Category Archives: Opinion

Disney’s Greatest Villains Join…Star Wars?

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Via Moviepilot.com:

Now, when it comes to cinema’s greatest villains – the ones you’ve loved to hate since childhood, the ones who’ve fundamentally influenced your idea of right and wrong, and taught you how to be who you are today – there aren’t too many that can trump those created by Disney.

Whether it’s Scar, Jafar, Ursula or Captain Hook, the villainous antagonists in our favorite Disney movies are up there with the very best.

In fact, one of the only franchises in history that can really compete is – the now owned by Disney – Star Wars.

And, as artist Dennis Culver has awesomely proven, combining the two produces something even more awesome(ly villainous)…

Whether it’s…

Scar Vader

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2015-03-09 16_39_26-Disney's Greatest Villains Join...Star Wars_ _ moviepilot

How ‘Star Wars Rebels’ Changed ‘Star Wars’ History

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Via Slashfilm.com:

The first season of Star Wars Rebels is now in the books. The Star Wars history books, that is. Rebels was the first new piece of Star Wars content created after Disney bought the company in 2012. That in itself is pretty significant. Beyond that, the show was the first piece of official canon story linking what happened between the Original Trilogy and the Prequel Trilogy.

I know what you’re thinking. “Weren’t there numerous books and comics that told stories in that time frame?” Very true, but when Disney took over they wiped the Star Wars canon clean. The only things that officially happened in the new Star Wars canon are the six movies, Star Wars: The Clone Wars and Star Wars Rebels. Any new content they release – books, comics, movies, etc. will all become official parts of the story, too.

So what does that mean? It means that what happened over the course of Star Wars Rebels season one matters. A lot. The actions of the characters and events that unfolded all have a real bearing on Star Wars as a whole. Those events have changed Star Wars history in some minor, and even some major ways. Ideally, you’d just watch all the episodes and see what I mean for yourself. Another option is to continue reading and find out how the Star Wars Rebels canon additions changed Star Wars history forever.

Note: I’m still catching up on The Clone Wars so if this is partially incorrect, my apologies.

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Why You should be reading the NEW Marvel Star Wars Comics!

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Via Moviepilot.com:

Greetings from a galaxy far far away! So with the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens later this year, it’s understandable why more products like comics and a new animated show Star Wars: Rebels (2014) are being released prior to this.

Over at Disney, they’re wanting to expand the new Star Wars canonical universe, now that pretty much all books, comics, tv shows and video games that had different stories based in the same universe as our favourite heroes has been declared non-canon. So therefore is not a part of the on-screen Star Wars Universe we’ve seen and will see once again on December 18th, 2015.

The only canonical pieces of Star Wars that is a part of the overall plot are as follows;

All 6 Star Wars films
Star Wars: The Clone Wars
Lucasfilm, yeah the company that made Star Wars gave comment.

“This includes the six Star Wars episodes, and the many hours of content he developed and produced in The Clone Wars. These stories are the immovable objects of Star Wars history, the characters and events to which all other tales must align.”

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‘STAR WARS: REBELS‘ GOT REALLY GOOD

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Via Decider.com:

Once upon a time, I was in head over heels in love with Star Wars, but then the prequel trilogy broke my heart. While some Star Wars fans staunchly defend George Lucas’s uneven and emotionally vacant prequels on the grounds that “it’s STAR WARS,” I’m savvy enough to know that fans deserve to be treated well by the stories they love. This isn’t to say that fans deserve all their fantasies to be catered to, but that fans deserve a quality product that doesn’t dilute the brand they’ve put so much time, love, and money into.
We still have to wait until Star Wars: The Force Awakens opens on December 18 to discover if J.J. Abrams has successfully revived Star Wars as a film franchise, but it looks like Star Wars: Rebels has already resuscitated the series for the modern age.
Star Wars: Rebels is an animated series that takes place five years before the original Star Wars film, aka Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. It doesn’t feature Luke Skywalker or Obi-Wan Kenobi, and we have yet to hear about a dashing smuggler named Han Solo or a certain spirited princess from Alderaan, but it does follow the motley crew that helped create the Rebellion. It’s a bridge between the two existing trilogies and the first new narrative that we’ve gotten since the Disney/Lucasfilm merger. And it’s gotten great.

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20 Star Wars Easter Eggs You Never Noticed

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Via Whatculture.com:

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…
…there were a whole bunch of brilliantly cool easter eggs just waiting for Star Wars fans to discover – should they take the time to squint hard and look out for them. As far as fictional universes go, Star Wars ranks pretty high up the list, which means that the films are jam-packed with a whole host of delicious tidbits, references, in-jokes, nods and meta moments – all of which serve to make life a lot more grand for aficionados.
So whilst a lot of Star Wars easter eggs are rather well-known amongst fans (those “THX 1138″ references, for example – who doesn’t know about them?), there are also quite a lot of easter eggs that even the most dedicated Star Wars might have missed. These are the eggs that have been hidden deep within the depths of the Star Wars canon – the kind of dangerous place you only visit when you’ve seen a movie sixty-three times.
That all firmly in mind, then, here are 20 rather subtle and (sometimes) downright impossible to spot Star Wars easter eggs that – having been so caught up in the space melodrama inherent to the Star Wars saga – you might not have noticed, starting with…

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The Most Hilariously Damning Review Of The Original Star Wars

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Via io9.com:

When Star Wars came out in 1977, nobody knew it would become the classic that we all recognize today. Some people were skeptical, for sure. But few reviewers were as hilariously savage as John Simon, with New York Magazine, who called it “a set of giant baubles manipulated by an infant mind.”

Here are some choice passages from Simon’s review, which you can read over at Google Books:

I sincerely hope that science and scientists differ from science fiction and its practitioners. Heaven help us if they don’t: We may be headed for a very boring world indeed. Strip Star Wars of its often striking images and its high-falutin scientific jargon, and you get a story, characters, and dialogue of overwhelming banality, without even a “future” cast to them. Human beings, anthropoids, or robots, you could probably find them all, more or less like, that, in downtown Los Angeles today…

O dull new world! We are treated to a galactic civil war, assorted heroes and villains, a princely maiden in distress, a splendid old man surviving from an extinct order of knights who possessed a mysterious power called “the Force,” and it is all as exciting as last year’s weather reports…. Why, even the most exciting fight is an old-fashioned duel, for all that the swords have laser beams for blades….

Here it is all trite characterization and paltry verbiage… The one exception is Alec Guinness as the grand old man Ben Kenobi (Ben for the Hebrew ben, to make him sound Biblical and good; Kenobi probably from cannibis, i.e., hashish, for reasons you can probably guess.)…

Still, Star Wars will do very nicely for those lucky enough to be children or unlucky enough never to have grown up.
Ouch.

Also found on Google Books: a 1983 article from Texas Monthly, which takes issue with a May 23, 1983 Time Magazine cover story about Return of the Jedi. Apparently, Time insisted that Return of the Jedi “represents a return to striding form after the lunging missteps of The Empire Strikes Back.” (The actual Time Magazine article isn’t online, and I haven’t had time to look for it in the library.)

10 Dumbest Criticisms Of Star Wars

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Via Whatculture.com:

Every movie, upon becoming popular, opens itself up to fan scrutiny. That’s just the way being a fan works – you watch and re-watch, you discuss and re-evaluate, until eventually you start nitpicking over details that just don’t seem right anymore about that movie you so love.

In the case of Star Wars, add five more films and a fanbase that’s arguably more passionate and wide-reaching than any other and you’re looking at something that’s received a whole load of critiquing over the years. Some are fair – the original trilogy has one or two biggies (like rebels hiding Luke and Leia from Darth Vader in incredibly obvious places, or the fact that George Lucas made Leia Luke’s sister as an afterthought), while picking holes in the prequel trilogy is like shooting fish in a barrel – but there are other criticisms of the films that simply don’t wash.

No film franchise is perfect, and Star Wars is no different, but the truth is that the films are carrying reputations that aren’t always fairly warranted. Taking into account criticisms of all six Star Wars films, as well as the criticisms levelled at the mere trailer for the yet-to-be-released seventh film – The Force Awakens – Star Wars, it would seem, is in some areas in need of even closer scrutiny.

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Star Wars Rebels: Why You Should be Watching It

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Via Denofgeek.us:

It may go out on DisneyXD, but Star Wars Rebels is far more than a kid’s show according to John Moore…

There’s an obvious reason geeks should watch new animated series Star Wars: Rebels, which is this: it’s Star Wars.

It has the look, the feel, and (perhaps most importantly) the music that we know and love… What’s more it also has some nascent signs of the character interplay and humour that made watching the OT cast aboard the Millenium Falcon such good fun – but if that isn’t enough for you, then read on…

While Rebels hasn’t yet shown the oft-sadistic streak and darker tone of The Clone Wars (and is unlikely to – I doubt you’ll see troopers gleefully releasing people to die in the vacuum of space while making jokes about it, as that show depicted droids doing) and the original trilogy movies, it’s far from being a show that’s just for kids. It’s actually walking a nice line between keeping the stories simple, while allowing underlying themes to be explored by those who seek to look a little bit more deeply into what’s going on.

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27 Facts About ‘Star Wars’ That You Had No Idea About

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Via Sliptalk.com:

Star Wars made its theatrical debut in 1977 with its first film, Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope. Star Wars remains one of the most financially successful films of all time. The film earned $6.05 million through its opening weekend alone. Although I am sure you have seen at least one, but hopefully all of the Star Wars films. I can almost guarantee that you probably didn’t know all of these fun facts about the Star Wars movie empire. Mind blown, you will be!

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Princess Leia Cosplay Mash-Ups Prove Star Wars Should Be in Everything!

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Via Moviepilot.com:

It’s one of the most popular cosplay outfits of all time, with an unexpectedly awesome twist!

Princess Leia’s skimpy slave-wear has dominated the halls of Comic-Con for years, but you’ve never seen it pulled off quite like this. In case you need reminding of the image forever burned into my teenage mind, here it is in all its glory…

What could possibly make that any better, you might ask. Well, the imagination of these fans knows no bounds. Refusing to be constrained by one franchise, these incredibly creative ladies have fused Carrie Fisher’s iconic outfit with other famous movie characters, including some Disney damsels you might recognize!

Here are the Leia cosplay mash-ups you never knew you needed in your life!

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The 10 Coolest Star Wars Characters

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Via Torontosun.com:

There may be no trickier concept to define than cool. It’s a subjective, mutable thing, and one person’s cool is another person’s, “You’ve gotta be kidding me.”

Today we’re kicking off what will be a monthly feature leading up to the December release of Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens. A wee sci-fi film getting a smidgen of buzz. Perhaps you’ve heard of it.

Truly, it’s going to be a big, big year for Star Wars fans, as J. J. Abrams returns to the saga that we last saw on the big screen a decade ago. Over the course of the coming months we’ll learn more about the movie’s plot, settings and new characters, from John Boyega’s Finn to Daisy Ridley’s Rey to whoever it is that’s playing the sinister cloaked dude with the broadsword lightsaber. (Adam Driver? Andy Serkis?)

But the Star Wars lineage is already rich with unforgettable characters. Some good, some evil, some in a grey area in between. And some that were especially, well, cool.

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The 5 Worst and Weirdest Moments in the Star Wars Expanded Universe

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Via Moviepilot.com:

While the long-beloved stories of the Star Wars expanded universe have been thrown on the backburner, the old stories are being re-released as the “Legends” series and still well worth reading. Almost all of the Expanded Universe novels are available for purchase on Google Play, and Dark Horse has a massive collection of comics to keep you entertained for the rest of the year.

But, for all of it’s incredible adventures and unforgettable characters (R.I.P. Mara Jade Skywalker, the Solo kids, and General Thrawn) there certainly are moments and stories that are more embarrassing for fans to recall. So, of course, I’m here to recall them and save you that second-hand blush.

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The Force Awakens: Why 2015 will be the year of Star Wars

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Via Thesudburystar.com:

I wish I was eight years old right now.

Not just emotionally – got that covered, thanks – but actually eight years old. Because I’m secretly and desperately envious of kids who are about to grow up in a whole new era of Star Wars, beginning this year. It almost feels… is unfair the right word? Yeah. Unfair.

Why, back in my day, we had to wait three whole years between Star Wars films! Until the third one came out, and then we had to wait 16 years for a new one! And it sucked! And the ones after it sucked! And the original ones that were good got tampered with until they sucked too!

You kids these days with your original trilogy sequels instead of prequels, and your awesome-sounding spinoff movies, and your animated series and your comic books and your Lego and your video games and your cool directors who actually know how to shoot a dialogue scene without it sounding like school play. It’s the dawn of a new golden age when Star Wars is going to be in the minds and hearts of millions of people around the world.

You’re so lucky. I think. I hope.

Since it debuted in 1977, Star Wars has never left the pop culture collective consciousness. Even during the doldrums between trilogies, there’s been no end of merchandise and spinoffs and ancillary media. But 2015 is when we punch it and blast back into hyperspace, leading up to the release of Star Wars: The Force Awakens on Dec. 18.

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Star Wars Episode 7: The 6 Star Wars Novels That Should Still Be Considered Canon!

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Via Moviepilot.com:

Long before Marvel Studios and Disney built an empire on the concept of the “shared universe” there already existed an epic tale of interconnected stories so elaborate it blows one’s mind as to how it all held together. I’m, of course, referring to the Star Wars Expanded Universe.

At one point, the Expanded Universe was a flourishing series of novels, cartoons, comic books and video games that kept the spirit of the Star Wars saga alive and well for all of the fans. Nothing was published or produced without the George Lucas stamp of approval and all of the creative teams and authors involved had to know what was happening and when before embarking on their own journeys in the galaxy far, far away.

But then Disney bought Lucasfilm in 2012 for $4 Billion and subsequently green lit a new trilogy of movies to take place after Return of the Jedi. They hired J.J. Abrams to helm Star Wars: Episode 7 – The Force Awakens and, with the flush of a toilet and use of a very large plunger, did away with the entire Expanded Universe.

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5 Huge Star Wars Questions We’ll Get Answers To In 2015

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Via Cinemablend.com:

This is going to be a huge year for Star Wars. Most notably, December 2015 will bring the release of the hotly anticipated Star Wars: The Force Awakens. However, there is a lot to be excited for in the Star War universe beyond The Force Awakens, with the future releases of Star Wars spinoff films coming, as well. Outside of waiting for more trailers to be released, we also will hopefully get some more details about plot and the roles of some of our favorite Star Wars characters in the new films.

Here are five huge questions that we think we’ll finally see the answers to in the coming year.

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