#legobiwan watches a movie

[legobiwan]

Alright, I finally watched Pacific Rim last night and yeah, okay, I get it now. From what I've read, the second movie is not as good but the prospect of a Charlie Day corruption/possession arc is just too tasty for me to ignore, so I'll have to load that one up soon.

Tangentially related, but I CANNOT unsee Luigi in everything this man does. He was truly born to be a green plumber from Brooklyn.

[faesystem]

Inspired by this post by @legobiwan, which made me realise Mario and Luigi would absolutely have a co-dependency problem after the events of the movie.

Mario and Luigi both underwent a lot of trauma during the course of the movie. Beyond the more obvious experiences of Mario only just being in time to save Luigi from falling into literal lava and Luigi jumping in front of Mario with the manhole cover to shield him from fire, the entire movie has a lot of trauma that revolves around them fearing for the others safety.

They are clearly very close, so close that simply being with each other is enough to remain calm in the stressful situation of literally sucked into another dimension. Then they are torn away from each other.

Let us first look at what Luigi went through. He ended up in what I can only imagine felt like hell itself. I imagine during the ride to Bowser's castle, he would have been thinking about Mario. If that is where he ended up, what sort of awful place is Mario?

Then, as it turns out, a giant monster who seemingly has an army at his disposal is clearly very upset at his brother. Any joy at knowing Mario is alive was probably very quickly buried under the fact that it seems as though it will not stay that way. I like to imagine Luigi blurting out how amazing Mario is was less him being a poor liar, and more so because up until then his mind had been a mantra of, "Mario is fine he is amazing and can handle anything."

His blurted out answer makes the monster very angry at Mario. I guarantee the fact that Bowser said he is going to kill Luigi to get back at Mario was less important than the fact that he made Bowser mad enough at Mario to kill. Did he just write off on his brother's demise? Imprisoned with no way out, it certainly seemed like it.

On the other hand, we have Mario. He watched as his brother got ripped away from him and dragged into some dark place of nightmares. We know he did little but think of Luigi after this. Every single thing he did was to ensure Luigi was alright.

I believe that Mario is the sort of person who buries his feelings under actions. I do not believe that during the actual events of this he would be thinking about what-ifs. Perhaps once or twice he began to spiral, but spiraling does not help anyone. That does not mean that afterwards the fact that he did not know his brother was alive for so long, only to finally see him again as he barely saves him from the clutches of death, would not catch up to Mario.

I like to imagine that after the battle and a celebration, Mario and Luigi ended up in one of their rooms. Mario was gushing about how cool the Mushroom Kingdom is, and Luigi is so relieved to hear that Mario had a better time than he did. He made a comment about it, light hearted.

That is when the missing hours of time caught up to Mario. He stopped and asked what it was like for Luigi. Luigi described it, finding it harder to breathe the further along he got. Mario held onto his brother as he ended up in a full blown panic attack. His own feelings had begun to creep up at first, so he pushed them down. He needed to be there for Luigi.

Life carried on. The two brothers were closer than ever. Especially since they decided to move to the Mushroom Kingdom. That decision may have had something to do with Mario being unable to be outside without being reminded of the fact that Luigi jumped in front of fire with nothing but a manhole cover. That Luigi could have died then, because of him. Because he was not good enough.

No, that is not the point.

Mario and Luigi never left each others side. Any moments apart were only those that were completely unavoidable. During those moments Mario was paranoid that Luigi was hurt. He kept thinking of all of the things that could have gone wrong, could be going wrong. Luigi felt like a lost puppy. Weak, afraid and unable to defend himself should something go wrong.

I would say it is probably Toad who eventually staged a sort of intervention, bringing Peach and DK along with him. Peach was incredibly uncomfortable and felt as though this is not her place. Toad had no such qualms, and told her that is why she had to come. If she was not there, who would make sure they did not overstep? DK is not one to care about what is and is not his place, but he did care that he was more likely to make the situation worse than anything else. He only went because Toad said that him being there would make Mario be more likely to be receptive. He did not really understand how or why, but he was a bit (very) concerned about the loser (his friend) and it is not like he had anything better to do. Toad actually had no idea if it would help, he just felt like was probably what he was meant to do.

Toad sat them down and said, "This is an intervention! You need to not be so close!"

So Peach stepped in and ended up taking over the conversation. She explained that they were too dependent on each other to the point where it was preventing them from healing. She stressed that it is causing harm to the both of them, appealing to their need to make sure the other is alright.

Mario asked what they were meant to do, and no one had an answer. Luigi then said they should probably see a therapist. Mario hated hearing that answer because that meant going back to Brooklyn, and that means no powerups, that means no way to protect-

No.

For Luigi.

They no longer had a job on Earth so their family was footing the bill. They did not wish to cause strain, so they went to the cheapest therapist they could find. They walked into the office and the therapist instantly recognised them. She asked if they were there to speak about the Bowser situation, they confirmed, and she told them she was not qualified for that. Mario began to get upset at that, but she went on to say that they really need someone qualified to handle it. Luigi said that they could not afford that, she said that that is really fucked up since they saved Brooklyn and maybe the whole world.

She directed them to a journalist friend she knew and suggested they begin a Go-Fund-Me. Within just a few days, the Go-Fund-Me was more than filled, medical bills completely covered, and the government was giving them a veteran pension that would continue filling up their bank accounts even if they lived in the Mushroom Kingdom.

They were able to see not just a qualified professional, but an entire team. When it came to working on the co-dependency, they planned with their friends an hour in which Luigi would be with DK in the castle while Mario and Peach ran the training course together. Mario knew how formidable of a fighter DK is, even without powerups. Running the course gave Mario something to do, something that would help him protect Luigi better in the future. By the end of the hour he was surprised how much time had gone by. Anxiety crept in, but he found his brother safe and sound.

For Luigi? That hour was perhaps the longest hour of his life. The moment Mario left his sight he began to panic. He trusted his brother's judgment, he knew he was safe, but also he needed Mario there to protect him. It was irrational and stupid and he refused to let it get in the way of helping Mario with his healing, so he did his best to power through it.

DK was woefully unprepared to deal with a panicking Luigi for an hour. He did his best to keep him entertained to distract him from his panic. This ranged from showing how long he can keep a handstand to challenging various Toad guards to fights. It did not exactly help with the panic, but it gave Luigi something to focus on.

By the time it had reached 25 minutes, Luigi moved to an area of the castle where he could see Mario through a window. He knew if something went wrong he could just break it and yell for help. It helped immensely, not that it helped address the dependency problems.

He was content enough with the fact that he had not interrupted Mario in his path to healing that he decided he was not going to mention it. DK told Mario, who told their team, who began setting up plans that would ease Luigi into it better.

They had Luigi begin to train how to fight with Peach. At first he just found it training and tiring, but as time went along he felt himself getting better. He felt stronger. It also helped Mario, who felt more and more confident that Luigi could hold his own until he got there should something go wrong.

Their recovery was lengthy and imperfect. Many times something would happen that would have one or both of them feeling like they were back at square 1. But they got through it. Together, individually, and with the support of their friends and professionals.

[suzcatonmars]

Oh word!! Tagged by @electricnormanbates to do a thing!!

Last song: Pour Some Sugar On Me by Def Leppard

Last movie: oh gawd it was Witchery (1988) ie 95 minutes of my life I'm never getting back lmao. Prior to that it was Godzilla: King of the Monsters

Currently reading: Frankenstein, ooh I sound so scholarly

Currently watching: I just started Rizzoli and Isles!! I'm also rapidly consuming Baywatch at a terrifying rate

Currently craving: ice cream

Tagging @leftdragonpainter @legobiwan @falcatrecon @christopherleefan

[rockstarqueenie]

My 2020 Faves

Thank you so much for tagging me @natromanxoff 💛

Music albums (I don't listen to a lot of full albums so this is a limited list, but this isn't an all time favorite list, it's just my favorites I listened to this year)

A Night at the Opera - Queen

Les insomniaques s'amusent - Daniel Bélanger

Greatest Hits - Queen

Diamonds - Elton John

TV shows (again, only those I watched this year for the first time or new releases)

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (season 7)

The Mandalorian (season 2)

The Boys (season 2)

Aunty Donna's Big Ol' House of Fun

The Golden Girls

Movies (that I saw and that came out in 2020)

Trial of the Chicago 7

Sound of Metal

Ma Rainey's Black Bottom

Borat Subsequent Moviefilm

Soul

Tagging @obsessivelollipoplalala @freddie-moments @picturepowderinabottle @americaspencil @theorganasolo @queen-for-life @kenobiapologist @roninreverie @luminaraas @legobiwan @shywalkers @fangirlfindingfun and everyone else who wants to do it!

[actualmichelle]

Tagged by no one, snatched from @legobiwan (hello there & thank you!)

Answer 21 questions tag 21 people

Name: Michelle

Nickname: Michelle

Gender: Female, halfheartedly

Star sign: Pisces

Current time: 8:45pm

Favorite artist: Ivan Aivazovski

Song stuck in my head: For some reason ‘it’s gonna be may me’

Last Movie watched: Fatal Journey 

Last thing googled: “recover deleted Gmail messages” Because I made bad choices. Spoiler alert! you can’t :)

Others blogs: https://yesthisbuildingishaunted.tumblr.com/

Do I get asks: Occasionally :)

Reason for your URL: My name is Michelle and I’m certainly not a celebrity.

Following: Awesome people.

Average sleep: I have to strike a delicate balance. Either I’m always sleep deprived or I end up with insomnia, because once I catch up on sleep it gets hard to fall asleep and then I end up sleep deprived. Endless cycle of sleep mistakes.

Lucky number: I like squares

Dream Job: Cat cafe/bookstore owner

Dream trip: Somewhere nice with someone

Favorite food: Pizza

Instruments: Flute, some piano, much less violin

Favorite song: Hotel California :)

Tagging: anyone who’d like to participate!! 

[pandora15]

21 Questions

I was tagged by @kunoichi-ume

Rules: Answer 21 questions and then tag 21 people who you want to get to know better.

Nickname: Pandora

Zodiac: Capricorn

Height: 5′8″

Last Movie I Saw: Christopher Robin

Last Thing I googled: Asajj Ventress 

Favorite Musician: I can never actually pick a single favorite because...variety is good?  I really like Sleeping At Last, Demi Lovato, Muse, and instrumental music, among many other things.

Song Stuck in my Head: Hm, I don’t really have any songs stuck in my head right now

Other Blogs: @pandora-complains, though really I just complain a lot about Things on that blog, and it’s more for me to yell into the void a bit.  I wouldn’t suggest following it.

Do I get Asks: Yeah, sometimes!  It’s nice to interact with my followers :) Always feel free to send in asks about anything!

Following: ~150 blogs iirc?

Amount of Sleep: ~6 hours, though these days I’ve been staying in bed once I wake up because I don’t really want to do Actual Adult Things

Lucky Number: 15

What I’m Wearing: Sweatshirt and sweatpants

Dream Job: Musician (in a reality where I got more proper training when I was growing up)

Dream Trip: Australia and/or Ireland and Scotland

Favorite Food: Chocolate!

Play Any Instruments?: I play quite a few! Violin, viola, piano, a bit of flute and guitar (though I’m quite terrible) and I can sing.  Someone offered to teach me guitar more properly if I taught him some violin, so hopefully...? Oh and I’ve been very slowly teaching myself the ocarina.

Languages: English and Bengali (I’m better at English though orz).  I took Spanish in middle and high school (I’m very rusty right now, but I used to be pretty good at it I think), and I can understand and speak a good amount of Hindi from watching a lot of Bollywood and soap operas as a child.

Favorite Songs:  Saturn by Sleeping At Last, Skyscraper by Demi Lovato, Invincible by Muse, among many others!

Random Fact: I’m very quiet and awkward irl.

Describe yourself as Aesthetic Things: Uh...a tree (someone used to call me “tree” and I figured that was aesthetic enough? I don’t really think of myself as aesthetic orz)

tagging: ah I’m supposed to tag 21 people? I’ve been avoiding tagging people recently for these things, so I’ll go ahead and tag a few of you!  Just know that you don’t have to do this, it’s totally optional!

@texasdreamer01, @aq2003, @eirianerisdar, @koshouu, @legobiwan, @punk--kenobi, @happygiraffe, @squagel, and anyone else who wants to!

[eirianerisdar]

Tagged by @therealimagine28 <3

Tag nine people you would like to know better so they can participate if they’d like.

I know I’m supposed to tag more new people but I want to know more about my mutuals so @zannatinuviel, @laivineninuiel, @ithiliel-the-french-tolkiendil, @i-aim-to-overanalyze, @legobiwan, @starwarsbookshelf and I probably should tag more but I have to sleep soon since I have to get to the hospital early tomorrow so I’ll leave it here *yawn*

Oooh and @lmhersch - *hugs and runs off again*

Relationship Status: Single - did I ever tell you guys about the “three-step killer”? I’m tall, I speak and write excellent English, and I study Medicine. That’s enough to keep most guys away, for ego reasons. Not that I mind - if those three things are enough to keep a guy away, it’s usually a red flag.

Favorite Color: Dark blue - almost shimmering. Think dark blue silk.

Lipstick or Chapstick: Lip balm. Lipstick is agony to eat around.

Last Song I Listened To: Hi Hello, Day6 - GO DO YOURSELF A FAVOUR AND LISTEN TO THESE BOYS THEY ARE A GORGEOUSLY TALENTED BAND (they self-compose all their songs, too, and the quality is absolutely phenomenal)

Last Movie I Watched: Wonder Woman. Perfection.

Top 3 Characters: Obi-Wan, Faramir or Aragorn (can’t quite choose between them), and Mei Changsu from Nirvana in Fire

Top 3 Ships: Obitine, and bromance Anakin and Obi + all the clone brotherhood (I can’t even)

Books/Manga: I maintain that Lord of the Rings and Fullmetal Alchemist are two must-reads.

Top 5 Musicals: Hmm, I’m more of a casual musicals fan, but I do like My Fair Lady, Billy Elliot, Hamilton and I dabble around in Les Mis and Dear Evan Hansen and Phantom.

[legobiwan]

Oh man, I just finished watching The Seventh Seal and I think I'm going to be messed up for a few days.

[avid-aviator-blog]

Tagged by @oopalehyn (Thanks for that, btw)

Tag nine people you would like to know better so they can participate if they’d like.

@zannatinuviel @jahaliel @markwatnae  @gabriel4sam @legobiwan  If you guys want?? That’s all the people on here I even remotely know so... 

Relationship Status: Single and perfectly happy to remain that way. 

Favorite Color: Forest green

Lipstick or Chapstick: chapstick!! my lips are always dry cause I chew on them. 

Last Song I Listened To: Down, Jason Walker (I know, don’t judge me)

Last Movie I Watched: Home Alone (yes, I know it isn’t Christmas)

Top 3 Characters: Obi-Wan Kenobi, Adrien Agreste, and Loki.

Top 3 Ships: I don’t really ship, but my brotps are: Adrien Agreste/Nathalie Sancouer, Obi-Wan Kenobi/Bail Organa, and Tony Stark/T’challa

Books/Manga: Tolkien, Narnia, Wild Space, 

Top 5 Musicals: The Sound of Music, Wicked, The Unsinkable Molly Brown, Hello Dolly, and Annie

[books-and-cats-26]

Tagged by @linwyrms-lair :D

Answer 21 questions tag 21 people

Name: Megan

Nickname: Meg, Megs, Megra (this one was given to me by my oldest friend)

Gender: Female

Star sign: Virgo

Current time: 9:12pm

Favorite artist: there’s so many good ones idk if I can choose a fav

Song stuck in my head: Sound the Bugle by Bryan Adams

Last Movie watched: Star Wars Attack of the Clones

Last thing googled: “Most Haunted Town in the States” lol I got bored

Others blogs: none

Do I get asks: Nope, though I wouldn’t mind. ^^

Reason for your URL: I love books. They were and are my escape when I get stressed. and I have two cats, hence books-and-cats ^^

Following: 64 blogs, though I keep following more daily

Average sleep: anywhere between 4 hours to 8 on average

Lucky number: 26

Dream Job: y’all gonna think I’m a massive nerd, but my dream job would be to work in a museum (especially one of the Smithsonian museums), though I would also enjoy voice acting

Dream trip: Ireland, I would love to visit the Cliffs of Moher and maybe do some family history research

Favorite food: Spicy chicken sandwich with lots of pepper jack cheese

Instruments: Violin (bless my roommate’s patience when I pluck at my violin when I get stressed)

Favorite song: It changes everyday lol, but currently it’s History Maker

Tagging @forcesensitivebantha @legobiwan @mostthingskenobi and anyone else interested ^^ also feel free to ignore this if you want!

[legobiwan]

Also, I appreciate those of you who commented on my Pacific Rim post to warn me about the sequel. This, unfortunately, has further piqued my curiosity (as such things tend to do in my world), but your words have been noted.

[legobiwan]

Alright, back from seeing Black Widow, my first movie in an actual theater since this whole Covid nonsense blew through. (For the record, the last movie I watched in a theater was Birds of Prey.) Thoughts below.

SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS

You have been warned.

This movie should have been released 4 years ago. Considering everything that has gone down with Infinity War, Endgame, and the TV shows (specifically Falcon & the Winter Soldier), it was somewhat jarring to slingshot all the way back to the period just following Civil War.

On the whole, the action was...okay. Marvel, for me, has always been about the characters more than the boom-booms, and while it was great to see Natasha and Yelena kicking ass all over the screen, it didn't quite have the same immediacy as the hand-to-hand fight sequences in Winter Soldier, which I personally hold as The Standard for Marvel fight choreography.

The best parts of this movie came in the quiet moments, which there were a surprising amount of, considering some of the pre-release criticism had excoriated the film for weighing down the scales on the action side, which I didn't find to be the case at all.

So, chemical subjugation as opposed to straight-up brainwashing. We didn't get too much background on this, beyond Melina's pig experiments, but I'd be interested to see if they expand on this concept (and the antidote) in future media.

(And imagine if that chemical were combined with the serum - Zemo (and Bucky) would have apoplexy. I know there hasn't been much Winter Soldier/Red Room crossover in the MCU thus far, but that would have...legs, I think.)

Speaking of super-soldiers, Red Guardian was fantastic. I laughed. A lot.

Now, he does boast in prison that he fought Captain America in the 80s. Obviously, this was not Steve, as Steve was still doing his best frozen dessert impression in the Arctic at that point. Two possibilities come to mind here (and yes, I realize he could be bullshitting but let me run with this): firstly, (and this is the one I think would be most accurate for MCU projects going forward), is that this might have been Isaiah Bradley. The timeline fits and he's had a solid enough introduction in FatWS that it wouldn't be a stretch of the imagination. My second idea (which is admittedly a lot more fan fiction-y and something I posit solely for the angst angle) is that this "Captain America" was actually a Bucky/Winter Soldier who had been dressed up in some approximation of a Steve costume and made to act as "Captain America" for propaganda/training/observation purposes with the Red Guardian, Bucky's handlers knowing he would be able to emulate Steve's fighting style and vocal cadence, especially with the right manipulations. (Yup, there's a story in there which I will not be writing but would totally read.)

Also, along the line of super-soldiers - what is Red Guardian doing in 2025? Because Zemo would have probably wanted to have a word or a bullet or two.

So Dreykov's plan was to take over the world at his leisure through brainwashing and global assassins? Ehhhhh...didn't love that part, it really felt like Vanilla Hydra-esque World Takeover Mambo #9.

This being said, the scenes with Natasha and Dreykov were some of the best in the movie outside the family shenanigans. ScarJo got to show some real range there and it worked.

And this leads to the social commentary about women in the film. It's funny, because I feel that it was both very well-done (Natasha/Derykov, the forced hysterectomy conversation on the helicopter) but also wholly hamfisted (basically everything with the nameless mass of other Widows and Dreykov's far too pointed, Ebeneezer Scrooge line about controlling the "excess population" of women). The film, as a totality, did well by its female characters, allowed them to be messy, to kick massive ass, didn't touch any kind of forced romance, and definitely communicated how men can exploit women (and young girls). But Marvel (at least in the films - the TV shows tend to be more nuanced) is still not quite getting that balance right and have a habit of tipping into the "tell" (more like instruct from a soapbox) not "show" messaging strategy.

Taskmaster was...okay. Her introduction and first few scenes were cool, as was the way she emulated many familiar fighting forms (I caught Bucky's knife flip, Hawkeye's shooting, and Natasha's whole...thing), but in the end, she was a generic villain of the week, kind of like Ghost in Antman and the Wasp. I really didn't care one way or the other what happened to her.

Anyone else feel like we didn't really get much of an explanation re: Bucharest Budapest even though we kind of got an explanation about Bucharest Budapest?

More of a general cinema comment, but I've been watching all my streaming with captions the past year or so (which has helped me immensely, because sometimes the mixing in these is just not good) and I missed having them here, as a lot of characters tended to deliver lines somewhat sub rosa, and it wasn't always easy to track what was going on.

The family dynamics and Yelena's character were highlights. Gotta find that "cool" away to die.

Interesting that Yelena is already working for Val in the post-credits. Wonder what kind of organization she's setting up there. (Gods, I love Val.)

I will say that Natasha had a lot of wonderful character moments in this film, and it really bridged the gap between the Captain America movies and her Endgame character.

I'm always a sucker for a found family trope. No complaints there.

On the whole, great character moments in the quiet sections, forgettable action (although I'm still figuring out the whole nerve/bashing your head on the table thing), decent meta-commentary but far too removed from its real-life timeline. 7/10

[legobiwan]

Okay, now that I'm back in civilization (and not living in an ant-ridden tent in the desert), I finally went to see Shang-Chi.

Thoughts:

For a Marvel origin story (which, let's be honest, they tend to be pretty middle-of-the-road), this was definitely in the upper echelon of first goes, at least in the "new" era of the MCU.

Let's also get this out of the way. Tony Leung could read the phone book (in English or Mandarin or whatever), and I would watch it. Holy shit, that man can act.

I loved the first act of this movie. I did have to wonder about the somewhat LOTR introduction of the ten rings, but I was willing to roll with it. Also, if the 10 Rings were that much into international politics, what's the over/under they rented out Bucky for a while? Because that would be an intriguing intersection.

I loved the San Fransisco scenes and missed that grounding in reality as the movie went on. The family dynamics were superb.

I appreciate that Marvel took risk of having about 40% of the dialogue in Mandarin. It really worked for the movie and the themes it was trying to express.

The opening fight scenes were amazing, especially the Tony Leung ones and the bus sequence. As the movie veered further into fantasy and CGI, the choreography lost some of its magic.

And that's really one of my major gripes about the film. We were given very little backstory as to this village and the mother's powers (beyond the Reader's Digest, "hey it's 10 minutes to closing at the museum, here's what I'll explain to you as an underpaid docent" explanation of the dragon stuff) and the fantasy element - especially the magic creatures - really took me out of what was going on.

My other gripe is this. I think Simu Liu has all the beats to be a Captain America-type character and a total hero but I could not believe for one second that he had this dark past as a teenaged assassin. I remember reading somewhere that Sebastian Stan got cast as Bucky because he showed some kind of inherent dark side (which totally played out in all the movies), and I don't know if it was the writing, editing, acting, or some combination thereof, but there was no way I was buying Shang-Chi as a troubled child-murderer. He's just too damn wholesome. They really could have gotten rid of that element of his backstory and kept most of the rest of it and it would have been fine and still a compelling family drama.

Now the sister? Oh hell yeah she's got that darkness. And it was funny, because as I was walking out of the theater, a little gaggle of 20-somethings was like, "Oh she was hot," upon seeing the credit scene. Can't disagree, I have to say.

The soundtrack was awesome. No complaints there.

Now, we didn't get all that much backstory on the rings and the post-credits made it clear they are saving something about them. But it might have been nice to get a little more explanation. Especially the whole living for a 1,000 years thing??? That feels kind of important.

Speaking of the post-credits. Bruce's arm was still busted, so this couldn't have taken place too far after the Blip and anti-Blip. Also loved having Carol Danvers in there, that was awesome.

Akwafina was hilarious. Loved her the entire way through.

The whole dragon sequence was bizarre. I get the cultural implications but as I said earlier, the further this movie got away from reality, the more it began to sag for me.

High points were high, but the low points were equally as low. Not sure if Marvel is set to nail fantasy at this point, but everything else was pretty fun and LET'S GO TONY LEUNG YES. 7.5/10.

[legobiwan]

In an effort to make some long runs on the treadmill a bit more interesting, I loaded up Phantom Menace on my phone while pounding out some miles tonight. 

First of all, it is really difficult to not burst out laughing like a crazy person every time a Prequel Meme-worthy scene came on. (”Is that legal?” “I will make it legal.” and “Now there are two of them!” being among the top instances.) but beyond meme-posting, here are a few things I noticed that I hadn’t the previous 3,697 other times I’ve watched this film. (Mind you, I stopped at the end of the pod racing scene. A long run, but not long enough for the entire movie.)

I was really paying attention to Jar Jar this time, especially when he confronts Boss Nass in the Gungan City. “The gods” are mentioned more than once in their dialogue, from which we can assume Gungan culture is pantheistic. The Wookieepedia article on the Gungans is pretty fascinating and briefly outlines the notion that the Gungans are overall, a peaceful society but strict, exiling any who causes violence or vandalism, even, as in Jar Jar’s case, if the perpetrator was not acting with intent to harm. I’d actually like to do a bit of an analysis of Jar Jar, because for all the flak he takes, in context, he is a very interesting character, considering where he comes from.

Along the lines of the Gungans, Qui-gon is savvy enough to mention that Jar Jar owes him a life debt. This is fascinating as Chewbacca had been the one to assert he owed a life debt to Han while Qui-gon claimed Jar Jar for his own uses. Which, when compared to Anakin’s situation...well, obviously Qui-gon had no intention of enslaving anyone but in one movie he claims a sentient and frees a sentient for his own purposes. 

Can we also mention that Qui-gon’s mind trick doesn’t totally work on Boss Nass? And later his mind trick doesn’t work at all on Watto? 0/2 Qui-gon.

For all we hear from Qui-gon about landing on Tatooine being the “will fo the Force,” it was OBI-WAN who actually pointed out the planet at first, figuring out it was a backwater with no ties to the Republic where they could hide. OBI-WAN was the reason they went to Tatooine and eventually ran into Anakin. Just saying.

Jar Jar understands Huttese. 

Anakin taunting Sebulba is so in-character. 

So we all know about Anakin’s technical prowess but here’s a thought. He mentions at dinner about the control chips implanted in the slaves, that they have the potential to blow Shmi or Anakin to smithereens at any point. Anakin also mentions he is trying to develop a work-around for the chip. How much of Anakin’s technical mastery comes from a strong desire to free himself and his mother? Obviously, he had to learn fast for Watto and he is absurdly strong in the Force, but I can’t help but think his eagerness to free his family also played into his quick study of technology. 

“I have acquired a pod in a game of chance” JFC Qui-gon, you liar the Force willing to do something is not a “game of chance” this man, I swear.

Along those lines, he tells Anakin he’s, “Checking his blood for infections.” when he takes the sample for the midi-chlorian count. Honestly, Jinn. Honestly.

Meanwhile, poor Obi-wan is back on the ship trying to convince the rest of the Naboo guard the transmission describing a massacre on Naboo by the Trade Federation is only a trap to make them reveal their signal. The Negotiator, indeed. 

While I didn’t get to this part in the movie, it occurred to me that the infamous, “I take Anakin Skywalker as my Padawan learner” scene has yet another terrible layer of angst that can be heaped on a moment that is already rife with angst. From what we can gather from Master and Apprentice, Obi-wan was not chosen by Qui-gon, but assigned, which ran counter to what we can assume was the typical culture of a Master choosing a Padawan. And then in the Council room, Qui-gon chooses Anakin, right in front of Obi-wan, something Obi-wan had not been able to experience from his own Master. I just...COME ON, STAR WARS. And DAMNIT, JINN, GET IT TOGETHER MAN.

I love that Anakin wins the pod race with a slightly dirty trick. That is also in character. 

And I will leave you a disturbing image of the original concept art for Jar Jar:

I love this movie so much.

[legobiwan]

I just watched Pushing Dead, an indie film from 2017 and I just can’t seem to shake it from my mind. It was such an optimistic movie, really well-acted, and I have a lot to say about it in a longer post, but it is really occupying my mind right now. Good stuff.

[legobiwan]

Did you watch doctor sleep?

You know what, anon, I did just yesterday. Ewan is fantastic as always and Kyliegh Curran (Abra) was also quite engaging, especially when she took on elements of Danny’s (Ewan’s) character. On the whole, I’d give the movie a 6/10, just because it relied very heavily on its predecessor for its denouement, so to speak. First act was truly interesting, the second held my attention despite losing steam (ha, I suppose that is a pun), and the third basically felt like a cheap carbon copy.

This being said, there were some fun Star Wars things to take notice of.

First of all, lady, this is Obi-wan’s line, not yours, and you’re not even saying it right. (Although I cackled when she said it to Ewan’s character.)

Speaking of Ewan, took me a hot twenty minutes to adjust to an American-accented Ewan McGregor. (Even if his Scottish-ness did pop out at certain points.)

I feel like Danny’s character in the beginning of the film is just an AU of Obi-wan in that terrible cantina in AotC. Obi-wan gone to seed, so to speak (which I truly hope plays into the opening of the Kenobi show because I just personally need a despondent Obi-wan drowning his sorrows in cheap Jawa Juice in a scummy Tatooine cantina, please Star Wars, I beg of you.)

Speaking of seedy, as a native of the land referred to below, I had to laugh uproariously at the fact that Danny’s lowest of lows comes from puking in some random woman’s toilet in Jersey. Like, there is no real importance in the narrative that this happens in Jersey except to denigrate my homeland’s brand name even further and this just truly tickles the part of me that grew up in that hilarious part of the country. 

This is totally post-RotS, early Tatooine Obi-wan.

Some more things happen in the movie. They kind of move the plot along. But my favorite part was Danny with the axe because this is some kind of “Revenge of the Sith” callback. 

HE HAS THE HIGH GROUND

(I was waiting for him to swing the axe around like a lightsaber and was sorely disappointed when that, in fact, did not happen.)

How does he look younger here than in RotS? Unreal.

Anyway, Ewan is a great actor, he did what he could with an inconsistent script, and I cannot wait for the Kenobi show.