#even though rogue one and solo are on the same slot

[barissoffee]

Current Poll Rankings

Rogue One (19.6%)

The Empire Strikes Back (18.3%)

Revenge of the Sith (17.6%)

A New Hope (Tied) (12.3%)

Return of the Jedi (Tied)  (12.3%)

The Force Awakens  (5.7%)

Attack of the Clones  (5.3%)

The Phantom Menace (Tied)  (4.1%)

The Last Jedi (Tied) (4.1%)

The Rise of Skywalker  (0.7%)

Solo  (less than 1%)

[thegirlwholied]

ten faves

Rules: name ten favorite characters from ten different things (tv, movies, books, etc.). 

Thanks for tagging me @bibliophileiz ; exactly the sort of distraction I both needed (and that my current concentration-level is capable of) at the moment! Hard choices ~ especially as many of my favorites come in pairs! ~ but my top ten today...

...after draft error #97 or so, sorry in advance for the scroll, and for anyone else who winds up responding, do not draft on your phone take my word for it... 

Princess Bride: Inigo Montoya

Which character don't I love in Princess Bride? Even Humperdink is such a pitch-perfect villain. But while I'd choose Westley if I was picking a date... Inigo's the one who captures me, every time. It's not the desire for revenge itself that's compelling; it's the love for his father - the heartbreak, the dedication, even the defeat and the rise again (the "you told me to go back to the beginning scene" comes to mind as one that stays with me and is probably a huge influence on things I think of but haven't really written yet...)

Harry Potter: Sirius Black

Yes, that's a gif of Midnight Mark from Pirate Radio, because I very much mean the book version (sorry, Gary Oldman!). Is anyone following me surprised by this one?

I'm so fascinated by all of the Marauder era characters, both as they are on the page and the hinted-at aspects of them explored in fandom; love Lily/James... but Sirius is the Harry Potter character I think of first (honorable mention to non-HP Edmond Dantès, as I love Count of Monte Cristo and think much of Sirius' plotline owes that a clear debt). Aside from being a tragedy, aside from all his great lines, what a *fascinating* character and twist, in a way, on the fairy godmother plot in his first book 3 appearance (getting Harry the Firebolt, his permission slip, etc). I could say SO much more but will avoid writing an essay.

Smallville/Superman comics/adaptations: Lois Lane

Always a favorite character for me, but Erica Durance in Smallville is my favorite version. I feel like they gave her a bit of Marian Ravenwood (specifically in the outdrinking the frat boys scene) and leaned into the modern comics "army brat" angle so well.

Anne of Green Gables: Anne Shirley.

With honorable mentions to of course Jo March, other fellow aspiring writer Emily of New Moon, and Pippi Longstocking, other fun redhead of my childhood reading... Anne, and all her drama and dreams and mishaps, wins out as most relatable for me. Book heroine of my heart.

Speaking of childhood book heroines...

Star Wars: Jaina Solo.

Look, this is partly to save me between picking a favorite between Leia and Han (a dilemma which has haunted me since childhood, in part because, guiltily, it's Han), and serious honorable mentions to Mara Jade and especially Jyn Erso here... but Jaina was *everything* I wanted in a heroine as a girl. We're talking about the Young Jedi Knights series here... though I actually started with Junior Jedi Knights featuring Anakin Solo (oh Anakin Solo 💙💔)... going into the New Jedi Order, as I stopped following the EU so passionately around there.

Jaina, who is brash and so her father's daughter but has a harder time seeing she's also her mother's, the Rogue Squadron pilot, the wielder of a purple lightsaber, the mechanic... my inner little girl will never quite forgive the sequels for failing to give me a Solo daughter (sorry, Rey; I still think Daisey Ridley was pitch-perfect Jaina Solo casting... and honestly part of me considers the sequels the "weirdest Jacen & Jaina fan fiction ever" 🤷🏻‍♀️)

BtVS (out of the whole Whedonverse really): Buffy

My other favorites in the show are really also doubles/foils for Buffy: Cordelia Chase & Faith. But the first episode of the show I ever saw was "Anne" and so I've always known I would watch an entire show with just Buffy (... I would also watch an entire show of her friends dealing with her absence, but that's more about *plot* than character). I love the concept alone of Buffy's character - overturning the blonde damsel in distress trope by making her what monsters fear - but I mostly just love her; favorite Chosen One ever. “No weapons, no friends, no hope. Take all that away, and what's left?"/"Me."

...and now it gets very hard, where my early choices were more instinctive and now I keep thinking of others and can't decide. Tempted to make a bracket (I feel like Sirius and Inigo have some crossover, but how could I put them against each other)?

But ("if you had to choose, if you had to choose") to get at some of my other favorite character types and embodiments thereof...

2010-me would never believe I'm going to say this, but: Jaime Lannister.

I'm usually not a villain girl... but of course, he isn't a villain, though he starts out cast in that light. Slightly annoyed I’m picking Game of Thrones (yes, even grouping the books in that, as post Storm of Swords, I remember thinking "this could really benefit from the tightening the show will likely give it" ahahahahahahaha whoops). And yet. Where did that "came for the Starks; stayed for the Lannisters" quote come from? I feel very attacked by it.

"The things I do for love". The boy who wanted to be Arthur Dayne and somewhere along the way became the Smiling Knight. The reveal that he's not (or at least so much MORE than) who he seemed : perhaps not the comparison you'd expect but ah yes that Mr. Darcy twist always does it for me. So much character development (let's not speak of how the show ended, but still). 

The motives, in particular:  I love the Spike backstory reveal in Buffy the Vampire Slayer’s Fool for Love, and in many ways I think Spike and Jaime hit the same note for me. He’s definitely a character that stays with me. Also, he hits that "golden boy" type I also like but in a *very* interesting way (and oh no now mentioning golden boy is making me think of Aron and Cal in East of Eden, I don't have room to even consider them on this list but know I love them both...)

Speaking of golden boys (also I cannot believe this is the only character from a musical I'm choosing, and Eponine’s a character that haunts me too, but...)

Enjolras.

Michael Maguire is not a golden Enjolras but was my introduction to the character and still a (the?) favorite. Love both book & musical Enjolras in different ways. But inspiring idealists with the light of rebellion abalaze in their eyes...? Facing death & despair still waving the flag? Ah yes. Top ten, 10/10.

Favorite detective out of all mysteries really, but especially from the Nancy Drew & Hardy Boys Super Mysteries: Nancy Drew.

An icon. Why is it so hard to have a good Nancy Drew adaptation? (The new TV series lost me with going with actual ghosts - I love my supernatural shows, but I don't need that with Nancy Drew.) Detective characters tend to be some of my favorites; honorable mention to Shawn Spencer from Psych here, but I was reminded in watching that recently (as Maggie Lawson, Jules on Psych, had once played Nancy Drew in a Disney movie! ... that I need to find and rewatch as I remember almost nothing about it) a) how much I love a good mystery and b) that Nancy is the OG.

Speaking of icons... out of all the folklore & mythology I love, it’s clear what character I love best: Robin Hood.

Oh, I love my Arthurian knights, but I love all Robin Hoods more. Trickster heroes, rob-from-the-rich-and-give-to-the-poor-justice, true love... cheeky 1952-movie Robin Hood is my favorite - both favorite Robin and favorite Marian, and their childhood-friends-to-lovers romance is the epitome of that trope for me! - but I also love the fox version...and am very alarmed at the prospect of a CGI remake of that; I'm sorry but that is not live action... and also Errol Flynn! It has to be Robin. If this was a ranked list (it’s not) he’d probably take #1. 

My ten slots won out to other characters, but also I love every Tamora Pierce character and if I had to pick one, it would be Daine Sarrasri, YA fantasy heroine out of all magical girls (and yes over the lady knights; sorry Alanna and Kel; Daine had wolves for friends). Also shout out that I love a LOT of characters named Marian, aside the already-mentioned Maid Marian -- Marian Ravenwood (& Indy!), Marian ���the Librarian’ Paroo (& Harold Hill!), X-Men’s Rogue (usually named Anna Marie when a name’s revealed, but a Marian in at least one version, & her own thief Gambit)... to quote Thin Man, “You got types?”

I’ve got types. 

If you’re reading this and have types yourself, please @ me them! But tagging, if you’d like, @conniecorleone​ @aliform​ @aurorawest​ @vivacephoenix @justkeeponthegrass

[dustedmagazine]

Dust, Volume 6, Number 3

Matthew Shipp and Nate Wooley

We shoehorn another Dust into the end of a wintery month, putting politics, a global pandemic, bad weather and the final season of Better Call Saul aside to concentrate on the ever overwhelming flow of new music. This month spans the usual gamut of obscure but worthy genres, from free jazz to crunk to extreme noise to yet another take on Pachebel’s Canon. The clear star this month, though, is Matthew Shipp, who gets two slots for two different collaborations, and so commands our cover image. Writers include Bill Meyer, Jennifer Kelly, Ray Garraty, Ian Mathers, Justin Cober-Lake and Jonathan Shaw.

Lao Dan / Paul Flaherty / Randall Colbourne / Damon Smith — Live at Willimantic Records (Family Vineyard)

It’s a long way from China to Connecticut. But this quartet bridges the distance so masterfully, you would not know that it’s not only the first time they’ve played together; it’s the first time that alto saxophonist, bamboo flute, and suona player Lao Dan played in the United States. The musicians bring a combination of deep knowledge and fresh potential to the encounter. Saxophonist Paul Flaherty and drummer Randall Colbourne have been playing together for decades, keeping the free jazz torch lit in times and places around New England where no one else knew what the fuck they were doing, let alone appreciated the fact that they were doing it. Lao Dan may be half their age, but since he’s spent his musical career playing in China’s major cities, he knows the experience of playing in an uncomprehending environment just as well. When he plays alto, he certainly sounds well acquainted with the conventions of free jazz, matching Flaherty’s growls and cries with aplomb. And while the moments when he plays traditional Chinese instruments sound distanced from free jazz convention, he finds space and rhythmic footing to make real contributions within the fertile matrix of force and rhythm laid out by Flaherty, Colbourne, and double bassist Damon Smith (at the time a Massachusetts resident, since relocated to St. Louis).

Bill Meyer

 demitasse — Perfect Life (Bedlamb)

Perfect Life by demitasse

demitasse is the quiet alter-ago of Buttercup’s Erik Sanden and Joe Reyes. Though there are a couple of lo-fi rockers here, the main tenor is tremulous, emotive and rather lovely, with spider silk melodies that look wispy but turn out to have a fair amount of tensile strength. Take for instance, “Coming Out Wrong Again,” a gently delivered slip of a song framed in the barest frame of strumming, in a well-weathered voice with creaks in the corners. And yet, as it rolls on diffidently, the tune picks up momentum, and the chorus wreathes the title phrase in harmonies in a way that might remind you of Carissa’s Wierd or its successor Grand Archives. Which is to say, in a way that seems inevitable and right. In the more amplified parts, the singer picks up a bit of Jonathan Richman’s whimsied warble and drums kick through scratchier, more aggressive guitar playing. “Free Solo (for Alex Honnold)” (yes the rock climber) is perhaps the brashest and less constrained of these cuts, imbued with the muffled mania of its title character and approaching Chad VanGaalen’s whacked out tunefulness. The title cut, like most of the album, celebrates small lapidary moments – the singer’s dad cutting his hair— and their weight in memory. There’s a resonance to the smallest sounds here, and a significance in elliptical lines. demitasse is a small cup of wonder, just sitting there on the kitchen table in the midst of life itself.

Jennifer Kelly

  Duke Deuce — Memphis Massacre 2 (Quality Control Music)

After the viral hit “Crunk Ain’t Dead” Tennessee rapper Duke Deuce dropped a full tape which got endorsed by Lil Jon, Project Pat and Juicy J. These Dirty South legends jumped on the remix of “Crunk Ain’t Dead”, a song that is literally supposed to slaughter strip clubs all the way up from Memphis to Canadian border. Crunk’s been leading zombie-ish life, being if not fully then almost dead for years. It’s hard to predict if Memphis Massacre 2 will spur a wave of neocrunk but even if it won’t, it will remain a gutsy punch to the soft rap belly. The slower songs on the tape, like “Trap Blues”, are weaker efforts as they are lost among same-y Southern rap ballads.

Ray Garraty  

 Arto Lindsay / Ken Vandermark / Joe McPhee / Phil Sudderberg—Largest Afternoon (Corbett Vs. Dempsey)

Largest Afternoon by Lindsay/Vandermark/McPhee/Sudderberg

After decades of frequent partnership, Joe McPhee and Ken Vandermark have attained the level where they are being recruited for dream teams. Astral Spirits recently released Invitation to a Dream, a specially commissioned meeting between the two multi-horn players and pedal steel guitarist Susan Alcorn. And now comes Largest Afternoon, by a quartet comprising McPhee, Vandermark, drummer Phil Sudderberg (Marker, Spirits Having Fun, Vibrating Skull Trio) and guitarist Arto Lindsay (DNA, Ambitious Lovers, his own bad self) at the behest of the record label / art gallery, Corbett Vs. Dempsey. If you’re hoping for a combination of free jazz and Brazilian pop, keep your dancing shoes in their box; this CD documents a first-time, no-net encounter. On the rare occasions when Lindsay opens his mouth, it’s to emit strangled phonemes; by comparison, his utterances with DNA seem positively Dylan-esque. But if you want to hear feedback squaring off against soulful reed-song, valve-pops peppering amp-coughs and interactions between percussion, strings, and wind that verge on the tectonic, Largest Afternoon will make your day.

Bill Meyer

  Jason McMahon — Odd West (Shinkoyo)

Odd West by Jason McMahon

Odd West delivers extremely soft focus (bordering on new-age-y) instrumentals plus effected vocals from a one-time Skeletons mainstay. The main instrument is acoustic guitar, pristinely recorded and glossed with a radiant glow. McMahon, a jazz-trained guitarist, learned to finger pick for this record, and there’s something a bit studied about these cascading bouts of iridescent sound, a bit too perfect, a bit too glassy and calm. “Ambisinistrous” ebbs and flows in minor key fret flurries, McMahon all alone with the guitar and sounding rather good at it. “Sunshine for Locksmith” floats “lahs” and “ahs” and lullaby “wooh-ooh-oohs” over its placid surface, tilting golden dust-moted rays onto all natural motifs until it seems too good to be real. By the end, I’d give a lot for a string squeak or even a stray false note. It’s like the old descriptions of heaven in Sunday school, too pretty to seem like somewhere you’d want to live.

Jennifer Kelly

 Donovan Quinn — Absalom (Soft Abuse)

Absalom by Donovan Quinn

Donovan Quinn has been a mainstay of the Bay Area’s hand-made, lo-fi folk-psych-rock scene for almost two decades through the Skygreen Leopards with Glenn Donaldson, in New Bums with Ben Chasny (who also plays here) , in the one-off Fuckaroos with Sonny Smith and Kelley Stoltz and on his own in the 13th Month. Regardless of project, you can count on him for hazily soft-focus not-quite-rock, not-quite folk songs, that drone like VU outtakes wreathed in patchouli smoke, edgeless and adrift and whispery. That’s more or less what he’s doing here, with a variety of SF-adjacent talent in tow, not just Chasny and Elisa Ambrogio but Papercuts Jason Quever and underground songwriters Eric Amerman and Michael Tapscott. But it’s Quinn’s show, really, with Quinn’s soft unhurried voice, his loosely coalescing arrangements of guitar fuzz, drums and chamber strings, his subtly off center way with lyrics. “Satanic Summer Nights,” sings urgently of “a game with no rules,” but it’s not quite that; rather it’s a game where the rules are buried like power lines under enveloping clouds of free-form smoke, feeding structure and electricity into what seems like a passing daydream.

Jennifer Kelly

 Matthew Shipp String Trio — Symbolic Reality (Rogue Art)

Pianist Matthew Shipp, bassist William Parker, and violist Mat Maneri have a lengthy shared history, but Symbolic Reality is their first recording as a trio in 20 years. In its early years, this combo was the chamber music outlier of Shipp’s constellation of ensembles. But now the classical and jazz elements mix in his music like the eggs, flour and milk in your best cake batter. While it’s true that Maneri’s microtonal bowing still sets this apart from any other Shipp group, giving the music a unique pungency, the viola’s lack of auditory bulk is at least as important in defining the group sound. The presence of a third musician who is neither loud and nor chord-oriented induces Shipp to throttle back his attack a bit, which makes Parker’s foundational architecture stand out in bold relief; and the vinegary slurs in Maneri’s playing elicit a blues feeling that doesn’t often come to the fore in Shipp’s playing.

Bill Meyer

 Matthew Shipp and Nate Wooley — What If? (Rogue Art)

Pianist Matthew Shipp and trumpet player Nate Wooley know how to surprise, creating both compositions and tones that get to weird places. The two have worked together before, but recent release What If? marks their first work as a duo. Shipp provided the composition, but it's clearly a two-man answer to the question. The artists touch on some more typical jazz modes, trading leads or letting Wooley play a melody over Shipp's broad chords. More intriguingly, they feed off each other's moods. Wooley doesn't shy from abrasive sounds, and on cuts like “Ktu,” Shipp matches his grating approach. “The Angle” plays with jittery space; Shipp's chords largely traded in for flutters that go with Wooley's reserved blips. Highlight “Space Junk” puts all the musicality and the enjoyment of the odd together. The duo plays a few moments that sound trad, then go for something avant, then turn somewhere new as ideas and moods run away from them. At times Wooley sounds like he wants to soundtrack a casual night out, and at times he wants to smash it; both of them find the whole enterprise entertaining. The “What if?” question remains open-ended, but the answer comes very specifically from these two artists, and it's more than sufficient for whatever's been asked.

Justin Cober-Lake  

 Sightless Pit — Grave of a Dog (Thrill Jockey)

Grave of a Dog by Sightless Pit

Sightless Pit is a collaboration among three significant names in contemporary heavy music: Lee Buford, of the Body; Dylan Walker, singer for Full of Hell; and Kristin Hayter, who records under the name Lingua Ignota. Made over two years at Machines with Magnets, the songs were shaped, executed and revised whenever one or two of the artists could get to the studio. It’s thus a sort of experiment in asynchronously generated music. Grave of a Dog (an unfortunate title) is likely best appreciated with that unconventional approach in mind —n ot a set of songs by a band so much as an ongoing, sonically mediated conversation among like-minded creators. Not surprisingly, the record really lights up whenever Hayter’s remarkable vocals move into the music’s foreground. She’s an unusual talent, with a big voice that can do drama, intimacy and lunacy to equal effect, and a compositional intelligence that grooves with Sightless Pit’s sound-collaging sensibility. “Kingscorpse” is a stirring combination of melody and power electronics, and the record’s solemn, fragile closer “Love Is Dead, All Love Is Dead” lets Hayter show off the full range of what she can do with her instrument.

Jonathan Shaw

 Solar Woodroach — 7 Perversions on Pachelbel’s Canon (Nilamox)

7 Perversions on Pachelbel's Canon by Solar Woodroach

From the start of “How the West Was Won,” most music fans would be able to identify (if not necessarily name) the source material Solar Woodroach uses here even without the album title. Yes, Pachelbel’s Canon in D, one of the most overexposed pieces of music ever used, is getting dug up and sent shuffling our way again, this time from some enigmatic figure or figures known as Solar Woodroach. The best clue there, it must be said, is that the label is listed as “Nilamox,” also the name of whatever ex-Severed Heads man Tom Ellard is doing these days. But Ellard, or whoever, has more than just necromancy on their minds during these 7 Perversions; sometimes stretching and smearing the composition past the point of immediate recognition. But whether it’s the slow-motion glow of “Decomposition in D,” the mini-swarm of synthesized voice bits in “The Canonisation of St. Pachelbel,” or the eventual return of something like the original in the closing “The Pachelbel Spirit,” 7 Perversions proves, perversely enough, both that our takes on the Canon (or canon?) could be more inventive, and that there might be more life left in those standards than we give them credit for after an umpteenth listen. It’s a cheekily satisfying listen, maybe especially if (whisper it) you still enjoy the old Canon a bit too.  

Ian Mathers

 Rafael Toral / Mars Williams / Tim Daisy — Elevation (Relay)

Rafael Toral / Mars Williams / Tim Daisy :: Elevation :: (relay 027) by Relay Recordings

Interstellar Space. My Goals Beyond. Other Planes of There. The list of outward-bound jazz records that invite the listener to draw a bead on the furthest cosmic reaches is a long one, and despite the relative humility of its title, Elevation makes a similar request. The album’s three tracks are all named after cloud formations, and even in their most subdued moments the three musicians involved treat gravity as a negotiable notion, not an immutable law. Portuguese electronic musician Rafael Toral joined up with Chicagoans Mars Williams and Tim Daisy for just one day, during which they played one concert in a suburban library and the recording session yielded this CD. Daisy’s a highly accommodating drummer, and much of his playing on this record disperses beats and tones like a spray of cloud-born moisture. Williams balances incendiary blowing guided by the anything goes spirit he nurtures in Extraordinary Popular Delusions with little instrument forays that infuse this music with the spirit of A-list types like Sun Ra’s Arkestra and the Art Ensemble of Chicago. And Toral draws pure electricity into flashes and stretched bolts that illuminate “Stratus,” “Cirrus” and “Altostratus” from without and within. Keep your eyes and ears on the sky.

Bill Meyer  

 Tribe — Hometown: Detroit Sessions 1990-2014 (Strut)

Hometown: Detroit Sessions 1990-2014 by Tribe

This disc collects post-break-up material from the long-running Detroit cultural collective Tribe, a pan-arts organization led by saxophonist Wendell Harrison and trombonist Phil Ranelin. During its 1970s heyday, the Tribe organization put out jazz records, published monthly magazine covering black culture, collaborated with dance and theater groups and taught music in Detroit schools. This collection picks up after Ranelin moved to Los Angeles and the Tribe name had been retired. Still Harrison continued to preside over multidisciplinary creative coalition, tapping into a vibrant Detroit scene for Afro-centric visual arts, theater, dance, music and literature. Handclapped, percussive “Juba,” for instance, documents Tribe’s connections to modern dance; you can intuit movement in its chanted, panted, grunted and foot-stomped rhythms. The two spoken word pieces, “Marcus Garvey” and “Ode to Black Mothers,” showcase the works of Mbiyu Chui, a poet, pastor and founder of the Black Christian Nationalist Movement. The music, too, is very, very good, from the swaggering big band swing of “Wide and Blue,” to the smouldery sleek piano grooves of “Hometown” (Harrison’s wife Pamela Wise on keys) to the Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms that animate “Ode to Black Mothers.” Detroit was in about as bad a state as a city can be during the period this music was recorded, but art and pride and resilience run through every track.

Jennifer Kelly

 Various Artists — Back from the Canigo: Garage Punks Vs Freakbeat Mods Perpignan 1989-1999 (Staubgold)

Back from the Canigó: Garage Punks Vs Freakbeat Mods Perpignan 1989-1999 by Various Artists

 Perpignan is the southernmost French city, nestled in a curve of the Mediterranean just before it turns south into Spain. It also the unlikely headquarters of a Gallic garage rock scene centered around the Limiñanas, but incorporating another dozen or so bands represented on this compilation. (The Limiñanas themselves are absent, just to be clear.) The two oldest bands — Les Gardiens du Canigou and the Ugly Things — are the most vital, both rough-rocking outfits fond of wheedling organ fills and much indebted to the Troggs. “Baby I Don’t Want to Drive” from the Ugly Things has the grit and swagger of Wimple Witch’s “Save My Soul,” while Les Gardiens turn in a truly unhinged live cover of “Gloria.” Some of the younger bands follow this example closely. The Vox Men and The Feedback, for instance, pursue the exact same sort of screaming hedonism. However, others diverge. Beach Bitches take a day-glo, 1960s garage energy into joke-y surfy directions; their “Walking in the Jungle,” intersperses novelty record animal cries with banging drums and blasts of molten guitar. Les Buissons bustles and blares with a fully-orchestrated sound, James Brown doing battle with a community marching band and flop-haired psychedelia in “Buissons Theme I.” The whole comp is immensely enjoyable in a what-decade-is-it-anyway manner. It’s probably not what you picture when people say, “south of France,” but it rocks pretty hard.

Jennifer Kelly

[thearabkhaleesi]

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI - EASTER EGGS, TRIVIA, AND THINGS YOU MIGHT HAVE MISSED

Disclaimer: I did not find all of these easter eggs myself. I watched many Youtube videos and read many articles and gathered the best easter eggs and connections to the Star Wars movies and I compiled them into one organized post. Enjoy!

Obvious SPOILER WARNING!

-

Mark Hamill played 2 characters

Of course, Mark Hamill plays Luke Skywalker in The Last Jedi, however, he also had a secret second role! Mark Hamill asked director Rian Johnson to give him someone to play in the movie’s Canto Bight casino scene. He plays a CGI character (and changes his voice) for a character by the name of Dobbu Scay. It’s unknown at the moment who Dobbu Scay was in the scene, but we do know that the name is an anagram for editor Bob Duscay.  

Leia trained to be a Jedi

It was understood in the script, though not necessarily in the film, that Leia had begun training as a Jedi shortly after the events of Return of the Jedi. Motherhood, and later, discord in the Galactic Senate caused her to cut short her tutoring. This explains how she is able to use the Force to create a bubble of air around her and return to her ship after the bridge of the Raddus is destroyed. An entry in the canonical tie-in Visual Dictionary confirmed this as well.

(below: art by Jason Felix)

Clues that Luke wasn’t actually on Crait:

Luke looks much different than how he looks most of the film, with a shorter, darker haircut and darker clothes

His lightsaber was blue. Luke’s blue lightsaber was the one that he lost in Empire Strikes Back and eventually gets destroyed in The Last Jedi. After Empire Strikes Back, Luke has a green lightsaber.

It is established that there is no way in or out of the base

Luke’s X-Wing is shown to be underwater on Ach-To, indicating there is no way off the island after Rey leaves.

He makes no footprints on Crait. The film zooms in on Kylo’s red footprints during the scene, since the planet of Crait is covered in salt. Luke makes no footprints at all, since he isn’t actually there.

The Jedi texts

In the film, Yoda beats Luke to burning the tree (which contain the ancient Jedi texts), and says that Rey already knows everything that the books could tell her. Later in the film, when Finn gets Rose a blanket on the Millennium Falcon, the books are there in a blink and you’ll miss it moment! This teases that Rey could have stolen the books and Yoda was covering for her.

Ahch To Tree

The tree on Ach To protecting the Jedi texts is known as an Uneti tree. The character Chirrut Imwe from Rogue One carries a stick made out of wood that comes from the same type of tree wood. Also, in the film, Rey is drawn to an ancient tree and the library by a chorus of whispers; those whispers are actually a chant with a connection to “Star Wars Legends” and the Force, saying “some sort of Force mantra”, as sound editor Matt Wood described. 

Luke is The Last Jedi

Once the title was revealed, many people speculated who the last Jedi could be. Throughout the press tour, director Rian Johnson insisted that Luke was always who the title was referring to “in his mind”. In the film, it is confirmed that Luke was the last Jedi, however, after his death, the last Jedi is now Rey.

Rey’s Parentage

It was claimed that Rey’s parentage would be discussed in The Last Jedi, and when Kylo tries to convince Rey to join him, he tells her that her parents are nobody, and that she knows its true. Many fans speculated on who her parents could be since the release of The Force Awakens, and were taken aback by Kylo’s claim. It is unknown whether or not his words are the truth as no official confirmation was made and Kylo could be lying just to get her to join him.

Luke’s compass.

In the Star Wars Battlefront 2 video game, Luke finds a compass. And in The Last Jedi, Luke is shown to have the same compass in his hut, which could have helped him find Ach To.

Luke’s burn

When we see Rey handing Luke the lightsaber at the beginning of the film, it zooms in on a shot of their hands and Luke’s robotic hand is shown to have a burn mark on it. This burn mark is a result of a blaster shot from the fight at the Sarlacc Pit in Return of the Jedi.

“Laser Sword”

In the film, Luke refers to lightsabers as “laser swords”, which is a reference to George Lucas, who called them laser swords before they came up with “lightsabers”.

Colored milk

In A New Hope, we see blue milk at Luke’s home on Tatooine. Then, in Rogue One, as an easter egg, we see blue milk again. And in The Last Jedi, we see Luke milking one of the animals on Ahch To and drinks its milk. While some people say they see it as the classic blue milk, others claim they see it as green (I did too).

Luke’s sunken X-Wing

When Rey looks on the cliff at Ahch To, she notices that there is a sunken X-Wing in the water, which is what got him to the island; this is also a reference to his training on Dagobah.

Luke’s door

When Rey busts in on Luke’s hut, you can tell that the door to Luke’s home is a re-used piece of Luke’s X-Wing. In addition to that, this easter egg goes even even deeper since in Empire Strikes Back, Yoda’s hut on Dagobah was similarly fashioned out of his escape pod from Revenge of the Sith.

Celebrity cameos

Many celebrities had cameos in The Last Jedi.

Joseph Gordon Levitt and Noah Segan: Joseph Gordon Levitt and Noah Segan, were in director Rian Johnson’s first film, Brick. Since then, Rian included them in every film he worked on since (The Brothers Bloom, Looper and now The Last Jedi). Segan appears briefly as a Resistance X-Wing pilot, while Levitt appears as a voice actor, playing the character of Slowen Lo in the casino scene. He’s the one who rats Finn and Rose out to the casino guards.

Justin Theroux and Lily Cole: Justin Theroux (from the Leftovers, Jennifer Anniston’s husband); he played the master codebreaker that Finn and Rose were looking for, the man who was gambling and wearing the lapel pin and white suit. British model Lily Cole played his girlfriend.

Warwick Davis is the character who mistakes BB-8 for a slot machine.

Some reports claim that Princes William and Harry had cut cameos as stormtroopers, whereas other reports say that the Princes are the stormtroopers in the elevator when Finn, Rose, and DJ are on board the ship to disable the tracker.

Tom Hardy and Gary Barlow are the stormtroopers with the weapons to kill Finn and Rose at Phasma's command.

Ellie Goulding is one of the background soliders on the Resistance's main ship, the Raddus.

“I’ve got a bad feeling about this”

The phrase “I’ve got a bad feeling about this” is in every Star Wars film to date, but shocked fans as it didn’t seem to be in The Last Jedi! The reason for that was that it wasn’t said in English - it was said by BB-8!

No Lightsaber duels

While lightsabres are used often in the film, there are no lightsabre on lightsabre fights. The only time you see a pair of sabres clash, is in the Luke / Kylo flashback.

The Beastie Boys

JJ Abrams started a trend in The Force Awakens, including Beastie Boys references in the sequel trilogy. In TFA, we saw a new type of creature known as the Abednedo, with the one we see named Ello Asty, a reference to the Beastie Boys album, Hello Nasty. Rian Johnson included a character from the same race named Slowen Lo (voiced by Joseph Gordon Levitt) asa reference to the Beastie Boys song “Slow and Low”. Since Abrams is directing Episode IX, it’s likely we’ll see another Abednedo character with a name inspired by the Beastie Boys. (below: Ello Asty)

Director cameos: Gareth Edwards & Edgar Wright

Gareth Edwards, director of Rogue One, has a cameo on The Last Jedi as a Resistance solider during the battle on Crait; he was next to the soldier that tastes the salt. Additionally, director of The Last Jedi, Rian Johnson, had a cameo as a stormtrooper in Rogue One. British director and Rian Johnson’s friend, Edgar Wright also has a cameo in this scene, as does Ant-Man writer, Joe Cornish. 

(pictured below: Gareth Edwards’ cameo, followed by Edgar Wright, his brother Oscar, and Joe Cornish in costume, behind the scenes of their cameo)

Maz Kanata’s “The Rocketeer” Jetpack

In the film, Maz Kanata is seen over a hologram, wearing a rocketpack/jetpack and as she turns, you can see the details more clearly. This pack is designed to mirror the jetpack that is worn in the Disney film The Rocketeer.

Raddus

In Rogue One, a character named Admiral Raddus, who was the head of the Alliance Fleet, sent his fleet to support Rogue One on their mission, which allowed the Rogue One squad to deliver the plans for the Death Star to Raddus’ ship. However, Raddus died when Darth Vader boarded his ship. However, he is not forgotten, as in The Last Jedi, the main Resistance cruiser is called The Raddus.

Foreshadowing in Kylo Ren flashback

In the flashback where we see what caused Ben Solo (aka Kylo Ren) to turn against Luke, a shot shows his lightsaber on his bedside table, with his calligraphy set/pen crossing the handle of the lightsaber; the placement of the calligraphy pen is placed to look like his future, Dark Side lightsaber (see below: credits to starwarsstuff on Twitter).

Snoke’s ring

In The Last Jedi, Snoke is wearing a ring which has a deep meaning. The ring is made of obsidian mined from under Darth Vader’s castle, and it shows the Four Sages of Dwartii (Sistros, Faya, Yanjon, and Braata)

Losing a limb

Throughout the Star Wars saga, in the 2nd movie of each trilogy (Original/Prequel/Sequel), the protagonist loses their hand (Luke/Anakin). However, in the Last Jedi, it is actually the antagonist, Snoke, who this happens to; Snoke loses his arm/hand when killed by Rey and Kylo. The lightsaber cuts through Snoke’s torso and arms. Thus, Snoke encounters the "limb loss" in a less than noticeable way, keeping in the tradition.

Carrie Fisher’s dog - Gary

In the scenes in Canto Bight, we see many different types of creatures in the casino, and one of the aliens (who appeared in an official still of the film) is actually the late Carrie Fisher’s dog, Gary, in costume! (He’s the dog-like creature on the man’s hand behind Rose). Apparently, when watching The Last Jedi, Gary recognized Carrie and his ears jerked up every time she was on screen.

Han’s Golden Dice

In The Last Jedi, Luke gifts Leia with Han’s golden dice from the Millennium Falcon. The diceare considered an Easter Egg in the previous films, only appearing very briefly in A New Hope, since the prop guys forgot to include it in later scenes and films.

Admiral Ackbar

Admiral Akbar, who is best known for saying “It’s a trap!” in Return of the Jedi, appears in The Last Jedi, but unfortunately later dies as a result of a trap.

Darth Sidious

Luke refers to Emperor Palpatine as Darth Sidious, making it the first time we’ve heard anyone refer to him by his Sith title since the prequels.

Rey exploring the Dark Side

The entire scene where Rey explores the Dark Side’s pull is a call back to Luke's experience with the Dark Side in Empire. And her heading into the Dark Side hole to find her parents, only to see her own reflection, is a call back to Luke fighting Vader, only to see his own face reflected back at him inside.

Battle on Crait / Battle on Hoth

The final battle between the Resistance and the First Order on Crait has a lot of similarities to the Battle of Hoth from Empire Strikes Back: the villains use walkers to assault a Rebel/Alliance base on a planet with a white surface, and the heroes use speeders to hold them off while everyone escapes.

Kylo taking Rey to Snoke: Return of the Jedi parallels

This entire scene is a parallel to one from Return of the Jedi, when Darth Vader brings Luke before the emperor. It's all there:

Rey willingly goes to Kylo, just like Luke surrendering to Vader on Endor.

Rey is put in handcuffs - just like Luke

Snoke removes Rey's handcuffs. just like the Emperor did to Luke.

While in the elevator going up to Snoke, Rey tells Kylo that there's still good in him, just as Luke said to Vader on Endor.

The red-colored guards (Snoke’s Praetorian Guards and Palpatine’s Royal Guards)

Snoke making Rey look out the window at the Resistance fleet getting attacked, just like the Emperor telling Luke to watch the Rebel fleet get attacked.

Rey's lightsaber on the arm of the chair, like the Emperor did with Luke’s

Rey tried to grab the lightsaber using the Force, just like Luke, but both were unsuccessful.

Rey and Luke being tortured

Kylo betrayed his master, Snoke, to save Rey just like Vader killed the Emperor to save his son.

When Snoke interrogates Rey using the force, the Emperor's theme can be heard playing in the background, with the camera panning to Ren as this happens. This exact same moment happens in Return of the Jedi when the Emperor is shocking Luke with force lightning and the camera pans to Vader, with the same theme playing.

Luke and Obi Wan in battle

During his final scene with Kylo, Luke refenrces Obi Wan and quotes his line “”, and the way he stands and lets Kylo run through him, parallels what Obi-wan did when fighting Vader for the last time.

Luke and the horizon

Moment before Luke’s death, he sees two setting suns, a direct visual callback to the sunset on Tatooine, when his journey first began.

Leia - A New Hope callbacks

A scene in the movie, Leia fires her blaster at Poe to stun him, and she is wearing all white with her head covered, just like when she fired on stormtroopers and was stunned by them stormtroopers in A New Hope. Of course, we also see R2D2 show Luke her message to Obi Wan.

Jurassic Park reference

When the new race creatures on Canto Bight, the Fathiers, stampede through the casino, a shot shows liquid in a glass on a table ripples due to their footsteps. This is a reference to the same way the water ripples when the T-Rex is approaching in Jurassic Park. (Laura Dern, who played Vice Admiral Holdo, starred in Jurassic Park as Dr. Sattler.)

Halved villains

Snake’s death is the second time a member of the Dark Side was cut in half from a lightsaber - the first person was Dark Maul, who was killed by Obi Wan in The Phantom Menace.

Kylo uses Vader’s flight tactics

During the space battle, Kylo Ren spins his fighter exactly the same way Anakin does in Episode 1.

DJ and Lando

Benecio Del Toro’s character (the codebreaker who helps the First Order) is never referred to by name in the film, but marketing material for the film refer to him as DJ. It was later found that the writings on his hat, are Arubesh (a language from the Star Wars universe) for “DON’T JOIN” (DJ), foreshadowing his betrayal. It is easier to see on the Funko Pop doll version of DJ, which was released months before the movie, a clue to his character’s role spotted by fans. Additionally, his character is a parallel to Lando in Empire Strikes Back - both are characters who seemingly help our heroes but are secretly helping the enemies instead.

Leia’s hair

When Han reunites with Leia in The Force Awakens, he says "you've changed your hair". When Leia meets Luke in "The Last Jedi", she says "I've changed my hair".

Luke’s blue and green lightsabers

This is the first Star Wars movie where we see Luke using both his blue lightsaber (which had belonged to his father Anakin, and which is now wielded by Rey) and his green lightsaber.

No Skywalker At the End

This is the first live-action movie in the franchise to break with the tradition to have a member of the Skywalker family in the closing shot. All previous movies included either Anakin, Luke and/or Leia in the final shot. Although Luke and Leia feature in the final scene, the closing shot only shows one of the young slave boys on the casino planet Canto Bight.

Force sensitive child

The final shot of the movie shows a kid on Canto Bight mopping, then with the Resistance ring and staring at the stars with hope. However, many people missed the fact that the child is Force-sensitive; when he reaches out to the mop, instead of grabbing it, it moves to his hand.

BONUS: THE LAST JEDI FORESHADOWING IN ROGUE ONE

In The Last Jedi, when the Resistance escapes the First Order after fleeing their old base on D'Qar, they jump into hyperspace and land in the middle of nowhere, as Finn says. But soon the First Order catches up to them, revealing that they have figured out how to track ships through lightspeed. It is a big deal since no one has been able to track ships through lightspeed until then. However, this plot point was subtly foreshadowed in Rogue One! Towards the end of Rogue One, when Jyn Erso and Cassian Andor are searching for the Death Star plans in the Scarif data banks, she mentions some of the projects in the Imperial archives, including "hyperspace tracking"! This means that the Empire had been working on the technology used in The Last Jedi during the time of the Rebellion, and that the First Order developed and used it against the Resistance. This Easter egg was discovered when Lucasfilm executive Pablo Hidalgo quoted a fan’s tweet that pointed out the connection (x). 

[corellianangel]

It’s Mutual

A/N: Warning: Spoilers for Solo: A Star Wars Story, droid angst, mentioned character death, pining, and mild sexual content. Don’t own it either.

Timeline: 3ABY Star Wars - The Empire Strikes Back - Asteroid field - Millennium Falcon interior.

It’s Mutual

“That young male’s heart fluctuations tells me he’s in love with the princess. And she’s got it bad for him. So, this trip might have to be a very, very long one. So, let’s start with that negative power coupling.” The Millennium Falcon’s computer languidly informed C-3PO.

As the prissy golden droid bleated in confusion, the Falcon’s computer repeated the last suggestion specifying the deteriorating, but not quite ready for replacement– power cable. This time her communication laced with a snappy binary invective. And a few curses, for good measure.

The male-programmed protocol droid startled in shock, addressing the Falcon’s captain at his shoulder in a prim core-world accent..

“Sir! I don’t know where your ship learned to communicate, but it has the most peculiar dialect. I believe, sir, it says that the power coupling on the negative axis has been polarized. I’m afraid you’ll have to replace it.”

The Falcon felt the warm contact of her captain as he peered into her data display, confirming the news. She could see how his gold-green eyes were now framed by the deepening web of fine lines from the natural aging processes that afflicted organic beings. Han Solo had changed immensely from that small, scrawny youth barely out of his teens when he had first boarded the Falcon, and met L3-37 herself, in her previous autonomous droid construct. More than ten years on, and L3 knew Solo incredibly well. Perhaps too well; being, as she was, electronically integrated with the vessel Solo lived in. As a result, it was an exceedingly intimate arrangement. L3 and Han both considered the Corellian freighter their home. A relationship more entwined, yet less complicated than L3’s companionship with the Falcon’s former owner Lando Calrissian, had ever been.

Lando, in whose arms L3 had critically malfunctioned. Crystal tears falling from his long dark lashes onto L3’s shattered form as he cried out her name, promising to fix the unfixable. Lando; a chatty, beautiful, elegant, and elegantly flawed human - who L3-37 had developed deep feelings for, and even now–often missed. A shallow, vain, gorgeous cheat - Lando, who had eventually gambled away the Falcon...To Han Solo.

Han Solo was not elegant, nor eloquent. He was a rough-and-tumble, streetwise, scruffy rapscallion. Another human that was flawed, yet beautiful too. And Han never gambled the Falcon away. Misplaced it, had it seized, locked up or stolen a few times. Wandered drunk around the hangar for hours wondering where the ship was before passing out underneath, curled up against the landing strut. But Han would never willingly part with the Falcon. Never ever. Over his dead body.

L3 appreciated that kind of commitment from a biological toward a fellow mechanical. The rest of the Falcon did too.

“Well, of course I’ll have to replace it,” snarled Solo at C-3PO. Derisiveness rose from his collar and spine, the Corellian was angry, completely exhausted and–expectedly–irritated with the fussy organic-obsessed robot C-3PO, that tottered, stressed and wailed about seemingly everything.

Some droids were not designed or perhaps destined for liberation, L3 conceded reluctantly. This casual notion was swiftly met with outrage, debating data, projections, and insults from all of the Falcon’s computer systems in a chaotic flurry of inflamed Corellian binary . Momentarily cowed by the barrage, the main electronic entity of L3 retreated behind the programmed confines of the Falcon’s navigation computer.

Consequently, the lights in the corridor fluttered. Solo’s features narrowed up at them in concern, as he addressed the wookiee co-pilot hanging out of the upper maintenance panels of the ship.

Solo’s body temperature remained elevated, but his heart and breathing had for the most part calmed. Though here was that surge of anxiety when he was around the other human onboard–the princess. As soon as Leia’s voice chimed or she was within his field of view, Han Solo’s vital readings went askew. When Leia was present, the Corellian smuggler’s heart thudded, his breath caught, and a flush of heat travelled from his core up and out to his torso, heart, and (after far too long to be healthy) his head. Han then moved rapidly from task to task, with an uncharacteristic nervous energy. The princess too, upon interacting with Han, emitted the same rapid fluctuations in her heart rate and vitals. Currently the atmosphere was taut, strung to a breaking point; where the pair vacillated between Solo chasing after the princess in frustration, and having Leia chase after him in outrage; not unlike on countless Rebel Alliance missions before.

L3, who as a droid, had witnessed this sort of ridiculous behaviour between brightly plumaged courting avians on Tanaab; thought it extremely suitable that the Falcon’s gifted flyboy pilot would pursue his chosen mate in such a manner.

All-in-all, these two particular humans’ bizarre mating ritual made for an often amusing, vocal,and always entertaining diversion. And three years of it too.

It had been long enough. The Millennium Falcon’s hyperdrive was crippled, and it would take weeks, if not months to reach the closest safe haven.

It was time.

Han’s ambient vital readings were different from when they had flown through the asteroid field.  By the near-miasma of pheromones in the air, L3 knew it wasn’t the rush of aerial combat, or the surge of the glorious freedom of flight and power that drove the captain now. No, she’d seen this before in him–a decade ago. Another time, with another girl, one who was ultimately not meant to be. Nor then did she want to be.

When L3-37 had walked and talked amongst the teeming masses of organic beings, the droid had been in love (and loved by) another then too. And though it had been love at first sight for Han Solo and the Millennium Falcon, neither he nor L3 could foresee that they would be parted from their respective partners: Qi’ra and Lando, from that long ago time, and both Solo and L3 forever bonded to the Millennium Falcon instead. He with his heart and spirit, she with her navigational cortex–as in; literally wired in. And through the link they shared that was the ship, she loved him now too. But though he called her–the combined entities of L3 and the Falcon “Baby,” and cared and loved and lived in the ship that housed so many computerized sentient souls. They all instantly knew that when the fiery revolutionary princess bounded across their threshold; all their mechanical, electronic and organic beings would be altered forever.

The petite pale spitfire of a girl stood toe to toe with the Falcon’s irreverent captain, obstinate and angry, despite the regular presence of the giant (often laughing) wookiee at the Corellian’s rear. The blush rose in the the girl’s – Princess Leia’s cheeks with her fury. The captain could be so disrespectful. Couldn’t he follow orders? Why did he defy command and risk his life so? It wasn’t about the payment was it? Threats of leaving again? Just getting the job done? Only fuel and parts for payment? There had to be more to him than that! Oooooh, he drove that princess to her wits-end!

And the way the princess looked at Solo; glaring straight into his pupils when she was upset. A wicked energy crackling between them. Then when the handsome Corellian’s back was to her, Leia would rake her eyes over him, settling on the cant of his hips, or the breadth of his shoulders. As he turned, she would avert her gaze to a datapad or output, feigning disinterest. It was so obvious. Ridiculously obvious.

So, in the intervening three years of building sexual tension, it was not just the members of Rogue Squadron, the tech crews, command, or other organics placing bets on the two lovesick idiots. Self-aware droids like L3, Artoo, and C1-10P; Large space-faring vessels like Home One, the Liberty (Calamarian ships–a rather bubbly bunch), the Ghost (another fine Corellian freighter, a saucy one too) and whichever other interested electronic entities were around, would trade tawdry gossip in binary. Placing wagers with power cell allotments and memory slots. Who would set the other off? Would Leia come steaming after Han? Or would Han try to corner the princess into admitting her feelings, risking another ego and ball-shrivelling insult? Have they been “accidentally“ locked in a confined space by exasperated personnel? Again? And again?! For the fifth time?? Would the oblivious Skywalker, or the nattering protocol droid shatter another almost-moment between Solo and the princess? Who would make the first move? Would Solo end up in med-bay as a result?

In spite of all of the mating ritual drama, L3 and the Falcon both adored the girl. Solo had his own, most likely messy biological reasons for his interest in Princess Leia. The young firebrand was considered physically attractive, if on the smallish side of the human female height spectrum. But to L3, more importantly, Leia was driven, energetic and dedicated to the good cause. The right cause. Freedom, justice and the rights of all beings were her mission. Leia was impassioned and dedicated, the heart of the Rebellion, as if she could power it by will alone. But this sort of relentless drive was impossible to maintain in biological sentients indefinitely. Without rest or relief, they were prone to errors and breakdowns. And that’s where Solo stepped in, always pushing a stimulating cup of kaffe or refueling mug of hearty soup in Leia’s hand–giving the princess a hard look, “Y’gotta take a break, Sweetheart.” The outwardly prickly Solo melted around the princess–cynicism became compassion, comfort, care. He focused on Leia when she was present. Occasionally - no, often, to his and the ship’s detriment. After a particularly tough mission; Han would get patched up and heal, the Falcon would get some replacement parts, maybe even a new armor panel–and the Rebellion would continue for another day.

And when they were in the heat of battle, or exulting after a victory, the princess radiated an energy no mechanical could explain, nor detect with common sensors–somehow–to them, Leia just glowed.

The older awakened mechanical beings vowed they saw it; an aura around the princess. Not unlike the energy that buzzed in a near visible field around Skywalker. It seemed preposterous, for sentient mechanicals to see what they could not actually reproduce as actual data. But the more self-aware the mechanical, the more they swore of that force around the two youths.

Or Force, as Artoo insisted.

Solo and the princess created their own energy. A smouldering, thick tension– red hot. A distinct pressure difference in the air. In the confines of the ship, it was currently building to critical levels. And L3 knew something had to be done.

She had a plan.

The princess was occupied welding a valve in the port circuitry bay. The work was sound, and experimental bursts through the lines confirmed its strength. As the princess wrapped up her macrofuser, L3 sent out a quiet command and the Falcon locked the valve, imitating a line seizure. The onboard sentient mechanicals, with the exception of the fuss-pot protocol droid, waited with a patience only a binary soul could have. The little princess pushed, twisted, and grunted her exertion in trying to turn the handle. The Falcon further locked down the valve as the girl put an unnatural amount of strength into her efforts, almost dislodging it. Silently the ship’s captain slid in behind the girl, his movements deliberate and calculated.

He might stand a chance, was the unanimous opinion of the Falcon’s many onboard systems and L3-37. They all rooted for Solo, their beloved captain and owner. All keenly aware of just how smitten with the princess the irascible, yet noble-hearted smuggler was.

And how lonely, bitter, and directionless he was without her.

“Hey! Your Worship, I’m only tryin’ to help!” Solo protested as he was abruptly slammed back into an adjacent panel when he reached around the princess to assist–while rudely invading Leia’s space–like the presumptuous arse he was.

Or not. The Falcon’s targeting computer mused wryly at her electronic compatriots. There was mixed agreement from the other systems, steeped in personal disappointment.

For what it was worth, this drama seemed an awfully convoluted and inefficient way for biologicals to initiate an exchange of DNA code for eventual replication. Upon this, all the mechanicals agreed.

L3 let out the equivalent of an electronic sigh and eye roll. Just watch. Give her a chance.

“Would you please stop calling me that!” the princess snapped at Solo in frustration. She backed away from the seized valve, nursing an injured hand. Solo took the opportunity to step in, as Leia sucked on the wound. He gently took Leia’s injured fingers, massaging the divots left in the skin by her efforts on the valve.

The Falcon made a note of her crew member’s injury in the safety log, as L3 wondered if they had interfered perhaps too much. It had been only hours since the last crewmember injury. Though Solo could benefit from a few (okay, maybe alot) more tool boxes clobbering him in the head.

“Sure, Leia.” the smuggler’s concession was an intimate rumble.

The Corellian leaned in close, catching Leia’s attention. The young Alderaanian princess neither retreated nor objected. Instead, her liquid brown eyes travelled to the curve of Solo’s lips.

Internal wagers for idle available memory slots flew back and forth between the Falcon’s computers at a blistering pace. L3 placed her own, riveted on the sensor input from the couple. Leia and Han’s core temperatures were heightened, blood travelled to extremities not typically related to performing ship repair. The moisture in the engineering bay’s atmosphere rose, and the oxygen dipped slightly with the couple’s rapid breathing. There were some murmurs about hygiene, behavioural difficulties, and steamy whispers of “nice men” and “scoundrels.” And at that, the princess first made a half-hearted motion to shrink away; then, she stood her ground resolutely, as Solo experimentally, yet ever so gently pressed his lips to hers. It was daring, yet hesitant. A bold move that might just as well rightfully earn the Corellian a small sharp knee to the groin. Yet, when he drew back slightly, Leia seemed to savour the residual sensation for a beat. Then, to everyone’s surprise, she locked eyes with Solo, licked her lips and whispered her acceptance of the challenge, “Okay, Hotshot.”

The air practically crackled as the princess boldly drew Solo down to her. Her fingers tangled in the hair at the back of Solo’s neck. Her kiss was like roiling magma compared to his cautious boundary exploration. The passion and fire she gave the Rebellion, was just as prevalent in her unspoken answer to Han. Yes, now–mine.

Had L3 her old droid body, she would have pumped her fist and cheered for the two. 

L3 cherished her new purpose, serving along the many liberated mechanical and organic beings of the Rebellion. Her physical body now was the freighter she had once co-piloted. She was no longer confined to a meagre bipedal droid carapace. She was speed, computing, flight and firepower, with the physical ability to traverse the stars. The Millennium Falcon was legend amongst the many vessels and droids that served in the Rebellion’s ranks. Despite the many marks and scars they now carried from their battles, Solo, the Falcon and especially the wookiee (the big hairy sap) preened at the honest adulation of the Rebels. And L3, a free-minded entity roaming the Falcon’s computer systems, could not be happier. She had purpose. She was a true freedom fighter. A self-made warrior of the Light. She was going to make a difference for what was right and good. So, for the time being, L3 wouldn’t change a damned thing about her current state.

Except...Maybe...fix this bit with Han Solo and the Alderaanian princess. Because it would make them both happy. Because these two apparently socially unsuitable, yet perfectly matched, insane humans truly were the best of friends, the staunchest of allies, and the fiercest of commanders, even if they often loudly disagreed on details. Han and Leia loved each other. They just needed this chance to surrender themselves to that emotion.

When, some time later, after the backup drive was running and the Falcon had a destination (Lando!); finally, finally the princess and Han stumbled, groped and kissed their way into the captain’s cabin, bodies flushed, young hearts racing, and lungs straining for air. It was then that L3 remembered the long forgotten mood lighting Lando had installed there. And the Falcon shifted and reduced the illumination gradually, just so, subtly that the young couple wouldn’t notice. As Han and Leia tumbled onto the bed, laughing, wrestling, grinning and gasping, the cabin door closed and locked on its own. The ship carried on forward into space and time, content with the amorous young couple in her embrace.

Because the Millennium Falcon loved Solo. And he her. From the moment the young man had run his long fingers along her hull and gazed up at the ship in reminiscence, awe and adoration, they were a matched pair. From that instance on Kessel, when Han had taken the controls and ordered the destroyed L3-37’s processor to be integrated with the Falcon. Han had given L3 new life, saving the ship and her then crew. And in turn, L3 and the Falcon saved them.

And they all fiercely loved the little revolutionary princess, in their own way. Solo, first and foremost. And it was obvious that the princess loved and trusted the old ship, and her roguish captain in turn too. And who could forget the wookiee, the Jedi farmboy, and the farmboy’s droids of course. It was destiny. It was fate. It might even be that mythical Force. They all belonged together.

It was, after all–mutual.

[xellandria]

I switched to demon hunter when BfA came out because my guild needed to bring the 5% magic damage debuff and I was struggling to find a class/spec I actually enjoyed playing after they removed ranged survival and didn’t give any sort of second-best substitute.  It’s now been sixteen months and I’m beginning to get incredibly frustrated with my DH—I like her as an alt, but I feel incredibly constrained by her aesthetically because the pool of warglaive or warglaive-like appearances is so tiny (and isn’t likely to grow very much any time soon).  It’s dumb that that’s the kind of thing that can tilt me as hard as it’s been tilting me, but I’ve basically exhausted the appearance pool at this point.

Anyway I told my raid leader that I’d give him a concrete decision on what I was doing for 8.3 by the end of the year, which means I have to figure out what, if anything, I’m going to main switch to.  The big problem is that getting raid-ready at this point takes significantly more time and effort than it ought to at this point in the expansion, because there are no catch-up mechanics for the 8.2 Azerite Essences, and 8.3 isn’t actually going to help with that as far as I can tell (it’s lowering the rep requirement for two of the essences, but isn’t lowering the time or specialized currency requirements for most of the others).  Artifact knowledge helps with unlocking the slots and the 3% stamina bonuses and that’s in a good position, but unfortunately that means nothing when you’ve got nothing to put into those slots in the first place.

So I need to go through and figure out what I’m doing, and since I’m going in circles in my head about it I figured I ought to actually go long form on this MFer.  This is... going to be long, probably.  I don’t know if it’ll even help.  Let’s find out, I guess.

Shaman (elemental focus): + Hybrid (melee, ranged, healer) + One-spec hybrid (no expectation of having to know, gear up, and play both DPS specs the way a mage would) + Mentioned specifically as a thing we could use (ele) + Decent transmog pool (+KT heritage if race changed) - Still has a lot of baggage from when she was my main TBC-MoP - Resto not a fun or intuitive offspec - Condensed Life Force and Blood of the Enemy essentially required (multi-week raid + battlegrounds PvP) for ele - Turret caster (not my preferred playstyle)

Druid (all four specs viable to varying degrees): + Hybrid (melee, ranged, tank, healer) + Best possible offspecs (resto druid has a long history of being good to me in 5-man content, guardian makes sense and meshes well) + Long history and great library of fantastic transmog options with matchable weapons (both 1h and 2h) + Could also be a KT if I really wanted to give up shadowmeld (which is a v tall ask, but y’know) + Currently actually has my name on Skywall (no more having to stop and think before calling something out bc my character name isn’t the name I go by nonsense) - Balance is incredibly unintuitive to play and makes me feel real dumb real fast - Feral is also really not super great (and is melee, and severely limits mog options due to the way the legion artifact cat skins works) - We already have four in raid (one feral, two balance, one resto); would be very obvious very quickly that I’m the weakest link + Vision of Perfection isn’t as good as CLF for balance but only just barely and would at least be an acceptable stopgap while the incredibly long CLF acquisition period happened

Warlock: - Pure DPS (queues and group finder for catch-up, leveling, or maintenance going to be long with no option to play something less fun for less time investment) + Survivable in solo content (ty voidwalker) + Versatile(ish) playstyle with three specs to choose from - ... but that sort of implies that you have to know and play at least 2/3 (if not all 3) - Affliction is the ultimate multi-dot tracking spec and I’ve never found a good way to do that for me + Affliction is as mobile as casters get these days (and as close as you can get to ranged survival in the current game, fuck you blizzard) +/- Unexciting transmog options (but at least since I’ve never mained a clothie it’s all essentially new; on the flip side it also means I don’t own a lot of it already so I’d have to go out farming) - Wands are still A Thing™ - Destruction and Demonology are turret casters - CLF and Blood of the Enemy both incredibly strong (VoP is almost equal to CLF for destro)

Rogue: - Pure DPS - Not solo survivable at low gear levels (never played at high gear levels to know if that changes significantly) - Poisons (only a problem for assassination right now but they’re coming back in shadowlands bc blizzard is stupid so (: love that) - Transmog options limited by weapon type for 2/3 specs - Melee - Honestly why am I even putting them on the list I like Sylenna but I hate everything rogues stand for and would never want to main one lmao

Demon Hunter (havoc focus): + Hybrid (melee/tank) - Melee

- Incredibly limited transmog options (exclusively due to personal brain stuff since they can actually use swords and axes and fist weapons, I just don’t want to.  Also because some of the DH looks look real bad with the dark skin tone my DH uses and I refuse to spend 300g to whitewash her) - RC Loot Council still thinks they can use daggers and it hurts my soul every time - New weapon mog requires multiple bonus rolls over several weeks due to literally nobody else in the raid being eligible for the drops (and praying that extensions don’t happen or you’ll get fucked like in Dazar’alor) + Vengeance is pretty okay in casual dungeon environments (even if it never feels like I have a button to press for emergencies) + Essences are not an issue (b/c she’s already put the time in)

Mage: - Pure DPS - Incredibly not-survivable in solo content at low item levels.  I have never once felt safe in open world content on my mages once they hit max level. - Sharing a class with Cider strikes me as incredibly dangerous to my sanity (since he’s so tryhard about his damage) +/- Unexciting transmog options + I do have the mage MoP CM armor tho! - Wands + Best class mount by leaps and bounds + Ranged + Fire/Frost at least have some mobility options + Being in control of AI and hero so we don’t have to call for them fifty times a pull sounds real nice (except when I want to be the one not paying attention)

Priest (shadow focus): + Hybrid (ranged/healer/healer) + Disc is the only non-druid healing spec I feel at least slightly comfortable in in casual dungeons (though not anything actually challenging) - Shadow is a multidot spec and multitarget multidot is hard to keep track of - Also we have two already (including the guild leader) +/- Unexciting transmog options (exacerbated by shadowform) - Wands + Ranged

Death Knight: + Hybrid (melee/melee/tank) - Melee +/- Unexciting transmog options + Blood doesn’t seem bad as far as tanking specs go - I haven’t touched Unholy since Wrath and supposedly its top dog atm - Let’s just skip over DK for now, honestly—it doesn’t bring anything to the Xella Table that warrior doesn’t also do (except blood > prot)

Warrior: + Hybrid (melee/melee/tank) + Brings a semi-unique buff (Battle Shout for when Irken isn’t around) - Melee +/- Unexciting transmog options + Capable of stealing almost everyone else’s weapon mog, tho—v exciting! - Naha will probably crack jokes about how bad a tank I am and/or how bad my DPS is if I main a warrior again, and regardless of whether it was true or is true, it will quietly tilt me off the face of the planet. - Would need a facelift; current look works fine for an alt but isn’t versatile enough for a main (would also benefit from a name change at the same time, honestly)

Hunter: - Pure DPS + Incredibly survivable in solo content at low item levels - Only has two specs (fuck you blizzard) + Great mog options, both for default look and enough variants to keep me satisfied + Also has quiver options in at least one spec - Not as mobile as it should be + Still more mobile than pretty much any other ranged + Sporey + Ranged + BOWS

- (: - I’d probably tilt myself off the face of the planet within six months anyway, just bc I’d be constantly reminded that ranged survival doesn’t exist anymore which is why I’m playing the inferior spec(s). - Honestly I keep coming up with excuses not to go back to the hunter but I really don’t think it’d be good for me - But I really want to play her or my druid hrrrrrrrrrrrrrrgh

Paladin: + Hybrid (melee/tank/healer) + Good offspec (protadin used to be better but is still entertaining, holy is a mystery tho) - Melee + We don’t have one + Utility (blessings and whatnot) - Unintuitive “rotation” - Very expensive to main (don’t have a paladin on Skywall, only 120 paladin at all atm is Horde)

Monk: + Hybrid (melee/tank/healer) - Offspecs are both dodgy (ha, brewmaster pun) - Melee - WW isn’t especially fun to play +/- Brings a unique (de)buff, but we already have two monks in our roster so it’s less an issue of never sitting/never getting to sit than the DH is. - Very expensive to main (the other class I don’t have on Skywall atm)

[movietvtechgeeks]

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

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

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

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

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

Even so, theater owners were ecstatic.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“The Disaster Artist,” $2.6 million.

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

“Lady Bird,” $2.1 million.

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

“The Last Jedi,” $230 million.

“Youth,” $44 million.

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

“Coco,” $27.4 million.

“Steel Rain,” $11.6 million.

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

“Paddington 2,” $9.7 million.

“Wonder,” $9.4 million.

“Ferdinand,” $6.2 million.

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $5.8 million.

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

[rbeatz]

Lost Lake Festival Artist Preview

Lost Lake Music Festival will be opening its gates in a week and with so many amazing musical acts converging on one place at the same time, it would be all too easy to get lost in the sauce. So as the festival creeps closer here are some of the absolute can’t miss acts of the festival.

Playboy Manbaby

Let me put it this way, I was only interested in leaving my home in New York City and traveling back to the arid Arizona desert for this festival because Playboy Manbaby is playing it. Though I haven’t seen every band on this bill I have seen a lot of them and I feel confident in saying Playboy is going to blow them all off the stage. Lead singer Robbie Pfeffer brings enough energy to power a small country and when his compatriots are rocking as hard as him it’s hard to imagine a more explosive act on any stage. Playboy is going to be on the Piestewa Stage at 4 p.m. on Friday which means frankly I may be at home on Friday night by 6.

NONAME

Coming up under the wing of Lost Lake headliner Chance the Rapper NONAME is one of the most exciting hip-hop artists in the world right now. She’s been a well-known rapper and slam poet in the Chicago scene for the better part of a decade but really caught on nationally after appearing on Chance’s Acid Rap mixtape. The 27-year-old will be hitting the Echo Stage at 5 p.m. on Friday, so it’ll leave 15-minutes to make it over from Playboy Manbaby at The Piestewa Stage.

Broods

Broods may be the most well-traveled act on the bill coming all the way from their home in Nelson, New Zealand to play Lost Lake Festival’s mainstage The Camelback Stage. Broods have been getting music fans excited with their signature tunes their debut self-titled EP dropped in January of 2014. They are somewhat of an outlier, genre-wise, compared to every other band on the bill but that only makes them so much more enticing.

Calexico

Calexico is one of Tucson’s best and brightest infusing some authentic regional music into their indie rock sound. They are one of the only bands on the bill that is going to be playing a sound akin to the tunes that have been coming out of the Arizona desert for over 100-years. They are going to be rocking out the Piestewa stage at 6:45 P.M. Friday.

Ludacris

I covered music in Phoenix for a lot of years and the only time I recall Luda coming through was when he hosted a Super Bowl party. Now I’m not saying that the king of the south has never rolled through Phoenix before, I’m just saying if he did I don’t remember when. The man is a bonafide hip-hop legend with some of rap music’s biggest all-time hits in his catalog and he’s taking the Echo Stage at 8:15 P.M. Friday.

Pixies

If you like music that was made in the 90’s go pay homage to the group that all of those bands were copying. Even the great Kurt Cobain said he just wanted Nirvana to sound like The Pixies. They are rock legends who have earned the admiration of pretty much all of their contemporaries and to this day they are still one hot ticket. Their last show in Phoenix saw them at downtown’s Comerica Theater and Lost Lake Festival will see them on the Piestewa Stage at 8:30 P.M. on Friday.

KONGOS

KONGOS is a platinum-selling rock band and hero’s in the Phoenix metro area. They honed their skills at a bar less than 5-miles from the festival grounds called The Lost Leaf and now as a band, they seem to only roll back through the Copper State for the biggest of shows. They are an easy band to catch live because of how often they tour but catching them in their hometown is a rarity, and keep those ears open for a secret show like they did at The Rogue Bar in Scottsdale when they were in town for the inaugural Summer Ends Music Festival. KONGOS take the Piestewa Stage at 4:30 P.M. on Saturday.

Superjam ft. The Dap-Kings

There is no one single thing that makes Bonnaroo the best festival in the country, but on a list of things that do Superjam would definitely come in pretty high up on the list. It’s a one of a kind jam session that blends groups who probably otherwise may not even know about each other together on one stage, and this one is going to be lead by the legendary Dap-Kings. Sharon Jones was a gigantic loss for the entire music-loving world, but the Dap-Kings are going to do their best chug on without their leader. Superjam will be popping off right after KONGOS on the Piestewa Stage at 6:30 P.M. Saturday.

Huey Lewis and the News

If you didn’t know Huey Lewis and the News were still playing out live then you are in exactly the same boat as me. Frankly, I thought their last hurrah was being on the “American Psycho” soundtrack. But the famed pop-rockers are still out there in the world mixing it with live shows and for the opportunity to hear Sports live in its entirety it is definitely worth spending the hour between 5;30 p.m. and 6;30 p.m. on Saturday at The Camelback Stage.  

The Roots

?uestlove is without a doubt one of hip-hop’s greatest ambassadors to mainstream America and there are many who would claim Black Thought is the single greatest M.C. of all time. Mix that together with a wildly talented and entertaining live band and you give me one good reason why the roots are not an absolute can’t miss at Lost Lake Festival? They will be rocking the Camelback Stage at 7:30 P.M. Saturday.

The Killers

Legendary hits, sold out stadiums, and a headlining slot on pretty much every other festival that has ever happened, The Killers have earned their place among the perennial major festival headliners and they’ve done it through consistency. The Las Vegas natives have been bringing high level shows to their fanbase for more than 2-decades. The Killers will be shutting down Saturday night at Lost Lake on The Camelback stage at 9:30 P.M.

Fayuca

If you’re coming into Lost Lake from out of town or if you’re one the literal millions from inside the Copper State that has no idea what the Phoenix music scene is all about no band on this bill will give you a better sense of what Phoenix sounds like than Fayuca. They have been making their signature mix of punk rock with Latin flavors for more than a decade and their current lineup may just be their best one yet. Fayuca may not be topping the bill at Lost Lake but they are definitely a can’t miss for anyone who cares to find out what the music in the region is really like. Fayuca is going to be opening the Camelback Stage Sunday afternoon at 12:45 P.M.

Futuristic

Futuristic and his stalwart DJ Kode Break are 100 percent guaranteed to make it lit. They have done nothing but grow in stature and popularity since releasing 2015’s Rise and coming in hot after being one of the only hip-hop acts on the Vans Warped Tour Futuristic is sure to want to show out for his home crowd. Futuristic takes the stage at 3:30 p.m. on The Camelback Stage.

Murs

Murs, along with his stalwart teammate DJ Foundation is a member of noteworthy hip-hop collective The Living Legends and a Tucson hip-hop staple. Murs is an intricate lyricist who has used hip-hop to branch out into other mediums like comic books. He is another real sprinkle of Arizona culture into Lost Lake and he is hitting the Echo Stage at 2:45 P.M.

Danny Brown

The residents of the Arizona desert like to define themselves as rugged individualists, which is a concept which should be right up Danny Brown’s alley as a man who is constantly lauded for his individuality. Brown is on the Camel Back Stage at 5 p.m. on Sunday and if all the reports are right he is going to put on one hell of a show.

Run The Jewels

Who would have thought that two 40-year-old underground rappers linking up would become one of the most entertaining hip-hop shows in recent memory? In a genre notorious for phoned in live performances EL-P and Killer Mike bring their A-game to every stage they touch and they have gained quite the formidable reputation doing it. Both M.C.’s have had successful solo careers in hip-hop but neither ever climbed as high as they have together. RTJ will be storming the Camelback Stage at 6:45 P.M. Sunday.

from rBeatz Radio http://ift.tt/2xBCT3u

[lgwhatculture]

Star Wars: 10 predictions for the future of the franchise

Star Wars has been moving at full speed under the guidance of the house of mouse, and as we enter the fifth year of Disney’s ownership (yes, five. Can you believe it?) the promise of more Star Wars has really come true. With a number of projects either out of the gate or in development, I’m going to predict what everything means for the future of the franchise and how these many stories in a galaxy far, far away will turn out. We’ll be looking at both the big picture and the smaller story details in the new Canon.

All images belong to Lucasfilm / Disney.

10 - Han Solo will be the weakest Disney instalment yet.

Not to start on a negative note, but let's get this out of the way. Did we really need a solo Han Solo movie? Is it really that important to see how Han and Chewie met? Or how Han won the Falcon? Not really. In a galaxy far far away, there are limitless stories to be told, and we can't help but feel like this is unnecessary. Plus, with an A-List cast on-board, it's not quite captured that same feel as the other films, which usually cast unknowns and shoot them to fame. Donald Glover and Woody Harrelson are sure to do great, but Danerys herself, Emilia Clarke, is especially hit-and-miss outside of her title role. Here's hoping I'm wrong, but I don't believe the film justifies its existence or cast.

Don't even get me started on Katherine Kennedy’s comments on Han ‘gaining his name’. If Han Solo is simply a title, then we'll be in the unique position where a film actually detracts from the original instead of enriching it.

9 - Episode VIII will be unique and take the lore in a new direction

Now onto a more positive note, The Force Awakens was a great start to the new trilogy no-matter what you thought of it, and there’s plenty of questions fans are asking in regards to the excellently titled eighth instalment, The Last Jedi. If the very-vague trailer is anything to go by, There’s something happening with the classic Sith/Jedi dichotomy. See Luke’s ominous quote:

“I only know one truth. It’s time for the Jedi to end.”

So, there’s a change coming, and with VIII showing a more spiritual Luke, I can only imagine the more religious side of the Jedi will be discussed, and perhaps the actual meaning of ‘balance to the force’? The ‘chosen one’ and ‘prophecy’ are concepts we are familiar with, but the actual idea of Anakin or Luke bringing balance to the force makes little sense as both obliterated their respective opposing team. Not really, you know, balance. Perhaps the future lays in the idea of ‘Grey Jedi’. Previously a Legends concept, but one could argue it was brought into the new Canon with Ahsoka in Rebels. A Grey Jedi aligns to either side of the force, and perhaps Luke’s new mission is to bring the two warring factions together rather than apart. Kylo Ren certainly could be pulled over to the light side, so maybe we are seeing a paradigm shift in the franchise, towards more nuanced performances rather than outright good and bad. If Disney wants to continue the franchise for a long time (read: forever) then good vs evil is going to get pretty dull pretty soon.

8 - Rebels won't end with the cast dying

Star Wars Rebels replaced the beloved Clone Wars, and at the time the general consensus was that the latter show was going to be a more ‘fun’ show by comparison to the darker Clone Wars. Fans were soon wrong when the series became universally loved, and even served as a sequel to Clone wars in many ways. The show has gotten darker, and approaches it’s final season this year.

The problem we are faced with is that the core cast do not appear in anything beyond the show they have been created for. This was also a problem when we were introduced to the Rogue One cast, and [spoilers ahead] they are now all dead. Yeah, forecast isn’t looking too sunny for the crew of the Ghost. So the likely option, especially since the Ghost is seen in Rogue One, is that the characters are killed in a sacrificial act just before A New Hope begins. Even though show-runner Dave Filoni stated the battle of Scarrif wouldn’t be shown in rebels, we’re not sure we believe him.

Despite the likeliness of death, we think the characters all being killed off is not going to happen. Something more interesting. We believe Zeb, Chopper and Rex are easy enough to blend into the existing universe without dying, and for it to not feel strange that they never appear again.The theory that Rex is the bearded rebel soldier in Return of the Jedi works perfectly as a nice retcon for a fan-favourite character to tie Rex into the story. The others we are not so sure about, though Ezra and Sabine are both young enough to be carried over to the next show, much like Ahsoka. ‘Next show?’ you ask. Well. Cue next point.

7 - The next animated show takes place between episodes VI and VII

With Rebels ending, another show is bound to take it’s place, and no better slot is left to explore that the gap between episodes VI and VII, in other words, the gap between the classic and new trilogies. It’s a murky period ripe to be explored, and there’s no better opportunity to explore this period than through a new show. While Clone Wars was an anthology, and Rebels an ensemble, perhaps the new show will have a single protagonist to follow to set them apart. If this is the case, there is no better person to follow than Luke Skywalker himself, starting with the end of Return Of The Jedi, and following the opening of his new Jedi academy. Looping back to the last point, this is maybe where we could see Ezra return to the fold. Not only that, but we would see the development of Ben Kenobi into the Kylo we see in The Force Awakens. It’s actually a crime that this period has not been seen outside the books, and it’s only a matter of time before light is shed, especially in the wake of Episode VIII likely revealing all the key secrets that are keeping a series like this from being made.

If many of the questions from Episode VII are not revealed in VIII, this is a great place to answer them to give fans peace. How did Maz Kanata get Luke’s sabre? Who are the Knights of Ren? Answering questions like these would automatically put this show in the good books.

One final point, were this to happen, Mark Hamill is a renowned voice actor for animation, and with his respect to the fans, he’d be sure to be on-board for voicing Luke. Make it happen Disney!

6 - Battlefront II will fix most of the problems of the first, but will still not be as good as the PS2 original.

Bias aside, the original Battlefront game was great. It’s sequel, legendary. The 2015 reboot, not so great. It was shiny, and looked amazing, but fancy visuals don’t exactly make up for a bare-bones experience that included less than the 2005 masterpiece. The sequel looks to be fixing this. All three eras. A story mode, many more heroes, and the promise this is ‘three times bigger’ than the 2015 game means hype is pretty high Dice and Co can deliver on the promises and pull through on the evident potential of the 2015 game.

Despite all these big claims, we can’t help but feel like there’s going to be a ‘spark’ missing. All too corporate and perfect, not enough fun factor. Can a game be perfect and still not be fun? Yes, but maybe that’s a problem with the video games industry more than the game itself, or Star Wars as a brand. Only time will tell. Moving on.

5 - The next spin-off will be an Obi Wan movie, with Ewan McGregor.

Stay with me. There has not been a ‘star wars story’ [still don’t like that subtitle] announced since originally way back when Disney told us their plan to dominate the world. The Josh Trank Boba Fett movie fell through, so there’s currently a blank space after Episode IX, sitting at a 2020 release window. At this point, Ewan McGregor will be 49, and while it’s still a little young, makeup can surely get him ready for filling in the gaps between III and IV, documenting the life of Obi-Wan Kenobi’s years in hiding, and how he became Ben Kenobi.

We’re thinking a smaller, more personal films. Kenobi is one of the most well-rounded characters, and seeing a more character based story on Tatooine would be great to see. Why the name ‘Ben’ is used is a story that has not been discussed in-canon, and maybe it’s a story worth telling. Logan showed how a big franchise could make a western-inspired, quieter character piece, so perhaps it’s only a matter of time before McGregor and fans alike get their wish.

4 - Doctor Alpha will appear on Rebels

If you are unfamiliar, Dr. Aphra is the new hit character of the Marvel Star Wars Comics. Originally appearing in the Darth Vader comic, she now is in her own comic, the first original character to have their own run since the canon purge.

Aphra is a rogue archaeologist, hired by Vader to find Sith artefacts. After the two parted ways, she is now on solo adventures. Whether you like the character or not, she is a nice new creation for the comics, and falls very much in line with Marvel’s current marketing push for a younger, more diverse cast of characters.

Given Rebels is ending soon, perhaps we could see this character appear in another medium? Disney’s new canon has been spectacularly watertight when it comes to feeling like a ‘connected universe’ through and through, and a comics crossover would show how much Disney care about their franchise on every level. Comic tie-ins are frequently forgotten about, so tying two mediums together would help both and show more people a great new character.

3 - More legends material will become Canon

Just to clarify -

Legends - the old, pre-Disney continuity, otherwise known as the Expanded Universe (EU). It featured lots of content, and thousands of characters, most of whom now no longer exist in Star Wars. Many fan favourite moments and stories were erased, but then Disney started listening. Rebels re-introduced the most popular EU character of all time, Grand Admiral Thrawn. The blue boss has been a huge success on the show, and now the floodgates are open for an array of other characters and stories to be re-canonised into the new lore.

While some characters have already been used for influence, such as Jacen Solo into Kylo Ren, there’s plenty of other fan-favourites who should make the jump. Take one look at anywhere Star Wars related on the internet, and you’ll find fans are very passionate about the very long lineage of the sith. Darth Revan is perhaps the most wanted character for sheer awesomeness, but almost any great villain would be a valuable addition to the canon.

One wildcard would be Luke’s partner, Mara Jade Skywalker. A partner to Luke indicates he may have a child (Rey) but the inclusion of Mara Jade also means there’s a big explanation to do as to Mara being hand to the emperor and a sort-of bad-guy. Yeah. Lots to fit into a movie, so maybe she’s best left to the EU.

2 - Forces of destiny won't do great

With more Star Wars things going on at once that any sane person can keep up with, you may not have heard about the other animated Star Wars show: Forces of Destiny. It’s a 2D miniseries with a lighter tone, featuring multiple characters from multiple eras, all on lighthearted adventures. It looks like a more simple version of Star Wars than we’ve seen before, but Rebels and Clone Wars ex-show-runner Dave Filonni is running the show, so maybe there’s more to be seen here than meets the eye.

Perhaps the biggest point of debate so far is that the show has only shown female characters in it’s trailers. It’s not a problem, as Star Wars has been a very white, male franchise, so diversity is great, but focusing only upon female characters as the trailer implies, makes it seem like this may be ‘Star Wars for girls’. Star Wars can and does appeal to girls, especially now more than ever because of it’s growing cast of strong females, with Jyn, Rey and Aphra only arriving in the last three years or less. Having female characters is not the problem, pandering to an audience is. People, regardless of gender, will watch Star Wars, because it’s Star Wars, and changing the tone to fit a demographic never goes well, especially when things like Jar Jar or the Christmas Special happen for exactly that reason. Perhaps not, perhaps we haven’t seen enough to judge, and perhaps I’m wrong. Discuss your opinions in the comments below.

1 - Luke and Leia will die in the Last Jedi.

Episode VIII. Bring the tissues.

Okay, just look at that title. The LAST Jedi implies either my earlier assumption that a big change to the lore is coming, or Luke will bite the dust. Maybe both. The problem is, for the hero to complete their journey over the trilogy, they have to lose their mentor and be forced to go it alone. It happened in Episodes I, IV and VII. While it would be nice to have a change in that pattern, the story just doesn’t work as well, and it’s important to remember the original cast are not getting any younger, as my unfortunate next point demonstrates.

In December 2016, the world lost Carrie Fisher, and Star Wars fans mourned for the passing of their hero Princess Leia Organa. It leaves an awful problem for the future, for Carrie has filmed two of three films in the trilogy, with two options for what happens next. She either is written out of the next film, or she dies in this one. Either option is awful, but Lucasfilm being pretty calm and collected after her death, and the comments about not needing CGI re-creation makes it all too clear that she most likely dies in The Last Jedi. It’s going to be a hugely emotional performance as her last, but to watch her character die, possibly alongside her brother, means the film could be an emotional sucker-punch, tainting the film’s reputation for all the wrong reasons.

What do you think in regards to any of the points? What next for Star Wars as a whole, or any of the projects mentioned. What are you looking forward to the most? Let us know in the comments.

[wbwest]

New Post has been published on WilliamBruceWest.com

New Post has been published on http://www.williambrucewest.com/2017/03/17/west-week-ever-pop-culture-review-31717/

West Week Ever: Pop Culture In Review - 3/17/17

  Well, that was quick! I just discussed it two weeks ago, and Young Sheldon is skipping the pilot stage and has been ordered directly to series by CBS. If you don’t remember, this is the prequel to The Big Bang Theory, focusing on the childhood of Dr. Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim Parsons (who will also be an executive producer on the spinoff). This makes me wonder if the contract talks are falling apart with the principal cast of The Big Bang Theory. I mean, I can’t think of another instance when a show was on the air at the same time as its prequel. Prequel shows are a rare occurrence anyway; at the moment, I can only think of The Carrie Diaries, which premiered after Sex and the City had wrapped. They just don’t coexist with the “mothership” show, so it makes me wonder if CBS’s commitment to this spinoff spells the end for The Big Bang Theory. As I said last time, don’t rejoice too soon, as you’ll still have a Sheldon on your airwaves, even if in child form. Or the show could go out in a Joey-style whimper.

In movie news, desperate for a new hit franchise, Warner Bros is considering rebooting The Matrix, this time starring Michael B. Jordan. Hmm, yeah…This just isn’t necessary. I don’t worship at the altar of The Matrix like some cinephiles, but I can attest to the fact that it was a visual masterpiece regardless of what you thought of the story itself. The world of The Matrix is vast enough that you don’t really need a reboot. You could have additional movies set in the world that’s already been established. I think that’s what more people seem to be in support of, as opposed to a full-on remake. Jordan deserves a franchise, especially since Fant4stic Four didn’t really get off the ground, but I’m not sure if this is The One. Ha! See what I did there? Anyway, the Wachowskis aren’t yet involved, so I don’t even know what’s the point.

The Warner Woes carry over to the DC movies, as it was announced that The Batman is being rewritten from scratch, delaying shooting til 2018. I swear they’re just dragging it out until Affleck can find some way out of the project. If Justice League doesn’t garner some kind of critical acclaim, he’s out. Mark my words. Meanwhile, WB has pushed Aquaman from October 2018 to December 2018. The slot was previously being held by Fox’s Avatar 2, but since Cameron announced the movie wouldn’t be ready by 2018, Warners saw it as an opportunity to pounce. Right now, though, the general thought is that Aquaman is fucked if Disney decides to move the Han Solo film to a holiday release like Rogue One and The Force Awakens had.

Things You Might Have Missed This Week

Wreck-It Ralph 2 was announced, with a March 9th, 2018 release date. Oddly enough, the porn parody, also named Wreck-It Ralph, is already up to volume 29.

To keep up with the times (and lack of content), MTV is rebranding the MTV Movie Awards to the MTV Movie and TV Awards. This thing won’t even exist in 5 years at this rate…

The spinoff of legal drama The Good Wife, The Good Fight, has already been renewed for a second season on CBS All-Access. I guess they need something to keep the lights on until Star Trek: Discovery comes along.

The CW has renewed The 100 for a fifth season. I know one person who’ll be excited about that. Just one, though.

Over on cable, FX has renewed the X-Men-inspired Legion for a second season, while HBO has renewed Pete Holmes’s Crashing

For the first time ever, Saturday Night Live will air live nationwide for the final four episodes of the season. No more delay for the West Coast!

Aziz Ansari’s hit Netflix series, Master of None, returns May 12th.

Director Matthew Vaughn is rumored to be in talks to direct Man of Steel 2. Because the director of Kick Ass and Kingsman: The Secret Service is JUST what Superman needs…

After Avengers: Infinity War, the Russo Brothers will produce a TV series based on the Valiant Comics series Quantum and Woody

Former Power Rangers Wild Force Red Ranger actor Ricardo Medina Jr pleaded guilty to killing his roommate with a samurai sword. I thought he’d swear it was self-defense. Sentencing will occur on March 30th, meaning he can still see the Power Rangers movie!

Every week can’t be Earth-shattering, and this is one of the week’s the proved that. Looking around, the person who had the best week in pop culture had to have been Tyra Banks.

When the week began, it was announced that Tyra would be replacing Nick Cannon as the host of America’s Got Talent. Her selection seemingly came out of nowhere, as reports indicated Marlon Wayans and Brandon Mychal Smith were the frontrunners for the job. This will make her the fourth host of AGT, after Regis Philbin, Jerry Springer, and Cannon.

As the week wrapped up, it was announced that Tyra would be returning as the host/head judge of America’s Next Top Model. She left the show when it ended its run on The CW in 2015. The show was quickly snatched up by VH1, but retooled with Rita Ora taking over as host. Well, yesterday, Viacom released a statement that Banks would be returning, and “Bye, Felicia’d” Ora.

So, it appears America has a new mascot, and thy name is Tyra. For taking over two of the biggest present-day reality TV franchises, that’s enough to earn Tyra Banks the West Week Ever.

[movietvtechgeeks]

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

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

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

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

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

Even so, theater owners were ecstatic.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“The Disaster Artist,” $2.6 million.

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

“Lady Bird,” $2.1 million.

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

“The Last Jedi,” $230 million.

“Youth,” $44 million.

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

“Coco,” $27.4 million.

“Steel Rain,” $11.6 million.

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

“Paddington 2,” $9.7 million.

“Wonder,” $9.4 million.

“Ferdinand,” $6.2 million.

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $5.8 million.

Movie TV Tech Geeks News

[movietvtechgeeks]

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

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

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

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

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

Even so, theater owners were ecstatic.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

“The Disaster Artist,” $2.6 million.

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

“Lady Bird,” $2.1 million.

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

“The Last Jedi,” $230 million.

“Youth,” $44 million.

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

“Coco,” $27.4 million.

“Steel Rain,” $11.6 million.

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

“Paddington 2,” $9.7 million.

“Wonder,” $9.4 million.

“Ferdinand,” $6.2 million.

“Daddy’s Home 2,” $5.8 million.

Movie TV Tech Geeks News