#you can tell that alan tudyk was having a blast

[natsuki208]

I really wanna see more fanart of King Candy dressed in this corn outfit! They drew him so goofy here! 😆

These are from one of the deleted scenes of the first movie: Link

(Also Sour Bill looking like a grouchy farmer makes me smile)

[creepykingdom]

“Ralph Breaks The Internet” Review

By Hannah K.

“Start churnin’ butter and put on your church shoes, little sister, cause we’re about to blast off!”

...We’re going to the internet, Ralph. Ee-Ohh-Boy.

Going into this movie, I knew that next to nothing would be able to compete with the original film and how mold-breaking it was. What video game enthusiast among us wouldn’t adore the first Wreck It Ralph movie, a love letter to games and gamer culture? I hoped this internet-based movie wouldn’t be one giant meme, and that the cameos we already knew existed would actually serve a purpose.

Luckily, I was pleasantly surprised. Ralph Breaks the Internet was actually quite deep and emotional for a movie delving into the weird place that is the web. While I didn’t know what to expect going in, what I totally didn’t expect was how emotionally affected I would be as I watched these characters we already love turn a new chapter in their lives.

The movie takes place 6 years after the first installment (actually how many years have passed in real time!), and shows Ralph, Vanellope, Felix, and Calhoun settling into their lives at Litwak’s. They have a routine, and they spend the nights hanging out with each other in all the different games. Vanellope, however, is getting tired of the same-old-same-old, and finds herself wishing for something different. Ralph, on the other hand, loves the predictability, and can’t see how Vanellope would want something else. When the mystical WIFI gets plugged in, followed by an accident where Sugar Rush gets broken, Ralph and Vanellope decide to break the rules and hop onto the information superhighway to see if they can find the missing part for her game. What happens takes the friends on a crazy journey through lots of websites (some new ones, but also lots of familiar ones), viral videos, the Dark Web, and the worst place of all...the comments section...but it also tests Ralph and Vanellope’s friendship, and causes them to face up to their insecurities.

I really enjoyed this film. It was visually stunning, of course, but the scenes in the internet especially so. There were lots of hidden gags and nods to internet culture, including broken-down banners for Geocities and “Private Chatrooms,” plus a dialogue nod to Napster. There were, of course, cameos and memes, as we expected, but I don’t think it pushed it too far. There was an actual story to hold together the fun nods and winks, and watching the characters grow was exceptional in terms of that story.

I can’t write this review without mentioning the Princesses. Their moments in the movie were really funny and well done and felt very much like Disney making fun of themselves in a good-natured way. The Princesses all seem to know how silly and cliche their stories/actions are, and they support each other in their weirdness. It was fun watching all these characters work together and even get to do some “damsel” rescuing of their own.

The voice acting in this installment was also really nicely done. John C. Reilly and Sarah Silverman return to their roles with gusto, Silverman doing an EXCELLENT job with a spoiler-filled moment later in the movie that I can’t tell you about here. The new characters were equally as fun and filled with great talent, Gal Gadot playing Shank, Bill Hader as Spamley, and Alan Tudyk as the knowledgeable Knowsmore. I’m a voice actress, I can’t help but pay close attention to performances, and these people all knocked it out of the park.

I love Wreck It Ralph more than I can tell you. It’s honestly one of my favorite movies out there, so it’s hard for anything else to measure up to that feeling I had when I saw it. Still, Ralph Breaks the Internet did not disappoint. Where the first movie was a love letter to games and gamer culture, this was a love letter to internet/youtube culture while adding in online gaming. It’s hard to talk about the internet without getting overly meme-y, but I think Ralph did a fine job. Some people may find it repetitive of the first movie, but hey! We have a whole generation of kids going to see this film that are growing up saturated with this stuff. The first movie was our nod to classic gaming, let this one be their nod.

Oh! When you go see it, be sure to stay ALL the way after the credits for a sneak preview of Disney’s new movie! You won’t regret it. ;)

(All Images Courtesy of Disney)

[mdwatchestv]

Dirk Gently 1x03: We’ll See How It Goes

Bonjour chérie! I can't believe it's November, I am tired and now have to be cold on top of it. Unacceptable. But luckily we have another episode of Dirk Gently to try and parcel out. This episode thankfully did some investigating into the tangle of exposition unloaded last week, but there was still LOTS going on. Can we just agree now that Alan Tudyk is living his best acting life as The Priest? I know he is a bad guy, but I can't help rooting for him. Things happen, we'll see how it goes.

We start this episode with a scene of a child drawing a windmill on a wall, we have seen this child and its wall-drawings in the previous two episodes. I feel like it is safe to say that this is the sought after "boy", but who or where he is still remains to be seen. Once again we then go to Wendimoor, but this time checking in with the people on the other side of the conflict. We learn that Pink-Hair is not unique, but rather part of a whole people of pink hairs! These people are the farmers we learned about in last weeks Wendimoor scene who the royalty are in conflict with. The royalty people seem to believe that the pink hair people have kidnapped "the boy". In order to end their conflict the pink peeps could "find the boy" but that seems to be either ridiculous or impossible. Instead they are going for more of an "all out war" approach. Yolo pink hairs, yolo. In order to bring the pain to the monarchy, the fuchsia fam has ordered a weapon from "The Mage" (John Hannah), which turns out to be an AK! Way to bring a machine gun to a scissor fight, magenta mavericks! Not only is the conflict escalating in Wendimoor, but it’s also suggested that The Mage can travel freely back and forth between the world of Wendimoor and our own. We also know that Pink-Hair was able to manage this as well, but it begs the question of how simple a task this is granted that most people don't seem to attempt it.

Back at the sheriff's station our team cosplays as law enforcement through the ages and continues their investigation of Hector and Marina Cardenas. Farrah and Todd exchange some very flirty banter, which was a bit jarring to be honest. Not that there has not always been tangible chemistry between them, but without any hint of a romantic spark in the first two episodes I assumed that plot-line had been abandoned. Guess I was wrong! Flirt away friends. Our crew looks at the Cardenas' bodies and discovers that Hector has two holes in his head, implicating that he was murdered before being entombed in the tree. The wheels in Farrah's noggin are turning and she seems about to make a connection between Hector's head holes and the fact that Marina's corpse has two broken fingers. She doesn't quite get there, but could Marina's fingers have made the holes?

Dirk is also acting strange, or more strangely than usual. After being confronted by Todd, Dirk admits he is upset because things aren't as chill or calm as he had hoped. Todd is suffering from pararibulitis and many of their friends are missing or AWOL, life is bad, and Dirk’s not having it. Todd gives him a pep talk telling him that he needs to "make bigger choices", giving them a bit of a role reversal from the first season. Dirk and Todd’s relationship is the bedrock of this show, and Elijah and Samuel have real-deal chemistry. More scenes of this please.  But wait there is more action to be had at the sheriff station besides dress-up, friendship and tree boring!

Who should show up but our friend Bart, who we haven't seen since she was blasted by shapes in the season opener. Bart has come to the authorities to demand justice for her unwarranted shape assault, and to also continue her quest for the missing Ken. While Bart is a fantastic character, I worry the writers don't know quite what to do with her this season. A lot of the mystery around her has been resolved, and she has already had three confrontations with Dirk where she has not killed him, but there doesn't seem to be a clear forward path for her. She is sort of haphazardly journeying around looking for Ken, as well as struggling with killing and not-killing, but all this feels like mostly an excuse to keep her around than a real meaningful story contribution. Her relationship with Ken was also both interesting and extremely compelling, and their continued separation is tangibly felt.

Out in the world Farrah and Tina stumble upon Pink-Hair himself, and bring him back to base. Pink-Hair has QUITE the prophecy including mention of a dark wizard, their apprentice, a girl who sees all that can transport people, a boy, and a man who will save the world. All Pink-Hair knows for sure about this prophecy is that the man is Dirk Gently, but I think we can make some additional inference's ourselves. A dark wizard feels like it could be The Mage (John Hannah) and his apprentice could be the only other character with magic who is also going down a bad path, Suzie (Amanda Walsh). The girl with visions is clearly good ole Amanda, but the identity of the boy himself, beyond likely being the child of the Cardenas', continues to be a mystery.

Speaking of other characters, our girl Suzie continues to be the baddest mother in town. We get a lot of her backstory this episode from the women at the book club that Suzie crashes. Suzie was a popular high school mean girl and Prom Queen (natch). However four years ago she crashed her car while under the influence of Xanax and with a car filled with  This led to her hip injury and ostracization from the her social groups, including book club. One of the women literally says to Suzie, "You are the bad guy." The show is really trying to hammer home that Suzie is no good, but nothing she can do will stop me from loving her. You're gonna have to try harder than that to get me to turn against a fellow witch television! Upon arriving home Suzie's irritating teen son (can we just curse him already) demands his phone back which is, whoops, still on the corpse of Suzie's boss. Suzie returns to the quarry and gets the phone but runs into The Mage. The Mage attempts to strip Suzie of her wand (the nerve) but she is able to escape. The Mage seems more amused by this than angry, and perhaps this signals his interest in Suzie, perhaps an....apprentice-level interest? Time will tell.

Finally Amanda and Vogel arrive at the Motor Court (previously owned by the Cardenas', also seen in Amanda's vision) where Amanda discovers Todd's belongings. However The Priest (Alan Tudyk) arrives shortly after and he is feeling pretty ambivalent about capturing Amanda and Vogel alive. As a side note, while I remember Friedkin as being short in the brain cell department last season, I don't remember him being so reticent about killing. Rather he was always the first to pull a gun, and even killed Estevez in the season one finale. This character is just not gelling for me this season, he doesn't seem to be grounded in any deeper emotion or motivation. While the world of Dirk Gently is home to many off-the-wall character's, but as I've talked about before, what makes them so compelling is the writer and actor's ability to ground them in some deeper truths. To make a long story short (too late) I'm finding Friedkin to be the odd man out so to speak.

Anyway, The Priest decides life is too short to not kill people in a hail of bullets, and he does his best to fill Amanda and Vogel full of holes. Amanda is convinced that this is not how it's supposed to end for her, and calls out to whoever may be listening for help. Surprisingly (or not) her pleas are answered, and The Priest  bursts down the door to discover his prey has vanished. This is the second such vanishing this season, and the fact that this disappearance also involved water (the plumbing bursting and soaking Amanda and Vogel) hints that perhaps Mona is once again the culprit.  Speaking of Project Blackwing, after unearthing the original files on the Blackwing subjects (on floppy drives no less), Friedkin tasks Ken of all people with their decryption. So hopefully we will be getting a lot more backstory on our new friend Mona, and our old ones too.

CORGI WATCH:

Didn't want to pay for the ole fluff this ep I guess :(

XO MD

PS How great was Elijah Wood’s bad British accent? I die. 

[ellenarcher]

Battle For Mewni Liveblog

(I'm a few days late because I was at D23) Marco is so upset poor baby!! "Can you be addicted to crying?" The teen sadness hotline! 😂 And Star is wearing MARCO'S HOODIE!! I love life! And she's just watching him and they're missing each other! "Why do you have to be such a cute idiot?" "They're fine. Still in their... stasis." Omg the mementos Star's dad packed! Sweet little Star! "Marco taught me a lot." I'm really excited for DuckTales but I do wish this ad wasn't in the corner the whole time. Oh snap! Star is maaaaad at her mom! Awwww omg this is getting so sad! Toffee killed Queen Butterfly's mom! 😢 Ahh now a flashback episode to Moon as a girl Star's age!! "Yelling feels really good right now!" Even as a youngin River was so sweet!! An apology meat! Looooots of crying in this movie! It's hurting me! Poor Moon has a really hard decision to make! I love her already. I feel like I recognize her voice so I'm gonna have to look up who plays her later. Ooh this is the part they showed us at the convention! With Moon sitting down with her picnic and Toffee coming out of the shadows! Oh snap Toffee can't grow his finger back! This is a lightning scar situation! Moon is a boss! And they changed the ending credits sequence and song!! 💫 Ludo thought Glossaryck was a pole! 😂 "So this is probably not one of my favorite things that's ever happened to me." Why is Glossaryck cooking pudding over the fire? (Scrape the sides) Ludo to the book: "I'll turn this car around so fast!" Now he's trying to get back together with the book! "If it's something I did..." and then "I love you, book." And Glossaryck making fun of him!! Howwwww does Alan Tudyk do that with his voice what the heck? I'm jealous! I'd love to be a voice actor! Oh snap I love me some possession! Toffee taking over Ludo's body! Glossaryck! :(((((((((((( 😢😢😢😢 This is too sad! River going crazy and having a blast when he's home alone! Marco came to visit!! And River is so happy aww!! Oh gosh the city is on fire. Ewwww a spider just crawled out of that boy's eye socket and into his mouth. "Well, I'll be dip." And telling the monster in the corn field to scram! 😂 "We're about to die, y'all!" Sweet sweet Marco taking care of his future father in law! Moon picked out outfits for River so he would know what to wear (and they're all the same)! Marco giving advice and making sure the city stays safe for the girls to come home to! 😍 "No offense King, but you're a terrible king." "We don't need magic to do extraordinary things." Aw I LOVE that!! "Fetch us our loincloths!" "What?" "You kept motioning 'come here.'" "No that means 'go away.'" Classic monster/king misunderstanding! Oh snap that ending! Ludo is here to destroy! Aw of course Star's first thought when she wakes up is of Marco! Star just punched a serpent in the face! She's awesome! ❤️ Buff Frog in his underwear oh gosh. "Ma, get with the times. Not all monsters are bad." I've probably eaten 25 peanut butter Oreos during this movie whoops. "Where dem babies at?" "Toffee not dead. Toffee inside Ludo." Oh gosh that's dirty. Ewwww Buff Frog lifting his man boob to show his Ludo tattoo. 😖 "Your daughter is very strange." "Thank you." All of Buff Frog's games are about staging coups, destroying castles, and killing the queen! 😂 It's not awkward or anything! I love a classic distraction scene. I also love that Moon and Buff Frog are learning that the stereotypes and prejudices they were taught as children aren't actually true, and that they're not that different after all. Katrina can talk! She's adorable! "Sometimes you just gotta sneak into the club and go dancing." "I feel ya, girl." "Don't worry." "I'm VERY worried." "She's gonna die." I love how all of these episodes have classic endings like that! 😂 "We don't want your stuff! We don't like you. Nobody likes you, dude." I want to talk to a king like that! Poor Marco! "I'm bad at everything." No you're not sweetie! This show is ridiculous I love it so much! Ludo just buttered his forehead. "The dungeon has air conditioning?" "It's a dungeon, not a torture chamber." Hahaha Marco scolding River like he's his child! "River! Did you eat the butter, River?" "I used to be king." Yayyyyy Patrick Stump is back!! That makes me VERY happy! "How'd I ever live without a solid gold toilet?" "As artists, our job is to comment on the world around us, not 'doing stuff.' A heavy burden, yes, but that what it means to be an artist." "We all know the mine is an artistic genius! *angrily whispering* Genius!" Marco is the cutest! "You all make me sick." Wooooo they got the key! "You guys really had me fooled." "No, we really do hate each other." "Now, we fight." Gosh I love Marco so much! Ludo shooting the choir into the sky because they were off key. "Singing with the angels." 😂 OH MY GOSH YESSS Star came back!! For her dad! "You're talking to your hand, dude." Awwww Marco taking off Star's headband so he could hug her tighter! 😍 "He is really good at ruining people's lives with songs." "Marco you've never looked cuter in that beret." Whatever happened to Marco's two friends from season one? "Hello, princess." I love how menacing that is! I am loving this music right now as Toffee takes over Ludo's body! Oh my gosh WHERE IS STAR?? This hurts me so so much! To see Moon and Marco both crying and fighting for Star! More amazing music as Star dives for the magic! This is such an emotional and intense episode!! 😱😱 And Star crying underwater! And struggling to breathe as she sobs! 😭😭 This is heart wrenching! MORE INCREDIBLE MUSIC! Star is dipping down! She's coming back to life! She's killing Toffee oh my word! Ew his gooey disfigured body is disturbing! "Only I know how this turns out." "Turns out you're dead." Oh no! What is happening to Moon? She's in a lot of pain! I'm guessing it's because the spell to hurt Toffee didn't work? Ooh Eclipsa is breaking out!! What an amazing start to the season! I can't wait to see what happens next! I can't believe we have to wait all the way until November for new episodes! That's going to be very hard! Here's to then! 💫

[fashiontrendin-blog]

Michael Shannon Explains Why He’d Never Play ‘That F**king Guy’ Trump

http://fashion-trendin.com/michael-shannon-explains-why-hed-never-play-that-fking-guy-trump/

Michael Shannon Explains Why He’d Never Play ‘That F**king Guy’ Trump

Actor Michael Shannon frequently plays a villain on the big screen, but there’s one role the two-time Oscar nominee won’t take. 

Shannon told Playboy magazine he’ll never portray “that fucking guy” President Donald Trump. 

Andrew Kelly / Reuters

In case you were wondering, actor Michael Shannon absolutely, positively would not play Donald Trump in a movie.

“Just to get inside his head?” interviewer Eric Spitznagel prodded. “You talked about being fascinated with bad men who are suffering.” 

But Shannon, who played Zod in “Man of Steel,” Nelson Van Alden in HBO’s “Boardwalk Empire” and Col. Richard Strickland in “The Shape of Water,” said Trump wasn’t suffering. 

“He’s having a blast!” Shannon said. “Are you fucking kidding me? That guy is having so much fun.” 

In fact, Shannon said, Trump was “having the time of his fucking life.”

“He doesn’t even have to work. All the hard work that most people have to do to get to be president of the United States, he just skipped all that. The fucking guy doesn’t even know what’s in the Constitution. He doesn’t have any grasp of history or politics or law or anything. He’s just blindfolded, throwing darts at the side of a bus.” 

Shannon said Trump wasn’t capable of deep reflection in any form. 

“It doesn’t happen,” he said. “Fuck that guy. When he’s alone with his thoughts, he’s not capable of anything more complex than ‘I want some pussy and a cheeseburger. Maybe my wife will blow me if I tell her she’s pretty.’” 

After joking that he would play National Security Adviser John Bolton in a Trump movie because of his mustache, Shannon said he hoped no such film was ever made ― not even one critical of the administration. 

“My preference would be that it just fade into nonexistence,” Shannon said. “I wouldn’t want to memorialize it or celebrate it in any way.”

Shannon, who was nominated for Best Supporting Actor for 2009′s “Revolutionary Road” and 2016′s “Nocturnal Animals,” was similarly dismissive when asked about Trump voters. 

“Somebody who thinks Trump is doing a good job, there’s no conversation to have with that person,” he said. “I know they say you should reach across the aisle and all that crap, but to me it feels like putting your hand in a fan.” 

Shannon has shared even harsher comments about Trump voters in the past. Shortly after the 2016 election, he noted that many of the president’s supporters were older.  

“No offense to the seniors out there. My mom’s a senior citizen,” Shannon told Metro News. “But if you’re voting for Trump, it’s time for the urn.”

When the interviewer said he was struggling to talk to his own parents who voted for Trump, Shannon offered some pretty blunt advice.

“Fuck ’em,” he said. “You’re an orphan now. Don’t go home. Don’t go home for Thanksgiving or Christmas. Don’t talk to them at all. Silence speaks volumes.”

Shannon’s latest remarks in the September/October edition of Playboy have not yet been published online, but excerpts posted on Twitter received almost as much praise as his acting: 

I want to be Michael Shannon when I grow up. https://t.co/yW62A8mXEK

— alan tudyk (@AlanTudyk) August 19, 2018

Your regular reminder that Michael Shannon is a national treasure. https://t.co/rSTrox3zMV

— Brian Tallerico (@Brian_Tallerico) August 19, 2018

michael shannon can more clearly assess trump that 90% of the NYT or WaPo political analysts https://t.co/kbQnllfhCS

— Kilgore Trout (@KT_So_It_Goes) August 19, 2018

I cannot overstate my absolute utter love and adoration for Michael Shannon. https://t.co/YeuPRNQQiN

— Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) August 19, 2018

http://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

[glenngaylord]

THREE AND A HALF TIME’S THE CHARM - My Review of ROGUE ONE: A STAR WARS STORY (3 1/2 Stars…because what else would make sense?)

I’m not the world’s biggest STAR WARS fan, hence my being so tardy to the party in seeing this new entry.  I loved episodes 4, 5, 6 (except for that stupid Ewok song), and 7, but the less said about 1, 2 and 3, the better.  Fantasy, if lumped together as a genre, just doesn’t stick with me the way a real world drama can, but that’s just me.  Who am I to argue with the billions of people on the planet who think otherwise?  Oh, wait a minute, I AM one to argue!  So this old curmudgeon trotted off to the Chinese Theatre to see this latest installment in IMAX 3D and am happy to report that, as far as these things go, I had a good time.  

Plopped somewhere in between Episodes 3 and 4, ROGUE ONE tells the story of a band of rebels who come together to steal the plans to the Death Star.  It’s a somewhat standalone tale in that our main characters haven’t been established before, but it perfectly slots right into the previously mentioned editions.  Call it Episode 3 and 1/2.  

Director Gareth Edwards (MONSTERS, GODZILLA) and writers Tony Gilroy (BOURNE IDENTITY) and Chris Weitz (ABOUT A BOY) introduce Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones), a brave young woman who has good reason to want to take the Empire down.  Much like Dorothy in THE WIZARD OF OZ, she assembles a not-so-merry band of misfits to help her cause.  They include Riz Ahmed (NIGHTCRAWLER, THE NIGHT OF…) as a seemingly coked out cargo pilot, Diego Luna as the swashbuckling, Han Solo type, Alan Tudyk as K-2SO, an elongated and pretty engaging version of C-Threepio, Donnie Yen as a blind martial arts master with a relationship to the Force and a possibly gay one with Wen Jiang.  Despite the constant planet criss-crossing and gigantic cast, the storyline remains almost painfully simple: Get those Death Star plans before an entire planet goes kaput.  

What drew me in, however, was the new look and tone to this film.  The prior films tended to have a glossy sheen, whereas Edwards and one of my favorite cinematographers, Greig Fraser (FOXCATHER, LE ME IN), bring a naturalistic, almost dare I say Terrence Malick-esque approach to this.  Sure, the interiors of the Empire ships still featured glistening black surfaces, but I almost gasped in an early scene where a young Jyn runs for her life, racing through tall blades of grass.  ROGUE ONE also has sandy beaches!  There’s real grit and grime, which is befitting to the war movie aesthetic it emits.  

Remember, these films take place a long time ago, and ROGUE ONE gives everything the rusted-out feel that allows it to seamlessly lead into Episode 4.  One of the great joys of watching this movie, in fact, is noticing how much it feels like the original STAR WARS as the clock ticks down.  You start noticing certain color patterns and costumes, and, of course, specific characters.  Michael Giacchino’s score goes a long way towards bridging the gap as well.  The talented composer of LOST pings on and dances around many of the themes John Williams established until it finally drops you on the famous musical doorstep.  The music, like the film itself, has the feeling of inevitability.  

[WARNING: SPOILERS IN THIS PARAGRAPH] Now I’m no fanboy, so I completely missed many Easter eggs, but throughout, I could hear audience members chuckling at a line or pointing at an actor they recognized.  I admit, however, to feeling thrilled when Darth Vader started swinging his light saber around, but the little guys went right past me. Of course, even the most casual viewer will be stunned by the extended appearance of General Tarkin as played by Peter Cushing.  Essential to the creation of the Death Star, the story would have had to jump through too many hoops to do without him, but Cushing died in 1994.  Luckily, technology has allowed for a beautifully rendered motion capture performance, perfectly representing Cushing’s formidable skills.  I thought of THE CONGRESS, the film in which Robin Wright played a version of herself who sells her likeness in perpetuity so that the studio could use a motion captured version of her in as many films as they liked.  I hope Lucasfilms paid the Cushing estate handsomely, because he’s really good in this film.  Through the use of CGI, a young Princess Leia appears in the final moment, bringing us to the very beginning of A NEW HOPE.  Carrie Fisher’s recent passing adds pathos to this scene, but it would have been pure movie magic even without her tragic loss. While we’re spoiling, let’s talk about that ending.  Because the film stands on its own and the efforts of the rebels only gets a passing mention in the Ep. 4 crawl, it makes sense that everyone dies. The characters willingly sign up to be a part of something much bigger than themselves, giving the whole enterprise a slightly North Korean vibe. This scrappy cast, however, would happily give up their individuality to kill Kim Jong Un as opposed to following him. They’re the really good SUICIDE SQUAD of 2016! [END SPOILERS]

Speaking of characters, ROGUE ONE skimps quite a bit when it comes to layers.  For the most part, archetypes abound.  Having said that, Felicity Jones has a face you can’t look away from.  Those gorgeous, yearning eyes and stalwart attitude really drew me in throughout.  Everyone ends up giving very good presence and with an almost complete absence of camp.  In ROGUE ONE, things matter.  When Princess Leia watches her home planet get blasted to smithereens in A NEW HOPE, her reaction barely registered.  In ROGUE ONE, you understand and feel the stakes.  

Will ROGUE ONE stick with me?  Probably not.  Even THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, which I consider a masterpiece, hasn’t.  Again, I remember films like NETWORK, ELECTION, and TRAINSPOTTING, so my taste is my taste.  But if you’re a STAR WARS fan, ROGUE ONE works really, really well.