Han dies
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I have a confession to make. I've never been able to watch a Star Wars movie from start to finish.. in its original or its innumerable sequels and prequels. I'm older but not that disconnected from the the Star Wars gen that began in 1977.
I've watched other Science Fiction movies and enjoyed ones that came after the first Star Wars. Blade Runner comes to mind, a great SF movie built on a film noire model with stunning cinematography, the original Alien. These were complex psychological scripts with well developed characters, dramatic tension and plots.
I just find the whole fantasy, and 'sweetness' of the Star Wars film.. its reliance of visual gimmickry, cardboard characters, maudlin sentiment, canned plots and cuteness.. make them quite uninteresting.
I'm not one of those, nor do i know anyone, lining up for a week in winter weather to be the first to see the latest episode. I still haven't completed the first.. which came out 40 years ago. .
I've watched other Science Fiction movies and enjoyed ones that came after the first Star Wars. Blade Runner comes to mind, a great SF movie built on a film noire model with stunning cinematography, the original Alien. These were complex psychological scripts with well developed characters, dramatic tension and plots.
I just find the whole fantasy, and 'sweetness' of the Star Wars film.. its reliance of visual gimmickry, cardboard characters, maudlin sentiment, canned plots and cuteness.. make them quite uninteresting.
I'm not one of those, nor do i know anyone, lining up for a week in winter weather to be the first to see the latest episode. I still haven't completed the first.. which came out 40 years ago. .
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BAZ BAMIGBOYE: 007's secret cameo as a stormtrooper... but can you spy which one's Daniel Craig?
By Baz Bamigboye for the Daily Mail
18 December 2015
Daily Mail
Daniel Craig went over to the dark side to shoot a cameo role in the acclaimed Star Wars movie The Force Awakens.
There were rumours during the summer that Craig had a tiny part in the blockbuster picture, but he shot them down.
But a spokesperson associated with Disney, the studio that astutely purchased George Lucas's Lucasfilm company, told me: 'You're close to the truth. Nothing can be said on the record, because it will be denied.'
Can you spy him? James Bond actor Daniel Craig is thought to have a cameo in the new Star Wars movie
The spokesperson said Craig was filming Spectre at Pinewood studios when he got talking to Star Wars director J.J. Abrams, who also shot some of his film at the complex in Buckinghamshire.
'They concocted the cameo together. I don't know which scene it is but yes, it does involve Daniel playing a stormtrooper, because they wear helmets and for the most part they're anonymous.'
The source, whom I can't identify for fear of reprisal from the First Order (the galaxy's new baddies), suggested that the scene might be at the beginning of the film, where white-clad troopers (above) storm a village.
In a separate confirmation, an executive working on the Star Wars picture told a group of film-makers that Craig shot the star cameo moment.
It's good to know the actor is still mischievous enough to make such a gesture. There were times during the launch of Spectre when his sense of humour seemed to have been left on the cutting-room floor.
Read more: Daniel Craig may have had a secret Star Wars: The Force Awakens cameo | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Luke Skywalker's landspeeder from Star Wars was based on the Bond Bug, a small British two-seat, three-wheeled automobile which was built from 1970 to 1974, initially by Bond Cars Ltd and subsequently by the Reliant Motor Company. It is a wedge-shaped microcar, with a lift-up canopy and side screens instead of conventional doors.
The landspeeder from the 1977 Stars Wars film was built upon the chassis of a Bond Bug - the wheels hidden by mirrors angled at 45° to the ground to make it look as though it was hovering.
By Baz Bamigboye for the Daily Mail
18 December 2015
Daily Mail
Daniel Craig went over to the dark side to shoot a cameo role in the acclaimed Star Wars movie The Force Awakens.
There were rumours during the summer that Craig had a tiny part in the blockbuster picture, but he shot them down.
But a spokesperson associated with Disney, the studio that astutely purchased George Lucas's Lucasfilm company, told me: 'You're close to the truth. Nothing can be said on the record, because it will be denied.'
Can you spy him? James Bond actor Daniel Craig is thought to have a cameo in the new Star Wars movie
The spokesperson said Craig was filming Spectre at Pinewood studios when he got talking to Star Wars director J.J. Abrams, who also shot some of his film at the complex in Buckinghamshire.
'They concocted the cameo together. I don't know which scene it is but yes, it does involve Daniel playing a stormtrooper, because they wear helmets and for the most part they're anonymous.'
The source, whom I can't identify for fear of reprisal from the First Order (the galaxy's new baddies), suggested that the scene might be at the beginning of the film, where white-clad troopers (above) storm a village.
In a separate confirmation, an executive working on the Star Wars picture told a group of film-makers that Craig shot the star cameo moment.
It's good to know the actor is still mischievous enough to make such a gesture. There were times during the launch of Spectre when his sense of humour seemed to have been left on the cutting-room floor.
Read more: Daniel Craig may have had a secret Star Wars: The Force Awakens cameo | Daily Mail Online
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
Luke Skywalker's landspeeder from Star Wars was based on the Bond Bug, a small British two-seat, three-wheeled automobile which was built from 1970 to 1974, initially by Bond Cars Ltd and subsequently by the Reliant Motor Company. It is a wedge-shaped microcar, with a lift-up canopy and side screens instead of conventional doors.
The landspeeder from the 1977 Stars Wars film was built upon the chassis of a Bond Bug - the wheels hidden by mirrors angled at 45° to the ground to make it look as though it was hovering.
Ahh, yes. British motors. The bonnet is up because the crankshaft snapped (as happened to my father's Austin) and the steering wheel came off in their hands (as British Leyland was wont to do)
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' review:
J.J. Abrams' Episode VII is an instant classic
By Bruce Kirkland, Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 05:57 AM EST | Updated: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 08:36 AM EST
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is completely familiar, gorgeous to behold and absolutely wonderful as it takes the Star Wars saga to new technical heights.
In other words, co-producer, co-writer and director J.J. Abrams has done exactly what every diehard, sabre-obsessed, Force-loving, Jedi-admiring, Darth Vader-fearing fan has been dreaming about since Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 32 years ago. He has made a real Star Wars movie that fans can truly embrace, that honours the legacy of George Lucas and that is better in its storytelling than anything Lucas himself did with his unfortunate prequel trilogy.
The supremely confident execution of this new movie — which is officially Episode VII — earns Abrams and his team a perfect five-star rating.
The nearly universal lack of originality in it — because this epic opus, for all its dazzle and humour and action and even daring, is a recurring echo of everything you have already seen in the previous six Star Wars episodes — knocks it down to a four-star rating.
But the introduction of thrilling new characters provides the perfect complement to the return of trusted old friends. So we can assign the middle ground of magnificent: a four-and-a-half star rating.
The newbies include the scavenger-turned-heroine Rey (played by the inspirational Daisy Ridley), the Stormtrooper-turned-hero Finn (an energetic and engaging John Boyega), the Dark Sider uber-villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver conveys his character’s internal struggle) and the fun new droid BB-8 (a natural attraction for kids). In addition, there is Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac), a resistance pilot who akin to a new Luke Skywalker, alien pirate Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o in an intriguing motion capture performance), Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis in another mo-cap triumph) and various baddies of the First Order, the successor to The Empire. Among them is General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), commander of the Starkiller Base that dwarfs Vader’s old haunts.
The roster of oldies-but-goodies is comprised of Han Solo (a still-feisty Harrison Ford), Princess and now General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher with a new and more demure hairdo and attitude), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew is still charismatic as the Wookiee), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels, whom everyone loves in this role) and both of R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and Admiral Ackbar (Timothy Rose) in cameos.
The Force Awakens is a direct sequel to Return of the Jedi, with those 30-plus years having lapsed without much difference in the way the universe operates. The Third Reich-like First Order continues The Empire’s fascist ways; the Resistance is still fighting oppression; and outposts such as Jakku, where the femme role model Rey has been living alone since she was abandoned at the age of five, are desolate places where humans and other creatures live hardscrabble existences (although the vistas, photographed in Abu Dhabi, are beautiful).
As must be apparent by now, I am refusing to tell much about the story that Abrams created for The Force Awakens with one of Lucas’ collaborators on the original trilogy, filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan. They built their scenario on the bones of what screenwriter Michael Arndt had done for Episode VII before Abrams took the project over at the request of Walt Disney Studios. Lucas also served, early on, as a consultant but there is little evidence that he contributed much to the specifics of The Force Awakens, even though his DNA is all over the finished film.
Telling too much, or even anything other than the basic opening premise that Rey, Finn and BB-8 are on the run to evade First Order Stormtroopers, would lead to stunning spoilers. My suggestion is to avoid finding out about many plot points from any source, because this will ruin your enjoyment of the movie. And yet there is that familiarity throughout, with Abrams’ team touching on the same beats and scenarios (from a cantina scene to the aerial combat sequences), the same John Williams music score, and the same blend of comedy and pathos and action.
Plus, familiar themes rumble underneath the story, including questions of family, fatherhood and loyalty. At the same time, we get to spend a lot of fun and/or dramatic time with Ford’s Solo, while Ridley’s Rey and Boyega’s Finn give us a pair of dynamic new heroes to follow in future Star Wars Episodes.
Twitter: @Bruce_Kirkland
bruce.kirkland@sunmedia.ca
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' review: J.J. Abrams' Episode VII is an instant cl
J.J. Abrams' Episode VII is an instant classic
By Bruce Kirkland, Postmedia Network
First posted: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 05:57 AM EST | Updated: Wednesday, December 16, 2015 08:36 AM EST
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is completely familiar, gorgeous to behold and absolutely wonderful as it takes the Star Wars saga to new technical heights.
In other words, co-producer, co-writer and director J.J. Abrams has done exactly what every diehard, sabre-obsessed, Force-loving, Jedi-admiring, Darth Vader-fearing fan has been dreaming about since Episode VI: Return of the Jedi 32 years ago. He has made a real Star Wars movie that fans can truly embrace, that honours the legacy of George Lucas and that is better in its storytelling than anything Lucas himself did with his unfortunate prequel trilogy.
The supremely confident execution of this new movie — which is officially Episode VII — earns Abrams and his team a perfect five-star rating.
The nearly universal lack of originality in it — because this epic opus, for all its dazzle and humour and action and even daring, is a recurring echo of everything you have already seen in the previous six Star Wars episodes — knocks it down to a four-star rating.
But the introduction of thrilling new characters provides the perfect complement to the return of trusted old friends. So we can assign the middle ground of magnificent: a four-and-a-half star rating.
The newbies include the scavenger-turned-heroine Rey (played by the inspirational Daisy Ridley), the Stormtrooper-turned-hero Finn (an energetic and engaging John Boyega), the Dark Sider uber-villain Kylo Ren (Adam Driver conveys his character’s internal struggle) and the fun new droid BB-8 (a natural attraction for kids). In addition, there is Poe Dameron (Oscar Issac), a resistance pilot who akin to a new Luke Skywalker, alien pirate Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong'o in an intriguing motion capture performance), Supreme Leader Snoke (Andy Serkis in another mo-cap triumph) and various baddies of the First Order, the successor to The Empire. Among them is General Hux (Domhnall Gleeson), commander of the Starkiller Base that dwarfs Vader’s old haunts.
The roster of oldies-but-goodies is comprised of Han Solo (a still-feisty Harrison Ford), Princess and now General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher with a new and more demure hairdo and attitude), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew is still charismatic as the Wookiee), C-3PO (Anthony Daniels, whom everyone loves in this role) and both of R2-D2 (Kenny Baker) and Admiral Ackbar (Timothy Rose) in cameos.
The Force Awakens is a direct sequel to Return of the Jedi, with those 30-plus years having lapsed without much difference in the way the universe operates. The Third Reich-like First Order continues The Empire’s fascist ways; the Resistance is still fighting oppression; and outposts such as Jakku, where the femme role model Rey has been living alone since she was abandoned at the age of five, are desolate places where humans and other creatures live hardscrabble existences (although the vistas, photographed in Abu Dhabi, are beautiful).
As must be apparent by now, I am refusing to tell much about the story that Abrams created for The Force Awakens with one of Lucas’ collaborators on the original trilogy, filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan. They built their scenario on the bones of what screenwriter Michael Arndt had done for Episode VII before Abrams took the project over at the request of Walt Disney Studios. Lucas also served, early on, as a consultant but there is little evidence that he contributed much to the specifics of The Force Awakens, even though his DNA is all over the finished film.
Telling too much, or even anything other than the basic opening premise that Rey, Finn and BB-8 are on the run to evade First Order Stormtroopers, would lead to stunning spoilers. My suggestion is to avoid finding out about many plot points from any source, because this will ruin your enjoyment of the movie. And yet there is that familiarity throughout, with Abrams’ team touching on the same beats and scenarios (from a cantina scene to the aerial combat sequences), the same John Williams music score, and the same blend of comedy and pathos and action.
Plus, familiar themes rumble underneath the story, including questions of family, fatherhood and loyalty. At the same time, we get to spend a lot of fun and/or dramatic time with Ford’s Solo, while Ridley’s Rey and Boyega’s Finn give us a pair of dynamic new heroes to follow in future Star Wars Episodes.
Twitter: @Bruce_Kirkland
bruce.kirkland@sunmedia.ca
'Star Wars: The Force Awakens' review: J.J. Abrams' Episode VII is an instant cl
heh
How Ken Burns would tell the story of 'Star Wars'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/vide...d8ccaa-a5a4-11e5-8318-bd8caed8c588_video.html
How Ken Burns would tell the story of 'Star Wars'
https://www.washingtonpost.com/vide...d8ccaa-a5a4-11e5-8318-bd8caed8c588_video.html