Last Jedi Minute 56: The Smell Department

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Are we absolutely sure he wasn't in this movie?

Date

April 19th, 2021

Summary

Guest commentator Chrysanthe Tan joins us for the never-ending party that is life on Canto Bight!

Guests

Chrysanthe Tan

Notes

Film

• Starts with Finn saying "this place is great". Ends with Finn asking "what are those things?" It's a fun creature minute.
• The worm character (played by Warwick Davis) from the first Novella in the Canto Bight book (but was cut from the scene) is very… phallic.
  • Warwick Davis and his daughter are also in this scene playing members of the Lucky Three.
• Mark Hamill does both the voice and motion capture for Dobbu Scay.
  • It was incredibly difficult to get the sound of the coins going into BB-8 and have it stand out against the Canto Bight music to sound right.
• This is the first time since the Cantina that we have had steel pan drums. The song in this minute is in the same key as the Cantina.
• Waiter droids.

Podcast

• Pete and Alex were the last two people over at Chrysanthe's apartment before the pandemic in March of 2020. They distinctly remember thinking "I wonder if they'll be the last people I see..."
• Pete was mixed on the "intro Bight".
  • As mentioned last week, the creatures feel a bit too "Babylon 5" or "Doctor Who"ish. But if you're not familiar with either of those shows it's hard to put your finger on why they feel that way.
• Recall: the hero of the original Cantina scene was the dim lighting; when creatures are well-lit they don't look as good. They have a certain TV quality about them.
• Is the comparison with the original Cantina apt? Chalmun's is a dive bar, and this is a ritzy casino.
  • Comparisons of Canto Bight to Disney World and Las Vegas.
    • Las Vegas now caters to the common person but it used to be you had to wear a tuxedo just to get in. Canto Bight seems more like that.
• Chrysanthe read the Canto Bight book!
  • Upon seeing the movie, Chrysanthe related to Rose’s anger, and reading the book only made that worse.
• Kedpin Shoklop (played by Warwick Davis) looks like a "one-eyed worm".
• Characters that do appear in this minute:
  • Wayulia Tagge-Simoni, the old lady that is too frail to go out so she is sending her holographic avatar in her stead with a proxy droid body. The head is a younger version of herself(?).
    • Any relation to the Tagge family (Casio Tagge of House Tagge)? Wookieepedia doesn’t know.
    • Reference to the Bruce Willis sci-fi movie ‘’Surrogates’’.
    • Like it's like a remote High School reunion where you use your high school photo instead of your current photo.
  • the little croupier guy on the craps table.
    • Apparently he emits an oddly pleasing aroma that puts patrons at ease. What does he smell like?
    • Mentioned: Lexo Sooger the Dor Namethian, who has a very keen sense of smell, so he was always saying what creatures smell like.
• The custom smell industry.
• Thamm is a Troglof, and there is another Troglof in the Empire Strikes Back "From a Certain Point of View". Organic plug for the Patreon.
  • How do tiny species get around in the Galaxy?
    • On the other end of the scale, how big do sentient creatures get?
    • For the most part, different species' special needs are taken care of without drawing too much attention to it. It's very accommodating.
• Trypto Buball, the "rich-looking ostrich"/"turkey with a mustache".
  • There are so many things that we would expect to just be done in CGI, but were actually elaborate costumed actors (not even puppets!)
  • "Trypto" comes from the amino acid "tryptophan" and "Buball" is short for Butterball turkeys.
• Dobbu Scay (Mark Hamill) is a Lucasian anagram of Bob Duscay, the editor of the film.
  • His species (unnamed) spoke Khamarese, which is of course a Tuckerization of Mark Hamill.
• Chrysanthe really loves the Canto Bight track. Credit to Rian Johnson.
  • "Lounge music" as the fathiers bust in (in a later minute). Mentioned: Who Framed Roger Rabbit?.
    • John Williams himself is playing piano.
• R2 Astromech units (or other cocktail droids) mixing/serving drinks.
  • Jabba the innovator.
• People come to Canto Bight to be shielded from the problems of the Galaxy.
• The Palandag band.
• Kaljach, the prop player. Tuckerization of Michael Jackson?
  • He looks like an "alien Crispin Glover", but isn't actually played by him as far as we know (note: see below).
• Vylla Tendeil
• Nobody is fazed by the three shaking and spilling drinks.
• Reminder about the weekend edition shows.

Meta Minute

• 49:02 podcast episode length.
• Yes they’ve brought custom smells up before, for example: That New Death Star Smell.
• Although tryptophan is sold as a sleep aid, the quantities that are present in even a generous serving of turkey are not enough to achieve these effects, and other foods, for example, sunflower seeds actually contains more tryptophan per serving. The reason you get sleepy at Thanksgiving is not the turkey on its own but the shear quantity of food that is usually consumed.
• Crispin Glover is not listed on the IMDB page for this film.
  • Kaljach Sonmi was in fact played by creature and droid performer Robert Nairne

Technical Difficulties

• In the YouTube version of the podcast, starting at 44:50, the video cuts out and we get to see the "Technical difficulties" screen.
  

The Aurebesh reads as follows

fake shemp fake crispin glover fake crispin glover? violet, you're turning violet, violet yeh, baby! drinks are on the house blame it on the fathiers blame it on the fantheers not a long time casino royale casino royale )wrong show( [sic] sound waves glass seats up to the nosebleeds interactive fan experience a communications disruption can mean only one thing INVASION! video will be back tomorrow

Quotes

• Alex: Here we are, on the other side. We made it. *Prevaricating noises from Chrysanthe and Pete*. <Through gritted teeth> Alex: We made it.
• Chrysanthe: For me, it's just not that much fun to read stories about rich people doing terrible stuff.
• Pete: You wanted to put your fist through the whole book.
• Pete: Not in a creepy way, but I would like to see the bathrooms in Canto Bight.
• Chrysanthe: THAT is a rich ostrich.
• Alex: Hey, I don't go on vacation to hear about people's problems.
• Pete: "Famously less hideous" Sy Snootles.

Links

Audio only

http://www.starwarsminute.com/2021/04/19/last-jedi-minute-56-the-smell-department

Video

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-rrg3s1EuY

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