One fannish dividing point I find interesting is how we perceive the role of Kylo Ren and his relationship with Rey in The Last Jedi. Specifically: was writer/director Rian Johnson creating the foundation for a romance between them? Or did he explore that potential as a way to show that Kylo Ren was, for worse, the result of his own choices? Is ( Read more... )

Because
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Jumanji: The Next Level was a fun film! While I think a few choices are less plausible or heart-warming than the movie wants me to believe, it was still thematically consistent with the characters and their life experiences. Also, I never knew I needed to see Awkwafina (young Asian-American actress) to act like an old man from New Jersey, but it ( Read more... )

First, before I forget (again): thanks to everyone who submitted a comment on the 'make me talk' meme for January. You can still post ideas there, on anon even.
Cranky opinion: 95% of so-called secular Christmas music from the last forty years is terrible.I'm part of a small dinner group that meets up about once a week at a different restaurant. ( Read more... )

The reddit user who posts what are widely perceived as the most plausible leaks for the plot to Star Wars IX had an update yesterday from a different source. These leaks do mostly line up with what he's reported before, but they have an "in the worst possible way" spin to them. Cue lots of meltdowns online ( Read more... )

Colin Trevorrow is the film director who was originally hired to script and direct episode IX of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. He was fired before episode VIII got to movie theaters, and ultimately JJ Abrams was hired to do IX. Trevorrow is getting a story credit for IX, however--some remnant of his script must have been snagged for the film. This ( Read more... )

Stumptown 1.06 didn't hold together well in the A story or B story. Frustrating, but that happens.

I keep feeling like I'm missing an episode somewhere in this season's The Good Place. I can't decide if it's a fault in the storytelling or if I'm just distracted by all the other things. (Unforgotten's first season, a second read-through on the ( Read more... )

Leigh Bardugo's Grisha trilogy: the first two books are a successful version of the kind of story Rian Johnson was attempting to tell in The Last Jedi. Discuss.

( spoilers be here )

Someone I used to follow on tumblr made this post about the recent trailer for Star Wars IX. Most relatable quote: I’m not inherently against Bendemption either, which the marketing certainly seems to have been hinting at over the past few months, but if TRoS goes with that arc, I’m skeptical that TPTB will manage to pull it off in a manner that I ( Read more... )

So most of y'all who care have probably already seen this, but here's that trailer for Episode IX that aired last night:

Click to view

( a few thoughts (no outside information yet) )