You try doing your job on the day you were forced to kill your dad.

That was my read as well, having seen the movie a few times. The first time, it fakes you out with the music and your expectations: you think Kylo Ren is torn up between the Light and the Dark, when in reality, he’s torn up *over what he knows he must do* to fully join the Dark Side. As fans of the other movies, we…

In an alternate universe, a basic cable channel is making the Damsels of Design TV series to ride the “Mad Men” craze.

You said *fake* populism, like Occupy Wall Street.

Whatever you may think about The Phantom Menace, the redneck Tusken Raiders taking popshots at the podracers was comedy gold, GOLD, I tell you.

and now a global nuclear exchange is all but unthinkable.

One of the best Star Wars tales ever:

Also, unlike wizards and giant robots, competent people exist in real life. There really are people who are better at computers, or surgery, or rockets, than pretty much everybody else

Glad somebody said it here. I really liked it the first time I saw it, but walked out of the theater picking over the film for things to complain about— not *bad* things, just little things that didn’t work for me. I was very afraid of the Prequel effect, where I walked out believing that I had seen something great…

When I first saw the artwork I thought, big whup, we’ve all seen that before.

Yup.

The New Republic controls most of the galaxy. The First Order controls a smaller portion. The Resistance is within First Order space, fighting as a guerilla force. The New Republic supports the Resistance, but for some reason, doesn’t fight the First Order directly— perhaps the New Republic is tired of the seemingly…

It plays when Kylo Ren looks at Vader’s burnt mask— just a few notes, though.

You’re right, Plagueis is a Muun... in the now-discarded Expanded Universe canon.

What the hell is up with Supreme Leader Snoke? How did he come to power, what are his powers and how big is he?

Actually... THAT is a good frakkin’ idea.

As I wrote above, you must have missed all the times Star Wars actually DIDN’T avoid flashbacks— it just got creative with them. Force ghosts, the cave on Dagobah, Anakin’s nightmare, and now the lightsaber vision in the new film.

The *best* thing about Ren being Han and Leia’s son is the movie just comes out and says it.

I didn’t think it was weird at all. It’s clear that he feels SOMETHING there with her, a kinship he can’t explain, but one that is easily explained by the fact the he is Uncle Han.

It doesn’t sound like you’re old enough to remember the big, BIG deal that was made over the casting of Jonathan Pryce as an Asian in Miss Saigon.