Revisiting RETURN OF THE JEDI...

Earlier today, I went to AMC theaters to watch the third film in the original Star Wars trilogy, Return of the Jedi.

Also known as Episode VI, Return of the Jedi was back on the big screen to celebrate the 40th anniversary of its original theatrical debut in 1983...even though the version that's now being shown at the multiplexes is the 1997 Special Edition (which I saw on the big screen when was a junior in high school at that time).

While it was a thrill to see Jedi at the theater—with such awesome action sequences as Luke Skywalker freeing his friends from Jabba the Hutt's sail barge near the Sarlacc Pit on Tatooine, the thrilling speeder bike chase between Luke, Princess Leia and the scout troopers through the Endor forest, the Battle of Endor between the Rebel Alliance and the Imperial fleet, and Luke's final showdown with Darth Vader and Emperor Palpatine back on the big screen—revisiting this movie after multiple Star Wars films and TV shows were released since 1997 made me realize how flawed this flick really was!

Up until the much-maligned Star Wars prequels were released between 1999 and 2005 (and The Last Jedi and The Rise of Skywalker premiered in 2017 and 2019, respectively), Jedi was considered the worst film in the Star Wars saga...and I can see why.

On the big screen, the scenes at Jabba's palace in the first act of the movie were boring as heck, even with the updated visual effects for the Rancor and new shots added of the Max Rebo Band and Boba Fett. Princess Leia was incapable of silently sneaking through the palace in the middle of the night as she sought to free Han Solo from carbonite, and the dialect she used when Leia was disguised as the bounty hunter Boushh was as laughable as the way Groot talked in the Guardians of the Galaxy films, and I don't mean that in a good way for Boushh.

The scene where Luke, Han, C-3PO, R2-D2 and Chewbacca were caught in that Ewok trap on Endor was edited in a haphazard way...with R2 taking less than 5 seconds to cut a hole wide enough for all five characters to fit through as they fell from the net. Basically, I couldn't wait till Luke finally told Leia that they were related (which makes one wonder what the heck were George Lucas and Irvin Kershner thinking when they had Leia give Luke a wet kiss at the Rebel base on Hoth in The Empire Strikes Back), because it's after this that Luke departed from the Ewok village to confront Vader...and the best parts of Return of the Jedi were about to be shown on the silver screen!

Despite the flaws in Episode VI, this movie had some of the best Star Wars musical themes by legendary composer John Williams—ranging from Approaching the Death Star, Sail Barge Assault, the Luke and Leia theme, Into the Trap, The Ewok Battle and The Dark Side Beckons to The Emperor's Death. Oh, and I emphatically prefer the Victory Celebration track in the Special Edition over the Yub Nub song in the 1983 version!

Return of the Jedi isn't perfect, but it was still a classic way of ending a science-fantasy trilogy that revolutionized cinema. It's depressing that the happy ending that Luke, Han and Leia enjoyed at the end of Episode VI was spoiled three decades later by the events of The Force Awakens, but it's also awesome to see how the galaxy fared in the post-Palpatine era through Disney+ shows like The Mandalorian, The Book of Boba Fett and this August's Ahsoka.

I'm wondering if all three movies in the original trilogy will simultaneously hit the big screen again like they did in 1997! Until then, I'll just watch them over and over on my DVD player.

May the Force be with you!

Movie Review: 65...

Earlier today, I watched the sci-fi flick 65 at AMC theaters.

The film has no real plot to speak of (other than to joke that it's Kylo Ren from the Star Wars sequel trilogy versus velociraptors and T-Rexes), so I'll just ask a few questions based on whatever story elements there were:

- So the metric system was invented on another planet over 65 million years ago? Mills (played by Adam Driver) had to travel '15 kilometers' to reach the second half of his spaceship after it broke into two as he crash-landed on prehistoric Earth.

- Are today's UFOs actually visitors from Adam Driver's home world? There should be a 65 spinoff flick where someone in the present day runs into a descendant of Mills inside a New York City café...or not.

- Does Driver's species now possess lightsabers, TIE Fighters and hyperspace if it's that old? 65 million years is enough time for his alien race to develop actual Star Wars-type technology.

And lastly:

- Did Driver do this movie just for the paycheck? I'm guessing that he also did this role for the physical challenges he would experience during filming...such as wading through a pool of mud and climbing up trees.

Driver used to be a former U.S. Marine, so I guess working on 65 brought back some pleasant memories from his training days! Or not.

Movie Review: BREAKING...

Earlier today, I watched the dramatic crime thriller Breaking at AMC theaters.

This film stars John Boyega as Brian Brown-Easley...a former Marine veteran who held up a Wells Fargo bank in 2017 to get the attention of the media after the local Department of Veterans Affairs office wouldn't pay Brown-Easley the money that was owed to him.

I don't know how accurate Breaking is to the actual event that occurred in Cobb County, Georgia half a decade ago, but I will say this: John Boyega needs to receive a Best Actor nomination (at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and elsewhere) for his performance in the Abi Damaris Corbin-directed movie!

Boyega did an excellent job conveying the pain, desperation and conflict that Brown-Easley must have felt as he tragically risked his life to bring attention to a government bureaucracy that did him wrong. Also giving commendable performances in Breaking are Nicole Beharie and Selenis Leyva—who played the two Wells Fargo employees (Estel Valerie and Rosa Diaz, respectively) taken hostage by Brown-Easley at the bank.

The late Michael Kenneth Williams was terrific as Eli Bernard, a police negotiator who did everything he could to get Brown-Easley out of his lethal ordeal. Connie Britton was great as news journalist Lisa Larson...who also did all that she could to publicize Brown-Easley's desperate plight to the world.

(I only went on IMDb to look up the character names in this film, but I haven't yet done full research on the actual incident to see if the names of everyone but Brown-Easley were fictionalized.)

As mentioned earlier, John Boyega definitely deserves recognition for Breaking in the next awards season. Boyega says that he's done with appearing as Finn in live-action Star Wars movies, and receiving a major accolade such as an Oscar for Breaking would only solidify his stance that he deserves to leave a more respectable mark in cinema. That is all.

Movie Review: SCREAM...

Earlier today, I went to my local AMC theater to watch Scream, the latest installment in the hit slasher film franchise that began with the original Scream movie 25 years ago.

I never saw the four previous flicks, but I didn't need to...as I watched this new film just to see how brutal Ghostface was compared to other masked cinematic killers like Michael Myers from Halloween, Jason Voorhees from Friday the 13th and even the psychotic college student wearing a baby mask in 2017's Happy Death Day. And needless to say, Ghostface did not disappoint!

I'm not going to go into the mythology of this series since I'm unfamiliar with the overarching storyline between all five movies, but I will say that Scream had an exciting young cast in which it was pretty difficult to discern which character (or characters?) was ultimately the knife-welding maniac with a black cloak, the game-show-host voice, and the Halloween ghost mask.

Apparently, what made the first Scream so successful in 1996 was its satirical take on horror flicks—with the new Scream film continuing this tradition by poking fun at so-called "requels"...movies that are a combination of reboots and sequels. Unsurprisingly, references to actual requels were made in Scream; with one of the main characters mentioning the new Halloween movies that were released in 2018 and last year, respectively, this past November's Ghostbusters: Afterlife and of course, the Star Wars sequel trilogy.

Scream also made me think of the now-concluded Supernatural TV series with its climax...during which the main villain(s) yammer on about their master plan to the captive protagonists before the villain(s) prepare to vanquish them with a knife. Supernatural was known for its villains giving bombastic speeches instead of immediately dispatching monster hunters Sam and Dean Winchester so that all the evil creatures in that universe could finally breathe freely.

Despite the villain(s) not knowing when to shut up and just get rid of the heroes already, I give Scream two thumbs-up. The brutality of Ghostface ensured that this movie would be a top-notch slasher flick that presumably lived up to the spirit of its four predecessors.

Like The Matrix: Resurrections, however, it remains to be seen if Scream was just a final and proper sendoff for the legacy characters who appeared in the previous movies...or this flick will support one of the characters' critique in that this franchise will continue indefinitely since "Hollywood is out of ideas."

We shall see!

THE RISE OF SKYWALKER Teaser Trailer Is Here!

Earlier today, Disney and Lucasfilm revealed the long-awaited title and first trailer to Star Wars: Episode IX at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago. Now known as The Rise of Skywalker, this ninth and final installment in the Skywalker saga will bring back the biggest villain from the prequel films and original trilogy: Emperor Palpatine himself (who'll once again be played by Ian McDiarmid)! Of course, we obviously don't know if the Sith Formerly Known As Darth Sidious will return as a clone, a Force Ghost, a mere holographic recording on an old Imperial computer, or...as flesh and blood since Palpatine may have actually discovered how to cheat death as mentioned in the story about Darth Plagueis the Wise in Revenge of the Sith. That last one seems unlikely, but it was so cool to hear the Emperor's cackle at the end of this teaser!



Other notes about the trailer: Rey flipping over Kylo Ren's TIE Silencer is friggin' awesome, it's cool that Kylo's helmet is re-assembled (though I have no issues with him being helmetless like he was in The Last Jedi), BB-8's new sidekick Dio is adorable, there's still no sign of a true B-Wing starfighter in the sequel trilogy (the ski speeders in The Last Jedi don't count) and Lando Calrissian is back! The old-school one portrayed by Billy Dee Williams, not the Danny Glover version who apparently wanted to make love to a droid in Solo: A Star Wars Story. And General Leia lives on!

December 20 can't come soon enough... That is all.

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EPISODE IX Tidbit: A Star Wars Fan Theory That I ACTUALLY Like...

So for the past few days, the World Wide Web was abuzz with a rumored title for the final Star Wars episode that was conjured up by a user on Reddit before he/she deleted their account. The title that this person came up with is Star Wars: A New Order—which I actually like! Three reasons why:

1.) A New Order contains dual meanings that could apply to the First Order (now ruled by Supreme Leader Kylo Ren) and a possible new Jedi Order founded by Rey (assuming that she makes good use of the sacred Jedi texts she took from the cave on Ahch-To in The Last Jedi)...

2.) A New Order is a nice nod to the original Star Wars film, A New Hope...

and

3.) A New Order is consistent with the 3-worded title structure established by The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi before it.
Another rumored title for Episode IX is Spark of Hope—which is a term that actually appears in the opening crawl for the The Last Jedi. I like this title too...though it seems too feel-goody (does this phrase exist? It does now) and sounds a little obscure in regards to the story of Episode IX (which I obviously don't know yet). The Force Awakens applied to Rey unleashing her Jedi potential at the end of the film, and The Last Jedi was about Luke Skywalker...with Rey following in his footsteps by the end of this movie. Spark of Hope encompasses too many things: Rey finally becoming a Jedi, the Resistance prevailing over the First Order, Finn finally gettin' it on with Rose Tico(?), Finn finally gettin' it on with Rey(?), Ben Solo finally gettin' it on with Rey(?), or Rey finally gettin' it on with Poe Dameron. Or Poe Dameron finally gettin' it on with Fin— Nevermind.

So yea, if A New Order is the title that Lucasfilm announces as the name for the final episode in the Skywalker saga after it completes filming later this year, I'll be a happy camper. I'll be an even happier camper if J.J. Abrams chooses the title I came up with earlier this year: Battle of the Knights. (Not bloody likely!)

Hope you're having a great Tuesday.

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX Has Officially Begun Filming!

Earlier today, director J.J. Abrams posted the tweet below announcing that principal photography has officially started on Star Wars: Episode IX at Pinewood Studios near London! If you look closely at the photo, you can spot John Boyega (as Finn), Joonas Suotamo (as Chewbacca) and Abrams while he's sitting on the pilot's seat inside the Millennium Falcon's cockpit. In the foreground is Panavision's Panaflex camera that will be capturing Episode IX on celluloid...just like The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi before it. So cool!

Bittersweet starting this next chapter without Carrie, but thanks to an extraordinary cast and crew, we are ready to go. Grateful for @rianjohnson and special thanks to George Lucas for creating this incredible world and beginning a story of which we are lucky to be a part. #IX pic.twitter.com/FOfnGwVut5

— JJ Abrams (@jjabrams) August 1, 2018

The tweet below was my response to Abrams' post. I have no expectations as to how Rey and Kylo Ren will be portrayed in the 2019 installment (except to hope that Rey finally sports a double-bladed lightsaber a la Darth Maul, and Kylo can now shoot Force lightning from his fingertips 'cause that's how Supreme Leaders roll, heheh), but hope that the First Order will finally employ non-TIE Fighters in its arsenal for the final Skywalker episode. Specifically, the Assault Gunboats that I enjoyed fighting in the old X-Wing video game that I play on my laptop. Happy Hump Day!

Hey JJ! Any chance we'll see non-TIE Fighters being used by the First Order in #IX? Please bring the Assault Gunboats to the big screen! :) pic.twitter.com/WXQv5UfPLD

— Richard Par (@RichTPar) August 1, 2018

STAR WARS: EPISODE IX Is Set to Begin Filming Next Wednesday! Plus More News About the Skywalker Saga Finale...

Star Wars: Episode IX Cast Announced (News Release)

Returning and New Cast Members Will Join Together for the Final Installment of the Skywalker Saga

Star Wars: Episode IX will begin filming at London’s Pinewood Studios on August 1, 2018. J.J. Abrams returns to direct the final installment of the Skywalker saga. Abrams co-wrote the screenplay with Chris Terrio.

Returning cast members include Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Lupita Nyong’o, Domhnall Gleeson, Kelly Marie Tran, Joonas Suotamo, and Billie Lourd. Joining the cast of Episode IX are Naomi Ackie, Richard E. Grant, and Keri Russell, who will be joined by veteran Star Wars actors Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, and Billy Dee Williams, who will reprise his role as Lando Calrissian.

The role of Leia Organa will once again be played by Carrie Fisher, using previously unreleased footage shot for Star Wars: The Force Awakens. “We desperately loved Carrie Fisher,” says Abrams. “Finding a truly satisfying conclusion to the Skywalker saga without her eluded us. We were never going to recast, or use a CG character. With the support and blessing from her daughter, Billie, we have found a way to honor Carrie’s legacy and role as Leia in Episode IX by using unseen footage we shot together in Episode VII.”

Composer John Williams, who has scored every chapter in the Star Wars saga since 1977’s A New Hope, will return to a galaxy far, far away with Episode IX.

Star Wars: Episode IX will be produced by Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, and Michelle Rejwan, and executive produced by Callum Greene and Jason McGatlin. The crew includes Dan Mindel (Director of Photography), Rick Carter and Kevin Jenkins (Co-Production Designers), Michael Kaplan (Costume Designer), Neal Scanlan (Creature and Droid FX), Maryann Brandon and Stefan Grube (Editors), Roger Guyett (VFX Supervisor), Tommy Gormley (1st AD), and Victoria Mahoney (2nd Unit Director).

Release is scheduled for December 2019.

Source: StarWars.com

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Image of the Day: Finn as BLADE...

This illustration has been saved on my smartphone for the past two months (I stumbled upon it on Facebook), so just thought I'd finally share this cool image of John Boyega as Blade. Methinks that if Boyega was cast to play the Daywalker made famous by Wesley Snipes, it would be in a prequel to the Blade trilogy. Other than that, I think that Pacific Rim's Idris Elba would be perfect as an older version of the vampire hunter. Of course, considering the fact that The Dark Tower (which Elba starred in last year with Matthew McConaughey) didn't do as well critically and commercially as the other Stephen King movie adaptation—IT—a month later, I don't reckon that Elba would be interested in playing another lone antihero with mad weapon skills anytime soon. But he can prove me wrong.

So yea— The actor behind Finn of Star Wars would look pretty cool slicin'-and-dicin' vampires with a Katana sword. Carry on.

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY - Movie Review

So yesterday, I watched Solo: A Star Wars Story at a local AMC Theatre, and needless to say, it's a fun new addition to the Star Wars universe! While he's no Harrison Ford, Alden Ehrenreich gave his own interesting take on Han Solo...portraying the character as one who was idealistic, so full of hope, and out to reunite with his long-lost love before turning into the cynical swashbuckling smuggler that we met inside the Mos Eisley cantina in A New Hope. The rest of the cast for Solo was exceptional...with Donald Glover stealing his scenes as a young Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke being both sweet and bad-ass as Qi'ra, Woody Harrelson giving a smooth performance as Solo's mentor Tobias Beckett, Thandie Newton being one tough chick as Val, Paul Bettany being a slimey yet suave gangster as Dryden Vos, and Phoebe Waller-Bridge delightfully playing the rebellious droid L3-37. And of course, let's not forget Joonas Suotamo—whose role as Chewbacca in this movie is the third time he played the Wookie in the Disney-era Star Wars saga (behind The Force Awakens and The Last Jedi). And the fourth time will be the extra charm when he plays Chewie again in next year's Episode IX.



In regards to the story, screenwriters Lawrence Kasdan and his son Jonathan were faithful to the origin of Han Solo that Star Wars fans have known for the past three decades or so. As established in the Expanded Universe before it was revamped by Disney a few years ago, Solo was an ex-Imperial officer from Corellia who rescued Chewbacca from the Empire prior to becoming a galactic smuggler...but not before winning the Millennium Falcon in a game of Sabacc from Lando Calrissian. The Kasdans didn't really add anything new to Solo's backstory, except the fact that (Spoilers Ahead) Han got his last name from an Imperial officer on Corellia who recruited him to fight for the Empire. The twist that the Kasdans gave to Solo's history didn't involve him, but the original love of his life, Qi'ra. This plot point has already been spoiled by numerous websites since Solo's release last Thursday, but Qi'ra was not only a romantic interest of Han, but a woman who yearned to rise up the ranks of a criminal organization known as Crimson Dawn. Qi'ra's new boss in this crime syndicate [after she (Spoilers Ahead) eliminated her original superior, Dryden Vos] turned out to be someone who was last seen on the big screen in The Phantom Menace almost 20 years ago. Here's a hint of who he is: He couldn't wait to reveal himself to the Jedi. He couldn't wait to have revenge! Are those good enough clues for ya?



In regards to the visual effects in Solo, they looked top-notch...as is expected for a Star Wars movie. That ground battle that Han Solo, Beckett and Val took part in before they deserted the Empire looked intense. The dogfight between the Millennium Falcon and those TIE Fighters near Kessel looked awesome. The droid L3-37, like K-2SO in Rogue One before her, looked photo-realistic. And that firefight between Beckett and his gang, those Ranger Troopers and Enfys Nest's (Erin Kellyman) Marauders aboard the Conveyex train on Vandor was one of the best action sequences in Solo. Music-wise, composer John Powell created his own sweeping score for Ron Howard's film while obviously incorporating memorable tunes from the previous Star Wars installments—such as the Imperial March (of course), the asteroid chase theme from The Empire Strikes Back, the Rebel fanfare and...Duel of the Fates. Yet another hint as to who I'm talking about in the last two sentences in the previous paragraph! And let's not forget that John Williams himself composed the new theme for Han Solo in this movie. Can't wait to listen to it when my Solo soundtrack CD arrives in the mail next week.



All-in-all, Solo: A Star Wars Story is a nice addition to the Star Wars saga. Before the movie was released, naysayers pointed out that this was a story that didn't really need to be told. While that's somewhat true, the main heist (to steal a form of hyperfuel known as coaxium) that Han and his gang pulled off in Solo was of great importance to the formation of the Rebel Alliance years later, and the revelation of who Qi'ra's new crime boss is at the end of the movie will have major ramifications for future Star Wars films. Even if the First Order is neutralized in Episode IX, Crimson Dawn will be a force (pun intended) to be reckoned with in any Star Wars flick that takes place during Solo's timeline (which is set between Revenge of the Sith and Rogue One, respectively). This new crime boss could also have an effect on the Boba Fett and Obi-Wan films that Lucasfilm is currently plotting out as well. We shall see.



So yea, Solo is a good movie and you should check it out as soon as possible! Happy Memorial Day weekend.

4 out of 5 stars. ****

SOLO: A STAR WARS STORY... The Final Poster and Theatrical Trailer Are Here!

A few hours ago, Disney aired a new preview for Ron Howard's upcoming Star Wars installment during American Idol on ABC TV. The preview—which should appear on the big screen in front of Avengers: Infinity War less than three weeks from now—finally gives us a hint about what the main story will be. Needless to say, it's a heist film, just like Rogue One: A Star Wars Story is, but on a smaller, more comedic scale. And I'm diggin' it. The new trailer gave me more confidence that Alden Ehrenreich will do a commendable job impersonating the great Harrison Ford in his take as Han Solo. Donald Glover looks more and more awesome as Lando Calrissian, Emilia Clarke is gorgeous as Qi'Ra, Woody Harrelson will once again play a mentor figure (like he did to Jennifer Lawrence in The Hunger Games franchise)...this time to Solo, and Chewbacca (Joonas Suotamo) definitely looks like he'll get to shine in Solo: A Star Wars Story (compared to the amount of screentime he had in The Last Jedi). And of course, the Millennium Falcon will have its own origin story as well. Can't wait to see how badass Paul Bettany will be as Dryden Vos; ditto with the mysterious Enfys Nest (the actress who plays her hasn't yet been revealed).



There are so many cool images in the new Solo trailer that I couldn't fit most of them here. But why would you want screenshots anyway when I posted the trailer itself at the very bottom of this blog entry? I hope you're as excited for this new Star Wars flick as I am! If not—well, there's also the start of filming for Star Wars: Episode IX to look forward to this summer (in late July, to be exact). That is all.

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