Show Notes
In time for May the Fourth 2022, enjoy this remastered reissue of lost episode 32 about the 2018 Star Wars instalment directed by Ron Howard (BBFC cert. 12A) and revisiting Paula Blair and Andrew Shail having a rant 4 years ago. There are loads of plot details, chat about this and other sci-fi franchises, the actors, the music, production contexts and gender politics.
Original episode with auto-captions
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Find auto-captioned videos on YouTube.
New intro recorded with Zencastr on 6 April 2022.
Edited by Paula Blair with Audacity.
Music: commonGround by airtone (c) copyright 2018 Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Noncommercial (3.0) license.
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Automated Transcript
there can only be one I mean that’s a Highlander reference but it does Barca back west solo shirt hello my name is Paula there and you’re very welcome to audio visual cultures the podcast that explores different areas of art media sound all that sort of stuff I’ve got a re issue for you today about a year and a half ago when I switched to a cost hosting a C. episodes got lost and we weren’t scurry to the new site one of those was episode thirty two feet and which doctor Andriy shale and tight how to buy solo a Star Wars story and what better day to re release this then on may the force before we time travel back to twenty eighteen you too thanks to our most splendid patrons at peach tree on dot com forward slash AP cultures for keeping the fire let anyone who engages with AV cultures part on socials and based the show that’s so nice of you we really appreciate it so much I’d like to thank tech jams hole for their kind words and an Instagram story back in April that said and I quote hi folks I would love it if you could support each eighty cultures pods in any way that you can their podcast is a great force of kids with an audio visual culture and it’s definitely worth listening to that is high praise indeed Sanchi decade ready ready appreciate you saying that publicly the dollar making at right so enough the other in on from me that turned over to the the remastered past Paulette and Andre and may the force be with this week I am joined again by film historian Star Wars fan Andriy shield to have a bit of discussion but also better for round up by solo a Star Wars story we finally got around to saying it if you listen regulate you might remember we opted part of saying it and instead we did an experiment where we went to see two different films at the same time and that was episode nineteen and our discussions were up by eight the rape of Recy Taylor and he tape we got round to watching on a whim actually solo at home ands weren’t especially impressed got not that long a discussion about it but we’ll see what you make of it so if you are a star was fine it be really great to hear your thoughts on that because I’m not a fan and we talk about it by the fandom around Star Wars as well Star Wars is such a huge cultural phenomenon and it was one that I just would not engage with for quite a long time and I have actually really enjoyed some of the more recent additions to the franchise but didn’t Pataki enjoys solo so for night enjoy Branner then really just for solo wouldn’t resist nine hundred and twenty three in the installments of Star Wars George Lucas money spending franchise stores yeah it’s one point two point three eight as far as right so hunters we’ve been putting it off we find the Senate and it was disappointing well we assume if sandy Newton and Phoebe Waller bridge and I mean I mean I love woody Harrelson here but he’s better than this %HESITATION but ninety three looking sinister lovely Erin Calman just looking otherworldly debating issues very familiar but I don’t know she’s probably one of the early she just seems so C. H. not much I’ve heard of the things that she’s been increased by wells minister of the TV series filming and then it doesn’t mean on Hollywood street stay will send me one episodes is that the one that set by Caitlin Moran yes yeah we see one after that so that’s where we recognize them okay Sir the stock people immediate clock being such as consent Esther her character is just such a washer because she never looks confident what she’s saying and it’s pretty disappointed in because she could have been reading about us which brings its own mark Davis in it for about a second way support Davis is never free of info I think what the neighbors just grew up loving science fiction is that people come to him and say do not be in the sun so yeah he goes you have to this new let me get to the end of this month why we did this part because there’s going to be very short we did it because Stommel seems to have banks legion we didn’t go and say this in a sentiment that was one of those ones I think we talked about a time where we need the reason it was a really fascinating stuff on the night that it was on and we went to see two different things I was R. ET and B. C. Taylor absolutely way it is go that we don’t care each of us want to see one of those instead of seeing lance and we’ve just watched it at home on a whim really cards on the table I am not a Star Wars fan because in table I’m still here super big Star Wars fan and I had intended to never ever watch anything to do with Star Wars ever in my life I would’ve been happy to die never having seen one of them was the other day I received an email from my Big Brother which has an attachment which was I going to have to make an X. wing in Oregon so this sushi the difference in our growing sphere people miracle was sitting in it really is but we agreed on the front this film by accident yeah the goal is to find something new but that is expand and you’re the reason why I’ve seen any of them until now I had seen them a little bit and that sort of correct order because I will not watch the phantom menace beginning trilogy because they just look terrible nice talking to clients revenge of the Sith and I attempted to watch them when they first came on TV and I was horrific the boards and I just couldn’t take it and no matter how much affection I have for Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor I just know yeah it was so boring I couldn’t J. and then I just thought they were terribly man anyway but we went to see rogue one when it came in the cinema and they love to add a brilliant time and then I think we will stay original trilogy after that you will send me I saw those four in the right order I’m using force awakens and we’ve seen we went to see last ad I posted on last last year Christmas were promising and I really enjoyed Group One on last Saturday I saw defendants and rose was my favorite character and lost data I absolutely love her and they broke up this is my second favorite on the other robot because my other favorites yeah and then of course rogue one you’ve got a woman and the Mexicans are the heroes on a robot with sass and she had the blinds Japanese guy and stuff goes brilliantly robots with sass element that is clearly deemed by the team of people behind the front tries to be the thing you must not put in every film because what we just saw had read what would keep killing them and it is done all the people who were of any significance he died were women in the Salem and that was really annoying me after a while it because it kept happening the friendliness counter vinyl she was the first of the week but she died earlier this is the most significant she’d had to die and then in the end thing need %HESITATION aids with lots of farms take out show up slightly and then often you thought well he’s obviously gonna die in two minutes his voice was John favorite teams just thought rogue one and last Saturday they had made so much progress in terms of women being people and diverse city and speed what seems to happen in this phone as they were okay so we’ll have our two female characters for about the first half of the film being nags as in the three people who knock the male characters I mean just this voice of don’t and then we’ll have the mother killed or lost and then in the second half of the phone will have a comeback when one of those characters returns and she’s got her own agenda now and she’s independent of the mountains is going up sheriff I thought attendance %HESITATION she’s never convinced by her before she finally answered on and going right away she still expressly riven with guilt that may just be our favorite surname the media talks resting face just look really she just looks confident he’s a hero he’s thinking okay I’m so stupid person but I’m gonna do this anyway I’m so conflicted and I don’t want to see it just ask me you’ve made a decision you being decisive B. decides but are you feel about it that decisiveness this is a really inferior in spite of all of this the only governments which the film says women are not quite worthy of the same steam is meant it did still have space admitted caricature of a feminist rebellion in the form of what L. three no that was my job range does yes so they have a caricature of an uprising Phoebe Waller bridge voices and droid he seems to have hips and also they do genuinely have a relationship where Lando played by Donald Glover was actually in love with a droid was you can feast for that because I thought she just thought he was seem to be at the very least highly enamored with her not compact enough for that and she seemed to have gone this is not okay the end of whether anyone other than himself yeah he could ever go quickly I just thought she was telling herself son that was a joke possibly then he reacted really horribly too and she got mortally subset that they’ve been buddies for a long time and then really moans for a little bit at least once during tater NFL fan but as prepared than today’s well he doesn’t think he’s gonna raise the falcon and their card game at the ends first year because of a point in the condominium where it’s the second con game as far as %HESITATION you thought it was going to win in the first call came in second target all the callbacks thank just keep thinking of all those internet crybabies mon babies I should say he have said about eight ten year ones %HESITATION this is now my star wars is his roommate chose to see kind of thing this is cura came back not just feminism and any agenda of equality and filmmaking but it’s just so predictable at every turn you’re going oh well this is going to happen only think that thing I said was going to happen it just happened for the whole ten yards if he felt he could trade him and then there was a furious action set piece it was a lot of people shouting at each other I was on the side in this from quick weighing and shouting at each other with the music’s instantly music’s so that they can clear terror we come here with us and all these different things happening at the same time and clearly people are able to weigh up all the different variables ago all that means that we now need to do this we need a change of plans so it was fun and he’s going to tell you exactly what you need to know but it’s going to be in a heated piece of dialogue with people shouting at each other amidst the bustle one of the things that somebody mumbles during the show to exchange is something which then determines the next eighteen minutes of action and from a feminist rebellion was also carried out by store furnished a caricature of a feminist I mean L. three she has droid hips yeah a big sun sassa C. walk at sea on the way we can describe it weakling had for a long time the better term for this if she’s go obey gas as well and she doesn’t because she’s a robot it’s just her legs are very wide apart it’s gonna be a citizen of %HESITATION a list and I was well known and she a caricature of black woman because there’s a racial thing is what’s going on with it’s like a civil rights movement rather than a feminist movement and the way that she’s talking she liberates droids from being forced for each other and in fifteen minutes early if yeah and she back I find some of the some kind in there as well and he’s of course being rescued from slavery bye they hear a white guy the film is with this but within about the first fifteen minutes Han and Kira %HESITATION turn of fleas Correa this planet was starship tonight and the Turner free as refugees they don’t have the right paperwork to trying to bribe away three of the people are trying to travel being harassed by stormtroopers and served as a refugee immigrant refugee migrant subtext going on that sick of refugees and migrants you’ve got slaves and you’ve got a feminist about it as well so the film does these things are all great mixes together fictional versions of all these things but at the same time the gender politics concerning how particular name characters interact with each other hello the men know what to do the women %HESITATION clueless four nine three going I think we should do this we’re not going to fare %HESITATION like we did at I said the the clueless with enacting for the conniving and they all have a sense of guilt missense of sexual guilt that Kerr has because she’s have to enter into the sexual relationship with the super villain Dryden played by Paul Bettany if you have to have sex with somebody you know to to basically survive any standard if I wouldn’t feel any guilt I would be going to old friends and you’ll feel different about me when you have a slow burn all right Hon because after three years later it’s I must admit doesn’t work sometimes that comes when you see the text that says three years later in the film because it goes right I’m not gonna have to sit through an explanation of what happened in these three years we can now just spin on to a new situation and we can learn about just how he evaded further delay anyway when you’ve got these furious set pieces it’s important to have those interim moments when everything’s calm and we just re establishing the off them off of that what now needs to happen but even those pretty florals did get quite boring because it was everyone just saying the plot it just felt like I know all this because I’ve seen this film I feel like ten times before just get on with it just days something show me something new yet a spot somewhere I felt rope on and blasted a state’s quite well as films in her own right there were predictable parts but there were also part so I thought I haven’t actually seen something quite like this before subscribing citing where is this I just felt it was already projected billable time and only the statistics here it was Abrams ask because there was land yeah and there was things being permissive got focused and that was slightly wandering hand held camera senior stylistics it was also Gracie in its content because there was mud and I was doused this is the brownie yellow film this is a lot of humor yeah our tenants so it’s humor the gritty version of Star Wars that they got away from when they did the prequels and that was clearly didn’t have just been stupid two of the quiet past saying I was going into a stupid to me right from that so going back to it a vengeance it’s often point out the first hours phone was all about garbage when the two Georgia picked up at the beginning but the job was the jar scavengers HM they ended up in a garbage compactor on the death star the universe was old my stuff is worn out so I tell you Mrs galaxy pointing this galaxy quest this age this sort of lovely stuff in there although they have turned the it’s really dirty in this environment up to eleven basically with the mud fights lay flat first meets Chewbacca which is just this grey scene of everyone getting covered in mud I don’t know I just one shower after years of currently of being in that stuff Goldman outside of his first find clay you know you have to get it %HESITATION we shaved off when you and I would have been under center it’s gallons of conditioner they’ve go and whatever that was that they can cope when they join the other ones so it E. Harrelson and Thandie Newton no however ones I thought there was quite a lot of mistakes found a not very generalist level is I love song to JJ I just felt like there was a lot of infections if general science fiction and fantasy because I saw and the sign tracks right it just kind of remind me of Farscape because of its not quite otherworldly operatic singing going on I don’t know if you were not the way it does in the far skip titles there is a high pets almost extremely in my garage like singing going on I just find it very similar and nine tracks to the point where it was distracting me rather than energizing me in the same and also the car TS are I started the film I mean it was generic car chase but it felt like back to the future or something and it fell to battle Hank I think partly because everything reminded back to teach it also felt a bit like ready player one the most part we did a good job of going he’s a real world environment and we’re just going to put a few little sci fi elements into it here and then %HESITATION so okay yeah that’s going to be this really rugged mountain scape and it’s going to be a few tiny bits of buildings stuck to this are these mountains but for that first scene it was just sci fi stuff everywhere I was thinking none of this is photographic or computer generated environments which is not a great way of getting your view it invested in the human story for that state whatever the alien was so it was being voiced by Jon Favreau with the many lambs I was getting ready to distracted by the CG I notice on the weightlessness of that character I just couldn’t really access study with me there Katie was if you find tax useful with your podcasts we’ve got two options for you you can subscribe to the audio visual cultures podcast when you change for captioned videos and you can visit all the visual cultures dot com and click the transcripts top both sites are linked in the show notes along with information like this episode as for the next blank blank blank code on a Star Wars story which for we know could be that medical droid that we sort of the beginning of episodes five code on a Star Wars story there’s nothing been announced yet yeah he’s been announced is that we’re gonna get after thirty nine the C. because the last July and have they had to re work a lot of thought though because of Carrie Fisher M. one I’m asking us if I care this Carrie Fisher was an last Saturday a lot more than I thought she was going to be actually the fact that she had Jenna pounds or something that will really setting up to be a big badass thing in the final from when they’ve had to make changes of course if the way that this franchise now works is going to continue to be the way it works for a few years we’re gonna have went blank blank code on a Star Wars story feels like in summer twenty nineteen it feels like they’re setting up something with this fellow night playing young hands because it kills off full time so it feels like we’re going to continue his adventures which feels more like it should be an animated series or something like that rather than the well that’s a franchise for a good while the franchise did exist solely as an animated series I’ll say that he box saying they would go well I thought when I was a kid yes oppose what we must not a loss is does that count as canon I think it can blow around Callum semi works having a bit of an adventure with some human thinking I can’t remember a styles to third very fake images from it because I find it boring man even for school view from the cold something terrible Star Wars story short shoots that could produce peace makers George Lucas made some money but nothing feature length the government going to the old internet movie database I am searching for the walk nine if for the evil could venture I remember this year and will go a little magical items and everyone who went on the mission really needed amounts going to maintain the people he got magical items the correct who use them at the end and everything was fine that is the E. works TV series from nineteen eighty four we are the E. E. E. E. E. E. rocks another spin off which didn’t really make a big impact on your you one of the Watson that there was something up by them talking about E. G. small Hannah’s trying to translate for him he’s not sure if he said something along the lines of family or clan and I said do you think that could be a very obscure reference to that awful holiday special which I have seen because mystery science theater three thousand and nothing else in the whole world would have got me to see any of that but and it’s really quite astounding because I think that was after the original Star Wars yeah I think they did in the holiday period I wasn’t immediately after a year off the original stars as a way of going well this is basically a franchise we never gonna turn into some sort of trilogy so they just played with it and yet result a phone office which has survived in spite of the efforts of George Lucas rather than because of the subject I think they tried to bury it but it’s right there people so I was wondering if it was maybe some sort of notes about the case and that she has a very heteronormative life he has a little place wife and a small child and other %HESITATION appendages that Britain how you specifics I guess and the American north or something yeah for this festive time the very similar looking into the Christian festival that said but based on the pagan festival that we have in this part of the world is part of the galaxy it’s pretty awful and it’s quite embarrassing saying mark Hamill Harrison Ford is his %HESITATION Haley uncomfortable and and faster our old fans who’ve been highly drug because George had something on them clearly and those references global because we have to have references to every time anyone mentioned anything about Han’s backstory so that to be some reference the fact we had at some point between the imperial navy twelve parsecs the you know the thing about sex Pasek is the unit of distance it’s known to use of time they stuck having to go %HESITATION yes we make the Kessel run there’s no way you can make that in less than twelve sacks and no one being able to say %HESITATION POSIX unit of distance so you don’t have that but when they make the Kessel run I just made the Kessel run in less than twelve parsecs in which Judy contests and hand says well if you’re going to dine he’s such a chance there was a girl references to that bit during the first so was from when the fleeing the death star and Han and Luke both crew one of those guns and it’s detained director there do do do do do do do do I think they have to have one account is cruel as guns and be really clueless about to make a joke about how difficult it would be interesting to do that a bit of an allusion to the stuff that happened on Tatooine everybody was to get to talk to we need to get a job working for this crime gangs to have causes Jabba the Hutt and the reference to setting up a cantina at some point yeah I thought that was leading to a container that keeps appearing the most likely candidate and there was also a sense container in this one as well characters the county no points from the film going to a bar and it’s a bit dangerous there’s also a bit later on it’s fascinating parts of the western not was a bit later on when the in the face when they’re going to find Han who is in his gambling down which has its own bar with live and die you from afar this morning I usually go into a plan L. three says come on let’s go they don’t serve %HESITATION calling him anyway %HESITATION they don’t have money coming here anyway and that’s a direct reference to one of the lines that the bartender in the mythology cantina says and there is no phone that’s called Star Wars it’s not quite Star Wars clone of the central government and you have to discuss the case is there where it says back on him with the drugs have to wait outside seven reference after reference after reference this film was going to go up this is Caroline this is also for furniture and we will have to sleep on and so on again all the month babies Hey keep complaining about eight all the renovation of their childhoods even though these are all separate films that belongs to everybody he curio Watson the other ones this this feels like it belongs with them just but then I like it more recent ones apart from this because they felt different from those they felt like something I could take part in and enjoy where site C. ready exclusion violence and actually I say that but the original three she was say so %HESITATION Star Wars retrospectively renamed and you hope and then it’s empire strikes back and then returned it was downright princess I is such an amazing character so I feel like in a way I may start each but I appreciate her more having senior as an adult rather than as a child and I need Carrie Fisher as a writer or comedian performer fatter than I need pence’s fire which is probably fairly rare so having seen the films after she died I think probably meant more for me the people who get upset about it the things need to realize they’re actually in the grand scheme of things a minority the Sims belong to all of us speaking of intellectual property involved and that means that that’s we all got to watch that much you know no right there for anybody to watch and enjoy or not enjoy it for various reasons and if you’re gonna be sniffy because women are doing stuff well this one’s for you you because women urging pathetic things I don’t think file would have sacrificed herself the same rate for that character I was about ready to find the shared some of the wing sickness you could use to get out of it I know you think something like that and if they’re gonna make her work on those fired up bridges no she readily %HESITATION been don’t think so stories about anybody anyway I was not convinced we’ve had a bit of a run but most renowned firm guiding homes the firm grip on the direction it’s just there Lawrence Kasdan and Ron Howard was brought in with me because the first person I have to start right I think he was in the original director for this I’m pretty sure he was interviewed when I came my age and he was in the original director he took it over editado quite difficult production life anyway Hey I was just like one of the studios things that have to be out for a certain time rather than something that was crafted to be the right kind of thing trump and Carson Lawrence Kasdan Lawrence Kasdan was part of the original so it’s going to matter and sons never miss %HESITATION okay original directors Phil lord and Christopher Miller fired in June twenty seventeen following quite creative differences on growing with Lucasfilm run how hard is that replacement it’s also one of the most expensive phone the other night given its enormous budget it’s box office indicates that it probably made of rock during the rule of thumb temptation of mental Smith park service do you think they got cocky visit yeah Johnson counsel is one of life’s customs kids phone just to me is a Star Wars BB eight yeah the Senate three grown off over in France the plan that you are off to a fractional so yourself those baby because I think the Ghostbusters bay bay is it not the case your parents first date one of their early dates listed go and see Star Wars original Star Wars films that doesn’t mean they enjoyed it and my dad was huge in sci-fi but wasn’t ready his bag he was the struggle Saddam’s type yeah on the spectrum of how cerebral sci fi is this is north of the three Brenda Fassie rebel at the spectrum he liked the mystery stuff and has the Terrigal stuff no one in the store was universe is going to invent time travel because that’s going to lead to questions about the nature of physics where is that’s not really what the science fiction elements are supposed to do in this galaxy far far away a long time ago anyway we’re just watching it again that that’s not
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