Wednesday, May 4, 2016

May the Fourth Be With You!

For those of you who were not aware, May the 4th is officially Star Wars day. Because, well, May the 4th. I was thinking about how it really should be a very exciting, amazing time to be a Star Wars fan right now. But, well, it's not really. I'm mostly filled with a sense of dread for how they can further ruin things, but at least we will always have our original trilogy. So just think about that instead, and maybe read some fanfic.

I also wanted to mention that Push and I got to hang out a bit the other day as I'm traveling again. So, what do we do when we hang out? Well, first food, because that is universal to everyone. Then we went to Target and Kohls to browse their selections of Star Wars merchandise. I had not been to Kohls, but whoa, they have more Star Wars tshirts than I would've thought possible. Dozens of different styles. It was overwhelming. We both got some retro looking socks, I got a hoodie with a couple of X-wings on it because it was $5, and she got this Boba Fett shirt she'd had her eye on but hadn't gotten yet because they only ever had like, 2XL available. She got another $1 R2-D2 shirt and nightshirt, too. They had some really cute R2-D2 pillows and Star Wars bedding and stuff that we kind of wished we had somewhere to put. But it was a fun afternoon and we were both very happy with our purchases.

Oh and of course we talked Star Wars, too. I remember how weird that was the first time we met up (5 years ago now, how is that possible?) to speak those things out loud, but it seems totally normal now. Maybe partly because Star Wars is so huge again, so everyone is talking about it, but I think we're just used to it at this point. And to the rest of you, if you are looking for more Star Wars things and have exhausted your options at Target, go to Kohls!

58 comments:

  1. I'll keep that in mind. Meanwhile, I just showed up at school nerdy and proud in my R2-D2 shirt and Vans Star Wars shoes and my Millennium Falcon necklace, walking and just reminding myself, TFA isn't real if you don't want it to be. Happy thoughts. EU, happy Han and Leia, a world without TFA. Let's just consider it, within this blog, official TFA day, shall we?

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  2. Happy SW Day everyone!!

    Sadly we don't have those stores in the UK so I won't be checking out those cool SW T shirts. But I think I've probably got enough for now, lol. I didn't realise I had so many and it was hard to pick which one to wear today :)

    I wonder if there will be a big SW announcement today? In the past there's normally been something announced on May 4th. I just hope it's not the actor who's playing young Han because that would totally mess up the day. Ugh.

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    1. Non. His name in the standalone is NON Solo.

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    2. Haa! I love that! Genius.

      Man, I wish they would cancel that movie. I have absolutely ZERO interest in seeing anyone but Harrison play Han. Now if they cloned him and used a younger version, then I'd be well up for that ;)

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    3. Chris Pratt maybe?? But I like him so you know biased. :) But he has starred in a couple of blockbusters recently, kind of like Harrison early on. ;)

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    4. Chris Pratt is already older than Harrison was when he played Han, even ESB Han. It has to be someone younger. And I like Chris Pratt a LOT, but I would also like him to forge his own path and do his own roles rather than taking over for another already established one.

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    5. Point taken. I just think he has the swagger and attitude for it. :)

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  3. I'm always slow to hear these announcements. If there is one, please tell me!

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  4. Maybe they'll announce whom they've chosen to play Non Solo in the stand-alone. Or, even better, they'll announce they could find no one adequate in the younger generation and cancel the project. Fingers crossed, and May the Fourth be with you...

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  5. May the Fourth be with you!! I'm kind of bummed there aren't more events for the Fourth near me. Mostly shopping. Baseball team with have SW night this weekend, but have plans already. Bummer! Might swing out and see if something fun going on. We tend to have more for SW Reads Day though. Bookstore is good for that.

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  6. Han Solo cast: http://screencrush.com/star-wars-spinoff-casts-alden-ehrenreich-as-young-han-solo/

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    1. You know how I feel about this one @Ewokkey! Harrison Ford in the early 80s is pretty much the sexiest set of luggage ever built. This new set of luggage is nowhere near as sexy. It just can't compare. I would like the original set back please. (LOL.)

      Also, Alden is only 5'9"! The new Han Solo is the same height as Luke. The long lean 6'1" frame is a big part of the appeal for me, I must admit. I'm pretty shallow like that. The height difference between Han and Leia is so cute.

      Oh well. It is what it is. I really hope they skew Han's age in this movie towards the younger late teens end of things. The more years they can put between diminutive new Han Solo and manly rugged sexy luggage Han Solo the better I will be able to deal.

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    2. Maybe they'll stand him on a box in some scenes like they did Leia. ;)

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    3. Meh. Non Solo. There is no Han Solo in the young generation, because it takes a kind of masculinity that seems not to be valued these days and has thus been lost. The youngest actors I can think of who have some kind of Harrison Ford-y thing are Chris Pratt (who's too old and a little too boyish IMHO) and Josh Holloway (who's way too old and may not have the chops, as much as I like him). Scott Eastwood was a marginally interesting idea but still Non Solo.

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  7. Meh. I know the guy from Beaytuful Creatures. But not sure he looks like Han enough. What about Nick Robinson from Jurassic World? He's tall enough. :) And he's cute but again not sure if Han. But liked him in JW.

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    1. You know @amara z, I just googled this kid and I think I could have bought it. I really do, which is saying a lot.

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    3. I thought so too. And he was kind of smoldering, glowering in Jurassic.

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    4. Good call. Can - almost - see that one. But he does play very very young, and I don't know how young Non Solo is going to be in this.

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  8. What I don't get is how he can have a cameo in Rogue One. Rogue One takes place right before ANH since it involves the stealing of the Death Star plans. How can Han look like a totally different person mere days apart?!

    Also, I'm not against this movie but I dread the shipping wars to come between Han/his new love interest and Han/Leia fans.

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  9. I think it's funny how some of you guys are saying like, he isn't tall enough, doesn't look enough like him, eyes are the wrong color, etc. Bottom line: HE IS NOT HARRISON FORD. That's it. All this other stuff is just nit picky, and even if he looked like him, was tall enough, had the best lopsided grin since the original lopsided grin, he's just plain not Han Solo. It really doesn't matter who he is, although I will say that while I know nothing about this guy, just looking at him does not inspire rage in me. I still hate the idea of this movie, and the two ways I'd accept it would be if it were animated or if it involved a de-aged Harrison, but just by looking at him they could've done worse with casting.

    Those of you complaining about not tall enough, I swear there is almost no such thing as a tall actor anymore. There was some article recently comparing leading men's heights from way back when all the way up to now, and the trend is shorter and shorter. You're hard pressed now to find one over 5'10".

    I'm not worried about shipping wars. It's so much easier when you stay away from general fan forums and stick to your own little niche. We never argue here about whether or not Han and Leia belong together because we all agree they do!

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    1. My worry is that the EU will have Han running into his love interest in the Han Solo movie while he's separated from Leia and getting back together with her. Do you think they would do that?

      Shipping wars can get annoying in fanfic though, like wanting to read Han/Leia fic but when you search for it it's all Han/other girl fic. Us Han/Leia fans have been relatively lucky in that area until now.

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    2. No, I don't think they would do that. You're forgetting we already went through this with Bria and survived. We don't even know if they are going to give him a major love interest or not.

      Sifting through fanfic for me anyway has already become an issue what with all of the ones set in this new universe. It's no offense to anyone who wants to write stories about it, but when I see the words "Ben Solo" in a description, I immediately stop reading any further. It's all changed already, I don't think this is going to make it any worse.

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    3. I can't remember were there shipping wars between hard core Bria fans and Han/Leia fans back in the day? I just think the fans for whomever Han's new love interest will probably vastly outnumber the Han/Leia fans because it'll be a movie and it's new - like the whole Reylo phenomenon. And even if you try to avoid them they find you on Twitter and Tumblr and such.

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    4. Yes, there were people who loved Bria. One of them was the author of those books who was VERY vocal on those message boards.

      And see, that's why I disagree. I have not run into any Reylo shippers, wouldn't even know it was a big thing if you weren't telling me. It's not really all that difficult to stay out of.

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    5. I wouldn't know they were around either. I think it's a shame if people are trashing Han and Leia, but I manage to ignore such things as much as I can.

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    6. I can't imagine they'd go any way other than girl-of-the-week love interest, a la Indiana Jones, with this IF the first one works well enough to merit a second or a third (which I kind of doubt). The idea of "big love" doesn't really jibe with young, petty criminal Han Solo no matter how hard that author whose name I don't remember Mary Sue'd herself in as this Bria character (never read those books, didn't even know they existed until I hung around here, so no opinion about the particular character of Bria Tharen but from what I've heard that relationship sounds entirely antithetical to the character of Han Solo we meet in the cantina).

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    7. I have a pretty active twitter account so the Reylo fans enjoy trolling Han/Leia fans. But that's what the block button is for.

      From what I remember, didn't the Bria fans also troll the Han/Leia threads? You can stay in your own message boards but inevitably shipping wars involve fans of one ship trolling the boards of another ship. But you can block people on this blog right?

      I just am hoping for not a repeat of the Harry/Hermione Ron/Hermione shipping wars that apparently nearly burnt down the Internet back in the day. But I think we'll be vastly outnumbered by the new Han/new girl shippers, so maybe they'll be content to leave us in peace.

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    8. I guess I hang out in the wrong part of the internet. The easiest way to deal with trolls is simply not to engage in an argument with them. Their goal is to piss you off and get you going. If someone shows up and starts talking about how young Han was soooo in love with whatever girlfriend they give him in the new movie, and Leia does not compare, well, whatever. Are they going to be wrong? Of course they are. But are they worth my time and effort trying to convince them of their wrongness? Nope, definitely not. I guess at this point in my life I don't care that much if someone is spouting off about Han being a terrible father and blaming him for Ben, or saying Han and Leia's marriage was terrible and blah, blah, whatever. First of all, I am not buying into this new universe. Second of all, I know I'm right and they're wrong. And I do not feel the need to present my argument to them and convince them because convincing them doesn't make me any more right, and there is a strong chance they don't even really believe what they are saying, they're just spouting things off to rile us up. It's quite freeing when you don't care to convince other people to share your point of view.

      I'm really not that concerned about people coming over here just to start a fight and tell us we're wrong. I have no idea if we can block people on the blog, it has never been an issue. We did disable anonymous commenting though. IF for some reason in the future someone does decide to come here and "argue" with us, I would simply say do not engage. People get bored quick when nobody is responding to them.

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  10. So I may be the oddball, but I don't know that I mind the idea of this movie. Han is such an iconic character, I guess it makes a certain amount of sense to me that they'd do a movie around him and make it current. And with Harrison being older, it's going to be awfully hard to deage him. So it doesn't upset me too much they need to cast someone new in the role. Not like they can ruin the OT for me or the character. Well, George tried with the adding of additional effects and footage. :) And TFA did a little with the separation negating I love you/I know a little for me. I certainly would think about that part before buying anything I love you/I know. Kind of makes it a bit of a bummer for me. But in the end I'll always have the OT if that's what I want.

    I'm kind of curious what they'll do with the movie. It could be really interesting. Or not. :) I was hoping TFA would be and was until a certain point. If Rogue One sucks though, I may not be near as interested.

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    2. I have a feeling that if this one works (and I have serious doubts about its ability to work), they'll do some sort of Han-Solo-as-Indiana-Jones-meets-Oceans-11 sort of series of films with young Han. I'd expect to see temporary love interest female leads (like Indy) and heist-type plots. Just a guess.

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    3. Yeah, I find it hard to think it'll work after TFA. Can only hope it'll be cool. But yeah, any serious relationships early on for Han just doesn't jive with who he is early on.

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    4. Just as long as they don't go about systematically replacing the likeness of vintage 1980s Harrison Ford with new diminutive Han as the "face" of Han Solo. That would piss me off immensely. The original luggage set is just too sexy. I'm not ready to replace it.

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    5. I do have to agree that THIS would be the worst thing about it, if suddenly we are looking at this dude's face instead of Harrison's. I mean, they wouldn't really do that, would they? Never mind, I said a few months ago that they wouldn't REALLY split up Han and Leia, AND have them only have one kid, AND have that only one kid be pure evil, AND kill Han. And they did all of those things.

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    6. I still don't get how he is supposed to have a cameo in Rogue One. How can he look like a completely different person a few weeks before ANH?

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    7. I wouldn't get too worked up over this until it is something more than just a rumor.

      If it IS true? Yeah, just shake your head at the ridiculousness. I really doubt it's true though.

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    8. giggles at LoveThis! and "diminutive Han." I have this vision of a hobbit version of Han walking around...

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    9. "Just as long as they don't go about systematically replacing the likeness of vintage 1980s Harrison Ford with new diminutive Han as the "face" of Han Solo. That would piss me off immensely. The original luggage set is just too sexy. I'm not ready to replace it."

      One reason I wouldn't expect much of this unless the film is a huge hit: there's no way a Hollywood agent these days is going to let this happen without a huuuuuuge deal for his likeness rights in merch. It won't be worth it to Disney to splatter his likeness everywhere for long unless the film is a big hit, as I'd be willing to bet his likeness rights on merch will be way more expensive to Disney than the likeness rights deals on the actors from the OT.

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    10. Thank you for being voices of reason. I really hope that's the case.

      It would honestly kill me to not have 1980s Harrison Ford forever represented as the "face" of Han Solo. I can live with new diminutive Han being in a standalone movie, but I might start a riot if they ever locked away the sexy luggage in favor of promoting a smaller, more groomed imposter. I mean, Harrison Ford is old enough to be my dad, but sexy like that lasts a lifetime! The only reason Han is so hot in the OT is because of Harrison Ford. Can you imagine what would have happened if any other actor played his character? I really doubt that kind of magic can be replicated.

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  11. I thought it was confirmed? http://screencrush.com/star-wars-spinoff-casts-alden-ehrenreich-as-young-han-solo/ At least this site seems to think so.

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    1. Without even reading articles, let's think about this logically. We have seen the trailer for Rogue One. They are finished shooting it and it comes out in 6 months. This guy was JUST cast. When exactly are they going to shoot scenes with him and put him in the movie?

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    2. Well there are pick ups and reshoots. I was thinking he'd have a cameo like Wolverine in X-Men First Class. I'd prefer if he weren't in there though, as I always saw Han was being uninvolved with the Rebellion until he metes Leia and Luke. That's another reason why the HST bugged me that he was in a serious relationship with the Rebellion leader. I always thought ANH made it seem like he was not into being tied down or committed to anything including any cause.

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    3. That's true but especially for a movie requiring this much in terms of visual effects, there is just about no way they would've planned to cast the guy this close to the movie coming out and then still have to somehow work out a shoot to get him in the movie.

      I should also add, that while this may be true and is being widely reported as fact, the casting decision has not been "officially" confirmed by the sources that really matter. Again, it may be true anyway but still.

      This is what bugs me, someone somewhere says something and makes themselves sound like they know stuff (young Han Solo will be in Rogue One!) and then suddenly everyone is talking about it like it's true. You really have to be careful where you get your news.

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    4. Yeah, for Episode VIII and other anthology film spoilers the only reliable website is Making Star Wars (the one that pieced together the plot from the call sheets). They got the entire plot of Episode VII bang on like a year before the film came out. Any other site I'd be suspicious.

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  12. I have it on reliable sources that the cameo young Han Solo makes in Rogue One is as follows:

    A short, kinda non-descript guy of about 5'9", wearing a utility vest, a white shirt, and Corellian bloodstripes is walking down a street in Mos Eisley when he sees the band of Rebels who are to steal the plans. He then takes a look at himself in the mirror and says, "Jeez, if I'm ever going to hang with that crew, I need to be taller, better-looking, and way more manly. I'd better get to work on that. I'm tired of being nondescript Non Solo. I don't want to be Samsonite luggage. I want to be Luis Vuitton."

    Next time anyone sees him is in ANH. The gym, the rack he bought to stretch himself, the plastic surgery all worked. The sexy luggage has arrived.

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  13. I wonder if eventually they'll do a spin off TV series or series of movies about the Big Three between ROTJ and TFA with the new Han Solo and an actress recast as Princess Leia? How would people on this site feel about that, if they DID show their marriage as strong and loving?

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    1. Nope. no interest. No one will ever be Han and Leia for me except Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher. And I think there's already too much Star Wars; LFL couldn't even manage to get the first film out of the gate right with regard to the Big Three so I can't imagine they'd do something like this well, even if they cloned 1990-ish Ford and Fisher for this series. One film every 3 years was just about right, and the magic of Star Wars is in the process of being ground up into just too much product.

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    2. No, and I don't think they would do that anyway.

      This does remind me of one Star Wars project that I was actually really excited about (It is sad that now I will probably never again be excited about a new Star Wars project) did have a "different" Han and Leia and Luke, but it was animated. Just before Disney bought Lucasfilm, there was an animated series called Detours that was set to premiere. We even saw previews of it, and it looked fun and hilarious. And then Lucasfilm got sold, and Disney shelved it. There are dozens of episodes that are finished, just sitting there, and they can't show them to us. I think I'd prefer to give episode 7 back and take that instead.

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    3. Actually, one person on Twitter did ask Pablo if they planned on doing something like this (a TV show or movie) on Luke, Han and Leia with different actors for the time period between ROTJ and TFA and he said "I wouldn't rule it out" so it's not out of the realm of possibility. I would prefer animated like the Clone Wars but I don't know if I'd totally hate it if it was well done. Maybe Billie Lourd as a young Leia?

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    4. The main reason I don't think they would go there is simple continuity. Think how jarring it would be to have Harrison and Carrie as Han and Leia in the OT. Then skip forward a couple of years and they are suddenly played be other people, who probably won't look anything like them, and then skip ahead to the sequel trilogy and hey look, they are played by Harrison and Carrie again. Wtf?? That just isn't going to flow very well.

      I think an animated series is extremely likely, but live action? Not with these characters, no.

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    5. True, though it has been done before. Like in X-Men 2 Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan played Professor Xavier and Magneto when recruiting Jean Gray, but in the new X-Men James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are going to be the ones training Sophie Turner who's playing Jean Gray, even though that takes place chronologically afterwards. I also think a reboot like JJ Abrams' Star Trek is inevitable at some point.

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    6. True, though it has been done before. Like in X-Men 2 Patrick Stewart and Ian McKellan played Professor Xavier and Magneto when recruiting Jean Gray, but in the new X-Men James McAvoy and Michael Fassbender are going to be the ones training Sophie Turner who's playing Jean Gray, even though that takes place chronologically afterwards. I also think a reboot like JJ Abrams' Star Trek is inevitable at some point.

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  14. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=E5UqyoqukyQ This is absolutely beautiful if you haven't seen it yet. I think the songwriter MUST have had Han and Leia in mind while writing the song because the lyrics - Princess, watching the Empire fall, "I gotta get you out of here" are too on the nose for it to be a coincidence.

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  15. Also, cute Han/Leia fan film - it's really well done for a fan film! https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fZJY0bJ02xU&feature=youtu.be

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