Star Wars with occasional sarcasm
They’re filming Episode IX, but Domhnall Gleeson and Oscar Isaac both have movies coming out (The Little Stranger and Operation Finale) and are making the press rounds. They can’t say much about IX, obviously, but there are a few things of note, plus a check-in with Keri Russell and Dominic Monaghan.
Continue reading “Domhnall Gleeson knows “everything” on Episode IX, and he’s terrified”
Disney has announced that we can expect the next set of Forces of Destiny shorts on Monday, March 19. All eight new episodes will debut at 10:00 a.m. PT (1:00 p.m. ET) on Disney’s Youtube and Disney.com. The special will air on the Disney Channel the following Monday (March 25) at 9:50 p.m. ET/PT.
Voices include Mark Hamill (Luke), Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Lupita Nyong’o (Maz), Kelly Marie Tran (Rose), Tiya Sircar (Sabine), Ashley Eckstein (Ahsoka), Vanessa Marshall (Hera), Catherine Taber (Padmé) and Matt Lanter (Anakin).
Titles, descriptions, and images in a gallery under the cut. Continue reading “Forces of Destiny is back on March 19”
Disney has posted a few new The Last Jedi things on their award site, including several new stills, an extended score, production notes and the BAFTA Q&A with Rian Johnson and the cast.
Rian Johnson talks to People about how they filmed the “Force connection” scenes between Rey and Kylo Ren. Remember those paparazzi shots of Adam Driver flying into Ireland with Daisy Ridley and Mark Hamill, and all those rumors of a big fight scene with the Knights of Ren? Jokes on us. Johnson has another wide-ranging interview over at the Daily Beast. He also explains Snoke’s big scene and the Kylo shirtless scene.
The NYT takes a look at the women behind Lucasfilm’s story group, mainly Kiri Hart. It’s not just Pablo!
You’ll never guess what from the Legends EU made it into the movie. Sort of. Hey, at least it’s not something Courtship of Princess Leia this time.
On that note, there’s a ton of meta happening on Tumblr. I’m reblogging a lot of it and hope to do a roundup of the highlights here, but for the moment, an analysis of “the sacred Jedi texts.” (There’s plenty more coming – the fandom is prolific and I have a ton of backlog in the drafts folder.)
Tech corner: Neal Scanlan on how they built the film’s creatures, and again | Visual effects supervisor Ben Morris on creating Crait and the Earth equivilants | How Yoda was rebuilt | The movie’s sound design | The creation and science of that silent hyperspace scene.
Making Star Wars is back today with a description and sketch of Finn’s new look – or one of them – and how it ties into a new mission. It includes another new location, which may be related to yesterday’s rumor.
There will be a Hall H panel for The Force Awakens at San Diego Comic-Con on Friday, July 10, StarWars.com revealed today. Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan and “special guests” will be present.
There are several other panels, including two for Star Wars publishing. (Del Rey will be at ‘Part 2,’ Friday at 11 a.m.)
Neil deGrasse Tyson has replied to Chris Weitz’s Rogue One science query. Of course, then they took it to private, so all we know is: SCIENCE!
So a few days ago, Rogue One writer Chris Weitz asked Neil deGrasse Tyson for science help. Star Wars has always had a very tentative relationship with real science – it’s just not that kind of movie, kid – so this has resulted in some spirited discussion in certain areas of fandom.
Now, by no means do I think Weitz’s question will turn out be the very lynchpin of the film, but if the dude wants to make some random thing scientifically accurate, I’m not gonna disapprove, either. After all, what is space opera but a big melting pot of genres?
Tyson hasn’t replied publicly. But he did once tell Business Insider that he never got into Star Wars. “Maybe because they made no attempt to portray real physics. At all.”
This has still made a few headlines, so if nothing else, it’s turned into a cute little stealth marketing trick.
And, for the record, @RogueOne2016 is not an official account.
→ Popular Science points out six Star Wars technologies that may not be as far away as we think. Most shocking? There’s already a robot ball.
→ Why racial diversity in The Force Awakens matters.
→ Chris Taylor implores fans to stop overthinking the new teaser. Alas, it is in vain, but I’m sure he knows that.
→ Rumor corner: Jason on Making Star Wars has more thoughts on the beginning of the film, given what we heard yesterday. And there are yet more 4chan/Reddit ‘spoilers,’ including at least one direct contradiction to what we heard yesterday from the same ‘source.’
It’s that most wonderful time of the year when all the Star Wars gift books come out. So which ones are worth putting on your gift list for the year?
National Geographic Angry Birds Star Wars: The Science Behind the Saga has a fairly self-explanatory title. This book, targeted at the teenage reading level, gives you cute little stories about the adorable Angry Birds Star Wars characters, but also delves into the science associated with it. Astronomy. Physics. Science history. There’s a little bit for everyone in there. And since it’s National Geographic, you know they’ll have it right.
This is probably a fun book even if you haven’t gotten yourself aggravated by Angry Birds Star Wars, yet. (Why am I so bad at that game?) Many of the facts concern the science behind Star Wars, as well. And the graphics are bright and colorful.
Both the hardcover and paperback versions are reasonably priced. So if you’re trying to find something on the lower end for folks to get you, this would be a good one to add to your wish list.
Already thinking about travel plans for the summer and rest of 2013? The traveling museum exhibitions for Star Wars and Indiana Jones are!
Announced on Thursday with Billy Dee Williams on hand with the mayor of San Jose (yes, San Jose!), alongside Pablo Hidalgo and members of the 501st and Rebel Legions, San Jose’s Tech Museum of Innovation will be hosting the final stop of the Star Wars: Where Science Meets Imagination exhibition from October to next February.
The exhibition has been traveling around the US since 2005 (see my pictures from when it was at Santa Ana’s Discovery Science Center), and is currently wrapping up its stay at the Orlando Science Center (ends April 7). Over the summer, it will be at the Indiana State Museum in Indianapolis (May 25 – Sept. 2). This exhibition brings out props and costumes from the Star Wars films and connects them to real world science and technology, such as space travel, prosthetics, maglevs, and robotics.
Meanwhile, the Star Wars Identities exhibition, which started in 2012 in Montreal, and focuses on the concepts of identity, through origins, influences, and choices, will be ending this weekend in Edmonton’s Telus World of Science to move to Ottawa’s Canada Aviation and Space Museum from May 10 to September 2.
Finally, the Indiana Jones and the Adventure of Archaeology exhibition is wrapping up its first US stay, at Santa Ana’s Discovery Science Center, closing April 21. Presented by the National Geographic Society, it highlights the real science of archaeology, and connects it to the four Indiana Jones films with both real world artifacts and movie props, costumes, and artwork. I had a chance to see the exhibition last weekend, and provided an in-depth report earlier. While I am told that this exhibition will be moving onto a new location, it hasn’t been announced yet.