STAR WARS EPISODE VIII: THE LAST JEDI - Toy Sales Fall

[Eric Paddon]

...Revealed as a bearded and cloaked recluse at the end of “The Force Awakens,” Luke is funnier than we’ve ever seen him —

Is Hamill playing Luke or his "Amazing Stories" character??

[AndyDursin]

Please no, the flashbacks!!

[Eric Paddon]

But hey, maybe Luke could get rich in his old age selling off all his old light sabers and action figures!

[Monterey Jack]

I wonder if that episode might not have inspired the ending of The 40 Year Old Virgin (where Steve Carell sells all of his precious childhood trinkets and makes half-a-million dollars).

[AndyDursin]

Is anyone buying the CD? The movie reuses the FORCE AWAKENS main title, and apparently there's next to no concert arrangements. Lots of short cues. Sadly.

[Paul MacLean]

Why didn't they cast Hamill to replace Richard Harris?

[AndyDursin]

Echoes what I've seen from people on Twitter and elsewhere. Looks like Disney is now using the PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN template for bloated sequels that don't advance the story very far.

Bring back JJ looks to be a smart move for IX...

[AndyDursin]

Fanboys are pissed online. Wow. I honestly did not expect to see the negative/divisive reaction this film is imparting with people.

This isn't going to help either -- last night's opening was down $12 million from FORCE AWAKENS.

Is it a shocker though? In turning out one of these EVERY YEAR, they're no longer special -- and not even STAR WARS is impervious to that.

http://www.showbiz411.com/2017/12/15/th ... 12-million

It’s good news and who knows what news for Disney and Lucas Film this morning.

Last night, “The Last Jedi” scored $45 million in preview shows around the US. That’s the second highest Thursday preview opening ever, behind “The Force Awakens,” so that’s good news.

But the WTH news is that “The Force Awakens” did $57 million on its Thursday previews two years ago. In between there was “Rogue One” with a $29 million preview Thursday last year.

So what the heck? Is there “Star Wars” burn out with movies three years in a row? Could be.

Otherwise, “Jedi” picked up $60 million in international box office over the last couple of days.

Disney/Lucas Films wants a $200 million plus blockbuster break all records weekend. Now it’s unclear if “Jedi” can do that as it’s running 25% behind “Force.”

[BobaMike]

I'm a fanboy. I went to see Last Jedi on opening night.


and I'm very divided on the film. No spoilers here:

-I liked some parts, and HATED some other parts. Some of the humor felt out of place in a star wars film.
-Very "force" heavy. Which is always my least favorite part of Star Wars.
-No answers were given to some obvious questions.
-the middle of the movie dragged.
-I really disliked the final scene.
-The creatures were all dumb, which annoyed me.

Just like Luke said in the trailer "This is not going to go the way you think", this movie made poor choices with characters.

I did like all the Rey/Kylo Ren scenes, and Mark Hamill is great as Luke.

I'm glad JJ is back for episode 9

[Eric Paddon]

So where was the requisite "I've got a bad feeling about this" line?

[BobaMike]

So where was the requisite "I've got a bad feeling about this" line?

I don't think they said it!

[Eric Paddon]

Hmm, maybe that's a jinx for them! Was it in the previous film? (I admit I didn't see it)

[AndyDursin]

Are they going to cancel Johnson's announced trilogy? The vitriol for this is as high as anything I've seen in a while.

I did listen to the score while driving today. The best description I could come up with is it sounds like a video game score. There's lots of action flourishes and plenty of brass...and very little development. The least thematic development of any Star Wars score. I found it very difficult to get through and even the end credits with it's various (and now predictable) refrains of past themes came up cold for me. I'm sure much of it is just Williams functioning within the parameters of modern filmnaking and how these films are cut, but if The Force Awakens left you even a little underwhelmed, the disappointment here is much more pronounced at first listen.

[BobaMike]

Are they going to cancel Johnson's announced trilogy? The vitriol for this is as high as anything I've seen in a while.

I did listen to the score while driving today. The best description I could come up with is it sounds like a video game score. There's lots of action flourishes and plenty of brass...and very little development. The least thematic development of any Star Wars score. I found it very difficult to get through and even the end credits with it's various (and now predictable) refrains of past themes came up cold for me. I'm sure much of it is just Williams functioning within the parameters of modern filmnaking and how these films are cut, but if The Force Awakens left you even a little underwhelmed, the disappointment here is much more pronounced at first listen.

I think the end credits in the movie were different (longer), and I noticed a lot of music missing from the cd. Most of Poe's music is left off, as is a bunch of Rey's stuff. But yeah, it's not as good a score as Force Awakens.

[Monterey Jack]

So where was the requisite "I've got a bad feeling about this" line?

I don't think they said it!

And I don't recall a Wilhelm Scream.

Anyways...I really, really liked this film, and am surprised that there's "vitriol" against it. Force Awakens hews too close to A New Hope, and everyone complains. Last Jedi takes some narrative risks...and everyone complains. Mark Hamill is flat-out great, the humor mostly worked for me, I liked how the plot zigged when you expected it to zag (even the handful of direct callbacks to the OT had some clever misdirection), and the visuals were tremendous (especially the climax on the Crimson Peak planet). I was honestly thrilled by a lot of it, and there were at least four distinct "applause points" from my audience. It's not perfect, but it's a confident, stylish chapter that honestly leaves me wondering how it's going to wrap up in Episode 9. 8.5/10