Yeah, I got chills for that, Steph.

Not quite chills, but feels for me.

Okay, so no one is talking about the content of the movie, so here goes:

My one real quibble/question is this: why did R2D2 "wake up" at the moment that he did (other than "the plot required it")? I would have appreciated an attempt at explaining it, because that was just...weird.

I gasped when we found out that Kylo Ren was Han Solo and Leia's son. And again when Han called him "Ben."

Relatedly, I have to say it: Kylo Ren was a whiny emo punk. Do you think the stormtroopers made fun of his tantrums when they were back in their barracks? Because, DAMN.

I loved Rey, Finn, and Poe. The movie was SO well-cast.

And I have a whole thinky thought in my head about how I was a little taken aback by Carrie Fisher's appearance but not Harrison Ford's, even though he's older than dirt. I want to say that it's because we've seen Harrison Ford age over the years because he's been in so many movies, while Carrie Fisher's work has been in much smaller stuff, so we haven't (or, at least, *I* haven't) seen her aging in the public eye like Harrison Ford.

But what I really think is that despite my best intentions to NOT do this, I think I've bought into the bullshit societal notion (which is amplified in Hollywood by about a billion) that it's fine for men to be old as dirt, but not women. And I don't like that I had that reaction.

(I think my reaction was helped along by the fact that Tim and I had watched Return of the Jedi the night before we saw The Force Awakens. They are all still BABIES in that movie.)

My one real quibble/question is this: why did

I've been wondering that myself. I hope there's more to this and they explain it in the next one.

There's this weird fan theory that R2-D2 was one of the main leaders of the rebellion, setting into motion much of the plot. I forget all the details of that theory, but perhaps there's more to Artoo than meets the eye.

Just saw it; I can't really go into detail on my phone. I thought the first act was AWESOME; I thought the third act was really underwhelming. Abrams is nowhere near as good a director as Lucas was in his prime, or Kershner, for that matter.

Abrams is nowhere near as good a director as Lucas was in his prime

At least he cut down on the lens flares.

Abrams needs to go back to the source and watch more Kurasawa films.

In a change from Star Wars (which I am going to today, yay!), I saw Carol last night. I really liked it. An amazing combination of lush and restrained with wonderful performances from the two leads. It made me want to:

• Swan around in a mink coat
• Kiss Cate Blanchett
• Wear tailored dresses in jewel tones
• Drive across country in a huge 1950s car
• Kiss Rooney Mara
• Drink martinis in an intimate boite at lunch

Who wouldn't want to do all that?

I can't WAIT to see it. A lot of it was filmed here, because Cincinnati is a great setting for anything not set in the current day.