- Jedism: Charlotte Church gave the Jedi church people £5,000. Seriously, stop encouraging them already.
- Lists: Anakin and Padme make Yahoo’s list of ten most mismatched movie couples. On the plus side, Yahoo does put in a good word for Boga.
- People: Might as well face it… Scarlett Johansson and Natalie Portman are addicted to love. No, seriously, it’s a little disturbing. I forsee a lot of bad Darth Padme manips in this spread’s future.
The Actor as a Ditch Digger
An interesting interview with Hayden Christensen in the Washington Post. Read his theories on why he chooses the roles he does. And, most interesting (yet, not surprising), how George broke it to the actor that Star Wars was not about the actor getting to be creative. (Color me shocked.)
And he still has the padawan braid, by the way.
Rifftrax meets the SW Holiday Special
For those of you who longed for the time when the cast of MST3K could skewer the Holiday Special, your wait is now over. If you haven’t got a copy of it, you could always “Get [it] frOm yOur friend Greg, in LakE VIDEO, Illinois”.
Also new on their list, “Raiders of the Lost Ark“, “Jurassic Park” (feat. Weird Al Yankovic), and for a limited time, buy all 3 SW prequel Riffs for only $8.99. It’s a bargain even Watto would love.
Rejected Star Wars product proposals
Action Figure Insider founder Jason Geyer pens a sad tale of (mostly) rejected Star Wars merchandise concepts.
So, they’ll make window blinds, but not a Han in Carbonite minifridge or a Jabba beanbag? For shame, LFL. For shame.
ETA: Read the followup.
In the news: All-crime edition
- In what is, believe it or not, the least disturbing story of the entry, a man named Landocalrissan Butler led police on a high-speed car chase in Poughkeepsie on Thursday. (via)
- Arizona man who planned Super Bowl shooting disdained earlier target as being too near a hive of “scum and villainy.”
- Arson suspect used online handle of Jediknight12345 to brag about burning down a church and attached school. Jedi Knighting: UR DOIN IT WRONG.
Stormtroopers get Samurai treatment
Anyone who was at Celebration IV no doubt remembers the impressive Samurai Vader that was displayed at the Star Wars Shop booth. Well, now artist Yoshi Isao has created another hybrid creation – the Samurai Stormtrooper.
It’s all pretty awesome, but is it wrong that I love the reinterpretation of the Imperial icon on little flags best?
What, no exploding money?
io9 features Star Wars in two nearly back-to-back items today. First, Revenge of the Sith in a list of explodiest outer space crashes, complete with the sort of ripping on Hayden Christenson’s acting that’s sure to get some of the more finicky fangirl panties in a bind. Then, credits make an appearance in the alien money feature.
In the News: Prosthetics, people and Sidi Driss
- Science! Luke Skywalker lends name to ‘Luke’ prosthetic arm, now ready for clinical trails. (via)
- People: Variety profiles Harrison Ford; The San Francisco Bay Guardian interviews Carrie Fisher, who starts serving up ‘Wishful Drinking’ in Berkeley Friday night.
- RIP: Star Wars Holiday Special producer Dwight Hemion died in January. Aside from the Holiday Special, he had a fair distinguished career, winning 18 Emmys.
- Fail: Ben Stubbs of The Sydney Morning Herald goes to Tunisia, namechecks Star Wars, but rather fails on the facts.
Hasbro created Dengar in the image of Johnny Cash and other wacky coincidences
Topless Robot has a list of ten Star Wars toys that unintentionally look like other celebrities. Uncanny! The Zach Braff as Han Solo, above, struck a nerve. Perhaps ‘JediFantasty’s’ EU casting choices were less off-target than we thought? (via)
Romney panders to nerd vote
He invokes Star Wars – and misquotes it. You’d think after all those years in Massachusetts he’d be better at that kind of thing.