A HARD DAY'S NIGHT sets a new standard for 4K black-and-white

Plus we talk about that episode of BOOK OF BOBA FETT

It’s Wednesday, January 25, and here’s where we are…

If you didn’t watch The Book of Boba Fett right at midnight on Tuesday, then woe be to you because the spoilers were flying almost immediately. Then again, if you weren’t watching right at midnight, that’s not totally unexpected because this has been a strange show so far, lurching along from digression to digression, and I understand why people have been grumbling about it so far and slow to catch up with it.

My own feelings about the show are a little more generous, I think, but that’s because I have zero expectations for Star Wars at this point. I’m just generally happy there is new Star Wars all the time. There’s so much of it that I can’t get too worked up about any single part. I’m enjoying all of the High Republic stuff, which still feels fairly under the radar for the mainstream, and I can’t get enough of Marvel’s Star Wars comics that are all set between Empire and Jedi right now. The whole War of the Bounty Hunters mini-series event they just published was a hoot, start to finish. If I read a book or a comic I don’t like, it doesn’t phase me because I know there’s more Star Wars coming right behind it. Worst case scenario, let’s say I hate every single new thing they’re making. I can still go watch incredible 4K transfers of the things I already like.

Boba Fett has never felt like a central character to me, and if nothing else, I feel like this mini-series has probably made that case once and for all. I like Tem Morrison, and I love that he’s got boundless opportunities to play other characters as live-action Star Wars continues (bring on Captain Rex!) because of the choice Lucas made in 2002. I don’t think he had any idea just how long a fuse he lit with that casting, but Morrison has done terrific work in all the roles they’ve thrown at him so far. My problems with Boba Fett as a show and a character have to do with the inertia that kicks in thanks to the flashback structure. So far, everything we’ve seen in the first four episodes felt like set-up, moving puzzle pieces into place, and the way they use the bacta tank as a flashbackta tank borders on silly thanks to the number of times they do it. The reason this episode felt so different isn’t just because it served as a full-on stealth Mandalorian episode, but because it’s the first time this season the entire episode has been moving forward propulsively, with active storytelling, giving us new information about something we’re invested in.