Why, at the local post office! It seems that to help celebrate the 30th anniversary of Star Wars, the US Postal Service has developed mail boxes that look like R2-D2. Check out the photos on TheForce.net.
Just remember, if you plan on acquiring one of these beauties for your very own, it’s a federal offense to tamper with the mail. And you wouldn’t want to be starring in the next episode of Troops, would you?
Okay a little bad language in this, so sensitive ears be warned. Just a great Saturday afternoon funny vid for you:
Link to Laughing Squid » Fatal Lightsaber Duel at Leia’s 22nd Birthday
Keith Martin has taken the time to look back at Star Wars: IV with a different spin on the story using information gathered from Star Wars I-III, and his take is quite interesting, and in my mind might have actually made a better movie, despite the fact that it is the same scenes, just taken in a different context usually. He has named it: A New Sith, or Revenge of the Hope.
Obi-Wan has spent the last 20 years in the Tattoine desert, keeping watch over Luke Skywalker and trying to decide on one of the three available options:
A) If Luke shows no significant access to the Force, then leave him alone in obscurity
B) If Luke shows real Force ability, then consider recruiting him as a Jedi. The rebellion needs Jedi. Now.
But, if Luke shows any signs of turning out like his father, then C) sneak into his house one fine night and chop his head off. With great regret but it’ll save a lot of trouble later on.
Knowing this to be the case, Bail Organa (perhaps at the insistence of his wife) has found excuses not to send Leia to Ben for assessment of Jedi potential, largely for fear of option C.To be fair to all concerned, Leia has shown no overt signs of a link to the Force. Luke on the other hand has. In his home-built hotrod aircraft, with no formal fighter pilot training and no decent instrumentation, Luke can regularly score centre-hits on 2-metre targets in complicated zero-altitude maneouvres. Until he attends the briefing on Yavin, Luke has no way of knowing that hardened combat pilots would consider that nearly impossible. To him it’s easy. Obi-Wan, who saw Anakin’s performance in the Pod Race, is nervous.
A very cool take on the story, and one I highly recommend all Star Wars fans read, and try not to think of it as blasphemy.
Very Happy New Year wishes from me as well! Lots to look forward to: new Spider-Man and Harry Potter films for example. But for now, I have a little public service announcement.
Consider this situation: It’s Christmas morning. Your little brother/sister/cousin/nephew/niece/whatever has unwrapped the DVD of the two made-for-TV Ewok movies from circa 1984 (The Ewok Adventure, The Battle for Endor). Because some well-meaning mother/father/aunt/uncle whatever thought, “Well, you like that Star Wars stuff so much, and this one’s made for kids, we thought it was something you could all do together.” So they want YOU to watch it with your rugrat relative.
What’s a self-respecting geek to do? Fear not, there is a solution.
Let’s talk about point of view for a minute. When you’re reading a book or watching a movie or show, you usually see the story unfold through a specific character’s perspective. Star Wars: A New Hope is about Luke becoming a galactic hero. It isn’t about a high-level government official having to deal with a terrorist threat, like it would have been if we were watching from Darth Vader’s point of view.
Anyway, the makers of the Ewok films would have us believe that the movies are from the point of view of Cindel, an impossibly angelic adorable child who is shipwrecked on Endor and inexplicably adopted by the Ewoks instead of being tied to a pole and roasted, which is what the rest of us would like to do to her. This is the WRONG way to watch the movies.
Instead, think on this: the Ewok movies are actually about a long-suffering family who has to put up with the antics of these very silly aliens who crawled onto their doorstep. This family is quite generous and sympathetic. But really, these aliens lack any common sense at all.
It’ll take you about thirty seconds to learn the Ewok word for “you idiot,” because they use it a lot. Trust me, the movies are almost a joy when you can laugh along with the Ewoks at those silly alien children. It’s a sitcom! Like reverse Alf or something.
Er…never mind.
Ah yes. The holidays. Time for singing carols, gathering with friends and family, battling the demon hordes at the local mall…and recalling The Star Wars Holiday Special. This piece of…er, made for TV cinema…can most charitably be called a product of its time. 1978. Think Xanadu meets The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour and you’ll be on the right track.
Here’s how I like to describe it:
It’s widely believed that Carrie Fisher spent much of her time working on Star Wars struggling with drug addiction, to put it nicely. (Fisher’s Wikipedia bio) I think it’s a credit to her acting ability that most of the time you can’t tell. Her comic timing is wonderful (”I happen to like nice men…”), and she maintains her dignity and poise throughout. She made Princess Leia one of our greatest screen heroines.
On the other hand, in The Star Wars Holiday Special, she just doesn’t bother.
With the Star Wars Clone Wars Cartoon available on iTunes, the question of whether or not we will see the live action movies hit the popular download service is all the buzz lately. News Corp, which owns the Fox movie studios, is said to be in talks with Apple.
CNNMoney.com has some details:
“Chernin would not give a time frame as to when Fox movies might be available, if ever, on iTunes. He did say though that News Corp. and Apple were having “positive talks,” but that several details still needed to be worked out.
Several of News Corp.’s Fox television shows, including “Prison Break” and “24″ are currently available for purchase on iTunes. But so far, the only movie studio that is selling feature-length films on iTunes is Walt Disney.
The Fox movie studio has released several big hits this year, including “X-Men: The Last Stand” and “Ice Age: The Meltdown.” The company also has a massive film library, which includes the “Star Wars” franchise of movies.”
I really hope they do add the well known movies to their list, as there needs to be more science fiction content on iTunes, and Star Wars is classic. Though I wouldn’t be so concerned if for some reason they forgot to upload The Phantom Menace to iTunes, but that’s another story.
