Star Wars

The reality of February returns today. 1 - Temps will reflect the calendar today as our run of warm weather has ended. Cloudy skies will prevail with a high of 53º. Still pretty good for February. With a few exceptions, the next two weeks looks pretty bearable...

It's a cold one this morning, but warmer weather is just around the corner; and an Erie couple has been found after an alleged abduction. 1 - As of 6:00am it is 13º with a wind chill of 0º, but relief is on the way. Temps will rise to 26º today, then climb up into the 50's for Friday and Saturday...

Disney and Lucasfilm have released a statement that Carrie Fisher will not be digitally resurrected for any future 'Star Wars' films, including 'Episode IX.'

Just a couple of weeks back we learned that Woody Harrelson was in talks to join the young Han Solo movie, the next spinoff under the Star Wars Story banner. Today, directors Phil Lord and Chris Miller officially confirmed the actor’s casting via Lucasfilm with a statement in which they praised Harrelson’s talents — both in front of the camera and behind a ping pong table. Hopefully those skills come in handy for the role of Han Solo’s mentor.

We lost an incomparable actress, writer, icon, and amazing human being when Carrie Fisher passed away on December 27, 2016. No one is feeling that loss as deeply as those closest to her, and in the days since Fisher’s passing, we’ve had the privilege of reading and hearing some of their remembrances. Today, Mark Hamill has shared his own personal tribute to Fisher, offering a touching, humorous and appropriately candid essay for his Star Wars co-star and longtime friend.

Rogue One will have to settle for being the second-highest grossing film of the year — damn you, cultural juggernaut Finding Dory! — but it does have the distinction of being among the better-reviewed films in its franchise. Many critics have praised director Gareth Edwards’ vision of some unexplored pockets of George Lucas’ universe, singling out Darth Vader’s castle lair that appears in the film on a violent, molten-lava planet. (The planet bears a strong resemblance to Mustafar, the magma-covered site of the final showdown between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-wan Kenobi in Revenge of the Sith.) Now, one of the key designers from Rogue One has provided a little background on the memorable locale and how it came to be.

In this new age of ultra-hi-def-liquid-frame-3D-VR-cystal-lava-screen-immersion TVs that you and I can have in our own home theaters, the old classics just don’t look as good anymore. Movies that seemed like the height of technology back when televisions were still cube-shaped look jerky and unfocused now that we’re so used to seeing the highest-definition image possible, so 4K restorations are now on the rise. Gareth Edwards, director of Rogue One, says that Lucasfilm is in possession of a 4K version of the original Star Wars, but has no idea when the rest of us will get to see it.

Even with a little bit of distance from their initial release, there’s not a lot to enjoy about the Star Wars prequels. They’re still poorly acted, overly reliant on CGI, and too bogged down in origin stories instead of developing new characters for us to care about. That being said, give credit to George Lucas for writing a powerful arc for Senator Palpatine. Palpatine’s methodical dissolution of the Old Republic  —  and our mounting horror as we watch him convince the galaxy to give up freedom in exchange for a false sense of safety  —  aren’t enough to save the Star Wars prequels entirely, but they do represent some of the smartest writing of Lucas’ career.

Eventually, the cycle of rumors and deflation around a possible live-action Star Wars TV series will resemble the wait for new movies a few years back, but isn’t ending anytime soon. Networks like ABC have had discussions of a possible live-action TV series, though Disney and ABC boss Ben Sherwood doesn’t believe it would happen until after all the planned movies.

Star Wars fans in the QC NEED to check out this house!