Julius

Yeah, it's totally possible, and I could see them doing that, having his new theme be specifically for lost Obi-Wan before reverting him back to the Force theme by the end of the show in preparation for A New Hope. There are definitely enough recognisable melodies within his new theme that it could work. But if that then feels consistent with the rest of the show if that's the route they go, though, is a whole other question, and I do still think it especially feels like it's missing the Force theme in that one particular scene I mentioned. If there's one moment in the show so far (albeit only two episodes in) where I'm like "here, this is exactly where you should put a recognisable theme" it's there, because that is him getting back into his mojo as a Jedi and... To clarify my last post, as reading it again I sound a bit down on it: I'm not disappointed with the show, as I always thought it should be a slow burn anyways, so I'm very open to it slowly coming to a boil before it all spills over. Just felt a bit lacking at points, but hey, they've got four episodes left in which they could blow me away

Alright, I'm back from my rewatch of Parts I and II of Obi-Wan Kenobi – am I the only one who hates that it's not just called Kenobi, by the way? Anyways, here are my more comprehensive thoughts and notes from my rewatch: Overall, I thought it was a solid start to the show, definitely taking their time to warm up to it (which is fine but means as a premiere it felt a bit lacking?), and we'll see where it goes from here. I wasn't too keen on the music if I'm being honest, as while there are plenty of hints of things throughout (outside of Kenobi's theme there are definitely numerous hints at the Imperial March), and while I understand the decision for Boba and Mando to really dial it back and go with original music...this show is screaming for the themes we know and love. Hopefully they're holding them back, but the music was a bit of a letdown outside of the new Kenobi theme if I'm being honest. Still have some big concerns, but a lot of those predate me watching the show (potential of Qui-Gon coming back as an actual ghost, what I've said before about Reva, etc.), so I'll just wait and see. Hopefully it's only up from here!

Obligatory: • Let's goooooooooo PS VR2 • XVI or we riot • Ragnarök is coming (EDIT after the description: or is it..?)

Some really interesting details came out of the Ask the Developer interview for this game:

Watched the first two episodes of Obi-Wan Kenobi and thought they were solid. I'll post more in-depth thoughts after a rewatch, because I need to organise my thoughts a bit more I think. Absolutely. The silly thing is, I've since seen all of the stuff people captured there on their phones...so, yay for the potato quality Mando S3 trailer I guess? It's barmy that companies still do this when it's obvious these things will leak through the cracks. In all earnest it looks great, but there was absolutely (yeah, yeah, I know: only a Sith deals in absolutes) nothing shown that I feel warranted not having a livestream, and pushing that further was that the Kenobi premiere wasn't even following or at the panel as we'd previously speculated it might be. I'd want to say because of the live performances, but we've seen John Williams conduct live through the stream before, and it was greatly received by fans. Much as I've enjoyed some of the trailers under Disney - the Saga ones and the first Kenobi one in particular - man, I really just got a feeling of being totally tone deaf from them and Lucasfilm yesterday. I get wanting to have exclusive things at the show for attendees, and by all means I'm for it to an extent - premiere full episodes there, clips of things far off, etc. - but your opening panel (and seemingly the other big panels) at the first Celebration back, again, "post"-COVID (special emphasis on the quotation marks) not being livestreamed...to what end? Like I said before, if this is supposed to promote more people to come to a sold out event -- well, it's sold out, there's literally no way more people could attend? I don't want to lay it on too thick, but it's taking the piss a bit, and just feels like it's trying to drive a wedge between the fanbase (as if we need more of that). It's a disastrous misfire in my eyes, because they're entirely missing the point of the event, which is to celebrate this thing we all love as a community. Limiting the biggest parts to the fortunate few who can attend (and how many reasons are there to not attend, by the way? It's an expensive trip, COVID is still a risk, you need to book a fair bit of time off, etc.) is one of the most hilariously anti-Lucas things Lucasfilm/Disney have managed to do since LFL was sold. Thankfully some in the crowd rebelled (heh) and got the footage out to us anyways, which I'm very grateful for. Another saving grace is that, like I said, there wasn't anything not shared with us at home that I thought was too crazy? It wasn't the blowout I'd have expected from a general 90 minute SWC opener that isn't homing in on one product. Like you say, the focus on Willow (while a really good trailer I thought, pretty stunning to look at) and Indy (which, being a year off, was a whole lot of nothing) just seemed a bit misplaced (yeah I know it's Lucasfilm still, but come on, that isn't why anyone is there this weekend!). Overall I'm still just confused, and on the other side of the Showcase I'm less annoyed than I thought I might be. I'm happy for those attending and it seems on the stream that everyone's having a great time, but by the Force, what a dumbass corporate decision I don't even catch wind until a good 5 or 10 minutes into the livestream that it wasn't even being streamed at Celebration, as it was super weird just how crazy the crowd were going for the Andor trailer (as I thought they'd already seen it). Honestly, beyond meeting other fans and just being surrounded by Star Wars, the mess of how they handled all of their fans worldwide yesterday left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth which, if anything, puts me off the idea of Celebration. It just splits the fanbase and almost invites this sense of elitism...which then falls flat on its face, because it's so clear from yourself and many others I've seen tweeting from SWC that they're gutted for those not in attendance (hell, I was reading about one guy who had to cancel attending last second because his wife went into labour a week early!). The abhorrent lack of news on films does have me wondering: are they saving that for D23? And if so...man, I would not want to be at LFL for the blowback. You're too kind! Thanks Ronnie Don't want to comment on everything you've written about your first day at Celebration (would be here a while!), but it sounds like you're having a great time and those are some lovely pics! Look forward to reading/seeing more from your time there, hope the weather's treating you well too Oh, and also, yeah, the rest of the livestream was pretty neat! We got all the interviews from the live stage (like I said above: I'm always here for Ewan and Hayden getting a rapturous applause), Ian McDiarmid is always fun to watch and we got to see his panel, and they showed off the High Republic: Into the Light panel (yes, I was absolutely lost, but the authors seem like cool people!). No idea how it shakes out today (I think we'll be getting the AOTC 20th anniversary stream seeing as it's not in that 11:00 - 12:00 slot, and I'll happily tune in for that!), but I'll just take it as it comes

Today, Congo's Caper and Rival Turf have been added to SNES Online, and Pinball has been added to NES Online:

Man, watching Ashley Eckstein be interviewed and hearing that she hasn't even had a chance to speak with Rosario Dawson yet (?! You'd think that would be priority #1 when a different actor is adapting an animated character to live-action), and trying to throw it out there that she'd love to meet her and potentially cameo in Ahsoka if given the chance...is weirdly rough? I increasingly get the sense that she was completely glossed over for the live-action role after Dawson's campaign for it. I know Ahsoka is filming at the moment, so hopefully Filoni is around and grabs Ashley for at least a cameo on the show. Don't get me wrong, I think Rosario was pretty good as Ahsoka with what we've got so far of her, but Ashley's always been a great part of the community, played the character for nearly 15 years, and hearing that she's so open to hearing from fans who are facing struggles, and learning what her character means to them, is heavy stuff that goes well beyond her role. That she wasn't cast for the live-action role is one thing, but to not have Rosario get in contact with her for at least a chat to discuss the character a bit just seems like a big missed opportunity. After KK's interview: the highlight so far is Anthony Carboni's joke about needing KK's room number so everyone can catch Obi-Wan with her...boy, did she not like that joke walking away to the Imperial March was the cherry on top! High Republic: damn it, go to the wide! Ewan and Hayden's interview nearly had me in tears. Man, like before, I'm so glad they're back and my generation and those that enjoyed the prequels get to let their voice be heard, and let them know their work is deeply loved. Hayden sharing that he's watched Rebels and The Clone Wars, and then finishing the interview with "This is where the fun begins", just...

I don't think I've seen it since I was a kid, so I can't remember all that much about it, but this has me in the mood to revisit it. And the film is on Disney+, so I guess there's no excuse

Indy 5 still on track for 30th June 2023:

The third season of The Mandalorian is coming in February 2023:

Willow is coming to Disney+ on 30th November: It will take place around 20 years after the film. Looks lovely!

Teaser trailer for Andor, two episode premiere August 31st: Teaser poster:

Sigh Anywho, guess I'll just drop the most interesting tidbits I can find people talking about here from the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase: • panel opened with a highlights video of previous Celebrations interspersed with cast interview footage from over the years. • Obi-Wan Kenobi introduced following a choir singing Duel of the Fates. Attendees of the Lucasfilm Showcase at Celebration are being invited back later today to watch the premiere of the first two episodes. • Andor is releasing August 31st with a series premiere of the first two episodes; second season filming in the fall. Both seasons will be 12 episodes long, with the show beginning 5 years prior to Rogue One but leading directly into it. Teaser trailer shown, shared with public. • Willow is coming 30th November. • Ahsoka and The Mandalorian S3 are coming in 2023, Mando in February. Exclusive clip of Mando S3 shown at Celebration. Favreau announced a surprise installation at Celebration, where they've brought props and sets from the show. • Jon Watts' and Christopher Ford's new show is called Star Wars: Skeleton Crew, and follows a group of kids from a tiny planet who get lost during the period of Mando/Ahsoka (i.e. post-Jedi) and are trying to find their way back home. It will star Jude Law. Coming in 2023. • John Williams, 90 this year, turned up to conduct a live orchestra (the Pacific Symphony Orchestra) in playing the new Kenobi theme. He then rolled into Indy's theme. Harrison Ford comes to the stage. Indy 5 is still on track for 30th June 2023. Williams returned to the podium to conduct the Imperial March...and that's that. The opening panel closes with everyone singing Happy Birthday to John Williams.

Yeah, I had the same thought about the Kenobi marketing push, but I don't know, it's all very odd. If not livestreamed then maybe we get a condensed and heavily edited, Direct-style version at 12:30/20:30 with the major beats, trailers, etc., for the public to consume? Just missing potential things like the live interviews, clips exclusive to SWC, etc.? Part of me thinks they don't want a repeat of SWC 2016's Rogue One panel, but then...surely they would have changed things before? I think it's the lack of transparency for me which is just doing my head in a bit. Any livestreamed event - be it related to Star Wars or what we're more commonly seeing in games from Nintendo, PlayStation, Xbox et al - should just be crystal clear with their messaging...period. Don't leave room for wild speculation about how stupid you're seemingly being by not livestreaming the biggest panels at the biggest Star Wars event of the last 3 years? I don't know, I look at some of these multi-billioj dollar, multinational companies and can't help but chuckle. In Lucasfilm's case today, not livestreaming the event simply means I'm going to see a crappy version an hour or two later captured by someone on the crowd on their phone (which wasn't great in the case of Mando considering SFX were far from complete for what was shown at SWCC)!

Ray Liotta has passed away at 67.

More news coming next month, probably at Not-E3? starts screaming the Dragon Quest main theme

Yeah, I absolutely agree. The thing tipping me over into thinking it's simply not happening is what the home page of StarWars.com says right now: Feel like the weirdness would be compounded if it's not streamed by the fact that it's the first Celebration back "post"-COVID oh well, hope I don't sound too salty; I definitely understand if there are things they'd want to keep behind closed doors, but this would just seem... unnecessarily excessive? Considering it'll likely leak anyways. It would just be pretty disappointing if the bigger panels weren't streamed! Just seen that David W. Collins seems to think it'll be streamed, so who knows? Oh well, if not, guess I can just go watch AOTC and ROTS back-to-back to prepare for Kenobi tomorrow Hope you're having a great time!

Still not so much as a peep about the Lucasfilm Showcase being streamed, and livestreams for other days at Celebration are set to start at 12:00 too, which would be following the big events of each day which start at 11:00. Even if separate livestreams are being held for these day openers, they've not confirmed as much, so it's hard to blame fans for being a bit on edge -- even if it is streamed in the end, I struggle to see why you wouldn't be more forthcoming with those details. I've booked tomorrow off to stay up late and watch as much Celebration as I can, and I've seen that plenty of others have too. It would be pretty frustrating if the main panels weren't streamed like I said before, could easily be live-tweeted like some Disney Investor's Meetings have been previously. It may also be the case that trailers still drop, or even that the livestream opens with a summary of what they can share from the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase. On the one hand, I suppose it doesn't need as much build-up, so could be happening, but on the other...yeah, we're less than 5 hours away from the first panel starting, and the lack of clarification and response isn't great, any way you cut it. They recently got a new account manager on Twitter who is typically great at clarifying things and interacting with fans, and they've so far not responded to anyone asking about the Lucasfilm Studio Showcase being streamed – it might be unintentional, but it certainly looks like they're dodging those questions. Just have to wait and see I guess would be a huge shame if it wasn't streamed, though. Probably lead some fans down the path of the Dark Side. I decided not to go to Celebration this year due to the lingering COVID risk, figuring it would be safest to watch it all from home as we've been able to before. Beyond that, Celebration is simply nowhere near big enough an event to host the millions of fans worldwide who would want to attend.

Resistance: Retribution rated for PS4 and PS5 in Korea. Yeah, hopefully! The catalog seems to (slowly) be shaping up well, main thing for me out the gate is the potential to go back to games I didn't get to finish as a kid (Toy Story 2), and hopefully getting exacting vengeance on others for how they traumatised me as a kid (Dino Crisis).

Rated in Korea. Further: merch being lined up to launch in September.

Roma have done it about as Mourinho a performance as you'd expect after they scored in the 32nd minute, hoofing the ball upfield and holding it in Feyenoord's corner as early as the 80th minute. Had a chance or two to extend their lead but never managed to, and Feyenoord just didn't click today in front of goal as they had managed to on the way to the final. Champions League final next!

Europa Conference League final tonight! Going to be rooting for Roma. Mou has done a great job since taking over, Tammy has been great for them, fingers crossed for Mou to become the first manager to win trophies at all three European levels. The ECL has been great to watch as we've got into the knockout rounds - essentially just another Europa League in terms of quality - so hoping for a great match to round off the competition's inaugural season!

Looks like Dino Crisis is inbound:

In fairness, they were later than usual (usual meaning compared to pre-COVID times) to announce their E3 Direct last year too: they didn't announce it until 2nd June, 13 days before the Direct was scheduled to be streamed on 15th June. So I imagine we'll hear something by the end of next week (and if not, this year's Not-E3 is likely going to be a total dud if last year's actual E3 and Summer Game Fest is anything to go by)

Oh yeah, I'm positive it'll be streamed, just trying not to tempt fate over here! but I imagine you're right, it's likely just very weird (and honestly, kind of poor) messaging, what with the lack of detail so far about the streaming schedule, especially on the page they've linked to previously on StarWars.com, which talks about prepping to watch from home...but doesn't mention times, panels being streamed, etc., on that page It's the fact that they tweeted out the livestream as starting after the Showcase finishes that I think is rightly giving people pause. Even if there's a separate stream for the Showcase, you'd think their first (and so far only) tweet would read "join us at 11:00am for the Lucasfilm Showcase, followed by our stream from the show floor" (or that they'd be separate tweets). In your analogy, it's basically the equivalent of confirming Treehouse will be streamed but not mentioning the Direct