in sheer cool thanks to that final laser blocking/dual wielding finale, it I think really does come out on top in the fights leading up to it and the spectacle and the emotional power and the beautiful interface screw (after the shit with the tornado earlier!), nevermind the absolute end where Our Nerd Dad Luke Skywalker** shows up to give his blessing to the franchise and usher out the story as it was.

As for the pair of post-credits scenes: in each instance I had something spoiled for me, but also in each instance not the BIG thing. I knew Xigbar would live and summon the Foretellers, which honestly is not that shocking for me. That he IS one of them, that he’s been putting on an act (one clearly in the shape of his teacher) and been a bigger villain than Xehanort THE ENTIRE TIME? I believe that got a literal gasp out of me, and THAT’S before it turned out that after bullheadedly clinging to the idea that she’s still a main villain for all these years, Maleficent might actually end up a main villain again. And the secret movie? I had the title spoiled - and god what a perfect twist, the most gleefully apeshit moment in the game and already probable best moment in gaming of the year coming back around in a completely serious way to define the future of the franchise - but assumed wrongly that it meant Sora would be in some way ‘reincarnated’ amnesiac as Yozora and needing to be returned to himself. But nope, Sora’s for real out there alive as himself in...something like the real world? Or The World Ends With You, which I understand is at least a lot closer? And Riku’s gonna wind up stuck out there too? And because Yozora’s there it means they’re in some kind of fuckin’ Flash of Two Worlds! situation?! Or if it’s in the same physical realm (which I have to doubt or Sora would rush home as soon as he got a ship) it’s the equivalent of that dope two-part Terra Obscura arc in Tom Strong?! Sora and Riku, trapped in a world where Kingdom Hearts is a Dark, Realistic Modern Urban Fantasy (which, if Sora got here by dying, does...does that mean Gritty Realworld! AU Kingdom Hearts fanfic is that universe’s version of hell? Because that would be beautiful) (did “This is a fantasy based on reality” end up carried over as the logline to Final Fantasy XV from Versus XIII? Because if not, absolutely use it here to keep that gag going) and having to fight their way back to their world and friends, hopefully with Kairi going on her own playable adventure on the other end of the cosmos to find them since there’s no way she wouldn’t be leading the search? And with the Master of Masters waiting in the wings, the perfect villain in general because if Sora is the MOST Disney character in this universe he appears to be the LEAST, and especially perfect here now that Sora’s symbolically if not possibly literally on his turf? Waiting I’m guessing another 3-5 years is gonna be hell (I’m guessing IV’ll be announced next year or maaaaaaaybe late this year because thus far Kingdom Hearts has never gone with no announced games on the horizon longer than the end of the next calendar year, and we’ll see how development goes after that; like I said, I imagine the pressure is on for Nomura), but this could not look more like my shit.

So that’s, after all these years, Kingdom Hearts III: an understandable, maybe unavoidable, but still crushing disappointment that undermined itself narratively before it even began production and ran on a burned-out crew that could never meet the impossible expectations surrounding it. Until it suddenly winks, brushes itself off, and lives up to damn near EVERYTHING on its shoulders in the most incredible ways possible while also transcending its previous limitations as a story right in front of you, and then breaking your heart before planting the seed to repair it and charting a path towards an even more exciting future. All said and done, I liked it a whole lot, and it’ll always be special to me.

* At this point, I really could go for the ending of the whole thing literally being Sora and Kairi walking into the sunset together, with the camera panning up into the sky and text (not mysterious narration like in the past, but old-school Disney-cartoon-style outside-the-world of the story cursive text) appearing to declare 𝒜𝓃𝒹 𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓎 𝓁𝒾𝓋𝑒𝒹 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝒾𝓁𝓎 𝑒𝓋𝑒𝓇 𝒶𝒻𝓉𝑒𝓇. That is the level of closure and myth and satisfaction it’s gotta be building towards after everything thus far and everything to come.

** If you are reading this without having played or watched the game: given I know that’s now in the realm of possibility, no, I don’t literally mean Luke Skywalker showed up.

Yet.

Ok, clearly the Machete Order remains the best exploration of the Skywalker family saga and is the greatest way to introduce the lore and history of the SW universe. But where to fit the new, expanded movies and tv shows? I have seen horrible suggestions of just plonking ROne before ANHope and carrying on, or even starting with TFAwakens. I say no to this. Instead of bloating the original MOrder, I propose a second, separate Order that begins with the discarded Phantom Menace, then the Clone Wars animated movie and series, then jumps to Rebels, and finishing up with Rogue One. (The young Han Solo movie and other spinoffs may be appropriately added as they are released.) The beauty of grouping these together is that the animated tv shows dramatically widen the scope of what this galaxy looks like and how it operates. This is Star Wars beyond the Skywalkers. I mean sure, baby Anakin makes an appearance in TPMenace, and we follow his adventures during TCWars. But we also follow Obi Wan, Padme and Ahsoka (see also: Darth Maul :D). We visit numerous worlds, pre-Empire, and are introduced to multiple alien races and political intrigues. Then, as we know, the Fall happens offscreen in ROTSith. We jump to years later in the Rebels timeline, with a scrappy kid on an occupied planet. The Jedi are an extinct myth, the Empire is all-powerful and the Rebellion has yet to spark. We start out with your basic light-hearted Aladdin meets Firefly shenanigans, but then the story RISES and TWISTS and MULTIPLIES and there are callbacks over and over to TCWars but everything is horrible now and we can witness slowly and truly the evilness of the Empire and the grinding ache of living under fascism. We learn more about the Force beyond the Jedi philosophy, we see some of the training the movies skipped, and there are hints as to why force users became less common by the time Luke met Obi Wan. And it's also a very funny show. The fourth season of Rebels will be airing this fall, it is the last season and it will canonically lead into and probably enhance the pants off Rogue One. So instead of an unwieldy appetiser for the original Machete Order, ROne becomes the final setpiece of this second viewing Order. However, this time we are coming to it with hours and hours of galactic exploration under our belts. We have met the people who paved the way for Cassian and the rest. (FULCRUUUUUUUM) The rampage of the Death Star impacts us more when these places feel familiar, feel lived-in. And we have by now seen so many planets like this, met so many side characters that call these places home. It could be any of them, it could be any of us. And we see exactly WHY the Death Star is such a threat. People barely stood up to the Empire before. This would have been the ultimate deterrent to any dissent. The Rebellion hadn't a hope. So the conflict in ROne becomes more urgent and horrifying, and the payoff doesn't seem like much in comparison to the stakes. But really, its finale means everything, and unlocks all that follows. Yet, where do we go from there? We've already watched the Machete Order [although, a rewatch at this point may be illuminating. ;)]. We know how the story goes, though, a rehash isn't really necessary. Now, consider The Force Awakens. It lines up with many of the beats of ANHope; similar desperate circumstances underpin the starting condition; there is information that holds the key to the larger conflict that falls into the hands of a lowpowered nobody and their quest to do the right thing helps save the galaxy from a superpowered weapon. Watching this off the back of ROTJedi, the lack of Luke Skywalker seems puzzling. He Did The Impossible Thing, and now, what? He retired to a cave to stare at seagulls? That's not very heroic. This is not the Skywalker saga we were looking for. But why should it be? Coming off the second viewing Order, we have just watched 2+ movies and 10 tv seasons of good people trying to live and win with no happy ending guaranteed and, sometimes, with no hope of success. In a long enough timeline, even major dramatic victories fade in significance. And the slower battles, the unsexy wins, they feel.... boring. Undramatic. Anticlimatic. Disappointing. Even for the people in them. Sometimes the big wins have an upfront cost and the victory is won by accepting and surpassing the price of victory. Sometimes the cost is hidden; we pay later. Or both. The camera rarely lingers. So the Machete Order showed us an intimate study of power across generations of the Skywalker family. The second viewing Order showed us the contextual cosmoscape upon which the Skywalker story has such a disproportionate impact (including why their actions has such weighty consequences, how they got to that place and who helped put them in that place at that time - looking at you, Yoda, you fuck). Then it is clear that TFAwakens is beginning a new, third Order that refocuses the camera on Rey, Finn and Poe as the OT did on Luke, Han and Leia. We don't yet know how the Skywalker saga interacts with these new characters. It may prove an ongoing narrative strand, given Kylo Ren and the mystery of Rey's origins. Or, more excitingly, this may be the trilogy when the Skywalker saga cedes space to all the other stories that were always there, offcamera or untold. As we have already glimpsed on our journey through The Phantom Menace, The Clone Wars, Rebels and Rogue One, this is a pretty full galaxy and there's a whole lotta tales to tell. Anyone's story can feel epic from the inside. The question is where we place our camera, and why. The only thing left is to actually name this second viewing Order. I, uh, don't technically remember the reason behind the name, but I applaud the proximity visual summoned by the original use of "machete", which you must use up close and personal. This Order, I think, requires a more distant and wide-ranging weapon metaphor, as well as connotations of companionship and sidekickery. Ladles and jellybabies, I hereby present: The Shotgun Order.

Reviews with Andrew: The State of #StarWars Episode 1 - Pre-Episode IX

Star Wars maybe the sample case to end all sample cases on what toxic fandom is. I’m not saying that to be a predictable ass but come on, have you been living under a rock? I am personally saddened to see how the response to the Last Jedi has ruined the fan unity, if that ever even existed, on Star Wars. It’s okay to not like a movie. That’s the bottom line. It’s okay to be lukewarm all puns intended. I was a little sour after my first viewing of the Last Jedi but after two more viewings I put it together a bit more. But at the end of the day there was nothing in that movie that was downright unforgivable… even Canto Bite.

On a scale from 1-10 Star Wars nerd, 10 being you can name different species of aliens that only appeared in de-canonized Expanded Universe books and 1 being your experience of Star Wars can be summed up by being captivated by a slutty Leia costume, I consider myself right in the middle of the pack at 5 or so. I’ve seen all the movies, played as many video games as possible and dabbled in some books. I’ll admit there was a time I would’ve said 7 on that scale but I’ve fallen back as life has changed for me. What I want to do today is talk about the State of the franchise. I think there is two parts to this. The state of the in-universe story and the state of the creative output making new material for us to consume.

Obviously these are my opinions and obviously I am going to spoil some movies, books and TV shows here. If you’re up-to-date on the basic lore I think you’ll be fine. Moreover, I want to talk specifically about these things in a Pre-Rise of Skywalker context. There will be a similar piece I will do sometime after the Rise of Skywalker. Disney has advertised this final installment in the sequel trilogy as “the end of the Skywalker Saga” and that’s a notable before and after moment in my humble opinion. Feel free to tear me to shreds in the comments. Review with Andrew is all about the discussion so let me know what you think. With entertainment properties the size of Star Wars it’s such a collective experience that to not be aware of popular opinion is to kinda miss the point. So with no further ado, let’s start with where we sit in-universe prior to the conclusion of the Skywalker Saga’s Sequel Trilogy.

Fate of the Galaxy

I am 25 so I grew up with the Prequels as the backdrop of my Star Wars experience. Here comes something that will probably get many of you to click off: I enjoyed the politics in the prequel trilogy. Disclaimer: that does not mean I love the prequels overall. That trilogy lacked clarity and compelling performance in multiple places. However I am not going to lie and not tell you Emperor Palpatine seizing control of the Republic Senate and reorganizing it into the Galactic Empire wasn’t the most simultaneously jaw-droppingly dreadful and entertaining moments of my young life watching movies. It was. It sticks with me to this day. However the political machinations come at the expense of dragging the whole story into the dirt on several occasions in those movies particularly in the Phantom Menace.

The Sequel Trilogy clearly and obviously overcompensated for this popular grievance with the prequels. I have not gotten around to the New Canon books yet, I know they explain the politics leading into the Force Awakens very well, but the first two films in this sequel trilogy have departed so far from galactic-level political movements that their plot is confusing at times. Had the character development and narrative pace not been so good in the Force Awakens it would’ve been an incoherent film given the lack of political setting. I don’t need Senate deliberations or trade negotiations, I get it; but how is there a whole fleet of bad guys who had enough time and Empire-like resources to build a planet-sized death laser to decapitate galactic government? This problem carries over to a movie like the Last Jedi where Resistance leadership is axed at every turn before the whole movement can fit in one spacecraft!

The fact that none of it is explained in the movies is the real kicker here. Setting was something the Original Trilogy did effectively on a flying-by-the-seat-of-our-pants basis while the Prequel Trilogy did it haphazardly with CGI heavy establishing shots and exposition dumps built into the script. The Sequel movies have done neither and had it not been for great acting from the core cast of both of these main saga films this would be a huge problem. In the scale of my earlier Star Wars nerd spectrum, anyone beneath a 6 or 7 on the scale is having trouble following along story wise. Good thing the CGI and character writing is good because that constitutes a story-building shortcoming too great for many franchise films to overcome.

That said, the Anthology films have been superhot fire in spite of the main saga. In fact, the broader strokes of galactic politics and setting worked against both Rogue One and Solo. The direct connection between the battle at the end of Rogue One and the beginning of A New Hope provided for good food for thought and a totally rad Darth Vader scene, but it also made you scratch your head and call BS on Leia in New Hope when she says that ship is on a diplomatic mission. You just came from a battle and this same guy was two corridors away from chopping your head off, that’s a really poor cover story. And who could forget the collective groan that was Han Solo getting his name from the Imperial recruiter in Solo. Give me a break.

I don’t think it’s unfair to say broad world-building has not been a strength of the Disney-Era Star Wars films so far. Again, I know the books, comics, TV shows and other media are doing that world-building in spades. If you enjoy that media that’s great. When the animated Star Wars Clone Wars was on the air it wasn’t explaining things we didn’t get about Episode III, it was filling in gaps in fun ways. Star Wars has always been a property for a mass audience and when that mass audience, which you have to assume does minimal research beforehand, might walk out of a film not knowing broadly what was going on, that’s a problem. Star Wars isn’t supposed to rely on content beyond the films and if the Rise of Skywalker does we’re going to be in for a messy finish to the sequel trilogy.

Finally, let’s talk about where the characters are going. Rey seemed to gain full control of force powers by the end of Last Jedi, so I am excited to see how her power is deployed in wrapping up this trilogy. I am an admitted sucker for a redemption story, but I can’t envision one for Kylo Ren that would be close to satisfying. That character kinda has to die a bad guy. If they stick with the themes Rian Johnson setup with the main characters in Last Jedi then Kylo needs to die the legacy guy who is consumed by what he thinks he needs to be simply by virtue of parentage. We’ll see about that. Finn, Poe and their respective orbits of characters are… I guess great supporting pieces. I loved the arc Finn went through in Force Awakens and I love the arc Poe went through in Last Jedi but now I don’t see where that leads both of them. I don’t know if there is a logical end point for their stories based on where they’ve been. After seeing Luke’s time in this trilogy wasted after seeing Han Solo’s time in this trilogy more or less wasted I just can’t see a world where at least one of the new core cast isn’t wasted in the end. But I’m not married to that opinion, in fact I really hope I’m wrong and JJ Abrams ties it all together.

Fate of the Brand

Let’s talk about the thing we all love about Star Wars: Jedi and Sith. With JJ Abrams returning for the final installment of the “Skywalker Saga” as it were we have a distinct possibility at hand that the dualist dichotomy of light side versus dark side is undermined forever. For a pragmatist such as myself it’s weird to be against the discovery of a middle ground but here I am. The Jedi and the Sith represent the fundamentally flawed nature of the Force. It’s always making corrections. It’s always pulling someone too far too one side and correcting and sometimes overcorrecting. Like most all spiritual forces there is an acute degree of imperfection that makes the perfection of its divinity real. Turning the force into something that can be mastered and controlled with Grey Jedi turns the whole thing to magic tricks. Yes, I am aware of the Grey Jedi plotline in Star Wars Rebels. No, it doesn’t change the problem here.

The problem is the resolution of the whole light/dark side narrative with Grey Jedi is the perfect Disney ending… but more importantly, it’s probably the JJ Abrams ending. Fans of his work on Lost as well as his movies will tell you he’s a master of the mystery box. Historically he’s not so great at answering the questions he sets up… as in resolution. He is now responsible for resolving the Sequel Trilogy and I am going to have a real problem with 42 years of Star Wars Jedi/Sith lore building ending with a variation of: They figured it out and lived happily ever after. If the last piece of the Skywalker Saga ends this way it will be the fan toxicity that followed the Last Jedi times twelve except this time without the even-keeled nerds like me defending the writing.

It's pretty clear that Star Wars was going to be different from the moment George Lucas sold the property. The fact he’s felt regret about that is another discussion for another day. He sold it to a mega corporation he knew was going to get started making sequels and spinoffs. Disney prints money at a rate the Federal Reserve gawks at. Every Star Wars film before 2012 was more or less a Lucas project. They were all one man’s vision carried out through different producers and directors to varied results. Post-Sale different creators coming in was going to change the creative flow and result in different takes on the world. That’s not a bad thing. Star Wars fans need to accept Star Wars canon with a new dividing line: Lucas Canon versus Disney Canon. I enjoy both but if you wake up in the morning upset about Disney-Era Star Wars then you probably should just decide to believe in the Lucas Canon.

I thought Kathleen Kennedy was a wonderful person to bring in as the puppet master of the Disney Era Star Wars franchise. I still think she has the career bona-fides to justify being at the head of the beast. However, in the hiring of Kevin Feige you can tell she and the brain trust she built around Star Wars has realized they saturated the market too much and damaged the product a little. Solo was not an awful film, but it will forever be the first Star Wars movie to lose money. However that happened aside, the Disney Star Wars Brain Trust needs to decide what it wants going forward. I’ve already discussed how the pieces of the anthology films that were unmoored from the broader Skywalker narrative were the best of the Disney Era films. The rate at which directors and producers have been fired indicates there was a confusion about how much Star Wars was going to be allowed to be different.

Are you going to let the directors play on your playground with the toys you bought for 4 Billion dollars or are you going to tell them how to play until they storm off in anger? Disney Star Wars has chosen the latter in all but one of the four films they’ve produced so far. Rian Johnson did his own crazy thing with the Last Jedi, you let it ride and you let that predictable nerd backlash screw up Solo. Now you don’t know what you’re doing. You have to pick. If you want to let the property rest for a few years after Rise of Skywalker and then drop it on us on some Tuesday in 2024 that’s great! It will probably be best for the brand. But when you do come back please commit to the degree of creative freedom you’re actually going to give your directors.

The four films of Disney Star Wars are batting at about .750. Solo was your bomb but even that one was an enjoyable movie. The whole thing will be more fun and piss off fewer people when it appears you guys have unified marching orders. Star Wars as a brand is okay but if its comes back looking as confused as it did with whatever comes after Rise of Skywalker it’s not going to be good. At that point sinking one of the biggest entertainment properties in history would be an accomplishment all it’s own. The Studio and brand questions post Rise of Skywalker will be very interesting. For now let’s wrap up the conversation of the State of Star Wars before that epic conclusion.

Conclusion

Star Wars still makes mad money and reels in younger people with no experience with the property. By that logic it’s doing just fine. Any nerd property is going to have a segment, even a large vocal segment like we’ve seen here, that will get upset with a new creative direction. That’s okay, move past it like professionals. If that can happen and that new creative direction sees a commitment to it from the studio I see some fun Star Wars to come. If not then I am fully prepared for Star Wars to be run into the ground. Which is also okay because it’s just an entertainment product (see Indiana Jones and the Lord of the Rings). The in-world story faces a lot of loose ends it needs to wrap up to stick the landing in Episode IX. I don’t have total confidence JJ Abrams can do it, but I am interested to see.

I won’t be doing a grade here because this is more a meta-review than an individual movie review. So let me hit just a couple of those loose ends that will be the hardest to wrap up in a satisfying way: Poe and Finn’s friendship, Palpatine’s Return and not making Darth Vader’s sacrifice worthless, Rey’s place in the Force, the fate of Kylo Ren, the very nature of the Force, and of course what is this thing between Kylo and Rey? Like and share this blog. I want to do reviews more and more and reader input is important to that so leave a comment with your thoughts! I can also do weird little think pieces like I did after Force Awakens like “Is Star Wars about disarmament?” so if you like reviews of all media coming off a screen let me know what you want to read about!

Thanks for reading.

P.S. Last Christmas looks like grade A date night material. It could be next level if the plot actually makes sense beyond the normal romance narrative rigmarole.  

dear yuletide author - 2018

Thank you for your time and attention, and I hope your wishes are granted this holiday!

Likes:

I prefer plot and angst and adventure to fluff, though a nice warm fluffy scene can make a good dessert at the end of the pain and suffering. I lean more to f/f and m/f than m/m. I enjoy forbidden relationships. I love exploring the 'what if' spinoffs of a small change in a canon. I swoon for lovers who take dramatic risks to protect their loved ones.

I also enjoy detailed description of clothing/furniture/jewelry/pretty things in general. Not just heaping up brand names, but sensory detail.

Dislikes:

Please avoid sweeping tropey AUs like 'what if noir' or 'what if everyone was in high school'. I'm REALLY picky about comedy so it's probably not a good idea to go for wacky funny stuff. No excited rambling about pregnancy or babies. (Older kids are okay.) While I am okay with pretty dark stuff, please don't gorily torture characters to death on screen. If people gotta die, limit the details! I am generally not keen on crossovers. I dislike PWP unless it is exceedingly hot smut (see below).

Smut:

I don't require it, but I do read a good bit of filthy porn.

Kinks I find interesting: mild bdsm, pain mixed with pleasure, dubcon, sibling or cousin incest, strap-ons, futanari and other magical appendages, teasing, teenagers, drugs/magic with interesting effects, people making terrible decisions due to being emotionally overwrought or really really horny

PLEASE NO: 

rape or painful sex that one party is not enjoying at all, inserting anything edible (licking off boobs is okay), aggressive face-fucking, choking, degradation, scat/watersports, bukkake, parental incest, anyone younger than teen, emphasis on 'virgin blood' (some writers make it a huge deal with tearing pain and fountains of blood, please don't).

Mathnet / Square One TV

Kate Monday

Kate Monday was my idol and unrecognised crush. Her solving any short mystery and being awesome will please me. 80s, modern, California, globe-trotting, whatever. Could even go for a bit of an X-Files gag, where Kate and George are assigned to something really spooky and he believes the mystical explanation and she sticks to logic and numbers (and is proved right in the end). No shipping needed.

Optional crossover: Inspector Gadget. Penny Gadget grows up and joins the Mathnet team and Kate is her mentor and they do nerdy things together with NO BLONDE JOKES. No sassy Legally Blonde stuff, no overcoming sexism, just pure competence porn where they are good at what they do and everyone takes them seriously and it never occurs to anyone to doubt them just because of their hair/gender. I'm not shipping them together romantically though, too much age gap for my taste. But if you wanted to indulge me ridiculously, Kate could have a wife and Penny could be inspired to consider a girlfriend.

PLEASE NO KATE/GEORGE. George is married and I prefer Lesbian Kate.

It would be weird to go smutty here honestly. Keep it T?

Poison Ivy (1992 film)

Sylvie Cooper, Ivy

I was struggling through the confusions of puberty, Ivy was hot, this film left an impression on me. In a way it's perfect as it is, and trying to build any sort of happy ending for Ivy feels out of place, but on the other hand there's a lot of loose ends left after the story.

Throughout the film, there's a lot the audience never knows about Ivy, including her legal name. Did Coop know it? (Maybe, probably.) Did her father? (Quite possibly not). How do they handle all the legal responsibilities of her death? Were Ivy's stories about the aunt she was staying with true? How do they break the news?  How does her funeral go?  

What do Sylvie and her father have to say to each other about Ivy after the truth comes out? Does he admit everything that he did? How does he handle the guilt? How do they rebuild their relationship?

What is school like, afterwards? What rumors escape? How does Coop handle them?

Or - what if Ivy survives the fall? Seriously injured, possibly paralysed, but alive? How do they deal with her, once the truth comes out? Do they cover up her crimes? Do they keep her in their home? What happens to their relationships?

For AUs, what would have happened if Ivy had met Coop when they were several years younger, so she couldn't get her hooks into Darryl as easily? What if they met at summer camp and Ivy was just as messed-up and needy but the situations were different? What if the movie plot is actually a fantasy younger-Ivy spins about her future to her fascinated-and-appalled friend, who then has a chance to react to it?

Smutwise, I'm fine with Sylvie/Ivy, I'm okay with Darryl/Ivy but I would rather he not be the focus of the story (Sylvie catching them having sex has possibilities, or Ivy thinking about Sylvie while seducing Darryl)

The Parent Trap (Hayley Mills version)

Sharon, Susan

Two girls who are rivals clashing with each other are exiled to a camp cabin together to learn to get along. What better setup for sparks to fly?

Yes, that's right, I'm requesting twincest. I want the girls to develop a romantic and/or sexual relationship, BEFORE they realise they're actually related.

Ideally I'd like to read the whole trajectory from them being sent off together, the attraction building, and once they're established as a relationship, THEN have them find out they're twins and have to deal with the repercussions. Are they horrified, or determined to stay together? How does that affect their plans for their parents?

But I'm also fine with just plain smutting this and leaving the rest of the story for another day. How might these two get together, when they don't know any better? Catfight that turns into hatefucking that turns into something deeper? One of them is sick/injured/sad and the hurt/comfort melts their hatred for each other? They get curious about how alike they really are and check each other out naked, because 'we're both girls so it doesn't really count', and events get way out of hand?

If the incest squicks you, I will settle for after-the-film fic showing them trying to settle into their new lives together, dealing with each other's old school friends and so on. "Surprise twin" must lead to some interesting reactions, surely, and sharing everything won't always be easy when they don't have a common enemy to gang up on.

Darkangel Trilogy - Meredith Ann Pierce

Erin, Aeriel

OTP territory here.

I read the first book when I was fairly young and was, like many, drawn into the dangerous romance between Aeriel and Irrylath (though surely even then I must have felt it was slightly unfair that the text 'okayed' it by saying he wouldn't be beautiful if he wasn't still good inside?). I didn't find the other two books until much later, when I was older and more dubious about the 'romance' of a beautiful but abusive vampire whose true character she knew nothing about. Imagine my amazement as rivals and uncertain feelings began to cast doubt on that original romance... and maybe, just maybe, ended with the girl getting the girl. (And beyond that, letting me eat my cake and have it too, by building up Irrylath a little and giving the lovers of my childhood a brief beautiful moment together.)

So, okay, I have a lot of feelings about this canon. In my personal version of what-happens-next, Erin and Aeriel totally become lovers, Irrylath goes on a quest to try and win her back and in the process of his journey of personal discovery finds that he's actually happier elsewhere, and he and Aeriel at last meet again and then part as friends, content... but that's a whole novel in itself, at least.

Possible prompts:

A love scene between them in the series's poetic style (no need to be kinky here! just romantic)

One of them telling the tale of how they fell in love to their daughter? (These two can totally have science babies together.)

Some of Erin's adventures on her own in the time that they're separated during the books, and how she discovers and deals with her feelings about Aeriel?

Or the love epiphany on Aeriel's part, after the books - how does she realise her feelings are more than friendly, how does she reconcile them with her feelings for Irrylath? Perhaps while Erin goes on a trip alone to visit the Sea-of-Dust and Aeriel is alone with her thoughts?

World-building, figuratively and literally! What is life like in NuRavenna? How do they go about the process of restoring the world? What tools do they use and what do they look like? Spin me a picture!

While I dislike pregnancy fluff, pregnancy angst/drama might be possible here. What if that one night with Irrylath had a very unexpected result? Given Aeriel's new position and the history of the water witch, would she be panicked at the prospect? Would she be pleased to have a part of Irrylath with her always, or tormented by the reminder? How would Erin feel? Would Aeriel feel compelled to give the child away because of her responsibilities? Given her own history how would she feel about that? Will it even be possible for her to carry a child to term without more intervention, given her new body and all its changes? What if she ends up needing Erin's input somehow to stabilise the baby, resulting in a child born from all three of them?

'Ocean's 8': Film Review

New Post has been published on http://getyourgossip.xyz/oceans-8-film-review/

'Ocean's 8': Film Review

Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett head an all-female crew out to lift $150 million worth of rocks from the Met Gala in this spinoff of the Rat Pack-inspired heist franchise.

“Don’t do this for me. Don’t do this for you,” Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) tells the women on her crew while running a final check before the intricately planned heist that drives Ocean’s 8. “Somewhere out there is an 8-year-old girl lying in bed dreaming of being a criminal. Let’s do this for her.” That droll twist on female empowerment, a fierce lineup of talented women and a whole heap of sparkly glamour make this spinoff of Steven Soderbergh’s Ocean’s trilogy go down easily — not to mention the pleasurable frisson of watching whip-smart ladies in fabulous outfits steal astronomically valuable bling. But director Gary Ross was the wrong guy for a wholesale franchise reinvention.

The novelty value is not to be underestimated of a starry all-female cast playing badass scammers, knocking off more diamonds than Lorelei Lee ever dreamed of from that most exclusive annual orgy of high-fashion excess, the Met Gala. And having one of that event’s most reliable scene-stealers, Rihanna, play a supremely accomplished hacker rocking a righteous mane of dreads was a cute touch. All that plus the timing of a big-budget studio feature about women with agency and attitude, amid an unprecedented push for more female-forward storytelling, should deliver Warner Bros.’ early summer release an audience.

But this is a self-satisfied exercise that’s only occasionally as much fun as it thinks it is. Ross and co-writer Olivia Milch stick to the template of Ocean’s Eleven, Soderbergh’s first and best overhaul of the 1960 Rat Pack vehicle. This time around it’s Debbie, sister of George Clooney’s Danny Ocean, who masterminds the heist. She reteams with former partner in crime Lou (Cate Blanchett), recruits a crew of specialists and only later reveals an ulterior motive in her plan. That would be to frame high-end art dealer Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), the ex-lover who let her take the fall for a massive con that landed her a five-year prison term. Time’s up.

Rather than reimagining them as newly minted characters, Ross locks himself into a limiting corner by treating Debbie and Lou strictly as female clones of Clooney’s Danny and Brad Pitt’s Rusty Ryan in the earlier films. The whole point of rebuilding the glamorous crime caper around women should be to make them different. But although they swap tuxedos for couture gowns and heels — or in biker chick Lou’s case, slinky pantsuits and a razor-cut shag — the dynamic lacks freshness.

Even when the stakes are at their highest, the leads’ delivery is cooler-than-thou, tongue-in-cheek deadpan, accompanied by smug half-smiles, which frankly, gets a bit one-note tiresome and self-conscious. Blanchett’s relaxed swagger at least indicates that she seems to be enjoying herself, at one amusing point going undercover in a halal food truck. But Bullock’s performance feels stiff despite the character’s take-charge confidence.

Luckily, the supporting ranks bring more distinctive spice. The funniest standout by virtue of her homegirl insouciance and wiry physicality is Awkwafina as nimble-fingered Queens street hustler and pickpocket extraordinaire Constance. Having her request a MetroCard as an advance on her cut of a $150 million job — rather than skateboarding into Manhattan every day — is one of the script’s more inspired moments.

As the unflappable computer genius known as Nine Ball, Rihanna also has an appealing presence and an impeccable command of the side-eye double take. Anne Hathaway gets laughs as movie star and Met Gala chair Daphne Kluger, infectiously making fun of herself in a subtly screwy parody of actressy vanity with an unexpected wild side. She’s particularly hilarious writhing with sensual pleasure once she feels the weight of vintage Cartier ice around her neck. And James Corden as an insurance assessor brings a needling sense of mischief to the late action.

Mindy Kaling is given less to do as a jewelry expert, and most disappointingly, Sarah Paulson’s considerable gifts are underutilized in a role that doesn’t go much beyond the jokey incongruity of a suburban wife and mother who sidelines as a black-market fence, with a garage full of stolen goods she explains to her unseen husband as “eBay.”

The one performance out of sync with everybody else is Helena Bonham Carter’s as Rose Weil. A démodé fashion designer teetering toward bankruptcy, she’s roped into the scheme with a promise of financial rescue. By planting gossip items about a design flirtation with a young It girl (Dakota Fanning, one of many star cameos), Debbie and Lou craftily position Rose to do Daphne’s gown for the gala, as a stepping stone to the antique necklace that’s their target. Bonham Carter is playing an eccentric character not unlike her frequent designer of choice, Vivienne Westwood, which should be clever casting, but her bonkers mannerisms feel as strained as her inconsistent Irish accent. Her timing is constantly off.

The production’s access to locations like the Cartier flagship store, the Plaza, Bergdorf Goodman, the Vogue offices at Conde Nast and, most significantly, the Metropolitan Museum itself, gives it luxe credibility. And Sarah Edwards’ eye-popping costumes, together with the work of celebrated designers inspired by the European royalty theme of the Met Costume Institute exhibit, make for some tasty fashion porn. It’s like a Sex and the City movie with thievery. And no sex. Despite some on-the-nose dialogue about how men get noticed and “for once, we wanna be ignored,” Debbie’s crew all end up dressed to slay.

Anyone who has ever wondered what goes on beyond the red-carpeted steps at the Met Gala will find plenty to gawk at, along with appearances by a flock of boldface names — designers, movie stars, models, whatever Kim Kardashian and her sisters qualify as, even the event’s high priestess, Anna Wintour — to help set the scene.

In such an atmosphere of pomp and sophistication, there’s entertainment value in following the female crew as they weave among the glitterati, either disguised as staffers or hiding in plain sight as guests, carrying out the precision-timed plan with quick-thinking resourcefulness, if not much in the way of glitches to fuel any real tension. But there’s also something dispiritingly mechanical about the movie that makes it seem a missed opportunity.

In one sweet, subtle touch, New York stage veterans Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley turn up as regional theater actresses hired by the crew to shift stolen gems. That creative casting stroke and its all-ages inclusivity suggest the admirable intentions of a project that aims to carve out screen time for as diverse a spectrum of women as possible. A little less generic slickness and more of that adventurous feminist spirit would have gone a long way.

What Soderbergh, who serves here as producer, brought to his Ocean’s films — even the busy, bloated sequels — was a jazzy energy, an effortless light touch that seems beyond the reach of Ross. Ocean’s 8 tries to inject that verve with an eclectic mix of music to supplement Daniel Pemberton’s score, from Charles Aznavour to Amy Winehouse, James Last to The Notorious B.I.G. But it lacks punch, even if the complicated plotting is sound enough, the gadgetry impressive and the visual trappings sleek. You just start to feel starved for a movie with conflict, suspense and a little heart, rather than a repackaged version of a formula already flogged to death.

Production company: Rahway Road Distributor: Warner Bros. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Armitage, James Corden Director: Gary Ross Screenwriters: Gary Ross, Olivia Milch; story by Ross, based on characters created by George Clayton Johnson, Jack Golden Russell Producers: Steven Soderbergh, Susan Ekins Executive producers: Michael Tadross, Diana Alvarez, Jesse Ehrman, Bruce Berman Director of photography: Eigil Bryld Production designer: Alex DiGerlando Costume designer: Sarah Edwards Music: Daniel Pemberton Editors: Juliette Welfling Visual effects supervisor: Karen Heston Casting: Debra Zane, Shayna Markowitz

Rated PG-13, 110 minutes

Sandra Bullock and Cate Blanchett head an all-female crew out to lift $150 million worth of rocks from the Met Gala in this spinoff of the Rat Pack-inspired heist franchise.

"Don't do this for me. Don't do this for you," Debbie Ocean (Sandra Bullock) tells the women on her crew while running a final check before the intricately planned heist that drives Ocean's 8. "Somewhere out there is an 8-year-old girl lying in bed dreaming of being a criminal. Let's do this for her." That droll twist on female empowerment, a fierce lineup of talented women and a whole heap of sparkly glamour make this spinoff of Steven Soderbergh's Ocean’s trilogy go down easily — not to mention the pleasurable frisson of watching whip-smart ladies in fabulous outfits steal astronomically valuable bling. But director Gary Ross was the wrong guy for a wholesale franchise reinvention.

The novelty value is not to be underestimated of a starry all-female cast playing badass scammers, knocking off more diamonds than Lorelei Lee ever dreamed of from that most exclusive annual orgy of high-fashion excess, the Met Gala. And having one of that event's most reliable scene-stealers, Rihanna, play a supremely accomplished hacker rocking a righteous mane of dreads was a cute touch. All that plus the timing of a big-budget studio feature about women with agency and attitude, amid an unprecedented push for more female-forward storytelling, should deliver Warner Bros.' early summer release an audience.

But this is a self-satisfied exercise that's only occasionally as much fun as it thinks it is. Ross and co-writer Olivia Milch stick to the template of Ocean's Eleven, Soderbergh's first and best overhaul of the 1960 Rat Pack vehicle. This time around it's Debbie, sister of George Clooney's Danny Ocean, who masterminds the heist. She reteams with former partner in crime Lou (Cate Blanchett), recruits a crew of specialists and only later reveals an ulterior motive in her plan. That would be to frame high-end art dealer Claude Becker (Richard Armitage), the ex-lover who let her take the fall for a massive con that landed her a five-year prison term. Time's up.

Rather than reimagining them as newly minted characters, Ross locks himself into a limiting corner by treating Debbie and Lou strictly as female clones of Clooney's Danny and Brad Pitt's Rusty Ryan in the earlier Film-to-watchonline s. The whole point of rebuilding the glamorous crime caper around women should be to make them different. But although they swap tuxedos for couture gowns and heels — or in biker chick Lou's case, slinky pantsuits and a razor-cut shag — the dynamic lacks freshness.

Even when the stakes are at their highest, the leads' delivery is cooler-than-thou, tongue-in-cheek deadpan, accompanied by smug half-smiles, which frankly, gets a bit one-note tiresome and self-conscious. Blanchett's relaxed swagger at least indicates that she seems to be enjoying herself, at one amusing point going undercover in a halal food truck. But Bullock's performance feels stiff despite the character's take-charge confidence.

Luckily, the supporting ranks bring more distinctive spice. The funniest standout by virtue of her homegirl insouciance and wiry physicality is Awkwafina as nimble-fingered Queens street hustler and pickpocket extraordinaire Constance. Having her request a MetroCard as an advance on her cut of a $150 million job — rather than skateboarding into Manhattan every day — is one of the script's more inspired moments.

As the unflappable computer genius known as Nine Ball, Rihanna also has an appealing presence and an impeccable command of the side-eye double take. Anne Hathaway gets laughs as movie star and Met Gala chair Daphne Kluger, infectiously making fun of herself in a subtly screwy parody of actressy vanity with an unexpected wild side. She's particularly hilarious writhing with sensual pleasure once she feels the weight of vintage Cartier ice around her neck. And James Corden as an insurance assessor brings a needling sense of mischief to the late action.

Mindy Kaling is given less to do as a jewelry expert, and most disappointingly, Sarah Paulson's considerable gifts are underutilized in a role that doesn't go much beyond the jokey incongruity of a suburban wife and mother who sidelines as a black-market fence, with a garage full of stolen goods she explains to her unseen husband as "eBay."

The one performance out of sync with everybody else is Helena Bonham Carter's as Rose Weil. A démodé fashion designer teetering toward bankruptcy, she's roped into the scheme with a promise of financial rescue. By planting gossip items about a design flirtation with a young It girl (Dakota Fanning, one of many star cameos), Debbie and Lou craftily position Rose to do Daphne's gown for the gala, as a stepping stone to the antique necklace that's their target. Bonham Carter is playing an eccentric character not unlike her frequent designer of choice, Vivienne Westwood, which should be clever casting, but her bonkers mannerisms feel as strained as her inconsistent Irish accent. Her timing is constantly off.

The production's access to locations like the Cartier flagship store, the Plaza, Bergdorf Goodman, the Vogue offices at Conde Nast and, most significantly, the Metropolitan Museum itself, gives it luxe credibility. And Sarah Edwards' eye-popping costumes, together with the work of celebrated designers inspired by the European royalty theme of the Met Costume Institute exhibit, make for some tasty fashion porn. It's like a Sex and the City movie with thievery. And no sex. Despite some on-the-nose dialogue about how men get noticed and "for once, we wanna be ignored," Debbie's crew all end up dressed to slay.

Anyone who has ever wondered what goes on beyond the red-carpeted steps at the Met Gala will find plenty to gawk at, along with appearances by a flock of boldface names — designers, movie stars, models, whatever Kim Kardashian and her sisters qualify as, even the event's high priestess, Anna Wintour — to help set the scene.

In such an atmosphere of pomp and sophistication, there's entertainment value in following the female crew as they weave among the glitterati, either disguised as staffers or hiding in plain sight as guests, carrying out the precision-timed plan with quick-thinking resourcefulness, if not much in the way of glitches to fuel any real tension. But there's also something dispiritingly mechanical about the movie that makes it seem a missed opportunity.

In one sweet, subtle touch, New York stage veterans Marlo Thomas, Dana Ivey, Mary Louise Wilson and Elizabeth Ashley turn up as regional theater actresses hired by the crew to shift stolen gems. That creative casting stroke and its all-ages inclusivity suggest the admirable intentions of a project that aims to carve out screen time for as diverse a spectrum of women as possible. A little less generic slickness and more of that adventurous feminist spirit would have gone a long way.

What Soderbergh, who serves here as producer, brought to his Ocean's Film-to-watchonline s — even the busy, bloated sequels — was a jazzy energy, an effortless light touch that seems beyond the reach of Ross. Ocean's 8 tries to inject that verve with an eclectic mix of music to supplement Daniel Pemberton's score, from Charles Aznavour to Amy Winehouse, James Last to The Notorious B.I.G. But it lacks punch, even if the complicated plotting is sound enough, the gadgetry impressive and the visual trappings sleek. You just start to feel starved for a movie with conflict, suspense and a little heart, rather than a repackaged version of a formula already flogged to death.

Production company: Rahway Road Distributor: Warner Bros. Cast: Sandra Bullock, Cate Blanchett, Anne Hathaway, Mindy Kaling, Awkwafina, Sarah Paulson, Rihanna, Helena Bonham Carter, Richard Armitage, James Corden Director: Gary Ross Screenwriters: Gary Ross, Olivia Milch; story by Ross, based on characters created by George Clayton Johnson, Jack Golden Russell Producers: Steven Soderbergh, Susan Ekins Executive producers: Michael Tadross, Diana Alvarez, Jesse Ehrman, Bruce Berman Director of photography: Eigil Bryld Production designer: Alex DiGerlando Costume designer: Sarah Edwards Music: Daniel Pemberton Editors: Juliette Welfling Visual effects supervisor: Karen Heston Casting: Debra Zane, Shayna Markowitz

Rated PG-13, 110 minutes

Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/last-jedi-pulls-450-million-box-office-least-liked-star-wars-films/

'The Last Jedi' pulls in $450 million box office but least liked of 'Star Wars' films

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” might have pulled in $450 million in tickets worldwide at the box office, but it is actually the least liked of all the films in "Star Wars" eight chapters. While critics lavished praise on "The Last Jedi" giving it a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences only gave it 56%. This makes it the least liked in the "Star Wars" franchise including "Episode 2: Clone Wars" which received 57%. As news of Disney merging with Fox for $52.4 billion still resonates, the Mouse House proves its marketing might in freshening up the 40-year-old franchise for a new generation while still satisfying the original generation it began with. Rian Johnson’s second installment in the third “Star Wars” trilogy rocketed to a debut of $220 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. That gives “The Last Jedi” the second-best opening ever, slotting in behind only its predecessor, “The Force Awakens.” The Disney blockbuster became just the fourth film to open above $200 million domestically. Aside from “The Force Awakens” ($248.8 million), the others are “The Avengers” ($207.4 million) and “Jurassic World” ($208.8 million). Accounting for inflation, the debut of 2012′s “The Avengers” would roughly tie with “The Last Jedi.” “The Last Jedi” is off to a similar start overseas, too, with $230 million in international ticket sales, said Disney. That brings its three-day global haul to $450 million. “The Force Awakens” had benefited from unique circumstances. Pent-up demand was off the charts: It was the first “Star Wars” movie in 32 years with performances by fan favorites like Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia). “The Force Awakens,” directed by J.J. Abrams, a star in his own right, was also the first “Star Wars” movie pushed through Walt Disney Company’s vaunted marketing system. (Disney bought Lucasfilm, the “Star Wars” studio, in 2012.)

As a result, analysts expected “The Last Jedi” to generate roughly $200 million in opening-weekend ticket sales in the United States and Canada, or about 20 percent less than its predecessor.

“We came in thinking that anything close to 200 was going to be an absolute win,” Dave Hollis, Disney’s president of theatrical distribution, said on Sunday. “The result we got is a reflection on Rian Johnson, who delivered a satisfying fan experience. Word of mouth has been enormous.” “The Last Jedi,” which cost roughly $350 million to make and market, arrived to a better-than-expected turnout even as moviegoers avoided higher-priced 3-D screenings — an ongoing trend in the movie business, especially for films that draw large family audiences. (The glasses don’t fit little faces.) The 3-D format accounted for 30 percent of ticket sales for “The Last Jedi,” according to Disney, down from 47 percent for “The Force Awakens.”

Even so, theater owners were ecstatic.

“That word actually doesn’t do it justice,” said Greg Foster, chief executive of Imax Entertainment, which played “The Last Jedi” in both 3-D and 2-D. “This shows that new ‘Star Wars’ characters are connecting with a new generation of fans. It shows that, when there is a true event movie, people want to see it on the biggest screen possible.”

Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theater Owners, echoed those thoughts and noted that “The Last Jedi” also benefited from improved technology in theatrical distribution, including digital presales. “It shows the flexibility of the modern digital multiplex, able to add new show times at the last minute to meet that demand,” he said.

“The Last Jedi” brought back Ms. Fisher — now playing General Leia in one of her final roles — and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) but largely focused on newer characters that include the rebel fighter Rey, played by Daisy Ridley; the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver); and the brash pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Men made up 58 percent of the opening-weekend audience, Disney said, on par with “The Force Awakens.” The new film drew a larger number of children under the age of 12 and adults 17 to 25, with teenagers slightly down.

“The weekend that we’re in is a byproduct of the foresight and vision from our CEO Bob Iger to bring Lucasfilm into the fold,” said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis, alluding to Disney’s 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm. “So as we think about the possibility of other things being added, you can’t help but be excited about the possibilities.” Fox, as it happens, was the only studio to open another new wide-release film against “The Last Jedi.” Its family film, “Ferdinand,” was essentially stampeded by “The Last Jedi,” grossing $13.3 million. “Ferdinand” and other upcoming holiday season releases will look for more room in the coming weeks, once the “Star Wars” tsunami has waned. While Abrams’ reboot capitalized on a decade’s hiatus for “Star Wars,” Johnson’s sequel didn’t have the same benefit of freshness. It follows not only “The Force Awakens” (which ultimately grossed $2.1 billion) but last year’s spinoff, “Rogue One.” That release opened with $155.1 million, and grossed in total little more than $1 billion globally. Johnson, who wrote and directed, instead aimed to distinguish “The Last Jedi” by introducing some new tones to George Lucas’ space opera. “The Last Jedi” is more irreverent than previous chapters. And it has drawn plaudits for its diverse cast, including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. “The results speak to the power of representation,” said Hollis. “The film really reflects our world and beyond. It becomes something people can see themselves in, whether they see themselves in Rey or Finn or Poe or Rose or Captain Phasma. They can relate to all those characters.” Johnson’s approach has seemed to work. Critics gave Johnson’s film a 93 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences endorsed it, too, with an A CinemaScore, though not all fans are on board with Johnson’s innovations. As of Sunday, “The Last Jedi” has scored a dismal 56 percent rating from some 95,000 Rotten Tomato users. Yet the haul for “The Last Jedi” dwarfed most all releases in the two years since “The Force Awakens.” By comparison, it has in three days already bested the five-week gross of Warner Bros.′ “Justice League” ($219.5 million). “Seeing a movie like this in the movie theater, getting the collective goosebumps and having the OMG-moments, that’s something you cannot replicate at home on the small screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “Rian Johnson has made a movie that showcases the movie theater experience in a truly brilliant way.” Signaling its faith in Johnson’s course for “Star Wars,” Lucasfilm earlier announced that Johnson will develop the next trilogy for the franchise, the first of which he’ll write and direct. Abrams is set to return to direct Episode IX after he was brought in to replace Colin Trevorrow. A separate spinoff centered on a young Han Solo is due out next summer. The massive debut for “The Last Jedi” singlehandedly brightens what has been a disappointing year for Hollywood. The weekend was far and away the highest grossing of the year. According to comScore, the industry was down about 3.9 percent from last year before this weekend. Now it’s 2.9 percent off the 2016 pace. Dergarabedian estimates the year will end about 2 percent down with a little over $11 billion in ticket sales. “The Last Jedi” may be playing the role of savior at the box office, but the news isn’t all rosy for exhibitors. Given the demand, Disney put more onerous demands on some theater owners for “The Last Jedi,” including a higher percentage — 65 percent — of ticket sales. And Disney’s acquisition of Fox is seen by analysts as a bid, in part, to strengthen the studio’s in-development streaming platform, set to debut in 2019. Disney and Fox combined for five of the top 10 movies on the weekend and together accounted for approximately 90 percent of ticket sales. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

“The Last Jedi,” $220 million ($230 million international).

“Ferdinand,” $13.3 million ($6.2 million international).

“Coco,” $10 million ($27.4 million international).

“Wonder,” $5.4 million ($9.4 million international).

“Justice League,” $4.2 million ($5.3 million international).

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $3.8 million ($5.8 million international).

“Thor: Ragnarok,” $3 million ($1.1 million international).

“The Disaster Artist,” $2.6 million.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” $2.5 million ($10.8 million international).

“Lady Bird,” $2.1 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to comScore:

“The Last Jedi,” $230 million.

“Youth,” $44 million.

“The Thousand Faces of Dunjia,” $27.9 million.

“Coco,” $27.4 million.

“Steel Rain,” $11.6 million.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” $10.8 million.

“Paddington 2,” $9.7 million.

“Wonder,” $9.4 million.

“Ferdinand,” $6.2 million.

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $5.8 million.

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'The Last Jedi' pulls in $450 million box office but least liked of 'Star Wars' films

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” might have pulled in $450 million in tickets worldwide at the box office, but it is actually the least liked of all the films in "Star Wars" eight chapters. While critics lavished praise on "The Last Jedi" giving it a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences only gave it 56%. This makes it the least liked in the "Star Wars" franchise including "Episode 2: Clone Wars" which received 57%. As news of Disney merging with Fox for $52.4 billion still resonates, the Mouse House proves its marketing might in freshening up the 40-year-old franchise for a new generation while still satisfying the original generation it began with. Rian Johnson’s second installment in the third “Star Wars” trilogy rocketed to a debut of $220 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. That gives “The Last Jedi” the second-best opening ever, slotting in behind only its predecessor, “The Force Awakens.” The Disney blockbuster became just the fourth film to open above $200 million domestically. Aside from “The Force Awakens” ($248.8 million), the others are “The Avengers” ($207.4 million) and “Jurassic World” ($208.8 million). Accounting for inflation, the debut of 2012′s “The Avengers” would roughly tie with “The Last Jedi.” “The Last Jedi” is off to a similar start overseas, too, with $230 million in international ticket sales, said Disney. That brings its three-day global haul to $450 million. “The Force Awakens” had benefited from unique circumstances. Pent-up demand was off the charts: It was the first “Star Wars” movie in 32 years with performances by fan favorites like Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia). “The Force Awakens,” directed by J.J. Abrams, a star in his own right, was also the first “Star Wars” movie pushed through Walt Disney Company’s vaunted marketing system. (Disney bought Lucasfilm, the “Star Wars” studio, in 2012.)

As a result, analysts expected “The Last Jedi” to generate roughly $200 million in opening-weekend ticket sales in the United States and Canada, or about 20 percent less than its predecessor.

“We came in thinking that anything close to 200 was going to be an absolute win,” Dave Hollis, Disney’s president of theatrical distribution, said on Sunday. “The result we got is a reflection on Rian Johnson, who delivered a satisfying fan experience. Word of mouth has been enormous.” “The Last Jedi,” which cost roughly $350 million to make and market, arrived to a better-than-expected turnout even as moviegoers avoided higher-priced 3-D screenings — an ongoing trend in the movie business, especially for films that draw large family audiences. (The glasses don’t fit little faces.) The 3-D format accounted for 30 percent of ticket sales for “The Last Jedi,” according to Disney, down from 47 percent for “The Force Awakens.”

Even so, theater owners were ecstatic.

“That word actually doesn’t do it justice,” said Greg Foster, chief executive of Imax Entertainment, which played “The Last Jedi” in both 3-D and 2-D. “This shows that new ‘Star Wars’ characters are connecting with a new generation of fans. It shows that, when there is a true event movie, people want to see it on the biggest screen possible.”

Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theater Owners, echoed those thoughts and noted that “The Last Jedi” also benefited from improved technology in theatrical distribution, including digital presales. “It shows the flexibility of the modern digital multiplex, able to add new show times at the last minute to meet that demand,” he said.

“The Last Jedi” brought back Ms. Fisher — now playing General Leia in one of her final roles — and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) but largely focused on newer characters that include the rebel fighter Rey, played by Daisy Ridley; the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver); and the brash pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Men made up 58 percent of the opening-weekend audience, Disney said, on par with “The Force Awakens.” The new film drew a larger number of children under the age of 12 and adults 17 to 25, with teenagers slightly down.

“The weekend that we’re in is a byproduct of the foresight and vision from our CEO Bob Iger to bring Lucasfilm into the fold,” said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis, alluding to Disney’s 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm. “So as we think about the possibility of other things being added, you can’t help but be excited about the possibilities.” Fox, as it happens, was the only studio to open another new wide-release film against “The Last Jedi.” Its family film, “Ferdinand,” was essentially stampeded by “The Last Jedi,” grossing $13.3 million. “Ferdinand” and other upcoming holiday season releases will look for more room in the coming weeks, once the “Star Wars” tsunami has waned. While Abrams’ reboot capitalized on a decade’s hiatus for “Star Wars,” Johnson’s sequel didn’t have the same benefit of freshness. It follows not only “The Force Awakens” (which ultimately grossed $2.1 billion) but last year’s spinoff, “Rogue One.” That release opened with $155.1 million, and grossed in total little more than $1 billion globally. Johnson, who wrote and directed, instead aimed to distinguish “The Last Jedi” by introducing some new tones to George Lucas’ space opera. “The Last Jedi” is more irreverent than previous chapters. And it has drawn plaudits for its diverse cast, including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. “The results speak to the power of representation,” said Hollis. “The film really reflects our world and beyond. It becomes something people can see themselves in, whether they see themselves in Rey or Finn or Poe or Rose or Captain Phasma. They can relate to all those characters.” Johnson’s approach has seemed to work. Critics gave Johnson’s film a 93 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences endorsed it, too, with an A CinemaScore, though not all fans are on board with Johnson’s innovations. As of Sunday, “The Last Jedi” has scored a dismal 56 percent rating from some 95,000 Rotten Tomato users. Yet the haul for “The Last Jedi” dwarfed most all releases in the two years since “The Force Awakens.” By comparison, it has in three days already bested the five-week gross of Warner Bros.′ “Justice League” ($219.5 million). “Seeing a movie like this in the movie theater, getting the collective goosebumps and having the OMG-moments, that’s something you cannot replicate at home on the small screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “Rian Johnson has made a movie that showcases the movie theater experience in a truly brilliant way.” Signaling its faith in Johnson’s course for “Star Wars,” Lucasfilm earlier announced that Johnson will develop the next trilogy for the franchise, the first of which he’ll write and direct. Abrams is set to return to direct Episode IX after he was brought in to replace Colin Trevorrow. A separate spinoff centered on a young Han Solo is due out next summer. The massive debut for “The Last Jedi” singlehandedly brightens what has been a disappointing year for Hollywood. The weekend was far and away the highest grossing of the year. According to comScore, the industry was down about 3.9 percent from last year before this weekend. Now it’s 2.9 percent off the 2016 pace. Dergarabedian estimates the year will end about 2 percent down with a little over $11 billion in ticket sales. “The Last Jedi” may be playing the role of savior at the box office, but the news isn’t all rosy for exhibitors. Given the demand, Disney put more onerous demands on some theater owners for “The Last Jedi,” including a higher percentage — 65 percent — of ticket sales. And Disney’s acquisition of Fox is seen by analysts as a bid, in part, to strengthen the studio’s in-development streaming platform, set to debut in 2019. Disney and Fox combined for five of the top 10 movies on the weekend and together accounted for approximately 90 percent of ticket sales. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

“The Last Jedi,” $220 million ($230 million international).

“Ferdinand,” $13.3 million ($6.2 million international).

“Coco,” $10 million ($27.4 million international).

“Wonder,” $5.4 million ($9.4 million international).

“Justice League,” $4.2 million ($5.3 million international).

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $3.8 million ($5.8 million international).

“Thor: Ragnarok,” $3 million ($1.1 million international).

“The Disaster Artist,” $2.6 million.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” $2.5 million ($10.8 million international).

“Lady Bird,” $2.1 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to comScore:

“The Last Jedi,” $230 million.

“Youth,” $44 million.

“The Thousand Faces of Dunjia,” $27.9 million.

“Coco,” $27.4 million.

“Steel Rain,” $11.6 million.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” $10.8 million.

“Paddington 2,” $9.7 million.

“Wonder,” $9.4 million.

“Ferdinand,” $6.2 million.

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $5.8 million.

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Latest story from https://movietvtechgeeks.com/last-jedi-pulls-450-million-box-office-least-liked-star-wars-films/

'The Last Jedi' pulls in $450 million box office but least liked of 'Star Wars' films

“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” might have pulled in $450 million in tickets worldwide at the box office, but it is actually the least liked of all the films in "Star Wars" eight chapters. While critics lavished praise on "The Last Jedi" giving it a 93% on Rotten Tomatoes, audiences only gave it 56%. This makes it the least liked in the "Star Wars" franchise including "Episode 2: Clone Wars" which received 57%. As news of Disney merging with Fox for $52.4 billion still resonates, the Mouse House proves its marketing might in freshening up the 40-year-old franchise for a new generation while still satisfying the original generation it began with. Rian Johnson’s second installment in the third “Star Wars” trilogy rocketed to a debut of $220 million at the North American box office, according to studio estimates Sunday. That gives “The Last Jedi” the second-best opening ever, slotting in behind only its predecessor, “The Force Awakens.” The Disney blockbuster became just the fourth film to open above $200 million domestically. Aside from “The Force Awakens” ($248.8 million), the others are “The Avengers” ($207.4 million) and “Jurassic World” ($208.8 million). Accounting for inflation, the debut of 2012′s “The Avengers” would roughly tie with “The Last Jedi.” “The Last Jedi” is off to a similar start overseas, too, with $230 million in international ticket sales, said Disney. That brings its three-day global haul to $450 million. “The Force Awakens” had benefited from unique circumstances. Pent-up demand was off the charts: It was the first “Star Wars” movie in 32 years with performances by fan favorites like Harrison Ford (Han Solo) and Carrie Fisher (Princess Leia). “The Force Awakens,” directed by J.J. Abrams, a star in his own right, was also the first “Star Wars” movie pushed through Walt Disney Company’s vaunted marketing system. (Disney bought Lucasfilm, the “Star Wars” studio, in 2012.)

As a result, analysts expected “The Last Jedi” to generate roughly $200 million in opening-weekend ticket sales in the United States and Canada, or about 20 percent less than its predecessor.

“We came in thinking that anything close to 200 was going to be an absolute win,” Dave Hollis, Disney’s president of theatrical distribution, said on Sunday. “The result we got is a reflection on Rian Johnson, who delivered a satisfying fan experience. Word of mouth has been enormous.” “The Last Jedi,” which cost roughly $350 million to make and market, arrived to a better-than-expected turnout even as moviegoers avoided higher-priced 3-D screenings — an ongoing trend in the movie business, especially for films that draw large family audiences. (The glasses don’t fit little faces.) The 3-D format accounted for 30 percent of ticket sales for “The Last Jedi,” according to Disney, down from 47 percent for “The Force Awakens.”

Even so, theater owners were ecstatic.

“That word actually doesn’t do it justice,” said Greg Foster, chief executive of Imax Entertainment, which played “The Last Jedi” in both 3-D and 2-D. “This shows that new ‘Star Wars’ characters are connecting with a new generation of fans. It shows that, when there is a true event movie, people want to see it on the biggest screen possible.”

Patrick Corcoran, vice president of the National Association of Theater Owners, echoed those thoughts and noted that “The Last Jedi” also benefited from improved technology in theatrical distribution, including digital presales. “It shows the flexibility of the modern digital multiplex, able to add new show times at the last minute to meet that demand,” he said.

“The Last Jedi” brought back Ms. Fisher — now playing General Leia in one of her final roles — and Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) but largely focused on newer characters that include the rebel fighter Rey, played by Daisy Ridley; the evil Kylo Ren (Adam Driver); and the brash pilot Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac). Men made up 58 percent of the opening-weekend audience, Disney said, on par with “The Force Awakens.” The new film drew a larger number of children under the age of 12 and adults 17 to 25, with teenagers slightly down.

“The weekend that we’re in is a byproduct of the foresight and vision from our CEO Bob Iger to bring Lucasfilm into the fold,” said Disney distribution chief Dave Hollis, alluding to Disney’s 2012 purchase of Lucasfilm. “So as we think about the possibility of other things being added, you can’t help but be excited about the possibilities.” Fox, as it happens, was the only studio to open another new wide-release film against “The Last Jedi.” Its family film, “Ferdinand,” was essentially stampeded by “The Last Jedi,” grossing $13.3 million. “Ferdinand” and other upcoming holiday season releases will look for more room in the coming weeks, once the “Star Wars” tsunami has waned. While Abrams’ reboot capitalized on a decade’s hiatus for “Star Wars,” Johnson’s sequel didn’t have the same benefit of freshness. It follows not only “The Force Awakens” (which ultimately grossed $2.1 billion) but last year’s spinoff, “Rogue One.” That release opened with $155.1 million, and grossed in total little more than $1 billion globally. Johnson, who wrote and directed, instead aimed to distinguish “The Last Jedi” by introducing some new tones to George Lucas’ space opera. “The Last Jedi” is more irreverent than previous chapters. And it has drawn plaudits for its diverse cast, including Daisy Ridley, John Boyega and newcomer Kelly Marie Tran. “The results speak to the power of representation,” said Hollis. “The film really reflects our world and beyond. It becomes something people can see themselves in, whether they see themselves in Rey or Finn or Poe or Rose or Captain Phasma. They can relate to all those characters.” Johnson’s approach has seemed to work. Critics gave Johnson’s film a 93 percent fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences endorsed it, too, with an A CinemaScore, though not all fans are on board with Johnson’s innovations. As of Sunday, “The Last Jedi” has scored a dismal 56 percent rating from some 95,000 Rotten Tomato users. Yet the haul for “The Last Jedi” dwarfed most all releases in the two years since “The Force Awakens.” By comparison, it has in three days already bested the five-week gross of Warner Bros.′ “Justice League” ($219.5 million). “Seeing a movie like this in the movie theater, getting the collective goosebumps and having the OMG-moments, that’s something you cannot replicate at home on the small screen,” said Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for comScore. “Rian Johnson has made a movie that showcases the movie theater experience in a truly brilliant way.” Signaling its faith in Johnson’s course for “Star Wars,” Lucasfilm earlier announced that Johnson will develop the next trilogy for the franchise, the first of which he’ll write and direct. Abrams is set to return to direct Episode IX after he was brought in to replace Colin Trevorrow. A separate spinoff centered on a young Han Solo is due out next summer. The massive debut for “The Last Jedi” singlehandedly brightens what has been a disappointing year for Hollywood. The weekend was far and away the highest grossing of the year. According to comScore, the industry was down about 3.9 percent from last year before this weekend. Now it’s 2.9 percent off the 2016 pace. Dergarabedian estimates the year will end about 2 percent down with a little over $11 billion in ticket sales. “The Last Jedi” may be playing the role of savior at the box office, but the news isn’t all rosy for exhibitors. Given the demand, Disney put more onerous demands on some theater owners for “The Last Jedi,” including a higher percentage — 65 percent — of ticket sales. And Disney’s acquisition of Fox is seen by analysts as a bid, in part, to strengthen the studio’s in-development streaming platform, set to debut in 2019. Disney and Fox combined for five of the top 10 movies on the weekend and together accounted for approximately 90 percent of ticket sales. Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to comScore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included. Final domestic figures will be released Monday.

“The Last Jedi,” $220 million ($230 million international).

“Ferdinand,” $13.3 million ($6.2 million international).

“Coco,” $10 million ($27.4 million international).

“Wonder,” $5.4 million ($9.4 million international).

“Justice League,” $4.2 million ($5.3 million international).

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $3.8 million ($5.8 million international).

“Thor: Ragnarok,” $3 million ($1.1 million international).

“The Disaster Artist,” $2.6 million.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” $2.5 million ($10.8 million international).

“Lady Bird,” $2.1 million.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at international theaters (excluding the U.S. and Canada), according to comScore:

“The Last Jedi,” $230 million.

“Youth,” $44 million.

“The Thousand Faces of Dunjia,” $27.9 million.

“Coco,” $27.4 million.

“Steel Rain,” $11.6 million.

“Murder on the Orient Express,” $10.8 million.

“Paddington 2,” $9.7 million.

“Wonder,” $9.4 million.

“Ferdinand,” $6.2 million.

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $5.8 million.

Movie TV Tech Geeks News