Shared on the 501st Legion's page (they were just discussing the similarity between snow and the trench themselves). Also, all the yes to X-Wing road trip.

Not at all sure what I thought of this one. Some absolutely stunning/haunting visuals, but I can't decide whether it was ultimately great or a meandering bit of not-much-at-all. Shall have to mull it over.

Each would have lived a long and happy life. 

This incident has basically become my go-to way to describe how bad 4chan is to people like my grandparents who aren't familiar with Internet stuff. The horrified reactions that invariably occur sometimes make me wish I could remember my own days of relative innocence as regards the dark corners of the web.

Question: Teague, d'you think you could put up the lyrics for ICPOS? First two verses are clear but the speed-rap part of the climax is more than my codebreaking skills can take.

Also, Leonard has been stuck in my head for about three weeks now, with no end in sight. Dammit Chrystie.

Interesting tidbit: according to Chris Taylor's book How Star Wars Conquered the Universe, the "ellipsis period" thing is a direct homage to the early Flash Gordon films, which had the same thing.

My family watched Saving Mr. Banks again today, which reminded me that I really want to see you guys unleashed on it. That and the original Mary Poppins could make quite the interesting double commentary.

Nice! For some reason the "but none of us could bury our suspicions to be wary" vocal from Alex is one of my favorite parts of the whole song.

Heh, the raw footage of that from the doc is fantastic. I kind of feel like anytime there's a song that needs a little something extra in the studio they should just bring in Andy to rant about mooses and fur and vodka for an hour. Hell, just do that with everything. Turns out the only thing Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band was missing all these years was a forty-foot moose in the middle of "Lovely Rita".

Ranking it, after the initial listen:

1. ICPOS
2. Limp-Dick Christmas Lights
3. Writing a Letter
4. Blank Walls and Crowded Shelves
5. I Feel More Like a Leonard

Doing a track-by-track analysis from start to finish:

"Limp-Dick Christmas Lights" is a fantastic opener, and was the ideal choice for lead single. The horn section is a crucial asset, and the overall message is one that I think every single one of us here on the forum can get behind. "Blank Walls and Crowded Shelves" is sentimental without teetering into schmaltz—the string section could have come dangerously close to collapsing under its own weight, but it's just restrained enough to work very well for the song. Rather reminiscent of Folds' "Fred Jones Part 2". "I Feel More Like a Leonard"'s fusion of Queen and Green Day is quite the interesting sound, and as probably the straightest rocker on the album it succeeds in its task admirably. "Writing a Letter" was, for me, more emotionally affecting than "Blank Walls", probably because its first-person narration feels less distant than its predecessor's third-person. Again, poignancy without falling into something unintended (in this case the risk would have been whining rather than schmaltz, but yet again the writing soars over that and retains its quality). And of course, ICPOS is the crown jewel of the piece. Insanely catchy, an escalating trainwreck, lots of hilarious ad-libbing from the backup vocalists. It could only have been the conclusion.

The only negative point I can think of is that the vocals are mixed a bit low, but that's obviously largely down to personal preference. And look at all the positives that outweigh this: killer instrumental production, lyrics that are by turns witty and heartfelt, and a singer who's definitely come a way since Sad Max. Overall, this managed to be everything I was hoping for while still surprising me. And, as WAYDM says, an ending that's both surprising yet inevitable is what to strive for. Well done, good sir, well done.

You'll hear no argument from me there, though I actually liked the semi-grainy look; I don't know if this was intentional, but it fit the almost documentary feel that stuff like the fuselage shots emulated. I'm sure a lot of that is just my fondness for "ineffable" older stuff speaking, though--I own a vinyl collection and everything, after all. I'm very much in favor of bringing practical effects and sets back as much as possible, but film is a hill that really shouldn't be died upon, as much as I love watching movies shot that way.

Insert ecstatic GIF of your choice here. FINALLY!!!!!

According to Darksol he's scrolling through twitter on his iPad to catch up on what he's missed. That's our boy.