Tag Archives: Star Wars

Serenity is the New Star Wars

Yesterday morning I read this quote from Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon about his movie directing debut, Serenity:

“I worked for a long time to come up with something epic enough to be a Universal movie and not just a glorified episode of Firefly. I wanted to make a movie that made me feel or made people feel the way I felt the first time I saw the first Star Wars.”

Yesterday evening I went to a pre-screening of Serenity, and I’ll just say that as dangerous as it may be to compare a movie to the original Star Wars, in this case it’s not a bad idea.

Go. See. Serenity.

It opens Friday.

(For those really geeking out, I’d also recommend the Time interview with Whedon and the Amazon Whedon sale [Oops, guess it was yesterday only]. Just for kicks, yesterday and today Firefly was among the top 10 selling DVDs on Amazon.)

Update: I’m feeling like I should really qualify and explain the comparison to Star Wars, but I don’t want to spoil anything. Let’s just say the greatest similarity is in the movie-going experience. Once more people have seen Serenity we can get into the details.

Reflections on Star Wars

Tonight I’ll be seeing the final chapter of the Star Wars saga. I’ve been reading about it and writing about it for weeks and weeks and weeks, and then some more and more until we’re done.

Whew. My complaints about Episodes I & II have been heard before, though I still agree with people who say Mmm… Star Wars. As much as Lucas mucks it up with stuff like Jar Jar Binks and sappy love scenes, I still love Star Wars.

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May the Force Be With You Star Wars T-shirt

May the force be with you Star Wars T-shirt front And also with you T-shirt back
In honor of the final installment of the Star Wars double trilogy, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, I present a fancy new T-shirt. It’s a white “ringer” T-shirt with a black band on the edge of the sleeves and collar (or I suppose you could get blue or orange, but that’d look stupid).

The front says: May the force be with you.

The back says: And also with you.

Get it? A little Star Wars/liturgical humor for you. On a T-shirt no less! Ha! And it can be yours for the low, low price of $18.99 $15.99. Get ’em while they’re hot!

And I mean that. The article the other day about T-shirt sales inspired me, and I’m thinking of doing a T-shirt a month–but only one per month. Come the end of the month we’ll switch to something new, so you snooze, you lose. No more hilarious Star Wars T-shirt. It’s a goofy plan which fits nicely with Cafepress’s requirement that basic shops can only sell one of each item. And it’s more fun that way. Means I have to come up with a new geeky T-shirt every month.

I’ll vouch that Cafepress T-shirts are pretty nice. They need a wash after you first get them, but they hold up pretty well. And if you look around on the net, sometimes you can find Cafepress coupons (Shh… don’t tell).

Update: Caving to pressure, I’ve dropped the price to $15.99, though I doubt that’s going to appease either complaintant. Sorry folks, print on-demand T-shirts ain’t cheap. At this price I’m making $1 per shirt, which is probably fair considering the work I put in to it. The other option would be to have everyone order shirts and at the end of the month I’ll put in the order, print them and distribute them. But that requires work. And somehow I can’t see many of you being interested in that. But maybe you would be. The price could probably drop signifcantly. Comment away if you’d be interested in that system.

Though as I told someone today, I’m not trying to get into the T-shirt business.

Star Wars: The Marketing Strikes Back

Wrestle Buddy VaderThe final chapter of the Star Wars saga, Episode III: Revenge of the Sith, comes to theaters May 19th and the propaganda machine is in full effect. You’ve probably seen the Darth Vader version of Mr. Potato Head, dubbed Darth Tater, and some have already discussed the Darth Vader sprinkler, but you haven’t seen anything yet.

Are you ready for Yoda using the force to yoink a can of Diet Pepsi? Be afraid. Be very afraid. The marketing tie-in machine is going overboard

It’s a Star Wars New Years

I received the Star Wars Trilogy DVD for Christmas and watched Empire Strikes Back while in Kansas and right now we’re watching Return of the Jedi as we ring in the new year. Let’s just be thankful it’s not a Star Wars Holiday Special (shudder).

Since watching Star Wars as a little kid (I remember watching Obi-wan confront Darth Vader during A New Hope in the theater with my eyes covered) the saga has a special place in my heart. The new prequels are weak in comparison, but watching the old ones again shows their many flaws. But I still love ’em.

Continue reading It’s a Star Wars New Years