Woke up, bleary and exhausted, to some excellent Star Wars news: Rian Johnson — the writer/director of Brick, Looper, and The Brothers Bloom — will be writing and directing Episode VIII, as well as writing — although not directing — Episode IX. (Man, I hope we don’t get another trilogy after this. I always fail at the Roman Numerals category on Jeopardy. I get to ten, and I’m just done.)
I’m trying to temper my excitement because it seems like every other day a director I like is stepping down from a project I’m interested in. (Edgar Wright quitting Ant-Man is probably the most obvious example, but there have been others.) Still, this is pretty awesome news. I adore Brick with every bit of my nerd heart, and though I think Looper and The Brothers Bloom have a few problems, I found them both intriguing and pretty entertaining overall, certainly enough to consider them successful films.
Honestly, my interest in the new Star Wars movies has been pretty mild so far — I still haven’t watched Revenge of the Sith because of how much Attack of the Clones sucked monkey ASS, and I’m not actually excited to see the old band get together because I’m a little concerned about what’s going to happen to them, now that they’re passing off the torch to all the new, younger characters. I’m all for making a deeper, more complex trilogy out of this universe, but I am also unlikely to be happy with any film that kills off either Han or Leia. (Luke, I care less about. I think we all care a little less about Luke, right?)
Still, more news like this, and I might be able to overcome my initial trepidation. Especially because I’ve decided that Rian Johnson is my new favorite person, considering this tweet he posted right after the news came out.
Best. Reaction. Ever. I kind of love you, guy.
My Geek Blasphemy 
The first 20 minutes of Revenge of the Sith is quite fun.
It also helps that Genndy Tartatovsky’s excellent Clone Wars cartoons which bridge the gap between the second and third prequel movies finish right before the third movie starts.
Definitely watch Tartatovsky’s Clone Wars cartoons if you haven’t done so already. Those are great. It’s all on Youtube here:
After that, Revenge of the Sith might seem a teensy bit more appealing. If not, then yeah, you still aren’t really missing anything. 😉
(BTW, the whole of SW:ROTS appears to be available here: http://vidxden.com/x9mcbke8f20g)
I haven’t watched the Clone Wars cartoons yet, but I’ll look into them, thanks. As far as the Revenge of the Sith, I do feel like I need to make myself watch it before the new trilogy come out. I’m just not in a big rush about it. Although it’s nice to know that some of it’s entertaining, at least.
Brick and Looper are pretty much flawless and his work on Breaking Bad is some of the best television ever. Inspired choice!
I forgot he worked on Breaking Bad. I haven’t actually watched it yet, but I’m pretty sure I’d read that before.