Theatrical Review: The Mandalorian and Grogu

Date: Sunday, May 24 2026
Time: 10am
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Review:

My sister suggested we go see this. And honestly, it was a no-brainer. 

As long as I’d been alive, we’d gone out to see every Star Wars movie that hits theaters. My first was the re-release of the original 1977 film in the 90's. All thanks to my mom’s fandom, which she owes to my dad for taking her to see the original on a date. He jokes that he’s regretted it ever since, lol

We may not keep up with the plethora of streaming series but we'd seen every movie.

In case anyone was wondering, because I know I was, you're not going to be completely lost watching this movie if you'd never seen The Mandolarian series. There are some easter eggs and references but you won't miss out on any enjoyment if you happen to be a Star Wars fan who'd never streamed anything. And in terms of continuity, this supposedly takes place between the original trilogy and the sequel trilogy. So after the death of Darth Vader but before Poe met Finn and The New Order filled the void left by the Empire.

Right off the bat, we see the titular duo on a mission and the Mandalorian kicks some major ass. It sets the movie off on a good tone. The only one that maybe disagrees with this was Ward, played to perfection by Sigourney Weaver, who's less than pleased that the man they were after wasn't brought back alive. 

Can I just say how cool it is how Sigourney Weaver has essentially become the queen of sci-fi franchises? Starting with Alien, then Ghostbusters and of course, Avatar. Even though she died in the first movie, she remains a part of the franchise playing the daughter of her character.
Only major one she hasn't done yet is Star Trek. Seeing as they've leaned into streaming as well and their last movie was over a decade ago, it's not likely to happen anytime soon.

The main mission the duo takes on for this movie is to bring home the Rotta the Hutt, who was supposedly being held prisoner in Shakari. Rotta is the son of Jabba the Hutt- the notorious gangster Han Solo had worked for in the original trilogy. The alliance was asked to do this by his cousins, a pair of Huttas referred to as "the twins". 

Once we got to Shakari, that was the moment I really locked into this movie and things started to get really good. I thought maybe it was the same city-like planet that was featured in Episode II so I did a little research. It is not, but I came across a line saying how Shakari drew influence from prohibition era Chicago. I don't know if it was because it reminded me of Coruscant (the Episode II location) or it reminded me of a location I'd played through in a video game (Kingdom Hearts II or Jak II), but it quickly became one of my favorite Star Wars locations ever. Possibly my favorite. Especially once the awesome music kicked in.

As much as we all love John Williams- the man is a fricking legend when it comes to movie scores, including this franchise- I'd read a lot of hype about Ludwig Göransson as well. 
I looked up whether this movie had a post-credits scene and the result on Google confirmed no. However, it mentioned how those who do stick around will be treated to more of Ludwig's score from the Shakari scenes as well as a little Easter egg in the cast credits. 
While Shakari is a hot bed for crime and criminals, it was a really cool place to spend time in. We got a fun little cameo from Martin Scorsese, who does the voice of a street vendor the Mandolarian keeps getting information from. 

Then we have the arena where we find Rotta the Hutt. He's employed by one of the city's top gangsters, if not the biggest gangster, as a fighter. Thanks to this experience, Rotta has become possibly the most buff Hutta in the whole galaxy. I mean, the dude's a slug with a six-pack. That's impressive! He's also a character you can't help rooting for. He'd worked hard to get out of his brother's shadow and thanks to the voice acting of Jeremy Allen White, he has a lot of humanity to him. (Just looked him up- he's the star of that critically acclaimed FX series, The Bear). Although he's happy to be at the end of his tenure as a hired fighter, he makes the Mandolarian's life difficult by being the one prisoner who doesn't want to go back home. 
This leads us to a great fight scene in the arena where Rotta's employer reveals the only way his employment is going to end is in one final match where he's doomed to fail. He and the Mandolarian have to team up to deal with the other creatures, including a couple that I recognized from the "it is unwise to upset a Wookie" scene in the original movie. 

The main reason why the Alliance agrees to do this rescue mission for the twins- they have information on a notable member from the remnants of the Empire. This person winds up being Rotta's employer and the Mandolarian catches him and brings him back to the Alliance to face justice. And he ultimately agrees not to bring Rotta back to his home planet.
BUT if we'd learned anything from Han Solo, the Hutts are a race you do not double-cross. Unfortunately, the Mandolarian has to learn this the hard way and the results are catastrophic.

Up to this point in the movie, Grogu doesn't get to do much. He's cute and feisty and gets into a little bit of mischief. He's very likable and fun to watch, but he's just kinda there for most of it. For much of the third act, though, the Mandolarian finds himself incapacitated for a bit and Grogu finds himself on a mission to save him. If there was any doubt as to why he shares half of the movie's title, this section puts that to bed.

We have a few good battles to end the movie, including a flight sequence with Sigourney Weaver as one of the X-wing pilots, and that's basically it. 
All of us really enjoyed it and had a good time. Compared with the other movies, it was better than the Han Solo movie and Rogue One... I hadn't seen the prequels recently with the exception of Episode II for May the 4th, but I liked this better than those. And maybe a little more than the recent trilogy we got. I'd probably have to see all the movies again to be sure, although we'd be hard pressed to find anything that'd top Episodes IV through VI. 

Also, a quick shout-out to Jon Favreau for directing. He had been heavily involved in the Star Wars streaming series as a creator/director/producer. But in terms of sci-fi, this was probably his best work. 
His debut in this genre was Zathura back in 2005. I'd never seen the movie, but in some interview, I remember him saying how that movie didn't get the kudos it deserved because it was up against the 4th Harry Potter movie in the box office. Of course his biggest claim to fame was Iron-Man and how that launched him and RDJ into the stratosphere. But I can't help but consider him thinking about his younger self and the disappointment over Zathura's reception and how thrilled that person would be now with him putting out a damn good Star Wars movie. I don't know why but something tells he'd been a fan of the movies for a long time and getting to put out something like this had been a dream come true.

Grade: A-

Trailers:

Minions and Monsters
- a slightly longer, different trailer than we'd seen previously 

Supergirl
-the same trailer we'd seen a couple times already

He-Man- Masters of the Universe
-with all the hype that's been leading up to this movie, I just hope it's good for the sake of the fans who'd been waiting for something like this. One of my cousins was a HUGE collector of the action figures growing. All I know about it is a couple characters, including Skeletor. He looks really cool in the trailers, but it's a little disappointing that his voice is different from what I'd heard in passing. I guess they opted for this change to make him more threatening as a villain.

The Odyssey
-Again, I hope this winds up being half as good as it's being hyped up to be. This is the first full trailer I've gotten a chance to see. It took me a few seconds to recognize Tom Holland as Telemachus, son of Odysseus and it's kinda disappointing to see Robert Pattinson, again without a British accent and as a bad guy. It'll be interesting to see Matt Damon in this huge role. As good as he was as Jason Bourne, this is his biggest role yet.
-My only concern is the runtime.... I know it's a fricking epic, but if it's over 3 hours, I'm waiting until it comes out on cable. A big reason why the source material is so long, in my opinion, is that there are sooo many instances where a character is introduced as "the son of this person who was the son of that person." Who cares?! That's why I went to Cliff Notes after every chapter- to make sure I was keeping up the story in between all of that unnecessary padding. Unfortunately, the way these movies go and how Christopher Nolan tends to operate, they'll find ways to extend this way longer than is necessary. 

Disclosure Day
-once again, Steven Spielberg is doing something involving aliens. I think it's about making the public aware of aliens and that Area 51 exists and so on. But it's not the kind of thing I'm interested in

The Dog Stars

-it's based on a book, takes place in a post-apocalyptic world and the main character is an ex-marine. The book came out in 2012 and apparently went into production a couple years ago. Based on the implications behind this apocalypse, I thought maybe it got sidelined for a couple years because of 2020. Although that the books like the Andromeda Strain became very popular around that time, so who knows?

Moana live-action
-unless something else comes up, this will probably be our next trip to the movies

Theatrical Review: Star Wars Episode IX- The Rise of Skywalker

Date: Sunday December 29 2019
Time: 10:35am*
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Director: J.J. Abrams
Composer: John Williams

Cast:
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Rylo Ren/Ben Solo- Adam Driver
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Finn- John Boyeda
General Leia- Carrie Fischer (RIP 2016)
General Hux- Domnhall Gleeson
General Pryde- Richard E. Grant
Lando Calarissan- Billy Dee Williams
Emperor Palpatine- Ian McDiarmid

Duration: 142 minutes (+10 trailers)

Opening Remarks

Going to be doing things a little bit differently... because I'm probably going to spend many paragraphs fuming about how many commercials and trailers we had to sit through... I decided to move the movie discussion to the front of the post and the other stuff to the back.
It'll all be there for anyone who cares to hear some strong opinions.
Why include it at all? This blog is about being a "movie-goer"... that includes the entire experience.

But here's the Star Wars part of the post...

The Star Wars Part of the Post

I'm not going to give anything major away, other than what was in the cast list..
It's kinda unfortunate, really... they spent all this time and effort bringing down the Emperor Sith in "Return of the Jedi"... Darth Vader gave his life to defeat him and save Luke from obliteration. And it was for nothing... unless you want to get into the psychological conversation about how they felt fulfilled for doing what they thought was right...
It also makes for an interesting final battle involving this guy. But what I find strange... there's talk about ending the Jedi so the Sith can prevail... aren't they all Jedi anyway? They all can manipulate The Force and use lightsabers. Am I missing something? 

But this battle is just one of many moments where it was great culmination of everything in the series. Well, everything except for maybe the prequel trilogy... it seems like the powers that be want to pretend they didn't exist. 
This movie is easily the best of this last trilogy... it's just too bad it's the final installment. When they finally get everything right and all the pieces are together.

Of course, I'm sure there are people that will complain... there always are... that there weren't enough casualties on the good side or how much of this movie was fan service to the fanboys (and fangirls) of this franchise. 
So what? Many of us hardcore Star Wars fans will be very happy with this movie and how everything went down.

Anyone curious about how Carrie Fischer was used in the movie, considering much of it was filmed after she'd passed away (she and her mother, Debbie Reynolds, were the final casualties of the horrific year that was 2016-- I'm speaking about celebrity deaths specifically)... they had enough footage of her where she was given the tribute she deserved. 

One part I really liked about this movie was how much of the new core trio was together. One thing that really annoys me about ensemble casts in movie and TV is where they are constantly split apart and worrying about each other and having to find a way to reunite while trying to complete their main objective. 
Rey, Poe and Finn spent a lot of time together and if they were split apart, it was temporary. More often than not, it was Rey who separated from the others, but she had her reasons. I was waiting for her to do what Luke did in "Return of the Jedi"- he left the camp of rebels because he thought his presence was putting everyone in danger. 

There were some light moments scattered throughout with bits of humor. Unlike the previous film, they didn't feel too forced. The exchange between Poe and General Hux in the previous movie... yeah, it was kinda lame and cheesy and not quite in line with the humor the series typically has. Some jokes, they tried a little too hard, but others were well played. 
C3PO has some comical moments that didn't lean on the Abbott/Costello routine he and R2D2 typically have. There's one part where the trio needs him to translate something in a Sith language and he says something in his programming forbids it. I don't know what it was, but his dialogue sounded a lot like something Sheldon from "Big Bang Theory" would say. The similarity between them was SCARY. 
What's funny is that he got compared to C3PO once by Leonard and Sheldon shakes his head and says "...I'm flattered, but I just don't see it." 

The amount of screentime Oscar Isaac had between this and the previous movie... more than made up for the fact he was M.I.A. for much of "The Force Awakens"... we also get to find out more of his past and how that comes about is a nice touch. In their travels, Finn also meets fellow former Storm Troopers and they contribute to the Resistance in the final battle. Particularly the lead female of the group. 
There's a lot of great strong female characters in this movie. I'm glad they brought back Rose, who was a scene-stealer in the previous movie. But it feels like her role in the Resistance got vastly reduced. I'm just saying they could have given her more to do.

Probably the one thing I can't go into is what happens with Kylo Ren's character because that's a huge part of the movie. His connection with Rey only intensifies... how they use it may be a bit of a stretch for some people... but it gets used in a lot of creative ways, accomplishing things that couldn't have been otherwise.

The writing from start to finish was really good and there wasn't a moment where things were too slow moving or boring. Some of it, I found myself predicting... some of it was "I don't think this person is actually dead." But others were just inklings that a certain situation would play out a certain way. Maybe that makes the movie a little too predictable, but it kinda helps to be a Star Wars fan and to pay attention. 
The events of the film are kicked off by getting intel from a spy in the First Order. I had my suspicions of who it would be... it's kinda hilarious when their identity is revealed and how that's handled. 

Grade: A+
(I really can't take too much away from this movie. It's practically perfect... if you're a Star Wars fan who likes everything tied up in a nice bow) 

Theater Commentary

Now for some bits about the movies... we decided not to Fandango it because the movie had been out for at least a week. Maybe we should have. We were close to the front of the screen, row C in fact... so we had our heads kinked back to try to get the whole picture. There were a couple of warnings abound about there being strobe lighting that could cause seizures from this movie... there was nothing that intense. Possibly the lightning that comes from the Emperor's lair, but I can't think of much else.

There was barely anyone in the theater, but come 10 minutes to "movie time"-- it was nearly filled. Pretty impressive. There was one hilarious moment where the movie was finally starting and a guy nearby was like "oh, holy sh**", as if completely surprised the movie was finally starting. He had a good point.

Ok... so let me break it down...

the movie time we signed in for was 10:35... the trailers didn't start until 10:41... the movie itself didn't start until 11:07...
I mean, WHAT THE HELL? Granted, a movie like this was worth the wait... but considering that it takes half an hour to get to the theater, we sit through 100's of commercials in the meantime and most movies run over 2 hours... you use up an entire day just for a trip to the movies. It's ridiculous and it isn't necessary. 

Also- 10 trailers?! That's insane. Were any of the movies good? ...yeah, there were some that I'll definitely need to see. 
But that's not the point... 

Coming Attractions

Free Guy
Geesh... Ryan Reynolds has been freaking everywhere since he became Deadpool. I mean, we just saw him yesterday doing the voiceover for Pikachu in "Detective Pikachu" (yeah, I've got some thoughts for that too- just as a Pokémon fan going on 20 years).
I don't know if this movie is supposed to be Grand Theft Auto or an ode to video games... it starts with everyone doing what they're supposed to be doing, but then he decides to play hero and he enters another world. Not sure where it's going to lead, though

Dolittle
Yeah, this will be my first movie of next year. Anything to shake off the funk leftover from Endgame... I have not seen anything with RDJ since that movie... but it looks interesting. I'm just glad it's not going to be a remake of the Rex Harrision musical. They're taking the idea of a person who talks to animals to new heights. 
I gotta say that they're doing a bang-up job on Twitter promoting this. There was a 2 minute promo where they were auditioning the animals portraying iconic movie scenes with RDJ (without the British accent) giving feedback. It's hilarous! 

Tenet
The star of this movie is John David Washington, Denzel's son. I'd gotten to know him as Ricky Jared from "Ballers"... maybe it's that Denzel swag, but no matter how rotten his character could be at points, I could never bring myself to write him off.  All this time later, I can't remember much about this trailer, but supposedly he gets ushered into another realm called "The Afterlife" and it's an action movie. It's also directed by Christopher Nolan, so it might have some similarites to Inception.

Top Gun: Maverick
During "Noovie," they had a brief moment where they were talking about the new air-based technology they were going to use for the pilot sequences in this movie. So it makes sense that it was going to be part of this brigade of trailers. And it lookes IMPRESSIVE. I mean, it'll probably conjure up a lot of nostalgia for the fans of the original (and yeah I'm one of them), but it should be interesting to see how Maverick does as a Top Gun instructor. The fact Miles Teller will be part of it as Goose's son, that's going to make things very interesting. Unfortunately, the trailer doesn't give us a lot to go on as far what happens in the story.

Wonder Woman 84
Wonder Woman is back... and she's going to be kicking butt in the 80's... that and the fact her love interest, Steve, is mysteriously back from the dead... I don't have much more to go on. But cuz I love anything 80's, I'm game for anything!

Barb And Star Go To Vista Del Mar
I honestly don't know what the hell this is supposed to be... it's a teaser trailer that's oddly self-depracating. There's one line where they joke about sitting through 45 minutes of movie trailers and how they sometimes do that and leave right after... makes me wonder how many people are tempted to do that... 
But I feel like these are characters we should be aware of, but I'd never heard of them before. It could be completely hilarious, but I don't have a lot to go on. 

1917
I guess they're really pushing this movie. Cuz it's R-rated and they're showing a trailer for it in a theater that might include children. Granted, there's nothing R-rated in the trailer or anything over the top. But it's kinda nuts how much they're pushing this movie. On the other hand, people are saying it's supposed to be one of the best WWI movies ever made and how there aren't many about The Great War... WWII steals its thunder about as much as Vietnam does from Korea

Black Widow
FINALLY this movie is happening... and it looks like it's gonna be AMAZING. Natasha is going back to face her past and we get to meet her family. I just hope we got more flashbacks like we did during Age of Ultron to go more into her backstory because I don't know a lot. Her sister seems like she's as much a bad-ass as she is... but I just hope she doesn't wind up being her enemy the way they did with "The Girl In the Spider's Web"... I still feel ripped off that Lisbeth was nothing like "Black Widow" cuz I thought that's what I was signing up for. (That's the first and last time I'm ever watching a Dragon Tattoo movie. That and I can't stand it when a character has to constantly fight back in constraining situations)

Onward
I went into this Pixar movie before... I have no interest in seeing it, so I won't go any futher. 

Mulan
Dang, this looks impressive... at the same time, I have problems... Shun Yu has a female assassin assisting him? Mulan has a younger sister? This movie is already about female empowerment, they don't need to overdo it. I mean, wasn't China back in those days about the 1 child policy? It also looks like Shun Yu's cohort shapeshifts into his falcon- if so, that wouldn't be so bad.
But it looks like Mulan isn't going to be a klutz and there's no sign of Mushu... the movie has some light comedic moments amid the drama... are they just taking that out completely? 
I'm still going to go see it cuz I gotta, but still... It's one thing to try to be more historically accurate, but it's another to shove an agenda down our throats because that's what is "in" right now.  

...speaking of that, they did have a moment in Star Wars where there was a kiss between two females after the end of the final battle that got edited out in some foreign countries... first of all, shame of them for still being in the Dark Ages about these things. And second, to me, it wasn't too over the top. It was just one small part of the whole picture. 

Theatrical Review: Solo- A Star Wars Story

Date: Sunday June 3 2018
Location: Cinemark Theater at Stroud Mall
Time: 11:35am
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Director: Ron Howard
Writers: Jonathan and Lawrence Kasdan
Composer: John Williams

Notable Cast:
Han Solo- Alden Ehrenreich
Kira (ok, it's spelled Qi'ra officially, but I don't care)- Emilia Clarke
Chewbacca- Joonas Suotomo
Tobias Beckett- Woody Harrelson
Lando Calrissian- Donald Glover
Dryden Vos- Paul Bettany
L3-37- Phoebe Waller-Bridge (she'd never forgive me if I left her out- you'll see why later)


Duration: 135 minutes (+ 7 trailers... that seems to be a common thing now, 7 trailers at this place..)

Opening Remarks:

Two weeks after this movie came out (and the day after we saw it), the local DJ rejoiced "Star Wars is dead!"... stating how poorly this movie did at the box office and drawing attention in particular to the sharp decline from the first to the second weekend... The first weekend it only made around 90 million and the following week, it was closer to 30.

I'll start in saying this movie wasn't THAT BAD. And box office numbers aren't everything. It's just that not as many people are going to the movies anymore, whether they'd rather just stream or wait for it come on cable or they're just sick of movies in general... unless of course they're from the Marvel universe or Deadpool :P

It was the second week and there weren't many people in the theater. Maybe a dozen... and we were there early enough to get good choice of seats.

Trailers:

:sigh: almost all of these were the same trailers at the Avengers movie... so that annoyed me from the get-go. It's hard to be excited about new movies if it's the same trailers all the time.

Venom, Jurassic World, The Incredibles 2 and Ant-Man I'd already commented so, so I won't add anything more to that.

Mile 22 was a Mark Wahlberg movie and I think it's about a deadly weapon that gets stolen and needs to be retrieved... I don't remember much about it, but it's not my type of movie anyway

Mowgli, I don't know if it connects to the Jungle Book live action movie. Although they do have Cate Blanchett voicing the snake again, so I think they are connected. And he's living with man, but is also trying to figure out his identity and place in the world. It looks kind of intense for something based on an animated Disney film, but it also looks impressive.

Then there's a Queen/Freddie Mercury biopic called (what else) "Bohemian Rhapsody"... now that looks impressive. I've already heard some good things about it in passing and how the guy playing Freddie Mercury really nailed it.
...it also makes me hope that they never do this with Prince... he already did a biopic, it's called "Purple Rain"... ok, it's semi-autobiographical and the people in it are only one side of the personalities of those people in real life. Even Prince is playing a version of himself, but not being completely himself. The story itself has some truth to it, but the actual events that happened in the movie didn't actually happen in real life... yeah it's complicated, just no biopics for Prince, please, he deserves better...

The Main Event:

As one could expect, this is a prequel and origin story of sorts.
We find out how Han Solo got his name (well, his last name anyway), we get early glimpses of himself inability to follow orders and so on. Pretty much everything we know and love about our favorite scruffy looking nerfherder.
There's also a love story arc, but it doesn't go quite the way we expect. Like with a lot of this movie, I don't want to go into full details because you should probably experience it for yourself.
We also find out how Han met Chewbecca... and it's not the way I personally pictured it. I think my mom said in the book series that talks about the characters that Han rescued Chewbecca when he was young. I'm not entirely sure about this, I'm sure she'll correct me once she reads this.

As a whole, the movie started out as very relaxing for me. Which is a weird thing to say about an adventure film. But the fact is that we know Han Solo would survive this no matter what happens had me just hanging back and enjoying everything at face value.
The highlight is Han Solo himself. I'm not as in love with Harrison Ford or the character like my mom is, but I do like the guy. And there was no mistaking this was the same character. It's hard to explain, but this guy just has a certain swagger and self-assuredness that was very easy to like... even when he goes against the flow no matter who he's working with. That guy is just such a natural leader that it's difficult for him to follow anyone's orders other than his own. Heck, he even says to Leia in the first movie "I only take orders from one person: me"

His childhood friend/love interest Kira is an interesting piece of work herself... you never really know what's going on with her. They're both on this planet at the start where runaways are forced into slavery and they're trying to get off the planet. He gets off and she doesn't and he's trying to get back to her. But in the midst of his newest gig, working with Tobias Beckett (Woody Harrelson pretty much being the typical Woody- but he instills early on how you can never trust anyone and if you expect everyone you know to betray you, you'll never be disappointed... and boy does that become true later on...), he finds her in the quarters of their employer, Dryden Vos (his voice sounded so familiar that it took me a while to figure out it was Jarvis from the Iron-Man movies... of course I also know he was in movies like A Knight's Tale and A Beautiful Mind).
So Kira did get off that planet, but she doesn't seem to be completely free either. And she also comes with Han and Beckett to complete a job. They need to find some valuable raw material and make the Kessel Run in fewer than 20 parsecs to get it somewhere to be refined so it doesn't explode. In order to do that, they need a fast ship and Lando is the one who has it.

Then there's the end of the movie where you don't know where anyone stands... everyone is betraying everyone and all of it seems to be self-motivated... there's also a cameo in the movie and Kira is talking to him via intercom...  this movie is supposed to take place 10 years before A New Hope and this guy died at the end of the Phantom Menace... so I'm a little confused about that... reading the trivia, it sounds like he survived the Phantom Menace.
Maybe this will come to fruition in some sequel in the future, but based on this movie's box office numbers, I'm not sure how much of a possibility that is now.

This movie also dwells into some social commentary... almost a little too much for my tastes...
there's a story arc with this droid L3-37 that works with Lando and she's very into droid rights... there's a scene where she's decrying droid fighting and it made me think about Battle Bots and what it'd be like if these robots actually had thoughts and feelings of their own. She also talks about Lando having feelings for her that she could never return, but also subtly hints that sex is possible between humans and droids... the Internet lost its mind when the people on the movie announced that Lando was pansexual. I'm not saying that I don't want different sexualities explored in movies, but I don't like it when they're doing it to fulfill an agenda.
I will say, though, that the scene where she frees all of the droids, that was pretty epic.

There's also a heavy theme about slavery. How runaways are enslaved on that planet Han and Kira are from. The thing with the droids. But Wookies as well. Chewbecca was a prisoner when Han met him and the two of them escape together and their lifelong friendship formed from that.

As for the Kessel Run... there was talk about it in passing in the first Star Wars movie where Han is asked if his ship is fast and he says "it's the ship that made the Kessel run in less than 12 parsecs"... it was kinda cool seeing how that claim came to light.
And also how the Millennium Falcon got to be called a piece of junk by everyone to lay eyes on it throughout the series :P there was actually a point where it looked gorgeous. Then Han got to drive it and he did kinda ding it up a bit.
And true to form as well, Han won the ship from Lando in a card game... but it isn't necessarily the first game the two of them play. Let's just say that Han learns a thing or two from the scoundrels he hangs out with.

Also- it took me until the credits to find that Kira was played by Daenerys from Game of Thrones... I just don't recognize her without that wig :P I'd also only seen Game of Thrones a handful of times... my whole family is really into it, even my dad who isn't really into this stuff... I think I've seen 3 episodes EVER...

Grade: B

[Spoiler-Free] Theatrical Review: Star Wars Episode VIII- The Last Jedi

Date: Saturday December 16 2017
Time: 10am
Location: Cinemark Theater in Stroud Mall
Party: 3 (my mom, sister and I)

Writer/Director: Rian Johnson
Composer: John Williams

Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess/General Leia Organa- Carrie Fisher (RIP 2016)
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Finn- John Boyega
Rose- Kelly Marie Tran
General Hux- Domhall Gleeson
DJ- Benicio Del Toro
Vice Admiral Holdo- Laura Dern

Duration: 151 minute (+ many trailers... 8)

Opening Remarks

Only a movie like this could get me to downtown Stroudsburg this early on a Saturday. Especially when I was up a little late the night before and I had a harrowing drive home from work cuz people were going 20 miles an hour because of 2 measly inches of snow. :sigh:
Anyway, totally worth it. I definitely didn't want to wait too long because I didn't want to hear any spoilers about this one.
I think the only time I caught any spoilers for a movie was accidentally walking in to see the end of Sherlock 2... almost a year of anticipation ruined cuz I got to the theater too early and I've never gotten over it.

The theater had a few open patches throughout the main stadium seating section, but not many for three people, so we took the back row of the "orchestra" section. Roughly the same area where my mom and I saw The Judge back in 2014.

So yeah, those are two rather blatant RDJ references, but the coincidences just kept popping up. I actually had a dream about him last night where we were talking stuff and we had a nice chat. But when I asked Robert when he was going to do any non-Avenger movies, he was evasive about it. Pretty much said that being in the Marvel movies still feels like the best Halloween ever.
And coincidence again... I saw the trailer for the new Avengers movie for the first time today. Among many others... so many dang trailers! and commercials! This 10am movie wound up becoming an 10:20 movie.

Trailers

Spiderman- Into the Spider-verse
I have no idea what the hell is going on with this one. It's animated. We're following a young black teen Spider-man and we see him talking to who appears to be an older Peter Parker, asking how many there are. Dude, what the hell? Why does there have to be multiple Spider-men? It makes the whole storyline of Peter Parker randomly being bitten by a radioactive spider totally pointless. Because it makes him less special.

Early Man
I saw the movie poster for this by the ladies' room and I was saying how we'll see the trailer in the next couple months. Nope! More like the next couple minutes... it's by the same people behind Wallace & Gromit so we have an all British cast. The Stone Age meets the Bronze age, cavemen vs. Vikings (I think??). And how this tribe of cavemen had this thing of hunting rabbits. But with people like Eddie Redmayne, Timothy Spall and so on in this, how can it not be good?

Every Day
Man, after seeing this trailer, I said "I have to read this book"... I somehow get the feeling that movie won't be quite as good as the book, but it's a really cool idea. And I'm sure that the LGBT crowd will love it too because all kinds of relationships come into place. Basically, it's about a girl and another person who wakes up as a different person every day- and each person happens to be someone that this girl knows. Sometimes they're a guy and sometimes they're a girl and the main girl falls in love with this person's soul. So many possibilities, but one thing is clear- it's going to be a tearjerker at the end and it's going to probably suck, but I'm willing to take that risk.

Jurassic World- Fallen Kingdom
I'm afraid the movie is going to get so hyped that by the time it comes out, it's going to be kinda disappointing. I just know my dad is super excited about it and there are very few movies he gets THIS excited about. The two of us had seen every one of these movies in the theater, so that tradition will for sure continue.
The story here seems to be that the island is going to be destroyed by a volcano eruption and Owen and Claire have to try to save all the dinosaurs. Lots of crap happens and we have an Ian Malcolm cameo where he says his most famous line from the original movie "Life will find a way." Well, we shall see, won't we?

Rampage
Yikes, they're hyping up this Dwayne Johnson movie as much as San Andreas and it's probably just as doomed to fail. It's kinda like Mighty Joe Young meets King Kong meets genetic engineering and we have to save a city from being taken over by mutant animals.

Samson
It takes place in 1170 BC in Israel and it's about the Biblical figure infamous for his hair. No idea how this is going to turn out, but at quick glance (and it was a very short quick trailer), they may finally do a Biblical movie where people can't complain about it being whitewashed. If anything, the next movie demonstrates that movies are more diverse than they've ever been

A Wrinkle in Time
I'd heard this movie was coming because Oprah Winfrey and Mindy Kaling are among the cast members. I know it's based on the Madeline L'Engle children's book (which I've never read). It looks a lot more epic than the book entails. It's about this girl whose dad is with NASA and he supposedly disappears and she may discover where he's really been this whole time. The visual effects look amazing and I have no idea what is going on. Maybe with more time and more promotion from the large cast of characters, it'll become more clear

Avengers: The Infinity War
This really was the last trailer they showed- I'm not slotting it last for any special emphasis. But yeah, I think Thanos is coming to Earth looking for the other infinity stones to put on his gauntlets. The Vision has a stone on his forehead and it may be taken away from him. I see Loki, I see Doctor Strange, Black Widow is blonde for some stupid reason (dude, this character is a redhead, you can't bloody change that!)... and maybe Captain America has been off the radar for a while because they seem to be welcoming him back kinda how Superman was welcomed back in the Justice League movie, except Steve Rogers grew his hair out a bit.
Seriously, it looks like EVERYONE in the Marvel Cinematic Universe is going to be here and lots of crap is going to happen. There isn't much dialogue, more narration, so I don't know what's going on. I just know there were only a couple of Tony Stark/Iron-Man screenshots and when he's out of his armor, Tony just looks lost and confused like his PTSD from Iron-Man 3 is coming back and he can't handle it.
I mean, I'd almost welcome him being killed off because I'm dying for Robert to do some other projects... even though I'm kinda over Tony Stark, it would still be sad to lose him.

Ok, I'm done. Now for...

The Main Event

In a nutshell- Episode VII was about finding Luke Skywalker and the Resistance rebels destroying yet another version of the Death Star.
This movie, Episode VIII is about the aftermath of the former and the Resistance fighting to survive to fight another day while being actively pursued by the First Order.
The way this movie was put together, it almost felt like the subsequent Star Wars movies after the original. The crew is split apart and we're following 3 different groups of characters.
We have Rey on that far-off planet trying to convince Luke Skywalker to rejoin the Rebellion (or in this case, The Resistance) and she's also having several via-the-Force conversations with Kylo Ren.
We have Finn and his new comrade Rose, who are going to another planet to find a code-breaker to help disengage the tracking device that's allowing the First Order to pursue Resistance ships.
And we have Poe Dameron trying by all means necessary to buy them the time to do so.
Of course, we also have a few scenes where we're following the bad guys. General Hux and Supreme Ruler Snoke (who we get to see "in the flesh" in this movie... opposed to a hologram in the previous installment)... but we really care more about the good guys, right?

So, I had one wish for this movie after seeing the previous one... GIVE OSCAR ISAAC MORE SCREEN TIME... the previous movie had him either in the cock pilot or simply M.I.A. after his ship crashed on Jakku (good on him lobbying with J.J. Abrams to not kill off his character and they basically rewrote the movie because of him... after seeing him play a couple of not-so-nice roles, I was really glad what they gave him here).
And boy was my wish granted... couldn't be happier.
The guy is pretty reckless as a pilot, but damn, he's so good at what he does. Of course, that does land him in hot water with authority, but characters like him are always great when they're done by charismatic actors like him. Some pretty hilarious moments. But the best part was where Leia and her Vice Admiral mutually agree about him in their last scene together.. I wish I remembered the exact dialogue, but it was pretty much saying how much of a rebel he is, but despite that, they like him.

Kylo Ren still has a bit of a temper on him and that does come into play. (Particularly in the last battle scene- one of the best scenes in the movie by far and I'm sure people are already talking heaps about it). But we also get to see more of that vulnerable side of him that's conflicted. He and Rey have these odd conversations that randomly start happening, where she learns what happened to him and Luke's Jedi Temple and there seems to be a chance they'll be allies. How things go down, though, it's hard to predict. Even going into the final movie, I don't know how it's going to go and that's kinda exciting.
Some people who saw the last movie complained about him not being threatening because we see him without the mask. Supreme Ruler Snook actually has a bit of dialogue a lot of those people could agree with... don't bother with the helmet because he comes off as (again, I can't remember the exact dialogue) a child wearing a mask.
Domhall Gleeson (son of British acting great Brenden Gleeson) returns as the First Order general, so full of snark, but it's kinda funny how his authority gets undermined throughout this movie. Each person gives him their unique dose of that.

Former Storm Trooper Finn finds a new partner in Rose, whose sister was involved in the big battle scene at the beginning of the movie. She's a new character and in some ways, the heart of the movie. She and her sister came from the very same planet the two of them are visiting to find the code-breaker and we learn how they came from some sad circumstances where they were basically weapons test subjects as children. She's a prime example of why things need to change in the world, why the Resistance exists in the first place. The code-breaker they wind up meeting is played by Benicio Del Toro and like with many of the characters he plays (although I only have his Bond villain to go by personally), you never really know what to expect. Either way, it makes things interesting.

Going by the Empire Strikes Back, I was sure this movie would have a cliff-hanger ending. Throughout the final battle scene (where the Resistance evacuates to another planet with an abandoned rebel base), there were at least 3 moments where I thought the movie would end and I was oddly ok with that. But the way it does, it's not a cliff-hanger, but we are still left wondering how the hell the good guys are going to completely defeat the bad guys.
But in the same fashion as Once Upon a Time (a show I'd been meaning to do a write-up on because I decided last season was my final season. I want nothing to do with it without Emma Swan and certainly not after the previous season finale broke my heart a million times), you always have to have hope...

I'm not giving anything major away, but Luke Skywalker does get involved (with everything that's happened, why wouldn't he?) and it is absolutely epic.
The movie is extremely character-driven and you kinda need to care about these characters to be invested. While it stays true to the mythology of the original trilogy, there are moments of humor that have a modern feel to them. Meaning that they are a little over the top and obvious and sometimes they're self-deprecating.
But this audience really enjoyed this movie. There were laughs at the right times. A couple moments had some cheering because a character got what they deserved. There was even a moment where the movie went dead silent and I heard people making some random comments throughout it, so into it. And of course, we all clapped at the end, because, why wouldn't we? Ultimately, it's movies like this that are the reason why the theater experience exists and why it will never go. Nor should it.

Grade: A
(You can't beat the original and never will... but this was better put than the previous one, which I enjoyed, but there were areas where I thought it could be better. With this one, I have a feeling I'm just going to be finding new things every time I watch it. And sometimes, that's the best part of revisiting movies, other than seeing old friends again) 

Theatrical Review: Star Wars- Rogue One

Date: Sunday December 18 2016
Time: 12:45pm
Location: Pocono Movieplex (theatre 5)
Party: 3 (my mom, sister & I)

Director: Gareth Edwards (directed the recent "Godzilla" remake)
Writers: Chris Weitz (directed "New Moon"), Tony Gilroy (wrote for the "Bourne" franchise), John Knoll (apparently this movie was based on an idea he had while working on previous parts of the "Star Wars" franchise in the visual effects department), and Gary Whitta (wrote "Book of Eli" and is now working on "Sherlock 3"
Composer: Michael Giacchino

Cast:
Jyn Erso- Felicity Jones
Cassian Andor- Diego Luna
Chirrut Îmwe (the blind jedi)- Donnie Yen
Baze Malbus (the mercenary)- Jiang Wen
K2-SO- Alan Tudyk
Bodhi (the Imperial pilot)- Riz Ahmed
Galen Erso- Mads Mikkelsen
Saw Gerrara- Forest Whitaker
Orson Krennic- Ben Mendelsohn

Duration: 134 minutes (+2 trailers)

Write-up:

Opening Comments

My mom tried to talk my sister out of seeing the movie with us. Hearing rumors of its PG13 meaning a lot of bloodshed and a high body count, she thought it might be too much. In the end, it all turned out okay. My sister liked it and we all have a good time of it.

The theater started empty at first. Just us three and one other person. Then little by little, people started trickling in... when the movie was already starting.
We got there early just to be sure we got a seat and we didn't have to sift through the dark and maybe we were too early, but still...

Trailers:

Thankfully we didn't start with a million commercials and got right to the trailers. That might have had something to do with the fact we had to tell the people in the theater to run it... it was a slow day. Kinda miserable outside with cold and rain, but it wasn't too bad. Nor was the snow the previous day.

Anyway, trailers...

we had the teaser trailer for the latest "Pirates of the Carribeean" again.

But afterwards, we had "Logan," which sounds like the last Wolverine/X-Men movie on Hugh Jackman's contract. It looks like a post-X-men world where Logan and Professor Xavier are the last mutants left. But then there's a girl with mutant powers who they need to protect from authorities. The overall look: it reminds me a bit of the Avengers movies. So maybe Marvel studios has more influence here- compared to the other parts of this franchise that's otherwise been independent.

The Main Event:

Within the first ten minutes, this movie sets itself apart from all its predecessors in two ways. And it all has to do with the iconic title screen and crawl.

What we have in a nutshell is the following: we're following the members of the Rebel Alliance who steal the plans for the Death Star.

Our main protagonist is thrust into the plot because of her father, Galen, who is the engineer who built the Death Star. While he is the very reason for its existence (in that it's a powerful planet-destroying space station), he is also a big part of its inevitable destruction.
Those who follow the Star Wars franchise will find this particularly interesting because it answers a few questions and criticisms.

After Felicity Jones earned Oscar buzz for "The Theory of Everything," she'd gotten a lot of good roles and this will probably go down as one of her best. She's the person that we experience the movie through, physically and emotionally.
It's also interesting to see Mads Mikkelsen in this after seeing him as a villain in "Doctor Strange." A bit of a different role for him and just as complex.

Cassian Andor is the head of the mission and he's interesting in that you don't entirely know which side he's on until the movie progresses far enough. The Rebel Alliance was a united front in the previous installments, but it's oddly disjointed in this film because these times are uncertain. Especially with the threat of the Death Star becoming more and more real every passing second.
But he's one of my favorite characters for sure.

One article previewing this movie said that the blind jedi would be a scene stealer and that couldn't be more true. Chirrut Îmwe was simply a bad-ass. And he and his buddy Baz Malbus are a great combination that offers the few moments of comic relief this movie has- but both are strong additions to the alliance.

The main villain is Orson Krennic. Just seeing him on screen makes the hairs on your neck prick up. With that stage presence, you know nothing good is going to come. But he does have superiors to answer to and they're not to be taken lightly either.

The slow scenes- while they're good for character development, they had trouble holding my attention and I was close to falling asleep once or twice. But the actions scenes are so well done that they help make up for that.

For those familiar with the franchise, this film has a foregone conclusion that's easy to guess, but it's interesting to see how that destination is reached. It still keeps you on the edge of your seat through the course of the last 45 minutes.

And without giving too much away, there are some pretty cool cameos throughout the film. Some come about with the help of the latest CGI technology. It's pretty impressive.

Grade: A

[Spoiler Free] Theatrical Review: Star Wars Episode VII- The Force Awakens

Date: Friday December 18 2015
Time: 11am
Location: Pocono Movieplex
Party: 3 (my sister, mom and I)

Duration: 136 minutes (+ 6 trailers)

Director: J.J. Abrams
Writers: J.J. Abrams, Lawrence Kasdan, Michael Arndt
Composer: John Williams


Cast:
Rey- Daisy Ridley
Finn- John Boyega
Poe Dameron- Oscar Isaac
Kylo Ren- Adam Driver
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Maz Kanata- Lupita Nyong'o
Former Princess, now General Leia- Carrie Fisher
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill

Opening Remarks and Trailers:

It wasn't my intention to see the movie the day it came out... but I also didn't want to wait too long. God forbid there are a couple nerds that plaster social media with spoilers and break the non-verbal contract of non-posting for a couple weeks after its release... 


There was a small line in front of the box office, namely because it didn't open until 15 minutes before the start time. The theater was half-full, not super crowded by the time the movie started. Most arrived during the previews.

And leave it to the BIG movies where they have multiple previews.
1) we walked in at the end of "Alice in Wonderland: Through the Looking Glass"- we saw it a couple movies ago for the first time
2) "Allegiant"- I'm going to keep asking until I see it- why do we need two movies for this final book?
3) "Captain America: Civil War"- oy, the tension in the room [in the trailer itself] on this one... right now, I can see this from both sides. it's also a good thing that RDJ is booked for two more Avengers movies because it wasn't looking good for Iron-Man with that Captain America/Winter Soldier tag team.
4) "X-Men: Apocalypse"- this is the final X-men movie in this franchise, I think, and they're pulling out all the stops. Oscar Isaac is in this one as well, but other than his voice [not iconic yet], there was no sign of him. It definitely looks like an end-game type of story that explains how Professor Xavier went bald, but like the way he became paralyzed in this franchise, I'm not completely on board.
5) Another "Batman v Superman" trailer, but different than the same damn one I'd been complaining about these last several reviews. Disappointed because Ben Affleck seems to be doing that stupid Bat-voice Christian Bale ruined the character with... Excited to see Wonder Woman get in the action and about the possibility all three can come together to defeat a common enemy

The final preview- for Disney's "Zootopia" elicited a groan from me. But there was a scene that so hilariously fit how I was feeling at the time that all was forgiven :P It involves sloths at the DMV...

Review:

The subtitle really should be "reawakens" but that would be a little too pretentious and self-aware...

I had a literal "Fan Boys" moment when the words "a long time ago in a galaxy far far away..." appeared on the screen... then the movie and the text crawl...
Basically, it brought us up to speed on what we can expect from the state of the galaxy, which, appeasing the nervous Luke Skywalker fangirls, includes him.

Going in, I didn't go through the trouble of dissecting all of the interviews and trailers. But thanks to one particular picture, I actually guessed one plot point involving Poe Dameron (new hot-shot X-wing pilot played by Oscar Isaac) and Finn (John Boyega) a storm-trooper who's gone rouge.
An unlikely collaboration with some great action-packed results.

Right away, I really liked all of the new characters and the actors who portrayed them. Unless he gets saddled with a traitorous storyline in a future sequel that's of Lando Calarissan proportions, Oscar Isaac doesn't need to worry about people not liking Poe Dameron.
The only real downside is that he has the least screentime of the three new core cast members. And the majority of his scenes are in the X-wing cockpit. For me, that's about as satisfying as having RDJ in the Iron-Man suit-- occasionally, you see his face, but he's not the one doing all the acting.
But that's just me personal nit-picking...

Daisy Ridley plays Rey, a scavenger who lives on the planet Jakku (think desert planet Tatooine, but with one less sun). You thought Princess Leia was a strong female character. You thought Luke Skywalker was a reluctant hero. She's the combination of these two archetypes and does it amazingly. Assuming she does more in her acting career than this franchise, she's going to be the biggest new star to come out of it.

Finn gives us a perspective that we probably didn't think to explore until he presented us with the opportunity. How does one come a storm trooper? What makes them tick? Do they have any free will? And is it possible one to stop being a storm trooper?
His greatest highlights come from how he interacts with the other characters. Also finding out whether he will be able to rise to the occasion when he's in the trenches- either on the ground or manning the guns on a spacecraft. For anyone who hasn't seen a Star Wars movie before, he's the one that can be identified with the most because they're discovering their way through this crazy fictional world together, basically.

In one trailer, which was basically cast interviews on set, there was a lot of talk about doing these trilogy right. It would have real sets and rely much less on CGI.
There are also a lot of elements in the storyline, dialogue and otherwise that harken back to the original franchise. Particularly the notion Rey and Finn wind up with the task integral to fulfilling the plot. And along the way they do run into Han Solo and Chewbecca, which of course is awesome itself.

As for the First Order, which is the new wave of storm troopers and enemy forces, we find our new mega villain known as the Snoke- who is particularly this giant ugly CGI character being played by Andy Serkis, a new general (Domnhall Gleeson is kinda like Peter Cushing's character in the first Star Wars movie except he has ginger hair), a female storm trooper platoon leader (never see her face, but we hear her- she's Finn's former commander). And of course we have our main villain Kylo Ren, who probably carries the most spoilers of anybody so I can't say all that much. But there's one aspect of his personality that generates one of the movie's funniest moments-- probably the closest the theater came to breaking out in full hilarity.

Another character I hope to see more in the future sequels is played by Lupita Nyong'o. She's another motion-capture role, so we see her expressions and her voice in a different body. I wouldn't exactly say she's like another Yoda, but she is wise and helpful to our protagonists.

Beyond that- the movie plays out really well from start to finish. There's a lot of great laughs and gripping action sequences- some where we were holding our breath. There are plenty of twists as well as room for sequels. There's a lot of potential with these new characters the way they're written. As a big fan of the series in general, all the hype leading up to this was met and I can't wait for more.
Heck, my mom wants to see it in 3D- which I probably won't be up for unless we can bring in someone else who hadn't seen it with us the first time.
One day later, she had a talk with my sister because she gave away a big spoiler from the movie at a workplace Christmas party... yeah, unfortunately, it's probably not the kind of movie you can talk about in full for awhile.

But it seriously should have been considered one of the best movies of the year.
I hadn't seen the Mad Max movie from this year. One of my aunts saw it and said it was great. But the reviews overall are uneven, so I cannot trust it be given "best movie of the year"- certainly not by IMDB. They're great with trivia, but their ratings system isn't idiot proof...

But yeah, this Star Wars movie has to be one of the best movies this year. Definitely the best movie I saw this year... which probably suggests that it was a sucky year for movies... more on that in a future entry.

Grade: A+

12. Star Wars (1977)

Code-name: C3PO

Writer/Director: George Lucas
Composer: John Williams
Type: Dramedy, Sci-fi Space Adventure

Cast:
Luke Skywalker- Mark Hamill
Princess Leia- Carrie Fisher
Han Solo- Harrison Ford
Chewbacca- Peter Mayhew
Obi-Wan Kenobi- Sir Alec Guinness
R2D2- Kenny Baker
C3PO [human-cyborg relations]- Anthony Daniels
Darth Vader- (person) David Prowse (voice) James Earl Jones
Commander Tarkin- Peter Cushing

Notable Awards and Nominations:
OSCAR- Best Art Direction
OSCAR- Best Costume Design
OSCAR- Best Sound
OSCAR- Best Film Editing
OSCAR- Best Visual Effects

OSCAR- Best Original Score

OSCAR- Special Achievement Award- Ben Burtt (for creating alien, creature, robot voices and sound effects)
nomination-OSCAR- Best Picture

nomination-OSCAR- Best Director- George Lucas

nomination-OSCAR- Best Original Screenplay- George Lucas
nomination-OSCAR- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
Golden Globe- Best Original Score- John Williams
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Director- George Lucas
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Supporting Actor- Alec Guinness
nomination-Golden Globe- Best Picture- Drama
Grammy- Best Album of Original Score written for TV/Movie- John Williams
Grammy- Best Instrumental Composition- John Williams
Grammy- Best Pop Instrumental Performance- John Williams
nomination-Grammy-Album of the Year- John Williams

Write-up:

A long time ago... okay, not really

On one of their first dates, my dad took my mom to see "Star Wars"... and he'd regretted it ever since :P to be fair, though, he will set through the movies with us anyway

It's probably her biggest obsession, which turned out to be contagious. But I also got her hooked on "Twilight" and other YA books and adaptations, so I guess we're even ;)

Plot

[I feel sorry for anyone who hasn't experienced "Star Wars"... but if you've been around for a couple decades, you seriously should have no excuse at this point

Potential Minor Spoilers Ahead]

"A long time ago in a galaxy far far away..."

Rebel forces are fighting against the Evil Galactic Empire. Among these rebels, Princess Leia of the planet Alderaan. After obtaining secret plans that could dismantle the empire's greatest weapon, The Death Star, she is captured by Darth Vader, but not before giving the plans to the droid R2D2. Together with his counterpart C3PO, the two droids take an escape pod, landing on the desert planet Tatooine.
After coming into the possession of Luke Skywalker, R2D2 quickly departs to find Obi-Wan Kenobi per Princess Leia's request, Luke and C3PO with no choice but to follow. Obi-Wan enlists Luke to come with him and hires smuggler Han Solo and his co-pilot Chewbacca to transport them and the droids to Alderaan. Meanwhile, throughout this journey, Obi-Wan starts to instruct Luke in the ways of The Force, to become a Jedi knight.

CharactersFor so many, this movie (and its sequels) is all about its memorable characters.

Luke Skywalker has been living with his aunt and uncle this whole life and by this point, all of his friends have left to join the Rebels. Like many future heroes, he wants to trade his present circumstances in for a new destiny. He's eager to learn, but clearly has a lot of maturing to do.

Princess Leia was probably cinema's first sassy princess. Before her inevitable capture in the opening sequence, she at least attempts to take control of the situation beforehand. She also takes charge during her rescue and gives Han Solo a run for his money. It's also hard to forget her iconic "bagel" hairstyle.

Han Solo is our loveable scruffy-looking ("who's scruffy looking?".. sorry, wrong "Star Wars" movie) scoundrel. Between this movie and "Indiana Jones," my mom fell in love with Harrison Ford. Windows (Jay Baruchel) from "Fanboys" boasted the fact Harrison Ford played both these roles made him the best actor of all time.
Going by this film alone, we learn he's a smuggler working for galactic gangster Jabba the Hutt who lives life on his own terms. He's also not a bad pilot. It's also to his credit that when he claims he wants out of the main action, he always comes through where it counts. He commands the Millennium Falcon with Chewbacca, a Wookie that happens to be his best friend. They'd been together for so long that Han Solo understands him (hmm... makes me wonder if the people behind "Guardians of the Galaxy" drew inspiration from that for the relationship between Rocket and Groot).

Obi-Wan Kenobi will probably go down as one of the best mentors in the history of movies. He's someone you can respect without question, something that can also be said about his portrayer, Sir Alec Guinness. Rumor has it that the other actors were on their best behavior when he was on set. As for the rest of the time... let's just say they were more relaxed.

We have the dynamic duo of droids. R2D2 being the optimist to C3PO's worrywart pessimist, a staple throughout the Star Wars film series.

Then we have our villain, Darth Vader. With deep booming voice and imposing presence, how can one not be intimidated? Not to mention he has a whopping 12 minutes of screen time in this first film of the series. Perhaps this was George Lucas's homage to many great villains of cinema: the less we see of them and what they do with that minimal screen time, the more we fear them.Additional CommentsI don't remember when I first saw "Star Wars." I do know it was the unedited original version and it was on TV. When they re-released it with all the edits, we saw it in theaters for the re-release and it was pretty awesome. This is one of those great movies simply made for the theatrical experience. Those who saw it in the 70's for the first time, it must have been the biggest nerdgasm ever. For that time, the special effects had have been mind-blowing because their likeness had never been seen before.
The one negative that fanboys take away from the "special edition"... it erased the fact that "Han shot first" (citing his Mos Eisley cantina showdown with Greedo). Don't believe me? Look up footage from Jon Favreau at the San Diego Comic-Con promoting "Iron-Man" and listen for the cheers when he says "Han shot first."I know quite a bit of "Star Wars" trivia, but there's just too much for me to go into. Besides, my mom probably knows more since she's also read a lot of residual fiction the movie generated.

In my Greek Mythology class, we actually rewatched the movie because we were studying heroic journeys in myth and how George Lucas paid homage to them with the film.

John Williams is a regular collaborator of Steven Spielberg's, producing the best movie scores in the business. His "Star Wars" score with the London Symphonic Orchestra is probably my favorite cinematic source ever... and I can't quite explain why. It is just so epically awesome. It also has a great range of emotions that fits perfectly with every scene, almost like it's its own character in the film.

I won't go into all the sequels and prequels because that'd make this entry longer than it needs to be. But my mom and I saw the prequels in theaters the weekend they came out.

Homages and parodies are pretty much endless.
The best homage I can think of was "Fanboys," which I reviewed very early on in this countdown.
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2013/03/90-fanboys-2009.html
Sure, it might a gross stereotype that all Star Wars fans are men that never grew up, still live at home in their parents' garages (sorry, carriage houses) and quote the movies on a regular basis... but so what? The project was obviously done with love.
And "Spaceballs" as well
http://moviegoerconfessions.blogspot.com/2014/01/43-spaceballs-1987.html

[I highly doubt anyone has paid any huge attention to my countdown, but those who have should have seen this entry coming based on those two films... by coincidence, the "Austin Powers" movie I included spoofed a "Star Wars" quote in a moment that goes from serious to mocking in record time]As for parodies...
Robot Chicken has done all kinds of stuff regarding Star Wars, most is pretty ridiculous. Three sketches come to mind for me:
1) Emperor Palpatine talking to Darth Vader after the first Death Star exploded and more or less spends most of the exchange laughing at him to anyone else listening
2) the Mos Eisley scene where Luke gets into trouble with some locations and we see the subtitles for the creature that gets his arm cut off by Obi-Wan... let's just say they misinterpreted his grunting in the movie
3) [my favorite] George W. Bush has a dream that he becomes a Jedi Knight, does a few Jedi mind tricks, defeats Abraham Lincoln at the Memorial ("That'll teach you, George Washington!") and after he wakes up, he gets Tacos
...heck, I like it so much I got the link to share it. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bfiaGungQsg

Then Family Guy got a hold of it....
Some of it is pretty funny, so much so that we got all the DVDs.
But there are still some issues:
1) other than the fact Cleveland is one of Peter's best friends, why he plays R2D2 instead of Lando Calrissian is beyond me, as is the fact Lando is played by Mort the pharmacist in black face when he'd already played a character in Episode IV
2) poor Meg! only got two small parts as creatures and no lines
3) casting Mr. Herbert the elderly gay pedophile as Obi-Wan does the late Alec Guinness a GROSS injustice... and don't get me started on the Dirty Dancing theme "I've Had the Time of My Life" being his last farewell to Luke :facepalm:

The best part, though, has to be Stewie as Darth Vader. If anything, it might appease the fanboys that were turned off by the end of Episode III.

And apparently there's also a secret war going on between Seth McFarlane and Seth Green... listen to the commentary in Luke & Darth Vader's final lightsaber fight, it's pretty vicious.

As for the whole Star Wars vs. Star Trek thing... all I gotta ask is why Star Wars fans don't have a cute nickname like Trekkies to call themselves?
Just saying...

Coming Next Week

first, gotta say a few words for Richard Attenborough.
I only knew him as Mr. Hammond in the "Jurassic Park" movies, Kris Kringle in the Mara Wilson remake of "Miracle on 34th Street."

Also one of those great actors who took a turn in the director's chair and did a pretty damn good job of it. "Gandhi" starring Sir Ben Kingsley earned him Oscars for Best Picture and Best Director. He also directed Robert Downey Jr. in "Chaplin," his first truly respectable role that earned him his first Oscar nomination.

Which brings me to #10 on my countdown: my favorite Charlie Chaplin film.

Again, I say I put this list together a couple years ago, but I couldn't ask for a better lead-in than paying tribute to one of Hollywood's last great figures.

RIP Lord Attenborough

EDIT: Relevant nonetheless, apparently I forgot how to count backwards...
I am up to ELEVEN... which got me forever hooked on reading and watching book-to-movie adaptations