Like many Star Wars fans, I am eagerly counting down the days until Episode 8 hits theaters. Thanks in no small part to J.J. Abrams, we are once more hungry to return to a galaxy far far away.
Starring Felicity Jones (Catherine Moreland in the 2007 Northanger Abbey) as Jyn Erso, this film looks to be the morsel the fans will need to cling to until next December. Jyn is a badass, a woman who is not afraid to break the rules. I like her already.
And for me, personally, this film bring together two of my favorite fandoms.
Whether it is true to the Star Wars universe and the narrative, is to be seen. I can only hope that it will be.
Star Wars, despite the appearance of being the standard science fiction boys club, has a strong feminist streak. Even with the lack of female characters, the simple act of Princess Leia (Carrie Fisher) grabbing the blaster and shooting at the storm troopers in Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope forever changed how women are portrayed in the science fiction genre.
Unfortunately, that feminist streak does not extend to all areas of the Star Wars Universe.
Any Star Wars fan knows that with the premiere of the movie comes the plethora of new merchandise. The one question that fans, especially young female fans, were asking was #WheresRey.
Hasbro claimed that they withheld from producing Rey merchandise because they did not want to give away the plot before the film’s premiere.
Pardon my French, but that is b*llshit.
This is not the first time Hasbro has done this.
With the release of the most recent The Avengers film last year, many fans asked the same question with the lack of the Black Widow action figure.
Wake up Hasbro. It is the 21st century. There is absolutely nothing wrong with boys playing with a female action figure. Women are just as loud and proud (and shockingly have money to pay for memorabilia) about their fandoms as men. It’s time they were represented in the toy stores.
In related news, NY Post columnist Kyle Smith called out the fact Carrie Fisher is no longer the younger woman that she was when A New Hope premiered (again, shocking). Her response is brilliant.
News flash, we all get older. Our bodies change. The figure we had at twenty may not be the figure we have at fifty. Ms. Fisher is also a mother. Having a child forever changes your body.
Kyle Smith, being a man, will never have the experience of being a woman who is judged by her looks and put aside after a certain age because she has gotten older.
Bravo, Carrie Fisher.
Star Wars is 39 this year.
There is no one on the planet who does not know something about the series. It’s legacy of feminism and strong women will live on and continue to inspire women to speak up and fight for what they believe in.
If you asked me to choose between these two movies for top movies of the year, I honestly could not. Star Wars: The Force Awakens reminded me why I have been a fan since high school. It was everything that the first three films were and then some. Brooklyn was the perfect film. Fully formed characters, a plot that anyone can relate to, and of course, it takes place in my home town.
Another surefire award winner, Trumbo is the story of screenwriter Dalton Trumbo (Bryan Cranston). One of the most respected and highest paid screenwriters in the 1940’s and 1950’s, Dalton Trumbo was part of the Hollywood Ten. Accused of being a communist, Trumbo is jailed and nearly forfeits his career.
Maud Watts (Carey Mulligan) is an ordinary woman who is pulled into the pre-World War I feminist movement in Britain. Choosing between her family and her new-found beliefs, Maud must make some hard decisions. A reminder of why we still need the feminist movement, this film is a reminder of not just how far we have come, but how far we need to go.
Years ago, Ricki Randazzo (Meryl Streep) gave up the life of an ordinary suburban wife and mother to become a rock and roll singer. That plan has not worked out so well and Ricki must face the turmoil from her ex-husband and her children.
Several years after the original movie, the girl are back. When a performance does not go as planned and embarrasses the Bellas, Becca (Anna Kendrick) & Co must pull together and remind the rest of the world why they are the Barden Bellas.
Bathsheba Everdene (Carey Mulligan) has recently inherited her late uncle’s house and his fortune. Based on the book by Thomas Hardy, Bathsheba has no interest in marrying. But three men come forward who present her with a glimpse of what married life could be.
In this new-age e-commerce film, Ben (Robert DeNiro) is a retiree with too much time on his hands. Jules (Anne Hathaway) is the owner of an online fashion company that is looking to senior interns. While the premise was interesting, the writing felt like it was lacking.
Macbeth (Michael Fassbender) is one of the most respected and well-known Shakespeare plays. That does not mean that it translates well to the screen every time. While the individual pieces of the film are fine, they don’t work together as well as they should.
With the release of Episode 7 of Star Wars this weekend, I think it’s time I ranked all of the movies in the series so far. From worst to best, below is my definitive ranking of the Star Wars movies.
Everything that is wrong with this movie can be summed up in three words: Jar-Jar Binks. George Lucas nearly turned what was a respected and beloved film series into just another overblown, special effects driven, weak on plot and character science fiction film. Even with the likes of respected actors Liam Neeson, Natalie Portman and Ewan McGregor could not save this film from being just plain awful.
In attempting to placate fans and make up for the awfulness that is The Phantom Menace, George Lucas moved the story forward. Replacing Jake Lloyd as a young Anakin with Hayden Christensen as a teenage Anakin did nothing for this film. It continued to be just another overblown, special effects driven, weak on plot and character science fiction film. Thank you, George Lucas for nearly killing what was good and pure and true in Star Wars.
In the final prequel of the Star Wars Series, George Lucas makes the second attempt to placate fans, again making up for the awfulness that is Episode I and II, while tying up the story lines that will lead to the Episodes 4, 5 and 6. While this film was the best of the prequels, it still does not hold up to the first three films.
This movie is an icon by itself. Without it, the movies today would not be what they are. In a sense, the story is a copy of the science fiction novels and books of the past, but it is so much more. It is entertaining, it is fun and it takes the audience out of their world and into a new one for a couple of hours. In short, it is perfect.
Finally, Star Wars fans have a worthy successor to the first three films. Director and co-writer J.J. Abrams took out what did not work in the prequels and returned Star Wars to what it was. Practical effects, a nice mix of older cast members and newbies and a plot that feels true to the Star Wars universe makes for a dam good film.
The final film of the first three in the series begins with the rescue of Han from Jabba’s lair. It ends with a satisfying conclusion. The empire is defeated, Darth Vader has returned to the light side and our heroes have won. All of the strings are tied together perfectly. But that did not keep fans from wanting more.
Empire is the best of all of the films for a reason. Expanding the universe and the plot lines, the characters feel less 2-D and more 3-D. Breaking from their 1940’s science fiction molds, each character is given the chance to grow and change in new ways. And of course, there is one of the most famous revelations in film history:
Here’s hoping episodes 8 & 9 are just as good as 4-7 and nota repeat of 1-3.
This weekend was the weekend that Star Wars fans have been waiting and hoping for. Star Wars: The Force Awakens finally premiered.
It takes place three decades after Return Of The Jedi ended. The old Empire is a thing of the past. But the dark side lingers. The new leader of the empire is Kylo Ren (Adam Driver). He is driven by one goal: to find and kill the last Jedi knight, Luke Skywalker (Mark Hamill). But Luke has disappeared without a trace.
Luke’s sister, the former Princess now General Leia Organa (Carrie Fisher) is still the head of the rebellion. She sends her best pilot, Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac) to locate her brother. While his mission is still in progress, Poe is captured by the empire, but a storm trooper with second thoughts about his life choices, Finn (John Boyega) helps Poe to escape. Crash landing on the planet, Jakku, Finn is helped by Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger whose family abandoned her long ago. Poe’s droid, BB8, holds the key to finding Luke.
Rey, Finn and BB8 find the Millennium Falcon while escaping the Empire. This brings Han Solo (Harrison Ford) and Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew) back into the fold.
Can our heroes, both new and old, defeat the new empire or will the empire win?
When it was announced several years ago that Disney had acquired the rights to Star Wars and J.J. Abrams was to direct Episode 7, many among the fan community were concerned. As much as I like Disney films, they are a world apart from Star Wars. Thankfully J.J. Abrams (who is also a fan) and co-writers Lawrence Kasdan (who had a hand in Empire Strikes Back and Return Of The Jedi) and Michael Arndt wisely returned to the elements that made the first three films instant classics: a solid story, excellent actors and practical effects.
As the director, J.J. Abrams wisely utilized film to shoot as a pose to digital cameras. The film feels very much like the first three films: fresh, fun and entertaining.
One of my favorite elements of the film is Kylo Ren. Unlike Darth Vader, there is still a humanity to him. He is a nuanced villain whose reasons I will not give away, but I will say that he is not simply a villain because the film needed one. Another element of the film that I loved as a female fan was the element of not just more women, but strong female characters. Besides Rey and Leia,there is Maz Kanata (Lupita Nyong’o), a Yoda like figure and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie) a female captain of the empire. My only quarrel with the filmmakers was a scene where one the female characters was briefly a damsel in distress, which felt out-of-place for her, but that is all I say.
The movie clocks in at around two hours. Normally I would say that a movie that is two hours should have left some scenes for the extras section of the DVD, but for Star Wars, I will make allowances.
And, if any of my fellow Janeites have also seen this film, they will see a performer who has in the past, played a role in an adaptation of a Jane Austen novel. Her time on-screen is brief, and I will not give away who she is, but she is there.
Do I recommend it? Absolutely.
Star Wars: The Force Awakens is presently in theaters.
Ask any parent and they will tell you that their child’s education is paramount to their future success. Education does not begin when the child enters the classroom for the first time, it begins from the moment they are born.
Education begins with words and reading.
Books for the 0-2 age set are very simple. They are colors, numbers and shapes. Physically speaking, they are often board books.
Authors and twin brothers Jack and Holman Wang have taken a revolutionary approach to these board books. Simplifying recognized classics (Emma, Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre, Tom Sawyer, etc), they have created Cozy Classics, board books that shrink the plots of these classic novels into 12 word board books that are child friendly.
Recently the brothers have added Star Wars to their line of books.
Utilizing needle felt characters and natural photography, the images have a 3D quality that seem more real than the traditional art used in other children’s books of this genre.
These books are absolutely charming. Whether the books are for your own children or for another’s children, they are the perfect way to introduce young minds to not just basic vocabulary and concepts, but also to the classics.
Science fiction is an interesting genre. It can have mass appeal (aka Star Wars or Star Trek) or it can be appealing to fans of the genre.
In 1994, the movie Stargate told the story of two men who discover an alien planet where the civilization resembles Ancient Egypt.
During an archaeological expedition in 1928 in Egypt, a mysterious device is found among the artifacts. Decades later, Dr. Daniel Jackson (James Spader) is a linguist who is invited to decipher an ancient hieroglyph that is military property. The device allows the users to be transported to another planet. Daniel joins the team under the command of Colonel Jonathan ‘Jack’ O’Neil (Kurt Russell). The civilization they encounter looks remarkably like Ancient Egypt, including worship of the Sun God Ra (Jaye Davidson). But there is more to this civilization and it is connected to the stargate.
While I love Star Wars, I would not say that overall I am a fan of science fiction. While there are many fans of this movie and the television shows that followed it, I personally found the movie to be too into the genre.
Do I recommend it? If you are a fan of the genre, then yes. Otherwise, I wouldn’t.
Writergurlny 
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