So I might have cried a bit at a movie trailer today. Yep full on nerd tears. Tonight the new Star Wars: Force Awakens trailer dropped during halftime at Monday Night Football and this trailer was epic in the truest sense of the word. It did everything you want a trailer to do. We got to see and hear from new characters. We got little nibbles of stories but no major plot points. We got to see the old and new school players (except for Luke!). It had great music. Showed the great cinematography and all the practical effects. The battle sequences look awesome.
We know there are scenes with real heart where both Finn and Rey are learning from Han Solo (initially a doubter) about the force and the Jedi and we can assume the Jedi is stuff of legend and basically gone. We see Leia and Han that seem to be embracing about something sad. We see Kylo Ren take off his mask and wield his light saber at Finn in some kind of fight. He is a disciple of Vader and has Vader’s mask- wants to be like Vader.
I was also thrilled to see Rey looking like a strong and lead character in the story. As we discussed in my recent Phantom Menace review/discussion none of the Star Wars films have passed the Bechdel test but I feel this time with Rey, Lupita Nyongo’s character and Leia we might actually do it. I think Rey might be the Luke Skywalker of the this trilogy which would be amazing.
I can’t even tell you how excited I am to see this movie! I already have my tickets purchased for Dec 17th and I will probably see it again Dec 18th in IMAX. Even at the worst with the prequels Star Wars is a battle of good verses evil and an entire world to become absorbed in. It’s about harnessing a spiritual force greater than yourself and not allowing doubt or fear to enter your heart. How many movies can say that? You have your Harry Potter or your Lord of the Rings but to me at least Star Wars trumps them all.
Here is my trailer reaction. It’s not that great but I was so excited my brain left me. There’s a lot of squealing but some of you may find it fun. Follow me on periscope by the way @smilingldsgirl (and on all other social media like snapchat, instagram etc).
My favorite of all the trailer reviews I saw was this one. It captured how I felt at least.
I was a little surprised we didn’t get the rating yet because I had heard we might but maybe the MPAA isn’t done with their review yet. I figure it will be PG-13 but it would be fine at PG because then more kids could see it but I think with those battles it will be PG-13.
So what did you think of the trailer? Are you excited and did you buy your tickets like so many of us did? Is there a spot in the trailer that stood out to you more than others Let’s share and nerd out together! 🙂
The poster looks pretty awesome too! Counting down the days…
Hi guys! So yesterday marked the start of my new Star Wars series and I am going to be doing reviews on this blog plus a new web series on my youtube channel. I am going to be discussing with my friends Abby and Jeremy each of the Star Wars movies and yesterday we tackled Episode 1: Phantom Menace. It was my first time doing a Live Google Hangout and I’m really happy with how it turned out.
Most people know I was not a fan of the Star Wars prequels but I have always stood up for Phantom Menace a little bit because Attack of the Clones seemed so much worse at the time (we will see what I think this week). But I have to say on the rewatch Phantom Menace was a lot worse than I remembered. It has some decent sequences but at the core it is an unfocused mess with no climax that matters, no developed villain or other characters, poor acting and an incredibly annoying character in Jar Jar.
Even things I thought I liked such as the podrace or the fight with Darth Maul weren’t as good as I remembered them being.
PLOT SUMMARY
Phantom Menace is about Naboo being threatened by Darth Sidious and the Federation and the Jedi trying to stop said threat. They appeal to the Gungan where they meet Jar Jar. Then they stop in Tatooine and meet Anakin who Qui-Gon feels is the chosen one who can save Naboo and become a great Jedi. To get Anakin out of slavery he must win a podrace which he can do because he can predict the future with the force. Darth Maul is sent by Darth Sidious to kill stop the Jedi and capture Naboo Queen Padme Amidala.
Padme speaks in Coruscant to the Republic Senate to try and stop the blockade. The senate is corrupt and Padme returns to Naboo where she enters an alliance with the Gungans. They enter a battle with the droids from the federation. Meanwhile Anakin pilots a ship by accident and destroys the Federation battle ship. At the same time Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan battle Darth Maul and Qui-Gon is killed by Maul and Ob-Wan slices Maul in half. With the battle victorious the council decide Obi-Wan is a Jedi and he can train Anakin. Peace is declared in Naboo.
THOUGHTS
The problem with Phantom Menace is it wants to be equally appealing to kids, adults and everyone in between. It also doesn’t matter as a story to the Star Wars world. You could get rid of the movie and pick up on what is going quite well in episode 2. There is no climax, no compelling villains and no protagonist that we are rooting for. All in all it is a mess.
Some of the actors are good but they are handed material that doesn’t do them any favors. Despite all the exposition it can also feel very confusing of who is doing what and why.
I also hate the edition of midichlorians to the Star Wars lore. I always thought of the force as kind of like the priesthood. It is a spiritual force you must be trained to sense, and use. That’s why Master Yoda had to train Luke in order for him to go into battle and to use the force. The Force is the power of Good and that’s why it has such strength but it can be used for evil too. To revert it back to a little boy being able to use it without any training is disappointing.
It also feels very long and a lot boring with scenes that don’t connect well to the over all story (which there isn’t really one so it is tricky)
Jar Jar is more annoying than I remembered. There is always humor in Star Wars but this is pretty insufferable. There are also moments that are borderline offensive with particularly asian accents making me cringe.
It’s unfortunately the equivalent of a bunch of people standing together talking instead of a Star Wars movie and boy was it a let down back in 1999.
But now on to episode 2: Attack of the Clones!
What about you and Phantom Menace? What do you think of it? I would love your comments on our video if you get a chance. Thanks!
I’m officially so jealous of anyone who got to go to Disney’s Comicon celebration D23. I got to experience some of the fun panels watching on periscope (thanks awesome periscopers!) and I can’t even imagine seeing them in person. Let me try and sum up all we learned from D23.
The biggest announcement was Star Wars Land!!! Disneyland and Disneyworld are going to expand to add whole new lands with an immersive Star Wars experience . I love Star Wars so this is so exciting. Evidently all the park personnel and everything you see at Star Wars land will be in character and part of the Star Wars world. The land will be “14 acres each. Guests will be able to ride the Millennium Falcon, sample blue milk and hang out at the cantina”. Sign me up!
We also found out that Space Mountain is going to be redesigned to Hyperspace Mountain Star Tours will be updated to include the Force Awakens characters. Sounds like a Disneyland trip will be in my future!
In other Disneyland news they announced a new Toy Story land with a slinky dog roller coaster. So far the Toy Story attractions have been amazing so this should be great.
Star Wars Movie News
Continuing on the Star Wars vein we got new information on the Rogue One movie which looks awesome. Director Gareth Edwards has started shooting and we should get the movie next year. It will be the first stand alone Star Wars movies and looks like it will take a darker tone about resistance fighters who are trying to steal the plans for the Death Star.
The cast looks great with Felicity Jones, Diego Luna, Ben Mendelsohn, Donnie Yen, Jiang Wen, Riz Ahmed, Mads Mikkelsen and Alan Tudyk. With some Chinese action stars it could provide a really visceral feel to the action of the movie and universe which they are trying to keep as real in feel as possible.
We also got this really cool cast photo
We also got to see the Force Awakens young cast and Harrison Ford introducing a new poster that looked amazing. I am so excited for that movie!!!
Marvel News
Marvel of course had some big announcements at D23 the biggest are lots of info about next years Captain America Civil War. If you don’t know this plots superheroes against each other and evidently they showed a new trailer with Black Widow and Hawkeye fighting. I can’t wait to see this new trailer!
Kevin Feige of Marvel also announced Doctor Strange and evidently Benedict Cumberbatch spoke to the crowd from London. I’m a huge Cumberbatch fan and don’t know anything about Dr Strange so the movie looks like a fun addition to the MCU.
Animation News
Now for the main star at D23- the animation panels and news.
From Pixar there was a panel on Finding Dory where Ed O’Neill, Ty Burrell, Kaitlin Olson and Ellen DeGeneres were all announced. We of course knew about DeGeneres and Albert Brooks but Ty Burrell who does great voice work and Ed O’Neill are wonderful additions to the cast.
We also learned a little more about Toy Story 4. We knew it was a love story but John Lasseter elaborated it was a romance between Woody and Bo Peep who was missing in the 3rd movie. Evidently Woody and Buzz go on an adventure to find Bo and it is very romantic. Lasseter said:
“Each of the stories is a different genre,” Lasseter said, “and Toy Story 4 is a love story. It’s a love story between Woody and Bo Peep. Bo’s returned for Toy Story 4. Woody and Buzz head out to find Bo. It’s a very, very emotional story, and it’s very fun doing a story about [those two characters].”
It’s really true about the Toy Story movies. Each one has a different feel and is in a different genre.
The much talked about Coco project was officially announced by Director Lee Unkrich. This is going to be a day of the dead story where they ask the question What if you could meet your long dead family members? (Pixar loves those what if questions!). The only thing about it which makes me a tiny bit sad is I am sure nobody will remember Book of Life after this which was so artistically beautiful but lacked Pixar’s great storytelling.
Disney Animation News
The biggest news from Disney is their new film Gigantic which will take on the Jack and the Beanstalk story. I believe this will be the first time Disney has retold a fairy tale they have previously animated? Fun and Fancy Free is okay but the new take on it seems very inventive.
In this version the giant is an 11 year old girl which I think could be really interesting and I love the concept art. I think it could work really well with the current WDAS CG animation style. Also Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez from Frozen are doing the music (Yay!). Evidently they sang one of the songs and it was a huge hit.
Disney had a presentation on their upcoming film Moana and Dwayne Johnson proved his charisma once again. They also announced all the music talent behind the film, which I am super pumped about- Lin-Manuel Miranda who wrote the The Heights and is incredible, composer Mark Mancina (“Tarzan” “The Lion King”), and Opetaia Foa’i who is in a Polynesian band called Te Vaka. John Musker and Ron Clements are directing and so there is every reason to be excited about this movie (I love anything Polynesian!). And it is so cool to see how important the project is for Johnson.
The last animated film they talked about is Zootopia. We learned some interesting things about it. First of all, that it is going to be a musical or at least have original songs which I didn’t know about. They announced a character named Gazelle who will be played by Shakira which honestly I doesn’t do much for me but should be a good outreach to the Latino Disney fans. I’m not a fan of her outfit which seems very slinky. I’m still a little nervous about this project but the team they’ve got is great and it’s cool to see Disney doing something different. I’m sure it will be great.
The last thing I thought was cool in the footage was the response to The Jungle Book trailer. Director Jon Favreau introduced it and I guess everyone loved it! And then the entire cast was on stage which looked really cool. Ben Kingsley, who voices Bagheera, said “There is a saying among actors: Never work with a child or animals. I work with a child, and I play an animal.” I just hope they change the ending. Fingers crossed. It sounds like they are using some inspiration from the book and the movie so that sounds great. I was glad to hear that it will be a musical and they will be singing Bear Necessities!
And evidently they watched a trailer for Jungle Book which I can’t wait to see.
So I know that was an insane amount of information but if you are a movie fan and especially a Disney fan you are probably eating it all up like I did. (And there is even more but I had to stop somewhere).
What excites you the most? I think Star Wars Land may be the biggest news because I had no idea that was coming but it is all great. Let me know your thoughts about any of it in comments.
It’s a great time to be a movie fan and especially a Disney fan!
Can I just fangirl out on you all for a minute? I know some of you aren’t as big of Star Wars fans as me but holy cow what a great trailer was released today!!!! I am so pumped! It had everything you could want. We got to hear Luke’s voice. We got an image of Vader from Return of the Jedi (and anyone else notice he said ‘his father HAS the force’…) harkening back to the old movies and then we hear about Leia who has the force (which I don’t recall ever seeing her use the force in original trilogy? Anyone know?) and his son (we can presume) also has the force!
Then we get chrome troopers, John Bodega in storm trooper outfit, battles, Poe Dameron in the Xwing craft!!! Daisy Ridley looks like she is going to have a real gritty role to play. This excites me as Star Wars could be a little bit male heavy (need I remind you of Leia and the gold bikini in most of Jedi…).
And then at the end to get Chewie and Han “we’re home”. Nerdgasm!!!! So cool!
It just makes me so excited that they are doing this right. It doesn’t look all green screen. It looks like there will be sand and real fighting and grittiness. That’s what I want to see. I want to see chemistry and a story with relationships I care about, not a fluffy soap opera. I just want it to be good so bad!
It was just a perfect trailer. It didn’t show too much. It showed exactly what all the fans wanted to see without spoiling anything. I loved it! Chris Stuckmann and the Schmoes Know described it as bringing on ‘nerd tears’ and I’d agree. Chris said it was ‘the best trailer I’ve ever seen and not just because I’m a fan”. I’d agree.
Let me just geek out on you guys for a second. The new Star Wars trailer is out and it looks AWESOME!!!!
It starts out with a fantastic voiceover and then John Boyega gasping, looking like he is hunting something, then we get a droid who looks like a soccer ball, next a storm trooper army, then Daisy Ridley on a pod of some kind, then we see a rebel fighter (Oscar Isaac?) and a x-wing fleet zooming off, then ‘the dark side’ with the villain with a light saber that has a cross hatch like a sword!!
‘And the light’
We get millennium falcon zooming off and our iconic music!!!! December 15, 2015. What a perfect teaser trailer. It gives just enough to get fans excited. CGI looked minimal with more grounded special effects. You could see the sand in Tunisia and it didn’t look green screen or in a studio. We also got no sight of the returning cast in the trailer, which is a good sign they are using them in the right way. It was just so awesome!!!!!!
I’m so hopeful JJ Abrams is doing this right and this trailer is a huge vote of confidence!!! I’m so excited! Wahoo!
