Personally, I am enjoying the quiet. It allows me to not think too much about what may or may not happen in the movie, and less worrying about potentially bad things. I will surely watch the next trailer when it comes out (likely next month) but I'd be just as happy at this point to know nothing more, and simply sit down and watch the movie. I know I said I wanted to know some stuff to mentally prepare myself, but I'm not sure that is true anymore.
The good news is, apparently we may not have to wait quite as long as we originally thought. For those of you who are unaware, apparently there will be screenings in the US at 7pm on December 17th. I guess this has been a trend for some of the larger releases (this would count, since it is probably the largest release in the history of cinema) rather than midnight shows on the release date, to have 1 show at 7pm the day before the official release. This, of course makes me happy because not only does it mean that I will get to see the movie 5 hours earlier, it also means that I don't have to stay up all through the night. Not that I wouldn't have, it's just nice not to have to. I don't know how widely available these 7pm shows are, but I do know that locally for me we've gotten these early shows for things like Hunger Games, so I have no reason to believe it'll be different.
Also, for our non-US based readers, apparently several countries are getting it in the days prior to the 18th (or 17th now, as the case may be.) As early as December 15th. I know the UK is getting it on the 17th. I don't quite understand this, because given that it is the biggest movie EVER it makes more sense to me to release it all on one day. And really, the US is behind everyone else anyway when we are talking time zones, so even if we all get it the same day, we're still last, so why do so many other people get it earlier? Also, for several days before the release this means I will have to be extremely careful on the internet so that my overseas friends don't spoil it all for me.
Which reminds me, and I'll remind you all later, but when the time comes, I've decided that the rules for posting about Episode 7 on the blog will be that nobody can post anything on here about having seen it until I see it and post. I know that may not be fair to some of you who might not see it right away, but it's my blog and it is easier for you to not look here than for me to not look here!
I'm also curious: which format are you planning on seeing it in first? This movie was shot in IMAX 3D. The trailer, for those of you who have not seen it, looks pretty darn cool in IMAX 3D. That said, I think the first time I see it will be in regular, 2D format. I will absolutely be seeing it in IMAX, but sometimes the 3D can be distracting or make me miss something on screen, so the first time, I'm thinking I'm just going to see it "normal." Or, really, whichever possible way I can see it the soonest.
Anyway, now I know what I'm doing at 7pm on December 17th, just a little earlier than I thought. Now I just have to have the anxiety about getting tickets on top of the anxiety over what they are going to do to my Star Wars.
I will see the movie in 2D. The jury is out on whether I see IMAX. I'm not a big fan of it. I've seen plenty of IMAX movies. We'll see...
ReplyDeleteI usually don't pay the extra money for 3D but I think that I might do an exception for this film (maybe for my second viewing)! I sure hope it will be out in Canada on the 17th since it's my birthday!
ReplyDeleteFor this I will pay the extra money for 3D and IMAX, probably more than once. Just not the first time, I don't think. 3D can be kind of cool if the movie warrants it. I saw Jurassic World in 3D and it was definitely pretty cool.
DeleteWonder if we get a good shot of Han's butt in 3D? :p
ReplyDeleteSince I don't have an IMAX near me it will be 2D the first viewing, then 3D.
Heh, heh.
DeleteI'm just hoping that since L.A. is a major market, we'll get to see it on Thursday night. Which would be cool.
ReplyDeleteIf Los Angeles isn't one of the places that has showings on the 17th, I don't know what other place would be considered a major enough market to have it.
DeleteCoruscant maybe? :)
DeleteThis movie is probably going to break my heart in seven different ways, so I want to get it over with...I'm a New Yorker, so Thursday night it is...
ReplyDeleteI'm with you there. I'm probably going to get really emotional whether they do anything truly heartbreaking or not. The earlier I see it, the better.
DeleteHave to admit what really concerns me is Kasdan...his first draft of Jedi was incredibly dark, with Han dying, Luke going off on his own, and Leia being left on her own to run a tattered Rebellion. And from the little we know, it sounds like Kasdan has brought some of that -- which was rejected by Lucas -- back.
DeleteAnd Kasdan always saw Han/Leia as waaaay too akin to Rhett/Scarlett. I am concerned that with Lucas -- who saw them as becoming a successful married couple - now out of the picture, Kasdan will give free rein to his Han/Leia as Rhett/Scarlett thing.
While I thought the Rhett/Scarlett thing was a good analogy for Han/Leia's early interactions, it completely misses that Lucas insisted on the characters growing up: Leia realized how important Han was to her and left the Rebellion to rescue him, and Han STAYED in the end. Completely the opposite of the way Gone with the Wind ended - with Scarlett realizing too late how important Rhett was to her and Rhett walking out.
I'm very concerned that Kasdan is going to find a way to retcon this story into what he wanted -- but Lucas didn't -- in the first place.
In which case I'll be one of the folks whose motto will be "OT or it didn't happen."
Oh, trust me, I have all those same fears. I've read about how Kasdan didn't really like Han and Leia as a couple. Of course Kasdan has written some of the greatest movies ever, so part of me wants to trust him, but part of me is afraid to. Though it's not like he is the one with all of the power. I know when this all first came out, at first it was actually great to learn that Lucas was not going to be involved since pretty much everything he's done in the last 30 years has been crap. Or at least nowhere near as good as any of his prime 1975-1985 years. But at least for George Han and Leia being together was a done deal. They might as well have gotten married at the end of ROTJ. That plot point had come to its natural conclusion.
DeleteI don't know that I had read the comparison to Rhett and Scarlet (I probably had somewhere) but you do make a good point that their early interactions were similar, but beyond that, not at all. I have only seen GWTW once, and it was within the last five years, and I remember thinking I couldn't believe what an icy bitch Scarlet was. Just awful. Definitely not like Leia. Especially not like Leia by the time she and Han are "together."
I still feel strongly as though having them be apart in this movie would be like completely ignoring their entire character arcs from the OT. It'd be like Luke deciding suddenly to forget about being a Jedi. Maybe they can sell me on it if they were temporarily estranged after having been together for quite a long time, but otherwise, no, you're going to wreck the ending of ROTJ for me. And really all of their interactions throughout the rest of the OT.
This kind of goes for a lot of things about these new movies I'm fearing. I'm concerned it's all going to get more than a little too dark. And too hopeless. That was never what Star Wars was intended to be, or at least that's why it seemed like to me.
I agree. The last shot of ROTJ, with the whole principal cast standing there basically smiling into the camera, happy and together, with every arc tied up and locked down, was both Lucas at his total cheesiest and perhaps one of the most "and they all lived happily ever after" moments you could possibly see in modern film. The only thing they didn't do was chyron those words on the screen. But it's inarguable that's what that scene -- and that shot -- said.
DeleteSo I think anything that this new film does that re-opens completed arcs, or denies that the OT actually completed the arcs (Luke as successful Jedi changing the course of the galaxy history; Han and Leia as a permanent coupling with a future) it presented for the Big Three, is pretty much the height of cynicism (and an attempt to sell novels about the 30 years between these two films).
I actually didn't want these characters back unless it was to tell their kids, "now it's your turn to save the universe; may the Force be with you, adios." I'm not interested in hearing that there's more arc for Han/Luke/Leia if it requires contradicting the place where the most successful film trilogy of all time left us. If that's what the film is going to do, they might as well open with Bobby Ewing standing in Leia's fresher and saying "good morning." (I guess you have to be a certain age to get that comment...I'm assuming most of us are).
Kasdan was great, no doubt, and Empire is my favorite film ever, but I worry what happens when he doesn't have a person like Lucas and Spielberg -- both of whom will push toward the happy place in these kinds of films -- holding the reins. I'm also worried that Kasdan's work hasn't been great on its own since 1988 or so. Back in 2003, when his film "Dreamcatcher" came out, I was in film school for screenwriting. We were all so excited, because William Goldman, who wrote it, came to talk to us about the film and then we had a special private screening of it. And then we saw it. Goldman was around, so we had to be pleasant, but then he left and the bunch of us -- who had grown up idolizing these two -- basically sat around in stunned silence. The professor asked us what we thought, and then the dam burst about how cosmically awful that film was. I know Kasdan was the director, not the writer, but that day I realized that, thinking about everything Kasdan has done, and what Lucas had done, and how Lucas has a ton of flaws in his storytelling and a serious lean toward the cheesy and goofball - Kasdan on his own just does not see the world in way that makes me want to run towards his vision unless it's mediated by someone with a much more hopeful view of the universe.
Anyway, I just hope I'm wrong on...well, about everything!
I watched the trailer again today, because it had been a while. Because remember how that came out almost 6 months ago at this point? We will be getting a new trailer within the next couple of weeks, for sure. That is going to be awesome and terrifying.
ReplyDeleteAlso, it is October. Which means next month is November, and then December and we know what happens in December. It is going by scary fast now.
Unfortunately i have zero hopes for this film, when it comes to Han and Leia being together. There are so many rumours to the contrary and they can't all be wrong. There are just some things you don't mess with, and one of films most iconic couples is one of them. But JJ is notorious for destroying relationships. Alias, anyone??? As much as I want to support the main cast, I don't know if I can force myself to watch it. I want to read spoilers from people who see it first so I can save myself the heartache and continue living in my OT bubble.
ReplyDeleteI have to admit, as far as expectations for Han and Leia as a couple, I'm kind of with you at this point. I have no hope at all for them. I still just want to see the damn movie already though.
DeleteIn fact, they have put off showing us the trailer for so long at this point I'd actually prefer just not knowing another thing about it and seeing the movie. It's SO close now. I don't want new scenes or pictures to try and pick apart and figure out how it's all going to come together. I still don't want any spoilers. I know way back when I had said that I did want to know the relationship status there, but I don't anymore. I think mostly because I've just sort of come to expect that they will not be together, so knowing either way won't help me at all, because if I expect them to not be together, the only thing that can happen is I wind up wrong and pleasantly surprised.
They are going to totally ruin their chances at Star Wars Valentine's Day merchandise from now on though if they are split up!
That is one way to look at it. Go into it expecting the worst and maybe it won't be that bad? Honestly , I don't know where all these so called rumours even come from. Who has actually seen this film?? And surely heads would roll if someone leaked something so maybe people are just assuming the worst based off what little information has been officially released about the original characters.
DeleteWho has seen the film? NOBODY. I mean, the people at the absolute tip top of the secrecy list, who would never, ever share this stuff, have seen it. None of those people would be sharing a thing. Nobody has seen it. From what I understand, the rumors are mostly coming from call sheets, or I guess at this point maybe some other type of "insider" information, none of which includes seeing actual footage from the film beyond what has been made publicly available. That is a large reason why I have stayed away from the rumors and spoilers myself, because we really have absolutely no idea whether what they are telling us is true. From what I understand, some of the things that had been "rumors" from this source have actually proven to be true based on either the newly released books or trailers or some other types of "official" information, so it is possible that they are not entirely full of crap even though I honestly still can't figure out how anyone with that level of clearance had gotten a hold of these things to share the rumors, and has been doing so for over a year now without having been stopped by Disney. But whatever.
DeleteAnyway, the point is, to answer your question, absolutely nobody has seen the film and not a single credible rumor source is claiming to have seen it.