During a period from 2010 to 2018, Star Wars was a frequent subject on this site; in over a dozen pieces including written reviews, podcasts, visual tributes, and video essays I covered every existing entry in the cinematic saga - all eight Skywalker saga "Episodes" as well as the first side-story film Rogue One - and even took a few steps into the extended Clone Wars spin-off universe. (All "Star Wars saga" labelled posts are listed here, with other more fleeting references included at the end of this Patreon entry.) The last of these commentaries was composed over seven years ago (although I did belatedly publish a backlogged The Clone Wars viewing diary in 2023), making the time since this steady stream of Star Wars coverage almost as long a span as the coverage itself. The great holes in this overview were the two films I never even saw (let alone discussed): the last - for now - chapter in the grand core narrative, Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker, and the plucky but underperforming spin-off film that killed the spin-off film concept for many years, the Han Solo origin story Solo: A Star Wars Story. Finally, for my $5/month patrons, I'm completing that journey in an effort inspired not by a film but a series: the superb two-season Disney Plus show Andor, run by Tony Gilroy. (Before writing these reviews, I conducted a conversation with return guest Riley MacDonald on all of Andor; it was so sprawling that I've only begun to transcribe it, so it probably won't have the chance become an exclusive reward until October.) Compared to the maturity, invention, and accomplishment of Andor, The Rise of Skywalker and Solo might seem quite slight but I found qualities to enjoy in both. In Solo's case, the appeal was straightforward: this is just a thoroughly entertaining adventure film overburdened by great expectations as well as presumptions of disappointment. In Skywalker's case, the appeal is much more complicated: the film is largely a disaster, but a deeply fascinating one, an experience I eagerly awaited digging into after watching for the first time. Meanwhile, in addition to this double review I offered an advance work-in-progress to all tiers and conducted a poll for next month's podcast with the top tier.
What are the exclusive June rewards?
