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.

STAR WARS - THE LAST JEDI: Kylo's Ship, and Rey Gets a Makeover...

Just thought I'd share this cool concept art of Kylo Ren's personal spaceship, the TIE Silencer, and these two new promo pics of Rey (Daisy Ridley) in her new hairdo and Jedi garb for Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The TIE Silencer image has been around for over a week, but these Rey pics are new to me. Pretty cool. Anyways, only 140 days till The Last Jedi hits theaters here in the U.S. (on December 15). Happy Thursday!

ROBOTECH: The Live-Action Movie...

I just found out earlier this morning that Andy Muschietti, director of the upcoming It movie, has signed on to helm Sony's Robotech live-action film. It (as in It, not Robotech) hasn't arrived in theaters yet, but the trailer makes it (as in It, not— Nevermind) look really good, so I have confidence that Muschietti will do a commendable job bringing Rick Hunter, Lisa Hayes, Max Sterling and Minmay to life (assuming, of course, that he casts some Asian actors for this project; Minmay's real name is Ling Ming-mei, fyi). If Michael Bay can bring giant fighting robots to life in a big way with the Transformers franchise, then there's no way that the sight of live-action Industrial Light & Magic or Weta-rendered Veritech Fighters flying away from the SDF-1 to wage battle against the Zentradi can't finally be seen on the big screen... That is all.

Oh wait, one last thing: Have composer Michael Giacchino score the music for the film. I'm interested to hear his iteration of the Robotech theme! Carry on.

NEW WARRIORS, IRON MAN and the Marvel Cinematic Universe...

Even though New Warriors will be a TV series and not a feature film, it's cool to imagine the possibilities in terms of how Disney will have this upcoming show cross over with other Marvel programs and even the Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) itself. In the comic books, Squirrel Girl (to be played by Milana Vayntrub) mingled with Luke Cage (played by Mike Colter) and Jessica Jones (portrayed by Krysten Ritter)...so it's not far-fetched to think that Marvel would use its Disney-provided resources to have Vayntrub's character interact with the title characters played by Colter and Ritter in their respective Netflix series. And MCU-wise, Samuel L. Jackson and Jaimie Alexander did, after all, reprise their roles as Nick Fury and Lady Sif in Marvel's Agents of SHIELD a few seasons ago.

In regards to the MCU, it would be absolutely awesome if Marvel president Kevin Feige incorporated certain characters (RE: Squirrel Girl) from New Warriors to the movies themselves. (Although we'll overlook the fact that the Marvel flicks have so far refused to acknowledge Agent Phil Coulson being brought back from the dead after the first Avengers film to star in Agents of SHIELD.) Squirrel Girl defeated the likes of Galactus and Thanos in the comic books—so it would be cool to see her appear in any of the next two Avengers movies (though 2018's Infinity War has been in production for quite some time now, so it might obviously be too late to incorporate Squirrel Girl in that one). Or at the very least, add some heavy star-wattage to New Warriors by having Robert Downey Jr. do a one-episode cameo as Tony Stark on the show. Squirrel Girl did meet Iron Man in her earlier appearances in the comic books...and even stole two of his armored suits (one for her, the other for her trusty squirrel companion Tippy-Toe) to fly to the Moon and fight Galactus! So the gist of this paragraph? Squirrel Girl + Iron Man suit = Awesome.

I'm sure that New Warriors will be another successful Marvel show like Luke Cage, Jessica Jones and Daredevil have been. (I'm not so sure about Iron Fist.) But it doesn't hurt to daydream a little and see such a spunky character as Squirrel Girl appear on the big screen and fighting alongside her fellow Avengers as they take on Thanos and company. And preferably, she dons the Iron Man suit in an MCU flick like she did in the comic book panels shown below. Of course, her live-action Iron Man suit would look much, much cooler than this illustrated version. That is all.

Photos of the Day: Vanity Fair Takes On THE LAST JEDI...

Annie Leibovitz

Just thought I'd share these awesome new images, taken by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, that were released online today revealing characters old and new who will appear in this December's Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Can't wait to pick up my own copy of this Vanity Fair issue at the bookstore next week! The issue hits newsstands in New York and Los Angeles on June 1 (I live in L.A. County, woohoo), and arrives in stores nationwide on June 6. Can't wait!


Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz


Annie Leibovitz

I Have the Sudden Urge to Watch INDEPENDENCE DAY (Only the First Movie, That Is)...

I was walking back to my car after watching The Fate of the Furious at the theater a few hours ago when I saw this cool cloud formation lurking above the San Gabriel Mountains here in Los Angeles County. Pretty awesome... It reminds me of the 15-mile-wide alien destroyers in the 1996 hit film Independence Day. Where's Jeff Goldblum and Bill Pullman when you need 'em? But not Will Smith. If you saw last year's Independence Day: Resurgence, you'd know why. God, that sequel broke my heart—for all the wrong reasons.

As for The Fate of the Furious, just like the four previous Fast and the Furious movies, it was ridiculously awesome! Lots of crazy action sequences... My favorite line of the film was the one from Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) to Deckard (Jason Statham): "I'm gonna knock your teeth so far down your throat, you're gonna need to stick a toothbrush up your ass to brush 'em!"

Good stuff. Oh—and before I forget, Happy Easter!

STAR WARS: THE LAST JEDI... The First Poster and Teaser Trailer Are Here!

"I only know one truth. It's time for the Jedi...to end." Let's hope that that's not the case as Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill) speaks for the first time in the trailer for this December's Star Wars: The Last Jedi. The 2-minute preview was unveiled at Star Wars Celebration in Orlando earlier today—with Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy, Episode VIII director Rian Johnson and stars Daisy Ridley (Rey), John Boyega (Finn), Hamill as well as newcomer Kelly Marie Tran (Rose) on-hand to discuss what to expect in the next installment of Disney's Star Wars sequel trilogy. As per tradition, here are screenshots from the trailer (plus the poster above that was handed to all the lucky attendees who watched The Last Jedi panel in Orlando a few hours ago) plus the YouTube version of it at the very bottom of this entry. Only 244 days to go before we see the Resistance take on the First Order on the big screen once more!

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The ROGUE ONE DVD Is Almost Here!

Can't wait to stop by Best Buy tomorrow to pick up my copy of Rogue One: A Star Wars Story on DVD! The release of the Star Wars spin-off film on home video will come just 9 days before the start of the Star Wars Celebration in Orlando...which ushers in Disney's marketing campaign for this December's The Last Jedi. It should be on April 13 that Lucasfilm chief Kathleen Kennedy and Episode VIII director Rian Johnson debut the first trailer for the next saga flick at the Florida fan expo. But in the meantime, I can't wait to see Darth Vader's rampage in all its 1080p HDTV glory at home sometime this week. Gonna randomly conclude this entry with Chirrut Îmwe's "I am one with the Force. The Force is with me"...

Carry on!