A blog about societal, cultural, and civilizational collapse, and how to stave it off or survive it. Named after the legendary character "Crazy Eddie" in Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle's "The Mote in God's Eye." Expect news and views about culture, politics, economics, technology, and science fiction.
The one that everyone is looking forward to the most is Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. Here is Grace Randolph of Beyond The Trailer with her Star Wars Episode 9 Trailer REACTION.
Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Trailer REACTION today! Beyond The Trailer's reaction & review of official teaser trailer for 2019! Episode 9!
Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker Trailer BREAKDOWN today! Beyond The Trailer reaction & review official teaser trailer 2019! Episode 9! ... Star Wars Episode 9 Trailer review & breakdown today! Beyond The Trailer host Grace Randolph's reaction to the official teaser trailer for Star Wars The Rise of Skywalker in 2019! Rey vs Zorii! Emperor Palpatine returns to the second Death Star, for Kylo Ren! Lando and Chewie on the Millennium Falcon! Finn and Poe! Enjoy this breakdown of the official teaser trailer for Star Wars Episode 9 before you see the full movie in 2019.
I'm looking forward to the last installment of the Skywalker Saga and I'm curious about how Palpatine survived. Maybe he's just a Force ghost, or maybe he pulled off a Houdini like Darth Maul. I'll get to Maul after the jump.
On Festivus, I promised another Vox video in another seasonal post, telling my readers "Stay tuned for the third video from Vox, which is about the origins of Life Day. Star Wars!" Without any further ado, I present Vox's Star Wars’ infamous Holiday Special, explained as the Sunday Entertainment feature.
How the 1978 spinoff accidentally shaped the Star Wars universe....
A long time ago in living rooms across the US, a bizarre 98-minute Star Wars-themed variety show aired on CBS to an estimated 13 million viewers. It wasn't necessarily the first of its kind: hosts like Donny & Marie Osmond and Richard Pryor had done TV variety shows with Star Wars characters in 1977, which had helped boost box office sales. But unlike those shows, the Holiday Special featured the original film's cast. George Lucas was convinced to approve the project in order to maintain interest in the franchise until The Empire Strikes Back's 1980 release — but the special itself is a confusing mess. A crossdressing Harvey Korman leads a cooking show segment, Jefferson Starship stars in a holographic concert, and Chewbacca's dad watches some very suggestive virtual reality entertainment. But if nothing else, the Holiday Special was one of the first examples of Star Wars' expanded universe — whose influence continues to shape the today's Star Wars stories. No spoilers for The Last Jedi, from a certain point of view.
While the "Star Wars Holiday Special" has been consigned to the equivalent of unperson status for a work of art within the Star Wars universe, it has had three lasting effects. First, it introduced Life Day as the Star Wars version of Christmas -- BTW, a happy early Life Day to my readers! While Wookieepedia does not list it reappearing in any of the movies or TV shows, it was celebrated in the MMOs based on the franchise, Star Wars Galaxies and StarWars: TheOldRepublic. In fact, I'm still playing the latter and all this week I've seen Life Day trees at Fleet Headquarters and been bombarded by snowballs thrown by other players.
Second, it also introduced the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk, which has had a much more durable legacy than Life Day. Its Wookieepedia entry lists 44 appearances and mentions under Canon, including its first portrayal in the movies as a setting of "Revenge of the Sith," and many more under Legends. Even that is not complete, as it was mentioned in an episode of "Once Upon A Time." On the one hand, it could merely be an instance of cross-promotion of Disney properties disguised as a joke for the fans. On the other, it opens the possibilities that "Star Wars" exists in the "Once Upon A Time" universe and that a future season might travel there. One can hope.
Finally, as the Vox video points out, it serves as a good example of what not to do in Star Wars, making the rest of both Canon and especially Legends that much better. Think of it as Early Installment Weirdness within what is now Star Wars Legends. In fact, since I've already linked to TV Tropes, its entry for "The Star Wars Holiday Special" mentions it as exactly that and lists this example of Early Installment Weirdness.
Due to being made early in the franchise's history before many ideas and characterizations were set in stone, there's quite a bit. The most striking is Boba Fett acting like a cackling Dastardly Whiplash rather than the stoic Noble Demon he's famous as.
Yes, I've linked to TV Tropes. Enjoy your Christmas Eve clicking on links!
Finally, if anyone wants to watch the entire show, Vox embedded the YouTube video of it at their site. Personally, I think they should have embedded the Rifftrax version instead. Even if they had, reading TV Tropes might be a more entertaining and informative waste of time.
HappyStarWarsDayandMay the Fourth be with you! For today's cosmic cinematic celebration, I am returning to a theme I have been unable to explore since 2018, nominations for the "Star Wars" franchise at the Saturn Awards. Three different properties earned nominations, "Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker" with twelve, "The Mandalorian" with two, and "Star Wars: The Clone Wars" with one.
As Deadline noted, the dozen nominations for "Star Wars Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker" leads all movies at the Saturn Awards. "Tenet" follows in second with nine, while "Doctor Sleep" sits in third with eight. Since "The Rise of Skywalker" and "Tenet" are competing against each other in seven categories, including Best Science Fiction Release, I am framing today's entry as a head-to-head contest between the two as well as my usual angle of examining fantastic and futuristic politics and government in film and television.
Ad Astra
Gemini Man
Lucy in the Sky
Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker
Tenet
Terminator: Dark Fate
Before the pandemic delayed all the awards shows except the Emmys, I was expecting a matchup between "Star Wars: Episode IX - The Rise of Skywalker" and "Ad Astra." The latter is a more realistic depiction of futuristic politics and government than anything in the "Star Wars" universe, but it isn't as good a movie as either "The Rise of Skywalker" or "Tenet." I was planning on voting for the last installment in the literal trilogy of trilogies in this category last year and I'm still planning on voting for it this year. I also expect the Saturn electorate to vote for "The Rise of Skywalker" as well. I don't think they'll do to the culmination of the Skywalker Saga what they did to "Solo" two years ago and to "The Last Jedi" three years ago by voting for a movie not in the franchise. Remember, electorates matter and so does the field of nominees.
Follow over the jump for the rest of the nominations and my opinions, including my likely vote and whether the rest of the Saturn Awards electorate will agree with me.
Speaking of bad Star Wars ideas, Yesterworld Mark has a video about the Star Wars Holiday Special. I'm saving that for a snowy day. After all, I'm an environmentalist. I don't just recycle, I conserve my resources.
Exploring the little known History behind the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, how it came to be and why it's one of the Star Wars Franchises most infamous blunders. The idea by George Lucas began with promise, but ultimately became "so bad it's good" of the Star Wars universe.
While the "Star Wars Holiday Special" has been consigned to the equivalent of unperson status for a work of art within the Star Wars universe, it has had three lasting effects. First, it introduced Life Day as the Star Wars version of Christmas -- BTW, a happy early Life Day to my readers! While Wookieepedia does not list it reappearing in any of the movies or TV shows, it was celebrated in the MMOs based on the franchise, Star Wars Galaxies and StarWars: TheOldRepublic...
Second, it also introduced the Wookiee homeworld Kashyyyk, which has had a much more durable legacy than Life Day. Its Wookieepedia entry lists 44 appearances and mentions under Canon, including its first portrayal in the movies as a setting of "Revenge of the Sith," and many more under Legends. Even that is not complete, as it was mentioned in an episode of "Once Upon A Time" ...
Finally, as the Vox video points out, it serves as a good example of what not to do in Star Wars, making the rest of both Canon and especially Legends that much better. Think of it as Early Installment Weirdness within what is now Star Wars Legends. In fact, since I've already linked to TV Tropes, its entry for "The Star Wars Holiday Special" mentions it as exactly that and lists this example of Early Installment Weirdness.
Due to being made early in the franchise's history before many ideas and characterizations were set in stone, there's quite a bit. The most striking is Boba Fett acting like a cackling Dastardly Whiplash rather than the stoic Noble Demon he's famous as.
Yes, I've linked to TV Tropes. Enjoy...clicking on links!
I posted a correction of sorts about the original timing of Life Day in Happy First Contact Day, a Star Trek holiday: "Technically, it falls on November 17th and was originally a stand-in for Thanksgiving, but over the years, it has turned into Star Wars Christmas, so many fans celebrate it then." November 17th is also my wife's birthday, which she shares with RuPaul. I have better events to celebrate then than the original date of Life Day!
One of the commenters on Yesterworld Mark's video noted that "Carrie Fisher apparently used to play this at her house every Christmas to make people leave," which IMDB also lists under trivia. After watching the summary of the special, I can see why. It's painful. The writers knew how to write for The Carol Burnett Show, but not for Star Wars, and should have had more respect for George Lucas's original treatment.
“Girl Meets World” (Disney Channel)
“Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade 90th Celebration” (NBC)
“Once Upon a Sesame Street Christmas” (HBO)
“School of Rock” (Nickelodeon)
“Star Wars Rebels” (Disney XD)
This is the first Emmy nomination for the series and I'm rooting for it. However, it is up against the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade, which I'vementionedseveraltimes. The band geek in me is torn. That written, I'm not optimistic, as "School of Rock" was nominated last year in this category and "Girl Meets World" has been nominated three years in a row. I would consider both to be favorites except that they're competing against a Sesame Street special. All things being equal, the Muppets will probably win.
“Behind The Voice”(YouTube)
“The Daily Show – Between the Scenes” (TheDailyShow.com)
“Epic Rap Battles of History” (YouTube)
“Honest Trailers” (YouTube)
“The Star Wars Show” (YouTube)
I am more optimistic about "The Star Wars Show" winning this category than "Star Wars Rebels" winning its. For starters, only one nominee, "Honest Trailers," is returning. Second, it has Disney and the power of the Star Wars franchise behind it.
Tangentially related to Star Wars, the late Carrie Fisher was nominated for Guest Actress in a Comedy Series for her appearance in "Catastrophe" and "Bright Lights: Starring Carrie Fisher and Debbie Reynolds" was nominated for Directing for a Nonfiction Program and Documentary Filmmaking, where it's competing against "Planet EarthII."
In this installment of The Star Wars Show, we reveal first details on the Star Wars Rebels panel at Celebration Orlando, look at new Celebration droid exclusives from Kotobukiya, chat with WWE's Xavier Woods, visit the Rogue One set for a look at the film's droids, and much more!
LOS ANGELES — "Star Wars: The Force Awakens" pulled in an estimated $250 million at worldwide box offices through Friday. The seventh "Star Wars" movie was also on track to finish its opening weekend with record U.S. and Canadian sales, the Walt Disney Co. said on Saturday. The film is projected to sell close to $220 million worth to tickets in the United States and Canada through Sunday, beating the record $208.8 million for "Jurassic World" in June, Disney said. Critics have hailed it as a fan-friendly return to form for the franchise; the American Film Institute listed it among its top 10 films of the year.
Reuters reported that the movie brought in $120.5 million from U.S. screens on Friday alone. Not only was that enough to knock "Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2" out of the top spot at U.S. theaters, but advance sales broke the record set by "The Hunger Games" according to Comicbook.com. The odds may have been in Katniss Everdeen's favor for four weeks on top, but The Force wasn't with her.
All that was just opening day. Follow over the jump for the latest, along with a drink to celebrate the film's commercial success.
"The Last Jedi" earned 13 nominations, second only to "Black Panther" with 14. According to IMDB and File 770, they are Best Science Fiction Release, Best Director for Rian Johnson, Best Writing for Rian Johnson, Best Actor for Mark Hamill, Best Actress for Daisy Ridley, Best Supporting Actress for Carrie Fisher (Posthumously), Best Supporting Actress for Kelly Marie Tran, Best Production Design for Rick Heinrichs, Best Editing for Bob Ducsay, Best Music for John Williams, Best Make-up for Peter King and Neal Scanlan, Best Costume Design for Michael Kaplan and Best Special Effects for Ben Morris, Michael Mulholland, Neal Scanlan, and Chris Corbould.
As for "Star Wars Rebels," it's defending its title as Best Animated Series on Television.
Follow over the jump for the competition for Star Wars Episode VIII and the final season of "Star Wars Rebels" in each of these categories.
May the Fourth be with you each year on National Star Wars Day. Or is it, “May the force be with you?” It all depends on whether you like using puns or not.
Thousands of Star Wars enthusiasts celebrate this day each year with parties and celebrations around the nation. If you a fan, then National Star Wars Day allows you to dress like your favorite character, say your favorite lines from the series and catch a movie or read a book.
Star Wars fans didn’t first introduce the often quoted phrase on May 4th. It was 1979, and Britain elected the first female Prime Minister, Margaret Thatcher. On May 4th, the day she took office, the Conservative Party placed an advertisement in The London Evening News, which read, “May the Fourth Be with You, Maggie. Congratulations.”
Star Wars creator, George Lucas, was asked during a 2005 interview on a German news TV channel to say the famous sentence “May the Force Be with You.” Upon doing so, the interpreter interpreted the sentence into German as Am4 Mai sind wir bei Ihnen (On May 4 we are with you). TV Total captured this and aired it on May 18, 2005.
...
National Star Wars Day was first organized in Toronto, Ontario, Canada at the Toronto Underground Cinema in 2011. Produced by Sean Ward and Alice Quinn, festivities included an Original Trilogy Trivia Game Show, a costume contest, and the web’s best tribute films, mash-ups, parodies, and remixes on the big screen. May 4th was chosen because of the play on words.
1999 may be the first mention of an American using the phrase in the day's Wikipedia entry, but it didn't stick on this side of the pond until 2011 when the Canadians seized upon it. After Disney bought Lucasfilm in October 2012, it adopted the day beginning in 2013. That is the subtext of May the 4th be with you from ABC News, a division of Disney.
ABC News’ Will Ganss caught up with ‘Star Wars’ fans to see how they’re celebrating the big day!
HappyStarWarsDay! To begin my celebration of 40 years of "Star Wars," I'm sharing the eleven nominations "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" received at the Saturn Awards along with the film's competition in each category -- that is, after the official announcement video: The 43rd Annual Saturn Award Film Nominations.
Greetings fellow Genre Entertainment Enthusiast,
As fans and devotees of the genre, we invite you to go to our website: www.SaturnAwards.org where we are offering a special membership for the next few months which will allow you to VOTE for your favorite actors, actresses, movies and TV shows, so please join, tell your friends & fans and spread the word -- !!
As both Slashfilm and the Saturn Awards website note, the eleven nominations "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story" received were the most of any film recognized. Starting from the top, they are Best Science Fiction Film Release, Best Actress in a Film for Felicity Jones, Best Supporting Actor in a Film for Diego Luna, Best Film Direction for Gareth Edwards, Best Film Screenplay, Best Film Editing, Best Film Production Design, Best Film Music, Best Film Costume Designer, Best Film Make-Up, and Best Film Special / Visual Effects. Follow over the jump for all the nominees in each of these categories, along with my opinions of them and a link to become a member in order to vote.
For tonight's entertainment-themed entry, I'm taking advantage of today being the original Star Wars Day, which is the anniversary of the premiere of Episode IV, to make good on my promise to post reactions to last month's cast announcement for Episode VII, which I made first in Pyramids on Star Wars Day and then in Music for Revenge of the Sixth.*
First, here's what I posted at fandom_lounge on JournalFen last month.
StarWars.com: Star Wars: Episode VII Cast Announced (Warning: page seems to display properly with Internet Explorer only; Firefox and Chrome just retrieve text, missing the photo of the entire cast at Pinewood Studios.)
The Star Wars team is thrilled to announce the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII.
Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.
Director J.J. Abrams says, "We are so excited to finally share the cast of Star Wars: Episode VII. It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again. We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud."
Star Wars: Episode VII is being directed by J.J. Abrams from a screenplay by Lawrence Kasdan and Abrams. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Bryan Burk are producing, and John Williams returns as the composer. The movie opens worldwide on December 18, 2015.
One of the items that only displayed properly using Internet Explorer is this publicity still, which is much easier to see at Space.com.
The Space.com article pointed out an imbalance in the cast.
It should be noted, there are only two women and nine men (and two droids) in the cast announcement. Of course, with a large "space opera" ensemble, there will be many more cast along the way, and this doesn't preclude the possibility of more cameos for returnees to the franchise.
Follow over the jump for more about that angle and others dealing with the casting and Disney's reviving the franchise.
There is a great disturbance in the force of the upcoming Canadian election, according to a parody lawn sign in Ontario.
Reddit user massivecoller was quick to post what appears to be a plastic Darth Vader campaign poster, for the "Your Galactic Empire" party. The sign — which a HuffPost reader identified as being in Penetanguishene, Ont. — also includes the electoral promise of "Together, we can rule the galaxy."
Buzzfeed reported another instance of the Darth Vader lawn sign appearing during the 2015 Canadian election.
That's not the only Star Wars lawn sign that appeared that appeared during the campaign. Yoda had his fans, too.
As voters in Hamilton County cast their ballots in the November midterm election, one sign is drawing eyes and votes to the Dark Side.
A sign for Star Wars' Darth Vader has been spotted alongside serious campaign signs outside the election commission.
NewsChannel 9 general manager Mike Costa snapped a picture of the pro-Sith sign Thursday afternoon.
The sign's slogan reads "Together, we can rule the galaxy" and includes the Imperial logo, along with the words "Your Galactic Empire."
So far, I haven't seen any reports of Star Wars lawn signs showing up this election cycle, but it's early. I'd bet money they will show up by election day in November.
Follow over the jump for more parody campaign materials with Star Wars themes.
Should I blog about the opening weekend of "Rogue One: A Star Wars Story," the speculative fiction nominees for the Writers Guild of America Awards, or the politics and crime nominees for the Critics' Choice Awards?
I got one vote on Facebook for the Writers Guild Awards and another at yesterday's entry for "Rogue One," so I cast the tie-breaker for "Rogue One." I did so even though it's not really the opening weekend; that starts this Friday. However, the movie did have its Hollywood premiere last night, as Wochit Entertainment reports in What Are The First Reactions To Rogue One?
Stars and fans who were lucky enough to see Rogue One: A Star Wars Story took to Twitter right after the premiere let out in Hollywood on Saturday night to share their thoughts. I can't wait… https://t.co/CDs0CgmsnQ — Dane Cook (@DaneCook) December 11, 2016 So much cheering during the movie. Audience loved it pic.twitter.com/WvLgW7OQWJ — Aaron Couch (@AaronCouch) December 11, 2016 ROGUE ONE WAS AMAZING #StarWarsRogueOne — Veronica Merrell (@veronicamerrell) December 11, 2016 I FREAKIN LOVE STAR WARS OMG ROGUE ONE WAS AMAZING — Vanessa Merrell (@VanessaMerrell) December 11, 2016 ROGUE ONE = excellent.
With a new band of rebels and a high-stakes journey, "Star Wars" ushered in a new chapter on Saturday by bringing a galaxy far, far away to the heart of Hollywood for the "Rogue One" premiere. Directed by Gareth Edwards, "Rogue One" is the first standalone film in Disney's "Star Wars" reboot. But for the sake of 'Star Wars', I was prepared to do it," she said. The movie explores the journey preceding the events that launched George Lucas' intergalactic saga with 1977's "Star Wars: Episode IV - A New Hope". The diverse cast boasts Mexican actor Luna, British-Pakistani actor Ahmed, Danish actor Mads Mikkelsen and Chinese actors Donnie Yen and Wen Jiang.
[Director Gareth] Edwards says the biggest risk he took was creating realistic battle scenes that took the audience right into the trenches as the Rebels and Imperial forces tussle, whether in the streets of Jedha City or the tropical shores of the planet Scarif.
The result is a more brutal and grittier Star Wars movie than seen before, says Ben Mendelsohn, who stars as the villainous Imperial officer Director Orson Krennic. “It really is a muscular, tough film.”
When developing Rogue One, Edwards took old World War II photography and Photoshopped Rebel helmets on soldiers’ heads. When passersby would check out the artwork in the Lucasfilm offices, their reactions were all the same, Edwards says: “That looks amazing. I want to see that film.”
So he threw his actors right into battle, including filming in extreme heat in the Maldives for one of the Rebellion's more epic showdowns with the Empire.
I'm looking forward to seeing the movie later this month even more.
When The Walt Disney Company purchased Lucasfilm back in October 2012, it was quick to announce not one, but two series of Star Wars films: The expected sequel trilogy, consisting of Episode VII: The Force Awakens and two follow-ups, and the unexpected “anthology” films, of which this month’s Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is the first. That means audiences will be getting one new movie a year up until 2020. Or, at least, it would’ve meant that, if director Josh Trank hadn’t been fired and his proposed spinoff, a Boba Fett anthology story, hadn’t been shelved.
This is exactly what I hoped and expected would happen, given how Disney puts out at least one Marvel film a year.
I'll cover the box office for the movie's actual opening weekend next week. Stay tuned.
Solo: A Star Wars Story hits theaters on May 25. It's expected to earn $150 million in it's opening weekend, Friday to Monday. However, it faces some stiff competition at the box. Solo's toughest competition is Deadpool 2. Deadpool heads into the weekend having earned $150 million over seven days. Rob Liefeld, creator of Deadpool, is convinced that Deadpool 2 will crush Solo. --Disney I apologize in advance, but I’m telling the truth: Deadpool is going to kick your *bleep*.---
Disney and Lucasfilms' 'Solo: A Star Wars Story' is struggling in its debut at the Memorial Day box office, where it could come in well behind expectations with $105 million-$110 million for the four-day holiday weekend unless traffic picks up in earnest on Saturday. The projected three-day weekend tally is $80 million-$90 million.
As Forbes reports, the actual tally for Friday through today (Sunday) is $83.3 million and the projected total for the holiday weekend will be $101 million. Yikes! That's a lot lower than any of the projections.
Follow over the jump for analyses of "Solo" becoming a box office disappointment.
After an unprecedented vote by members, the Broadcast Film Critics Association had added Star Wars: The Force Awakens to the list of nominees for the 2015 Critics' Choice Award for Best Picture. When Critic's Choice Awards nominations came out last Monday, most of the critics in the association had not seen the latest Star Wars movie, since Disney had refused to release copies for early screenings. However, the strong positive reaction to the film led the BFCA to take a vote on whether it should be allowed in as a late inclusion, and apparently the BFCA voted in the Force Awakens' favor.
There’s a lot you don’t know about Princess Leia. A lot she doesn’t want you to know. Find out more in this damaging Star Wars: Bloodline attack ad, first seen on The Star Wars Show.
Of course, this is really an ad for "Star Wars: Bloodline," not a political ad, but it works very well as a parody.
It turns out that this isn't a completely original concept, even if the execution is original. Follow over the jump for an earlier attempt at an attack ad on Princess Leia.
I concluded My Saturn Award votes and predictions for 2018 by telling my readers "That's it for the Saturn Awards from me until July 2nd when I plan on covering the winners. Stay tuned." Today is July 2nd, so it's time for me to follow through with the winners from Variety.
Disney-Marvel’s blockbuster “Black Panther” reigned at the Saturn Awards with five wins, followed by “Star Wars: The Last Jedi” with three.
...
“Black Panther” was named best comic-to-film, along with best director (Ryan Coogler), best supporting actress (Danai Gurira), best production design (Hannah Beachler), and best makeup (Ken Diaz and Joel Harlow)...“Star Wars: The Last Jedi” won for best writer (Rian Johnson), best editor (Bob Ducsay), and best actor (Mark Hamill).
I thought it might be a big night for "Black Panther" and "Star Wars: The Last Jedi," and it was, although not as big as I expected nor with the awards I expected. For example, I thought "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" would win Best Science Fiction Film. Instead, that went to "Blade Runner 2049," which was more of an entertainment professional's choice than a fan favorite. I also forecast that Carrie Fisher would win Best Supporting Actress, but I found myself pleasantly surprised that Danai Gurira won it instead. On the other hand, I was expecting Mark Hamill to win Best Actor in a Film and "Black Panter" to win Best Comic to Motion Picture Release. Both did.
Speaking at the Saturn Awards in California, actor Mark Hamill says playing a jaded, world-weary Luke Skywalker in "The Last Jedi" was tough as he had always been "the most idealistic character."
The rest of the winners only won one award each, including most of the genre movie winners. Best Fantasy Film went to The Shape of Water. Get Out earned Best Horror Film. "The Greatest Showman" won Best Action/Adventure Film. Best Thriller Film went to "Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri." The Best Independent Film was awarded to "Wonder."
"Baahubali 2: The Conclusion" winning Best International Film made the biggest splash of any of the single award winners, as the news spawned several videos for the Indian audience. Most of them were in Telegu or Tamil, but one of them was in English: ‘Baahubali: The Conclusion’ won the best International Film of the year award.
Variety listed the remaining acting winners as "Gal Gadot for best actress in 'Wonder Woman,' Patrick Stewart for best supporting actor in 'Logan,' and Tom Holland for best younger performer in 'Spider-Man: Homecoming'" The remaining technical film awards went to "Beauty and the Beast" for Best Film Costumes and "Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2" for Best Special Effects.
Follow over the jump for how the movie winners compared to my votes and predictions.
In honor of Star Wars Day, this special episode analyzes the politics of the Disney+ series ‘Andor’ and just how much this tale about the origins of the Rebellion against the Empire has to tell us about the current global fight against tyranny and oppression.
My wife and I couldn't get past the second episode of "Andor." It was too slow a burn for us and not escapist enough. On the other hand, the critics and entertainment professionals love it. Its IMDB page lists 2 wins and 22 nominations, including Best Science Fiction/Fantasy Series, Limited Series or Made-for-TV Movie at the Critics Choice Super Awards.
Congratulations!
Watching Hasan, Tracy Brown, and Wajahat Ali dissect "Andor" and relate it to real-life struggles against occupation and oppression make me interested in resuming the series. I've heard that the show gets more interesting after the second episode and looking at it as a serious political allegory would probably increase my appreciation for it. Besides, I'm a Saturn Awards voter and want to be able to vote intelligently in this year's awards.
Now I'm curious about how "Andor" will help the Star Wars franchise in 'Star Trek' vs. 'Star Wars' in streaming science fiction at the Saturn Awards. I voted for "The Mandalorian" last year, but "Star Trek: Brave New Worlds" won. Let's see how well "Andor" does at this year's awards should it be nominated. That's not a sure thing. The Saturn Awards goes for entertainment over art and likes to stick it to the experts, so "Andor" might not even earn a nomination. I hope it earns at least two, one for the show and another for Diego Luna.
Follow over the jump for food, drinks, and music for the day.
If your choices in the upcoming federal election have you pining for candidates from a galaxy far, far away, there may be a new hope on the horizon.
Rick Di Lorenzo, a councillor from the town of Milton, is creating cheeky election lawn signs, featuring characters from Star Wars and Harry Potter, as a fundraiser for local charities.
With candidates like Darth Vader and Obi Wan Kenobi, and featuring slogans like “Together we can rule the galaxy” and “Seriously it’s not a trap,” this campaign is meant to be more light-hearted than its federal inspiration...
“It's been very positive and like 99 per cent of people are saying it’s hilarious,” Di Lorenzo told CTV News Toronto. “Some people took the signs, because they're saying in this election they can’t support either candidate, so they’re going to put this sign out instead.”
Read the rest of the story and watch the video, which doesn't embed and which I can't find on YouTube to embed here, but which shows the rest of the signs seen below.
Both of the above were in Canada. Australia has also seen signs inspired by Star Wars, as Pulse Tasmania reported.
A series of fake election signage has been popping up on street posts and traffic light poles across Tasmania in the lead-up to the March 23 state election.
One Pulse follower reported spotting several ‘parody signs’ alongside legitimate candidate signage in Kingston over the weekend.
“I think they are pretty hilarious given the upcoming election. Someone had a lot of fun making them,’ he said.
A majority of the signs reference various niche cultures and movie characters, including Darth Vader.
A spokesperson for the Tasmanian Electoral Commission said the homemade signs are not considered “official election material”.
No kidding.
I haven't seen any news stories about Star Wars themed lawn signs in the current U.S. election, although there are plenty of them for sale. I'm not feeling like doing any unpaid advertising for them right now, so I'll skip them. Instead, I'm concluding today's entry with Mark Hamill's tweet from November 2020, which The Hollywood Reporter shared.
On Saturday, after the election was called by numerous news outlets for Biden, Hamill shared a few tweets but one, in particular, really made a splash.
Hamill posted a picture featuring three posters with the titles of the original Star Wars trilogy. The New Hope poster featured a picture of Barack Obama, the Empire Strikes Back poster featured Trump and the Return of the Jedi poster featured Biden. Hamill wrote, “#BestEpisode_EVER.”
May The Force awaken and keep The First Order out of office this year.
That's a wrap for today's modern holiday. Stay tuned for Cinco De Mayo and highlights of tonight's Saturday Night Live as the Sunday entertainment feature. Depending on tonight's episode, I might be able to combine the two. May my readers and I be so lucky!
In the TV categories, the final season of Paramount+’s Star Trek: Picard leads all nominees with seven, while universe mate Star Trek: Strange New Worlds had six. Lucasfilm/Disney’s Andor and HBO/Max’s The Last of Us had five apiece including acting noms for stars Diego Luna and Pedro Pascal, respectively.
In addition, Star Trek: Lower Decks and Star Trek: The Motion Picture earned a nomination each for the total of 15 in the preview image above, which should really read "'Star Trek' Franchise Picks Up 15 Saturn Awards Nominations." Also, The Mandalorian earned three nominations and Star Wars: The Bad Batch earned another for a total of nine for the franchise. This is a muted mirror image of the Emmy Awards, where Star Trek: Picard earned two Emmy nominations for the entire Star Trek franchise, while the Star Wars franchise earned 23 Emmy nominations, nine for The Mandalorian, eight for Andor, and five for Obi-Wan. Even after throwing out Obi-Wan, which the Saturn Awards recognized at their 50th ceremony, it's still seventeen to two. Talk about a contrast between the two academies! This exemplifies the difference between fan and entertainment professional opinion that I summarize as "entertainment over art, not into subtle, and sticking it to the experts."
Follow over the jump for the nominees, my opinions of them, and my likely votes.
