Solo was directed by Ron Howard? Ron Howard? How was that not talked about more in the lead up to this movie’s release? I should have known given that Clint Howard was in it as the referee between the two robots. And I like Ron Howard, I just thought that the whole thing with these new Star Wars movies was to give young directors a shot (or J.J. Abrams).

Where is Darth Maul in the order of Darths again?

Confession time: I don’t really get Star Wars. I mean I get it and I like it and I’ll continue watching but I’m not up enough on the plot points. For example, when Han makes the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs. I forgot that that was a line from… like, another Star Wars movie. Then there was the crew on Tatooine. Like, I know I’m supposed to know that planet but I had to look it up. And was he talking about Jabba the Hut? Do you see what I’m saying? A real Star Wars fan would just know this stuff.

Am I think only one who looked at Lando’s yellow shirt with the black pocket and couldn’t stop thinking of the Gordon Gartrell episode of The Cosby Show?

How did Woody Harrelson’s character get away with the name Tobias Beckett? In a world of Han Solo, Qi’ra, Lando Calrissian, Dryden Vos, and L3, his name is Tobias Beckett? Were the Kasdans feeling tired that day? “Eh, screw it, we’ll just give him the name of an Irish playwright and be done with it…”

If there were an entire movie about Qi’ra’s rise to power, that would be cool.

Speaking of Tobias Beckett, he continues the Star Wars tradition of everyone having a mentor or an antecedent, someone who either shows them the way or is in the long line masters and students. Much like Qui-Gon Jinn to Ben Kenobe, we see that Han Solo had something of a mentor, or at the very least a role model, in Beckett.

Are we just going to blow by the fact that Chewbacca ate people?

I’m torn about Alden Ehrenreich’s performance. I’m not really a fan of Harrison Ford. I think he can be – like all leading men in major motion pictures – a bit of a cipher. He’s just sort of a handsome stand-in. But now I realize his Han had the perfect balance of arrogance, intelligence, charm, stupidity, and bullshit-artistry. Alden’s Han was primarily naive and charming. So, is that a weakness of the actor and the direction? Or is that the right choice? Showing Han before he’s learned the lessons that made him more world weary?

I really dug Paul Bettany’s Dryden Vos. That’s it. Just thought he was great.

So was Thandie Newton. Between this and Westworld, she’s upping her geek/sci-fi cred.

Lando was dictating his autobiography via hologram. This lends more evidence to theory that Luke Skywalker Can’t Read. If you haven’t read that book, check it out, it’s an interesting theory. But, think about it, has there ever been any text in a Star Wars movie?

The frat boy in me kept thinking of Solo cups. They were too.

The prequels all have an interesting challenge. They have to show us events that we know happened from watching the original movies but they have to make it interesting. Case in point was when Han didn’t win the Millenium Falcon in that first card game. I mean he can’t just roll up to a table and win it, there has to be some dramatic tension but he has to win it somehow.

Can we call all character namings Mrs. Doubtfires? When the imperial recruiter gives Han his last name, I really just wanted him to say, “You’re by yourself… how about… Goldberg?”