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The Mandalorian and Grogu
3 Plays35 seconds ago
This time on Casual Nerdity, we’re sharing our reactions to The Mandalorian & Grogu! From big action moments and emotional beats to the jump from streaming series to feature film, we break down what we loved, what surprised us, and whether Din Djarin and Grogu’s latest adventure delivers for Star Wars fans.
00:00 Introduction
02:53 Non-spoiler discussion
43:54 Spoiler discussion begins
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Transcript
Introduction and New Guest
00:00:10
Speaker
Casual Nerdity is a podcast celebrating and discussing pop culture that we love. Movies, TVs, comics, books, games, you name it. Ari missed to talk about the good, what worked, and yeah, sometimes what didn't.
00:00:21
Speaker
All with an eye towards building up, not tearing down. Thanks for joining us.
00:00:29
Speaker
Welcome back to Casual Nerdity, everybody. hope everybody is doing great. As usual, I'm Daryl, and with me is Nick. Yep. And Betsy is here. Hello.
00:00:47
Speaker
We have a new voice. We have another member of our gaming group. We have Dan with us today. Welcome to the show, Dan. Hey, y'all. Thanks for having me. Oh, glad to have you. on This is an important episode for you.
00:01:00
Speaker
Dan has been a major age are part of the the gaming group since some of the earlier games. So he... since Since the before times.
00:01:13
Speaker
Since the before times. But it's good it's good it's good at to bring him in, and he has some connections to this, but that's a bit of a spoiler.
Movie Focus: 'The Mandalorian and Grogu'
00:01:24
Speaker
Yes, and and this time around, you we are here because this is the way. This is the way.
00:01:32
Speaker
This is the way. Daryl, you should have gotten a clip of that. Mm-hmm. Eh. aunt I don't have the spoilers clip loaded up. Oh, no But this time on Casual Nerdity, we're giving our full reactions to the Mandalorian and Grogu.
00:01:54
Speaker
What worked for us? What surprised us? What had us cheering like we were all at Celebration, which three of us are here going to be next year. Yay. And maybe a couple of moments that left us scratching our heads under the helmet, but we're talking favorite scenes, big character moments, the vibe shift from series to movie and whether Din and Grogu's jump to the big screen actually sticks the landing.
00:02:21
Speaker
So power up the Razor Crest. This is seven, seven years since the last Star Wars film in theaters. Yep. Power up the Razorcrest, keep one eye on the kid, and join us for a spoiler-filled trip to a galaxy far, far away.
Non-Spoiler Impressions (Is the movie worth watching?)
00:02:41
Speaker
But as usual, when we discuss a movie, especially a new movie, which we don't do it often, but we do it occasionally, first we're going to talk about it in a non-spoiler way. And being non-spoiler... This way. This the way.
00:03:01
Speaker
This is the way. Oh, there it is. yeah there was. yes see it You jumped the gun. Ah, sorry. i've ruined your moment. You did. you You stepped on my moment just like Black Widow did to Robert Redford. Mm-hmm.
00:03:18
Speaker
Mm-hmm.
00:03:20
Speaker
But first of all, just basic reactions. What did you guys think of The Mandalorian and Grogu? I feel we should give a... Let's dance. This is Dan's first time with us. that Dan.
00:03:33
Speaker
And it's with your non-spoiler first opinion. Non-spoiler. So I thought it was very entertaining. um I did not think that there was too much overt fan servicing. So I thought that the movie was, you know, fairly plot driven. I don't think there's a spoiler in in that sentiment. But um obviously, as you would expect, the... ah The effects were top-notch, and ah you know we saw some new, as yet unnamed characters.
00:04:08
Speaker
um and I enjoyed the interplay between you know the characters who we've come to know and love, obviously Mandalorian and Grogu first and foremost, um but some other characters who I guess we will talk about more specifically later.
00:04:23
Speaker
um But just for now, I think that I would say I was um happily yeah happily enjoyed it. yeah Yes. that that With the details, that was like a my opinion. is like I was thoroughly, thoroughly happy. And I brought along my my sister, Nicole, who who is someone that may not, who has watched these films.
00:04:53
Speaker
was this with me but then she had a good time as well it was just it was a vibrant film that was like did not at all like have like a lull or at any moment like did the highs were high the lows were impactful and everything in between was just fun
00:05:15
Speaker
yep i Dan, you mentioned the special effects. I loved that they went practical as much as they did oh that in the effects. Oh, can throw on that one. You are privy to some information that I am not aware of. I had no idea how much was practical versus digital.
00:05:34
Speaker
There was so there much. like it In a lot of movies these days, the Enzelans would have been CGI rather than being being ah animatronic. Grogu would have been much more CGI than animatronic. And just so much. What surprised me, recently that they released a behind the scenes just today about like ah the the... There was some large droids. Oh, I'm going to talk about that later. I'm going to talk about that later. There's some big droids. have thing that I just had to add about that. They were all a...
00:06:17
Speaker
They were all like classic like like ah like miniatures being puppeted. they' Not not yeah at all CGI at all. I think they called instead of calling it stop motion they they called it Tippett motion after Phil Tippett.
00:06:33
Speaker
Who did a bunch of the old ILS stop motion. That's literally the thing I wrote. The giant asteroids the fight look stop motion question mark. you know it was it was It was a new type of stop motion. It was through movie magic.
00:06:49
Speaker
it was through movie magic I definitely appreciated the use of animatronics, um especially with Grogu and and the Anzelans. It seemed like they were almost like um kind of shivering a little bit cold. And, you know, just from their ah physiology, I mean, the Anzelans don't wear a lot of clothes. So I kind of, you know, figured it was ah kind of but favorite a little bit twitchy.
00:07:17
Speaker
and ah And that felt very natural. seeing it gave me very like It gave me sort of like Muppet vibes. like yeah you see like well and Stephanie and I were on with um our friends, the Movie Defenders, this morning for their Patreon show. And before we got into the game that we played with them, we were talking Mando and Grogu a little bit. And ah we got To talking about the use of animatronics and puppets versus CGI in the movie and how it it gives them, no matter how realistic the CGI is, having that animatronic or that puppet there gives it a a sense of presence and a weight and a volume that even the best CGI doesn't.
00:08:09
Speaker
I do like think in addition to that, it's like how the actors are able to play off of something actually being physically there. so Even when scenes that are not actors, there was a long sequence with just Stan Selens and Purogu.
00:08:24
Speaker
I felt that this these are these these are characters in a scene that I did not all have to feel like there needed to be another person and like to prove that these are real. But I think maybe that's part of it too, because you could actually have like, you know, the physical characters in the physical scene that impacts the way that you're able to do things like, you know, blocking and how you have the set like put together. And I think it just really adds also to, you know, kind of what we've been talking about, making it more lifelike, making it more real.
Craftsmanship in Filmmaking: Sets and Effects
00:08:55
Speaker
Again, adding to the set design was also like designed for these characters to interact with. So it's felt like they are there. Yeah. Well, and both of you, all three of you have now kind of touched on the other part of that in that the Mandalorian TV series is known for being the first major use of, of stagecraft or, or the volume. Yeah. And they went much more practice. If this had been Mandalorian season four,
00:09:30
Speaker
a lot of the actual practical physical sets that were there would have been the volume. ah Yeah. And I wouldn't be surprised if there are some volume elements in there. There are probably some, but like Adelphi base is an actual physical location. Even the, the ward room or whatever it's called, where they're all hanging out on Adelphi base That was a physical set that was built at an Air Force base. they They kept it standing until just a few weeks ago when they had a press junket, a couple of different press junkets go through to see the first 20 minutes of the movie.
00:10:16
Speaker
And they first brought them through. that part of a delphi base and again like the mandalorian was the pioneer of the of the the volume so they know how to use it better but there's like plenty of like clearly like defined sets where there's locations there's places that are physical that you can see and that all of it just is like set design is like you could People were crafting this. and they they they They made every little bit, like every single pipe that had like a dented, that made it.
00:10:54
Speaker
Yeah, I think it really was just the physicality of everything. Like everything felt very tangible. yeah like and I'm sure that there are parts of Shikari that were co volume.
00:11:08
Speaker
yeah but yeah I got that impression very strongly as well. just It's literally just Chicago with the serial numbers filed off. I mean, Corellia is Space Texas. Well, and after after Solo, it's Space Texas combined with Space Detroit.
00:11:24
Speaker
I was going to say, I think it's more Space Detroit after that. These are basically both. They're both on polar opposites, but they're both coming to the same place.
00:11:38
Speaker
You were about to say something, Dan. I'm sorry I cut you off. Yeah, so I don't want to um you know go in reverse too much, but just going back to the Anzellians and also Grogu, I think that the use of animatronics, it not only provides like the sense of you know whimsy that I think is really valuable to a lot of fans, you know certainly of certain generation, of course, meaning especially those of us who grew up watching The Muppet Show.
00:12:08
Speaker
say What are you trying to say? You trying to say we're old? ah Yeah, something like that, exactly. and it more More like ah ah Gonzo or or Scooter. I mean, yeah you know, the archetype, of course.
00:12:21
Speaker
um But also, I think that using animatronics, even though, you know, it shows its limitations and it shows its imperfections, I think that those limitations and imperfections really kind of defeat the uncanny valley that we have somewhat been experiencing with even the, you know, phenomenal advance in, um you know, digital ah character technology like Yeah, for example, um you know, at the end of Rogue One, i don't think I'm giving a spoiler here because that's been yeah for 10 plus years. But, you know, when they um when they basically composited um Princess Leia's face onto, you know, the body of a real actor. I could tell instantly that, you know, obviously I knew that was not Carrie Fisher, but yeah I could tell instantly that that was a CGI person. And like I'll say they did a great job of it. but They did an amazing job. Especially, that wasn't even the first one, but you could tell. that You could tell. I mean, the same thing with Grand Moff Tarkin in Rogue One. They did a phenomenal job.
00:13:24
Speaker
But but by the the fact that they... The fact that these puppets are like puppets... Exactly. It doesn't... It doesn't change the fact that, like... Honestly, it's... Honestly, people are honest, for lack of a better term. I think honest is a good choice of words. I think the imperfections actually make it better.
00:13:50
Speaker
Yeah. And the limitations of puppetry make it better. Because, I mean, we've all in a grown up... They had to design that that? They had to design this scene. like Those puppets were climbing up into that moment. it's like You felt like, yeah, those are physical beings, even though they aren't real. They're physically moving up there. and they had There's joints. There's articulation. and
00:14:23
Speaker
Some of it's a little bit clunky, but it's like It is moving up. up that up bit of so They're climbing, theyre they're making, and they get up there.
00:14:35
Speaker
Absolutely. I mean, we look, we all we all know and grew up and love Yoda. And, you know, in Empire Strikes Back and Return the Jedi, he was a puppet. It doesn't matter, you know, that that you're using a puppet. I think what matters most is the puppeteers. Obviously, you know, if you make low-quality puppet, it's going to show.
00:14:56
Speaker
If you make a decent quality puppet and you have excellent puppeteers, then I think that's just as good as, if not even better than the best current CGI. It's artistry. It is a is a type of artistry. Can I also say something?
00:15:10
Speaker
Go ahead. Pretty sure that like, you know, puppeteers and prop designers and all that, they're also union workers. Is it true? All of them are. As opposed to you know VFX artists that don't have that luxury.
00:15:23
Speaker
Unfortunately. Because of this terrible world we live in. So that's also important to me. A lot of that was created by ah Jim Henson and Muppet Company to create that a build to actually enfranchise these are individuals who create the the puppets and make make every move. It's like...
00:15:46
Speaker
Big Bird is like roughly like three or four guys, but they're all under union because they were, they were in franchise by, by Jim Henson to say like these, yes, it's one, one character, but it's like, you need all those guys to make the character come to the life.
00:16:05
Speaker
Also VFX workers of the world, you know, you have nothing to lose but your chains. ah And to what you were saying, Dan, not only did they make a new, more complicated, more sophisticated, more capable Grogu animatronic for this movie. The operators from everything that I have seen are phenomenal because ah at the red carpet, they had the Grogu animatronic set up. And he was adorable.
00:16:36
Speaker
And he was interacting like Alex and Molly Damon from Star Wars Explained were invited to the red carpet premiere. A popular Star Wars ah you YouTuber couple that do a lot of events.
00:16:52
Speaker
They were saying that um the group they observed and other people who were invited observed that you know there was a photo op thing that they could do with the Grogu animatronic. And the operators had him interacting with the people who were up there like in real time.
00:17:11
Speaker
They were off to the side and they were just like reacting. He was reacting to the things that the people were saying to him. It was walking. One person. It was sort of, it was like, not walking, but like toddler toddling down.
00:17:29
Speaker
the red carpet. Yeah, it went down the red carpet on some, but like Alex was saying that one person that he saw talking to it at the end, you know, bowed to Grogu, and Grogu bowed back.
00:17:41
Speaker
it was It was a fully articulated... was a fully articulated... And again, that's likely just for the red carpet, but there is a...
00:17:54
Speaker
That's the least sophisticated version. You can imagine like they were using a much more sophisticated version on set. Right. That is reportedly the one that they used.
00:18:05
Speaker
Mm-hmm. I would imagine it would be very ah sophisticated robotics rather than, you know, just ah green screening the old school ah Muppets way with, ah you know, the performers using little sticks and stuff like that. Yeah. it did there There is some advance to like modern technology, but it was very much like they, they appreciate like the old school, like making things real feel physical.
00:18:36
Speaker
And there's an absolute value in that. And that absolutely percent that puts you into the world. You know what else puts you into the world as the audience?
Musical Score Impact
00:18:48
Speaker
The music. Yes. Ludwig Goranson, just give him all of the Oscars for everything that he scores, please.
00:18:59
Speaker
The soundtrack was immaculate. It's when i have notice a I have not heard a Ludwig Goranson score that is not immaculate.
00:19:10
Speaker
ah What else has he done besides this series? I'm sure this isn't his first work. The Black Panther movies. um what you Now I'm going to have to look him up.
00:19:20
Speaker
I was going to say, do it really quick because I'm blanking right now. But honestly, in this one, it's like... When you notice it, it's good. And when you don't notice it, that's kind of also good. Because, like, he knows when to, like, we just need, like, the characters to interact.
00:19:38
Speaker
Yep. And the music just serves as atmospherics. And there's, you know, that's that's good, too. That just helps set the scene. Yeah, I think he does a really good job, like, you know, fighting the balance between, like, the bombastic scenes and the quiet moments. When the things when on their own when the music needs to come in, it hits.
00:19:59
Speaker
But when it needs to like, okay, this is a quiet scene. We're not going to have any music. And that's fine. that that That's good. Like, that's that's honestly, like... Honestly, I appreciate that when a When a sound design says, like, no, no, we're going be quiet.
00:20:17
Speaker
Okay, here we go. Here is Ludwig Goranson's filmography, and I'm just hitting the big major highlights. Okay. um He did Creed. Oh, that's good. He did Black Panther. did Venom. Creed 2. Oh, yeah. ah Tenet.
00:20:38
Speaker
Oh, yeah um The Black Panther Wakanda Forever Oppenheimer Sinners. um And he... Oh!
00:20:49
Speaker
He is scoring the Odyssey that's coming out. That should be epic. And then he's got a bunch of TV work, too. but that that's that's ah That's a pedigree. That's a pedigree. Yeah, I...
00:21:07
Speaker
his his music is a amazing. And hearing the, the even fuller orchestra doing some of the bits of the Mandalorian theme. Oh, there are multiple.
00:21:19
Speaker
i so I heard at least like three versions throughout the whole. Yeah. And then. Okay. I could be totally wrong on this, but if I remember, does it, didn't Louie Goranson work with Hans Zimmer? Yeah.
00:21:33
Speaker
Or like, was it kind of like trained by him or something? Oh yeah. The, the, I could Google that, but that would take too long. He did. because Well, obviously, because he's working with Christopher Nolan and the Ritite family.
00:21:46
Speaker
Yeah. the ed well And what I like about his work, too, is that different places have their own different vibes. Yeah. 100%. Like, you Shikari has its own vibe. it It's a very techno...
00:22:03
Speaker
like dance music vibe. I was a little taken aback by that. I will say I was not expecting to feel like I was back living in Miami with the music. But I think that did fit. It fit perfectly, though. It kind of did.
00:22:20
Speaker
yeah ah Yeah. Normally I'd say, like, this isn't a star, but this isn't like a main, isn't a... and an episode number like you'd expect more orchestral like this is a well and that was the first when the Mandalorian series premiered and I heard the theme when it started i was like wait what what what what is this I was expecting a John Williams Kevin Kiner kind of kind of sound and then but as the episode that first episode went on I was like
00:22:59
Speaker
But this fits. this This is, you know, it's own this series is a Western series. was going say, it takes more from like spaghetti Westerns, which granted are just like, you know, the Western version of samurai films, but same thing. Yeah. But it's its its own story and it helps separate it from like, this isn't like a, this isn't a, it's a Star Wars story, but it's not a Star Wars.
00:23:29
Speaker
Right. Right. Fuck my bad term. So I'm going to throw a $50 word in here, especially in regards to the techno-esque soundtrack. I would imagine that that was actually an example of diegetic music.
00:23:45
Speaker
Yeah, probably. talk about diegetic music a lot, so yes, we are on the same page. All right, fair enough. So um for for those not in the know, and I was up until recently one of those folks, so no disrespect. Go for it. That's music that basically is either performed by or at least heard by the characters inside the movie. So basically stuff that they would hear over their Star Wars, I guess we would call it a vibra radio um because you know you can just use vibra as a prefix in anything in the Star Wars world.
00:24:23
Speaker
Yeah, it's like, you know, in the original in A New Hope when the Cantina song is playing from, yeah you know, Finger Dan, that is diegetic because everyone in the Cantina can hear the song. Yep.
00:24:33
Speaker
So I got the impression that the techno-esque ah part of the score was diegetic, but, you know, that could just be my impression and it might not have been heard by any of the characters whatsoever.
00:24:46
Speaker
No, I would very much agree with that assessment because the way the music was done, it kind of felt like it was pouring out from like you know the different like clubs and bars and everything else that's in the area.
00:24:56
Speaker
yep Yeah. Yeah, i would I would definitely say, i would definitely agree with all of that. And another character in this movie has previously been listening to diegetic music, but was is more of a guitar rock kind of guy.
00:25:16
Speaker
On an episode of Rebels, Zeb was kicked back on top of the ghost listening to some guitar rock. Mm-hmm. But i think like, yeah.
00:25:30
Speaker
Do we have anything to say? I think you have a few other things you wanted to get into non-spoilery before we go spoiler. Oh, yeah. Just because I wrote down bullet points for myself. Yes.
00:25:42
Speaker
Where is it? out ah There was an opening not crawl. Because it didn't actually crawl. It was just like static text. Which, you know, I thought it kind of interesting to see that outside of Saga film.
00:25:52
Speaker
hu Not sure how I feel about it. Like, you know, if I think it's good or bad. But, you know, that's interesting. We saw one in Solo. And and he did and dave did it data with wevis soga yeah It's a TV series, though.
00:26:08
Speaker
So it's not the first time we've we've had something. like no But there was a first. I wouldn't call it the crawl because it's text it it didn't it didn't go down. didn't crawl. It didn't move. yeah it didn't It didn't crawl. But right at shortly after that, we did get something that we have never, ever seen in a Star Wars movie before.
00:26:36
Speaker
We saw opening credits. Oh, yes. I did notice that. Which I thought was very interesting, too. it Honestly, that honestly and I've seen in like a lot of communities, like like even the people that like are very positive about the film, are like that just felt odd.
00:26:58
Speaker
But like again, if you compare it to like you know Westerns, which is kind of what this is riffing off of, it's like when you're introducing your principal cast, like i'm trying to of example here like you know in a tarantino movie for example where he's on a couple of those hatefully or whatever it's similar to like the good the bad and the ugly yeah exactly it's it's very classic western and like totally it fits with what they're going for even with like they said like the suit like the pseudo sort of like b-roll of like the role going on in the background it's like it
00:27:31
Speaker
and It fits, but it's definitely like it it is like ah it's something new that the franchise has not done. well and And it's an interesting thing for them to choose to do that with this one being the first movie in theaters in six and a half years when a lot of movies these days don't do opening credits anymore. This is true.
00:27:56
Speaker
but i think that goes back to like what they're trying to do as far as like comparing it to the westerns that we've that you know we've all seen in the past and that's a like setting it apart from the rest of you know the star war more or less again if you have to compare the character if you have to compare the character of the mandalorian he's your classic uh classic western western hero he he Hero, he's like Lee Van Sieve. He's your Clint Eastwood struggling into town with a blaster on his hip.
00:28:33
Speaker
And like thematically, it very much is still a Star Wars movie. You know, at the end of the day, it's about family, but tonally, it sets itself apart. Yeah. Yep. I think that's a good point with the you know the um the point about the credits being rolled, or at least not rolled, but you know ah put on the screen in the beginning of the movie. that was I did kind of get taken aback by that by a little bit. um This may be going off course a little bit, but I remember um watching the ah director's commentary on Apocalypse Now by Francis Ford Coppola, who I believe was a close friend of Lucas'. oh yeah and mid they They were they're very close. Yeah, and he did not um want to have ah credits up front. He actually didn't even want to have credits at all. He wanted to, for Apocalypse Now, um his original idea was to simply put a copyright... um symbol at the end of the movie and then hand out you know a brochure um with all the credits on it, thinking that if he rolled credits, that it would sort of you know take people out of the world that he had created. And so it's it's a little bit, I wouldn't say jarring, but it was a bit surprising that
00:29:47
Speaker
Yeah, the this movie, Mandalorian and Grogu, did have credits at the beginning of the movie. And and I would say that that had you know a non-zero effect on your kind of ability to settle into the galaxy, so to speak. But at the very least, it is as a it's going into the film, it does definitely strike you like, oh, this is different.
00:30:14
Speaker
That's true. and it's oh As I recall, too, and I could i could be remembering this wrong, in 77, it was not only standard operating procedure, but pretty much required by the MPAA or the Directors Guild, one of the two, to have the opening credits.
00:30:40
Speaker
I'm pretty sure. And Lucas had to fight. to not have them for the original Star Wars. There's a lot of things that Lucas fucked against in terms of trends, in terms of creating the original Star Wars. Well, and I think we have to give a lot of credit to Alan Ladd, who had Lucas's back.
00:30:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. as like then was he But the basically, he was like trends. he He was throwing all that in the trash. So like...
00:31:11
Speaker
where we can acknowledge that there was like, he had people in his back to help with that. But it's like, honestly, like the fact that he bucked against friends and the fact that this is something that is usually in, in most mainstream films for over 50, 50 years.
00:31:31
Speaker
The fact that we got to see it in, in this Star Wars film was itself bucking of trends. was like, that was unique. You know, that's an interesting point about it being something that was, like, standard operating procedure and convention in the past, because I think that just further ties, like, this movie to, like, the aesthetic and tone that it's going for as far as something, like, older.
00:31:55
Speaker
Which, actually, I guess does kind of fit because, you know, it's a long, long time ago, galaxy far, far away, etc. But, like... the kind of like style it's aligning itself with. Honestly, I feel that this story is very much hearkening back to what Lucas based the Star War on, like your classic Buck Rogers, like serials.
Nostalgia and Star Wars Legacy
00:32:20
Speaker
It's like it's ah it's a story about small stories that feel bigger.
00:32:32
Speaker
Yep. And, you know, it's, it just, it did feel like a different movie. I'd say I, I was kind of, I hesitate to use the word spoiled, but I was spoiled on the fact that there were opening credits going in from, ah you know, some of those ah um social media online.
00:32:54
Speaker
hmm. influencers or whatnot that got to see the first 20 minutes ah about a month ago and were able to report the story and on that same channel Star Wars Explained Alex and Molly were like there are opening credits Star Wars has never done this before there's opening credits so I knew to expect it and I was interested to see how they did it and I i did like that you
00:33:26
Speaker
this might verge on spoiler territory, but it didn't go over much, if any, of the story. We got establishing shots things like that. Yeah, like, they were very intentional about how they placed it.
00:33:40
Speaker
honestly, I... One of the biggest, like, things that I feel that was, like, is both a good thing, and also I feel like is working... Again, I... We're talking about this on...
00:33:55
Speaker
on Sunday after its premiere, but it's like, what feel like may hurt it. The movie is like, no trailer has given like a full, like, what is the story or vibe of the film?
00:34:10
Speaker
Yeah, were it's pretty much just all of the promotion has traded on, hey, it's Mando and Grogu. You like them. Go see it.
00:34:22
Speaker
Or in my case, Or in my case, hey, there's an Amani. Go see it. Yes. This is itself a a like bold choice. what One last thought, really, on on the credits as we've been talking about it. Dad, you said that it kind of you know made you do a double take. And that reminds me of, you as much as I don't want to invoke the person's name, even though we have a whole sub-series coming up based on examining his work again, Betsy. Yeah, but um we'll get there when we get there.
00:34:55
Speaker
But for ah for possibly the best ever episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The Body, that you know spoiler alert for a 20 plus year old episode of a TV show, um ah butff Buffy comes home at the beginning and finds her mother dead of natural causes.
00:35:14
Speaker
And the whole episode is about her dealing with it. And when it comes back from the opening theme and everything and goes into the first act of the show after the cold open, Traditionally, that's where a TV show puts the guest starring credits and the production and writing credits.
00:35:36
Speaker
And they had to put them in there. And Joss Whedon was like, but that breaks what I'm trying to do here. So he inserted a brief flashback scene to all of the characters, including Buffy's mother, together for a Christmas dinner.
00:35:57
Speaker
so that those credits weren't interrupting the actual story that the rest of the episode was telling.
00:36:08
Speaker
So there there is something to that about credits you know taking you out a little bit. There is a lot of like crafting. to people that And there are many people that would say, like and they're probably correct this is a complicated version of like what would have been the Mandalorian season four into a movie. And there's plenty of reasons to see that. is if If you, if you want to get your, your little like, uh,
00:36:40
Speaker
magnifying glass you can find. I mean where like i was i was watching the new Rockstars video on all of the Easter eggs and references in it, and near the end of it, Eric Voss broke down what parts of the movie he thinks were episode breaks into the next episode into the next episode. So he broke down what he thinks the season would have been broken down to from the movie. That's fair to observe it from that perspective, but
00:37:12
Speaker
that's not what we're here to look at that because we're like nope we're here to look at a film and the film itself is so cohesive it Is it perfect? Honestly, that's anyone's perspective. it's a like let's Let's get through the rest of Betsy's non-spoiler stuff so then we don't have to self-censor anymore. ye Yeah, I was going to say, maybe in the interest of time, let's keep going. um Oh, Danny kind of already touched on this, but i basically described it as not as many Leo DiCaprio pointing at screen fan service moments, or like not as many as I thought there would be.
00:37:47
Speaker
And I can't tell if it's just that there weren't as many or if I am just actually living out that one XKCD comic and I'm not recognizing that because I'm like, oh, everybody knows that. Don't no worry. no know maryily i was there I pointed. I pointed at the screen. I was pointing at the screen.
00:38:04
Speaker
I saw him. I was sitting next to him. Mm hmm. um What else? Oh, the baby is cute and I love him. Just had to say that out loud. It's very important that everyone knows this. I want to see the baby.
00:38:18
Speaker
I want to see the little boy. There he is. um here you kind of touch on He's a 50 year old man. And?
00:38:31
Speaker
What's your point? And? And adorable. Thank you. Adorable little man. And Daryl, you kind of touched on like the music with different places, but I thought it was really cool to get to see Nelhuda on the big screen because the location that we've talked about like so much in the Star Wars that we've heard this is mentioned and thrown around all the time, so getting to actually like see it.
00:38:51
Speaker
And this yeah is not spoilers because we know we were going there. Spoilers! at the I actually... as part of by like, Leon our point is like, they actually showed Narsada in the background as the moon of Naohada. Oh yeah, that was also really cool.
00:39:11
Speaker
It was. You could see see the sit the city, the city, the city, uh, in the background of there, which is the first time we've seen both Naohada Now, how to in live action, but also the first canonical in a sort of series of now how to.
00:39:34
Speaker
And it looks like a city planet like it. Like it said. Nerd. Yes. Yeah. on the Casual nerdity podcast, Errol.
00:39:47
Speaker
What's your point? Exactly. I wear that. That's good up, Nick. That one went totally over my head. Yep. that That's how purpose it. Well, you know, Steph wants to see it again and wants to see it in IMAX, so I guess we're going to have to.
00:40:03
Speaker
I guess that's what's coming up this weekend. If so, I'll be there and I will point it out the two times it happened because it happened twice. Mm-hmm. You got two. can't wait.
00:40:18
Speaker
But, I mean, that being the case, I think that that actually shows um a great deal of reverence by you know the producers or director whoever made that scene happen is that they are you know sufficiently steeped in the lore. They're not just going to say, oh, we're going to put some you know moons that look cool in the background and everything. No, they have looked at the lore and they've found out, oh, there's Nar Shadda. Okay, we're going to make Nar Shadda in the background.
00:40:49
Speaker
so hiring considering one of the three Considering one of the three credited writers is the chief creative officer and now co-president of Lucasfilm, one would hope so. you know in general it's doing good you know They actually did deliver on that, and and kudos on that. ah yeah they got i yeah like i It was literally the moment. It's like, I saw And they did it again. Like, ah they did it again.
00:41:18
Speaker
I was like, oh, that's cool that That was me. They were looking for me. The guy. I'm the guy. Mm-hmm. You are at the Leo DiCaprio pointing at screen.
00:41:30
Speaker
Yes. Mm-hmm. Oh, also wanted to, you know, give a little shout out. Anthony Daniels has kept his perfect record of appearing in all of the Star Wars. Mm-hmm. Yes.
00:41:42
Speaker
And yes, he has also just need to yell about Embo and his very good dog. Who is also a new dog. and dog Yeah. Yeah. Her name is Cabu and she is a very good girl, but I still have to ask like what happened to Merrick? And yes, I looked up to make sure I got the dog's names right. And yes, also I know she's an Anuba and not a dog. Don't come from me. I'm actually yours. She is dog. a new bu well Well, it's been about 25 years is what happened. And,
00:42:10
Speaker
Truly? That's what Jon Favreau said? It was just past the earlier Doggo's time. Okay, it's the Star War. If Yoda can live for fucking centuries or whatever and Papa Palpatine can somehow return, then dogs can be immortal.
00:42:25
Speaker
Do you hear me, Lucasfilm? Let the dogs be immortal. Hey, you're preaching to the choir right now, especially after this last month that I've had.
00:42:37
Speaker
Oh, this episode of Casual Nerdity is now officially dedicated to Echo, a very good girl. Yes. Insert heart emoji to Betsy here. I love her. Are we going to have to have, like, the next episode ah in the arms of the angel to for for for the Nila?
00:42:54
Speaker
No, she deserves better than that. o howah She deserves better than Sarah McLaughlin. She's a good girl. Whoa, that that that's a... How could... i can I'm going to suppress that. Hey, i I fired those shots. I know exactly what I said.
00:43:11
Speaker
I may be dating myself a bit with this comment, but I actually had um pretty strong vibes of the Gmork from NeverEnding Story with ah Embo's dog, or Embo's animal, let's just say. yeah Now that you say that, I totally see that. Just wanted throw that out there.
00:43:32
Speaker
Yeah, but also, like, again, also, you can see that there was at least, like, there's CGI elements, but there's clearly a puppet underneath that.
00:43:44
Speaker
Yeah. And... No, you said puppet, but it sounded like you said puppy, and I very much agree. ah Well, so yeah. the Yeah. Now we're going to go ahead and get into spoiler territory and talking alert sort of about a movie makes Oh, the horrible baby. The bad baby.
00:44:08
Speaker
This is where the fun begins.
00:44:13
Speaker
So, spoiler talk. Everyone has been warned there is a timestamp in the notes that we are going into spoiler discussion now. audience are off On YouTube there will be an official like moment.
00:44:29
Speaker
Well, I mean, there's no video on the YouTube version. We just distribute the audio through YouTube, but the same show notes are there. so Do I get to yell about my first thing yet? Can I yell about my first point yet?
00:44:41
Speaker
Go ahead. okay Ladies first. I see Zeb, but where is his husband? Where is Hot Calus? I want my old man interspecies space, Yowie, and I want it now. I know you can hear me, Filoni. And yes, I'm talking to you because Hot Calus is your character.
00:44:56
Speaker
Where is he? choose to believe that Hot Calus is- I don't know. He has very large hat. You have speak a little bit louder. You know he can hear me. He bugs your like room and hears all the things that we talk about during our games.
00:45:11
Speaker
I choose to believe that Hot Callous was not in the movie because the only acceptable live action casting of Hot Callous, Alexander Skarsgård, was busy filming something else.
00:45:24
Speaker
I mean, you're not wrong, but I mean, they couldn't have just like had a short holo call with him.
00:45:30
Speaker
You know, they can CG that. i mean I just want Zeb and his husband to talk again. But can we accept that we got to see live action Zeb doing his... We've seen live action Zeb. Where is live action Zeb talking to his husband? He had to do his monkey man stuff. And it was really cool. Yeah, we before we saw live action Zeb just sitting at a bar.
00:45:53
Speaker
We actually saw live action Zeb doing stuff. we we just With the bow blaster. His ancestral weapon. It was really cool. Um, actually, his ancestral weapon is called a bow rifle.
00:46:10
Speaker
Betsy just, um, actually, the lore guy. Okay, okay. Did I do it right? Did I do it right? Was I annoying enough? You did? No, you you you didn't call him m'lord.
00:46:23
Speaker
I'm sorry, I don't have a fedora that's actually a trilby to tip, so... But it's audio only. wheat Nobody knows that. We could have just said you did. can at least hear the metaphorical you pussying up the the glasses on your brow.
00:46:42
Speaker
Although, a tip for next time... You know I'm the only one out of you guys that doesn't have glasses. A tip for for next time, Betsy? It's pronounced actually.
00:46:53
Speaker
Oh, right. Of course. Of course. I gotta get it more like... I just... like that actually you're um actually I need to add more saliva when I talk about it. Got it. Yes.
00:47:06
Speaker
It's got a more guttural place, like deep down on like the throat. I did love seeing Zeb in live action. I love that in the aforementioned opening credits, Steve Bloom was credited.
00:47:20
Speaker
uhuh
00:47:23
Speaker
Even though I doubt he was the one doing any motion capture... If there was any motion capture for Zeb at all, he was just doing the voice work, I'm sure, but he was credited. And also, hiking a I could tell this almost like there's likely a really talented stunt actor that was doing that stuff. that There's a lot of really talented stunt actors doing stuff.
00:47:48
Speaker
Yes, and speaking of that and those opening credits, I do appreciate that um Brendan Wayne and Lateef Crowder were credited.
00:48:00
Speaker
the The two men who are in the armor 90% of the time were credited. And the ones that get like thrown around and stuff. yeah also like aroundgen is lateef The one that does like most of just like the conversational and and non-action stuff is Brendan Wayne.
00:48:23
Speaker
But also credit to Pato Pascal. it you You can be fooled by all three of them. Yes. They are like like in terms of like like there is like moments where like oh, that that's the stunt actor, or that's the actual stunt actor. You could be fooled by all three of them.
00:48:50
Speaker
Yep. Yep. Absolutely. and you know I was pleasantly surprised by there being a decent length of time that um Pedro was there unmasked on screen.
00:49:11
Speaker
Now, I do... and I will go into a small... I'll i'll go into a small nit. He's a traditional stunt actor. he He's, like, his major, major, like, claim to fame is from Game of Thrones, and he did amazing stunt work in that.
00:49:30
Speaker
I will go into a small nit that carries over from Season 3 of The Mandalorian, which is... after that whole you know reuniting of the of the two different philosophies of Mandalorians and coming together, and given that he had willingly taken his hel helmet off in front of Grogu and the rest to show his son his face at the end of season two, let Din get comfortable taking his helmet off.
00:50:02
Speaker
Please? i mean I mean, I'm okay if I'm having to go go back in. go back to Mandalore and and ah dive into into the Mifisor Bastard. It's not problem anymore.
00:50:14
Speaker
Yeah, but it's just like his thing. gotta go back to the Mifisor Bastard. No, but I mean... But even going back to the waters is not a problem because it's all set up for formal ceremonies now. We saw Grogu do it at the end of season three.
00:50:34
Speaker
I mean, it's not like it's a major quest anymore. You just you you you go down, you you hop in the pool and you're done. but it's so fun. Mandalorian baptism.
00:50:46
Speaker
Anyway, that's that's that's just a a minor nit. I was expecting i got die that to be where the character went in season three and progressing on from season three. I fully expected, given everything that happened in season three for the final shot of season three to be when Mando and Grogu are relaxing in his house on Navarro, that he would be on the porch with his helmet off watching Grogu play.
00:51:16
Speaker
Well, he did he did make a caveat. Like, Norman's supposed to be like, youre you your helmet's been removed by an enemy. He's like, well, it doesn't matter as long as they're dead.
00:51:30
Speaker
Yeah, that's a new part of that. ah Anyway, anyway. um Let's see, what what else? Again, do you have anything to add?
00:51:44
Speaker
To, um... Without having the spoiler... we now india the spoiler I mean, i personally, i loved how much the Enzelans were used.
00:51:59
Speaker
i am i think that I think that we are going to be seeing a lot more of them. um If this were the 80s, would honestly put money on there being a cartoon spinoff about the Enzelans. Oh, yeah. Ewoks and droids, which I think were underappreciated. Um, ah but, uh, I, I did have one, uh, slight disappointment, which I did communicate to Betsy in the theater. Um, when, uh, one of them who had been separated from his, uh, brethren or his little gang, whatever you want to call it, uh, finally reunited with them. He didn't greet them with a, her which I thought. I agree that that that was a missed opportunity. That was a missed opportunity.
00:52:45
Speaker
um But, you know, I can only fault them so much for that. yeah they may they Otherwise, they were, again, both amazing puppets, puppetry. And and honestly, Carrie, the large, like, they they did easily a good for the sequence. And but i hear I appreciate it.
00:53:05
Speaker
That was a missed opportunity, but... ah they made up for it. Like I didn't expect them to carry as much of the film as it did. Speaking of the Anzelans and a missed opportunity, but also something that I appreciated.
00:53:20
Speaker
I liked that we saw that they have their own ship. Their ship is scaled to them. yeah I wish, I wish we hadn't seen anything
Character Development: Din and Grogu
00:53:30
Speaker
that gave it that sense of scale until it got to the bit where, you know,
00:53:36
Speaker
getting near closer to the beginning of act three, when, you know, Mando Grogu has ah nursed him back to health. And Mando walks up as like, i can't fit in that. that i wish we aren known That would be a very hard conceit to conceal for that long. But yes, I think it would have been a great reveal.
00:54:01
Speaker
I will feel that like, even with that, can see Ari node, it was a still solid, solid, solid bit. The the moment was like, oh yeah. and the It was, it was less the fact that like, we already would know that, but we're caught up in the scene already.
00:54:20
Speaker
and it's like, so we're caught up in the like the hype of the moment. And then it's like, oh, he, he, he, he hits it. I mean, I loved the cockpit scene where, you know, there was like ah three of them and then Grogu was like kind of scrunched up in the cockpit. That was hilarious.
00:54:39
Speaker
Yeah. all For once, he is not the tiny one. yeah Outside of all of the context, the humor, no point did I feel like, oh, that's a bit too much. Like, I felt the humor hit right in my funny bone.
00:54:56
Speaker
Yep. Yes. And I don't think that it was very forced. Sometimes there's very forced humor and it's kind of yeah grown worthy. But I think that most of the, the beats, at least the comic beats in this movie were kind of what I would say, genuine.
00:55:12
Speaker
measure There was a measurement to like, here's where the funny bit, hit this is where the funny bit is like there's drama and we need to diffuse the scene. Here's the comedy.
00:55:24
Speaker
Darryl, can we edit that sound clip to have Anakin say, this is where the funny bit is. This is where the fun begins. Yeah. Close enough. I am not skilled enough to edit it to make him say funny bit. Just say yet. Just say yet.
00:55:43
Speaker
Yeah, but it was, it, at no point did I feel youre like the comedy, at no point that it's oh, that didn't hit. It's like, at points, it,
00:55:54
Speaker
it hits right at the right moment. It's like, oh, there's a, here's the drama. Here's, here's the emotion. It's like, yep. And here's the, here's, okay. he but Let's have a little moment like chill.
00:56:08
Speaker
So if I can go back for a moment to ah something that I brought up before that really resonates with me, and that is the um concept of reverence in the movie. And the the scene that actually I appreciated the most, and it might come as a surprise to even the rest of this group, but just hold on. We'll get there, as we said. Mm-hmm.
00:56:33
Speaker
The scene that I really appreciated the most due to its reverence was the um Dejeric arena scene with all of the original holotable creatures performing the exact moves that they performed on Han Solo's Dejeric table. Oh, that was fun. Usually yeah i am I'm the lore guy, but I'll let you have that because that that is like...
00:57:00
Speaker
you you you You have the the rights, the same opinion as me. Thank you. I mean, honestly, like not only did they put all of the creatures in and they had the same stuff and they walked in the same way, but I mean, you know, the long necked one, body slamming, the the club wielding one. I mean, that is just straight up, you know,
00:57:23
Speaker
Chewie versus Threepio in the Falcon. And yeah anytime you can tie in to the original trilogy is ah is is at this point in the game, i do think it's a work of reverence. And I really appreciate When they do it, and especially when they don't do it, I don't think it was over the top. I don't think it was pandering.
00:57:43
Speaker
i just think that it was, you know, to overuse the term reverent. And and I really appreciated that from ah from a long term fan perspective. Oh, for sure. For sure. And that segment of the movie will help me tease me up to mention something that will tee up Betsy's next bullet point in the notes. And that is, I was disproportionately excited to learn what I thought originally was just a misdirect.
00:58:15
Speaker
I honestly thought that when they announced the casting of um Jeremy Allen White, And they said, and he's going to be playing Rod of the Hut. I was like, oh, no, that's just, that's pranking the audience. He is going to be in the movie, but he's playing somebody else.
00:58:32
Speaker
But... not only was I disproportionately excited that he actually was playing Rada has became more obvious this time went on before the movie came out, but that Rada was as significant in the movie as he was. He wasn't just a cameo. He was a a driving part of the plot and he was a full ass character. Yeah. Yeah. Pathos.
00:59:01
Speaker
Oh yeah. Same. It, It surprised me. Like, when when he showed up the trailer, he's like, okay, that's a cool cameo.
00:59:13
Speaker
but That's a cool cameo. How are they going to establish that that's Rada? It's just not. it's not even It's not even that hard. It's like, all right, did' like they they name drop him. the ah Yeah, but I mean, though then it was like, you did okay, so so what else do you got with him?
00:59:31
Speaker
ok Yeah, like it could have just been, you know, the fanservice-y Leo DiCaprio pointing at screen moment like, hey, I remember the Clone Wars movie. But it wasn't. I remember.
00:59:42
Speaker
Or as as someone, I forget who it was, Alex and Molly were saying on their weekly video that somebody said that Radha went from punky muffin to stud muffin.
00:59:53
Speaker
that a He was no longer baby stinky. I... a There might be some people that think that he's the right kind of thing. Others he's not that bulky.
01:00:10
Speaker
but But yeah, I i loved the story that they gave Radha. Again, I didn't expect him to be like with us for the whole movie.
01:00:21
Speaker
Yeah, I didn't expect him to be with us for the whole movie. Where they left him at the end, I want more. as please give me more please and good i expected like oh fun cool cameo we're just gonna breeze by that it's too late for Ahsoka season 2 but when we get to Filoni's post crisis air to the empire ish movie whatever please Radha please
01:01:00
Speaker
Baloney, we know you can hear eyes Also, I'm fine. But as as a long-term Star Wars fan, seeing a full-body Hutt actually fighting...
01:01:16
Speaker
yeah no Now, the the way that we all know one another, um how... Betsy, Dan, how much would it surprise you to learn that I messaged Nick earlier today with a stat block for Radha as we see him in the movie for the RPG?
01:01:40
Speaker
not I mean, I'm surprised it took you that long. Well, I... Well, you did have to do the backlog tour this morning, so... it yeah i had it i i i it and i sent it to Nick before the Backlot Tour. I can confirm my hat I have the... i have i have the it Let's here. It was sent to me at 9.18am, so right before you even did that.
01:02:09
Speaker
Yes, right shortly before I came in for the Backlot Tour. Nice. ah yes
01:02:19
Speaker
it's say yeah I always tell people, it's like, you're lucky that Chava the Hutt is like a glutton and and not is a superhero beast.
01:02:34
Speaker
The Hutt used to be warriors, my friend, and that's Rod. He can... Oh, God, that style is so fucking cool.
01:02:47
Speaker
But Betsy... with with rada's storyline yeah can i yell about it there you my friend okay okay have things to say um yeah so if you've been watching this show for a while you probably won't be surprised to hear this but you know hey like you know all those like walls of text and long rants and clone watch where you know i go like on and on about cycles of violence and neglect and abuse and like how those cycles are perpetuated in families and how so much of the star wars characters either like perpetuating those cycles, you know, like both disaster lineage, or breaking them like Vendress and El Slater Ahsoka, and you know, all the characters I'm allowed to talk about yet on that show specifically because it counts as spoilers.
01:03:25
Speaker
Yeah, that. So I could just, you know, do the same thing and write a whole other wall of text and, you know, go on another long rant, but this is already getting kind of long. So just to save everyone the trouble, I just need all of you to picture me like furiously gesturing at a like, rata-shaped cardboard cutout. Like, specifically I'm gesturing to the air right next- to the right of where I'm sitting and visualizing this, like, cardboard cutout movie theater.
01:03:49
Speaker
And, uh, Daryl, can you just, like, push the button? Again, it's like poetry. It's sort of, they rhyme. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. It's just... How- How- How- I'm flailing my arms around and I know that this is not a visual medium so you can't see it, but I'm doing it anyway. How f- Is he flexing everything?
01:04:10
Speaker
I mean, wasn't really picturing that. It's more just I'm pointing at him like, look, look, the theme is back. Look. My emotions! Speaking of that theme, and I know that you have thoughts on this same sort of topic, Betsy, but that you see it seemed to me like the movie kind of danced around the idea of how Radha trying to get out from under Jabba's shadow mirrors Mando and Grogu.
01:04:40
Speaker
Because we're definitely told explicitly but you know by Radha and meant to to think that Din is a good dad for our little baby Yoda. But how many times did he tell Grogu to heal like a pet?
01:05:02
Speaker
that That kind of bugged me. I was just saying. I'm just saying there. But there there was a lot... Part of the arc was also... And every other night that he's mortal and he will pass.
01:05:20
Speaker
And he's getting... Again, what am one of my favorite lines... This is a character who got offended when Mayfield referred to Grogu as his pet.
01:05:31
Speaker
who And now here here he is saying, like, heal. Yeah, like, I have a thing about that, too. It's further down to my bullet points, but I'll mention it now. like I feel i feel they did that again like the reason I am dissecting it is because there's some, there's clearly, like, a external way that this movie was created, but what really helps me with that is, like, the moment when he does recover, calls him kiddo,
01:06:05
Speaker
and and And then then Cribs' a Marlon Brando dialogue from Superman. That too. I didn't cry. You didn't see me cry. No one saw me cry. ah If you ask the Colas, he didn't see me cry.
01:06:25
Speaker
but i just I thought that there was a lot more material to mine about Din and Grogu than the movie did you know in that father-son dynamic. Yeah, it's like I also kind of agree with what you said about the heel thing and that it was kind of weird. and like I can't tell if it was like genuine and therefore kind of...
01:06:46
Speaker
dehumanizing de yoda's bc icing whatever or if it was like meant to be some kind of like tongue-in-cheek facetious inside joke that played into other characters expectation of who slash what grogo is yeah but yeah like it's not that and that's giving them too much credit again part of it has to be like the fact that we have to recognize this uh unfortunately this is like a season truncated into a movie but it feels going backwards from what already have And that's part of where I'm coming from there because it, it seemed like most of that exploration of their dynamic that could have been done was just kind of fell by the wayside and they counted on us knowing what we know from the series. Exactly. All of that lifting.
01:07:34
Speaker
Again, that it's, it is like, it is, that there is some like, as much as I do like it, and I do feel like it is a... To it a general audience, it does feel like a complete arc, but for those that have watched it, you also have to like, there's some heavy lifting on the back end that you have to bring in to make it really, like, hint, but it' like it's also, like, parts of, like, well, we also have to accept that some people are not going to take the time to watch three seasons of a Disney Plus series.
01:08:14
Speaker
Yep. go Go on, Betsy, because you're following up. Yeah, because, you know, i just want to say in general, despite with the places where it was lacking, I am, you know, screaming, crying, throwing up, et cetera, about the relationship between Danny and Yoru.
01:08:29
Speaker
Like, no textiles, I'm just going to word vomit about the baby and his dad. Oh, which, by the way, by the way, can we talk about Radha referring to Dina's group whose dad, like, automatically? Like, no one said anything about what their relationship was. He just, like, looked at the two of them and their dynamic. Oh, yes, a father and son working together. And didn't even need to ask for confirmation. And how much that says about Radha's views and understanding of family and parenthood and what it means to be a parent. Because father is not a thing that you are. It's a thing that you you do and choose to keep doing day in and day out.
01:08:58
Speaker
This is all typed as a parenthetical. It doesn't count as a text. Well, shut up. I do what I want. ah What were you going to say, Nick? I really liked when they were playing in the and the waters. and is Yes.
01:09:14
Speaker
i see That they they're may very hard explode. it is And Rana is now Grogu's uncle. That's one of those moments that I want Din to be okay with his helmet off.
01:09:28
Speaker
Because imagine if we see Pedro emoting at that moment. While he's playing with the baby on the beach. Honestly. But if they do that scene from like the Lilo. From Lilo and Stitch. where it's like they make the sandcastle on top of him.
01:09:44
Speaker
It'd be cute. i get ah the The reason I will accept this because.
01:09:54
Speaker
How they portrayed the Mandalorian is like. And my best example is the fact is like. The Mandalorian is able to portray so many great emotions despite being a very emotionless mask, but is able to with the body language does so. so And the the best counter import is like the most terrible version of that is the most recent live action Halo series with Master Chief, a character that normally also is entirely masked.
01:10:30
Speaker
They did not believe that he could handle that, so they removed the mask constantly. I still would have loved to have seen Pedro reacting.
01:10:45
Speaker
That would be great, but I'll admit that they he is an amazing actor. The actor either behind the mask and himself, which he does interact with,
01:10:59
Speaker
does so much more behind the mask and it's better to have that than to like be like well you you can't remove behind a mask so we have to remove that even though that's like an iconic part of the character can we just give a massive fist bump for Grogu's little um arming up montage a la every yeah action movie yes Grogu gets his own quest to save his dad Yep. I mean, that was like straight up Schwarzenegger from Commando.
01:11:33
Speaker
Honestly, it was also very much like ah Gremlins 2. Well,
01:11:42
Speaker
and I just, you know, it was a nice moment. It was a great... Yeah. It was a nice moment. It was a great, um you throwback montage, but also, know, it called back to just a few scenes earlier where, you know, Din saying like, hey, you know, when you're going out, you have to make sure that your armor is in place and that everything is good. Is it good? Okay.
01:12:10
Speaker
And so, you know, even though, you again, truncated from a season, we see the mentorship and the the training and Grogu, Grogu being more than just a cuteness factory. Yeah.
01:12:25
Speaker
Yes, like that's a thing I had to go to like Din is starting to respect Grogu's like autonomy and independence and i like giving him the space to grow and actually I don't know if I'm correct on this but if I remember correctly that like whole heel thing never happens again like post you know the venom induced coma.
01:12:46
Speaker
So, you know, it could also be like kind of a shorthand for growth. But also like a lot of it is like Din is also teaching Rogu. He's not just like shielding him. He's not just telling him what to do.
01:12:58
Speaker
Like it's very much leaning into the mentorship side of things. And another thing I noticed, too, like, you know, talking, I guess, specifically about the, like, you know, Venom healing scene dealio, like, looking at Grogu kind of as a support character and how that sets him apart from Din and how that also kind of sets him apart from this idea of, like, what a Mandalorian should be. And Grogu could instead be, like, what a Mandalorian can be, which feeds back into that, like, idea of, you know, autonomy and independence and choice.
01:13:30
Speaker
enjoy Overall, like from the start, like even in like the amazing... like like we We haven't really touched on in the opening sequence because it's just like it's just like a badass action sequence. But Grogu is there as a partner. it's like He is co-starring.
01:13:53
Speaker
the The series is called The Mandalorian. This movie is called The Mandalorian Grogu and it is their story together collectively. Yeah, because it's like Grogu is not reduced to the cuteness factor, but I feel like he's also not, you know, made to be like a mini Din in any way. Like he's very much allowed to be his own character. There is The Mandalorian and Grogu and they are both the they' the headliners. They are the story.
01:14:24
Speaker
But like when you're doing a father-son dynamic, it'd be so easy to like make the you know son character like very similar to the father character and embodying a lot of like what the father character is instead of making space for them to be their own character and like that exists independently. And I like that they're making that space for Gorgue as a character to exist on his own. like Well, not only that, but they also influence each other, right? They're mentoring each other. Well, I mean, the mentoring is is mostly one way, um but, you know, like ah Mandalorian, you know, helps Grogu evolve and in in his own way. Grogu helps Mandalorian evolve. And then there's like this risk reciprocity to their relationship.
01:15:06
Speaker
it Like for a negative example, like ah they there was a movie called Batman and Robin from like the... from like the area No, there wasn't.
01:15:18
Speaker
What are you talking about? That never happened. Nope. That was a fever dream that you had, Nick. A fever dream that I had. they did horrible things to my son. And one and it was wasn't wasn't reciprocal, and it didn't help either of them. In this case, they are they are equal pairs.
01:15:37
Speaker
We are watching, we're not watching a stronger character or a weaker character. We are watching two characters who are headlining the same film.
01:15:48
Speaker
And speaking of them both headlining the same film and going back to what we were saying in the non-spoiler about the practical effects and the use of puppetry and all of that, they trusted the story and the practical effects to allow Grogu to carry 10 to 15 minutes of this movie.
01:16:12
Speaker
Yep. um ah Roughly? i would I'd say it's more than that, actually. I'd call it a solid like third of the movie was... Was that? With big assist to the Unzellens.
01:16:27
Speaker
Obviously, yeah. But but even then, the Anzelans weren't necessarily filling in the world. I'm thinking of just the time you know after you the Anzelans take off to go get help and Din tells Grogu to go with him and you think... Nobody in the theater thought that Grogu went with him, okay?
01:16:48
Speaker
Yeah. There's a reason that the scene cut before he even got on the ship and was like... yeah no but Nobody thought that he left. No no one know one of a brain thought that they were... That was obvious. But it's like i would say like still, I'm talking for you from the point that you Mando passes out from the poison.
01:17:07
Speaker
From the venom. I corrected myself. i This is my pet peeve. Yes, I know. That's why I corrected myself. So Mando passes out from the time that he passes out until he he wakes up after Grogu has given him the anti-venom.
01:17:28
Speaker
Grogu carries the entire movie. Without saying a word. Without saying a word. yeah And honestly, a i Actually, it's something to bring up that Nicole was enthralled. like You know Nicole is like pretty easy to be distracted in something that without popcorn. She did not eat a single piece of popcorn. She was glued to the screen. It's like...
01:17:55
Speaker
And ho ah like use you saw that Nicole had her little Grogu Plus. She was holding onto that thing as like and just staring at it at the screen. It was she was channeling all of her energy into that little fella.
01:18:14
Speaker
That's kind of reminiscent, um you know, what we're saying about Grogu essentially carrying the movie for you know X number of minutes with barely saying a word. That's very reminiscent of of actually Wall-E.
01:18:25
Speaker
Right? Which is another adorable small character. Right? Who carries 20 minutes of a movie without saying a word. You know what? Actually, think this kind of feeds back into what you were saying about when the helmet stays on and it comes to body language. am high-fiving you because Warwick is one of my favorite movies of all time.
01:18:46
Speaker
Yes. And yeah at the tail end of of that whole segment that Grogu carries the movie... The physical effects coming in again, that that bit near the end, he's given Mando the anti-venom and then curls up into the crook of his
01:19:09
Speaker
If that had been CGI, it would have not have hit. Would not have hit the slightest. Because was like in that moment, it's his last... last-ditch effort to save his father. and it's basically like, well, if I... He's like, I gave i gave it all. it's like But he's like, crawling up into the crook of his arm. It's like, at least I'll have one moment.
01:19:33
Speaker
but One final moment. It's like, damn. the the The emotions don't have to say... don't have to say the words, but the actions, the body language has like And that moment of panic in the in the next scene is like, where where is he? Where is he?
01:19:54
Speaker
Right, exactly. Did he go off to die? and Also, remember, it's Grogu. He's been trained with that. For all he knows, his father turned into the, disappeared the living force.
01:20:14
Speaker
Yeah. So i mean i'll all of that was was just awesome. I love that what started as just you an adorable mystery box in season one has also ka like like rada has become a full-blown character a actually a rounded character yeah going back to the physicality too like a thing that stood out to me is there are all those moments where like when he's building the little mud hood around him you can see that it's actually like you know the physical animatronic patting the mud down when he's you know getting the antidote for him you can see him physically taking like
01:20:53
Speaker
pieces of it. Getting up to his mouth, gathering the water. And I think that the physicality of this caretaking, too. One of my favorite bits was the little like unwrapping of the little of the little leaf.
01:21:07
Speaker
Yep. ah da just like that was like I was like, oh, that's some beautiful animation. But also I felt like the emotions. He's so gentle and It's like the physical acts of the caretaking and how much weight that gives them.
01:21:22
Speaker
Like because of the physicality of them, because of the tangibility of them. It was care. It was not just like impressive as if artistry. It was also like it's meant to be like they're they're gentle because they want to make sure that they don't drop anything to make sure it's just it had it added to the emotions.
01:21:45
Speaker
Mm hmm. So I was we did i want to piggyback on something Daryl said and use it to segue um for a minute. So Daryl just said, you know, it helped him really become a fully fledged
Species and Droid Dynamics in Star Wars
01:22:01
Speaker
character. Right. So um I want to take that and get to where I said i was going to get to because,
01:22:11
Speaker
Amanin or Amani right we got it we got to talk about the Amani I literally put a bullet point in here that says Dan got to see his people Yes, so for those not in the know Amani ah There was a specific one in Return of the Jedi who had about three seconds of screen time Aman Aman look him up He looked like a fantastic fearsome bounty hunter That's not really a fully fledged character being on screen for three seconds, right? In Star Wars, it is. Well, apparently so. get their own action figure. but that That's true. That's true. you Full out the back. But no, I get what you're saying, Dan. Keep going. they they had they had and All right. i'm gonna I'm going to do a little sidetrack here. I want to go on record, and Nick, you're going to be my witness here. I asked for the Amani to be statted out for our Star Wars RPG at least two years ago. All right. So I don't typically pat myself on the back, but Nick, ah you're you're my witness on this, right?
01:23:16
Speaker
I asked Nick to stat out the Amani so I could play one for my birthday present from Nick like two years ago. So I feel like in this one minute little thing, I may have been ahead of the curve. But that all being said, I worked.
01:23:33
Speaker
I worked. Nick worked diligently at it. I've been playing this character ah Hilariously and joyfully. Amazingly. in it I put every effort to, like, I went through lessons. I went through canon. I made every single thing that I could to make things. Absolutely. So, Filoni, if you're listening, ah you've got you've got a lore master, ah you know, for Amani in Nick right here. Very very likely he is.
01:24:03
Speaker
The joke is that he iss he's bugged my house and he he's heard these things. So that that's why we're getting into what you're going to say. Right. so So that being said, I absolutely loved and felt a bit vindicated by the fact that there were like not one, but I think four or maybe even six Amani on the screen. Based on what I've counted, there's at least six.
01:24:28
Speaker
Yeah, there were four in the water and then two or three hunting in the jungle um afterwards. And i was a bit surprised by them seemingly making them into an aquatic species, whereas they're actually kind of a plains or like grassland species. Due to their like physiology, it's not it's not too hard to imagine that they could swim. Right, not too hard, exactly. And yeah they still...
01:24:57
Speaker
They'll make it that they can construct like crude instruments like spears. Yep. I love that they actually use the, uh, the role mode, uh, so to speak of the, mother without that was amazing.
01:25:12
Speaker
Yeah, that was awesome. So, so going back, like return of the Jedi, you had a monomon who was like in there for three seconds, like two very short scenes, no, no dialogue or anything. Now you have like at least half a dozen Amani for on the screen for minutes and They still don't say anything, but obviously, you know, they have just guttural sounds. But hopefully this is, you know, a slow evolution to making a fully fledged character, because going back to another thing that was said earlier, I think that there is a lot of mining that can be done with this species. I mean, I would personally love to see. Aman Aman show up in this series. I think that would be a perfect context for that character, you know, to return basically, but at least another of its species. Yeah. As a thing also, like you, you we, we spent a long time developing the character, developing, I did the stats, but you felt a very iconic and very prominent, like,
01:26:19
Speaker
you give Give it to the audience. i love no i love I love playing scraw. um yeah yeah give Give us the growl. oh oh Oh, hold on. Hold on. I need to have a drink of water first.
01:26:36
Speaker
At the risk of a copyright infringement, here we go. Here's here is ah how you know that scraw is on the scene.
01:26:48
Speaker
Wait.
01:26:51
Speaker
I don't know how well that showed up on the microphone. Oh, I can hear it. yeah But either way, it was... It's essentially the Predators, ah you know... But it close to what we heard.
01:27:05
Speaker
Further proof that, like, Dave Flores bugged my house. Well, i I will say this, Dad. When that first trailer dropped and we showed it to you and there was the shot of the one Imani coming up, i was like,
01:27:19
Speaker
Unfortunately, that's probably like the entirety of its appearance in movie. And it was not. Even if that were the case, I still would have been felt very gratified. But I mean, this like so many like yeah they were shown in the best light. And you argue that, like yeah, they're enslaved by the Hutts.
01:27:42
Speaker
they they probably They're probably not in their best... But it's like they were using tools. They... they They did the roll mode. All of that was like, it was more Amani than I could have ever imagined. Yep.
01:27:58
Speaker
Yep. Agreed. i was a little bit surprised to see, um you know, so many of them being used as, um you know, what would it be like execution arena beasts, but also as trackers.
01:28:13
Speaker
And i was a little bit surprised not to see any of them, like, um you know, at least accompanying the sort of old and rusty clankers, you know, that were guarding the fortress and everything. I could totally see one of those, you know, with a spear and then, like, just, you know, dragging, like, a couple of skulls behind them in the other hand. can imagine, like, the fact that they people are bestial because, like, the Hutts were using them as, like, monsters rather than like, people. Yeah.
01:28:42
Speaker
But then again, I mean, a couple of them were sent out as trackers, right? Trackers and assassins, essentially. But they kind of seem be operating separate from all the droids they sent out. So I kind feel like the Amani were like their own thing, which I thought was kind of cool because it let them have their own spotlight.
01:28:56
Speaker
Right. Maybe it was kind of like they were the hounds, like release the hounds. Yeah. Also, the point although the dragon snake was so cool. Yeah. Yeah, but no, like when they sent them out, like the droids folded like wet cardboard, the Amani were actually a challenge. Yeah. Yeah.
01:29:12
Speaker
ah And Nick, speaking of of the droids and the old clankers, the droid gotra. Yeah, that's a deep cut, deep cut.
01:29:24
Speaker
i I mean, I personally had visions of the ABC droid from Judge Dredd. Yeah. Yeah, actually. Yeah. Down to the stop motion, kind of.
01:29:36
Speaker
Yep, exactly. im Mentioning the droid Gatra and having the droid Gatra used as as security. like As you know, my son Xander is is a fan of the droid Gatra. Nothing impresses him these days.
01:29:55
Speaker
But I got home and was like, hey, not only... did they mention the droid Gatra, but the Hutts were using them as security? He's like, oh, okay. Yeah, and they hired them as security. They had cloaks, they had capes, and it was cool.
01:30:14
Speaker
I was a little bit um surprised to see that with all of the Hutts' influence and wealth, that they were being surrounded and guarded by, you know, 40 to 50-year-old rusty ah separatist droids. i felt I felt that that was a a little bit beneath them. They've lost a lot of influence in this time period. Okay, that I can buy. This family in particular, so it For anyone that didn't see Book of Boba Fett, these are twins who are they're they're what like cousins of Jabba, or niece and nephew, something like that. and
01:30:55
Speaker
Jabba died, Bib Fortuna took over Jabba's empire, and then Boba Fett came in and took it over. So Boba Fett has Jabba's empire.
01:31:08
Speaker
Yeah. Boba Fett is running all of that now. and Yeah, also I was thinking like from a lore perspective, Nick, you can correct me if I'm wrong on this because you're kind of the lore guy, but if I remember like a lot of the Separatist droids were like the founders of the Droid Gatra because of how they just kind of got left to rust and rot after the end of the Clone Wars. Yeah.
01:31:28
Speaker
So I think it would make sense that you're seeing a lot of them there. Like, you know, they're kind of the backbone of what started the Droid Gatra. And at this point, like, The Hutt cartel kind of got massacred during the time that Han Solo was being delivered to Jabba the Hutt. So the Hunts are literally on their last legs of power. Okay, well, that's being said that it makes a lot more sense that they're getting their security from, you know, old Clone War droids. Well, I want to look at it differently there, actually, because kind of what I'm seeing is that, you know, again, because they were the founders of the droid gotcha, if anything, it speaks to, like, how much they value, you know, themselves and droids as, like, you know, their own autonomous beings that these, you know, old school battle droids from...
01:32:17
Speaker
way back during the Clone Wars, are still out here functioning today because they're actually, like, keeping up and taking care of themselves. What were meant to be these disposable tools that were used and thrown away over and over and over again are still here, still functioning, still paid as enforcers because they maintain themselves because that's important to them.
01:32:35
Speaker
they they They have their own community and society, and I think that's cool. They're being held up, like, even, like, the Hutts and their weakness, they are... or still have enough clout to bring in like this group that is like, yeah, they're droids, but they're droids and are upgraded. They've built themselves up and they are their own thing.
Cultural Reflections and Hollywood Norms
01:32:55
Speaker
There was a little bit of a Mad Max aspect of one of them who had that little furry um shawl, I guess you could say. Yeah, like the cloak thingy. One of their hut craft.
01:33:08
Speaker
And and did did I see correctly that one of them appeared to be the same model as l three I'm pretty sure, yeah. Because there's one that had that same kind of disc head that L3 did.
01:33:25
Speaker
So i I loved the mishmash of models in the droid Gatra.
01:33:35
Speaker
It was a lot of fun. is this Also, they got to fly the stops, which I just think are cool. Yes. i keep I want the hover scooter. I keep meaning to throw one of those into a game somewhere. And just, I always forget. They're called Staps.
01:33:53
Speaker
Yep. I think they're neat. They're really neat. It's also there's they a They're single, triple air repulsors.
01:34:04
Speaker
Well, you who knows? Maybe in far orbit. I mean, you are currently at Maz Kanata's castle where everything goes to die. Ooh, ooh, my driver character needs one.
01:34:16
Speaker
Daryl, I need one. Nick, I need one. Well, you know, you will have to see how that goes. I need it. they'd be like I need it. There's plenty of steps that probably arrive. I need it.
01:34:29
Speaker
I want the hover scooter. I will teach Baz to ride the hover scooter too. So let's see. Is he going to be tall enough to even reach the controls? You think that will stop her?
01:34:45
Speaker
So let's see. what what else What else? ah we We saw another science fiction legend in the movie. Yes, we did. We saw Sigourney Weaver. She was having a ball. see She was having fun.
01:35:01
Speaker
Sigourney Weaver's ward was so good. So are we going to count Galaxy Quest as Sigourney Weaver doing Star Trek? I mean... i mean... if he's the The reason I ask is if so, then she's got Alien, Star Trek, and now Star Wars. Yeah, she's hit the trifecta.
01:35:29
Speaker
Let's not forget Ghostbusters. Oh, Ghostbusters! Oh, oh, oh! And she was the big bad on Defenders, so she's also Marvel. There we go. It's all coming together.
01:35:41
Speaker
It's the Gurney Weaver Cinematic Universe. Damn.
01:35:46
Speaker
was going to say, like, don't know if he's trying to look cool it in an X-Wing. I just could tell that they had to tell Sigourney, stop smiling.
01:36:01
Speaker
So smart it's like, like, I'm in an X-Wing. But speaking of the X-Wing, can I yell about my thing I yelled about as soon as we got out of the theater? Yes. Yes. Okay. So this is really important to me.
01:36:14
Speaker
They let Sigourney Weaver, a 76-year-old woman, look old in the movie. And this is everything to me. Like, when we could see her on the X-Wing, you could see that she had, like, prominent wrinkles all across her face, and she was allowed to actually show them and still be a capable, independent, nuanced character who wasn't reduced to, like, you know, a maternal or curmudgeonly elder stock character, which, you know, often happens. Like, please, Hollywood, I am on my fucking knees here. Let women exist as people in your media. And she's hot.
01:36:44
Speaker
Yes! Yes! And, like... it is This is not a hot take, everyone.
01:36:53
Speaker
yeah no i live like Yeah, it's so important to me. Like, I know this only holds so much weight coming from a person who's like still in their 30s. But, you know, as someone who definitely like felt a lot of the effects of, you know, unrealistic standards for women growing up. Nope, seriously. Ask me how I spent the summer of my sophomore year of high school and why I feel complicated emotions every time I drive past Children's Medical Center. Like, this really does mean a lot to me.
01:37:14
Speaker
and Like, I know Sigourney Weaver will never hear this podcast, but, you know, I still want to say... Sorry, what? Do we all need to give you a hug at some point? Nah, it was a long time ago.
01:37:25
Speaker
But anyway. like Was it in a galaxy far, far away? That would have been way more fun, honestly. I know Stephanie Weaver will never hear this podcast, but like I still just really want to say thank you to her anyway. Because like i I think about what so many women in public-facing roles experience. Like what Carrie Fisher, the OG space mom herself, experienced. And this idea that like once we as women pass our mid-30s, we now become less valuable because so much of our work gets tied to our physical appearance and how regularly others, particularly cis-head men, desire to consume us and how like like media perpetuates that and how so many billion dollar industries depend on this idea to be billion dollar industries and how this idea of work depending on physical appearance and forcing one's body to fit a certain standard perpetuates itself in this vicious cycle that destroys everyone it touches. Sigourney Weaver passively existing as Sigourney Weaver and looking like Sigourney Weaver and being filmed existing as and looking like Sigourney Weaver shouldn't have to be revolutionary whatever and maybe it isn't but still her like visibly existing like that chips away at a piece of that cycle's machinery and to me that matters so fucking much
01:38:36
Speaker
well said so I just have a lot of thoughts about this and a lot of feelings about this it means a lot when you're saying that it doesn't it doesn't say it's for for one of us to uh
01:38:50
Speaker
that my competition to to tap Cigarette Weaver is you. You say that like it's competition.
01:39:00
Speaker
the This is not a competition. This is just an exhibition. As always, please, no wagering. Mm-hmm. But even all of that aside, just letting her look like the person she is and not having to go to all these lengths to like you know somehow make her look younger, to make her look quote unquote prettier so that she's more appealing to men because that's literally all that it's about, appealing to a certain type of man that she doesn't have to do that.
01:39:29
Speaker
And I know some of that probably does come from the fact that she's Sigourney Weaver and because of like you know her notoriety and legacy and everything, like she has a certain level of privilege that she's able to exist like that. But still, even just the fact that she's able to and compare that to like you know even going back to like the sequel trilogy and like looking at Carrie where, you know, there was like so much done to, I don't know, make her like look a certain way. It feels like, and just, I just have a lot of feelings about this.
01:40:03
Speaker
She had said on the record that she had to you go through like a workout and training regimen before the sequel started, which is so fucking dumb because she shouldn't have to do that because she shouldn't be allowed to exist as a person.
01:40:17
Speaker
Women are people, and we should be allowed to exist as such regardless. Dan, you'll be my wig band to pick up Sigourney Weaver when I meet her.
01:40:28
Speaker
Yes, because that'll happen. Right, exactly. But no, like, seriously, Sigourney Weaver, if it by some miracle you're listening to this, thank you.
01:40:39
Speaker
now Like, teenage me, this means a lot to her too. You know, I i mentioned earlier you the whole I want Radha in whatever the totally not an adaptation of Heir to the Empire ends up being.
01:40:56
Speaker
Colonel Ward is one of those characters that you almost feel like she was included specifically to be a setup to have like a big marquee name in that movie.
01:41:08
Speaker
Oh, no. A lot of people's respect this is supposed to be like the twist villain.
01:41:16
Speaker
Nah, that, well, no that that can't be um that can't be Kaz's dad because we know that he's still in that position you know yeah a few a decade or so down the line. yeah there are a lot of people examining there's like a Lego set and they like have them have the the Mando and Ward on opposite sides in the market. you have that lego said it's like They must be in secret bad guys. like,
01:41:51
Speaker
Well, I, if any if anything, I half expected Rada, if there was going to be a twist, I half expected it to be Rada. But I'm glad it wasn't.
Surprises and Predictability in Mando Season 3
01:42:05
Speaker
No, I am too, because that just would have been, first of all, way too cliche and obvious, but second of all, it would have undermined so much of like what they did with this character. Yeah. Honestly, I didn't expect it to have a character at all, so that, that but the big twist was like he was there.
01:42:20
Speaker
Speaking of, though, you since we are in spoiler territory, really, you you're going to have your mystery Imperial warlord who... Nobody knows what he looks like. it'ss just It's just, you know, General Coyne.
01:42:41
Speaker
And you're going to have him played by an actor whose last name is Coyne? Mm-hmm. Really? I mean, he Mando Season 3, it wasn't a surprise. Really? I mean, it's
01:42:58
Speaker
really i it It was a surprise if you watched Mando season three. But it a point stands it's played as a surprise. Yeah.
01:43:10
Speaker
It's played as a surprise in the movie. For those who didn't watch Mando season three. But you just said, well, it was in Mando season three. What are you complaining about?
01:43:22
Speaker
It's played as a surprise. Yeah. Like Nick, we all watched Mando season three. he He has a point. Daryl has a point here.
01:43:31
Speaker
so How dare you say that? say that yeah but They literally gave the character the same last name and then put him on screen. And, you know, they kind of the way they had him in there, too. It's like the formula for, you know, your standard crime procedural where it's like, oh, this guy that we met at the beginning is actually the big bad.
01:43:51
Speaker
That's the only reason. how they How do you agree with Daryl? Daryl's supposed to be wrong. And that is the only reason that there was a moment that I kind of expected a heel turn from Colonel Ward.
01:44:08
Speaker
And that's when he comes back with Coyne and she's like, no, you're supposed to bring me a hut. What's this? well, no, this is the person that the Hutts were going to point you to. So I cut out the middleman. Here you go.
01:44:22
Speaker
And she was slightly displeased with him. i was like, oh, here comes the heel turn. We're getting our first hint that she's really the mystery warlord.
01:44:35
Speaker
And she's put this this into place to you know feed the New Republic the mystery warlord so that nobody will suspect her.
01:44:47
Speaker
And I'm glad that wasn't it. yeah But think I feel like if, if this had been season of the show, Wars is for kids, Dale. You can't think. Yeah. That would have been a lot deeper than, than I would have been expecting.
Star Wars Fandom and Community
01:45:04
Speaker
If it had been a season of the show, i can see that being, played out a little more not even to have an actual heel turn but to misdirect you into thinking there's going to be yeah be your expectations i don't know betsy that seems a bit too much like star wars is for kids it's just um i just need i just need to write all of this down for future use in a game yeah
01:45:36
Speaker
But and is there anything that we've been going for an hour and 45 minutes? So is there anything else that we wanted to touch on? I wanted to ask a question and i don't even know the answer, but the, um, the contented Fisher man alien, um, on now Huda.
01:46:00
Speaker
Yeah. Sounded suspiciously like one Billy D Williams. Yeah. It was not. only one who thought that. It was not, but he did. it's I was expecting it, too. i Also, his he's like, has like a really punny name, like Gator Guy.
01:46:18
Speaker
Yeah, the character's name is, like i i am I am pulling up IMDB as we speak, because... ah to to But it is ability, but like, I know it's not Billy Williams.
01:46:36
Speaker
That would have been fun, though. It sounded about 70 to 80 percent there. I was like, if that is definitely if this is like a classic, like, sort like.
01:46:51
Speaker
Oh, OK, that that's right. OK, OK. I knew I had had remembered when I saw who it was, had had seen him in something, but it is ah Stephen McKinley Henderson. You've seen the first Dune movie, yes?
01:47:08
Speaker
Yes. It's Thufir. oh Oh, okay. And he was also um the elder reporter in Civil War.
01:47:20
Speaker
yeah Yes, that's exactly what I was about to say. Okay. What's the the character? The character is, hang on, let me back up a page.
01:47:32
Speaker
ah The character is Gatori. Oh, yeah, it's pun. Gatori. Gator is a guy. One of the three types Star Wars names.
01:47:46
Speaker
Gatorry. yeah It is one of the three types of Star Wars names.
01:47:54
Speaker
Yep. Yep. But yeah, that was... And you and of course, you know we we got our cameos from the Mandalorian episode directors again. Yeah. and how iette And... This is now canon. It's canon. The cowboy cat is canon now.
01:48:12
Speaker
they They added a couple more in, including Doug Chang. um ah put Put Bryce Dallas Howard in an X-Wing, you cowards.
01:48:25
Speaker
Can she... Yeah, she can. Hey!
01:48:33
Speaker
Wow, Nick. Betsy's gonna kick your ass. Yeah, and on behalf of all redheads, I'm gonna kick your ass, too. Oh, no!
01:48:46
Speaker
I don't have enough ass to kick for everyone to kick. Well, then, you know, ye you you better hope that's where they stop. no We'll throw you into that mud pit that you always talk about wanting people to fight in.
01:49:01
Speaker
Yes. But it won't be in a fun way. It's a jello pit. Oh, true. You usually do say jello pit. We'll throw you in your jello pit that I'm sure you have somewhere since you talk about it so much.
01:49:15
Speaker
Yep. I mean, there's there's plenty of rooms in that house that we haven't seen yet. I bet the jello pit's in one of them.
01:49:26
Speaker
How many Amani are you hiding in your house, Nick? Just be honest. Wait a second. This is casual nerdity. This is not how we roll. We pick on him to close out how we roll. Oh, fair enough.
01:49:42
Speaker
But all in all, I i enjoyed the movie. I i had appreciated that this was, you know, as much as I've mentioned a couple of times, the big you know threat of Thrawn that's leading up to the eventual totally not an heir to the Empire movie that Filoni's directing. It's legally distinct.
01:50:04
Speaker
how everything in this time period has kind of been leading to it in this time period of Star Wars. And I'm glad this was a standalone. I'm glad this was relatively low stakes.
01:50:17
Speaker
you Not everything has to be you tied into the next big epic. Like it was definitely still connected, but it was allowed to stand like on its own merits as its own story.
01:50:30
Speaker
And we all know that the Mandalorian and Grogu will return in Avengers Doomsday. And didn't have to like bend over backwards to make sure it was fitting into all this other stuff.
01:50:45
Speaker
And it did. And as a Star Wars fan, like going back to the theaters in seven after seven years since the last decade,
01:50:57
Speaker
just being a Star Wars fan and as cheesy it sounds, like seeing your friends, but like seeing a Star Wars film on the big screen again, really fun.
01:51:11
Speaker
we we i haven't was even more fun with friends, but this is general just in general, just having that moment of like seeing the movie magic.
01:51:24
Speaker
I also want to give props to the costume characters who appeared in the lobby after they were on point. They were. guys need to be proud of me that I maintained enough self-control to not stand there asking them about their costumes?
01:51:38
Speaker
I did ask you if if we needed to hold you back. And you did, because they were like trying to you know take pictures and talk to other people, and I would have stood there far too long asking them about every yeah aspect of their costumes. I do wonder, like, what...
01:51:52
Speaker
they were like I know they came from from a theater but like were they wearing that the whole time I'm just curious like I don't know I don't know but those those because those costumes were sick but like were they wearing that the whole time because I can only imagine like what what What we haven't mentioned, for you know since this is an audio podcast and nobody listening probably was actually with us, um there were people in Imperial Guard, Darth Vader, and Jedi gear that came out. They they had, like, it was sick. the The Vader was on point because he clearly, he also had audio. Oh, he clearly had it
01:52:43
Speaker
it was set up. I couldn't tell if it was set up that it was a voice modulator for his actual voice, or if he had some prerecorded stuff that were common things like, you of course, which is what he said when, when Hey, can we take a picture? Of course, you have some common stuff. I think it was his actual voice because he could have just used as you wish, you know, instead of, of course, it didn't sound exactly like, like, uh, like,
01:53:13
Speaker
like ah like the a actual force, there was a slight modulation, but it wasn't like a one-to-one. it was very good, though. but it was It was good. was like and yeah like I was just like, they clearly came from from the direction of a screening. was like was like, did I sit there in the costumes? got like, the ah yeah like Those costumes don't have the best visibility.
01:53:47
Speaker
You just take the helmets off. Yeah. But the day they won this. We did a whole, like, a group photo.
01:54:01
Speaker
And then they, it was like, well. Yeah, they nailed it. yeah we really know um They did. no I know that i have kind of you know As much grief as they hear from me, you know being me sitting here and Lucasfilm and Disney being where they are. I've given grief about how, you know, this being the first movie back in six and a half years is the most risk averse, safe option that they could pick.
01:54:34
Speaker
And you people have suggested that Mando and Grogu was thrown out as a risk averse safe option to take fire for Starfighter coming out next year.
01:54:48
Speaker
So that, you know, you you do something safe and, you know if it's low expectations ah and whatnot. their cat one of their cash cows takes the hits so that Starfighter can be its own thing in a year. But totally enjoyed this.
01:55:04
Speaker
I did too. This was fun. This this is what I... I felt like a kid watching Star Wars again. It's like, it's what I wanted.
01:55:17
Speaker
There was big action. There was cool. There was car chases, lights. There was like blasters.
01:55:29
Speaker
I just felt like a fun time. I did too. i did Agreed. And this is the first of a few summer movies that we're going to be covering on the show. um ah with hope dan but hope to have you with us if you want to, Dan, if things are permitted.
01:55:52
Speaker
Thank you. and um ah Thank you for joining us. Very much so. To to give every kind of everybody kind of a preview for this summer. And Nicole said your name. that we we We're going to get Nicole to say everyone's name.
01:56:11
Speaker
Next up, ah the next movie that we'll be covering. It's not next episode. But coming up, we will be covering Supergirl. And Dan, Betsy, i was just telling Nick about this this morning.
01:56:27
Speaker
This is breaking news for the show. Uh-huh. Breaking news. Yeah. When we were talking to Scott on the Movie Defenders this morning. Uh-huh. The episode after Supergirl. Uh-huh. Yeah.
01:56:43
Speaker
evil dead burn with scott and brev joining us oh nice it's a crossover yes and uh then in august we'll be covering spider-man brand new day and it's gonna be fun we might squeeze the odyssey in there i don't know
01:57:10
Speaker
I mean, we could, but then you'd have to listen to me be a mythology nerd. And? It's different from listening to you being Star Wars nerd, Hal? ah Because I'm going to sit there going, that's wrong, that's wrong, that's wrong.
01:57:23
Speaker
You'd have to compete with me as a mythology nerd. Challenge accepted. Yeah, i i you know what? We're not going to record that. We're just going to do that at Nick's house, and I'm going to sit back with popcorn and watch it.
01:57:36
Speaker
yeah Yeah, it's going to be a lot of me sitting there going, no, no, no, no. More accurate weapons weapons in my in my living room.
01:57:50
Speaker
where you know And I'm just going to be sitting there going, where's where's Wonder Woman? Oh. I kid. Betsy knows I kid at least.
01:58:02
Speaker
Nick probably took me seriously. Oh wait, again, I'm picking on Nick and and we don't pick on Nick on this show. At least not nearly as much. That is fine. All things considered, you say that like I would be sad to see Wonder Woman.
01:58:18
Speaker
I'll allow it. true I'll allow it. Yeah, what if it's the Gal Gadot Wonder Woman though? Well, you didn't say that. You just said Wonder Woman. Okay, fair. but I get to pick, right? right Sure. Dan,
01:58:34
Speaker
dan thank you for joining us. Thank you. We're glad that you had a good time. Aman Aman season one. Let's make it happen. You're welcome to join us back anytime.
01:58:48
Speaker
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01:59:12
Speaker
And you can also support the show directly by grabbing a t-shirt from our merch store at store.casualnerdity.com. We got merch. We got merch. We need to make some more merch on there, too. We should.
01:59:25
Speaker
And of course, come hang out with us on social media. We're Casual Nerdity, all one word, on Facebook, Instagram, threads, and whatever Twitter or X is being called this week. Shitter. And we...
01:59:38
Speaker
And we are casualnerdity.com on Blue Sky. So until next time, until next time, keep the little green chaos gremlin away from shiny things and bad influences. Hey!
01:59:51
Speaker
Hey! didn't mention you by name, Betsy. I know what you meant. Okay, fine. Bye! Bye! Bye, y'all.
02:00:02
Speaker
This has been Casual Nerdity. We hope you've enjoyed your time with us and look forward to having you
02:00:18
Speaker
Bye.