A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

Photo Credit and © 2017 Hasbro, Inc. and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On September 1, 2017 , Hasbro released a "wave" of nine six-inch Black Series Star Wars action figures that included several characters as seen in the then-upcoming Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi, as well as a few re-issues ( AT-AT Driver, Snowtrooper, and Kylo Ren ) from The Empire Strikes Back and The Force Awakens. This collection consists of: #49: Maz Kanata #50: Elite Praetorian Guard #51:  Finn (First Order Disguise) #52: General Leia Organa #53: Captain Poe Dameron #31: AT-AT Driver #35: Snowtrooper #45: Kylo Ren These figures were released in various regions of the U.S. as part of Lucasfilm's International Force Friday II event; however, I acquired two figures from this consignment (#49 Maz Kanata and #51 Finn (First Order Disguise) only recently as part of my birthday present from my sweetheart.  Both of these figures portray characters that were introduced in 2015'

Is it fair for Star Wars fans to target Kelly Marie Tran for her role in The Last Jedi? No, it’s not. It’s not only unfair, but it shows that “fans” who target and harass anyone involved in the making of a  Star Wars  film, TV show, or any part of the canon are immature, self-centered, and have too high an opinion of themselves. Same goes for anyone who “targets” George Lucas, Bob Iger, Kathleen Kennedy, J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, or Rian Johnson in a campaign fueled by irrational hate because they made the movies or TV series in a way that they found aesthetically or thematically wrong. Now, I’m not suggesting that people have to like  The Last Jedi, The Force Awakens,  the Prequels, the Special Editions of the Original Trilogy, or whatever it is they don’t like about the franchise. Far from it. If you honestly don’t like something, that’s fine. George Lucas, Bob Iger, or Kathleen Kennedy aren’t going to show up at your door with a real-life Darth Vader as their enforcer

Would Star Wars: The Last Jedi have been way better if Luke actually was there for the fight, instead of just a Force projection of him?  A Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for attack. -  Yoda to Luke Skywalker,  Star Wars - Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back Questions like this, quite frankly, leave me cold. They reflect only the barest understanding of  Star Wars,  its mythos, its themes, and its character arcs. They also reinforce my opinion that the Expanded Universe (now called Legends) has an unhealthy grip on many  Star Wars  fans’ minds that makes them unable to understand the dynamics of the saga. Contrary to the oft-seen complaint that Kathleen Kennedy, Rian Johnson, and J.J. Abrams ruined  Star Wars  and that Luke Skywalker’s character was not written in a way that fits the “lore,”  Star Wars: The Last Jedi  did a great job at depicting a very human Luke who, despite his failure to properly restore the Jedi Knights to their original roles as

Cover art (derived from Issue #5) by Paolo Rivera. ©2018 Marvel Comics and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On November 6, 2018, nearly a year after the debut of director Rian Johnson's eponymous film, Marvel Comics released Star Wars: The Last Jedi, a trade paperback that collects the six issues of writer Gary Whitta and artist Michael Walsh's series  Star Wars: The Last Jedi Adaptation. Featuring a dynamic cover by Paolo Rivera that was originally done for the series' fifth issue, this slim 136-page  volume continues the Sequel Trilogy saga that pits General Leia Organa's small band of Resistance fighters against the forces of the evil First Order of Supreme Leader Snoke and his powerful but unstable apprentice, Kylo Ren. The FIRST ORDER reigns. Having decimated the peaceful Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke now deploys his merciless legions to seize military control of the galaxy. Only General Leia Organa's band of RESISTANCE fighters stands against the risin

Cover art by Nicolas Delort (C) 2018 Quirk Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On July 10, 2018, Philadelphia-based Quirk Books published Ian Doescher’s William Shakespeare’s Jedi the Last: Star Wars the Eighth, a literary mashup of writer-director Rian Johnson’s Star Wars – Episode VIII: The Last Jedi and the works of William Shakespeare. The Force,   The Force, My kingdom for the Force! ­– from the dust jacket blurb, Jedi the Last Once again, the geeky, witty, and talented author of the William Shakespeare’s Star Wars series takes readers on a delightful journey to the space-fantasy universe created 41 years ago by writer-director George Lucas – with a twist that is in turn radical and logical. He takes a 21 st Century film – The Last Jedi – and presents it as an Elizabethan age stage production from the quill of the Bard of Avon, rendered in authentic iambic pentameter and, in the case of Yoda’s famously inverted dialogue, haikus. Is this a lightsaber which I see befo

(C) 2018 Del Rey Books and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL)  On March 6, 2018, Random House’s Del Rey science fiction/fantasy imprint published Star Wars: The Last Jedi – Expanded Edition, a novelization of the middle act of the Star Wars Sequel Trilogy that started with 2015’s Star Wars: The Force Awakens . Written by Jason Fry with direct input from writer-director Rian Johnson, The Last Jedi chronicles the continuing adventures of Rey, Finn, and Poe Dameron, as the brave Resistance led by General Leia Organa fights a desperate battle for survival against the evil First Order.   Set three decades after the deaths of Emperor Sheev Palpatine and Darth Vader and the fall of the Galactic Empire, The Last Jedi begins where The Force Awakens left off. And taking a cue from Alan Dean Foster, who adapted The Force Awakens three years ago, Fry opens his novel with the actual “crawl” from Johnson’s film: The FIRST ORDER reigns. Having decimated the peaceful Republic, Supreme Leader Snoke now d

On Tuesday, March 27, Buena Vista Home Entertainment (the Walt Disney Company subsidiary that distributes home media products such as DVDs and Blu-rays) released writer-director Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi on Blu-ray disc (BD), 4K UHD Blu-ray, DVD, and digital download copy. As in previous BVHE releases such as Star Wars: The Force Awakens and Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Johnson's blockbuster entry in the Sequel Trilogy comes in several combinations, including: Target Exclusive Digipack  (BD, DVD, Digital HD) available only from Target Best Buy Exclusive SteelBook (2 BDs, 1 4K UHD, Digital Copy Codes for iTunes and Movies Anywhere) available only from Best Buy Target Exclusive Digipack (2 BDs, 2 DVDs, Digital Copy Codes)  Disney Store Exclusive/Pre-Order Lithograph Set: (2 BDs, memorabilia included) Blu-ray + Digital HD Two-Disc Set: (2 BDs, Digital Copy Codes), the wide-release standard edition Several other variants exist, including a th

Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017) (AKA Star Wars - Episode VIII: The Last Jedi ) Written and Directed by: Rian Johnson Starring: Mark Hamill, Carrie Fisher, Adam Driver, Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Lupita Nyong'o, Domhnall Gleeson, Gwendoline Christie, Anthony Daniels, Kelly Marie Tran, Laura Dern, Benicio Del Toro, Frank Oz Luke Skywalker: What do you know about the Force?  Rey: It's a power that Jedi have that lets them control people and... make things float.  Luke Skywalker: Impressive. Every word in that sentence was wrong. On December 15, 2017, almost two years after director J.J. Abrams' Star Wars: The Force Awakens premiered and over 40 years after Star Wars: A New Hope kicked off the sprawling Skywalker saga, Walt Disney Pictures and Lucasfilm released writer-director Rian Johnson's epic space-fantasy Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Set three decades after the events of Star Wars: Return of the Jedi, the film

(C) 2017 Lucasfilm Ltd. and Dolby Labs Today's question is:  Why do a lot of fanboys hate ‘The Last Jedi’? I’m probably going to get a lot of flak from some of the  angry fanboys  that this question is about, but since I am a  Star Wars  fan of the 1977 Generation, I’ll give you my two credits’ worth. Star Wars  fanboy angst is not a new phenomenon. It’s probably been around since the first movie premiered 40 years ago ( Oh, See Threepio is too silly! ). I first became aware of it when fans who were 10, 11, or even 12 when  Star Wars  came out in 1977 and didn’t notice some of the kid-friendly humor in it suddenly became aware of the kid-friendly Ewoks in 1983’s  Return of the Jedi …and started grousing that Lucas had invented the “teddy bears”  just to sell more toys.  (There were other issues that fans groused about, but  Ewok-hate  was the trendy topic among the angry-fanboy crowd.) (C) 1983 Lucasfilm Ltd (LFL) Before Jar Jar Binks, Wicket and his pa