A Certain Point of View: Writing, Film and Stuff

(C) 2015 Dorling Kindersley Limited and Lucasfilm Ltd. (LFL) On April 28, 2015, Dorling Kindersley Limited's DK Books published Ultimate Star Wars, a large "coffee table" format visual encyclopedia which covers "characters, creatures, locations, technology, and vehicles" that have been depicted in the Star Wars saga in film and on television. Written by Ryder Windham, Adam Bray, Tricia Barr, and Daniel Wallace, this 320-page volume delves into the history of a certain galaxy far, far away across various time periods, including the decline of the Old Republic, the Clone Wars and the birth of the Galactic Empire, and the Galactic Civil War.  Ultimate Star Wars is a comprehensive, wonderfully detailed encyclopedia of the entire Star Wars galaxy that explores characters, creatures, locations, vehicles, technology, and more.  Reflecting the saga's epic scope, Ultimate Star Wars is structured chronologically from Episode I: The Phantom Menace

Operation Crossbow (1965) In the spring of 1943, Allied intelligence analysts noticed that the Germans were building what appeared to be launching ramps and rocket launch pads in various locations scattered around Nazi-occupied Europe, mainly in northeast France, Belgium and the Netherlands.  Though some thought they were “dummy” sites to lure American and British bombers and force them to waste bombs that would otherwise have been dropped on German cities and industrial targets, other analysts figured out that these German facilities were intended to launch what Adolf Hitler called  Vergeltungswaffen  (which means  vengeance,   revenge  or  retaliation  weapons in German) at strategic targets in Great Britain. There were even intelligence officers who, once they believed that the V-weapons sites were no ruse, feared the Germans might use the V-1 pilotless planes and the V-2 guided missiles to deliver chemical or biological warheads against British cities in retaliation for wh

Dear Anonymous, Originally, I wasn’t going to answer this question. I find it insulting, based on partisan hate, and full of ignorance. And, of course, chances are that the original creator of this “query” is a paid troll working for Russia’s destabilizing efforts. But, hey, it’s rather early on a Sunday morning, and since I have nothing better to do, I’ll try to enlighten you. Not that I’ll succeed, especially if you are one of those Trump supporters who believe that “liberalism is a mental disorder.” First of all, let’s look at a map of the world. Let’s, for a few minutes, take  seriously  the “modest proposal” that is the basis for this, ahem, question. Examine closely, my conservative friend, the map above. You no doubt recall from your high school science class that three-quarters of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, most of it  salty  ocean water that humans can’t consume without desalination and purification. The other quarter of the Earth’s surface is, o

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

I've been enthralled by John Williams' scores for the original 1977-83 Star Wars Trilogy ( A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and Return of the Jedi ) since I first owned the 2-LP original soundtrack album from the first installment of the saga. For instance, I have bought the original 1977 recording in all available formats, from LP, eight-track, cassette, and compact disc. I also have the slightly expanded variation available in The Star Wars Trilogy Soundtrack Anthology four-disc box set and the even more complete Special Edition 2-CD set. So it shouldn't be a jolting shock to you, the reader, that I bought Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace' s 1-CD original soundtrack recording on the very day of its release (about a month prior to the premiere of Episode I). Like many Star Wars fans, I'd waited for 16 years for a new movie -- the 1997 Special Edition really didn't count as new movies -- since Return of the Jedi 's theatrical run

Pros:  Martin's script and performance. Schepsi's directing. Nice supporting cast. Cons:  Predictable in spots. Otherwise, none. It's hard to believe that 31 years have passed since Columbia Pictures (now part of Sony's multimedia empire) first released director Fred Schepsi's Roxanne, a gentle and offbeat adaptation of Edmond Rostand's play Cyrano de Bergerac penned by its leading man, Steve Martin. I've never seen either Rostand's play on stage or the straightforward movie adaptation which starred Jose Ferrer back in the 1950s, but this 1987 romantic comedy takes its basic plot of an intelligent, romantic poet-swordsman who falls in love with a beautiful woman and attempts to court her despite having a longer than normal nose and updates it to 1980s America as a vehicle for Martin ( The Jerk, Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid ) and the lovely Darryl Hannah as the titular love interest, Roxanne. In Martin and Schepsi's tale, the guy