With the exception of Darth Maul, I practically loathed the recent Star Wars films. They had their moments but between Jar Jar and Hayden Christensen, they left a lot to be desired. Maul, on the other hand, was mysterious, menacing, and the first on-screen character to wield a dual-bladed lightsaber. Sure he had his flaws, but as far as I’m concerned, this statue alone more than makes up for that lack of character development. Read more…
Back in 2009, improvisational pianist and composer Richard Grayson performed several requests for students at the Crossroads School for the Arts and Sciences in Santa Monica. The presentation was apparently filmed and subsequently uploaded to YouTube in a series of clips. In each video he takes a request and performs each song as if it part of a classical genre. Here we have him performing the theme to Star Wars as if it were a baroque gavotte — for those of you who aren’t musically inclined, that’s a type of rhythm based on a French folk dance that often went along with baroque compositions around the mid to late 1600’s. Needless to say, he does a pretty awesome job, though I imagine some of you would rather hear his rendition of the “Imperial March” ala Beethoven. Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Oct 24, 2010 in Cinema, Star Wars
IESB recently published a pretty substantial rumor that George Lucas was working on a new Star Wars trilogy to be released after the current two trilogies both receive their 3D conversions, citing a “super-secret Lucasfilm insider.” IESB has been right about several big rumors before — Joss Whedon directing The Avengers, for example — so it seemed that this could also be true. Expectedly, Lucasfilm flat-out denied that any new Star Wars movies were in the works once the rumor made its rounds.
Denial is expected when it comes to PR, of course, especially when discussing unannounced projects, but it’s still pretty interesting (and slightly terrifying) to think of what would come next in the Star Wars film universe. Read more…
I love alt-art, but I love parodies even more. Recently, a friend showed me oldredjalopy.com — a site that specializes in alt-art posters for our favorite films. What’s more, many of these alternatives are parodies of some of the more iconic posters from years past. For example, the fantastic Star Wars Episode IV poster, shown above, is actually a parody of the poster from Stanley Kubrick’s classic Full Metal Jacket. I’ve went ahead and thrown a few more Star Wars posters below, but you really need to check out their site. They have everything from Superman II to more recent works like Oldboy — and best yet, you can actually order prints for some of these while supplies last. Read more…
As if on cue, StarWarsShop.com began listing their Christmas items in anticipation of the upcoming holiday season. I’m sure everyone’s probably tired of hearing people gripe about seasonal merchandise hitting the shelves earlier and earlier each year, but I do kinda find it funny that Halloween hasn’t even passed and people can already order their R2D2 Christmas lights. Once you buy enough of those to decorate your tree and house, you can pick up one of these eight-and-a-half inch “Yodaclause” table pieces. Of course, if you’d rather dress up like Yodaclause yourself, they sell Santa hats with Yoda’s ears attached. Now, if only they had a lightsaber menorah.
Sillof & Glorbes, makers of countless other incredible custom action figures, did this awesome WWII-themed Star Wars reimagining! There’s a lot to love here, from Darth Vader’s technological downgrade to Han Solo’s Millenium Falcon bomber jacket. The Stormtrooper figure above is “the most literal fusion of WWII and Star Wars imagery,” but other characters deviate a bit. Boba Fett, for example, now has a flamethrower arm. Can’t really argue with that. Read more…
I had written that I wasn’t entirely sure how they’d go about creating a sequel to Star Wars: The Force Unleashed, but after viewing the trailer, I had a basic grasp of the premise. You play a clone of the previous hero who scrafices himself to save the rebellion. Subsequently, this extended production dairy delves a little deeper, giving us a better understanding of exactly what they have in mind for this upcoming sequel, from introducing narrative to characters we’ve seen before, such as Yoda and Boba Fett. If this piques your interest, the demo is now available for download on both Xbox Live! and Playstation Network.
At first, I found myself wondering how they managed to create a sequel seeing as the first Star Wars: The Force Unleashed had such a definitive pair of endings. Not to spoil anything — Episode IV pretty much does that for you, seeing as it takes place between episodes III and IV — but it’s either you or Vader at the end, and we all know how that turns out. So, naturally you’d think the game would be a sequel in name only — guess again. The game apparently takes place after the first, and as this trailer reveals, you play a clone of the previous hero. Again, you can probably guess the ending, but on the bright side, you’ll get more of that over-the-top gameplay we experienced the first time around. Of course, I don’t think anything is as over the top as using the force to crash a Star Destroyer, but who am I to judge.
Posted by Michael Sacco on Oct 10, 2010 in Star Wars
Franco Bambrilla has this great image, titled “Imperial Minigolf Final Exam,” available in giclee print form. I’m trying to figure out what exactly’s going on. Maybe that stormtrooper’s about to make a free throw. I can’t see the hoop, but I imagine that armor has to augment you somehow, right? It’s probably just off-camera. That would probably be a three-pointer, though. Wait, no, this is mini-golf, not basketball. Maybe you have to make a putt through a two-meter exhaust vent? Read more…
The above photo is of an umbrella shaped like a star destroyer from Star Wars. I think. I’m not enough of a Star Wars nerd to know the difference between all these things. Anyway, it’s bizarre because it’s such an artsy-fartsy photo and it’s such a dumb shape for an umbrella. Which begs the question: where the hell is the Death Star umbrella?! Read more…
Posted by Michael Sacco on Oct 1, 2010 in Star Wars
No, not that kind of 3D. ComingSoon reports that Lucasfilm will be re-releasing the Star Wars films — again — in theaters, this time with a trendy 3D conversion. But even if you’re into Star Wars (or 3D conversions, which are getting pretty tiresome at this point), don’t get excited just yet. The 3D films will be released in story order — in other words, Phantom Menace first. Releasing the objectively worst film of the series first probably isn’t the best way to generate opening-weekend profits, or to guarantee future releases.
Oh well. At least Industrial Light & Magic is overseeing the conversion, so we can expect a treatment that does the original films justice — that is, if the re-releases make it that far. Read more…
If you hurry, for the next 22 hours or so, TeeFury has these amazing Super Mario Bros/Star Wars cross-over tees. It’s been quite some time since anything they’ve decided to print has caught my eye, but this little gem is hard to pass up. In case, for whatever reason, you’re clueless about classic Nintendo games, the shirt depicts an 8-bit Bobba Fett in a parody of the original cover/cart art for Super Mario Brothers here in the US. Aside from being kind of awesome, owning this shirt definitely earns you some instant nerd cred. Besides, I can’t even think of a better way to determine who you’d want to socialize with or not, because either they’ll get it, or they won’t — and why would you want to socialize with anyone who doesn’t? As always, TeeFury keeps it reasonable at $9 per tee — and before that price scares you, don’t worry, they’re sturdy.
On the big screen the Wampa seems such a terrifying creature from the ice planet Hoth— but alas as a throw rug I sort of feel sorry for this fella. Although as a true fanboy critic I’ve got to say that the rug reminds me more of muppet version of this guy than anything else: Read more…
Posted by Michael Pinto on Sep 26, 2010 in Star Wars
The above photo was actually taken at a local Starbucks this past week — it’s one of ten silly Star Wars themed images that we found this week thanks to searching hard on Twitter: Read more…
I love Calvin and Hobbes, and I’m sure by now you’ve probably seen every Calvin and Hobbes crossover your mind could dream up, but none of the ones I’ve seen to date have really felt as perfect as this illustration, and t-shirt by artist Chris Wahl. Not to imply that Chewbacca’s a devious prankster who takes pleasure in occasionally tormenting Han, at least, as far as I know, but they certainly share a friendship that only the two of them really understand. Either way, it’s easily one of the coolest crossover t-shirts I’ve seen in a long time. If you’re interested in picking one up, head over to Redbubble and order yours for a mere $22.
It might seem a bit unwieldy, or dare I say a tad cartoonish — if that’s even a word — but I’m pretty sure this is probably one of the coolest plush backpacks a kid could ever want. Modeled after Boba Fett’s original jet pack, as seen in Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, this plush bag comes complete with multiple pockets and adjustable straps that fit both kids and adults alike. There’s even multiple pockets for documents such as Death Star plans, thermal detonators, and more. If you’re interested, you can pick one up from ThinkGeek for roughly $50, though if given the choice, I think I’d rather have C-3PO myself . Still, no kid in their right mind would ever want to haul a protocol droid around school if they could have a rocket pack instead, right?
Posted by Michael Sacco on Sep 16, 2010 in Star Wars
Brandon Griffith, who created the A New Hope chess set made of Lego bricks, followed it up with this awesomely detailed Empire Strikes Back set. The base (which itself is pretty neat) opens up to store all the pieces inside. The only problem? There’s only one, which means I can’t buy it. My shields can’t repel sadness of this magnitude. Read more…
Word on the streets is that the University of Mississippi, which apparently everyone in the known universe refers to as Ole Miss as though it was a crazy cat lady living down the street, was home to a movement to pronounce Admiral Ackbar from Star Wars as its mascot. Read more…
You know, a lot of our favorite movies and TV shows deal with some sort of fictional company, from the independent business (Paper Street Soap Co.) to the megacorp (Massive Dynamic). We always see the men and women who run the show, but we rarely see the men on the ground, the salt-of-the-earth types who keep keep these fictional businesses going by performing mundane tasks in low-paying positions. Does Jack Tesler, part of Umbrella Corporation’s maintenance personnel, even know that he’s technically a henchman? Probably not, but at least he’s been provided with a cool business card, courtesy of Fro Design Co. Fro’s latest collection, titled “Day Jobs,” features mockups of business cards belonging to normal people who just happen to work at twenty-one made-up companies covering the entire geek spectrum, from Cyberdyne Systems all the way down to Duff Beer. Read more…
There’s an infinite galaxy’s worth of things that could be said about this photo, but more or less I’ll just say that it warmed my cold cold heart and made me smile, and I hope it does the same for you. And by the way… Read more…
You shouldn’t be tickling a Wookie any way — what do you take them for, Ewoks? This 9 inch Chewbacca plush kind of looks like it could be a Tickle-Me-Elmo, though. Either that, or one of those clowns in an arcade shooting gallery. You know which ones I’m talking about, I’m sure. All kidding aside though, it’d probably make a much cooler gift for any nephew or son than an Elmo doll. It even roars — or does its bear gargle, if you will — when you push on his belly. I’d take that over Elmo’s annoying laughter any day, wouldn’t you? They retail for roughly $26, so if you’re looking to pick one up, head over to NeatoShop.com and even though you’re not ordering it through the official Star Wars online store, don’t fret, it is an officially licensed Star Wars product.
While this is awesome, it’s also kind of terrifying. What you see before you is Lego enthusiast Angus MacLane’s entry into the FBTB MOC Madness 2010 Building Tournament. Each year, Lego Star Wars fan site From Bricks to Bothans hosts the tournament, and in a nod to Empire Strikes Back, this year’s tournament requires you to create your own intergalactic bounty hunter, and their ship. Angus took this opporunity to create his very own McDonalds-inspired Corellian freighter, piloted by what appears to be Ronald McFett and an R2-Grimace. Why he decided to mix the two is completely beyond me. Besides, I’ve always thought the Millennium Falcon looked more like a York Peppermint Pattie.
I had the unfortunate problem as a child of being the only girl in the entire known universe who preferred Luke Skywalker to Han Solo. (Don’t get me wrong, I dug Han, but he was definitely more of a “friend” for me, whereas reliable, hard-working Luke struck me as a better long-term bet.) So when it turned out Luke and Leia were siblings, I was as heart-broken as (I assumed) Luke was. Twenty-odd years later, this video made me feel better. Read more…
Now that Daily Show host (“anchor”?) Jon Stewart has removed his ungodly facial hair and is once again clean-shaven, he can now pass for a clone of Jango Fett (genetically modified to be older, sharper-featured, shorter, and Jewish). By sheer coincidence, Stewart also just interviewed George Lucas at a giant Star Wars event. Read more…
