#NJO movie

[thefinnpoefiles]

Looks like Finn and Poe won’t be in the NJO movie guys.

But that’s okay we are just as excited to see Rey go on her own journey and pioneer a new future of Star Wars. The way Daisy’s been talking about it has me excited.

A W as far as I’m concerned.

(source: Variety)

[generalpierrotdameron]

[morganhopesmith1996]

This animated French film deserves our support ❤️👍🏻

[short-wooloo]

I will always like Rey better than Ahsoka, because Rey actually admires and wants to be like the Jedi, being a Jedi is a dream come true for her, whereas ahsoka is a sanctimonious prick who blames the Jedi for their own genocide

[vorbarrsultana]

star wars legends ➝ the new jedi order

"The only power I have – the only power any of us have – is to be who we are. That's what I'm going to do here. Be who I am." "You're not making any sense! How old are you? Seventeen? Eighteen? You don't even really know who you are!" "I don't have to know. All I have to do is decide," Jacen answered serenely. "Choose, and act."

[cantsayidont]

MARS EXPRESS (2023): Tediously derivative French animated homage to the cyberpunk anime of the '80s and '90s, co-written and directed by Jérémie Périn, about a tough ex-military cyborg private detective (voiced by Léa Drucker) and her ghost-in-a-robot partner (voiced by Daniel Njo Lobé), who investigate a murder on Mars and uncover a conspiracy that seems to be driving the capital city's robot population crazy. A few clever design touches don't compensate for dull characters and a been-there-done-that storyline comprised entirely of now 30-year-old cyberpunk clichés. It's not bad, I guess, but it's a bore, and it has nothing to say about its can-robots-have-souls/what-does-it-really-mean-to-be-human themes that wasn't said before, and better, in Mamoru Oshii's 1995 GHOST IN THE SHELL feature and its 2004 sequel, INNOCENCE, so there's no reason not to just watch those instead. CONTAINS LESBIANS? Nope. VERDICT: I don't begrudge Périn his obvious influences, but there's not a single idea here that isn't just regurgitated from earlier Japanese anime, many of which are better than this.

[mauxpourdesmots]

[dweemeister]

Mars Express (2023, France)

When it came out in 1988, Katsuhiro Otomo’s Akira was one of the first Japanese anime films to have a seismic impact beyond its home nation. For many soon-to-be anime fans, it was their first experience with Japanese animation. Akira, along with Ghost in the Shell (1995, Japan), scared off feature film animators from even considering cyberpunk science fiction for decades. Was it a self-consciousness of attempting to make a sort of animated film that the Japanese had seemingly cornered? Or was it a lack of funding and knowhow? In any case (and I will surmise it might be all of those aforementioned reasons), stepping into that extremely limited animated tradition comes Jérémie Périn’s stellar Mars Express.

The film, surprisingly to me, comes from an original screenplay he co-wrote with Laurent Sarfati, and not from, as I thought while watching the film, any graphic novel, comic series, or any preexisting material. Périn and Sarfati are both best known for the 2016 adult animation television series LastMan (an adaptation of the French comic series of the same name) and music videos for electronic dance music (EDM) artists. For them, Mars Express represents a breathtaking leap in narrative ambition, pulling influences from its animated cyberpunk predecessors and classic film noir, as its story unfolds hurriedly in less than a half-hour. And in its mixture of hand-drawn and computerized animation, the seamless effects make the film one of the most fascinating animated works for a mature audience in some time.

By 2200, androids of different forms are an irreplaceable part of human society, which straddles between an impoverished Earth, a metropolitan Mars, and various other colonies. We first meet our two protagonists, private detectives Aline Ruby (Léa Drucker) and android partner Carlos Rivera (Mathieu Amalric), on Earth. Carlos is a “backup”, as he possesses the consciousness of Aline’s deceased partner of the same name. The duo (the film confusingly distinguishes the boundaries between private investigators and police) apprehend a robot hacker, Roberta Williams, who is wanted on a number of charges. But when they are going through Martian security just after landing, the warrant for the hacker disappears – forcing Alina and Carlos to release Roberta.

Soon after, on Mars, Aline and Ruby must find a cybernetics student named Jun Chow. Jun has illegally “jailbroken” androids (freeing androids from human control, a civil rights issue of 2200s human society). Instances of jailbroken androids can lead to the deaths of innocents and wanton destruction, and the very fear of jailbroken androids leads to widespread prejudice and preemptive violence. Before Aline and Carlos realize it, Jun Chow's disappearance and the case behind Roberta Williams' seemingly dropped charges have a connection – one that threatens the coexistence of human and android existence, their separate and shared societies.

Mars Express breaks no ground narratively, and many of its larger themes of android self-determination and human-automaton relations will not be new for science fiction fans. What separates Mars Express from its peers across artistic mediums (television, comics/graphic novels, literature, video games) is its fully realized world. Périn and Sarfati, without any source material to guide them, have constructed a futuristic society that always feels plausible, consistent, and alive. Residential interiors seldom look like a real estate listing photograph, laboratories have wires and machinery strewn about, and crime scenes involving destroyed androids are mechanically gruesome (almost all androids have some sort of purple hydraulic fluid that enables movement), with bolts, screws, and scrap metal mangled and twisted. Human capitalism extends its hand across society and, presumably, politics. Rather than explain the technology that surrounds our characters and comprises this futuristic society, Périn and Sarfati prefer instead to keep Aline and Carlos’ investigations moving. Explanations of how all of this technology works is kept to a bare minimum, keeping the film’s pacing brisk and allowing for the film’s most violent moments to retain an elevated sense of peril.

By this point in human history, technology is approaching a level where robots are nearing indistinguishability from humans. However, the androids in Mars Express range from the brand-new to noticeably outdated. They have a variety of appearances – from the most humanlike (Carlos, the nightclub androids), to something out of Boston Dynamics, to boxy clunkers – and functions. From backups like Carlos to industrial workers to sexual companions, the robots in the Mars Express universe form a fundamental aspect of life in the far future – separate, but not fully free from human demands and impulses.

Embodying this tenuous balance is Carlos. Despite his death, Carlos’ consciousness, now housed inside a machine, carries on while his previous life moves beyond him. Though Carlos remains in his old job as a private investigator, he cannot continue seeing his ex-wife and daughter. The details of their estrangement are murky – did it occur before or after Carlos’ death? – and his wife’s new boyfriend is openly hostile to him. The latter’s hostility is such that Carlos’ relationship to his daughter crumbles. Indirectly, this troubled family life leads Carlos to stray from his humanity and better comprehend the desires of his fellow robots.

By film’s end, perhaps reluctantly, he accepts that humans – at an individual and collective level – might never see him as a full being. Often in modern science fiction, a narrative will present sentient robots and humans coming to a partial or full understanding about the former’s sense of personhood. While this plays out between Aline and Carlos (Aline treats “backup” Carlos essentially the same as her late partner), we see little desire to move beyond using these robots for human self-interest. This lends Mars Express its tragic dimensions – one felt by both humanity and robots (and with very light sprinkles of satire) – and places Carlos as the primary conduit of that tragedy.

Aline, as written, is not as complex as Carlos, but her craftiness and street sense makes her a worthy addition into the line of private detectives in film noir and films derived from noir. Her inner demons are difficult to parse. Yet, as a recovering alcoholic who has a subdermal sobriety chip that is easy to override), she too represents a future imperfect. She has a total dearth of companionship outside her line of work, possibly afraid of commitment, and carries about her a cynicism that rubs her coworkers and others she encounters on the job the wrong way. This is no Star Trek-like utopia as Gene Roddenberry might have envisioned it while he was alive (to the consternation of his fellow producers who saw even the cosmopolitan United Federation of Planets as a future imperfect). Nor is Mars Express a fully dystopian narrative. Surrounded by endless amounts of fellow humans, computers and robots providing luxury that modern viewers can only dream of, and not wanting for anything, Aline remains jaded about her very existence. She would find emotional company in the private detectives that Humphrey Bogart, Glenn Ford, and Dick Powell played on-screen.

In general, any humans of human-appearing characters in Mars Express are 2D while any androids or backgrounds bustling with activity (the car crash scene) are CGI. CGI animation allows to more efficiently render the diversity of robots across the film – very few of them look alike. The 2D/CGI differences are perceptible, but the effects, miraculously, do not clash (as they might have had this film been released ten or twenty years earlier). The heavily CGI backgrounds of the Martian capital, Noctis, fuse well with the nervy electronic score from Fred Avil and Philippe Monthaye. And in moments where the filmmakers juxtapose 2D and 3D animation, the slight variances between the two can be psychologically unsettling and increase the tension in the film’s many violent moments – most notably the opening scene and the climax. Full credit to the animators for achieving such an outstanding visual (and aural) continuity among the two styles.

Jérémie Périn and his fellow crewmembers note that they made those decisions of 2D and CGI animation in respect to the film’s tight budget. European feature animation lacks the commercial foundations and stability seen among the major American and Japanese studios, and requires various public and private funding sources from across the European Union. In French animation (and this applies to live-action French cinema, too), regional subsidies provide a lifeline. Splitting work across five animation studios allowed the Mars Express production to acquire more subsidies, raising the budget (still modest in comparison to those major American and Japanese studios) to coincide with the larger staff necessary to animate the film.

Despite its breakneck speed to cram in all of its narrative and thematic ideas, Mars Express still finds time for reflection and consideration. It may not necessarily slow down to allow the viewer to collect themselves, but Aline and Carlos’ professional relationship and habits are enough for one to feel the weight of the film’s most pressing questions. Can even the most enlightened humans in a futuristic, interplanetary society ever see sentients robots as beings independent from human selfishness and desire? How does rampant capitalism and indulgence play into such a society? In science fiction and, more specifically, cyberpunk sci-fi, these topics are well-worn. Other works in this genre and subgenre provide answers with eerie prescience and compelling optimism. The manner in which Jérémie Périn and Laurent Sarfati approach and depict their society, however, distinguishes itself through its excellent characterization and worldbuilding. Mars Express is a worthy addition to the exploding science fiction milieu, in no small part due to lack of animated works daring to venture there.

My rating: 8/10

^ Based on my personal imdb rating. My interpretation of that ratings system can be found in the “Ratings system” page on my blog. Half-points are always rounded down.

For more of my reviews tagged “My Movie Odyssey”, check out the tag of the same name on my blog.

[jayaorgana]

If I had video editing skills and there were a NJO movie then I'd make a Padme + Leia + Jaina I Bet on Losing Dogs edit, but we aren't living in that timeline so just all come imagine it with me.

[hackedbyawriter]

I just had the most wack dream where Im watching the NJO movie and during the mission Rey calls Poe who’s in his X-Wing. I don’t remember the exact convo but Finn gets brought up so Poe says something abt loving him and Rey was like “I know”. And I lost it. Maybe this is a sign.

And just in case this is a premonition of sorts she was running through a mountainous terrain and it was very much focused on her finding something. At one point she talked to some Theelin human hybrid lady (you can see parts of my Canada trip and the Acolyte coming through ig 😭)

[unexpectedreylo]

Did We Just Dodge A Bullet?

Ugh!!!:

https://fandomwire.com/disney-reportedly-shot-down-damon-lindelofs-plan-to-cast-helen-mirren-as-older-rey-skywalker-in-a-star-wars-movie/

Thank God they shot Damon Lindelof out of a cannon before he could dig Star Wars’s cinematic hole even deeper.  Helen Mirren is of course a terrific actress but I passionately hate the idea of aging Rey 60 years now.  If George Lucas wanted to make Episode VII in 1993 with some other old geezers playing Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, and Princess Leia instead of Mark Hamill, Harrison Ford, and Carrie Fisher there would’ve been a revolt.  It just seems bizarre that Lindelof would’ve wanted to do that when you’ve got 31 year old Daisy Ridley walking around right now, a golden opportunity for fans to grow along with Rey as she is in her prime.

So why would you take a young character and age her 60 years, making her approximately 80?

To kill her off, of course!  And maybe make sure the rest of your sequel faves are dead too.  Why would they do that?  To quickly bury the sequel trilogy?  Maybe.  There are other reasons I’d suspect but I probably shouldn’t talk about them until I know more.

I guess Lucasfilm must’ve realized it would be a huge bummer to kill off Rey at a time when most of us still think of her as young.  (The NJO flick will come out at TFA’s 10th anniversary.)  Worse yet, you would’ve had the ludicrous spectacle of Rey almost dying and Ben Solo giving his life to revive hers, only to see her die in the very next movie.  And honestly, no disrespect to Dame Helen Mirren but a big chunk of Rey’s charm is Daisy herself.  Thankfully they came to their senses at Lucasfilm and showed Lindelof the door.

I just hope the new guy’s script doesn’t suck too.

(And oh yeah, there’s a looming WGA strike.)

[corelliaxdreaming]

I was tagged by @lajulie24. Thanks, friend!

Last song I listened to: I wandered into the YouTube music recommended section and listened to a few meme songs, so the last was "Bushes of Love." XD

Last show I watched: The last episode was Mayday: Air Disaster. The last whole show was either Off the Map or The Winchesters.

Last movie I saw: Fantasia 2000

Currently watching: I'm woefully between shows which I always hate, but I also have a giant list of Disney movies I want to watch, so I've started in on that. (Thus, the Fantasia 2000.)

Currently reading: X-wing: The Bacta War, NJO: Agents of Chaos II: Jedi Eclipse, Frozen: Northern Lights: Journey to the Lights, and (allegedly) Conscious Creativity: Look, Connect, Create.

Current obsessions: I watch too much YouTube (Drew Gooden, Chris James, and Danny Gonzalez are my newest faves), I'm working on getting a new job (again, but better), my mom brought me this cute little stuffed chicken for Easter, MBMBAM, and the usual Star Wars (but in a healthier way now! :D) Oh and my life notebook that I write all my stuff in and only use nice pens for!!

Tagging: @aphorisnt, @camshaft22, @virusq, @gothamcityneedsme, and anyone else who wants to join in!

[generalpierrotdameron]

that title is such a click-bait smh, here's what Ridley said:

I was shitting myself before I went on stage, because no one knew I was going to that. No one knew I was going to Celebration, bar like Kathy [Kennedy] and there were a couple of people. I was so nervous. Oh my God. It was such a wonderful reception. I'm very excited. The story is really cool. I'm waiting to read a script because, obviously, I don't have any other updates. It's not what I expected, but I'm very excited.

I know the storyline for one film. That's not to say that that's all it is, but that's what I was told about. And I imagine it will be the next film, I think. I mean, again, I don't know, post strikes and everything, how quickly everything will start up again. But yes, so far, I know the story of one film and I think people will be very excited.

[morganhopesmith1996]

I love their friendship plus I adore this movie

It’s a french anime called Mars Express Directed by Jèrèmiè Perin and it’s cyberpunk!!!

[ironedsleeper]

I guess the Rey movie was never actually confirmed to be called New Jedi Order, its just one of if not the only disney statement about the movie is that itll be about Rey “and her new jedi order”

Im betting people just misinterpreted clickbaity headlines or some shit

Smart move though because why associate yourself with the njo if you dont absolutely fucking have to

[byneddiedingo]

Nicole Dogué in French Wedding, Caribbean Style (Julius-Amédée Laou, 2002)

Cast: Dieudonné, Loulou Boislaville, Nicole Dogué, Daniel Njo Lobé, Lucien Thérésin, Emile Abossolo M'bo, Ériq Ebouaney, Emilie Benoît. Screenplay: Julius-Amédée Laou. 

You can't count on much help from the internet if you want to know more after watching Julius-Amédée Laou's French Wedding, Caribbean Style. There's precious little about the film on the usual sources like IMDb and Letterboxd. But it's a refreshing, noisy, chaotic treat that takes on all sorts of subjects: racism, colonialism, sexism, and any number of cultural conflicts in an amusing but bittersweet, insightful, provocative way. The setup is simple: a young white Frenchman and a young woman whose grandparents immigrated to France from Martinique in the 1930s arrive at the reception after their wedding, which is being held at the home of her parents. The event is being recorded by her younger brother on a video camera, and we see everything through that lens. There are the usual family tensions on display -- get any large family, no matter the ethnicity, together and you'll witness them. The groom's parents, an uptight couple, are not terribly happy with the marriage, but even among the bride's relatives there's some conflict. Still, everything proceeds noisily as the young videographer pokes his camera's nose into what's going on. But midway through the film, an uninvited guest arrives: the bride's old boyfriend, who throws a bombshell into the occasion. His "wedding gift" is another videotape, and a shocking one. At this point, as the reception turns into an uproar, the camera falls into the hands of the bride's younger sister, who has an entirely different attitude toward what's going on. That shift in point of view opens up a new perspective on the proceedings. I have to say that I found the ending of the movie a little more didactic and conventional than I'm entirely happy with, but I still admire the huge ensemble cast and the energy and artistry with which Laou has put together this boisterous film. If you subscribe to the Criterion Channel (and you should), you owe it to yourself to check it out.