I agree. And while better than Rise of Skywalker, I think that Endgame is fun, but not a very good movie and also suffers from fan catering (although in a much more benign way).

So that Darksaber reveal was the weakest part for me and makes me hesitant for season 2. Besides the fact that it looked very poor from the VFX side, it’s one of my biggest fears about Star Wars going ahead. I don’t want to need to watch cartoons the I feel border on bad fanfiction to understand the live action stuff.…

That’s a relief haha

I picked up those other signs (him knowing where the control tower is, him sensing Rey’s death), but the idea that he was going to tell her he can feel the Force hadn’t even crossed my mind until someone online mentioned it. I thought he was going to confess feelings for her, picking up the minor thread from The Force…

Yeah, wasn’t the implication from Ep. III that if anyone “engineered” Anakin, it was Darth Plagueis? Palpatine outright states that he doesn’t know the trick to creating life when he says, “to stop death is a feat only one has mastered. But together, we can blah blah blah”. I know “everything’s canon” now, but movies…

If it’s not in the movie, it’s completely irrelevant. I actually didn’t hate the non-reveal, but if Abrams’ intention was geared toward “Finn reveals he feels the Force”, the wording could been changed to “Rey, I think I’m--”.

There’s a quote by Rey in TLJ that’s like, “The Force makes you psychic and gives you superpowers and stuff” and Luke says “every part of what you said is wrong” and then TROS is like, “Oh, no, that’s totally correct”.

I see a lot of people blaming a lack of a “plan” or “vision” for the trilogy, but to me the issue with TROS is the same thing that was the issue with the EU: it’s pandering, reductionist garbage that doesn’t understand the underlying philosophy of Star Wars. Star Wars is highly influenced by counter-culture, even…

I’d actually like to see some shows that don’t star white people, as Black Lightning seems to be the only CW show that isn’t God-awful. I fully admit I don’t watch any of them, as their soap-opera-ness, repetitiveness, and desire to be super serious while also being extremely hokey without a cast that has charisma…

Is that actually Mike Stoklasa?!

You actually kind of can! So Pawnee was based on the city I work in, El Segundo, CA. Two restaurants were allegedly the inspiration for JJ’s: Main Street Cafe (now unfortunately closed) and Wendy’s Place.

Looks like we this story got picked up on Reddit or something. Getting a lot of CHUD-y, “I’m an intellectual” responses today. Or maybe Chinese bots.

Star Wars isn’t that big in China to begin with. They’d be risking less with this than they would be with Marvel. But also, fuck kowtowing to China. 

Fuck China. This isn’t about “sensibilities”. This is about recognizing that people from all backgrounds can be heroes.

I’m apparently the only io9er who thought the film was a brilliant meditation on the human experience, species, dissociation, and spirituality, in the vein of Ecclesiastes.

Don't know if you celebrate Thanksgiving, but Happy Thanksgiving!

I do PR/social media for a company not unlike G/O Media haha. And then one of our tiny sites, DVD Talk, had the editor leave last year, so I took over editorial duties there.

Thanks! I wish I’d invested in a blue shirt and one more yellow belt. I went to the West Hollywood Halloween Party and I needed to take the glasses off to see, since it was night haha. A lot of “Who are you?” that night. Comic-Con was also lame with just myself there, but I was covering cosplay there for work.

What are you up to, these days? Don’t see you post as often.

I really hated Solo for its cinematography, explanation for things I didn’t need explanations for (it’s like a prequel with better acting and character relationships), and trying to tie in cartoons to the films (I know people like the cartoons, but films need to stand on their own as works).