KJ

Alita: Battle Angel: The previews for this movie put me off seeing it, because the protagonist fell into the uncanny valley for me, with her over-sized eyes and slightly off way of moving. But T watched it on a plane a few months ago and wanted to check it out on a larger screen, so we got it from Netflix. It was better than I expected, and I got used to Alita's cyborgian nature fairly quickly, but my overall reaction is still mixed. My main issue is too much plot -- it feels like half a dozen movies stuffed into one, and they could have trimmed it down, easy. Also we have the perennial issue of casting a film based on a manga with almost no Asian actors, and no main characters at all. Finally, the movie didn't have a proper ending, just a plot hook for a sequel; I suppose that's okay, but it's not my favorite thing. All that said, the visual effects were stunning and there were some great fight scenes, and Alita herself is a great character. So if there's a sequel I'll probably watch it.

Star Wars prequel trilogy: We finally got around to starting our long-planned YouTube TV trial this week. Since most of the shows we watch regularly are on hiatus right now, the jury is out on how well it will work as a total cable replacement (although I did go ahead and cancel cable, with minimum fuss -- I'd heard horror stories about how you have to lie about moving overseas or something in order to keep them from haranguing you to stay, but I didn't have to do anything so drastic, I just told them it wasn't about the cost and the agent let it go at that) but one interesting thing we discovered is that some networks (not all) keep a backlog of content on demand. One of those networks is TNT, so there's a pretty extensive catalog of movies in there, including all the Star Wars movies except Solo. I've meant to do a complete rewatch for awhile, so I took the opportunity of my holiday break to watch all three prequel films, roughly in the space of two days. I had hoped that a watch with fresher eyes, and with the full sequel trilogy behind me, would help me to see the same things that so many of my friends love in these movies, but I'm afraid it didn't really happen. The racisn of The Phantom Menace, the awful and awkward romance in Attack of the Clones, and Anakin's rushed character development in Revenge of the Sith were all just as bad or even worse than I remembered. That said, I'm glad I did it, and I'd do it again -- for Obi-Wan, for the reveal on the true history of the clones, and for two movies of Padme Amidala being a badass political leader (forever bitter that Lucas cut her political subplot from RotS). Next up, Rogue One.

Darths & Droids: I discovered this Star Wars screencap comic many years ago, but got out of the habit of reading it. The premise is that a group of roleplayers, in a world where Star Wars doesn't exist, are in a long-running table top campaign based on the events of Star Wars... sort of. The images are all screencaps from the movies, more or less in order, but the writers have felt very free to reinterpret characters and events to tell a whole new story, and the whole thing is quite brilliant. The comic started with The Phantom Menace back in 2007; I first discovered it about halfway through the original trilogy and read it regularly for awhile, then stopped sometime early in The Return of the Jedi. My rewatch of the prequel movies inspired me to go back -- I was really curious about their take on the new trilogy -- but I discovered that, after finishing the original trilogy and writing up Rogue One as a flashback, they had planned to wait until Episode IX was released before screencapping any of the sequels. Right now they're publishing an interlude based on Mark Hamill's episode of The Muppet Show, which is pretty freaking hilarious. But it's getting toward the end, so I have to think that they'll be starting with The Force Awakens sometime in the next few months. It's a fun and original mode of storytelling, filled with tropes familiar to anyone who's ever done tabletop roleplaying, and I definitely recommend checking it out (from the beginning, if you never have before).

I sat down at my computer do to other things, and then somehow ended up watching the Star Wars Celebration panel on Episode 9 instead. (YouTube isn't letting me share a link that starts partway into the video; the content proper begins at about 18:59.)

I have also watched the teaser trailer several times, and, well. Yay!



( A few reactions, mostly to the trailer but some informed by the panel Q&A )

I am excited!

We saw The Last Jedi on Sunday but for various reasons I'm just now getting around to writing about it. Spoiler-free summary: I enjoyed it a whole lot, am on board with most of its various twists and turns, and appreciate the way it subverted a number of expectations. Also, as if losing Carrie Fisher hadn't already been awful enough, I am super bummed that she can't be in the next movie in any meaningful way. I would say that, if you liked The Force Awakens, you will almost certainly like this, and if you were bothered by how much TFA repeated the beats of Star Wars, you may be pleasantly surprised by TLJ. (Is anyone else bothered by how we've now lost the ability to refer to one of the movies as just "Jedi" and be clear on which one you mean?)

Anything more I could say is better informed by the thoughts of others, and those thoughts are all full of spoilers, so let's put up the spoiler wall. ( Spoiler wall! )

Today has mostly been about settling in and having some fun. Although I didn't sleep in as much as I would have liked, I still had a nice relaxing morning -- had breakfast, went to the coffee shop across the street (which might as well be an extension of con space -- there are even some official events there!) for a bit of writing time, and then had lunch with pierceaholic and magnetsorwhatever at a local cheese shop -- all before official con events started in the afternoon.

I went to two panels today. The first, "The Fandom Awakens", was essentially a love letter to Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Not to say that there was no deep discussion -- far from it, as panelists spoke about how moved they were by seeing women and people of color in such significant roles, the ethics of droid labor, and why we insist on gendering droids. One good question that provoked conversation, though no definitive conclusions, was whether a droid in the Star Wars universe has any sense of gender identity. Next up was cypheroftyr's panel on the queer gaming experience, with a focus on Dragon Age although several other games were also discussed. Many good thoughts and sharing of experiences about what games do right and the (many more) things they get wrong.

For dinner, I joined the New Attendees dinner gathering. Although it could have been better organized, I ended up with a lively and fun group. We picked up food at a Russian dumplings place, then ate it on the steps of the Capitol Building, chatting all the while about fandom, and we enjoyed the conversation enough to keep it going over coffee until the time came to head to the opening ceremonies. This event was mostly informational, introducing attendees to policies and committee heads, but since this is the 40th WisCon, they also took some time for reminiscences, as long-time WisCon attendees talked about the con community and what it means to them. We also got a stirring speech from Katherine Cross reminding us to treat hotel staff with courtesy and respect, and call from Pat Murphy to make WisCon a "'splaning free zone". Then I wrapped up the night with a panel on Hamilton followed by a singalong, which was a blast. Unfortunately, the timing wasn't organized quite right, and so we didn't have time to sing the whole thing -- just as well, though, because my voice would have likely given out. :) We sang through the entire first act, then hit some highlights from Act 2 ("What Did I Miss?", "Cabinet Battle #1", and "The Room Where It Happens"). About halfway into the first act (I think with "You'll Be Back"), people started getting to the front of the room and acting out the main roles, often to hilarious effect -- maybe my favorite was Hamilton and Burr fighting over the rolled up scarf they were both using in place of their respective newborns in "Dear Theodosia". It was a great high point to end my first full day here.

One thing I've noticed: people often use the Twitter hashtags assigned to events, so it's worthwhile to check them. Good stuff on the Fandom Awakens and Queer Gaming Experience hashtags, specifically.

Fortunately, there's nothing in particular I want to do in the first programming slot tomorrow, so I can have another relatively relaxed morning. But still, I should get to bed. Goodnight, WisCon. I'll see you at 10AM.

violacea asked for my top five favorite Star Wars moments, in honor of the upcoming film. As it happens, I decided just a couple of days ago to put myself on trailer/teaser/general information lockdown for The Force Awakens, because the images I briefly saw from the most recent teaser felt like more than I wanted to know. I have to wonder why this level of hype -- it's not like people don't know it's coming, and they have to know that it's getting a huge audience no matter what they do. I already have my tickets, for a Friday afternoon showing (I'm crashing the show that T's office is taking his team to see), and I am officially excited. But I'd rather not feel like I've already seen the whole movie before I actually get there.

Narrowing this down to five is basically impossible, but I'll give it a go, bearing in mind that these could change according to whim. Listed in no particular order:

"I love you." "I know." / "I love you." "I know." Both of these scenes are wonderful on their own, but the juxtaposition between them is what makes them perfect. I could never write about the echo and all its implications for Han, Leia, and their relationship better than this meta post on Tumblr, so I'm not even going to try -- just go read it. These are the best moments in the Han/Leia ship, which I absolutely ship, so how could I not choose them? And it's totally not cheating to list them together, or to throw in "Someone who loves you" from the Jabba's palace rescue. Nope, not at all.

Han Solo shooting up the comm station during the rescue of Princess Leia. I could have gone with any number of scenes and lines that make me laugh ("I am not a committee!" "You don't want to sell me Jaffa sticks." "I dunno, fly casual." "Artoo! You're playing the wrong message!") but "It was a boring conversation anyway" is one that sticks with me, as does the scene leading up to it.

Obi-Wan Kenobi on Kamino. I wanted to pick at least one scene from the prequels, because although there are tons of problems with those films, and I wish they had been much better, I don't want to excise them from my fannish experience, either. Frustrating as they were, they also added many interesting elements to the canon, and none more so than the backstory of the clones -- who they were, where they came from, for what purpose they were created, the surprising origin of Boba Fett. I thought it was a nice subversion of expectations that the clones were created to fight with the Republic, rather than being the enemy of the Jedi -- and then the closing moments of Attack of the Clones, when the ranks of clone soldiers wearing a clear precursor to stormtrooper armor, prototypical Star Destroyers flying in the background, took my breath away. fangirlhappyhour recently did a special Star Wars episode, and renay's comments about this scene reminded me of how much I liked it, in particular the best CGI aliens in the entire series, and one of the best fight scenes.

The Battle of Endor. Make fun all you like, but I love the Ewoks. Maybe it's youthful imprinting -- Return of the Jedi is the first movie I ever saw in a theater, at the age of 10, which put me right in the target audience. Regardless, I adore how they can be both cute and fierce, and both those traits are on full display in their battle with the stormtroopers in the forests of Endor. It included moments that were adorable, sad, and filled with crowning glory, and I am a sucker for underdogs coming from behind to defeat a superior force. And it was even better on a big screen.

The Comic Con reel for The Force Awakens. When The Force Awakens was first announced, I wouldn't say I was skeptical exactly, but I wasn't really excited, either. I sometimes had trouble remembering it was even happening -- I almost forgot to include it out of the list of movies I was most looking forward to in my 2014 wrap-up posts, for example. That all changed when this reel leaked, and showed me a world that looked like Star Wars, and felt like Star Wars, in a way that the prequels with their reliance on CGI characters and environments never quite did. Getting a little behind the scenes and seeing practical effects in action was heartening. And I found the excitement of the actors and crew to be infectious. Hearing their love and enthusiasm for Star Wars reminded me of my love and enthusiasm for Star Wars. It made me hopeful again, and I've found no reason to give up that hope. Fingers crossed that I still feel that way in a month.