The Unknown Poster

Yeah I wonder how much was changed of the ending by the re-shoots. The plot gets really muddled. We know Leia was on Yavin with Bail. Bail tells Mon he's going to send her to get Obi Wan. Instead her ship (inside the larger) goes to the battle which is essentially a suicide mission. So why would Bail send her there? Or allow it? I think we needed a scene where Leia acknowledges her mission is to go to Tatooine but decides to help the battle. In A New Hope she was lying. And Antilles told the same lie so that was their cover story. They claimed to be on a diplomatic mission to Alderaan. But we know Leia was sent to Tatooine. If she was going to Alderaan it also makes little sense that Bail didn't go with her since that's where he was going. So while Leia pushed her silly cover story to Vader, his reply can be taken with a little more incredulity now. "You're part of a rebel alliance and a traitor!" Because he saw her ship leave the battle first hand. I think it would have been better if her ship was on its way to Tatooine and was monitoring the battle. Decided to swoop in to retrieve the transmission and swoop out. Have Vader be told of several ships in the area and as he stares at them he "chooses" Leia's which would imply using the force. Rogue One is weak in so many ways but is also so enjoyable it's easy to overlook.

Probably. And we probably lose Copp. Which isn't terrible all things considered. But not great either.

I haven't seen the whole thing yet. They had teased other tag teams. Had they got the Bucks and even Demolition they would have been great. In fact Demolition would have been incredibly timely.

The thing about Vader, something bothered me. But when I looked into it, he seems different because his costume was altered for every other film. This costume was exactly the same as A New Hope. So it's weird that he seems off but in reality he's exactly as he should be. The helmet especially seems wrong but it's because it was changed after ANH i thought his movements and mannerisms were pretty spot on. They even fought the urge to have him fight like the prequels and kept his movements pretty "stiff" like ANH. Have to assume we will get a film focusing on Vader at some point. And I agree. I liked TFA more. But this was really good. What elevates it close to TFA was Tarkin and Vader.

Odds are it was one of them. Thats a fact based on statistics of murdered children, especially found dead in the home. But that doesnt preclude this being that one very rare incident of an intruder hanging out for hours, killing the child, staging the scene and making their escape. It's just wildly bizarre if true. I've read several books that keep switching my suspicions. Usually Im pretty definitive about these things (and generally pretty accurate in my own assessment of a crime). But this one is so tough. The juror will likely say they felt John and Patsy did it (or covered for Burke). Because we know the jury voted for indictment. The DA decided not to arrest them feeling that there was too much reasonable doubt. The DNA is probably the main sticking point. It "exonerated" the Ramsey's. But if it is now in question, it changes things. Will it indicate a Ramsey connection? Will it be eliminated as evidence? The ransom note is key. It seems so obvious that it was an inside job and an attempt at cover up and misdirection. But because its so obvious, it could also be the fantastic ramblings of a film-obsessed nut. That's the problem with this case - its so crazy, every piece of evidence points in two different directions. If you had to bet, you'd bet that John, Patsy or Burke did it. Thats playing the odds.

Interesting!! Its such an intriguing case.

Would not trade Ehlers for anything. 2nd year player with that talent?? He's going to score 100 points sooner than later.

Tough in the same division but everyone benefits and both teams share the risk of their former player haunting them. So why not.

LucasFilm as an entity is the production company behind the Star Wars films, headed by Kathleen Kennedy. The prequels were a mess because of George Lucas. Kennedy is much smarter at assembling creative talent and having a plan. I think they hit a homerun as far as Rogue One being popular. VIII should be great. Young Han Solo in 2018 is going to be something....thats where they could suffer. Will be interesting to see what happens. Im more intrigued with the idea of getting Ewen McGregor back for an Obi Wan adventure. Regarding Leia, I enjoyed it. Her teeth might be a bit off. Its very quick. Tarkin was in the film quite a bit. If his appearance wasnt a surprise, he'd be considered one of the leads. His role is bigger than Krennic (or comparable at least). And I was amazed every time he was on film. Leia is seen from behind, then she turns while the camera switches to another behind shot so in that moment it tricks you into thinking you wont see her face, then she turns around and faces the camera, utters one word and end credits. I'd have to see her again. She looked just like A New Hope though. Its good. Anyone who says Tarkin and Leia arent great, you have to look at like "bad" in the context of an amazing technological feat to being a long dead actor back to life as a regular and important member of the cast. Its like the expression "sex is like pizza. Even when its bad, it still pretty good." If this CGI is bad, its still infinitely better than anything anyone has ever done before. I think the negative reaction is that "Uncanny Valley" thing. its a psychological or subconscious reaction to seeing something so real that you know isnt, so your brain is trying to make sense of it. So its not that people think its bad, they are interpreting their subconscious reaction to it and simplifying it as "bad". Believe me, its amazing. And even if you dont love it, the hint of fakery or that Uncanny Valley thing is absolutely worth it to have Tarkin in this film.

Wheeler checked out? Please. He struggled. But like others said, looks to be hurt. Or taking a mental toll being Captain on a bad team. They are getting to the point with Stafford where they really have to do something. I know the idea is you pretend he's good so you can get something in a trade, but he's just lost it. What message does it send when Ehlers and Morrissey and Laine and others work their tails off and this guy is still playing? Ehlers is officially snakebit. He is so good. Unbelievable talent. A time will come when he and Laine are like Hull & Oates. They should be setting each other up for 3-5 points per game. Just unreal talent.

Small potatoes for Brock. Factor in his cut of PPV buys and he made out like a bandit. The $250,000 fine is walking around money for him. If he knowingly cheated, that penalty was still worth it in the end.

I detest this movement to have the Electoral College change their votes for a couple of reasons. First, it comes across as sour grapes. Trump won. Secondly, it wont be successful anyway so its poor PR. However, there *is* some merit to the idea behind it. I think it was Hamilton (might be quoted in that article) that explained the role of the College to be the last roadblock preventing an unqualified person from becoming President. In that respect, the "idea" of this is relevant. Coupled with the fact that Hilary won the popular vote by almost 3 million (far more than then Bush/Gore dispute) and the Russia hacking investigation. It paints a picture worth exploring. But the Electoral College wont give Hilary the election. So even if enough voters switched their vote, you end up with someone virtually no one voted for as President. And that's even worse. Plus, here's the thing about the Russia hacking and why the White House and CNN etc initially made fun of Trump's silly "rigged election" stuff. The issue isnt that Russia somehow hacked voting machines, its that they orchestrated a wide spread hacking project designed to elicit information they could use to *influence* the election. The idea is they had dirt on Trump too, but didnt use it. But the "dirt" on Hilary isnt dirt so much as just private things they released. So it's still her...her party etc. What the FBI did is worse because it was completely manufactured. That guy should be tossed in jail for what he did.

Anyone else watching The Crown? Its really good. They've announced a Season 2 & 3 which plans for 5 seasons. But the leads will be re-cast after 3 due to age.

I changed the topic to indicate SPOILERS. So be forewarned. Its wide open now! I saw the film last night. I very much enjoyed it. I saw it with the buddy who is an unabashed Star Wars fanboy. He might have been erect most of the film and felt obligated to whisper in my ear, if Obi Wan showed up he would likely climax right there in the theatre. With that out of the way, my spoiler-filled review: While watching, I was conscious of the fact this isnt a great film technically. I could see numerous ways in which smarty pants critics will savage it. The narrative is cloudy, confusing and jumpy. The fact they did extensive re-shoots is no surprise and the fact a lot of footage from the trailers is not in the film is also no surprise. It seems to me, they had a ton of footage, maybe some disagreements as to the narrative and were overwhelmed in the edit room. Its a big story to wrap their arms around, even though the actual plot is rather straight forward. We begin 15 years before A New Hope (if my numbers and memory are correct). Imperial Director Krennic shows up at Galen Erso's farm, demanding he return to complete his work as a scientist developing the Death Star. He refuses so Krennic kills his wife and threatens to find his daughter. So Galen relents and goes with him, seemingly to resolve whatever issue Krennic is having in bringing the Death Star to completion. We learn of some EU stuff that is now cannon - the existence of Kyber Crystals which power lightsabers and now also power the Death Star. Erso's daughter Jyn had escaped when Krennic came for her dad and was taken in by "rebel" Saw Guerrera. We later learn he trained her as a soldier and then abandoned her when he felt her identity would become a threat. Saw also had a falling out with the Rebel Alliance because he was too much akin to a terrorist. But what makes Rogue One interesting is that they dont shy away from the warfare aspect. There is no blood and guts. But the "heroic" rebels kill, even essentially murdering an informant because he was disabled and couldnt escape (he was skittish and presumably might have been subject to torture so killing him kept the information he brought a secret). The male lead Cassian is tasked by Mon Mothma with finding Galen and killing him. Ofcourse, he develops feelings for Jyn yadda yadda yadda. There is a lot of A had to happen so B can happen so C can happen. And in that way, the plot feels rather loose. Although in that respect its along the vein of A New Hope which is filled with a lot of coincidences and chance that lead us down the path we need to go (some might call it destiny or the Will of the Force). For example, Krennic thinks a successful Death Star is his ticket to more power within the Empire but thinks Tarkin is going to take credit for it to the Emperor so he visits Vader...which brings Vader into the story. And on that subject, Vader is barely in it. In fact, its almost jarring as his final scene belies a more traditional "space war" film, even as cool as it is to see. More surprising than how little Vader is in it, is how much Tarkin is. Krennic is not the big bad guy the trailers made him seem. He's a middle manager, a project manager of the Death Star who reports to Tarkin. There has been a lot of debate about Tarkin in this movie and you will hear the term "Uncanny Valley" more than you will ever want to. My take? The CGI that brought Tarkin to life is jaw-dropping, emotional and incredible. Uncanny Valley refers to the feeling humans have when viewing something that looks real that we know isnt. And I've read that people who arent that familiar with A New Hope assumed Tarkin in Rogue One was a real person whereas those of us that know better could tell it was "fake". It was incredible. I dont know if I could tell it was fake as much as I KNEW it was fake since the actor is long dead. It was amazing and very very cool to see Tarkin back. In fact, I have no idea what he said in his first scene because I was mesmerized by seeing him. As it relates to Vader, the much-speculated "Bacta Tank" scene is, in fact, Vader (out of the armor). However, its akin to the ESB scene of his meditation chamber in that its a very well protected shot and we see very little of him. Just a hint enough to indicate that when he's lounging around his castle on Mustafar that he needs to soak in Bacta. I wished we had scene more. In a way, this was one of the few connections to the Prequels, but I can understand why the film makers were careful not to De-mystify Vader too much. When Vader finally has something to do, he goes ape ****. its brief but spectacular. Other Prequel mentions include Bail Organa. And good on Jimmy Smitts for taking on a rather small role where he has nothing to do. I wonder if he's been promised more down the road. The one thing that didnt add up to me, and maybe I missed something. Bail mentions returning to Alderaan. That is because we know it gets blown up in A New Hope. He's on Yavin. But so are the original droids. Bail also makes mention of sending someone to contact Obi Wan. So if Bail and Leia are both on Alderaan and Leia is heading to Alderaan (as she and the ship Captain say in ANH), why didnt Bail go with them? Why take his own ship...and how did he get there so fast, if we're to believe he dies on Alderaan? I suppose the "diplomatic mission to Alderaan" could be a lie if Leia's real mission was to go to Tatooine to find Obi Wan, but then why take the Death Star plans with her? Seems like a dangerous mission. Anyway, Rogue One ends basically moments before A New Hope begins. And we see the Princess on her ship. Its pretty cool too. So in summary, technically, Rogue One has a lot of issues as a film. But it was enjoyable and fun and the nostalgia aspects were inspiring. The buddy loved it and said "thats what the prequels should have been" I suspect we will get more Universe-building from the pre-A New Hope era and the CGI that brought Tarkin (and Leia) to life would certainly allow them to do the same with anyone else they might need. Oh and they also used footage from A New Hope during the Rogue One space battle so some of the Alliance pilots were the actual pilots from A New Hope. As a Star Trek fan, this is just another example of how Paramount just doesnt get it and runs away from its own history while LucasFilm embraces it. Which vision is more successful? Not the Trek one...

Weird. I thought this administration was "of the people"? Trump's the blue colour candidate.

It was also very important during the election not to fall for Trump's "its rigged so why bother voting" rhetoric that he hoped would dissuade people to vote for Hilary. Its the same with the vote recounts. if its close, why not recount? What can possibly be lost by recounting? Get it right. Trump would demonstrate more leadership if he wanted to get it right, rather then just win.

The reason they dont listen to the fans is because they have convinced themselves that its just one city. I watched the "True Story of the Royal Rumble" this past week (just came out) and it had a very telling scene. When Roman won the Rumble and The Rock held his arm up and the fans boo'ed like crazy, they had multiple shots of the Gorilla position with Michael Hayes, Hunter and others all saying the same thing - "it is what it is" "its just one city" "A global company doesnt give in to one reaction in one city". It shows a shocking lack of awareness. Vince used to use MSG as his barometer. However fans in MSG reacted, he took that as a sample of the larger audience. But they really dont anymore. But the fans "hijacking" shows and angles is a by-product of whittling the fans base down to the smarks and hardcores. I dont really care about the CW either (though I have a hard time caring about much in WWE right now), but they're doing the right thing in how their booking it by pushing personalities and doing three title flips pretty quickly to generate interest. Brian Kendrick was a great guy to use because he's a very good heel character. And its really about creating content for the Network. They need original shows, thus 205Live, and if they have the show, they have to push it on RAW, hence cruiserweights on RAW.

People always react to those interviews. It wasnt that he was happy, it was that he smiled at various times. I mean, is he supposed to be devastated and in a state of grief 24/7 twenty years later? He was very young. He had a weird way about him in his interview, almost detached. But according to Dr Phil, Burke is very uncomfortable in front of cameras and was very nervous. I didnt see anything outwardly odd about him in the interview. Seemed like a normal guy talking about an awful situation that happened two decades ago.

So because the White House was wrong, they shouldnt care? Oh wait, no I get it. Trumpers only care when its about him losing, not winning.

its the sore winner thing. Ofcourse, Trump and his supporters should want to know. And if Hilary had won, you can bet Trump would be screaming to high hell about it. But the Trumpites can bury their heads back in the sand and pretend it doesn't matter.

Agree 100%. And thats really the consensus of most industry people and fans. Everything about WWE is so scripted. Austin wrote his own material and came up with his own gimmick. Recall that Vince's idea for Austin was "The Ringmaster" who was a technical wrestler than never talked (he had Ted Dibiase as a mouthpiece). What a fail that was. The Rock was rejected just like Roman until he begged to turn heel and was allowed to cut his own promos. Vince and his cronies and even Hunter to a degree are too inside the "bubble". They cant see the fans perspective and Vince is protected like the Emperor with no clothes. People cant tell him he's wrong. Why did Vince like Jim Ross? Because Ross told him when he was wrong (and Ross was fired three or four times). It happens in local wrestling too where bookers and workers do and say things to make themselves or the other boys laugh. In WWE, its just like that except its designed to make Vince laugh or make Vince happy. The excuse for never turning Cena was that he sold too much merch and they didnt want to lose the money (never mind that nWo and Austin were heels and sold tons of merch). Whats the excuse with Roman? Hes not a top guy. He's not over. Turn him. Its pure stubbornness. Worse, they go out of their way to cut the balls off the faces. WWE has NO faces anymore. Seth's turn was maliciously awful. Ambrose was screwed until Roman's failed and by then it was almost too late. They tripped and fell into AJ Styles who Vince didnt want and had no intention of pushing until he popped numbers on the house shows. Wrestling is easy. But the smarter and bigger they get, the smarter they think they are and the harder they make it on themselves.