Category: Movies

D23 Expo: Rogue One Cast Revealed, Ep. IX Director, Star Wars Land News

Posted on by Head Butler Ryan

Rogue One A Star Wars Story

After all the build up for The Force Awakens this week thanks to Entertainment Weekly, it wasn’t crazy to wonder just what else Lucasfilm could bring for their portion of the live-action panel at the D23 Expo this morning. They delivered on a scale most didn’t expect, as they announced the Rogue One cast (and stealthily rebranded the Anthology films into A Star Wars Story), a director for Episode IX was revealed, and dropped the bomb that TWO 14 ACRES Star Wars Lands are being planned. I’ll let that last part settle in and when you’re done hyperventilating, continue reading below for the details. Continue reading “D23 Expo: Rogue One Cast Revealed, Ep. IX Director, Star Wars Land News” →

JJ Abrams and Team Spill The Force Awakens Secrets to EW

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Finn Crashes on JakkuJust ahead of their parent company’s expo, D23, Lucasfilm gave Entertainment Weekly some big secrets and interesting reveals for December’s The Force Awakens. They include new photos, details on how they arrived at certain character’s names, part of Kylo Ren’s true name, the big, enticing question which brought JJ on board, and Harrison Ford’s first day on set/Han’s Anthology film details (and a few more items on Friday). Continue reading “JJ Abrams and Team Spill The Force Awakens Secrets to EW” →

Movie Review: Ant-Man

Posted on by Head Butler Ryan

Ant-Man

– Spoiler Review –

Marvel’s smallest hero comes to the biggest screens in Ant-Man, the origin story of Scott Lang’s character in the Marvel Cinematic Universe and also the final Phase 2 film. Taking advantage of its difference in tone and scale from previous MCU films, Ant-Man is an enjoyable stand-alone film supported by great performances with humor peppered throughout, but it has issues with a rather stereotypical villain and by-the-numbers origin story (while sneaking in some concepts which may play much bigger roles in the MCU to come); Overall, it’s definitely another solid notch in Marvel’s belt. Continue reading “Movie Review: Ant-Man” →

SDCC 2015: The Force Awakens Panel, BTS Video, General Hux, and More!

Posted on by Head Butler Ryan

No, those weren’t tears in my eyes from watching the above behind-the-scenes video. Definitely not tears. I think it’s raining in my basement. Look, you watch that and try not to get a little teary-eyed, alright? Star Wars came to San Diego Comic Con for the first time to take a look at The Force Awakens, and while it covered some things we heard at April’s SWCA, it blew the roof off of Hall H and excauated everyone to a secret Star Wars concert. Technically it didn’t happen that way, but it sure felt like it and there was totally a concert they took everyone to! Details on what we all learned below. Continue reading “SDCC 2015: The Force Awakens Panel, BTS Video, General Hux, and More!” →

Han Solo Subject of Second Anthology Film, Directors and Writers Announced

Posted on by Head Butler Ryan

Han Solo Anthology Team of Dreams

While not particularly surprising one of the Anthology Series (now rebranded to, “A Star Wars Story”) would focus on Han Solo, what’s truly awesome about this announcement is the team they’ve assembled to both direct and write the film. Continue reading “Han Solo Subject of Second Anthology Film, Directors and Writers Announced” →

Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road

Posted on by Head Butler Ryan

Mad Max: Fury Road

The Mad Max films have always had a special place in action film history, regarded as classics and the influence for many things since their release (like the Borderlands video games or all the Thunderdome “two must enter, one must leave” cultural references) and it’s hard to imagine a sequel/reboot some 30 years later ever being able to hold a candle to the originals. But Mad Max: Fury Road does just that and then some, not only setting itself apart and above the previous films, but finding a way to rise above most of the action films in the last few decades to roar into the top spot. It’s all largely thanks to the smooth pacing, Charlize Theron’s riveting performance, and spectacular (and non-CG) action sequences.

Continue reading “Movie Review: Mad Max: Fury Road” →

Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron

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Avengers: Age of Ultron

– Light Spoiler Review –

Avengers: Age of Ultron is not the first Avengers film, which is a good thing because it should be something different. Age of Ultron is not the Avengers film you want it to be, which is a good thing because it can never be that. Instead, Age of Ultron is thoroughly entertaining but definitely imperfect, much like the heroes who inhabit the team, and its focus more on those people as it’s also forced to set up the grander tapestry of the web being spun by the Marvel Cinematic Universe is what makes it worthy the Avengers name. Continue reading “Movie Review: Avengers: Age of Ultron” →

Vanity Fair’s The Force Awakens Cover Shoot Reveals New Characters (UPDATED)

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As has become the seeming tradition starting with the prequels, Vanity Fair has a Star Wars: The Force Awakens cover for its June issue. Within the issue are pictures from photographer Annie Leibovitz, which capture some of the well-known characters while also revealing images of the actors and actresses Adam Driver, Gwendoline Christie, and Lupita Nyong’o in their roles for the film! Continue reading “Vanity Fair’s The Force Awakens Cover Shoot Reveals New Characters (UPDATED)” →

Del Rey Panel, TFA Novelization, Sampler Thoughts (SWCA 2015)

Posted on by Head Butler Ryan

The Del Rey Panel

Del Rey, the wonderful folks who have been making Star Wars adult fiction novels for quite a number of years now, held a panel talking about the present and future of their works, including tidbits on the “Journey to Star Wars: The Force Awakens” initiative and the surprise TFA novelization author. They also handed out a Sampler to attendees with excerpts from a few current and upcoming works and my thoughts on that content and the panel are below. Continue reading “Del Rey Panel, TFA Novelization, Sampler Thoughts (SWCA 2015)” →