Logan Lucky...

Earlier this week, I caught a matinee screening of Steven Soderbergh's newest film Logan Lucky. Much like his work on Ocean's Eleven and its two sequels a decade ago, Logan Lucky is a feel-good heist flick...where the robbers manage to execute their plan beautifully while giving money back to those who helped them accomplish the caper (both knowingly and unknowingly) along the way. Though I'm wondering: Is Logan Lucky supposed to be a bit of a reboot of the Ocean's movies? You know— Channing Tatum is the ringleader like George Clooney? Daniel Craig is the sidekick like Brad Pitt? Adam Driver is the unwitting but faithful third accomplice like Matt Damon? And Riley Keough (moreso than Katie Holmes in this film) is Logan Lucky's gorgeous and badass equivalent of Julia Roberts' character? And Hilary Swank is playing the newer version of... I forgot who was after Danny Ocean (Clooney) and his crew in that franchise. Andy Garcia? Hm, besides him.



Anyways, Logan Lucky is a very fun film. It's the opposite of 2010's The Town (which is also an excellent heist flick), where everything went wrong during the final caper even though the ringleader in that movie (played by Ben Affleck) managed to get away at the end and live the life he wanted based on his stolen earnings. And another reason to watch Logan Lucky? Seeing Daniel Craig portray a character who isn't a moody protagonist with a European accent (I'm referring to his work on both the James Bond franchise and 2011's The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo). Enjoy his wacky Southern accent in Soderbergh's film before Craig goes back to playing 007 in the next Bond flick...out in theaters in 2019. Carry on.

STAR WARS - THE LAST JEDI: The First Order's New Toys...

How can you tell that Lucasfilm is being less secretive about The Last Jedi than it was with The Force Awakens? It recently revealed these two new pieces of weaponry (after unveiling Kylo Ren's personal starfighter last month) that the First Order uses to wreak havoc on the Resistance in this December's next installment of the Star Wars sequel trilogy. Meet the AT-M6 walker, the tow cable-resistant successor to the AT-ATs of the Galactic Empire, and the Dreadnought...the First Order's answer to the Super Star Destroyer of the Original Trilogy.



Visit StarWars.com to read more details about these cool and fearsome vehicles. Based on that article, and the fact the Dreadnought has mighty big guns on its keel, methinks this is the vessel that lays waste to D'Qar (the Resistance base in The Force Awakens) in The Last Jedi...prompting General Leia, Poe Dameron, Finn and company to flee the planet as Supreme Leader Snoke gets his revenge for the demise of Starkiller Base in Episode VII.



In regards to the toys for the AT-M6 and Dreadnought, you should be able to buy one for your kids/yourself on "Force Friday II"—which is a week from today! Carry on.

THE JEDI MASTER: A Star Wars Story...

I read on The Hollywood Reporter a few hours ago that Lucasfilm is in talks with Oscar-nominated director Stephen Daldry (of 2000's Billy Elliot and 2002's The Hours) to write and helm a Star Wars spin-off flick that would focus on none other than Obi-Wan Kenobi. No script has yet been written for this installment, so it's too early to say if Ewan McGregor will reprise the role that he made his own in The Phantom Menace, Attack of the Clones and Revenge of Sith more than a decade ago. Presumably, this would be the Star Wars standalone flick that is set to be released in 2020. We'll see. We'll also see if this movie completely takes place on Tatooine if it's set after the events of Episode III and before A New Hope. Though perhaps Mr. Daldry and Lucasfilm will take a creative gamble by having Obi-Wan briefly leave Tatooine (and young Luke Skywalker) to take on an unknown menace off-planet... We'll see again.

PS: The title for this movie should, as mentioned in the subject line above, be called The Jedi Master: A Star Wars Story. Predictable, but awesome.