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In the news: VW keeps Star Wars, trades in kid for dog

Star Wars and the Super Bowl. Stuart Elliot on the New York Times’ Media Decoder blog has some details of this year’s Volkswagen Star Wars commercial. The kid isn’t returning (guess I need to change the name of our tag) but it does involve a dog named Bolt and a Beetle. The Star Wars bit? Looks like a cantina alien or two may show up. On that note, the Washington Post Style Blog has an interview with Jeff Elmassian, who helped created ‘The Bark Side’ teaser.

One MILLION. The director’s cut of Star Wars Uncut has already seen more than a million views on Youtube, says the BBC.

Gaming. Ben Fritz and Alex Pham take a look at The Old Republic for the L.A. Times‘ Hero Complex.

People (and puns.) Carrie Fisher subbed for Kathie Lee on Today this morning. Luke Perry happened to be the guest, and he revealed that Mark Hamill was the only celebrity he ever asked for a photo with.

At random. Behold the Indiana Jones engagement ring.

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Revenge of the new Star Wars fabrics: Yes, there are more

Reader Travis Hatfield alerted us to yet more Star Wars fabrics on the horizon, via online retailer Fat Quarter Shop. These Original Trilogy patterns are from Camelot Cottons and are, yes, 100% cotton and coming in April.

It looks like Camelot does a lot of licensed fabric – I spot lots of Marvel and DC characters in their category on Fat Quarter, including an aptly named ‘Girl Power’ collection.

Alas, the linked selections seems to be their only Star Wars offering at the moment.

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James Luceno talks Plagueis with Facebook fans

Despite a bumpy start, the Darth Plagueis chat on Facebook with James Luceno today seemed to go quite well. Apologies for doing a straight-up transcript of this, but there were some really good questions… This is the first time I haven’t come out of one of these chats despairing for the typing skills of fandom at large, though I did fix some punctuation and trim a little fat from some of the questions.

The transcript is divided by non-spoiler and spoiler questions. Head below the cut to read, but you want to stay unspoiled, turn back when you see the red text.

Continue reading “James Luceno talks Plagueis with Facebook fans”

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EUbits: Chat Darth Plagueis with Luceno

Sith and circumstances. Star Wars Books will be holding a Facebook chat with author James Luceno tomorrow afternoon on Darth Plagueis. It will no doubt be spoilerific, so take some time to finish the book today. I just started it, but will take the bullet to recap the chat tomorrow either way. On that note, here’s yet another review of the book from NJOE.

Interviews. TFN talks to author Ryder Windham about his recent book The Wrath of Darth Maul.

Fate of the Jedi. The second mini-excerpt from Apocalypse features… Boba Fett? Of course.

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Genre makes a showing in Oscar nominations

We’re generally not used to seeing a lot of science fiction and fantasy films up for the big prizes at the Academy Awards, but this year does hold a few suprises. Although neither the final Harry Potter film or Andy Serkis’ motion-capture work failed to procure any major nods, there are still a handful of genre films in the big spots.

Martin Scorsese’s Hugo, a steampunk-tinged story of early film based on Brian Selznick’s novel The Invention of Hugo Cabret, is one of the 9 nominees for best picture, along with Woody Allen’s time-travel comedy Midnight in Paris. (Allen’s Annie Hall beat out Star Wars for the same prize in 1977.) Hugo scored 11 nods, including best director, making it the most-nominated film.

Harry Potter And The Deathly Hallows: Part 2 got a nod for Visual Effects, where it will compete against Hugo, Real Steel, Rise Of The Planet of The Apes and ILM’s Transformers: Dark of the Moon.

ILM can also celebrate an Animated Feature nomination for Rango, which is up against Shrek spin-off Puss and Boots, Kung Fu Panda 2, A Cat in Paris and Chico & Rita.

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Selected AMC theaters to hold special screenings of The Phantom Menace 3D

Ten AMC theaters in the U.S. will hold the screenings, which will include Podracer 3D glasses and a free toy with each ticket. There will also be face painting, LEGOs, character appearances (aka your friendly neighborhood 501st and Rebel Legion members) and Xbox Kinect demonstrations.

The participating theaters are in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Denver, Los Angeles, New York, Phoenix and San Francisco, though it appears the free toy offer may apply to all AMC theaters.

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Did you miss George Lucas on Oprah last night?

Oprah.com has posted several clips up from last night’s episode of Oprah’s Last Chapter, including: On directing Star Wars and how he never got to see it with the rest of the world. (You might recognize that from the preview clip.) He also discusses Red Tails, his visionary process, his career, the George Lucas Educational Foundation, his relationship with Mellody Hobson and his near-death experience. There’s also a clip where Oprah sits down with Red Tails actors Cuba Gooding Jr. and Terrence Howard.