Tag Archives: Carrie Fisher

[Spoiler Alert] Which Stars Shine Bright in The Last Jedi?

18 Dec

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By Ed Sum
(The Vintage Tempest)

After the events from The Force Awakens, both sides are in disarray. The First Order lost their planet destroyer (technically a new Death Star). The trailers and opening scroll in The Last Jedi reveal the Resistance will have to start running for their lives as the bad guys are hot on their heels.

As mentioned in my review of the previous film J.J. Abrams crafted a love letter to the fans. He offered plenty of nostalgia to enjoy and made sure the digital technology got exercised to its fullest to make those moments count. Watch it too much, and everyone will agree it’s basically A New Hope.

There’s no denying that Star Wars, in all its other iterations in the animated front, comic books and novels, are built on a lot of tropes George Lucas created and improved upon from Episode IV to VI.  They range from classic one-liners and visual moments we always get excited by. From exhilarating trench sequences, varied variations of a ‘speeder bike’ chase to crazy aerial dog fights, is it even possible to add anything new? Writer/Director Rian Johnson offers a bit of the same old thing with a great new look and injects some fantastic narrative spins not everyone saw coming.

In what I loved after a second viewing (I bought tickets for Thurs and Friday) is with how actor Benicio Del Toro chewed up the scenery. To say more and to read ahead contains major spoilers.

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Remembering Carrie Fisher, Debbie Reynolds & How You Can Help Bring Awareness to Mental Health

31 Dec

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By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

The final week of 2016 has been difficult for Star Wars fans. Not only did Carrie Fisher pass away, but also her mother Debbie Reynolds — best known for her role as Kathy Selden in Singin’ in the Rain (1952) — the following day. Both left lasting legacies. Fisher will always be known as Princess Leia from Star Wars, and Reynolds is a legend in musical theatre. She was a tour de force.

The news of their passing had Hollywood and myself reeling.

The Star Wars world has seen at least two memorable performers pass — Michael Sheard (Admiral Ozzel) and Kenny Baker (R2D2). With Fisher, she will always be this Galaxy’s Princess. As an advocate of mental health and addiction issues, Carrie has always been very vocal to bring awareness to it. She has bipolar disorder, and that has never stopped her for being who she is. When I first heard of this, I thought I can relate. I admit to having my sour days too, and it never stopped me to be who I am. She was my role model; to see her indomitable attitude and scrappiness that helped lift my spirits. Without Gary, her registered therapy French bulldog to give her that loving support, she might have been in a different place.

I became a fan when I saw her in The Blues Brothers. Here, she was a force of nature. There was a quiet ferocity as she was out to get Jake Blues. She hated the fact he ditched her at the wedding altar, as friends and families gathered. Though they sort of made peace, she was quick to cut loose again when he (physically) dropped her yet again.

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A Non-Spoiler Review & Commentary of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

18 Dec

By Ed Sum (The Vintage Tempest)

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To witness Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the same fervour as this franchise got exciting in the later parts of the original trilogy, Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, is exhilarating. The subtitle says more about the potential of where this latest instalment is going sounds like a return to form — in keeping the mystique that surrounds The Force — and from there I was sold! I wondered what can transpire in a property that is now managed by Disney. Are they doing it because the property is a cash cow or because Lucas is out of ideas? In what the new writing team developed brings a new hope to a franchise that’s now 38 years old.

As the narrative in the trailers have indicated, there’s something in those “eyes” of the old and new heroes who find themselves in this war. In traditional story-telling fashion, they are often regarded as a window to an individual’s soul. Quite often, writers use that angle to show how people can recognize family lines of individuals they have not met. Take, for example, the Harry Potter films where the hero is often told, “You have your mother’s eyes.”

Just who is Finn (John Boyega), Poe Dameron (Oscar Isaac), Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver)? They make up the cast in this latest film which is emphasizing the fact that a few of them may be related to one another, or to an individual from the past.
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Star Wars: The Force Awakens New International Trailer Gives Hope!

6 Nov

ForceAwakensMini1By James Robert Shaw (The Wind up Geek)

Everyone is having different reactions to the new Star Wars: The Force Awakens international trailer. As for me I’m experiencing goosebumps. But maybe it’s not just because Walt Disney Studios Japan released a new trailer but it could also be that there is a new Force Awakens poster in Korea too.

In this latest trailer the focus is on new characters in the ongoing saga, Finn (John Boyega), Rey (Daisy Ridley), Kylo Ren (Adam Driver) and Captain Phasma (Gwendoline Christie).

The villians get to flex their Tmperial might and there are a few moves being displayed by Ren while wielding his crossblade lightsaber. The Stormtroopers lead by Phasma do what they do best, blow stuff up and lay waste where needed. And what of the beautiful shot of the TIE fighters approaching Jakku, as already mentioned by Screen Crush, that scene of the TIE fighters coming out of the sun does remind me of the chopper scene from Francis Ford Coppola’s film Apocalypse Now.

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