STAR WARS, INDY , HOWARD THE DUCK DEUCE; AND MORE

[Martin]

Annnnnnnnnnnnnd? Not even an impression?

[Abraham Smashington]

I don't want to say anything until we record since Ari does read the boards. He's not like Ceej. But if anyone has watched the Red Letter Media episode for SOLO I have a feeling Sunday's podcast may be much like that. #VaguePost

I will say this though: We finally have a SW movie with Clint Howard in it and that makes me smile more than it should.

[BillyG]

The Clint Howard cameo was better than the "omg" one everyone talked about.

[Anderson]

The movie being dark is on the projectionist and the theater, not the film.


Fuck, I'd hate to see what the massive chains would do if Gordon Willis was still lensing movies. They'd probably throw all of the house lights on instead of fixing their fucking settings.

[Abraham Smashington]

The movie being dark is on the projectionist and the theater, not the film.

I've read that. I've also read TONS of reviews and opinions that said the same thing I have. Guess I'll have to wait until digital to see if that makes a difference.

It was still a very ugly film.

[Anderson]

I've read that. I've also read TONS of reviews and opinions that said the same thing I have. Guess I'll have to wait until digital to see if that makes a difference.

It was still a very ugly film.

Well, those tons of reviews and opinions are wrong. But, shitty projection is becoming a huge fucking problem now. I've stopped going to a certain chain because they refuse to fucking matte movies anymore.



It's laziness/lack of trained projectionists anymore.



Now, the side question of whether darker skewed cinematography works for SW is an issue onto itself. I don't think it does, but I also know what's the fault of the theater and what is a DP drinking on the job.


I've seen SOLO in traditional and digital now and no issues.

[Abraham Smashington]

Fine, whatever. My opinion is that the darker shit DOES NOT WORK and it is an UGLY film. Everything felt super flat and mehhh. Projection issues be damned.

[Anderson]

Fine, whatever. My opinion is that the darker shit DOES NOT WORK and it is an UGLY film. Everything felt super flat and mehhh. Projection issues be damned.

That's fine.



I'm just saying there are two issues at play: aesthetic and projection. The aesthetic was questionable, but fucked up projection doesn't help anything.

[BMichaelKrol]

I saw it both times at the Alamo and I thought the look was fine.

[Timothy225]

Jen and I just got back from seeing Solo - gotta say, we didn't hate it. It turned out better than I thought it would, and found myself pretty engaged with everything going on. Played out like the heist/caper flick I was hoping it would be, but I felt it did need more room for the story to breathe a bit.

  Spoiler: Just in case someone hasn't seen it yet... 

Rob's gonna hate me for saying this, but I was kind of interested in Khaleesi's character arc, especially all this Crimson Dawn stuff and her new position under Maul. Even though Maul's story arc is pretty much covered via the Clone Wars and Rebels animated shows, I want to see what happens next.

I'm also pretty much onboard with the idea of recasting the classic roles to tell more stories - Alden Ehrenreich pretty much nailed young Solo to a T, even down to aping Harrison Ford's mannerisms and swagger. Throw in Donald Glover's smoove groovin' as Lando (kind of want a Lando flick in the near future) and I was entertained. But before we get more of those, I'm festering to see more Star Wars films outside of the Trilogies - desperately want a bounty hunter film or two, maybe some straight on Jedi vs. Sith flicks, etc.

To run with what Rob said, there was some projection issues that I'm sure will look far better when this hits DVD/Blu. It's got a dark aesthetic and I can see where lousy projection will make it look a bit bland and/or washed out. Troy nailed it; in the past year or so I've noticed the theaters near us (all of 'em AMC) seem to always have this problem - however, making the trek out to the theaters in Brick or in Eatontown, I'm not seeing the problems as much.

[Abraham Smashington]

SOLO:

Still processing, but I kinda hated the thing. The first half hour is a complete mess that introduces characters willy nilly and does absolutely zero to make you care about any of them. From there, you've got disjointed action sequences that act more as a SW fan checklist than as a plot. The train heist and the Kessel run are well done action sequences but they didn't engage me with any sort of 'wow' or 'fun' factor. Shit just happens. Very little of the humor works (although some of the stuff with L3 was funny) and none of the emotional connective tissue resonated to make me give a damn about what was going on.

This may just be the worst of the SW films for me, and yes...I'm including the prequels in that assessment.

Our full thoughts will be up in the podcast later this week, but you have my axe Matt....Ari and Ceej do not...

[Matt]

My man.

[Abraham Smashington]

I only put it above Menace and Clones.

[Anderson]

Clones is still the worst SW movie because it's patronizing as fuck.

[Abraham Smashington]

I put it like Clones/Menace/Solo from worst to not as bad.