Hamill, Fisher, Ford, Kasdan, Abrams, Boyega, Driver, Ridley

December 8, 2015 10:45 AM

'Star Wars' Strikes Back: Behind the Scenes of the Biggest Movie of the Year
posted by the man of twists and turns (110 comments total)

Nope. Not gonna look. Uh-uh. No way…
posted by George Lucas at 10:51 AM on December 8, 2015 [30 favorites]

I am so pumped for this movie. I remember my dad taking me to see the original trilogy in theaters when they were re-released in the 90's sometime and it's one of my favorite memories as a kid. After these new movies come out I'll have seen them all in theaters, and apparently I'll die before they even end so that's even cooler!
posted by gucci mane at 10:57 AM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

My favorite thing that's come out of the Star Wars media blitz is finding out the other day that Carrie Fisher has a frenchie named Gary Fisher, and that she keeps a twitter account for him.
posted by Windigo at 11:00 AM on December 8, 2015 [6 favorites]

I like the movies well enough but man, even by modern mass-merchandising standards Star Wars is out of control.

When Bed, Bath & Beyond is taken over with Star Wars-themed merchandise then there really is nowhere left to run.
posted by GuyZero at 11:01 AM on December 8, 2015 [8 favorites]

When Bed, Bath & Beyond is taken over with Star Wars-themed merchandise then there really is nowhere left to run.


Not surprising considering it's Disney running the show now. They do know how to market.
posted by KaizenSoze at 11:09 AM on December 8, 2015 [5 favorites]

I'm predicting they will be as forgettable as other churn-em-out franchises such as Iron Man 2.
posted by Metro Gnome at 11:12 AM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

Have a ticket for next Friday and am not going to read, watch or listen to anything about it before then.
posted by octothorpe at 11:15 AM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

I am so freaking pumped for this. I am worried that it might be a bit of a rehash, and lord knows I've been hurt by Star Wars before, but I know it's going to be better than the prequels.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:19 AM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I understand the reluctance to risk spoilers, but Boyega's account of being told to take a malfunctioning BB8 puppet out behind the woodshed and put it out of its misery with a jagged hunk of cinder block is actually quite moving.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 11:25 AM on December 8, 2015 [16 favorites]

This was a nicely non-spoilery article focussing on the actors, young and old, and I appreciated reading it. I've been avoiding most media about the new movie until after I see it next weekend, but I did click through on this, ready to close the tab at any moment, but never felt the need.

Thanks for posting!
posted by hippybear at 11:25 AM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm predicting they will be as forgettable as other churn-em-out franchises such as Iron Man 2.

I find your lack of fai
posted by maxsparber at 11:33 AM on December 8, 2015 [11 favorites]

"I could have felt silly, to be my age prancing around in high boots and a gun belt with a guy in the hair suit, but I didn't. I love the work. I like playing different kinds of characters. What's not to like? It's no big fucking deal. This is what I do."

Harrison Ford is a treasure.

I'm ambivalent about Star Wars, generally. It never really struck a chord with me and, although I've seen all six movies (and slept through 90% of Ep IV in the theater when it was re-released), I realized the other day that I don't care whether or not I see this new one. Part of it is that I just don't watch many movies anymore (or enjoy them when I do), but it's largely that I just don't have any expectations about it. "It will be a movie" is about the best that I'm hoping for, which isn't really motivation to spend whatever a movie costs these days.
posted by uncleozzy at 11:38 AM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

I find your lack of fai

It's an older Star Wars joke sir, but it checks out.
posted by GuyZero at 11:39 AM on December 8, 2015 [70 favorites]

Put me on the "I Am So Pumped" train, with the caveat that I am pretty embarrassed about it. I've reached the point where I have to avoid all Star Wars-related material entirely because I get too overwhelmed with the excitement. The theme was played on the radio to introduce an interview for one actor or another and I had to turn the radio off and pull the car over to get a hold of myself. I wish I was kidding. I was going to read some of my old favorites from the now-defunct Expanded Universe but I can't even handle that.

This happened before Episodes I and II (by the third I was dead inside). I have really pulled back from the fandom in the past decade, and between that and being in my thirties I assumed I'd be able to chill the fuck out. But apparently nope, we are right back to being that teenager in her Jedi costume waiting outside the theater doors for the midnight showing.

Anyway I will bookmark this and read it after the movie comes out. Hopefully I am not disgusted and will actually want to!
posted by Anonymous at 12:14 PM on December 8, 2015

"I've never seen him yell at anybody or lose his cool," says Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm, which remains a distinct entity within Disney, like Pixar and Marvel.

If that sentence travelled through a time/space wormhole to 1995 Rock Steady, my brain would have melted out my ears.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:16 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

"I'm ambivalent about Star Wars, generally. "

Oh thank Christ it's not just me.
posted by notsnot at 12:31 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

I just picked up DVD copies of Episodes 1-6 from a coworker so I can binge watch them with my daughter - who has never seen them before - in preparation for next weekend.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:36 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

I just picked up DVD copies of Episodes 1-6 from a coworker so I can binge watch them with my daughter

Please brief yourself on the Machete Order. You'll thank me later.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:41 PM on December 8, 2015 [5 favorites]

Is that the one where you watch the original trilogy and then take a meat cleaver to the other three DVDs?
posted by Atom Eyes at 12:44 PM on December 8, 2015 [27 favorites]

I just picked up DVD copies of Episodes 1-6 from a coworker so I can binge watch them with my daughter - who has never seen them before - in preparation for next weekend.

Do yourself a huge favor and download Harmy's Despecialized editions. They're very well done and top quality.

I'm sorry I can't provide a link right now. I got them through Harmy's Facebook page, which is blocked at my workplace.

Please brief yourself on the Machete Order.

Honestly, I doubt the prequels need to be watched in order to know what's going on in Episode VII.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:45 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

Do yourself a huge favor and download Harmy's Despecialized edition

I really really wish these rumors of Disney putting them out for legit would materialize.

It seems like a lost marketing opportunity to put all of them on PPV/VOD over the summer of 2015 so people would brush up on the story and/or introduce their kids. I would have gladly shelled out $30 instead of torrenting Harmy for a weekend.
posted by JoeZydeco at 12:48 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I really really wish these rumors of Disney putting them out for legit would materialize.

Me too, but until then, the Despecialized are sufficient and very well done.
posted by Fleebnork at 12:51 PM on December 8, 2015

First movie I saw in the theater was Star Wars in 1977. Can't wait to see this one!
posted by persona au gratin at 12:55 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

Part of it is that I just don't watch many movies anymore (or enjoy them when I do), but it's largely that I just don't have any expectations about it. "It will be a movie" is about the best that I'm hoping for, which isn't really motivation to spend whatever a movie costs these days.


Not just me, then. I loved going to the movies when I was younger, and when I was dating via Match.com, I put it down as something I really enjoyed doing...then, after meeting my wife, I had to come to the realization that I really didn't enjoy it nearly as much as she did...and actually just wasn't all that excited about going to see much of anything. (As with many people, I wonder if I'm turning into my father, who I've never known to be into movies...though not quite to his extent of just not seeing the point of fiction.)

I always considered myself a die-hard geek, and while it's true that pretty much every movie I've wanted to go see for my own sake over the past few years has been geek-bait (Captain Americas 1 and 2, Avengers, Guardians of the Galaxy, etc.), there have been plenty more geek-bait films I've either watched out of a feeling of "sure, why not", or just haven't bothered with at all. The idea of a new Star Wars film stirs *something* in me, but not very strongly. I may go with my son, since he's now at the same age I was when I saw the first one, but it'll be in the hope that he'll enjoy it more than I will.
posted by Four Ds at 12:55 PM on December 8, 2015

I like playing different kinds of characters.

point of order Harrison Ford has endearingly played the exact same character for 40 years.
posted by The Whelk at 1:04 PM on December 8, 2015 [22 favorites]

I hope it's really good. One thing the original trilogy did so well (as pointed out by another Mefite once) is my together things like a WWII Bomber movie with a Samurai film to create a new Sci-Fi Fantasy. I'm not sure the new movie will pull it off, but at the very least, the characters seem interesting.
posted by drezdn at 1:14 PM on December 8, 2015

We are also re-watching to prepare and my kids love Jar Jar Binks! I'd always heard that such a thing was possible, but it was disheartening to experience it in my own family.
posted by Area Man at 1:14 PM on December 8, 2015 [17 favorites]

JoeZydeco: "Please brief yourself on the Machete Order. You'll thank me later."

Already onboard with Machete Order. I'm eager to see how it plays out in practice.
posted by Rock Steady at 1:16 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

point of order Harrison Ford has endearingly played the exact same character for 40 years.

source
posted by bonje at 1:17 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

I barely remember it, but pops and I had a moment this last Thanksgiving reminiscing about the time he took me, my two older cousins, and his art school hippie buddy who wore red tinted pilot goggles to Star Wars in 1977.

What I remember most was that we stayed and watched it again. That, and his buddy somehow finagled a shitton of free popcorn.

I'm gonna get to see this with Dad, and that thought gets me a tad misty.
posted by Sphinx at 1:17 PM on December 8, 2015 [5 favorites]

Making this movie has to be almost as tough (if not tougher) than rebooting Dr. Who was. There's already an entrenched fandom prepared not to like it.
posted by drezdn at 1:18 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck pleasedon'tsuck
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:20 PM on December 8, 2015 [16 favorites]

I can't wait until it is discovered that Mark Hamill's involvement is doing voice work as Medical Droid #2.
posted by sourwookie at 1:22 PM on December 8, 2015 [10 favorites]

Nope. Not gonna look. Uh-uh. No way…
posted by George Lucas at 1:51 PM on December 8

Aw, it's not going to be so bad.

At least, it can't possible be as bad as G.L. described recusing himself from SW:TFA in this recent interview:

"I call it like a divorce. There is no such thing as working over someone’s shoulder. You’re either the dictator or you’re not. And to do that would never work, so I said ‘I’m going to get divorced.’ [...] Now I’m faced with this awkward reality, which is fine. [...] I gotta go to the wedding. My ex will be there, my new wife will be there, but I’m going to have to take a very deep breath and be a good person and sit through it and just enjoy the moment, because it is what it is and it’s a conscious decision that I made."

But speaking of divorces, what's really important is if anyone's reached out to Marcia Griffin, the former Mrs. Lucas and Star Wars' unsung hero.
posted by Doktor Zed at 1:23 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

point of order Harrison Ford has endearingly played the exact same character for 40 years

Harrison Ford: Now entering his 5th decade of telling people to get off his airplane.
posted by Atom Eyes at 1:25 PM on December 8, 2015 [8 favorites]

I was talking to some moms at my library today about my upcoming Star Wars craft night and they were all "I've never seen Star Wars" and there really is not much to say after that.
posted by Biblio at 1:28 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

My brother-in-law (who is in his low thirties) claims to have never seen Star Wars. I can't even. NathanFillonreaching.gif
posted by drezdn at 1:32 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

Is not liking or not having seen Star Wars the new "I don't own a television"?
posted by chimaera at 1:32 PM on December 8, 2015 [7 favorites]

I was dismayed to find that a major website I use (rhymes with "Lougle") is running a simple game to choose the Light Side or Dark Side of the Force and reskin one's account accordingly.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:33 PM on December 8, 2015

Is not liking or not having seen Star Wars the new "I don't own a television"?

I think of people not having seen Star Wars as "Why are we failing in our children's education?"
posted by Fleebnork at 1:34 PM on December 8, 2015 [6 favorites]

Is not liking or not having seen Star Wars the new "I don't own a television"?

I met a Lucasfilm employee in the late '90s who admitted to only seeing one film in the trilogy. I think it's one of those things now that one can be vaguely aware of without watching any of the films.
posted by ZeusHumms at 1:35 PM on December 8, 2015

I'm ambivalent about Star Wars, generally.

Normally I'd want to snark at someone dropping that kind of comment under a post about stuff people are excited about, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and say maybe you're not the one at fault if you feel compelled to write and post a paragraph or two about how maybe you don't actually have any strong feelings about Star Wars.
posted by straight at 1:43 PM on December 8, 2015

"I've never seen Star Wars" and there really is not much to say after that.

The BBC managed to get entire radio & television series out of it, so...
posted by pharm at 2:04 PM on December 8, 2015

We are also re-watching to prepare and my kids love Jar Jar Binks! I'd always heard that such a thing was possible, but it was disheartening to experience it in my own family.

Well, my five year old adores Darth Vader which is cool and all until you realize that flesh of your flesh worships Space Hitler.
posted by robocop is bleeding at 2:05 PM on December 8, 2015 [9 favorites]

I have some money, I'd like to go see a Star War.
posted by AndrewInDC at 2:07 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

But speaking of divorces, what's really important is if anyone's reached out to Marcia Griffin, the former Mrs. Lucas and Star Wars' unsung hero.

...If you've ever seen the extra features or heard the radio drama version of Star Wars, you realize just how incredibly awful that movie would have been had Marcia Griffin not cut many extraordinarily painful scenes from what was filmed.
posted by combinatorial explosion at 2:09 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

robocop is bleeding: "Well, my five year old adores Darth Vader which is cool and all until you realize that flesh of your flesh is in love with Space Hitler."

If it makes you feel better, Vader's really more of a space Himmler.
posted by octothorpe at 2:10 PM on December 8, 2015 [8 favorites]

"Well, my five year old adores Darth Vader which is cool and all until you realize that flesh of your flesh is in love with Space Hitler."

My son loves General Grievous. Thinks he's cute. Thinks the separatists had a point. Has not actually seen the movie or most of the cartoons Grievous is in. Most of the love was from the Lego Star Wars books he has read.
posted by drezdn at 2:14 PM on December 8, 2015

Say what you will, but Space Mussolini made the intergalactic ion-propulsion trains run on time.
posted by Wolfdog at 2:21 PM on December 8, 2015 [9 favorites]

Thinks the separatists had a point.

Honestly, the Republic does seem ungovernably large and I'm not comfortable with the way the Jedi religion has become a sort of state-established church.
posted by Area Man at 2:40 PM on December 8, 2015 [6 favorites]

There's a subreddit for people like you: The Empire Did Nothing Wrong.
posted by drezdn at 3:00 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

maybe you're not the one at fault if you feel compelled to write and post a paragraph or two about how maybe you don't actually have any strong feelings about Star Wars

Yeah honestly seemingly everybody has such love for the franchise that I feel deficient. No biggie though. Probably nobody else likes Boat Trip the way I do, either.
posted by uncleozzy at 3:24 PM on December 8, 2015

I'm not comfortable with the way the Jedi religion has become a sort of state-established church.

Heretics in the eyes of Space Pope.
posted by AndrewInDC at 3:29 PM on December 8, 2015

Honestly, the Republic does seem ungovernably large and I'm not comfortable with the way the Jedi religion has become a sort of state-established church.

The prequels do depict the Old Republic as a vast, bloated bureaucracy, incapable of meaningful action, and the Jedi as either thuggish enforcers of the status quo or else as relatively ineffective and unwise guardians of peace and order. In so doing, they present us with a dilemma that colors the original trilogy: The Empire is actively evil, but the ways of the Old Republic allowed evil through inertia and incompetence while being overly dependent on a group of monks. Why should we cheer for the later over the former?

The galaxy is in desperate need of different model of politics.
posted by nubs at 3:46 PM on December 8, 2015

maybe you're not the one at fault if you feel compelled to write and post a paragraph or two about how maybe you don't actually have any strong feelings about Star Wars

Yeah honestly seemingly everybody has such love for the franchise that I feel deficient. No biggie though. Probably nobody else likes Boat Trip the way I do, either.

I can pretty much pinpoint when Star Wars lost its hold on me: my second viewing of the Phantom Menace in the theatres. It feels a bit odd to not care about actual sequels to Star Wars, but I guess these things happen. Maybe when my kids are older they'll want to see them but that is the only way I see myself seeing these movies now.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 3:48 PM on December 8, 2015

So, when Star Wars came out in 1977, I could get into the movies for 50 cents (times were different then), and all I did all summer was mow lawns around the neighborhood and ride my back the 2-3 miles to the theater to see Star Wars. 59 times that first summer.

The Special Edition versions of the movies plus the prequels have me in this oddly suspended state of excitement about the new movies. If they/it is good, I will throw my hat fully into the ring to champion it. But I was pretty gung-ho about Ep1 before it came out, and spent a long time trying to reconcile my emotional desire for it to be a great movie with the actuality of what it was.

To be honest, it was the Red Letter Media review of the movie that finally truly expressed for me what was so wrong about the movie while respecting what I, as a fan, wanted to be right about the movie.

So, I have tickets to the movie on opening night, the ~9pm showing no less, in a rather small town but it will still be an madhouse. I hope it's something worth seeing. The most recent Star Trek movie boiled down to being the Hero and the Villain having a fist-fight on top of a moving truck, which James Bond had done decades before and without using green screen... I hope for better from this new movie, so I'm going to go in as fresh as I can, but I'm not 9 years old (as I was in 1977) any more... nor 12 nor 15 nor any of those other ages, and I'm exactly the target audience Abrams is playing to with this movie... me and my hypothetical kids...

I will conclude this comment with something I"ve said repeatedly here and elsewhere:

If he fucks this up we call him JarJar Abrams for the rest of his life.
posted by hippybear at 4:05 PM on December 8, 2015 [5 favorites]

My husband has only seen Episode IV, then the Family Guy versions of the rest of the original trilogy. He escaped growing up with Star Wars by having neither a television nor parents in the right age demographic.

I (and my brothers) grew up with it and I am definitely looking forward to seeing this. Seeing the Star Destroyer crashed in a 3D preview was an incredible vista. I hope they do it justice.
posted by bookdragoness at 4:16 PM on December 8, 2015

A word of praise about (the previously mentioned) Machete order. My husband (age 33) never saw Star Wars growing up. He decided he wanted to view all 6 (well, 5 in this order) before the 18th. Our local video rental (shout out to the awesome Casa Video in Tucson, AZ) has the DVDs of the original trilogy which include the original theatrical release as a bonus disc. So far, we have watched VI and V and it has gone over great. I plan on picking up II on the way home tonight. If you have other people who are Star Wars-less in your life, I recommend it.
posted by lizjohn at 4:43 PM on December 8, 2015

I'm not even sure how to sort out my feelings. On the one hand, it's hard to imagine that anyone could mess up Star Wars more than Lucas already has. On the other, I hate utterly how Abrams' movies tend to treat women. The original trilogy clocks very little time for all lines by women other than Leia, but Leia herself was awesome and women in Abrams' movies tend to just be The Love Interest Who Keeps The Men From Being Too Gay rather than actual characters.
posted by bile and syntax at 4:43 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm not a Star Wars guy for reasons I've gone on about at various times around here, but I'm still curious about it, and I hope it goes well. (I don't really hold out high hopes after the way new Trek has gone, but this is a sequel rather than a reboot - maybe that will help.)
posted by mordax at 4:43 PM on December 8, 2015

"I understand the reluctance to risk spoilers, but Boyega's account of being told to take a malfunctioning BB8 puppet out behind the woodshed and put it out of its misery with a jagged hunk of cinder block is actually quite moving."

Nothing that might spoil the Disney magic can be allowed to exist…
posted by Pinback at 4:45 PM on December 8, 2015

I think that this is a good place to mention a Star Wars I to III hack I've just come across. Watch them dubbed in a language you don't know with the subtitles on. First, the dubbing is high quality. Second, Jar Jar, that junk dealer and miniDarth are all less annoying and in the case of the kid, more expressive. Finally, when it seems like a foreign film, it is easier to enjoy its fantastic set design.
posted by dances_with_sneetches at 4:53 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

You Did It: Captain Phasma was Gender-Swapped

Oscar Isaac on the Challenges of Keeping it Simple

George Lucas Thinks the Kids Will Like the Force Awakens - 'To be fair, George Lucas didn't trash Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which he has seen (and which he will see again next week at the premiere). But he didn't really praise it much, or at least he gave it a kind of a backhanded compliment.'
posted by cendawanita at 5:39 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

I like the movies well enough but man, even by modern mass-merchandising standards Star Wars is out of control.

Yeah, a friend of mine is some kind of "Audience Development Supervisor" at Maker Studios (part of Disney). His job is to develop an audience for Star Wars. For Star Wars! Who the fuck doesn't know about the Star Wars movie coming out? Or Star Wars in general?

One of his projects was the Force Friday toy thing. For the event, he flew out to big Macy's in Downton Chicago (Michigan Street?). (Mostly) Grown men sold out the store in like an hour. His job is like opposite of the phrase "he could sell ice to an Eskimo".
posted by sideshow at 5:56 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

I hate utterly how Abrams' movies tend to treat women.

How did the re-focus on realistic female characters in "Star Wars" occur? Perhaps it was simply Kennedy's not-so-outlandish-idea of putting women in the writing and development room. [...] "I have a story department up at Lucasfilm, and four out of the six people who make up that story department are women," Kennedy says. "So there were as many women sitting in the room having those discussion as there were men. I think that, in and of itself, is what really began to help [Rey] take shape in a way that was relevant to us. And hopefully relevant to other women seeing the film. I think having all those voices in the room, along with mine, was extremely important."
posted by effbot at 6:00 PM on December 8, 2015 [3 favorites]

While I am enjoying the crazy amounts of Star Wars Christmas merch and the Carrie Fisher press tour going on, I refuse to get excited about the movie until reviews come out so I can find out ahead of time if it's Jar Jar levels of suck or not. Then MAYBE I will see it if it doesn't. We'll see. I'm not a whopping JJ Abrams fan, so....

I've known a few people who refuse to see the originals. I have nothing to say to them about that.
posted by jenfullmoon at 6:27 PM on December 8, 2015

That sounds like a pretty normal thing to me.
posted by any portmanteau in a storm at 6:54 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

No kidding. Remember those days when hit movies would stay in the theatres for months and months? Didn't the first run of Star Wars last like a whole year?
posted by JoeZydeco at 7:17 PM on December 8, 2015

A lot of movies did. The biggest screen in town when I was growing up seemed to change its program annually, maybe a little less, and in the eighties just went from Star Wars movies to
Star Trek movies to Indiana Jones movies with the occasional stopover at 2010 or The Untouchables or something.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 7:26 PM on December 8, 2015 [1 favorite]

There are a few things that create an overwhelming sensory short-circuit in my brain, some perfect nexus of nostalgia and hope and loss: walking into Main Street USA at Disney World does it, for example. Some stage musicals, and a lot of music sung by children's choirs. The Muppets, sometimes.

Star Wars is one of those things. There's something about the music and the imagery and all of my associations that leaves me choking with feeeeels, and it will be surprising if I don't basically weep the whole way through The Force Awakens. Regardless of the actual quality of the film! In a way if it turns out to be a great film, that would be even worse for me, because it'd be harder to shake off the emotional hangover the next day or week.
posted by Andrhia at 8:07 PM on December 8, 2015 [2 favorites]

Wait. You were mowing lawns around the neighborhood for money when you were 9?

It was the 70s. Life was different then. And yes I was mowing lawns for money when I was 9. How else did you get money when you were in 3rd/4th grade?
posted by hippybear at 10:59 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

I not only was making money mowing lawns around my neighborhood when I was 9, I was also riding my bike (by myself) to the movie theater 2 miles away without supervision. Life was truly differently in the 70s.
posted by hippybear at 11:22 PM on December 8, 2015 [4 favorites]

Small town southern New Mexico. I went door to door with my lawnmower in tow. It was a thing.
posted by hippybear at 11:49 PM on December 8, 2015

I was mowing lawns at age 9. In the 60s. With a pushmower. After walking 5 miles in the snow. Uphill. Now, you kids get off my lawn.

I have high hopes for VII, but I suspect VIII will suck.

It may be worth tossing in the thought that, as the Force cuts both ways, the real imbalance may have been the long ascendency of the Jedi. Vader and Siddious corrected that, but Luke then prevented them from giving the Sith a long run. Perhaps the time has come to abandon the binary and embrace a fuller, healthier synthesis. Perhaps this is what hermit Luke is trying to achieve.
posted by Autumn Leaf at 5:48 AM on December 9, 2015

After seeing what Abrams did with Star Trek: The Wrath of Cumberbatch Definitely A New Movie, I'm not expecting much in the way of anything worthwhile from the new Star Wars movies. The "good" news is that the prequels already lowered the bar to approximately ant level, so thanks I guess.
posted by disconnect at 7:00 AM on December 9, 2015

I'm hanging my hope on the fact that the new movie was written by Lawrence Kasdan, who wrote Empire and Raiders, and not Orci and Lindelof who wrote Trek in Darkness.
posted by octothorpe at 7:33 AM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

VIII will be good because it will be the middle act. IX could be rough, because you really need to stick the landing and put a bow not only on the sequel trilogy, but the whole saga. I know Disney is going to keep making Star Wars movies until the end of time (or they become unprofitable, whichever comes first), but I hope they keep the structure of a trilogy of trilogies and then do whatever for the the next n movies.

(Also, I'm still LOLing at Lucas's passive-aggressive accusations of fan service. Pluck that plank out of your own eye, duder.)
posted by entropicamericana at 8:03 AM on December 9, 2015 [1 favorite]

Carrie Fisher’s blunt, magical press tour is already the best thing about the return of “Star Wars”
posted by the man of twists and turns at 4:50 PM on December 9, 2015 [2 favorites]

I've been reading a lot of the Fisher interviews and stuff, and she's been brilliant. Obviously a woman who doesn't give a fuck at this point and who has nothing to lose, and probably can't lose anything no matter what she says. Her one-woman show on HBO was brilliant and she continues to be brilliant.
posted by hippybear at 6:30 AM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm not watching this new Chinese trailer with "a ton of new footage," but I'm posting it anyway.
posted by Rock Steady at 12:14 PM on December 10, 2015 [1 favorite]

The movie comes out in a week now, there's not much point in watching a new trailer.
posted by octothorpe at 12:36 PM on December 10, 2015

The movie comes out in a week now, there's not much point in watching a new trailer.

Lack of faith, disturbing, yada yada.
posted by nubs at 1:34 PM on December 10, 2015

Lack of faith, disturbing, yada yada.

Can we at least try here? Really?

MANY BOTHANS DIED TO BRING US THIS TRAILER.
posted by GuyZero at 2:37 PM on December 10, 2015 [6 favorites]

Lack of faith, disturbing, yoda yoda

Wait, what?
posted by hippybear at 4:26 PM on December 10, 2015 [2 favorites]

Can we at least try here? Really?

New movie comes out in a week, not much point in regurgitating old lines.
posted by nubs at 8:49 PM on December 10, 2015

I'm not watching this new Chinese trailer with "a ton of new footage," but I'm posting it anyway.

I wouldn't call it a "ton" of new footage. It gives just enough to add to my excitement, but it didn't really give anything away that you haven't seen in other trailers.
posted by Fleebnork at 7:08 AM on December 11, 2015

Yeah, it's only about 205 pounds of new footage.
posted by Wolfdog at 10:31 AM on December 11, 2015 [2 favorites]

Are you kidding? The weight of the storm troopers alone in that extra footage has to be at least 2000 lbs, let alone that gigantic cybernetic sarlacc droid-thing that comes bursting up out of the sand.
posted by straight at 4:11 PM on December 11, 2015 [1 favorite]

My favorite thing that's come out of the Star Wars media blitz is finding out the other day that Carrie Fisher has a frenchie named Gary Fisher, and that she keeps a twitter account for him.

He's got my vote!
posted by homunculus at 4:05 PM on December 13, 2015

The reviews are coming in, and I feel like even the ones that say they are spoiler-free reveal too much information. This one from Kotaku is very good about revealing very little plot or character content, and is very positive about the movie in general.
posted by Rock Steady at 8:00 AM on December 16, 2015

Less than 36 hours for me.

Stay on target.... Stay on target!
posted by entropicamericana at 8:14 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

I should add that this is pretty much the only website I trust not to spoil me any more than I already am for the next 36 hours, thanks to the mods.
posted by entropicamericana at 8:19 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

I don't know when I'm going to get to see it - I want to take the kids, which means I'm not up for the insanity of this weekend, and I was starting to think Boxing Day might be a good choice, but several people at this morning staff huddle mentioned they already had tickets for Boxing Day, so I'm thinking maybe somewhere between Boxing Day and New Year's.

Which means a lot of spoiler dodging for me.
posted by nubs at 9:05 AM on December 16, 2015

ok nobody say anything about star wars for the next week or so

'k thx!
posted by mazola at 9:26 AM on December 16, 2015

It's not like a review is going to keep me from seeing this thing so I'll hold off until after I see it on Friday.
posted by octothorpe at 10:02 AM on December 16, 2015

ok nobody say anything about star wars for the next week or so

BB-8

Sorry.
posted by drezdn at 10:38 AM on December 16, 2015

Time-wise, I definitely can't see it until after Christmas, and most likely won't see it until 2016, so I'm going to read the novelization asap. It feels weird.
posted by drezdn at 10:39 AM on December 16, 2015

mazola: "ok nobody say anything about star wars for the next week or so"

I'm watching the films in Machete Order (IV, V, II, III, VI) this week with my teen daughter who has never seen the movies, and as we settled in to watch Attack of the Clones last night, she asked "So are there shippers in the Star Wars fandom? Like do people ship Luke/Leia instead of Han/Leia?" So help me Yoda, I almost told her that Star Wars fans are weird, but they aren't going to ship siblings.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:06 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

I'm not going to Google that, Rock Steady, but I (for one) would be very surprised if that ship hadn't sailed. Because it's the internet.

That being said, I'm interested to hear how your daughter likes Machete Order!
posted by nubs at 11:08 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

You really don't miss much skipping Episode I. It makes the opening scene of Episode II weird, because a bomb blows up "Queen Amidala" while the real Padme is posing as a bodyguard. That seems normal (I guess) if you've seen Phantom Menace, but it's not explained otherwise. I also had to explain a bit about what the deal was with Anakin's mother, but other than that, you'd barely know there was an Episode I.

She likes the movies fine so far, but isn't totally into them, which I can understand. The pacing in all the movies is so weird, which I never noticed before. There's like 5 minutes of "comedy" with 3PO and R2 trying to decide where to go on Tatooine, and then Alderaan gets destroyed in 30 seconds. Even the prequels feel pretty dated at this point.
posted by Rock Steady at 11:21 AM on December 16, 2015

A SPOILER-FREE GUIDE
The 'Star Wars' Reviews Are Here — Is It Any Good?
posted by the man of twists and turns at 11:51 AM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

From what I've been picking up while avoiding spoilers, the main concern/complaint is that it doesn't really break new ground as much as reuse some of the story beats from the OT. Which I get, but I'm also thinking that this movie needs to do that - it needs to regain the trust of an audience that felt burned by the prequels, and the way to do that is to give us something that might feel like a love letter to the original.

Star Wars can go a tremendous number of places from here. But I'm not sure it is a mistake to let everyone know that the new folks in charge understand what they have.
posted by nubs at 1:44 PM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

When I sent the emails out to my friends a couple months ago asking who wanted to see the premiere opening night (which here in Brooklyn is tomorrow), one of my friends wrote back only two minutes later, saying "you had me at 'Star'."

That friend just posted this bit of fun today.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 1:53 PM on December 16, 2015

That video is awesome, EmpressCallipygos. I particularly loved Gwendolyn Christie's facial expressions, as well as Chewbacca's silent befuddlement.
posted by nubs at 2:02 PM on December 16, 2015

I've watched it about 38 times already.

Also fun - go to Google and type "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away" into the search bar, and watch. Make sure your speakers are on.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 2:16 PM on December 16, 2015

OK, at the premiere. Will keep the thread updated.
posted by effbot at 3:12 PM on December 16, 2015 [2 favorites]

I am deliberately avoiding spoilers by indulging in silly videos like blooper reels and such, and re-discovered this - a master cut of kids' reactions to the big plot twist in EMPIRE STRIKES BACK. it's like a much cuter version of those "reactions to the Red Wedding" videos that were all over the place.

(Ironically, a kid we knew growing up spoiled that for me a week before I saw EMPIRE myself - he was just so blown away by the news he couldn't contain himself.)
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:50 PM on December 16, 2015

I don't usually watch tv so don't see commercials but tonight I'm watching tv.

Star Wars commercial just played.

I've been really trying not to get excited but that commercial made me get so stupidly, bouncy, pee my pants excited especially since from what little I've allowed myself to read about it is that it doesn't suck.

I made plans to see it with a friend the day after boxing day. It would be sooner but it's an hour and half drive to the nearest movie theatre.

I'll also admit to succumbing to Star Wars merchandize fever. My sisters and their families are all getting Star Wars stuff for Christmas. All old school Star Wars like a lunch box and New Hope wall decals. And I couldn't resist getting something for myself. On Friday I my Darth Vadar bobblehead will finally not be lonely any more and will be joined by 3 of the new movie characters and C3PO.

I'm still such a little kid!
posted by Jalliah at 6:16 PM on December 16, 2015 [1 favorite]

Could This Be The Most Important Easter Egg in The Force Awakens? (Probably Not.)
posted by homunculus at 6:23 PM on December 17, 2015 [1 favorite]

Could This Be The Most Important Easter Egg in The Force Awakens? (Probably Not.)
posted by Wolfdog at 6:51 PM on December 17, 2015 [1 favorite]