Star Wars: Episode VII Resumes Filming!

Earlier today, Entertainment Weekly broke the news that J.J. Abrams has resumed production on the latest Star Wars installment at Pinewood Studios near London. With Harrison Ford back in action after suffering a leg injury two months ago (causing production to go on hiatus at the beginning of this month), Episode VII will hopefully be shot without anymore interruptions...with principal photography being completed either in October or November.

I'd like to show my excitement for today's awesome news by posting this meme...

Photo of the Day: Our First Look at Star Wars: Episode VII's Stormtrooper?

The website known as Making Star Wars posted a cool update featuring a photo of an updated Stormtrooper helmet that is apparently from Star Wars: Episode VII. Look closely at the pic below, and you can make out at least four more helmets (mostly by staring at the ceiling lights reflecting off the white armor) that lucky background actors at Pinewood Studios (where the majority of J.J. Abrams' upcoming and highly-anticipated movie is being filmed) near London and elsewhere will get to wear as what remains of the Empire wreaks havoc on the Galaxy in Episode VII. I'm a huge fan of the designs for the Clonetroopers in Attack of the Clones and Revenge of the Sith, respectively, but it is totally great to see Abrams creating real costumes for extras and actors to wear for these soldiers...as opposed to the computer-generated army that George Lucas opted to portray in the last two Star Wars prequels. Old school is awesome.

Rest In Peace, Robin Williams...

From the Genie in 1992's Aladdin to a man trying to rescue his wife in the afterlife in 1998's What Dreams May Come to his hilarious role as the head of a marketing company in this year's short-lived CBS TV show, The Crazy Ones, Robin Williams was a totally brilliant actor. Much like everyone else, I remember his portrayal as a wacky alien in the classic TV series, Mork and Mindy, and recall his dark performance as an obsessed photo developer in 2002's One Hour Photo. There are too many memorable movies to mention here that had Robin Williams' comic and Academy Award-winning brilliance in them (like Good Will Hunting, Patch Adams and Mrs. Doubtfire), but one thing is clear, the world will forever miss the heartfelt and geniune hilarity that this man brought to the big and small screen...and elsewhere. God bless you, Robin Williams.

Go Ninja, Go Ninja GO!

In honor of Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles being unleashed in theaters nationwide today, just thought I'd share this image that I took when I worked at ArcLight Cinemas in Hollywood last Tuesday. There was a photo booth inside the lobby where theater patrons could take a picture with the Heroes in a Half Shell superimposed behind them (you're standing in front of a blue screen) and get the image e-mailed to you afterwards. The Ninja Turtles are supposed to be about 7 feet in height, so I think the scale in this photo is correct.

And yes, I do intend to watch the Michael Bay-produced action flick starring Megan Fox sometime this weekend. Autobots, roll out! Oops— Wrong franchise.