...a silent signal acknowledging that the man we’re supposed to be listening to isn’t saying anything worth hearing

• This is stressing me out. [Washington Post]

Can’t the point of a movie just be making a good movie? Does something have to be a setup for later works to have any value at all? Continuity is nice, but it’s not the only thing that matters.

“I will, however, happily drop $2 or $3 on a plastic bottle with a glowing lightsaber on the label.”

And this, right here, is why the Earth’s inhabitants are effed.

Rewatched the first two prequels over the last couple of days and that is a very, very short list. The acting is bad - not just Lloyd and Christensen, but good actors that have done fine work elsewhere. The script is miserable, things happen because they need to, almost never organically. The CGI that Lucas was so…

I was seriously not going to go see this movie.

Now the question is who does warren tap as VP.

Apparently there are many different cuts of the film, and all the various rumours/spoilers filling the interweb are genuine attempts by Lucasfilm to see which direction to go.

So, in your mind, a film by it’s very nature of looking at something, must support that thing?

I would like to think this post is tongue in cheek but unfortunately I think it’s how most Splinter editors and commenters actually think.

Doesn’t really seem all over the map. They seem to mostly be saying its decent, but not as good as the first.

Good for you. Enjoy not watching a show with people you like brought to you by talented writers and producers.

the Star Trek: Discovery writing staff is considering the technological advancements Michael Burnham and company will discover 930 years in the future:

During that HBO panel at the Television Critics Association, Damon Lindelof claimed he’s channeling Alan Moore’s “punk rock, rebellious spirit” by adapting Watchmen into a television series for HBO against the author’s wishes.

Michael Palin is the greatest travel host ever, far better than Bourdain. Bourdain could never stop lecturing his audience or trying to subtly one-up people.

I saw it for free and didn’t have any expectations of it being good and found it to be pretty entertaining. I don’t think it takes itself too seriously which definitely helps.

Is there any evidence, beyond Splinter rhetoric, that (1) Americans perceive not impeaching Trump as a sign of “weakness” and (2) that this perception has any actual impact on electoral outcomes?

I love Respawn and will obviously reserve more concrete judgement for when I actually, y’know, play it, but man that was underwhelming. Of course it’s alpha gameplay so some things are just not going to be super polished but it just feels really herky jerky to me. I remember trying the Force Unleashed games and…

Honestly, outside the world visuals, it doesn’t look that interesting. The environment seems very static, the protag still seems very bland, and the platforming very basic.