Week in Geek!
Check out our new video feature – Week in Geek! A review of movie news and geekery for week ending 11/30/2014!
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens trailer is out & Like the Force, is permeating the internet
Much to no one’s surprise, the long awaited Star Wars Teaser Trailer is quickly heating up the internet. Although the reception is mostly positive, not everyone is loving the trailer. One commentator on Google+ said “The Cross Saber was enough for me to lose hope. So lame. ” Another says “Could not be any less excited after seeing this.” Other examples of those who were less than ecstatic can be seen below:
The Star Wars trailer is so awful, I’m still unconvinced it’s not a hoax going around. Fan hoax trailers were more believable and exiting.
— Grace Lynn (@PixelGoth) November 28, 2014
The Darth Vader We Know and Love is Coming to the Animated Universe in 2014
Originally Posted at USA Today
by Brian Truitt
(Photo: Lucasfilm)
It’s time to join the Rebellion.
A key era in the history of George Lucas’ Star Warsuniverse will be explored in the new Star Wars Rebels animated series, premiering in the fall of 2014 as a one-hour special on Disney Channel and continuing as a show on Disney XD.
“The entire team at Lucasfilm has provided extraordinary creativity and innovation for over three decades, and we’re thrilled to be bringing the expansive and imaginative world of Star Wars to Disney XD’s viewers,” said Gary Marsh, president and chief creative officer for Disney Channels Worldwide.
Rebels is the first project since the announcement in March that Lucasfilm was taking a new direction in its animation, which led to the cancelation of Cartoon Network’s Star Wars: The Clone Wars after five seasons.
The new series takes place between the events of the final movie prequel, Star Wars: Episode III — Revenge of the Sith, and the first Star Wars film in 1977, subtitled A New Hope.
Experts debate the psychology of ‘Star Trek’ vs. ‘Star Wars’
Originally posted at Yahoo! News By Eric Pfeiffer, Yahoo! News
ANAHEIM, Calif.–At Friday’s opening day of Wondercon 2013, the swords were drawn early. Or, more specifically, the light sabers were drawn and the phasers were set to kill.
Four experts, including two psychologists, debated four specific topics as part of an epic breakdown analyzing the respective strengths and weaknesses of “Star Wars” and “Star Trek.”
To an outsider, the debate might seem trivial. But to fans of each series, the differences have long run deep, pitting the more cerebral science fiction of “Star Trek” against the emotional, fantasy-driven stories of the “Star Wars” universe.
As the debate opened, it was clear a majority of the hundreds of Wondercon attendees who packed into the ballroom showed up in, er, force, to support “Star Wars.”
Well, first of all, there are not as many Trekkies here because they are all at work today,” quipped Larry Nemecek, author of “Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion.”
Round 1: Nature vs. Nurture
Thanks to the infamous “Star Wars” prequels, we now know that the villainous Darth Vader was not always bad. But the greatest villain of “Star Trek,” Khan Noonan Singh, was literally born bad–a product of genetic engineering who believed himself superior to lesser men. So, which is the better story?
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Star Wars: Episodes I, II, and III – The third and final chapter on why I don’t hate them.
With all the Star Wars Talk going on as of late I am seeing a resurgence of the bashing that follows the prequel trilogy, and for the record – yes they were bad, yes that had flaws, and yes they cursed us with the knowledge that Jar-Jar Binks is now part of our Star Wars collective consciousness – BUT IT IS STILL STAR WARS!!!
In the third and final part of this Series I tackle Episode III: Revenge of the Sith.
Production budget: $113 million
Domestic Total Gross: $380,270,577
Domestic Lifetime Gross: $380,270,577
Flaws: Obi WTF Kenobi, Padme “Pregnancy makes me a sniveling little biatch” Amadala, Worst Jedi Duel ever, A completly Non-existant duel between Anakin and Mace Windu, an impotent Yoda, and the worst movie line of all time.
Strengths: To my surprise an excellent performance turned in by Hayden Christiansen as Anakin Skywalker, Ian McDermid as Emperor Palepatine, and Epic battle between Anakin and Obi Wan, Lack of droid memories explained, Lord Vader rises.
In my opinion this movie absolutely implodes in terms of performances. Ewan McGregor, who has conditioned us to expect a wonderful performance just absolutely phones it in in this movie. I CAN NOT STAND this depiction of Obi Wan Kenobi. “Wait a minute, how did this happen? We’re smarter than this!” That these words escaped Kenobi’s lips is something I’ll never be able to forgive Lucas for. I can’t blame Ewan McGregor for the for the lines he was given, but overall I think Kenobi should have been a different character in this film. He gets taken out by Dooku with a flick of the wrist, carried out of danger on Anakin’s shoulders, and repeatedly defers to Anakin as being a greater Jedi than he is. So when he has to face Anakin and come to terms with his betrayal, well I’ll get to that in a bit.
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J.J. ABRAMS DISCUSSES WHAT HE WOULD HAVE DONE WITH SUPERMAN, UPDATES US ON STAR WARS
Originally posted @ The Mary Sue by Jill Pantozzi | 12:55 pm, March 23rd, 2013
In a world where Hollywood would like J.J. Abrams to do everything, the director had a solid story for a Superman film. He recently spoke to Empire Magazine about what that entailed and eventually got around to the topic of this whole Star Wars thing…
Abrams comics treatment was called “Superman Flyby” and just happened to leak online earlier this year. It would have revolved around a civil war on Superman’s home planet of Krypton which lead up to his exile.
“The thing that I tried to emphasise in the story was that if the Kents found this boy, Kal-El, who had the power that he did, he would have most likely killed them both in short order,” Abrams told Empire. “And the idea that these parents would see – if they were lucky to survive long enough – that they had to immediately begin teaching this kid to limit himself and to not be so fast, not be so strong, not be so powerful.
“The result of that, psychologically, would be fear of oneself, self-doubt and being ashamed of what you were capable of. Extrapolating that to adulthood became a fascinating psychological profile of someone who was not pretending to be Clark Kent, but who was Clark Kent. Who had become that kind of a character who is not able or willing to accept who he was and what his destiny was.”
We’re still not exactly clear on the direction Zack Snyder is taking Man of Steel but Abrams said it didn’t look far off and he was glad for it.
The interview inevitably turned to the topic of Star Wars: Episode VII and how the director would approach the franchise he loves so dearly as compared to Star Trek.
“I don’t know because we’re just getting started. So it’s a great question that I hope I’ll have a good answer to when I know what the answer is. There are infinitely more questions than answers right now, but to me, they’re not that dissimilar. Though I came at these both from very different places, where they both meet is a place of ‘Ooh, that’s really exciting.’ And even though I was never a Star Trek fan, I felt like there was a version of it that would make me excited, that I would think ‘that’s cool, that feels right, I actually would want to see that.
“How we were going to get there, what the choices were going to be, who was going to be in it – all of those things I knew would have to be figured out, but it was all based on a foundation of this indescribable, guttural passion for something that could be. It’s a similar feeling that I have with Star Wars. I feel like I can identify a hunger for what I would want to see again and that is an incredibly exciting place to begin a project. The movies, the worlds could not be more different but that feeling that there’s something amazing here is the thing that they share.”
Meanwhile, the latest Star Trek Into Darkness trailer was released this past week. What are your thoughts on Abrams take on Superman?
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JOSS WHEDON DISCUSSES WHAT HIS THEORETICAL STAR WARS MOVIE WOULD BE LIKE, WORLD GOES BONKERS
Originally posted at The Mary Sue
by Jill Pantozzi | 4:15 pm, March 12th, 2013
If you say “Joss Whedon” and “Star Wars” together, people are going to freak out. Even if it’s something as simple as, “Joss Whedon watched Star Wars.” But in this case, the director went as far as to share his thoughts on what he’d actually do with the franchise were he given the reins. Well, that’s a horse of a different color…
You probably know by now J.J. Abrams was the one eventually chosen to continue the Star Wars saga with Episode VII but a lot of names were thrown around before then including Whedon’s. You might have also heard Carrie Fisher “joking” she would be in the film and George Lucas sort of confirming all three original stars would be returning. Well if Whedon had his way, they wouldn’t be.
In an interview interview with Digital Spy he said:
You know, I wouldn’t go back, I’d go forward. I would want to create characters that would resonate the way that they did. I mean not that I don’t want to see [the new movies], I would be excited to, but I also feel like I would want to explore a very different part of that universe.
And if there was a Han Solo solo film, would he have a hand in something that meant recasting the famous character? “That I would never want to do. Some things may not be rebooted,” he said, in his most serious voice.
Billy Dee Williams Confirms He’s Been Asked to Reprise Lando
Originally posted at Nerd Bastards
At this point, I believe it’s a done deal for the main three original cast members – Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, and Harrison Ford – to return for Episode VII. While not yet made official, I’ve got a good feeling it will be before long. How about other members of the original cast? C-3PO and R2-D2? Without them it just wouldn’t be Star Wars, so I’d imagine Anthony Daniels will return, if only for the voice, but I’m pretty sure Kenny Baker‘s out of luck. The only little Artoo we’ll be seeing will most definitely be CGI.
And what of Lando Calrissian? The coolest cat in the galaxy? Film Buff has the scoop that when asked at a recent Monster Mania convention in New Jersey, Billy Dee Williams confirmed he has been asked to return for Episode VII. The quote from friend of the site, Henry R., being,
Billy Dee said, he has been asked, but hasn’t decided if he is going to do it or not yet.
Hasn’t decided?!? Come on, Billy, please! I think I speak for all Star Wars fans when I say, we want to know what Lando’s up to? I’m hoping he retired well, got a nice place to spend the rest of his days, y’know?
Who else from the original cast are you hoping will appear? Still no word on whether or not Chewbacca will make an appearance. Though I fear Peter Mayhew wouldn’t be up to reprise him, there’s no reason another couldn’t fill that furry suit, right?
Source: CBM
Star Wars: Episodes I, II, and III – Am I really the only person who does not absolutely hate them? – Part Two
With all the Star Wars Talk going on as of late I am seeing a resurgence of the bashing that follows the prequel trilogy, and for the record – yes they were bad, yes that had flaws, and yes they cursed us with the knowledge that Jar-Jar Binks is now part of our Star Wars collective consciousness – BUT IT IS STILL STAR WARS!!!
In the part two of this Series I tackle Episode II: Attack of the Clones.
Domestic Total Gross: $302,191,252
Domestic Lifetime Gross: $310,676,740
Flaws: The Love Story, Buffalo sized Ticks with bulbous asses, The Love Story, the selective blindness of the Jedi, The Love Story, Obi Wan goes down like a bitch, The Love Story, whiny Anakin, and have I mentioned The Love Story?
Strengths: Count Dooku, The Clone backstory, Yoda fight, Dual wielded light sabers, Jango Fett, The Battle of Geonosis, Midriff, Jedi Mullet, Blurred lines, Kit Fisto in action, Boba Begins, Bad MF’rs, Purple Light Saber.
In Episode II Lucas thrusts us into the story, wasting no time setting up the scenario that unfortunately engulfs a large part of the movie – the reunion of Anakin and Padme. We fast forward ten years to find a Teenaged Anakin doing exceptionally well in his Jedi training. Due to an attack on Padme’s life she is assigned Jedi protection in the form of Anakin and Obi Wan, presumably due to their familiarity with the senator. From the moment she comes into the story, things begin to spiral downward for Anakin. He clearly cannot control his feelings when it comes to her. This also sets up one of the worst flaws in the trilogy – the fact that Anakin and Padme have feelings for each other and the Jedi are completely oblivious.
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