Assembly took one beer and an hour and a half. Basically you screw four legs on the bottom of the table and assemble the back box. It’s not very complex and the instructions are easy to read and follow. I’m not strong at putting things together and I had zero issues assembling.
We have another virtual pinball table coming from AtGames that we also preordered in November 2020. This one also cost $599 + shipping. The Star Wars Pinball costs $601 and some change with delivery included, so the AtGames Legends Pinball is a little more expensive.
Also, recently — guess we’re in the videogame mode at the moment — Walmart had a crazy good deal on the AtGames Legends Pro controller for $99, when it regularly sells for $249.
AtGames Legends Pro Gamer is on the two gaming stools. The AtGames Legends Ultimate arcade is showing in the corner of the room
My son and I picked up four of those (two each). Another nice thing about these is they fit into the AtGames Legends Ultimate arcade unit as a replacement control panel and they are wireless so you can take with you and play the same games on TVs anywhere.
We’ve also scheduled three trips to the local arcade — one each month — for the next three months.
Typing this post as we’re waiting to enter the AMC movie theater for Sunday movie night at the theater. This will be our 14th movie seen in theaters in 2021. We’re seeing The Courier [FIRST LOOK] tonight. A review of that will be posted here in the not too distant future.. We also watched the Snyder Cut of Justice League. Wish they had gone the miniseries or two-part route (a la Kill Bill) there, but won’t say much else. You can read the Snyder Cut non-spoiler review at Letterboxd.
What have you all been up to? Spring cleaning? Watch any great movies lately you want to name drop recommend in the comments? Please do!
Like a ragtag group of Rebels taking on a Death Star, angry Star Wars fans who are furious at Disney / Lucasfilm over the firing of Gina Carano from The Mandalorian are absolutely thrashing the official Star Wars YouTube channel.
Nearly every new video posted to the Star Wars YouTube channel is met with a massive amount of downvotes and comments expressing support for Carano.
Am not a fan of the term “toxic fandom” but will admit that obsession over anything is problematic. At the same time, I agree that The Last Jedi was a terrible movie and wish Disney would have found some other way to deal with Gina Carano than cutting off all business contact with her (Disney Has Had Enough – Gina Carino Out From The Mandalorian over Social Media Activity). It is a terrible optic, regardless whether you agree or not with Carano’s political beliefs, especially when Disney took the extra step of stopping Hasbro from making Cara Dune toys, Am not sure I agree with Carano that she was bullied (see: Gina Carano Tells Her Side, Claiming Disney Bullying, in Interview With Ben Shapiro) but do see how reasonable people could come to that conclusion.
What should Disney have done if they didn’t want to work with Gina Carano any longer? The answer is obvious. Don’t offer her a contract for more TV show appearances as the character. Behind the scenes, it sounds like they’d already done that. But they didn’t need to come out with a public statement distancing themselves from Carano. I think this last PR move poured salt in the wound.
As previously stated, I wasn’t that excited about Cara Dune, the character. She might have been popular for more hardened Star Wars fans but she was to me at best a very minor character in The Mandalorian. If she never appeared in the series again, that wouldn’t have been something I found disappointing. Will she appear in The Mandalorian pinball game? I don’t know, but if she’s there or not, I’m cool with it.
I’m not going to Disney’s official Star Wars channel to downvote the video. The number of videos I’ve downvoted on YouTube can probably be counted on both hands. That’s since YouTube first started many years ago. I would rather promote than downvote, so I will thumbs up videos I like more than actively downvote those disliked. If I dislike something, I don’t engage with it, stop following, stop paying attention to it.
This brings back Star Wars Pinball. I bought that table because I love playing the Zen Studios FX3 pinball tables and liked the design of that table. This was before Gina Carano’s fallout with Disney. When the table comes I’m going to setup and play. The only thing that’s going to impact how often that is played is how much fun the games are on the table.
Not going to tell Star Wars fans how to spend their time, so if they want to spend those minutes of their life downvoting videos on Disney’s official Star Wars channel have at it. That seems to be important for some (many?) of them right now. Disney is the enemy for distancing themselves from Carano, I get it. My guess is in time this Carano situation will blow over. Is it reminiscent of what happened to Luke Skywalker’s character in The Last Jedi? I don’t think so. The comparison is being made, but Cara Dune was never Luke Skywalker.
If people want to be mad as Star Wars fan, it’s more understandable being upset about Luke Skywalker than what happened with Cara Dune. The character Cara Dune didn’t have anything negative happen except the actress that plays her won’t be Gina Carano (according to Disney as of this moment in time, but who knows what the future holds?) could still be recast and maybe will in future shows. Luke Skywalker’s character arc is pretty much ruined, unless they go all Star Trek and parallel universe or retcon what happened to him in The Last Jedi.
If you love a franchise, whether it be Star Wars, Jurassic Park, etc, you don’t have to love everything involved with it. That’s what I’m taking from this. It’s not blind loyalty to the franchise. I don’t like everything Star Trek has done, in fact most of the newer Star Trek by Alex Kurtzman hasn’t been to my liking. Have voted with my feet. Not watching it. Maybe I’ll give it another chance someday. Maybe I’ll like something new Kurtzman does with Star Trek, but so far his record is abysmal with me.
How wrapped up as a fan do you get in something you like? What do you think Disney should have done if they didn’t want to do business with Gina Carano any longer?
A lot of businesses are suffering now. I’m not sure videogame physical stores when so much is about digital and subscription these days makes much sense. Me? I personally like to shop in person when possible, but there is no denying convenience online and with the added safety requirements, it’s putting a tremendous strain on businesses like Gamestop.
GameStop, the largest video game retailer in the world, is headed for some serious trouble. After a years-long downward spiral into debt, the company announced in a Dec. 8 presentation to investors that it will close more than 1,000 stores by the end of its fiscal year in March. This comes after the company already closed over 783 stores over the previous two years.
Arcade1UP suffered production and manufacturing delays which has led to pushing back the December 14, 2020 ship date for the Star Wars pinball machines. We received an email from Gamestop and they didn’t even have the right pinball machine listed in the email, saying our “Marvel Pinball machine” would be delayed. Um, no, I replied, we have a receipt for the Star Wars machine. They replied and apologized, oh yeah, that.
Umm, is this how their customer service works? They don’t even know what you order?
We ordered two gaming stools from them and never did see on their website that the order was fulfilled, however, the stools arrived a week later. We paid a couple extra dollars for expediated shipping, but it still took a week for the stools to arrive. They were in good condition and no issues otherwise, but Gamestop’s website and order confirmation page is lacking.
This leads me to believe that maybe Gamestop should go out of business if they can’t get online orders right and people aren’t shopping in their retail stores in significant numbers.
I still like Gamestop, despite our own issues with them. They aren’t Amazon as a shopping experience. Maybe that’s the biggest problem for them.
Season 2 – Episode 8 of 8 Disney+ Air date: December 18, 2020 Run time: 46 minutes Directed by Peyton Reed
Chapter 16 – “The Rescue”
Boba Fett, Cara Dune and Mando intercept and disable the imperial ship carrying the clone engineer featured in an earlier episode. They stop by and pick up Bo-KaTan to join in the fight to take Moff Gideon’s ship and reclaim Grogu. Alas, the Dark Troopers are standing guard as well as a battle to reclaim the Darksaber which carries a secret of its own. Pinned down a ship arrives carrying a stunning visitor ready for battle.
Will Grogu be saved? Will Moff Gideon fall at the hands of Mando and his team or live to further build his evil Imperial forces? Who will control the power of the Darksaber? Who is the mysterious visitor that arrives?
Everything builds to an epic battle aboard Moff Gideon’s ship.
Summary
Did not see the ending coming, nor especially the arrival of that familiar Star Wars visitor. The Dark Trooper battling Mando on the ship was one of many entertaining scenes. This episode is pure Star Wars gold, the best of any so far in this series. Do not miss the end credits either, as a surprise awaits there as well.
We’ll be back in a future post to cover spoilers and more, but this episode is too good to ruin that this soon. I can’t wait to see where this series takes us next. Season 3 is totally primed. In the meantime, we’ll just have to speculate about how awesome Disney+ will be with more of this quality and type of Star Wars. Great work all around from Jon Favreau, Dave Filoni and their team. They should have been given the keys to the Star Wars kingdom as soon as Disney purchased from Lucasfilms.
Oh, and one more time Mando takes off his helmet. Can we stop having articles saying Pedro Pascal is complaining about not being able to take off his helmet? His helmet has come off multiple times in season two. We know his face. We know that perfectly manicured mustache. If Pascal ever did complain, it might be that it was about how hot it was having his head inside the mask so much. That part is believable anyway. This is a huge role for him. What actor wouldn’t want to be Mando?
S2:E8 Chapter 16 “The Rescue” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What did you think of Chapter 16: “The Rescue”? We welcome your comments — good, bad or indifferent — below.
Season 2 – Episode 7 of 8 Disney+ Air date: December 11, 2020 Run time: 38 minutes Directed by Rick Famuyiwa
Chapter 15 – “The Believer”
With Grogu AKA The Child AKA Baby Yoda captured by Moff Gideon, Boba Fett and his partner promising to stay by Mando’s side until The Child is returned, they need to locate Moff Gideon’s ship.
Under false pretenses, Marshall Cara Dune breaks out Mayfeld (Bill Burr), prisoner from the scrapyard and returning scoundrel from season one. The mission is to find Moff Gideon’s coordinates and Mayfeld knows Imperial protocols and can hack the Imperial computer system.
Mayfeld tells them to stop by the planet Morack, there is an Imperial computer terminal there that can provide Gideon’s location. This won’t be easy, they’ll have to go undercover. Mando teams up with Mayfeld to enter the facility. Mando will soon face whether or not to break a Mandalorian credo in order to complete the mission.
Does Mayfeld double-cross Mando again to gain his own safety? What decision will Mando make regarding taking off his helmet to complete the mission? Does he do it? Will we see actor Pedro Pascal’s face? Will the mission be completed and they will receive Moff Gideon’s coordinates? What will be Mayfeld’s fate? Does he survive the mission and is returned to the prison scrapyard?
Tune into this week’s episode of The Mandalorian to find out these answers and more!
Summary
All the drama around Pedro Pascal allegedly frustrated that he couldn’t take off his helmet for the role behind the scenes (see: Do “BIG” problems exists with The Mandalorian Season 2?) and Favreau and company wisely covers this meta story in this episode. We learn the answer to just how far Mando` will go to rescue and protect Grogu.
The episode itself is a pretty familiar run and gun escape plot. Reminds me of an every week in and week out episode of The A-Team. It’s entertaining enough, but the most formulaic episode of the second season. It’s the kind of episode that the show risks falling into if it doesn’t forge new territory.
S2:E6 Chapter 15 “The Believer” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
… you’ve been warned, SPOILERS ahead …
Reviews by Others
After seeing the episode, I was curious what others thought. Here’s a few reviews I read from others. There are many, many more out there. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, watch it and judge for yourself first because spoilers abound in many reviews.
Annayiel Online: “All in all, no it wasn’t as fantastic as last week’s episode but it was still very enjoyable and is leading up to what surely will be an epic finale.”
Sean Hussey / ComicBook Debate: “I am often quick to praise writers and directors on episodes, but I must start by giving praise to Rick Famuyiwa. This episode is not only beautifully directed, it is also incredibly well written.”
We’ve Got (Back) Issues: “It’s worth pointing that Grogu doesn’t appear in this episode proving that this is more than just the ‘Baby Yoda’ show.”
What did you think of Chapter 15: “The Believer”? We welcome your comments — good, bad or indifferent — below.
Season 2 – Episode 6 of 8 Disney+ Air date: December 4, 2020 Run time: 34 minutes Directed by Robert Rodriguez
Chapter 14 – “The Tragedy”
Mando and Grogu AKA Baby Yoda AKA The Child are kicking it in the Razor Crest on the way to a planet with a seeing stone, unaware that Moff Gideon has placed a tracking beacon on the ship. Mando can’t find a suitable landing spot, so he sets the ship in hover mode and he jetpacks Grogu to the ground. He places Grogu on the seeing stone in the middle of the circle and asks him to do his Jedi thing.
Mando notices they’ve been followed and tries to get Grogu to leave, but the creature is in full on meditation mode on the stone with a powerful force field surrounding him. Mando comes face to face with a man who claims to be Boba Fett’s son (UPDATE: actually, that’s how it appears at first, but it’s really Jenga’s armor the character is talking about — and you’ll have to watch to see who Jenga is, if you don’t know the lore), and he wants the armor back that Mando claimed in an earlier episode this season. He has a sharpshooter trained on Grogu if Mando doesn’t comply. But a new enemy for both of them emerges when an imperial ship arrives complete with a bunch of Stormtroopers and Moff Gideon. They are there to take Grogu.
Will Boba Fett’s son join Mando in a fight against the Imperial forces? Does Boba Fett himself appear? Does Grogu summon a powerful Jedi to train him? What sort of evil plan is Moff Gideon up to?
You’ll have to watch the episode to learn the answers to these questions, but it’s definitely the meaty episode we’ve been waiting for. There are thrills aplenty including several shock moments.
Summary
This is the fastest paced episode of any in the series. It feels almost like one extended action scene. That’s both good and not so good. The subplot with Boba Fett’s armor being returned is the secondary subplot, but once again the protection of the Child named Grogu, becomes Mando’s primary mission. The title of the episode portends that this might not end well.
Always good seeing Stormtroopers getting blasted. Mando learning Boba Fett is the rightful owner of the armor is a fun nod to the past but we don’t learn how Fett survived the Sarlac Pit (maybe in the future?).
The action is very good and, despite Robert Rodriguez directing, this isn’t Star Wars meets Machete, it’s not grindhouse or Spy Kids in the slightest. Jon Favreau and Dave Filoni, executive producers, along with Rodriguez in the director’s chair make sure we’re getting the same consistent style for the show.
Too short, that’s my main criticism. It’s still very good — I mean, it’s The Mandalorian and one of the best shows around right now — easily a recommended episode, but it just feels like we were treated to an incomplete story. Intentionally leaving us hanging. Bad guys want The Child, we’ve seen this plot before and we already knew a bigger threat from Moff Gideon and his Imperial forces were coming, but this episode feels somewhat incomplete. Too much left for next week.
That said, it was all exciting and fun to watch.
This is episode 6 of 8, so it’s setting up a three part finale for Season 2. I suppose that’s kind of how this had to go down, but we’re left wanting more, feeling like the episode was cut too short, like we didn’t get a complete mission. Just a few too many unanswered questions. It’s like it wanted to be like The Empire Strikes Back, but there’s no Luke and Darth Vader with a stunning revelation about who Luke’s father is, there is a curious reveal involving the existence of Boba Fett, through a child seeking his armor. The ending, without spoilers, is total cliffhanger.
Guessing for some this will be a 5-star episode, because it sets up an exciting final two parts, but I’d rather have just seen all three episodes as one movie-length episode. Perhaps greedy, but honest. At the end of the day, I’m riveted by this series and it always leaves me wanting to see what’s up next week. That’s the highest compliment possible, so keep my (very) minor complaints in perspective.
S2:E6 Chapter 14 “The Tragedy” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️½
… you’ve been warned, SPOILERS ahead …
Reviews by Others
After seeing the episode, I was curious what others thought. Here’s a few reviews I read from others. There are many, many more out there. If you haven’t seen the episode yet, watch it and judge for yourself first because spoilers abound in many reviews.
Jacob Mahady / The Sandcrawler Blog: “This episode was a lot shorter than I had originally hoped for. This might be one of the shortest ones yet and it felt like it. This episode blew by, as it set up for next week. Seeing Shand again was welcomed, too. She has a great assassin personality and fits in very well.”
Paul Wilkinson / We’ve Got (Back) Issues: “I don’t know if it nostalgia, the lack of other entertainment at the moment, or if the show is really that good. It’s probably a bit of all these factors but this show is unmissable. The only thing missing was a Danny Trejo cameo.”
Ready Steady Cut / Jonathon Wilson: “With several major developments, a lot of fun stuff for long-time Star Wars fans and a good deal of connective tissue with the first season, this isn’t the biggest, showiest episode, but it’s an extremely competent middle chapter designed to shift things around for the back half of the season.”
Small Screen / Edward Lauder: “The other thing I love about Chapter 14 is that it sets up something truly exciting. It sets up Din Djarin finally building his team of misfits and rogues. This is something I cannot wait to see moving forward.”
X-Geeks: “Robert Rodriguez did a good job with the episode, especially with some of the action sequences. This was a nice episode for him to be involved with, although it did go by very quickly, don’t you think?”
(UPDATE 12/4/2020 7:30am PT: Since we’re in the spoilers area, I should confess that I misunderstood that Boba Fett was claiming to be his son. That’s how I interpreted it on the first watch. Boba Fett explains at 25:00 in the run time that the father he spoke about was his own father, Jenga Fett. There is no Boba Fett’s son that exists, because the mysterious stranger *IS* Boba Fett (how did he survive the Sarlac Pit, I guess that continues to fuel my confusion), and it might seem like “how could anybody ever miss that?” but, yes, I did. Leave it to an insult from a stranger on Twitter to correct my bone-headed error above — quickly — once this was originally posted. I left the review text above as written with a minor update for better clarification. Go ahead, make fun of my mistake if you will. I wake up, watch these episodes usually only once and then immediately write my thoughts. I’m also trying to make the review SPOILER-FREE. A major part of this episode is Boba Fett returning to fight alongside The Mandalorian and reclaiming his armor along with Moff Gideon’s scheme to take Grogu back. By reading my original review you wouldn’t have that spoiled at all, which is what I’m trying to do here each week, but I shouldn’t erroneously point to characters that don’t exist in the story recap portion. Sometimes I can, do and will make mistakes. I’m owning this one, because it is somewhat funny and, yes, dumb. Sorry. 😉
What did you think of Chapter 14: “The Tragedy”? We welcome your comments — good, bad or indifferent — below.
The actors who starred in the original Star Wars movie continue to pass on to the great space beyond. Most recent, this past weekend, was the man inside Darth Vader’s black suit, David Prowse.
Prowse died on Saturday at age 85 after suffering from an illness. Though James Earl Jones voiced the famous villain in “Star Wars,” Prowse was the physical actor who portrayed Darth Vader.
In a post on StarWars.com, creator George Lucas wrote a touching tribute to Prowse.
“David brought a physicality to Darth Vader that was essential for the character,”
For those keeping track, even loosely so, the actor who played Chewbacca, Peter Mahew is gone, Obi Wan Kenobi, Sir Alec Guinness, was the first I believe (Peter Cushing, actually, see comments) to pass on. Carrie Fisher, Princess Leia has also is gone. Who else from the iconic first movie have traveled beyond this plane of existence?
Season 2 – Episode 5 of 8 Disney+ Air date: November 27, 2020 Run time: 47 minutes Directed by Dave Filoni
Chapter 13 – “The Jedi”
Mando and the child head to a planet to learn more of his origins. A cruel magistrate offers Mando a pure beskar spear if he will kill a Jedi threatening her fierce power grip over the townspeople. Mando and Baby Yoda find the Jedi, who can speak to the Child. The Jedi tells us Baby Yoda’s name. Instead of killing the Jedi, Mando takes a different path.
You’ll have to watch to learn Baby Yoda’s name — or have it spoiled in a review or news article online, but, minor spoiler, it sounds a little too much like “Google” to me.
I’ve been itching to learn more about The Child’s origins and this episode gives us more than a minor teaser. It’s also fun seeing a Jedi wielding a light saber. The mini mission for Mando is entertaining, albeit a little slow compared to other episodes. All in all, another solid episode.
S2:E5 Chapter 13 “The Jedi” rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
What did you think of Chapter 13: “The Jedi”? We welcome your comments — good, bad or indifferent — below.
Whenever I read stories about big corporations not paying royalties, I’m reminded that these days self-publishing is an option to protect against this situation. Of course, Amazon or whatever bookseller could also choose to withold royalty payments leading to the same situation.
Anyway, who doesn’t despise reading stories about creative people being screwed? Or at least saying they’re being screwed and not getting paid outstanding royalties.
Alan Dean Foster, a science-fiction author of note, has written the likes of the novelisation of the Star Wars movie as well as a sequel, Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye before Empire Strikes Back was even on the blocks. He also wrote the novelisations of the Alien, Aliens and Alien 3 movies. The only thing is – that the royalties on all these books, which still continue to sell, have stopped. And he is directly blaming Disney.
I don’t read many movie novels, but have actually read Alan Dean Foster’s take on Alien and also read Star Wars: Splinter Of The Mind’s Eye. Both were done well. I’m not a big fan of movie tie-in novels. I’d rather a movie be adapted from a novel like Doctor Sleep from Stephen King, but I see the value in these novelizations. Regardless, the authors should always be paid royalties.
Let’s hope this is just some accounting mistake at Disney. Pay the man his royalties.
Movies, Movies, Movies 