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Episode 059 - The Rise of Shillwalker
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It's 2026. What else can I say
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Transcript
Introduction and Podcast Revival
00:00:00
Speaker
Hey there, everybody. Welcome to episode number 59 of Just Shilling.
00:00:11
Speaker
um It is ah just me here today, um mainly because I wanted to to kind of take a minute and kick things back off. I know I've been saying I wanted to do this for a while, and I had some things in the werch work, which I do.
00:00:26
Speaker
um i have been. behind the scenes kind of coming up with coming up with different ideas of ways to continue the pod um that are like meaningful and kind of still true to the original nature and character of the of the pod and and kind of what we set out to do. um It's taken me a little while. It's taken me to to take me a little while to kind of get back going again. um
00:00:59
Speaker
For obvious reasons, but i i know that there's always kind of in the back of my mind been that pressure of like Andy would want me to continue the pod.
Acknowledgements and Support
00:01:12
Speaker
He'd want me to continue to talk about the stuff that we were both passionate about. and And that is what this is. It obviously took some time. Yeah.
00:01:24
Speaker
ah guy i I gave myself a a little bit more than a break. I think I'd say a little bit more than a break. um to To kind of sit in the shit, as we as we like to say here around the house. um Just kind of feel the feels and kind of just go through it. And um and I do want to and i do want to say i want to i want say thank you to all the friends, um friends of the pod who've reached out over Gosh, the the countless months and just kind of stayed in touch and reached out and were like and really thoughtful and caring and and checking up on me and just making it sure. And like, you know, it is.
00:02:02
Speaker
it is easy to kind of fall into that pit and be like. Well, that was that was a fun run. And I guess I'm now no longer friends with anybody. But, you know, maybe you know how that goes. But I do want to say thank you. Thank you to everybody who reached out. Thank you to all all the friends of the pod who are who've been awesome and supportive and all that. And and even in encouraging to encouraging me to continue the pod and and always being willing to jump on.
00:02:33
Speaker
and, and carry on the kind of the legacy of of what we'd started. Um, but yeah, so, uh, thank you to all them. Thank you to Andy for, for pushing me to do this back in the day. And, um, and I'm gonna, and I'm gonna honor that by, by moving forward with it as well. Always with, with him in mind, his family in mind, his friends in mind.
New Podcast Series Announcement
00:02:56
Speaker
And, uh,
00:02:58
Speaker
sticking to what we set out to originally do. And, and that's to talk about the stuff that we are passionate about, the stuff that we enjoy, like not take it too seriously, not get mired in the, the, the news cycle bullshit of what's going to release and what's not like, and we can talk about it, but I don't want to just become another one of those laser eyeed laser eyed YouTubers or lost in the sauce.
00:03:28
Speaker
news regurgitating channels that you see where people are just, i don't know, they just seem miserable. Like, let's talk about the stuff that we enjoy. I've got a couple things in the works. Um, you've probably heard about it on some of our, of some of our friends pods, um, or Patreon episodes.
00:03:47
Speaker
Um, there's, there's one in the works. It's going to take a little time. Cause I, I gotta do, you know, do some prep work and stuff for it. Uh, but I'm going to be doing a series called, uh, Sean doesn't know anything about anime.
00:03:59
Speaker
Um, where i think, I think it's one of those things where like, I, I miss the train on like anime and how, like how so many of our friends are connected so much to it and just kind of the, how important that is to them. So as an outsider,
00:04:19
Speaker
Who's who's I mean, I've watched him, but like I don't know or like actively consume a lot of anime. So it'll be it's going to be a fun little series, little sub series where I watched recommended anime, have some guests on to talk about it and and try to bring a perspective of somebody who's who's new to it.
00:04:40
Speaker
like not very knowledgeable. Uh, so yeah, that'll be, that's going to be fun. Um, obviously going to be doing the star Wars, the star Wars stuff like we always do. Um, and also talking about other things that we've watched. Um, I'm going to be having a lot of guests on. Sometimes I'll be doing solo stuff when I feel like there's something I want to talk about solo, but we're also going to be having a lot of guests on. Um, it's probably not going to be weekly. Um, I am, You can you can catch me you probably if youve if you if you listen to our friends. You've probably heard me with our with our buddy Rick over on Jam Transmissions. ah
00:05:16
Speaker
I'm going to continue to be doing that going forward. Except for when you know we talk about books. Because as you know, I can't read. um Or just refuse to make the time. ah But yeah, so that there's there's a lot of cool stuff coming up.
00:05:31
Speaker
we're We're getting back into, like I hate to call it Star Wars season. um But I think the break, especially you know over the last couple months, and for me personally, beyond the the more immediate kind of well-known reasons, and I think that even just like the last two months, I think the holidays and the New Year's were really good. like I've kind of taken taken a big step back from from social media, finally deleted Instagram from my phone, because that is a pit of never-ending...
00:06:05
Speaker
Brain fog. um And I think it's really, helpful it's really been helpful. We went home, visited the family and, and I feel like rejuvenated. I've been, I've come back and watched a bunch of shows. Like I think I binged Yellow Jackets in a week, which was surprisingly cathartic. The writing and the character development on that. I'm not here to argue with anybody. So don't come at me with this crap. Like I loved it.
00:06:25
Speaker
I hate some of the characters, but that's a good thing. That means it's compelling. um But all that to say, we can talk about all that other crap
Personal Challenges and The Rise of Skywalker
00:06:34
Speaker
later. All that to say, I thought there would be the perp the the main point, the main topic of this episode is going to be a brief one, um but I thought it would be one that would be, i don't know, like the right the right topic given the circumstances for me personally um and the pod itself. And for a little backstory, if you don't already know, um even though I'm a huge Star Wars fan,
00:07:05
Speaker
um I have only seen The Rise of Skywalker one time. I only saw it in the theaters the one time when it came out.
00:07:16
Speaker
um And never again. Not because I hated it. Not because of, you know, whatever, whatever. ah But that was just for brutal honesty. i mean, that was right around the time.
00:07:28
Speaker
ah obviously right before COVID, but that was right around the time that my dad was going in for his lung transplant and kind of that whole process of kind of kicked off ah right before COVID. And I know my dad was, i wouldn't say he was a huge Star Wars fan. He was more of a Trekkie, but he enjoyed Star Wars and he enjoyed like when we were there visiting prior to all this, like we, remember Mando or something we were watching, um but he was real, like he really enjoyed it and he was really excited about the the upcoming movie. But then all of this stuff kind of happened like right, right as that movie released, like right around that time. um So kind of had to go back home, do all these different things, was really busy, wasn't able to go to the movie theater a lot.
00:08:11
Speaker
Um, and then just from there, i mean, the rest is history. that was, that was ah an ordeal as a process. I mean, it was, it was starting with the lung transplant. It was that then kicking off the complications from that kicking off into COVID, um, being kind of stuck in Indiana with, with my mom, um, while my dad was still in, in a hospital in isolation and being separated from Madison because she was in California, had to work.
00:08:40
Speaker
And just that whole like six month ordeal before kind of getting away, never really being able to watch it again. And so at the end of that, for those who don't know, my dad, my dad passed away. um and so I don't, I don't believe that I've been holding on to like this, this like idea of like not watching it because of that. Um, yeah,
00:09:08
Speaker
I think it's always just been like, I'm not a huge rewatcher. Like you've probably heard me talk on other podcasts where I've set up like a, like a streaming TV service thing. So like, I just don't want to pick it. Like if I've seen something, there's so much other stuff to watch that I don't find myself going back to old stuff that I've already seen in let like, like intentionally by picking it.
00:09:36
Speaker
Um, there's just so much, so many other things to do. And I'm also mired in 4 billion side projects. So that's always a thing. But back to the point of, I don't, maybe it's not what I tell myself. I don't know.
00:09:49
Speaker
I don't believe I've ever like not watched it again for those reasons. Uh, but that's just always, always been a thing. I've always associated it with that, but it's not the reason.
00:10:02
Speaker
Um, and so then with, Like when we started the pod and, you know, and and Andy and I would talk like, i mean, Andy was a huge support for me through all that. Like, I think that's for those like, I don't know. I know probably kind of mentioned it, but not really gone into detail too, too many times, but you know, Andy was a huge, huge help. And that was a brutal, brutal time. Like I'm sure everybody's aware of what it was like going through the pandemic. And then also kind of the, know,
00:10:33
Speaker
the stuff with my dad and just kind of the mysteries behind that and just kind of the ups and downs and the the, all that kind of stuff. Um, but Andy was kind of a rock. He was kind of a, like somebody who'd been, been, been through some experiences in his life and was able to, to kind of give me guidance and, um, I don't know, just like a level head,
00:11:01
Speaker
to talk about stuff and bounce ideas off of. Um, and, and he knew, i mean, he knew we never, I hadn't watched her as a Skywalker and he never pushed me to watch it. And so it just kind of became like a thing or like, we just talked about what whatever was on, like the, the pop culture and stuff. And so then when, when everything happened with him, with Andy and, um, that's when I think it did, it did all of a sudden kind of become,
00:11:29
Speaker
Become a thing. Then I feel like I really started associating. Like. The rise of Skywalker. Like. As like kind of like the changing of a time. And like the. Not the end of an era. But like the changing of an era where. You know.
00:11:46
Speaker
Like higher highs and lower lows. And it just kind of became this like. This thing and then like. And also I think there's also like the. The.
00:11:58
Speaker
kind of the discourse around it. Like, I mean, it's obviously pretty well hated um by a lot of people and, you know, kind of seen as whatever Whatever people see it as. And so I don't think that all that kind of combined, it kind of became this thing where it's just, you know, I kind of didn't watch any of them. like I didn't watch any of the movies for a while. Just like I didn't put them all back on because then I think that would be acknowledging that I'm also not watching The Rise of Skywalker. um So that's a long-winded way of saying what better way to come back for...
Reflection on The Rise of Skywalker
00:12:35
Speaker
the the the this current episode, this new episode, this solo episode, than to discuss my second viewing of The Rise of Skywalker.
00:12:48
Speaker
um I've kind of had this idea for a while. I knew I wanted to come back, but like I knew I needed it to be... like I've been looking for the reasons, like what's what's important enough to come back and do it? like I know I've got a bunch of friends who... um I've talked with about coming back on, but like I knew I needed this first episode to be something meaningful for me, not just to be the motivation to come back, but, um but also just kind to kind of be, i don't know.
00:13:22
Speaker
Yeah, I think, I think it's it. I think it's it's that, it's that motivation to, to be the thing that pushes you over. like it's that nudge to say like, it's easy to schedule something with somebody, but then how, how do i you know, beat around the bush for the first 10 minutes and be like, well, you know, I'm not going to talk about that thing that happens. Um, I think this is, I think this is kind of full circle. And I think, you know, I don't think Andy would approve of how long I've waited to, to bring the pod back. Um, I think he would be yelling at me being like, what the hell, man?
00:13:54
Speaker
Like, duh, don't do it on the count of me. But, um, I do think he'd be happy with, the topic and kind of their justification for doing so so yesterday i last night i sat down no distractions closed all my my my my windows on my laptop because i like to watch you on my laptop so i could watch like be like close and i have a good kind of like viewing experience on my laptop and Didn't want to be distracted by everything around me, except if it's on the TV. Like, I'll be, like, looking around. I i don't know. ADHD is strong. So if I put on my laptop and kind of, like, really dedicate myself to watching it, that's what I did.
00:14:35
Speaker
um So I watched the super
00:14:48
Speaker
version, which looks phenomenal. And I watched it. I sat down, watched it in the end to end. And you know what?
00:14:58
Speaker
It's not as bad as I remember. Like, granted,
00:15:05
Speaker
granted, I will be, i will be brutally honest. Like, it's definitely not without flaws. It's not a perfect movie. Is it my favorite? No, no, it's not. But visually stunning,
00:15:17
Speaker
incredible like when you just when you have the chance to watch it and and that that high of quality not in a movie theater not in the hype uh of all that and you're just kind of like oh my god oh my gosh oh my gosh like really kind of taking in like the visual effects of it are just insane um and also i'll say at the top i've said it before daisy ridley is 11 out of 10 in this movie um I can say definitively that her her white outfit from this movie is, without a doubt, my favorite Star Wars outfit. Like, it is, I don't know what it is.
00:16:01
Speaker
I don't know anything about fashion. I don't know anything about costuming kind of stuff. But that, love it. billion A billion percent. Like, can't stop thinking about it. Huge fan.
00:16:15
Speaker
But I will say, I mean, the, the, the movie definitely has its flaws. There's a part, there's parts that I didn't even remember. Like, I totally forgot that Ray was on the, the star destroyer and like had the confrontation with, with Kylo, like face to face until like the, the Falcon, like blew the exhaust at him. And I was like, I don't, I don't remember this at all.
00:16:42
Speaker
Like, that's crazy. Um, Because I remember there being... Like, the whole movie is just this... Alright, let me back up. Let me let me say high level.
00:16:55
Speaker
I don't have any paper. I'm just going raw from like watching it and just kind of stewing on it.
00:17:02
Speaker
This movie... It obviously had its odds against it. Like, with with the passing of Carrie, with the expectations and just kind of...
00:17:14
Speaker
being the third film in this, in this, this trilogy with huge expectations. Um, and also kind of being under the Disney umbrella. i won't make excuses for, ah Disney as a corporation and just kind of how that whole thing works.
00:17:33
Speaker
But it is so obvious to me that this is a movie that was created. like it's a, it's a movie that's created by a committee. Like i've I've talked about it on on Jam Transmissions with Rick before about like kind of what watching like the Patrick really getting into the Patrick Willems stuff and his emphasis on like story versus plot.
00:17:57
Speaker
And everybody complains about plot holes, plot holes, plot holes. But plot isn't what makes good, good movies and things like that. Like plot is a skeleton. It's the Wikipedia article. It's the what. The what happens. But we don't care about what happens or why. We care about how it makes us feel. And that's what story is. And this is this is a movie.
00:18:16
Speaker
That was death by committee. Because it. Focused too much on plot. It. It feels like there's a good story in there. Like. Even with. even with The Ray Palpatine stuff.
00:18:32
Speaker
Like. That could have been like, I don't feel as weirdly about as I did before, but that could have been oh more okay. If it didn't feel so compelled To build all this weird plot all around it.
00:18:49
Speaker
Like, Star Wars isn't known. Like, go back and seriously put your glasses your your glasses on and watch all the other movies. Like, sometimes things are just the way they are. You don't need to justify,
00:19:05
Speaker
like All of the ins and outs. And why things happen. It's like it's really just about the story. And how how we get there. And how it makes us feel. um And I think that. like This kind of plot versus story piece.
00:19:18
Speaker
It feels like there's a good story in there. Or could have been. And. Then it got. Put into a boardroom. And too many other people got their hands on it. And needed to justify it. Like okay.
00:19:33
Speaker
How did they get here and there. And then oh we got to introduce this new character. and Well we got to bring in JJ's friends. And we got to do this. And so there's all of this kind of. Like bouncing around in justification. When instead of just like. They showed up at the place they needed to be. And like.
00:19:48
Speaker
And things went down. um And that would have been okay. I'm sure some people would have complained. But like we don't need. Every. T crossed and I dotted.
00:19:59
Speaker
um And I think that's what also leads to just the... I'll say it. I think the editing in this is insane. Like... Especially like that beginning half... Or that beginning part. Like the light speed the light speed skipping. It's like there's... I get that we need the fun action sequences. But I feel like the editing in that is... It's not... Like you're trying to pack...
00:20:25
Speaker
Five minutes worth of material into a minute and a half. And just the cuts are so fast. And it's like, what is what is the point of of this? and And I think there's ah major parts of the movie that are better that way. um Obviously, the Carrie stuff is jarring. And they did the best that they could. like at a time when... like you know we weren't what's not like it is now where we have...
00:20:52
Speaker
ah face swap luke and mando and and all these other things like it was still kind of early for a lot of that stuff and and it's and it's you gotta you gotta do it with care and i think they did a phenomenal job but like it is jarring like when you see when you sit back it is hard to not look at that and go oh like the the words are there but like the expressions and it's like it's like they're not having a conversation Like it's, it is, it is weird at times. Um, and you got to pay homage to that stuff. But I think, I think that's the pieces. is It's like, there's, there's big chunks of that movie that are, that are pretty good.
00:21:34
Speaker
They're pretty compelling. Like all this stuff on Exegol, like reads like a horror movie. Like, is it ridiculous at times? Yes. Did they, did they clone brush too many star destroyers popping out of the ice or whatever, the ground?
00:21:50
Speaker
And like make it a little insane. Yes. Did. did Did they make too many ships. Pop up.
00:22:03
Speaker
At the end. Like no it's cool but. Like did everything just get taken like too far. To be like ridiculous or. ah Nostalgic. Like I'm. You know how I feel about some of this stuff. Like like the. The Filoniverse. Like a fan service.
00:22:21
Speaker
kind of nostalgia pokes. Like, I'm, I think it could just, like, it could have done without some of those, like the, the quippy one-liners that, like, I think the Han Solo, I know, i think that works.
00:22:35
Speaker
The, the, the Lando lines, I think they're kind of clunky, but like, overall, i don't want, i don't want to here and keep dogging on it. Overall, the movie's way better than I remember. The movie is way, way better than I think,
00:22:51
Speaker
anybody like a lot of people give it credit for out there on the internet is it the best absolutely not nowhere close um is it enjoyable
Excitement for Upcoming Star Wars Content
00:23:03
Speaker
yeah if you if you as as somebody who hasn't seen it and whenever it came out and whatever year it is i'm i'm kind of glad i'm kind of glad i haven't watched it i think it was kind of weird and refreshing. It was almost like watching new stars. Like I knew the gist, but just to kind of watch it when I did take years of breaks, letting all of the, the discourse kind of go away. And I've, and I've honestly forgotten a lot of that movie, just like the, the pieces and the, and the little e quips and things like that. And, and then to come into it, it's almost like watching new star Wars again.
00:23:43
Speaker
um That was fun. and I enjoyed it. I'm glad I did it. I'm glad I watched it. um It's do I am I going to rate it on Tractor Rotten Tomatoes? No, because I think I'd give it four different scores. I think it's I think it's hard to sum up.
00:24:04
Speaker
And that without doing different the different breakdowns and points and stuff, it's like. I'm not I'm not the kind of person who's going to go and make a fan at it. Do I think I can fix it? No. Do I think.
00:24:15
Speaker
I'm not that arrogant. Do, do I think they need to redo it? No, absolutely not. Like it is what it is. Like we got like, I love all Star Wars for what it is, whether it's my biggest, one of the biggest fan of it or not. Like hot take incoming. Here we go about the loose and fans. Do I think it's better than Mando season three?
00:24:33
Speaker
Yeah, I do. Come at me. What do you got to say about it um But it's just, it's a fun romp. I think it's going to be, it'll be interesting to see how the next generation, the younger generation, what they think of it.
00:24:49
Speaker
um I know we're all like super connected to the internet and stuff now, but one would hope that they are more, like maybe less susceptible to the to the online forums and stuff that i'm that I'm in to talk about Star Wars.
00:25:06
Speaker
Like hopefully, hopefully there's ah there's a nostalgia and ah and a passion for it when when they get a little bit older and there's a reverence for it, similar to what happened to the prequels. Um, I think it's easy.
00:25:18
Speaker
you know, I've kind of gone through this, this stuff in my head. And like, I know the, the Kathleen Kennedy stuff kind of came out yesterday, like officially announced. And I'm, I'm intentionally not diving into it. And I'm also not digging into it on online. I'm not going, I'm not opening the subreddits. I'm not engaging in any of the, the places that I know are going to be, just be headlines. And,
00:25:39
Speaker
I did read the deadline article about your exit interview, but I think I'm trying to going forward, like trying to let blood things I enjoy be the things that I really enjoy instead of actively searching out what other people, how other people are feeling about it. Like I've got my friends, I've got my trusted sources. And, you know, I think it's easy to fall into this trap of, you know,
00:26:05
Speaker
I want more Star Wars and I want to engage in Star Wars, but all of our opinions are going to be different. I think it's easy to fall into this place of letting the missed expectations or even just, you know, the criticisms ah taint the entire experience for us.
00:26:23
Speaker
And i for me personally, I think this kind of delayed second viewing of the rise of Skywalker and also kind of taking a step back from social media in general, have been kind of the, don't know, the feather in the cap for that, for me, personally.
00:26:43
Speaker
um Helping me realize, it's like, you know, I do enjoy engaging in the conversation. I do enjoy kind of debating and talking about the flaws and things like that. But with people that I think are respectful and just not falling into the the social media engagement trap,
00:26:58
Speaker
um all that to say, I thought it was fun. I enjoyed myself. God, that that that that ending is is kind of spooky. All the exical stuff. like It's visually crazy. like Have you seen Emperor Palpatine get his like skin ripped off in the end?
00:27:17
Speaker
Have you watched that recently? That's nuts. like i'm and i And I'm excited. like It's got me excited for Star Wars. Like...
00:27:28
Speaker
It's got me excited for Starfighter. Like, I think there's been so many good things coming out recently that so much good content I've watched recently that's been like, is that it's not, it's always the most positive content, like yellow jackets, but like, we're, we got good content. We've got good stories coming out. Yes.
00:27:45
Speaker
I could talk all day about how I feel like streaming is starting to shift to more, shift back towards more, i want to say procedural, but in that vein where we're not getting complete stories and seasons, but whatever, whatever, can talk about that another time, but
00:28:04
Speaker
ah we're getting great content. I loved stranger things season five, stranger things five. I thought it was phenomenal. Was it dorky and cornball? Absolutely. Was it, I like yellow jackets as much as I hate half those people. um I'm excited for Starfighter. I'm cautiously excited for Mando and Grogu. Am I going to see it day one? Yeah. Where am I going to go see it? I don't know because they closed our movie theater.
00:28:30
Speaker
um Should I buy the movie theater? I don't know. Pitch in some money. and Maybe I'll go try to buy it. It's probably pretty expensive being part of a Vail ski resort, but what are you going to do? um Does it have me excited to paint models again? And... and finally get ed and chris together for just crafting yes a million percent uh especially the new board game i got for christmas we'll talk about that later but yeah i'm rambling at this point um i'm excited to be back i'm excited for star wars to be back i'm excited to connect with our friends again it's been too long
00:29:14
Speaker
I'm excited for Celebration LA. Is it going to be, is, is there a lot of things I'm worried about for that? Yeah. With the state of state of the world, but we can get stuck on that another time. I'm excited to see the friends I haven't seen in years at this point. It's 2026. It's 2026.
00:29:37
Speaker
Like we're not promised tomorrow. Like we all know that we all know it. And so, you know, trying to make an effort of getting this going again, I'm trying to make an effort to to be honestly, to be more like Andy. um Reach out to people.
00:29:55
Speaker
Care for others like I want to be cared for. And, you know, just engage in the shit we care about, dude. Like, it's... It's awesome. like i'm I'm really excited. and look Look forward to to to new
Future Plans and Listener Engagement
00:30:10
Speaker
content. If you have ideas, send my way.
00:30:13
Speaker
um If you have stuff that you think it would be fun to discuss on the pod or just you want to make me watch something you don't think I've watched before, hey, send it over.
00:30:25
Speaker
You know how to get hold of me. Got some got somech interesting things going on. I'm also going to have a couple like technical Maybe a couple technical pods. like I'll label them as as such accordingly. like to I think over the last couple of years, I've gotten really into some of the HomeLab self-hosting stuff, and I think it's it's accessible and doable for people to you know have a better media experience and make sure things like last longer than you know DVDs and things that are like do degrade over time. and
00:30:59
Speaker
and also So yeah, look forward to all that. But... I won't drag this out forever because I know at this point i it is just me and I don't have a lot to talk about. um I'm going to continue to stew on this Rise of Skywalker thing.
00:31:11
Speaker
um And probably probably come up with some so more thoughts that are maybe more unique than other people have said before. But I don't know. it's It was a lot of fun. I'm happy to be back.
00:31:23
Speaker
And um I think that'll be it for for this episode. um You know where to find us. JustShillin.com It's got links to everything there.
00:31:33
Speaker
You can find me on Discord. You can find me on Blue Sky. I don't really get on much anymore, but you know, you'll figure it out. um Thanks to everybody who stuck around. Thanks to everybody who've reached out and been supportive. I couldn't have done it without all you guys. And I look forward to talking to you, seeing you, and watching more Star Wars and other cool content going forward.
00:31:54
Speaker
and Until next time, I've been Sean. Look after yourselves, look after your family and your friends.
00:32:02
Speaker
See you later. Bye.