STAR WARS, THE LAST JEDI – THE REVIEW BY STEPHEN NOTLEY, FISH GRIWKOWSKY + MINISTER FAUST (MF GALAXY 151)
I don’t need much of an intro to today’s topic. We’re talking Star Wars: Episode Eight – The Last Jedi. JJ Abrams and his writer-flunkies are out for this one, but they’ll be back for number nine. This time the writer-director is Rian Johnson. Or is it Reean? Or Ree-Anne? Who knows. He’s done acclaimed work including Brick, The Brothers Bloom, Looper, and three episodes of Breaking Bad including its third last episode “Ozymandias.” In other words, buddy knows a thing or two about storytelling.
But how well can he do Star Wars? To help answer that question I’m joined today by two old friends: Stephen Notley, video game designer and the creator of Bob the Angry Flower, and Fish Griwkowsky, arts journalist and filmmaker. We’re all lifelong fans of Star Wars and we met three days after the opening of the film, December 17, 2017 at Edmonton’s Route 99 Diner to hash out The Last Jedi. And yes, today’s discussion is 100% SPOILERS. Listen at your own risk.
In today’s episode of MF GALAXY, we discuss:
- How the film inevitably creates its own meta-movie, since we all know that Carrie Fisher is dead and that Princess Leia can’t come back
- In what ways The Last Jedi is worse or better than The Force Awakens
- The film’s theme that the only hope for the future is to let go of the past, or destroy it—and the cost of doing either
- The ways The Last Jedi changes our understanding of classic Star Wars characters and events, and adds to its universe, and
- The tragedy of Luke Skywalker
You can hear the full-length discussion, a bonus 40 minutes, for free! Just go to patreon.com/mfgalaxy. You’ll get to hear us yammer endlessly about:
- The awesomely destructive death toll from Poe refusing to listen to women
- The best destruction scene in Star Wars, ever
- Porgs!
- The chemistry of the actors and the characters—is it an improvement over The Force Awakens?
- The sad fates of R2D2 and Luke Skywalker
- How Snoke compares as a villain to Ian McDiarmid’s Palpatine
- Where the hell is Lando Calrissian, and…
- The power of smaller stakes and the true awakening of the Force
THE WOMEN OF THE LAST JEDI – BE PART OF THE DISCUSSION ON MF GALAXY!
Coming up next episode, join science fiction scholar Lisa Yaszek, Lady Geek Nite convener Sylvia Douglass, and science fiction novelists Jennifer Marie Brissett and Natasha Deen! We’re looking exclusively at the women of The Last Jedi: Rey, Rose, Vice Admiral Holdo, Maz Kanata, Captain Phasma, Paige Tico, and of course Princess Leia!
Want to include your voice in MF GALAXY? Entries must be in by Friday, January 5, 2018!
WHAT TO DO:
Give me your opinion about any of the female characters from The Last Jedi: who they are, what they do, and how well the script and direction treat them. You can comment on any aspect you like, just one character, any combination or comparison, or all of them.
HOW TO DO IT:
If you choose to contribute, please record your answers into your phone or other audio device as a decent mp3 (preferably 192 kbps or higher, but if you don't know what that means, don't worry about it) and send it to me by Dropbox using mfgalaxypodcast at gmail dot com.
PLEASE REMEMBER to introduce yourself by saying, "I'm (your name). I (describe yourself). I want to talk about women characters in The Last Jedi because...." (and then answer whatever questions above you want, or your own ideas).
DON’T READ A SCRIPT, but feel free to use notes. Sounding unrehearsed is key. Rambling is just fine. Go as "inside baseball" as you like. Anything under 4 minutes.
I can’t guarantee your entry will make it onto the podcast, but I’ll listen to everything and include the most original answers that have broadcast quality sound.
Happy recording!
WHEN TO SEND IT:
Entries must arrive by Friday night, January 5, 2017.
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