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Videos: Star Wars typography in motion

There’s are quite a few motion typography (or kinetic type) videos on Youtube. I first saw one done using one of Samuel L. Jackson’s more memorable scenes from Pulp Fiction (NSFW.) They’ve since multiplied (no doubt thanks to the efforts of eager graphic design professors) and now naturally there are several that feature Star Wars. Here are my picks:

This one is my favorite, with really good integration of form and function. But I suspect Youtube is crunching the reds, and would love to see a more pristine version.

Most impressive!

Very nice use of symbols for Artoo’s dialogue in this one.

I’ve never been a fan of that particular fanmade version of the logo font (it’s just off, not to mention ill-suited and far too obvious for anything but the logo itself) but the concept in this take on the Death Star run is certainly neat. (via)

A few more worth watching: Seinfeld, Fight Club, Trainspotting, Wedding Crashers and Anchorman. (How very boy’s club. You know what’s dying for some of this? Gilmore Girls.)

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EUbits: Fun with faux castings, looking for ‘Sith,’ Atlas endnotes, Bohnhoff’s alien homework

Let's see, we need someone who can pull off mall hair...Winceworthy. Geekdad’s Lonnie Morgan gets a bit too into reading Star Wars novels and celebrates by inflicting yet another round of fantasy casting upon the internets. (I dislike this kind of thing: They all tend to come out in fail.) There’s also a poll on which (if any) EU series/era you’d like to see come to the screen.

Lost Tribe of the Sith: Sue Rostoni gave a tentative date of February 9th for the next installment of the Fate of the Jedi tie-in ebooks. That’s about a month before the fourth book, Allston’s Backlash, is due out.

The blogside: Dan Wallace and Jason Fry continue with their Essential Atlas endnotes; Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff on dealing with aliens.

Podcasts: Thursday’s EUCast (7pm EST) will focus on Mara Jade.

Comic previews: Invasion #3, Knights of the Old Republic #45, and The Clone Wars #9.

Gaming: A 20-minute video walkthrough of The Old Republic MMO.

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Out this week: Dark Times, Legacy, TFU

Comic fans are getting two titles this Wednesday: Legacy #39 and Dark Times #14. As for book fans, you can pick up the paperback of Sean William’s The Force Unleashed novelization today.

(It’s also a good time to start keeping an eye out for Ryder Windham’s A New Hope: The Life of Luke Skywalker. The official release date is next Tuesday, but Scholastic doesn’t seem to use the same strict streeting as Del Rey, so booksellers may put it out whenever it arrives.)

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The catchup: Links from the Twitter

A few things I’ve been micro-blogging @clubjade lately. (300 followers and counting…)

The Star Wars room of Cho WoongWowza. Danny Choo discovered Cho Woong’s incredible Star Wars room. I’m not normally a fan of collector chic, but for this guy I’m willing to make an exception.

Lists. Empire Strikes Back comes in at #6 on Empire’s list of the top 50 movie sequels, while Return of the Jedi clocks in at #21. Meanwhile, Star Wars is one of Geek Tyrant’s five films that changed the way people look at sci-fi movies. And Cracked checks out the five strangest post-Star Wars careers.

Tee. The environmentally-correct way to handle those lightsabered droid remains. Also: Hans Solo! (via)

Protip. It’s highly unlikely that Dark Horse was inspired by your fanfic, and saying so is your one-way ticket to a mass mocking.

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The genre book review parade

A few months back the blog Grasping for the Wind started a SF/F/H Reviewer Linkup Meme. I didn’t take part at the time, but since we do have book reviews of a sort now, I figured it wouldn’t hurt to toss us into the second round. My reviews are here, but head under the cut for a true smörgåsbord of genre book review sites, most of which I’m sure can manage more than a paragraph or two per book. Continue reading “The genre book review parade”

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A brief word on not being those crazy fans

I don’t know if I’ve made this clear or not, but I find people who take their fandom too seriously to be absolutely hilarious. As a Star Wars fan, I find it perplexing when other fans take up arms at any hint of irreverent criticism concerning the franchise. Are we not fans of the same fun, cheesy, flawed films? Because I don’t really have a problem admitting that the Star Wars movies (all six of them) are far from perfect. (And yes, the same goes – perhaps even more so – for the Expanded Universe. Embrace the pain! And chill out.)

So, naturally, I take great joy in Jezebel’s takedown of over-serious Twilight fans. Please, don’t let this happen to you. Do you see how ridiculous it looks? And while I’m not saying you have to lay down and take everything, it doesn’t hurt to laugh a little at the expense of what you love. Because, let’s face it – sometimes it just deserves it.

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Weekend poll: DVD vs. Blu-Ray vs. the internet

I’m not generally an early adopter when it comes to this sort of technology, so the recent focus on Blu-Ray has kind of thrown me for a loop. DVDs were certainly a vast improvement over VHS, but what’s so wonderful about Blu-Ray? (My TV is okay, but mere DVDs still look fantastic on my parent’s giant flat-screen.) And while I prefer to watch TV from my couch, I can’t deny that I’ll head to the internet if it has the shows I really want to see. (Though only if I really want them… I still haven’t watched any classic Star Trek.) So I was wondering about you guys… What are your preferred formats? Vote for as many that apply on the sidebar or beneath the cut. Continue reading “Weekend poll: DVD vs. Blu-Ray vs. the internet”