My only gripe would be that the characterizations rely on caricatures to fill in the blanks which is fine but they might be reaching a bit in places. Finally we are treated to strong dialogue that leaves room for interpretation. This is a very fun SW romp that blends anime well. Androgynous much? ;p

S3E6: The Lost Ones

Now were cookin! This is easily the best of the batch so far. So many positives to share. Beautiful painterly aesthetic, strong voice performances (always love Mark Strong), compelling hook with the carbonite freezing, and again the score is unreal good. Orchestral and choral.

S3E5: Yuko’s Treasure

Well despite being extremely childish it’s still a beautiful rendition of Tatooine, even if the main characters look very out of place in it. Mixed feeling on a “bear droid” but a coyote pirate is cool. Again, stilted dialogue takes me out. But all in all it’s still pretty fun

For instance, here we are in a new republic setting with a droid that doesn’t feel overly outside the norm to what you’d expect. It’s all very familiar. They layer in a giant droideka battle suit which is pretty standard anime fair but overall it’s a comfy episode. Don’t love the music though.

S3E4: The Bounty Hunters

Another complete story with a fun cliffhanger. What’s interesting is how this season seems to fit more comfortably in the SW universe we know. I recall S1 and S2 having more surrealist SW X Anime mashups where the world wasn’t explicitly the galaxy we know from the movies.

Lastly, the guys dive into what they've been watching, including 'Predator: Badlands', 'One Battle After Another', 'Pluribus' and for some reason, 'Dexter'. All that and so much more on this week's Tower of Babble Podcast!

To Matt's chagrin, more 'Jurassic World' is on the way as well with the 5th film in the franchise in development with Gareth Edwards looking to return to direct (say what you will but 'Jurassic World: Rebirth' was pretty fun).

Fortunately, 'Goldeneye' turns 30, providing a positive 007 topic to dig into in an effort to balance things out. A new 'The Mummy' starring Brendan Fraser is in the works with Rachel Weis also set to return.

S3E3: The Ninth Jedi: Child of Hope

Back to a more traditional score. Really like what they’re doing with the Williams stuff. Visually distinct from the rest as designs that feel somewhat outside of the SW visuals we know. The 3rd person voice was grating and the melodrama is difficult for me.

The droid that is a mech is kinda lame imo. But nothing like a cute force wielding creature to carry things lol.

S3E2: The Song of Four Wings

Super fun visuals with upbeat electro score. The colours really pop especially after b&w. Tone is much lighter - giving kids cartoon. The little rabbit character is very cute. Hard to get past the stilted exposition that explains everything. More of a vignette.

Complete story. Characters are fun, fallen dark Jedi cyborg vs a sith hunter who is formerly sith? Cool. Love the score. Very orchestral. Riffing on Williams more playful stuff. But at the same time still omelettes wacky in only the way anime can be.

If I was forced to rank it out of 10? An 8.

It’s all very moody noire. Stylish in its cinematography and shot selection, especially for animation. It’s all very much high quality. A vibe to be sure.

Shout out to the new splinter agent as well. She’s compelling and am I wrong in that it’s the voice of death from Sandman? Either way. Great, emotional, performance.

I also like the idea of placing a young Sam fisher in the 90s and shifting the grizzled version to present day. Feels like it’s reflective of the games despite not reeeally being that way. And I will lol admit that the story, such as it is, does remind me of the nonsense that was the games.

The story, though a little cliche at times feels at home with the “Tom Clancy” name tag. Plus, and in a real treat for me; Winnipeg is prominently featured. Though unsurprisingly it’s not really a reflection of reality. Though the map they use is close-ish, it’s nice to get some name recognition!

Unfortunately it wasn’t the hit they hoped despite a killer cast, including legends Bill Murray, Randy Quaid and Woody Harrelson and as a result it didn't leave as large of a cultural footprint as some of the other Farrelly bros films from this era. Now seems like a good time to revisit this sleeper

A Farrelly brothers film that followed up their smash hit breakout, ‘Dumb and Dumber’, and you can see the through lines. Like ‘Dumb and Dumber’ we follow two guys who are down on their luck as they head out on the road where chaos and hilarity ensue. (cont...)