Julius

I think that the original ideas for the characters and their arcs are fine, if I’m honest: the changes made to the film late on clearly changed the paths these characters would take. My biggest issues with RO are pacing (the first fifteen minutes especially, and let’s not forget the atrocious iMovie title card, nor the location cards) and a dependence on fan service, which kills much of the enjoyment of the first two acts that I had when I went to watch it in the cinema. Running into characters like Cornelius Evazan and Ponda Baba on Jedha, hearing about the Whills, or even the final scene with Vader wrecking shop and a CG recreation of Carrie’s face feels inconsequential, and honestly a little bit stale, if one wishes to watch the film again, in my opinion. Back to The Last Jedi, though, I’m getting ready to go out and watch it again. Are you planning on seeing/have you seen TLJ, @Ronnie?

I’m completely on the fence: having seen the movie, I now have no idea as to what make of it. My second viewing couldn’t come soon enough. A couple of my nitpicks thus far:

That’s extremely bold...and I’m loving it. What do you think makes it better than TESB, @Cube?

Alright...let’s open the floodgates and talk about this. I’m not even sure where to begin, there’s just that much to talk about. I’m assuming we’ll be using spoiler tags for up until Monday, at least? Or are we just telling others to steer clear of this thread until they’ve seen the film? @Mr-Paul @will' @dazzybee @Charlie

I’m back for all of five seconds to just say that flicking through a couple of completely spoiler-free reviews has pumped me up for this film even more (I didn’t know that was possible)! And with that, I am returning to my self-imposed exile...

Right, we’re now (less than) one week away! With the world premiere on Saturday evening, and the opening 10/15 minutes shown in Japan last night during a preview, I’m officially leaving the internet. See you all on the other side!

18 “secret” films have been mentioned to be in the works in an interview, beyond those already announced for after Phase 3’s completion (i.e. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 4, a sequel to Spider-Man: Homecoming, etc.). This train ain’t ever gonna stop. On the topic of trains never stopping, Deadline is reporting that the Disney/FOX merger could be completed within a matter of days. Which would be great news for Deadpool, apparently...

To further this point: FOX have been the ones streamlining themselves for a Disney purchase, and have been courting Disney just as much as Disney have them, which seems to have pushed Comcast away, and with the negotiations going on for at least over a month now, we could see this all wrapped up by the end of the year. Whilst I’m sure that the FOX deal isn’t much more than Disney flexing their financial muscle to bolster their streaming service line-up, it could have pretty massive ramifications on the near future of film. As @Sméagol rightly said, the biggest ramifications of this in film will probably be in the MCU: this would give Disney the movie rights to the X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and Deadpool, amongst others. It would also give them potential major Avengers villains such as Kang, Galactus, etc., which would definitely help give Phase 4 of the MCU even more of a direction. Honestly, I do want to see them involved, but of course the extent of their inclusion and the storylines must depend massively on the events of Avengers 4: the board could be cleared to give others an opportunity to step up. At the very least, Marvel Studios would do a great job with the Fantastic Four, and I could see some post-credits scene in Deadpool 2 which has him moved from one movie universe to another (imagine the commentary on this!). Definitely something to keep an eye on, but I’m very intrigued by where this could point the MCU, or the new routes it could open up for them. Perhaps some early outlines for Phase 4 even includes these characters already, considering that there were two versions of Civil War outlined: one with and one without Spidey. It could also be interesting, though, as FOX have the rights to Star Wars: A New Hope in perpetuity, and have the rights of the other films, to some extent, for a few more years still. Whilst I highly doubt that this would happen - I’m sure George Lucas added a clause to the sale which prevented a rerelease of the original cuts of the films, probably alongside a clause which meant that they couldn’t touch the prequels - it’s certainly a possibility, at the very least. Guess we’ve just got to wait and see in the meanwhile, but don’t be surprised if this is completed (and possibly even announced) by New Year’s Day.

So, Mark Hamill invented a tragic backstory for Luke in preparation for his role in The Last Jedi. It’s absolutely not canon, but it’s a really interesting read, and shows a side to Mark Hamill that I don’t think we’ve seen before with his portrayals of Luke. I’ve believed for a while that this film is going to be very, very special, and this just furthers my anticipation! Oh, and there’s now (less than) 10 days to go! We can now count it down with our fingers and thumbs!

I’d love to at least see some of the Pokémon core series game for the Switch. I’m really intrigued by how they could shake up the franchise for the better (though I’m sure some here might be happy with more of the same). Will we get total control of the camera? Are in-depth customisation options available from the game’s start when creating our character? Have they decided to strip back the game and focus on the core aspects of a JRPG, considering that this is easily the most accessible and most well known JRPG franchise: story and game mechanics? My list of questions is endless, so I’d love to learn some more and hopefully see the game by the end of 2018, even if it isn’t ready for release!

TWO. WEEKS.

If I recall, literally his own overconfidence is responsible for his death in the Infinity Gauntlet arc, and I personally can’t see them going through with that route here. I mean, perhaps they’ve nerfed the Gauntlet in this version? He literally wiped out half of the sentient beings in the galaxy just by clicking his fingers when he assembled the Gauntlet in the comics...

Pure speculation, but what does everyone think about this? Avengers: Infinity War — everyone dies. Except for one man... Avengers 4 — ...Doctor Strange. He has the Time Stone, and so he turns back time to assemble the Avengers earlier (could make for some strange scenes, seeing events and their aftermaths, such as the Battle of NY, play out differently) at the end of Infinity War. The first half of the film sets up a Majora’s Mask sort of vibe, racing against the clock and doing everything perfectly to assemble the Avengers before Thanos arrives, whereas the latter half of the film has them taking him on (and, presumably, defeating him?). The Avengers can then disassemble and go their separate ways, seeing as they’ve won the day, before perhaps some other villain is teased for Phase Four (or beyond)?

Very interesting update, courtesy of Rolling Stone, which seems to suggest that this could be the final instalment in the Skywalker Saga (thank the Force). This trilogy will end with Abrams' Last Jedi sequel, and after that, it sounds like the main thrust of the franchise will move into Johnson's mysterious new movies, which look to be unconnected to the previous saga. As far as Abrams is concerned, that will be the end of the Skywalker story. "I do see it that way," he says. "But the future is in flux." As far as Ridley is concerned, the future of Rey is pretty much set. She doesn't want to play the character after the next movie. "No," she says flatly. "For me, I didn't really know what I was signing on to. I hadn't read the script, but from what I could tell, it was really nice people involved, so I was just like, 'Awesome.' Now I think I am even luckier than I knew then, to be part of something that feels so like coming home now." But, um, doesn't that sort of sound like a yes? "No," she says again, smiling a little. "No, no, no. I am really, really excited to do the third thing and round it out, because ultimately, what I was signing on to was three films. So in my head, it's three films. I think it will feel like the right time to round it out." Some might take Daisy’s words about only being signed on for three films and J.J.’s words as an argument for Rey Skywalker, but we’ll just have to wait and see I do seriously hope the Skywalker Saga comes to an end with IX, if only because it would feel wrong for anyone but John Williams to compose the score for such a film

THEY FINALLY FOCUSED ON ESTABLISHING A MUSICAL THEME IN A TRAILER. I can die happy now. It’s about time! Trailer looks fantastic. I’m not too sure what else there is to say, if I’m honest. Though, I guess I’m a little surprised that they only teased the Guardians of the Galaxy at the end, as opposed to, say, Adam Warlock or someone/thing like that (then again, he’d probably pop in around the end of this film or in its sequel), seeing as we learned that they were in the film ages ago. HYPE.

Review by Dunkey. Seems there’s a little more wrong than the standard single player campaign and loot crate stuff...

Avengers: Infinity War trailer drops tomorrow!

News from the end of last month which I was genuinely a little surprised to not already see here! At the Natsume Soseki Memorial Museum at Waseda University in Tokyo, Hayao Miyazaki reportedly revealed what will, in all likelihood, be his final film (but for real this time guys: Suzuki has been talking about how he’s worried Miyazaki might not live to complete this, and job descriptions even describe it as his final film): Kimitachi wa Dou Ikiru ka (How do you live?). It was previously believed that Miyazaki was planning to make a feature length version of the CG anime short he’d been working on for the Studio Ghibli Museum, Boro the Caterpillar, in time for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, but the time period for How do you live?’s production is “three or four years”, which could take us past that point. The film was first pitched by Miyazaki last year, but has yet to be officially green-lit. The film shares its title with a book of the same name by Yoshino Genzaburo, which is about a second year junior high school boy, Copel, who through various experiences and the guiding of his uncle begins to learn how to think for himself. The book was primarily used as an introduction to the social sciences, but its content leans heavily on Marxist economics andsocialist philosophy. It paints an interesting social picture of Tokyo in the 1930s, with a huge disparity of wealth between its inhabitants. Themes of bullying and moral education are also covered. Contracts for animators were tagged with a starting date of October 1st, so the film’s production might already be under way. It was revealed in May that Miyazaki had 20 minutes of storyboards completed.

Pre-orders in preparation for my most anticipated day of the year Star Wars: The Last Jedi OST Star Wars: The Last Jedi: The Visual Dictionary The Art of Star Wars: The Last Jedi Star Wars: The Last Jedi: Incredible Cross-Sections And also got this T-shirt to wear for my many (many) viewings of the film!

Brilliant post @Glen-i! I just like the hints of a potential stories here and there in the games to be honest, though I loved it when they want much more plot heavy than usual with Gen V. I’m of the opinion that the Mystery Dungeon franchise has the most underrated story in a Japanese video game, especially considering Explorers of Time/Darkness/Sky. But yeah, it’s something I’d like to see them flesh out a bit more with the Switch games when they come. Gen V hinted at greater potential for storytelling than I think even some diehard fans were expecting, so I’d love to see Pokémon dip further into the storytelling aspect of being a JRPG, in similar ways that Breath of the Wild and Odyssey leaned into their respective genres (action adventure and platformer, respectively) for a fresh and exciting take on the franchise.

I’ve got a bunch more to add, but recently accidentally stumbled upon Gravity Rush 2’s Lei Havina, and that’s a damn good track regardless of whether or not you’ve played the game. Be sure to stick around until at least 0:40, because if the opening strings don’t pique your interest, my word, that saxophone will knock you on your arse!

21 days. 5 hours. 20 minutes. Excited? Who? Me? Pffft

Those in the (Mexican) media who want clickbait titles