Television

We are sure you’ve seen the ads on TV that Windows 7 was everyone’s idea. The commercials start out by telling what their idea was and then how it was included in the operating system. It’s a cool ad to try to shake the all encompassing Microsoft reputation and put the OS in the hands of the people. Which I guess means that if your system crashes, you can blame your neighbor? That doesn’t seem fair to put the blame on him. He’s an elderly man that uses his laptop for getting email from his grandchildren. Just what is being implied here?

Like Microsoft, the other evil empire would also like to let other people take credit for their work. After all, the Death Star wasn’t built by people that were bent on world destruction. Well, okay it was, but why shouldn’t the end user of the fully operational battle station get some recognition to? After all, putting those guys right next to the beam that could destroy a planet was someone’s idea, right? Or that an...

In 1996 three high school students were on a mission to bring the movie Star Wars to life on the stage as a musical. They took music from such Broadway hits as Grease and Les Miserables, rewrote the lyrics and presented the concoction as a 40 member rock opera, much in the same vein as Jesus Christ: Superstar and Godspell. The show was a huge hit, but only was seen for three nights before it was shut down by George Lucas with a court order. Mainly because the show was making money and even these days, Lucas doesn’t like that, even though he’s been more tolerant of fan based movies and creations based on the Star Wars universe.

The two videos that have been made available from the show are The Millenium Falcon (a send up of Grease’s Greased Lightning) and Use the Force (sung to the tune of Les Miserables’ One Day More). There is talk of releasing the whole video to the show, but its unclear when that would happen or whether it can, given Lucas’ hold on it...

It’s truly a testament to George Lucas that his legacy keeps on, despite not having any dogs in the hunt for Oscar gold. His legacy’s presence was commonplace at this year’s Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences awards (or in other words, Oscars). In the 83rd giving out of the golden man trophies, Lucas didn’t have a single nomination, and yet he was still a big part of the night’s festivities, perhaps even more so than those that did, like Disney.

While many of the references were not so much directly related, but had a part of the movie juggernaut at one point or another. One could make this argument on just about any connection to anything else in Hollywood. If Kevin Bacon won, would they spend time talking about Footloose or Tremors, because he was in them? Probably not, but the world of George Lucas is just so expansive that it’s hard to separate out it’s alumni without the connection coming to mind.

There were some very direct references...

As season 3 winds down, we get a visit from one of our old favorites, Chewbacca, who will make an appearance in the final episode of the season and he doesn’t appear to be very thrilled with what’s going on, according to the preview video. While not reprising his role exactly, Peter Mayhew, the original actor under the fur, came back to advise the animators on all things Chewie, especially how he walked. Even back then, Mayhew had a bit of trouble walking, something he now uses a cane for, and that was part of how Chewbacca walked. Also that his mouth was open at all times, even when it was “closed”. Things like this helped the animators to create a very realistic looking Chewy. There had always been plans for the wookie to appear in Clone Wars, especially being as though he was over 200 years old in the films, so he was definitely around when all this was taking place. It’s just that the technical know how in animating fur and such was a bit beyond the...

No matter which Lego series it was, whether it was Harry Potter, Indiana Jones or Star Wars, the games have always had a tongue in cheek look at the films that they are portraying. And in this case, Lego Star Wars III is right up there with their take on the wildly popular animated series. Along with the major battles and supercool gameplay, some of the plot points are just hilarious. Such as when Anakin crashes the fighter into the hanger bay and Obi-Wan just puts his head in his palm.

The action will be both localized and on a massive scale. If you’ve seen the series, huge battles are a big part of the show and in the first trilogy, there were incredibly complicated and epic. Lego Star Wars III is not going to disappoint in this regard. From just the trailer, we can see that incredible scale of war from space against large star destroyers to the mass Jedi attack on planet Geonosis. Some will require a one man army, while others put you in charge of a...

This Friday, January 28th, Anakin will learn of the prophecy of the chosen one, spelled out in the Phantom Menace, and thus his fate. The episode, the first of a three part arc, will bring Obi-Wan, Anakin, and his teenage padawan Ahsoka Tano to a world inhabited by very powerful creatures of the Force. The family that they meet, especially the father, is convinced that Anakin is the one, the one that will bring balance to the force, just as Qui-Gon Jinn recognized in the films, and he tries to convince the young jedi to remain on the planet Mortis where he can help to forge a balance between the two sides.

There is no doubt that Anakin’s biggest influences at the start were Qui-Gon Jinn and his mother, Shmi Skywalker. And for these important episodes, which will mark a big revelation in Anakin’s life, they return. His mother pushed him to go into the stars with the Jedi and learn the ways of the force and her death pushed him toward the dark side, while the...

Truly one of the most legendary villains in film history, Darth Vader is the epitome of evil. He is the character over the years we’ve all loved to hate. But from his early beginnings as Anakin Skywalker to his rise to become Darth Lord of the Sith, he’s had many actors play him.

Starting with the voice of Darth Vader in all the films, James Earl Jones is the most memorable. Even though he’s never physically seen in any of the films, his deep sinister tone has thrilled audiences for more than 30 years. Still working at 79, he most recently was seen on House on TV, is in the stage adaptation of Driving Miss Daisy. He also has a film coming out in 2012.
Back in 1981, National Public Radio (NPR) Playhouse featured radio dramas that relied on good acting, sound effects and musical scores to tell their stories. Some of these were science fiction, but the most notable was Star Wars in 1981 and Empire Strikes Back in 1983. The films were adapted to extended episodes...