Fisher is doing the rounds to promote her latest book, Shockaholic. Today also has an except.
Out this week: Inside ILM, Fisher’s Shockaholic
Here’s one to put on your holiday wishlist: Industrial Light and Magic: The Art of Innovation should be appearing in stores Tuesday. (It sounds like a companion piece to 1987’s Industrial Light & Magic: The Art of Special Effects, which I recall thumbing through in Waldenbook’s as a kid.) Also keep an eye out for Carrie Fisher’s latest book, Shockaholic, which should find its way into stores this week.
Our next book release is Drew Karpyshyn’s The Old Republic: Revan on November 15th. I spotted a few minor date changes for 2012 books on Random House’s online catalogue – see them in our book release schedule.
In the news: Billy Dee, Carrie and Harrison, plus Star Wars in sports and politics
Billy Dee Williams shared his insight with El Paso’s What’s Up Weekly about Lucas’ modifications to the original trilogy, and his relationship with the character of Lando Calrissian, and with Colt 45 commercials. On parodying Lando in Robot Chicken:
“I make fun of myself, so why shouldn’t I make fun of Lando? It worked, and the fact that I can make fun of it means it worked. And people enjoy it. When I do Seth Green’s Robot Chicken, I enjoy doing that stuff. It’s a lot of fun for me, and it keeps the character alive.”
Meanwhile, Carrie Fisher has mentioned that maybe she’ll don Princess Leia’s metal bikini once again, with one condition:
“I will do it if a whole bunch of women over 40 come to Yankee Stadium. We’ll put everyone in metal bikinis, and we will sit around and laugh and talk about the old days when we ate a lot.”
Harrison Ford revealed that he no longer sees people as fans, but as customers, and that “I don’t see myself as a sex symbol these days.”
Star Wars in sports: We know that one of George Lucas’ daughters, Katie, has followed her father’s footsteps in writing for The Clone Wars, but what of Amanda Lucas? She’s a MMA cage fighter, and gets the win in a recent bout in Japan (complete with Yoda-speak headline).
Star Wars in politics: Part of a headline from Talking Points Memo: Rick Perry’s Star Wars Problem: Apparently, it’s Al Gore. Meanwhile, on The Colbert Report, U.S. Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice compares September in the United Nations to the Mos Eisley Cantina – do they both have a pesky no-droids-allowed policy?
We’ve got the entertainment, sports, and politics covered. Stay tuned for Star Wars in weather and traffic.
Video: Carrie Fisher talks weight loss on Today
Carrie Fisher was on the Today show this morning, talking about the 50 pounds she lost on Jenny Craig and, of course, the metal bikini.
Heads up: Star Wars events at SDCC, Dragon*Con
If you’re attending both or either of the big summer genre cons – San Diego Comic Con later this month, or Atlanta’s Dragon*Con in September – than you’re in luck today. SDCC has released their Thursday (July 21) schedule, and Dragon*Con’s Star Wars track has their own tentative listings up.
With no big Hall H Star Wars presentation planned, there are several events planned for Thursday: A Kinect Star Wars Panel for the gamers, Dark Horses’ fall publishing highlights, The Old Republic MMO, and a Clone Wars S4 preview with Dave Filoni and Pablo Hidalgo.
(I suspect we’ll see at least one dedicated Expanded Universe panel at some point – We do know that both Timothy Zahn and Del Rey’s Shelly Shapiro will be in attendance. However, the Clone Wars panel being on Thursday leads me to suspect there won’t an official Star Wars day this year. )
Among several panels focusing on female fandom is one sponsored by Her Universe, titled ‘What Women Want in Their Female Sci-Fi Heroes.’ Panelists include Ashley Eckstein, Dave Filoni, Betsy Mitchell and comic writer Gail Simone.
Bowing out the day are the ever-present Star Wars Fan Movie Awards. Mark Hamill will also be present, although for Thursday he’s sitting on a panel for Batman: Arkham City.
Meanwhile, the more fandom-oriented Star Wars track at Dragon*Con has a tentative schedule up. They’re not lacking in stars – Carrie Fisher, Gary Kurtz, Ashley Eckstein, and Temuera Morrison will be in attendance, as well as several authors.
Of special interest: A panel on Star Wars myth and philosophy with Timothy Zahn and Gary Kurtz, one dedicated to Heir to the Empire, and the ever-popular (and over-18 only) Adult Themes panel!
In the news: Will we see Red Tails in January?
Director Anthony Hemingway tweeted a few days ago that Red Tails, the George Lucas-produced film about World War II’s Tuskegee Airmen “hits screens January 2012.” Meanwhile, it seems that Lucas himself may be in Prague to oversee the film’s score.
3-D on the wane? The New York Times says the pricey format is fizzling, which could spell bad news for next year’s Phantom Menace rerelease. Scalzi is more optimistic; Maybe Star Wars can be part of the solution here.
Good news, bad news. People checks in with Carrie Fisher’s Jenny Craig-powered weight loss. Spoiler: It’s going well! The news is less good for Hayden Christensen… His lawsuit over USA Network’s Royal Pains was thrown out by a federal judge.
Whatever happened to… Those kids who got suspended for the lightsaber fight? They did get to walk at their graduation and even got to complete their ‘fight’ at a senior assembly.
Fannishly. An interview with the Mike Litzenberg and Bridge Stuart, the guys behind ‘George Lucas Strikes Back.’
9-disc Star Wars Blu-Ray set revealed!
The rush of fans wanting Blu-Ray details initially crashed the May the 4th site. When it finally got up and running, it began revealing images on the number of social media shares… An act which strikes me as rather sleazy.
Thankfully, I was finally able to procure some decent art, and you’ll see it above. I’m not all that impressed with the art of the individual sets, but I was never a fan of that style to begin with. The art for the saga set, on the other hand, is straight-up awful: It looks less like Star Wars and more like Precious Moments: The Movie.
Hopefully some retailer somewhere will be providing a better-looking exclusive.
LFL will be revealing some additional tidbits on their brand-new Facebook.
The special features list audio commentary for each movie, all involving George Lucas and various notables including Rick McCallum, Irvin Kershner, Carrie Fisher and Ben Burtt, as well as archival audio.
Each trilogy has an entire archive disc… And the ninth includes documentaries including 1977’s The Making of Star Wars and three brand new ones: Star Warriors, on the 501st Legion; A Conversation with the Masters: The Empire Strikes Back 30 Years Later with George Lucas, Irvin Kershner, Lawrence Kasdan and John Williams; And Star Wars Spoofs, containing footage from Family Guy, The Simpsons, How I Met Your Mother and Weird Al.
I’ve cut and paste the complete list under the cut. Please don’t hate me, LFL. Continue reading “9-disc Star Wars Blu-Ray set revealed!”
Star Wars Miniland opens at Legoland California
Last Thursday, Legoland California opened up their Star Wars area in Miniland with some big fanfare. The official ribbon cutting was done by Princess Leia herself, Carrie Fisher, and Carson Weiner, a young Star Wars fan representing the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Also on hand for the celebration were James Arnold Taylor and Catherine Taber of Star Wars: The Clone Wars and about 60 costumed members of the 501st Legion and Rebel Legion. Other VIPs included skateboarding legend Tony Hawk and “Wait, I was in Star Trek not Star Wars” Christian Slater and Dancing with the Stars‘ Brooke Burke.
Continue reading “Star Wars Miniland opens at Legoland California”
And the rest: What is Nathan Fillion doing?
Is it… Robot Elvis? What kind of pose is Nathan Fillion doing on the cover of the new Entertainment Weekly? Topless Robot readers have many, many answers. Your reward: Looking at Nathan Fillion.
Shocking facts! A survey of 5,041 Star Trek fans found that 57% of them were female. Fascinating.
Brain a moose. Check out the manuscript for George R. R. Martin’s A Dance With Dragons. Or check out the HBO features on House Stark, House Baratheon, House Lannister and House Targaryen.
You’ll laugh, you’ll cry… A funny Regretsy post involving Roseanne Barr, Carrie Fisher and (of course) a puzzling crafted object.
Your indie moment(s) of zen. Mario and a trailer for Ferris Bueller’s Day Off recut as an Sofia Coppola-esque coming-of-age film.
Carrie Fisher and mom on Oprah Tuesday
Remember how last week Oprah was looking for Princess Leia collectors? Well, now we know why: Carrie Fisher and her mother Debbie Reynolds will be appearing on The Oprah Winfrey Show tomorrow, February 15th! The show is syndicated, so check your local listings for time and channel.