Thursday, April 13, 2017

Star Wars Celebration 2017




For anyone who has not been paying attention, Star Wars Celebration is this weekend. And it includes the celebration of the 40th anniversary of Star Wars, which is incredible. I watched most of the live feed this morning which included visits from George Lucas, Mark Hamill and, amazingly, Harrison Ford. It's the first time he has appeared at a Celebration, although he was supposed to appear in 2015 but it was too soon after he had been in his plane crash. It was great to see him there, but of course it was incredibly sad to be reminded that we no longer have Carrie. There was a lovely tribute and a video that had some old behind the scenes footage, including some downright adorable footage of her and Harrison, as well as a few brief glimpses behind the scenes of Episode 8.

Anyone watching or paying attention? I'm sure tomorrow we will finally get an Episode 8 trailer. I'm sure I'll watch and see. Still feels like there is a bit of a downer around all of this with Carrie gone, but it's nice to see her so fondly remembered.

249 comments:

  1. I've been watching when I can. I loved the Carrie Fisher tribute. It had a few things I've never seen before, then to have John Williams play right after was amazing. Beautifully done, I thought. I haven't seen Harrison except for when he first got on stage and greeted everyone...I'm too afraid he said something sarcastic or...I don't know. I know he'd rather be elsewhere, so I don't want to see it. Is it okay? You watched it? My silly little heart won't be sad? I wish I was there. I went to Celebration IV several years ago. So fun. Got to see Carrie Fisher speak a couple of times (and of course got to meet her). Super fun to just be immersed in Star Wars like that. I love that these movies, which have been a huge part of my entire life, is... you know, trending #3 on twitter right now. How amazing it is to be a part of something like that. It transcends race, gender, politics, age... yeah. I'm a bit passionate about it. :)

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  2. Oh, no, don't worry about that. I can understand not wanting to see him say anything you don't want to see him say, but go watch it. He seems genuinely appreciative about the whole thing and doesn't at all act like he'd rather not be there. He's Harrison Ford, if he didn't want to be there, he wouldn't be there.

    Awesome you got to see Carrie speak. I wish I had been able to do a meet and greet or a book signing she was at. I did see her show twice, and one of the times she came back out after and did a little Q&A with the audience and of course I was too tongue-tied to ask any questions, but it was still really cool.

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  3. I've been following on social media, I'll eventually watch the presentation. I vote that Mark and Harrison should be on Inside the Actors Studio for two hours and talk about SW. I mean - you've got them there and they get about what twenty minutes all together? MORE! I hope he stays around and does one of Mark's panels with him. I honestly think he came for Mark and George.

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    1. I felt the same way. This is the 40th anniversary, and a very big deal. And they zip through this panel super fast and then that's it. They really need much more time than that.

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    2. I can't imagine why they didn't just put together an hour of the OT gang. I mean you got all of them there and just "oh here's Rebels guy to junk it up" and Hayden and Ian should have gotten time together by themselves as well. It's just maddening!

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  4. Harrison also made the "he's just resting" comment AGAIN when asked about Han dying. So....

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    1. When did he do that? I missed some of it when the live feed cut out.

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    2. I'm not sure but I've seen it from fans and I saw it on a news site as well. I'm not sure when it is, or if someone nabbed him on the show floor (he and Peter Mayhew did a ridiculously cute pic that Mayhew tweeted. Mark went right into photos, but I'm expecting him to tweet something later).

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    4. Yep, found the clip: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcPRbke-hxI

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    5. I don't want to get anyone's hopes up, ESPECIALLY mine. His reaction to that question about how Han's story ended seemed sort of telling, didn't it?

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    6. Oh my, I thought I could edit my comment, then I deleted it, argh, such an internet dork :P
      Anyway, his comment makes me think a lot about it... :)
      And by the way, I love that he made an appearance there. Although, it's really sad that Carrie is missed now. It would be amazing to see Original Trio once again reunited. And at the Celebration, it'd be great... :(

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    7. I remember reading JJ saying had to talk him into it, so he didn't jump at it. Plus Mark making those comments about how it had no resonance? I think something is up.

      Now. Will I forgive them for the travesty that is TFA? No. Will I go see 8 in a theater if Han is alive - yes. Because I am that person, I have no shame. And hey, Search for Spock worked for me, so why not? Just give me my three together on a screen!

      Plus Mark may be the last one standing in 9 and I really think most of why Harrison came to this was for Mark and George (and Peter and Anthony and Billy Dee).

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    8. I don't know what to think about Harrison's response (when I instinctively start typing in 'Han' instead of 'Harrison'). Honestly, I've never given the 'not dead' theories a lot of thinking time and I probably wouldn't have after watching the clip if I weren't reading your guys' comments. I think I feel mostly the same as cv on this. It would be wonderful to see that Han isn't dead, but now I feel like- as far as the new "canon" goes- I'm just in it to sit back and watch what they're doing (minus the enjoyment part) /watch them fail miserably.

      I don't know what to make of Harrison's comments as far as Han being alive goes, but I was thinking that he just really isn't satisfied with how things are going and the end he's come to. And, also the same for when he was asked about the Han Solo anthology movie. I thought it was very similar reactions to those questions and Harrison's just wracking his ind for a nice and appropriate response. *shrugs* I don't know. I guess we'll find out in 8.

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    9. I'm being optimistic because I want Han to be alive even if a lot of other things still sucks, but... yeah, it could easily be that Harrison wasn't really satisfied with his ending, so he can't straight up lie about what he thought of it but he can't be completely honest either, so this is his way of saying "yeah, I shot this but it makes no sense, so it doesn't count if you don't want it to". I think he probably doesn't see any point other than making money in the HS movies, so his reactions to any questions about it are genuine reactions disguised as jokes, lol

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    10. I think with his comments and Mark's and that odd word John Boyega kept messing up "biohexacrypt" - who knows what the hell is going on!

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    11. I finally agree with Harrison Ford on something -- when he said "Not really" for his answer about if he was interested in seeing the "Faux Solo/Newbacca" (as I've started calling it) movie.

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    12. Artoo, I like that name! Hey, they haven't announced a name for the movie yet. We'd better call Lucasfilm before time runs out. The true fanbase will LOVE it. Harrison will love it. Talk about promoting; he'll be all over it!

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    13. What Mark's comments? What are you talking about now? And same about John Boyega. I haven't seen anything from him.

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    14. I can't find this adorable picture with Mark, Harrison and Billie or the clip of Carrie in 8. Was the clip from the livestream? I didn't watch any of it.

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    15. Linked you to the videos below, and you can see the picture here: http://otterandterrier.tumblr.com/post/159544667565/harryandcarrison-via-marks-instagram-story

      It's in Mark's Instagram story!

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  5. Here's Peter and Harrison:

    https://twitter.com/TheWookieeRoars/status/852609945581309953

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  6. I've been watching the livestream! Yeah, it was cool to have so many people from the OT and ST cast together but a bummer that they were up there only for a short time. I'm sure there are some organizational/other reasons for it, though, and one of them being that it was only the opening event. I mean, Harrison and Lucas got some more time together afterwards (where the "not dead, just resting" moment happened), Ian McDiarmid got his own panel, Mark has the Carrie tribute panel tomorrow (which will be crushing). I hope Hayden gets some more spotlight, and Idk if Harrison is going to show up at any other panels. But I agree that there's nothing to worry about, he seemed glad to be there and grateful to the fans. I FREAKED OUT when he was asked about Han's death and he hesitated a lot, to then say THAT, I mean whaaat! It's too late to not get my hopes up. The tribute to Carrie was lovely, although the livestreamed froze halfway through Billie's speech.

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  7. Okay, I'll watch it. I've been following on twitter and tumblr too...can we rejoice over the awesomeness that is social media that allows us all to share things like this? Wow.

    I'm looking forward to the trailer. But is it just me, or was that little clip they showed of Carrie in Episode 8 not very flattering? I thought she looked like an old lady. She needed some better space underwear or something. And that gray color. Blah. Hopefully it's better than that clip made it look. My first thought was that it was a deleted scene from Ep 7 and I was so glad they cut it. Oops.

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    1. Wasn't just you, Jediofgrace, I thought the dress and hair and makeup were so unflattering! (Michael and Nina would not approve)

      I'm interested in that trailer now...

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    2. I can't grab a link but if you hit up Mark's instagram, he has an adorable photo of him, Harrison and Billie Lourd.

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    3. It is awesome! I've reblogged/queued about five versions of that cute ESB on set clip

      Yeah, why couldn't they give her a better stylist?? I love all her OT looks, but she's always complained about them, you'd think they'd have some sympathy and say, "hey Carrie, be honest, do you like how this looks on you?" I know she probably wouldn't go all Padmé, but the outfits are so drab, and the blue dress at the end of TFA was good but ruined by the hair.

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    4. To Jediofgrace, there are no underwear in space, remember? At least, that's what George says. Lol! Question. Where can I find this?

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    5. Here's Billie's opening, of which I'd only seen seconds because the livestream had issues: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9wHtkH4K0_A

      And here's the tribute video with all those bts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sE99le5FBrY

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    6. Thanks. I saw the tribute one earlier on Tumblr. Billie's speech made me cry. I've seen photos and heard little bits about the tributes from today- I don't think I can hadnle anymore!

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    7. Then you've seen the clip! Here's a gifset for anyone who doesn't want to/can't watch the video yet: http://clairestmple.tumblr.com/post/159533820845/carrie-fisher-on-the-set-of-the-last-jedi

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    8. Oh, that dress! Yeah ... Um ... I know we had this conversation about Harrison. Couldn't take over an hour to design her dresses? And hairstyles.

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    9. Yeah, let's talk about that dress and styling on Carrie. Who in the world would put such a high-gathere or empire-waist on a woman in later middle age who has always had a large chest, who is not stick thin, and who has a slight slump forward? Those dresses are ROUGH for anyone but young, very thin and flat-chested women.

      I felt SOO bad for her. She did not deserve that. I *hope* there is another costume piece that goes over it in the film, but she looked so lovely in real life recently that I was just gutted to see that they have her dowdied up on set. All I hope is that there is a long vest or some costume piece that goes over it that was missing, because noticing that this was a fail doesn't take a genius costume designer. Stacey and Clinton from What Not to Wear could have fixed this in ten minutes.

      I mean, come on, she looks a million times better here: http://www.inquisitr.com/3832412/what-will-carrie-fishers-death-mean-for-star-wars-episode-8-9/

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    10. I'm just going to maintain some faith (why start now? I don't know) that the dress we saw wasn't what she will be wearing in the movie, or at least not by itself.

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    11. Yes! There's an overcoat for the dress!

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  8. I will say that Harrison Ford looked mighty good today. Dude's like a Timex - takes a licking, keeps on ticking. (Get your minds out of the gutter, ladies).

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    1. There was a funny Twitter post that had a photo of him exiting the event and they captioned it, "Ok, back to the cryo chamber you go...." because seriously, it wouldn't surprise me.

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    2. Harrison Ford looks amazing for a guy in his early 70s. Good grief, he's aged well.

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    3. He sure does. It's hard to believe he'll be 75 in July. Gahhhh. And I still would. ;)

      I can hear his age in his voice these days...a bit of a tremor there sometimes. But he's still hot af, imho.

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    4. Harrison looks great - I watched the AFI thing from 2005 and he's just so nervous in front of a crowd. Whereas you can see Mark just LOVES being out there (sort of my headcanon that the opposite is true of Luke and Han, Han being the extrovert charmer and Luke the more quiet one).

      It's scary, I think they all decided to come to the 40th because they don't know who'll be alive for the 50th - Billy Dee would be 90! That just depresses the hell out of me.

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    5. OMG @Erin, I didn't write it, but I was thinking it too! And he's old enough to be my dad. And yet.. I'd still... Bwahaha!

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  9. Hey! Apple might want to buy Disney. Someone doesn't want a Han Solo movie ... I wish.

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    1. For real??? Ugh, when will these dirty rich companies stop eating each other?! I hate monopolies.

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  10. Y'all, The Last Jedi panel is about to start, if anyone wants to catch the livestream: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mh4X4N-8fEM

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    1. Thank goodness I have the day off. I'm tuned in!

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    2. Yep, also watching. I don't know why Josh Gad of all people is hosting, but I actually think he's doing a good job with it so I'm glad he's there. Behind the scenes shots with Carrie were great.

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    3. I did love Rian's picture of her

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    4. It did only just occur to me that we're probably going to have to deal with Adam Driver. Ugh. (I mean no offense to the actor himself, but the character, I really don't need to be reminded of)

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    5. That's what I was expecting when they called out BB-8. Although, I am interested in hearing what he has to say even if just to sit back and scream at my computer screen

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    6. Or maybe not ... Perhaps, they saw the danger in inviting Han Solo's murderer

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    7. Okay, now I'm freaking out, but I'm going ot stay on the safe side adn say, the trip-up . . . on purpose?

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    8. Definitely on purpose. But whether it was meant to be a hint or just playing around, who knows?

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    9. I figured that's something he would do just to mess with us, but ... I am now ruined until December 15.

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    10. Now begin scouring the internet for people trying to decipher what the quiet whispering said in it.

      One thing that I thought I heard, saw, when Luke asks what she sees, they seem to come up on Leia's back as they sort of zoom in there, and I swear I hear a whisper "I love you."

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    11. I didn't make out any of the whispering. I was too focused on Rey's running dialogue. It's already being reblogged on Tumblr and I was really tempted to add, "Hey, where's Han?" But I figured that would be too cruel.

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    12. Wait - what trip-up? Are you talking about HF's comment that Han is only "resting" (not dead)? Or did someone say something else? I managed to tune in JUST in time to see the trailer (twice), and that's it.

      My poor heart can't stand another crushing disappointment so I'm gonna pretend that HF was just trying to supply a non-answer to a question he didn't really have a fan-friendly answer for, and did it awkwardly. I didn't actually SEE the clip, though, so it's hard to tell without knowing what tone of voice he used, or his facial expression when he said it.

      Some people seem to be taking him seriously, though. And I just got a little flurry of new "favorites" and "follows" on Remain in Light ha!

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    13. If you were watching the panel, HMark was going down the line of guests, calling each one a different name. He called Daisy 'my daughter' quickly, then cut himself off as if it were an accident.

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    14. Trailer whispers: When the camera zoomed in on Darth Whiney's helmet I thought I could hear Kenobi saying, "Vader was seduced by the dark side of the Force" (sounded like it was taken straight from his conversation with Luke on Tatooine, in ANH).

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    15. Thank goodness for that cape!!

      No Adam Driver for now!

      Zyra, I watched it a third time to spot that and you're right, it does sound like "I love you"! *sobbing*

      No Han but the Falcon... that's what's cruel.

      Erin, the slip was Mark saying he was "sitting there with Olaf (Josh Gad), Wonder Woman (K.K.), God (Rian J.), my daugh--colleague"

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    16. Erin, here is the interview where Harrison answers that question: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lcPRbke-hxI

      I mean, he could just mean that Han lives on in other ways or something. Who knows really? I am absolutely not getting my hopes up, at all. But again, just find it interesting.

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    17. Oh! I heard the 'I love you' part!

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    18. Ah, okay. See, that actually makes me feel a little better because (a) I cannot imagine Rey being a "nobody" with zero connection to the Skywalkers; I know all the arguments around that, but I just think she MUST be related and (b) I don't think Mark would joke about something like that unless it was definitely not true, so.... #ReySolo

      lol lol lol I make myself laugh (feebly) because I'm so pathetic in my persistent longing for a happy (happier) "fix" for this horrible mess. No matter how many times it's proved to me that the people in charge have no clue at all how much they're destroying everything, so there's no way they're going to fix it. I'm just such a sucker.

      And, I have to say, making Rey the long-lost daughter of Han and Leia really doesn't fix anything about how they treated Han and Leia, does it? Wahhhhh

      ggGAHHhhhhhhhhhhh NON-CANON FANFIC. HURRY. PLEASE. ANYBODY. HELP. *SOB*

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    19. *digging through medpac* Um, um, okay! I know I left some EU fic around here somewhere! No, I don't want the Carrie tributes. Where's the darn fic??!! Um, another Closed Quarters update?

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    20. Erin, I agree I don't think he would've joked about that unless it was definitely not true. I just don't see that making her Luke's daughter makes sense. And one of my reasons way back when was that it overcomplicates things, then we have to figure out who the mother is, and what happened there. But also, even just based on what little we saw there, that definitely doesn't look like a father/daughter relationship.

      I am definitely NOT getting any hopes up about Han potentially being alive. But just something to think about there.

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    21. Well, for a while now, I've been nursing the theory that Disney would copy the EU as far as having the tombstone on Luke's Island be for his lost wife who was lost in that awful attack on his students and killed by ... her nephew.

      Now, I find it really ridiculous, but I can still see it.

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    22. Thanks for the link.

      Yeah, to me, he just seems to be scratching around for something cute to say because he knows he'd better not say anything negative OR positive about it. I see him as just trying to avoid coming down on one side or the other (Yes, it was a fitting ending for the character or No, it was a disservice to the character). In a setting like that, especially, I think he'd find it difficult to give the kind of thoughtful answer I've seen him give elsewhere, that acknowledges the nuances and complexities. I think he liked that ending for Han Solo, but he knows it would sound bad to say "yes" in that context. So he made a lame joke. That's my take and I'm sticking to it until a bearded and bedraggled Han shows up in the post-credits scene of TLJ. lol

      #GuardingMyHeart

      (But seriously, just as I think Rey's not Luke's daughter because Mark keeps joking about it, I think Han can't be alive if Harrison thinks that's an okay topic to joke about. If those were true story elements, they'd be avoiding them like the plague for fear of divulging spoilers, right?)

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  11. I played the part of Leia over and over, and through my phone's headphones I can't get it to be clear enough to be sure, but it sure sounds like someone said "I love you", but it didn't sound like Leia...but, how wonderful would that be?! A big burst of hope went through me. Even if Han is still dead, if there is some acknowledgment of their love...some redemption of the mess they made of their relationship...oh boy.

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    1. How can they do a breakdown of the trailer without the sound? What on Earth is this?

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  12. Not to rain on everyone's hopeful parade (including my own), but one of the oft-Harrison Tumblr bloggers (tb-904, maybe?) mentioned yesterday, after we all starting freaking out about the, "Han's not dead, just resting," comment, that Harrison said almost the exact same thing about his character, Jack Ryan, at some point.

    I have not attempted in any way to verify this.

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    1. Hmm...not saying anything about Han's alive or deadness, but I'm not sure why he'd say it about Jack Ryan. Odd thing to say about Ryan. (And I wish, wish, wish, Ford had played Ryan through to the presidency like in the Clancy books. That would have been a great series if Hollywood didn't mess around with it so much)

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    2. Good point about Jack Ryan, and I agree. Because Jack Ryan didn't die. And I totally agree, at least one if not two more Ford as Jack Ryan movies would've been good. I liked him in that role.

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    3. Me too. And I read the Clancy books because of it...he would have been FANTASTIC in Executive Orders.

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  13. Leia's silhouette is remiscient of Vader's. I do not like it. I liked her hair in Ep 7, it was similar to her style in ESB and Jedi, so what's up with this new weirdo do? Oh I hope it's better in the movie. And yes, some kind of overcoat for the gray drab dress.

    So are we supposed (not that I will) call her General Leia now? In watching the live stream someone called her Princess and he was corrected to call her General.

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    1. I refuse to call her 'general'. It feels like a step-down from Princess. Mind me referencing the EU for the zillionth time, but I can't help it. Whenever we talk about general title, I always think of- who was it? Droma's (or some other Ryn) quote to Leia in the NJO, "To us, you'll always be Princess."

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    2. Amen to that. She will always be our Princess. I hate the word General for her. It takes all her beautiful femininity away. It takes away her unique individuality. You guys!! I'm so excited. "I love you" was there. I heard it. It means only good things. Yay!

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    3. It's so true, though! They always say that Princess Leia's character forever changed females in film- she's so iconic in her own right, so why would you downgrade her like that?

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    4. I def heard the "I love you," too. It sounded like a woman's voice, no?

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    5. Yes, female voice. Didn't sound like Leia's voice, though.

      They probably think going from Princess to General is a promotion.

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    6. My turn to rain on everyone's parade, but I read someone say it was Leia's "help me Obi-Wan Kenobi" and on watching it again it does sounds like that :/

      I love seeing her, but... it's practically the same shot as the TFA trailer: Leia's back to us as she looks at a holotable. Come on!!

      I don't mind that she's a General now. To me it's just one of her things: she was a Princess, but also a senator, but also a rebel commander, and now a general. But... I didn't hear that bit of someone correcting someone, and I agree it's not something to push onto people. She's Princess Leia. The world knows her as Princess Leia. She can be a General and still be Princess Leia, no need to retcon that. It's not about femininity at all to me, but the idea of trying to do female empowerment the wrong way. Why is she less of a strong female character and feminist icon when she's a Princess who gets sad and wears nice clothes?

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    7. The other funny thing about Leia in the TFA trailer vs. this one, the footage of her in TFA trailer wasn't even in the movie. Really, neither was like half of the stuff we saw/heard.

      I'm kind of tired of this new thing where they sort of have trailers, but they show us NOTHING. Because everything has to be a big secret until we see the movie.

      Did any of you have any sort of emotional reaction to this trailer? I didn't. Because, again, we just didn't really see anything. Even seeing the Falcon again is just kind of sad because we know who ISN'T flying it.

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    8. Honestly, I go between different highs. Not going to lie, I did get really excited by the trailer. It simultaneously excites me and reminds me of everything that's been done to ruin it for us.

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    9. Apparently this trailer isn't like with TFA and Rogue One, where they put scenes that didn't make the final cut. Maybe that's why they delayed it so much.

      Inside, yes, I'm flipping out just because of all the posibilities and speculation. Outside, I'm emotionally numb. I suppose I had an emotional reaction last month and now I ran out of them.

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    10. You're right about us not really getting any information from the trailer, Zyra. I *did* have an emotional reaction when I heard the music and when I saw the Falcon. But when Luke voiced the bit at the end about knowing that this must be the end of the Jedi, I was like, "Whaaaaat?!" What was the point of any of this, then? >(

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    11. I believe them when they say they delayed it to give Rogue One more room for its own hype. It would've been kind of odd to be thinking about the Star Wars movie that was over a year away before we even got to see the one that was still coming up, that we were all bound to be less excited about because we weren't already invested in the characters. And how do we know they won't take stuff out between now and then? We saw the trailer at Celebration in 2015, the same amount of time before TFA came out. There's still plenty of editing to come.

      You know what else I was wondering? With this talk of Leia being in 9 and not CGI or recast or whatever, what I really don't want to see happen is them taking scenes they shot for this movie and just not using them until the next one.

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    12. My emotional reaction consisted mainly of tremulous dread, then nausea (at the sight of the Falcon flying, when I know who's not flying it), and then dismay (at Luke's final words).

      You know, I am an eternal optimist. And I could aaaaaaaaalmost hang in there and keep hoping for some surprise happy ending that would somehow make it all right in the end, by the time we get to the end of Ep 9.

      But then I remember that Carrie is gone (*sob*) and a happy ending for the OT3 is not possible now. I'm just sad. Really, really sad about it. :( :( :(

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    13. I thought Todd said something about them using footage from 8 or something in 9. I know Todd said something about it when that announcement came out a few days ago.

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    14. Yes, Todd said Carrie's going to be in 9 because they'll be using footage that was left out of 8. I assume they'll change the conclusion to her story to make those usable.

      Man, the ending of the trailer was such a bummer?? seriously, wtf happened to Luke?? This got even darker.

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    15. If Luke is being all "this must be the end of the Jedi" then I'm thinking they're just using this trilogy now to make a bunch of money while stretching out by one generation what the EU had Luke doing - founding a new order that took from the old, but wasn't the old.

      If I'm guessing right, I'll give them credit, because dang, I wish I knew how to make that kind of money without having anything new or worthwhile to add.

      Would like to be wrong about this. Feeling more and more that I may unfortunately be right.

      If I am, boy has Disney/LFL made suckers of everybody.

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    16. On the topic of Ep 9 and the possibility of CGI. They've nixed that and indicated that they'll use "existing footage", which doesn't exactly fill me with glee. I mean, that pretty much puts the tin lid on any surprises of the Han-surviving variety, I guess.

      I was thinking that it would be better to do some CGI tweaking of a passable stand-in. One famous person I always thought looked remarkably like Carrie is Stevie Nicks of Fleetwood Mac, and that seems to be a widely held view. They're even close to the same height. I think I'd actually prefer a live stand-in (provided there were no close-ups of her face to throw it off), rather than some out-of-context canned footage or a scene completely rendered with CGI....

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    17. Stevie Nicks and Carrie Fisher were practically twins back in the 1980s.

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  14. Still watching some of the live stream right now. Question. Even if it's just a toy, why would they make a lightsaber like Kylo's, but paint it purple???

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  15. I totally don't mind Leia being a princess AND a General. I just don't like them taking away the princess part.

    Otterandterrier, do you mean she doesn't say "I love you" but says "help me Obi Wan"? Oh dear. That is so much less exciting. When I listened to it on a different speaker it sounded like the I love you from ESB. Definitely younger Leia.

    As far as emotional reaction, this was a 3 compared to my excitement of 10 for the TFA trailer. But I was still super excited. This just brings out the child in me. I love it all.

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    1. Oops sorry, Jaina, didn't realize I replied to your lightsaber comment. To answer that question, I have no idea. :) But yes I think it was Todd who said they would use unused footage of her in 9. So so so glad it won't be cgi and desperately hoping they can pull it off.

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    2. Yes, that's what I meant :/ I'm disappointed now, lol

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    3. Are you serious?! That really disappoints me too!

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    4. I saw the trailer and sort of shrugged. Although I'm changing up some lines in my sequel to my TFA fix it...

      I LOVED that George called her a princess and a senator and not a general yesterday....you go, George.

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    5. I think George should join our support group. Something tells me he needs it too.

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    6. I agree that George needs it too. I think it's been pretty clear for a long time that he knows he made a big mistake in this.

      Second, I'm never calling her general. First, I agree with whomever said that it strips the femininity from the charavter. I'd add it also strips the character of the sacred feminine, as well as the familial aspects of the charater - sibling, maternal, sexual, and loving -- that we saw in the OT. "Princess" doesn't imply that a woman is not strong; heck - a Princess tells generals what to do. "General" does - for right or for wrong - only imply one thing, and that's military power.

      Plus, it just doesn't ring at all true to me. She was never presented as a big military mind. If they wanted her to be Chancellor, President, Jedi Organa...any of those things, I could have bought it. General just doesn't sit right for the character we knew in the OT. It's not what she does. And it seems to be not what she did until like 4 years before TFA even in the new canon.

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    7. I don't see how her being a military leader strips away her femininity... she was a command leader before, too! And she was a mix of icy professionalism and warm friend/sibling/lover, in different stages of her journey. I think saying that her role as a general negates her feminine aspects is sort of contradictory. My issue is with all this "oh no, don't call her Princess anymore, it's General" advertising, but I think that saying she's not a strong character if she's a princess and she's not a feminine enough character if she's a general are two sides of the same coin. She can be all the things. But her character is Princess Leia.

      And yeah, it's funny because in Bloodline, only six years prior, she's still fine with people calling her "Princess". What changed? We might never know.

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    8. I probably didn't put that well.

      I would agree that if she was always portrayed as a military leader - from the beginning of ANH - it wouldn't have made her less feminine. (Example, a bad one, but only one I can think of now: I never thought of Demi Moore in "A Few Good Men" as less than feminine even though she was often in uniform and behaving in a fairly "military" way).

      But Leia wasn't really a military leader in the OT - she was a senator working with the military minds (Dodonna, later Riekkan, Madine and Ackbar). She had to get the plans to the Generals, and had her own skillset that was not innately military.

      In TFA, they renamed her General, made her a failure as a wife/mother (we agree on the disaster of that below), dressed her (until the very end) in the "gas station attendant" costume, and show very little of the feminine side of her - until she asks Han to bring their kid home. And even that is a failure of writing the "traditional" female characteristic of sensitivity: you're his mother, ST Leia. JJ's telling us that Han and Kylo have a fraught relationship, but hey, ST Leia, You're force sensitive, your son is force sensitive, and you're sending force-blind Dad who has a difficult relationship with Emo Jr to go pick him up?

      For what end, I'm not sure, but I do feel like they stripped the classic feminine strengths from the character.

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    9. Yeah, I see what you mean now and I agree. It's like they took from one thing to add to another, when in the OT she was a balanced mix of both.

      I would say though that in ANH she was still a Senator working as a spy, but then her role was never very clear. She can't be a senator anymore; she's openly a rebel... what is her role there? She has a rank insignia and I've read fans argue that she's part of High Command, so she must be a commander, but that's not really clear in the movies, other than when we see her sending off the troops on Hoth. So in that way, she has a more clear-cut role now, but yes, she has no military training after the war, she kept on working as a Senator, so... doesn't make a lot of sense other than to say, "Here, have a strong female! We can't develop her story, so we're telling you she's a General now and hopefully you'll get it!"

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  16. Anyone else just watch Warwick shares his favorite memories with Carrie? I'm not going to cry again. I'm not going to cry again!

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    1. I just turned the live stream back on. I love Warwick Davis. He's just so happy to be a part of Star Wars. He got to be in Star Wars, as all of us wished we could be as children. I love it when the stars embrace it. It just makes me happy.

      And doom and gloom! I love you given and taken away in two short hours. I could swear it said I love you though, on my very first viewing, before any influences, I thought that's what was said. Maybe I'll hold onto it a bit longer. :)

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    2. I didn't. Tell us what he said!!!

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    3. Well, someone asked what his favorite memories are from filming Star Wars and he said Carrie. He talked about how, whenever they stopped a scene Carrie would always hurry over to ask if he was okay. She'd bring him chocolate milk and cookies. He joked that he learned something about acting then. He'd take off his Ewok head, start panting, "Oh, I'm so hot," and Carrie would hurry over with chocolate milk and cookies. "Oh, Warwick, are you okay?!" It was funnier watching him tell the story.

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    4. Yeah, Idk, I wouldn't have made out any words if not for what I've read people say, lol :)

      Warwick Davis is such a good fanboy, and he's always spoken well of Carrie in particular. They also showed that short of "how he got the part" where he finds Harrison, then Mark, then Carrie asking if they know where Ewoks are supposed to go.

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    5. I've heard bits about that before, and seen cute pictures of her with him. It's really pretty cute that she was like that with him, especially when you consider she was only 25 when she shot ROTJ so it's not like she was already used to being all mom-like.

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    6. I just watched the part of the trailer with the whispers, over and over again. I could not make out anything. :(

      I love seeing the crowd in the live stream. All the cosplaying is just adorable.

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    7. So, we're probably just hearing what we want to hear. Oh, well, I had a few moments of feeling good about something in it. Now I'm not excited for any of it.

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    8. I just saw the trailer again, and you're right, it is totally "Help me, Obi Wan Kenobi..."

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  17. I'm finally watching John Williams and the orchestra performance. I NEED to find the sheet music for that flute solo!

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    1. The live stream is showing the new Hallmark ornaments. The Leia one is beautiful.

      I loved the John Williams performance! And yes, you need the sheet music for sure! My daughter plays Rey's theme on the piano for me and my heart just melts.

      Zyra, don't give up hope! It might still be love. It almost sounded like I love you and something else were blended together. I'll have to watch it on my tv again, that seemed to have the best sound.

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    2. It just reminded me that in the OT, the underlying theme is that there is nothing more important than love and friendship and loyalty and doing the right thing. And then TFA came along and showed us that the original characters were all like, "Just kidding!" and ran away from their friends and love and everyone and everything.

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    3. I found it! Now I know what I'm doing the rest of the weekend!

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    4. Zyra, I made a Tumblr post of a bunch of pics from the OT with George's quote about honesty and friendship:

      https://culturevulture73.tumblr.com/post/159533952727/heres-what-you-should-pay-attention-to

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    5. CV, you need to add grumpy cat saying "you're doing it wrong, Disney" under that awesome tumblr post. :)

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  18. Oh, my goodness! There was a Mara cosplayer! There are still EU fans out to represent for us! Thank the Lord!

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  19. And now we have a brief clip of Harrison saying he'll miss Carrie. http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/video-news/video-harrison-ford-on-carrie-fisher-ill-miss-her-35623432.html

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    1. Looks like he had more to say there...wish we could have seen whatever the more was.

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  20. Kind of annoying to see all the tributes gushing over what a great feminist character Leia was and what a great role model she was to women when they pushed that anti feminist BS that she was to blame for her son going Dark because she had a career as a politician and was therefore a poor wife and mother. How much more anti feminist do you get by saying women can't have both a career and be good wives and mothers?

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    1. ^^^^ THIS. Yes, she's a great feminist icon, I'm glad they're acknowledging that, I'm glad we have her once again as a figure of rebellion and resistance, but on the other hand they're implicitely broadcasting a horrible message of "can't do both". Women have been doing both for decades.

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    2. Seconding what anonymous says here. She was a great female role model in the OT - and that OT character could, without batting an eyelash, be a great mom and a great leader. The ST writing of the character falls right into the hoary (and outdated) canard about what happens to the children of women who work.

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    3. It really shocks me how people aren't seeing that pretty tremendous problem with ST Leia.

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    4. Me too. But it's of a piece with now seeing articles about "yes, the Jedi should end" and "of course Han had to die" - if I was a touch more cynical, I would say that people were being paid...

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    5. I'm a touch more cynical. I'd put money on there being people being paid to tweet and FB. Heck, they do that for Bway shows now - I can't imagine the press office at Disney/LFL doesn't.

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    6. If they're paying people for Broadway shows and for talk radio and political comments on websites, you're right. I'm sure they have an army of people doing that...

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  21. Just a reminder that Mark's tribute to Carrie starts in half an hour! I assume it'll show up on the same livestream video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgxO6mQI9k0

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    1. I'm so glad you mentioned that because I made myself feel really stupid earlier when trying to figure out when to watch for Billy Dee.

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    2. Idk if it was a schedule mess up or a last minute change, but I'm pretty sure Billy Dee's panel will be tomorrow where Warwick Davis' was supposed to be, because Warwick's was today.

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    3. Okay. I'd thought I'd someho missed it because I have YouTube on one tab and StarWars.com on another just for the schedule.

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    4. Wh-where's Mark? I want to see Mark!!

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  22. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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    2. I deleted the post because I was seeing red when I wrote it but...Mark said it on the Nerdist and then brought it up again in the walkabout interviews from yesterday. I wish the interviewer had, instead of agreeing that it should have been Luke and Leia where Rey and Finn were, asked "why would Luke and Leia leave NON FORCE SENSITIVE Han to deal with Kylo?" "Why did you never appear on a screen together?"

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  23. I got quite teary eyed during Carrie's tribute. She would have loved to be there as well. They had the Heroines of Star Wars panel but I couldn't watch it because the greatest heroine was missing :(

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  24. That was so beautiful! I couldn't help; I cried! I cried a lot!

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  25. I'm so mad... apparently Kathleen Kennedy said today that Todd must have been confused and Carrie won't appear in 9: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/heat-vision/star-wars-carrie-fisher-will-not-appear-episode-ix-994204

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    1. Everything about that statement from Todd bothered me. Most notably, it didn't really seem like it would be his place to share that news even if it happened to be true.

      I mean, who knows? But it's not like KK hasn't lied to our faces before, either. "Everyone you see up here on this stage will be back for Episode 8." That included at least 2 characters who died in 7, so...

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    2. Yeah, but I just thought the not being good at keeping secrets ran in the family.

      (wait, who else died in 7??) If Han is alive maybe she wasn't lying... lol, yeah, I also think maybe she's lying so it'll be a surprise or because they're still figuring out what to do. I don't know. Wait and see, I guess *sigh*

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    3. Max Von Sidow died in 7, he was on the stage at the time at the premiere. Pretty sure those stormtroopers killed him.

      Ugh, it just sucks SO MUCH that she is gone for so many reasons.

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    4. Then who in hell is going to redeem Kylo? Luke? He's all that's left and if Leia and Han are dead, why does he care? He'll probably cut Kylo's head off....what, a girl can dream!

      I mean they're so all fired ready to redeem Kylo, who's going to do it if his parents are dead?

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    5. @Zyra Oh, right!

      @cv Obi-Wan's ghost, the answer is xD

      Maybe that means he won't get a redemption arc!

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    6. Maybe they all die since the jedi have to end. Awesome! Fun times in Star Warsville! /sarc

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    7. Well of course Rey will redeem Kylo! Because "50 shades of awful" is the new template for true love.

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    8. Well if Luke, Han and Leia are all dead, I don't know who's going to redeem him if he's supposed to be redeemed....unless they got that way and I am begging them not to or Tumblr will be absolutely insufferable.

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    9. Oh c'mon. It's going to be Rey's "love" for her psychopathic stalker abuser that will set him free!

      (Totally not my actual thoughts here in case there is any question about that. I'm just a pessimist and crank when it comes to the ST.)

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    10. You know, I just realized that I've been totally dismissing this as a possibility because it's so godawful they cannot possibly be going that route. Right? They wouldn't! Surely! SURELY TO GOD they would not make Rey fall in love with someone who kidnapped and violated her, a murderer and a patricide... NO. I can't believe it. I really can't. Of all the horrible things Disney has done to Star Wars, I think that would be a step too far. Sickening. Wrong. I can't believe they'll do that. She has to be a Skywalker, too.

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    11. Kylo is definitely getting redeemed. He's even listed as one of the "heroes" in TLJ in the promotion material. They also released some footage of him at Celebration fighting FO officers so it looks like he switches sides sometime during the movie. And even if Carrie hadn't died, it wouldn't have been her or Luke to redeem him anyway. It would have to be Rey. That's the way mythical storytelling works - just like how Luke was the one who redeemed Vader not the older mentors Obi Wan or Yoda.

      Be prepared for Reylo.

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    12. If he has to be redeemed, can he at least die? Please? Pretty please with a cherry on top? Like, a really long,dragged out death where he can barely breathe and he's cursing himself for everything he's ever done and apologizing for being born and admitting that it was his nanny's fault that he turned to the dark side and not Han's.

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    13. @Anon WHAT?? o_O Like footage from the movie, or that Battlefront game?

      Oh god if Reylo happens I'm so going to set stuff on fire...

      From some spoilers/rumours I read, Leia meets Kylo in TLJ, so... ugh. I don't know, there's no happy outcome here anyway, so I'm past caring about anything except begging all the gods to have ever existed not to make Reylo canon.

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    14. Oh c'mon everyone, it's so "romantic." I mean, don't you think it's a sign that two people were meant to be together when the guy is obsessed with you, stalks you, and deprives you of your own bodily autonomy? Personally I can't think of anything else that says "true love!"

      (Sorry, anything ST eventually brings out the crank in me.)

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  26. I could've watched Mark talk about Carrie all day. That was really nice, lots of fun stories. And it was sweet and heartbreaking to see that he is clearly having a hard time with this.

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  27. It was a beautiful tribute and I did tear up in this one, because most of the time my brain can't process death but this was a clear and direct reminder...

    I loved that he'd written down some things to say but added some stuff he thought of on the go. Did you guys catch that of him and Carrie making out on a couch?? Now that quote from The Princess Diarist really makes sense. But I loved hearing about how close they were, and the moment they found out they were siblings, and how clearly moved he was.

    Oh, and I loved what George said about Leia and why Carrie was so perfect for the part. "I didn't want to put men clothes on a woman". Perfect.

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    1. Yeah, for a bit I was like... is he saying what I think he's saying? Actors are really weird, aren't they? Good thing they never got romantically involved. Which quote are you saying really makes sense?

      She really was uniquely perfect as Leia. My brain still can't process that she is only 19 during that movie. I still sort of see it from my 2- or 3-year-old eyes when I first saw it, and anyone who wasn't a kid was just a grown-up, no variations in ages really. Except maybe Obi Wan was like, grandpa-aged while everyone else was mom and dad aged. So she just comes off as a full grown adult woman. It's mostly only when I see behind the scenes photos, especially of her smiling, when you realize how incredibly young she was. I think there are VERY few women who could've pulled that off convincingly at that age.

      I also thought it was kind of sweet when he said that she kind of put up that whole front as a defense mechanism, and even at 19 already she was oversharing all these crazy stories about her family.

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    2. Haha, me too, and I file anything like that under "must have misheard, language differences". That bit in her diary entries when she's regretting the affair and says something like "I'd rather it was Mark. It could have been". That "could have been" was like wow, does that mean...? I guess it did! Also her advice to Daisy about not going through the crew like wildfire. I always wondered if it was because of all the pictures of her clinging to various cast members, if she was exaggerating it to help keep hidden the Harrison affair, or if she'd actually gotten involved with other people on set.

      Yes, no one could have pulled Leia off quite like she did. Everyone gives Lucas crap and says Marcia was the one who made the script better, and he probably had some silly notions (like making Carrie not wear a bra in running scenes because "there's no underwear in space", okay George), but what he said really showed that he, eventually at least, got rid of the swooning blond princess he had in mind and appreciated what Carrie brought to the character as something his creation needed.

      Oh, I also loved that extended clip with Warwick, when she's fiddling with his hair :')

      And when K.K. went to show her the Rogue One scene and all of the sudden she says "I think Harrison's mad at me" - lol

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    3. I loved the all, but I think my favorite part was Mark's story of when he and Carrie were pulled aside and told about their sibling relationship in Jedi. Then, Mark asks, "Does that mean I'm royalty?" and Carrie "without missing a beat, said, "NO!"

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    4. I'm going to have to watch this video over and over and over again.

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    5. OtterandTerrier, ok, now I know what you mean. I don't think she really would go back and have an affair with Mark instead. I think she just meant that it would've been different, because Mark at least would've TALKED to her, and given her something back. And they probably would still be laughing about it now.

      I totally agree with you, I always found it interesting that there seemed to be so many pictures of her hanging all over every single other male on the set, except never really with Harrison. Mark, Chewbacca, Threepio, stormtroopers, even Gamorrean guards! Although when we saw that new clip of Harrison wrapping those braids around her head apparently they messed around with each other, too, maybe we just don't have that many pictures of it. But I have had the same thoughts, that maybe she consciously DIDN'T do that with Harrison to like, hide what was going on. Although thinking about it now, most of those photos came ESB or later, not ANH.

      The "royalty" story was funny. I also really loved when he said she forced him to put on the snowsuit and a stupid clown mask (and I know exactly the masks he is talking about, for some reason my family had several) and took him by the hand and paraded him around set for her own amusement. Why are there no pictures of that?!?

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    6. No, yeah, it was on her original diary entries, it wasn't something current Carrie was writing, so her 19 year old self probably did feel that way but mostly because of what you said, that it would have meant something more. What I meant was that the quote from back then implied that something could have happened between Mark and her:

      I’m sorry it’s not Mark—it could’ve been. It should’ve been. It might’ve meant something. Maybe not much, but certainly more.

      I wondered if it was just because Mark had a crush on her and it was obvious, but now it seems that before Harrison she'd had a chance with Mark. I'm glad it didn't seem to make things weird between them.

      Lol, yeah, that was always funny to me. There are a few pictures and at least two more cute bts with Harrison from ESB and RotJ, and even one from ANH, but I suppose she must have been so confused and stressed about the whole thing during ANH that she tried to be "adult" about it and do her damnedest to hide it.

      I was SO hoping there'd be a picture of that!!

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    7. I feel like-minded hidden away somewhere with some of he old diaries- Carrie had at least a few pictures of Mark in her snowsuit. Just wait, a few years from now, somebody will find them.

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    8. Stupid auto typing. I meant like. Not like-minded

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  28. I actually don't know when Billy Dee's panel took place or if it wasn't livestreamed?? Today it's Anthony Daniels, on Thursday it was Ian McDiarmid, and yesterday it was Warwick's, so... I don't really know. I think Mark has another panel scheduled for tomorrow.

    Anyway, in case anyone's interested, today at 7pm they're going to livestream "Smuggler's Revenge", a Han Solo audio drama: http://www.starwarscelebration.com/en/Sessions/44320/Smugglers-Revenge-Kyle-Newman-and-a-Galaxy-of-Voices

    Han Solo reluctantly volunteers to spearhead a mission to acquire a vital piece of hardware essential to the protection and survival of the Rebel's newly established Echo Base on Hoth. This dangerous underworld adventure will take Han back to an old stomping ground that he's been desperate to avoid. With his friends at his side, Han Solo will come face-to-face with the reality that revenge runs deep and that there is no escape from the past that is rapidly catching up to him.

    I heard the guys talking about it yesterday and they said Han and Leia "finally got an adventure together", something like that, so I thought it was going to be post-RotJ :/ It's not going to be an official story, so maybe they do right by him, lol. Better this than the Han Solo panel of "experts" discussing how awful parenthood was for him...

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    1. Ew. There was a panel where they talked about how awful parenthood was for Han? Gah. That's why IDGAF about these SW gatherings. That's so irritating!

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    2. Oh yes. It's a panel to discuss Han, but the summary poses the question "Was fatherhood too much of a challenge for him?", something like that, which... yikes. It was today, don't know at what time, and not livestreamed.

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    3. I don't know, I only saw it listed in the schedule and the summary was enough to enrage me. I wish I could have seen it at LEAST to know what they're saying and if somebody fought them on that BS

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    4. Nothing makes me more rage-y than TPB over-simplifying Han's character as hyper-masculine caricature. Blech. Fanfic writers do it much better.

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  29. Oh dear.

    Mark says he read the script for TLJ and... "I told Rian I fundamentally disagree with virtually everything you've decided about my character."

    He goes on to say he's probably wrong because he was wrong about how his appearance in TFA would be taken by audiences, but that still doesn't fill me with happy anticipation for Ep8.

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    1. Speaking of, did anyone else hear Kathleen's statement on GMA? "Todd must have been confused". No Leia in 9.

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    2. He said in a different interview that there's a difference between a teaser and trailer so, sort of that they used that line for drama but it might not be what it seems. But still, yeah, it sounds really dark and I'm scared of what they did and keep on doing.

      I'm very confused about how they're doing this... J.J.A. was the director of TFA, but also the person who wrote it? And R.J. was also both the director and screenwriter of TLJ? Do they agree on the story they're trying to tell, or is it like a round robin challenge of cinema??

      I posted about that statement above but hadn't seen the video. It's a mess tbh.

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    3. I just read that comment by Mark! I mean Harrison was a bit more diplomatic about what was done to Han, he made some comment about him being somewhat different or words to that effect, but Mark's just putting it out there. Well, I guess without any of the three of them in 9 - which is what it looks like - I can safely skip it.

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    4. Mark is our hero right now! I love it! WHen I saw what he said in this video, I was so happy. I just saw another video of him talking about his problems with the new canon on Tumblr too. Well, it was about specifically about the lack of a Big Three reunion.

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    5. Yep. A Luke fan on Tumblr was speculating to me that Luke might die too...

      I honestly think they were all upset they weren't together.

      JJ and Rian were supposed to agree on how the story was to be told, but JJ gave some BS answer about why TFA was SO like ANH - that 8 was going to be "so weird" so it had to be like this.

      Frankly, everything I'm reading and seeing makes me more and more disinclined to see it.

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    6. I must say, as sad as I am about the direction the sequel trilogy has taken, I am very heartened by the growing discontent in the fandom. For a while at the beginning of 2016, I thought I was the only loon in the world who was legitimately grieving over TFA.

      But then I'm sad again because the fandom feels truly splintered now. There will always now be people who ship Crylo and Rey, and people who think Han and Leia were doomed from the start, you know? Ugh.

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    7. Yeah, I can see the Luke fans beginning to turn - and more and more people are coming to "what the hell did the ST do to the OT3 (and 4 if you count poor Lando, who's just been tossed by the wayside).

      Kennedy also made some bad miscalculations, judging by my Tumblr feed.

      And yes, it's going to be splintered :-( I have a true Luke & Anakin fan mutual who is sick to death of the new stuff on Tumblr and I saw a LOT of people saying the same thing yesterday.

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    8. I'm glad the Luke fans are turning (if only Mark could hear my humongous shout out to him). I just- I don't get it. I don't understand why they would do this to us. Where did they come up with all this junk? I just Marty McFly to go back and warn George about this so I can be sitting down, reading the newest EU series, and hopelessly writing my EU fic. I refuse to let go because it's all I have left.

      P.S. I don't care for this "gray Jedi, "gray Sith" stuff either.

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    9. Also, random thought, but I was wondering- why do we need even more new characters in TLJ? I mean, Poe only had two- three scenes in TFA. Shouldn't we still be getting to know these new characters instead of Matt the radar technician's girlfriend?

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    10. I'm over the ST. I saw that TLJ trailer. It was sad. I was just like... ugh... whatever.

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    11. I can't help but be expectant and to some degree excited about TLJ (Idk if "excited" is what I feel... probably just anxious). Mark and Carrie are still there, after all, and I NEED to see what they do to them (and see Carrie one last time), and I also need to see for myself where this is going. But it's true, it sucks, it sucks, nothing of what they're doing makes sense so far, and I liked Lucas' concept of an ultimately happy morality tale for young people where the good guys win better than this "oh, the real world sucks, so the fictional world has to suck, too" idea.

      I'm happy that there's an Asian character and all, but I agree--apart from her we get TWO more new characters. It's a bit too much, considering the lack of development of the current character's stories. But hey, more characters mean more bonus content!! Like the comic AND novel about Phasma!! So cool, right?? *sarcasm*

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    12. There's a Phasma comic, another Leia book and finally a Luke book. Not that I'd read it, but where's a Han book? There must be some NASCAR expert out there who could write Han and his racing team.

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    13. Ha! According to that panel, I doubt we'll want to read the first Han Solo book that comes out.

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    14. Han's getting a move! Faux Solo, the shorty edition.

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    15. Mean's to write "Han's getting a movie!" Aren't you all excited yet? (What's the 'barf' emoji look like?)

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    16. I'm thrilled about the Leia book because it's little/young Leia, there can be no sad stuff here and I love Leia content. I'm happy Luke finally gets a book too, though I'm confused about the title... "The Legends of Luke Skywalker"? What is that supposed to mean? Is it going to be a real story or a legend, then? What I don't get is why do we need a comic and book about Phasma. She's a First Order stormtrooper officer or whatever. Bad gal. Not interested. Why should anyone be interested??

      And like I said on Tumblr: I would LOVE for them to release another Han book or comic, but I don't know if I trust them enough to ask for it. Although they did well with the comic and Smuggler's Run, so, who knows?

      Why Phasma, though...

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    17. Oh we're supposed to find out how she escaped Starkiller....that's why.

      Since they can't even tell us if Luke was at Ben's birth, and they apparently said at an actual panel that there really is no truth in STar Wars anymore...who knows.

      Someone said that the timeline of Ben turning is wrong too. That it isn't Bloodline - apparently Hildalgo said this at the panel?

      I'm all confused.

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    18. Okay, but... who the fuck cares how and if she escaped the trash compactor?? Look, I'm all for more female characters, but she's still a villain. I'm not interested in her backstory or destiny. If Han couldn't survive Starkiller, then Idgaf that she did, she's a disposable character in comparison. (And did you guys know some people ship her and Leia?? ((((: fandoms are so heart-warming sometimes, fills me with joy)

      I don't know if I should cry or maybe laugh at those comments?? Wtf?? Is THIS their idea of an unified, solid sequel?? This is the clearest giveaway that they bought Star Wars for the money and nothing else. They're releasing stuff without even having the map complete, or without telling people about it, just so they can make money out of it.

      Thank the universe internet exists and I don't have to pay for this.

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    19. Are we talking about the Evaan chick? I haven't read any of the new books or comics beside Bloodlines.

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    20. What drives me nuts - I'm no big fan of the EU, but everyone was all "oh, it has to be rebooted, the contradictions!"

      And now basically two years in, they've already screwed up the timeline. THESE PEOPLE GET PAID TO DO THIS. It's their JOB. It isn't rocket science to sit everyone down, fill in what you know on a whiteboard and then make a picture and keep a record!

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    21. @Jaina, no, we were talking about Phasma. There's fanfiction about Phasma/Leia, after Han's death, because OF COURSE it would be the perfect excuse for her to find love in the arms of someone from the very same organization that killed her husband. But really, because fandoms have a huge hard on about villains, and when you add gay villains? You can't call them out on being bigots!

      @cv, yeah, but when you're riding on the "surprise element, everything needs to be a super guarded secret, nobody can know more than they need to", it's a big risk to have a dozen of authors and actors all knowing where everything is leading. So they keep on churning out new material anyway because, when the last movie is out, they can put out revised editions so everything fits in nicely--more money!

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    22. Oh, you're right, OtterandTerrier, I never thought of it that way! More money!

      I honestly hope Mark keeps saying the things he has, about how he was surprised at how they changed Luke and that he had to figure it out. He's less guarded than Harrison, I guess because Harrison has been burned for being candid, but...

      And I loved George for calling Leia a princess and a senator, NOT a general!


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    23. In the past 24 hours, I've grown to be a much bigger Mark Hamill fan. I hope he keeps this up, too.

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    24. I know that I'm one of the ones around here with a rep for being intensely and overly negative, so you all are making this up just to make me get all splutteringly indignant, right? This isn’t all stuff that actually happened at something billed as a CELEBRATION, right? (I've only been reading about it not watching, as I was afraid that I may need a new computer monitor if I watched and they caused me to puke on it)

      …"I told Rian I fundamentally disagree with virtually everything you've decided about my character."…

      Well, there’s a disturbing comment for the ages. Because Mark Hamill is as big a nerd as anybody on this board, and one thing he knows for damn sure is what works and doesn’t work in Star Wars (see his comments about the missed opportunities of VII). And he’s not wrong about his last moment in TFA; it was a cheat and he still knows it or he wouldn't have said it (and he also knows that great music does not fix a cheat). He's clearly not keen on how Luke was handled in TFA, as he hasn't stopped talking about it in an ironic way for two years...kind of like how we haven't stopped talking about TFA. I feel your pain, Mr. Hamill.

      …It's a panel to discuss Han, but the summary poses the question "Was fatherhood too much of a challenge for him?"…

      Did I miss the scene after the credits in ROTJ where Lucas made it clear that Han Solo was a mentally and emotionally challenged asshole? Because clearly, that’s how TPTB see him. I must have left the theatre, all fifteen times I saw the film (which, note, looks like it is 15 times more than I’ll see Ep 8 or 9) without staying for the post-credits scene of emotianally stunted Han Solo at a kegger in Mos Eisley doing jello shots off a Mandalorian hooker’s stomach and thus proving that his WHOLE EFFING ARC in the OT was just a red herring for exploitation in another trilogy made by different people 40 years down the road.

      …they apparently said at an actual panel that there really is no truth in Star Wars anymore…

      Well, that's actually true. But it's sure as hell nothing to be proud of, it's just the lamest cop-out for not having any freaking idea of how to tell stories that I have ever heard.

      I said it to Zyra yesterday and I’ll say it here today: Star Wars is becoming the sloppy drunk staggering out of the bar at closing time with no clue where he is or who he is.

      I have got to imagine that at some point George Lucas is going to REALLY pop off and tell everyone how he feels. He’s danced around it, and he’s danced around it this week again, but if they totally trash Luke Skywalker, who was Lucas' Mary Sue (in the best way) in the OT, he’s going to say how he really feels and all hell will break loose. I cannot wait for that day. I’m also kind of curious as to the kind of “turnoff” any tearing down of Luke will cause in the audience of everyday fans who don’t follow this stuff obsessively. If that happens, I’ve got to imagine that the general audience over 30 says…nope. Nope. Nope.

      Nothing I’ve heard about this weekend that makes me think all the good things he says Star Wars was supposed to be about – friendship, loyalty, choosing the light and avoiding the dark – will ever be highlighted in what’s going on now.

      So very sad when creatures of the Hollywood take over from an independent-minded visionary. Ladies, never sell your babies, even if they are fictional ones.

      Ah well, back to fan fiction to read what people who actually care about Lucas’ vision are saying.

      And yes, I am sorry to be this negative but I'm hearing nothing that makes me feel anything but low about all of this. I wanted NOTHING MORE than to love the ST. Now I just wish it never happened and Lucas took Star Wars too his grave with him.

      Good God in heaven, what are they going to do to Indiana Jones? Save us, Steven Spielberg. You're our only hope.

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    25. Kels, perfect post is perfect. All of what you said.

      If Mark is saying that already, I'm scared as to what they'll do. I think Harrison gave up (Abrams said somewhere he had to talk him into dying and I saw the GIFs of Mark hugging him after the TFA table read - he looks shell shocked) and Carrie's fight was "Leia wouldn't have a Death Star." At some point, they just decided to go with it. Another mutual of mine said she thinks Luke is really dead at the end of TLJ and we know Leia must be unless they're recasting so I guess Mark has run out of giving a shit, because he knows he'll keep getting voice work no matter what. When he says this, when he's been relentlessly positive about Rogue One? You're in a heap of trouble.

      Mark said he "absolutely" was upset there was no Luke and Han reunion and then spun his "Luke and Leia should have been there" version - which, okay, I still am not wild about but it's LEAGUES ahead of what was done. He's right there's no resonance (and called Leia "his wife" and Luke "his best friend" on top of it all). I would love to get Mark, Harrison and George smashed and let them talk.

      If it doesn't all come crashing down with Last Jedi, then the Han Solo movie may tip the whole thing over.

      Hey, Kels, I missed that post credits scene with Bad Han too. And I love the description of Star Wars now as a staggering drunk. That's right on the money.

      Here's the truth story, if anyone wants to see:
      http://www.polygon.com/2017/4/13/15290994/star-wars-celebration-continuity

      So I guess we're free to make up our own stories and timelines if the people PAID to do it can't keep it straight.

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    26. That right there (the polygon article) reveals a level of overt cynicism coming from Disney/LFL that is really amazing. Hollywood is usually a little more discrete about saying that they take their fans for suckers.

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    27. And Mark may look shellshocked after the TFA read as he's probably just learned he's not in the movie. :) :)

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  30. @Jaina was the panel livestreamed after all? Did you watch it?

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    1. Okay, so I didn't watch it, so I suppose I had no right to make such a comment. I couldn't bring myself to even look it up.

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  31. @OtterandTerrier "who the fuck cares how and if she escaped the trash compactor??"

    I care about how Phasma escaped the trash compacter exactly as much as I care how Boba Fett escaped the Sarlacc. Which is to say: NOT AT ALL.

    That said, I'd rather they told easily ignorable stories about minor irrelevant villains that did no damage to iconic heroes than some of the other stories they've chosen to tell.

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