All-purpose, running Geek thread (formerly Battlestar Galactica thread)

It all sounds logical, but keep in mind that the source for this is a guy known only as Doomcock.

 

I did think about putting this on the coronavirus thread, but fortunately it’s not applicable. (Yet?)

This might be the thing that gets me to sign up for CBS All Access … at least for couple of months.

 

Fuckin' A! I read the book last year and am excited to see how tis adaption plays out.

 

Benedict Cumberbatch's Doctor Strange will return for Spider-Man 3

It is looking more and more like the next Spider-Man movie will involve multiversal shenanigans of some sort. They already had Jamie Foxx returning as Electro, the role he played in Amazing Spider-Man 2. Now we know Dr. Strange will play a role as well. I have also read speculation that they will adapt the One More Day storyline from the comics. I hope not. I hated that storyline, but I also think it is way too early for it. The sacrifice Peter and M.J. made in the comics just wouldn't hold anything close to the same weight at this point in the MCU storyline.

 

My kid has been binging all things Star Wars and, while he saw the Original Trilogy a few years ago (and a few times since), he really hadn't branched out into the other films. Upon some consideration, I finally landed on this order to watch all the films.

1. A New Hope
2. Empire
3. ROTJ
4. Phantom Menace
5. AOTC
6. Revenge of the Sith
7. Solo
8. Rogue One
9. A New Hope (again)
10. Empire (again)
11. ROTJ (again)
12. The Force Awakens
13. The Last Jedi
14. The Rise of Skywalker

I thought it was important that he see the original trilogy first because there are several nuances and references to it in Episodes I, II and III that you wouldn't catch without having first seen the OT (Obi Wan telling Anakin "Why do I get the feeling you'll be the death of me," in AOTC, for instance). But, from a storytelling perspective, I want to rewatch the OT just to hammer home the entire storyline. He's only 8, so jumping around in time, I think, might jumble up the story for him.

I debated whether to continue from Sith into Rogue One to emphasize Vader's turn and subsequent viciousness, but I decided to go with Solo first so that after Rogue One, we can go directly into A New Hope and it will galvanize the story of how the Empire has risen and the band of Rebels has begun its insurgency.

I'm probably overthinking this but, hey, that's what the geek thread is for, right?

In what order did you show it to your kids?

 

I started my daughter with A New Hope when she was very little, three or four years old, but that was sort of by accident. We had DirecTV at the time and the lousy weather knocked out the service, so I wanted to put something on as background for a little bit. She liked instrumental music at the time, so I thought she might at least enjoy the opening sequence. The next thing I knew, the movie was still going and she was watching. She didn't really understand everything, but she kept talking about the princes, the big doggie, and the robots. Eventually, I showed her the original trilogy.

She enjoyed those, but never really wanted to watch the prequels when I offered. Rogue One hadn't come out yet. We saw that one as a family, followed by The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi. She was so fed up by then, that she still hasn't seen The Rise of Skywalker.

As far as I'm concerned, the only significant loss for her was missing out on Revenge of the Sith. It certainly has its flaws, but it is worth watching.

Your order works. I certainly wouldn't want to start anybody off with the prequels, because they might lose interest before even getting to the good ones. I'm not even sure I would ever bother to watch the first two prequels or Solo again.

 

When I watch the whole thing I go with this modified Machete Order:

1. Solo … yes, here. It stands alone from the others, slots in ahead of the others chronologically, but also sets up the entire universe without putting all the pieces on the game board.
2. Rogue One … probably the best Star Wars movie and the way it ends pairs well with …
3. A New Hope … watching Rogue One and this in one session makes them into one big connected story.
4. Empire Strikes Back … the big reveal without spoiling it
5. Attack Of The Clones … establishing the back story
6. Revenge of the Sith … the fall of the Republic, the fall of Anakin, the fall of the Jedi, explains why Vader acts so broken when around Palps
7. Return of the Jedi … wrapping up the original story.
8. The Force Awakens/Last Jedi/Rise Of Skywalker … you don’t need to worry about spoiling a big reveal, so watch them in order. You could even skip Last Jedi.

And if you’re wondering why Phantom Menace isn’t there … really, can we not? I may never watch that movie again.

 

Interesting way to do it. Well thought out.

 

I liked Solo more than most. It wasn't nearly as bad as I expected it to be, though I admit, Alden Ehrenreich was carried by Harrelson, Glover and Clarke, which is not something you want from your leading man.

I was surprised at how much my kid enjoyed Attack of the Clones, arguably the most boring Star Wars film ever made and the one I've dubbed Galactic C-SPAN. The prequel trilogy really only had enough meat in the story to support about three hours of film. I would love to take a crack at editing it down to make a tighter, more engaging story.

A big mistake I think they made with both the prequel and sequel trilogies was killing off what we thought were important villains. The OT carried Vader and then Palpatine throughout the three episode arc, which made their defeat and the Rebels' triumph that much more significant.

Killing off Maul in Episode I, then adding Tyrannous and Grievous made them all seem almost inconsequential. Introducing Ren and Snoke, only to kill off Snoke in Episode VIII and replace him ham-handedly with Palpatine, again took away much of the heft of the characters. It wasn't a long, hard-fought victory over a central villain (or two). It was a series of small victories against villains who weren't all that impressive. Killing off Maul that quickly was arguably the biggest mistake the franchise ever made.

 

I agree with all of that. If they were going to bring back Palpatine, he needed to be revealed sooner. Grievous is really only interesting if you watch some of the Clone Wars stuff. They just did nothing to establish him as a badass in the movies.

 

Yeah, he kind of showed up out of nowhere, with no explanation, and he was gone just as quickly. I couldn't figure out if he was some sort of pseudo Vader prototype, or just some cyborg who killed Jedi and collected their sabers. Weird subplot that didn't add much to the film. My kid loves him, for some reason.

 

Never saw Solo, probably never will. Zero interest in mostly everything Disney has done. Once Kathleen Kennedy is gone, the quality will go up.