Three Weeks to Go, Some Funny Stuff with Harrison, and Happy Thanksgiving!

I believe I promised you a new post because the last one was getting out of hand with so many comments, and we are due anyway. Also I thought the Jimmy Kimmel show was going to be totally worthy of its own post because it was going to be so great, but I wound up being kind of disappointed there. Mostly because Harrison wasn't there but also because they didn't really talk that much to the cast, or at least not for very long. I really hope that there isn't a lot more disappointment to come in the next few weeks.

By far the bright spot was this fun clip of Harrison and Chewbacca. I don't know how many of you saw a few years ago when they did a little thing where Harrison had a "feud" with Chewie because he had apparently cheated with his wife or something. That was funny even then. But then now there is this:

I had seen some pictures of them shooting this weeks ago when Harrison was on the show then and couldn't figure out why there were all of these pictures when it clearly wasn't on the show, but now we know it was a way for him to be "on" the show without actually being there for this episode. That said, it is definitely pretty funny. And it has been strange and surreal to see Harrison be so enthusiastic in his participation in all things Star Wars suddenly. He definitely didn't look like he was being reluctant in his participation in this thing here. Maybe his plane crash also softened him a little? I don't really know, I just know that I am almost skeptical and waiting to see what his real reasons are. I don't know what I would think those reasons would be, but I just would never have expected this from him after so many years of not being particularly interested in Star Wars.

We also just got this new image:

I mean, if these are just the images we're allowed to see before we all see the movie, imagine all the cool stuff waiting for us once nothing is a secret anymore.

I don't know if I can handle any more speculation. I don't want to think about it anymore, I just want to see it. I also think that at some point in the very near future I'll be abstaining from any internet things that are Star Wars related, just in case. I'll warn you all when that happens. And then once I see the movie, you can expect a post probably just about immediately, so for anyone not seeing it the first night it is out, stay away until you see it! To my foreign friends who get the movie before we do, please wait until those of us in the US have seen it. But anyway, still not there yet, so continue to comment away at least for now.

And finally, again to the US readers, happy Thanksgiving! Enjoy the turkey and other delicious things. And be thankful that we only have to wait THREE MORE WEEKS!!!

Just Over Five Weeks To Go....

But more importantly, let's all just take a moment to admire this photo of Han Solo from the new movie:

I didn't think it was possible, but really, every single photo of him I see I think he looks even better. This is why when the movie was announced I was like, no, it's fine if he dies. But now when I'm actually seeing Han Solo again, and how much I still love it even though he's old (how is he so old but looks so good?) I'm just like, please don't kill him! 

Admittedly though considering that they are focusing so much on Han/Harrison, talking to him so much, showing so many photos, it makes me wonder if they are doing it because this is for sure the last time we will get to do it. Or, maybe we can hope that they are only spending so much time focusing on him because he's awesome and why wouldn't we want to spend so much time focusing on him? I do miss the bloodstripes down the sides though.

In my head a long time ago I was thinking how as we got closer we'd get to see more photos from the set and such, but I'm still just taken aback every time I see a new one, and surely there are tons more to come, before the movie, and surely some we won't see until after as they will give too much away plot-wise. There is a lengthy article online and promise of more to come in the upcoming issue of Entertainment Weekly, so I'll surely have to pick one of those up. There are some things in the article that make me a little nervous, most notably Harrison mentioning that Han Solo is still having some trouble with accountability for his actions. Yeah, that makes me nervous. To make myself feel better I'll just stare at that photo a little more.

Lastly, watched Return of the Jedi last night, and I got goosebumps several times just thinking about seeing the next movie and not know what is coming next. Hopefully happy Han and Leia in ROTJ is not the last time we will ever see happy Han and Leia.

And Yet Another New Trailer....

Seriously, you guys. I don't know how much more of this I can handle. It is bad enough when you know these things are coming, but now it's like every other day something new is on the internet just when I thought we had finally seen the last of all of the new stuff we were going to see.

Every new piece of footage I see of Han makes me think he looks better and better. I absolutely cannot wait to see him in this movie for 2 hours. I really can't even believe that we get to. I also noticed some things in this one that I'm hoping were done intentionally that give some clues, but for now that is all I'll say.

How much longer again do we have to wait?

International Trailer With New Footage

Well, this snuck onto the internet without much fanfare. I don't even know if there was an intention of a major release or it being a big deal or if it's just the international trailer and we weren't really meant to think much of it, except now that the internet connects the whole world of course we are all interested in everything.

Did you watch? Not a whole lot new here, but I suppose some interesting things. We hear Rey talk a lot more and it is abundantly clear now that she does not share the same accent as any of the big 3, though she does have a family.... or at least maybe is hoping for one. Finn and Rey still only have first names. Leia still apparently doesn't speak but perhaps that is a side effect of having to hang out with Threepio. Luke is still missing, and Chewie looks like he gets to blow something up.

So, overall, not a whole lot of excitement here. The music to me also seemed to be not quite Star Wars music, not recognizable like in the other ones. I feel as though maybe I've reached my limit on excitement over this one, because this didn't do much for me. I think still at this point I just want to be able to see the movie. Soon enough, I suppose. But I did at least feel the need to bring this one to your attention, so take a look and let us know what you think.

New Character Posters, Just Over Six Weeks to Go

Well, isn't that nice, huh? It reminds me how cool it is going to be when we start getting even more publicity stills and behind the scenes stuff to show us what we are not allowed to see until after the movie comes out. In a lot of ways this whole thing still doesn't quite seem real. An entire Star Wars movie with Han in it. And don't forget Leia:

Now, I'm going to have to state the obvious here, which is that someone did a little bit of digital fixing to Carrie's lips, but overall let's just look at these and be like, holy crap, Han and Leia in a movie! And let's remind ourselves that for those of us in the US seeing the movie at the first possible moment, we will be sitting in that theater a mere six weeks from tomorrow. Just let that sink in a little bit.

So, how is everyone doing at this point? For myself, I have completely abandoned any attempts at speculating what may or may not happen. That isn't even a conscious effort, it's just that it is so close at this point, I just want to SEE it finally, and let the movie speak for itself. Sure, I'm almost certain that amidst the wave of excitement that overwhelms me as I finally sit down in that theater on December 17th will also include a wave of terror as I wonder what they might have done to my favorite characters. But, I'm still very much looking forward to it.

Largely what I'm looking forward to is the once in a lifetime aspect of this. When is the last time you looked forward to a movie coming out anywhere near as much as this one? I like movies in general, I get excited when cool ones come out, but I am almost never a "first show on the first day" kind of person. Unless I just happen to be free and bored, that day, that is. Like, I think I actually saw Pitch Perfect 2 the day it came out, but that had more to do with boredom. Do you even remember the first time you saw Star Wars? I have no recollection of the first time I saw ANH or ESB. I have memories of watching them basically as far back as I have memories. I do remember the first time I saw ROTJ, though my only vivid memories of that are that it was really loud, and I thought it was pretty cool that Leia was under that Bousch mask. I was in preschool and already well enough versed in Star Wars to know the characters, but I wasn't like, emotionally invested in it.

I am very much emotionally invested in this movie. I care way too much about what may or may not happen to these characters. I mean, I love the Marvel movies, but I am not personally affected really by whatever happens to Iron Man and Black Widow and Captain America, even though I was admittedly kind of sad that he didn't get a chance to give things a shot with Agent Carter. (And as a complete side note: if you haven't, you guys should totally watch Agent Carter.)  Many of us have been waiting for this movie for over 33 years, while some of you lucky people have waited less if you didn't see them until later. That said, I'm sure even the rest of you have waited plenty. Most of the time we didn't even know we were waiting for it.

And now it's almost here. We get to see Han and Leia and Chewie (and maybe Luke, depending on where the heck he is hiding) on screen again together. And I'll tell you right here that I'm going to cry really regardless of what happens in the movie. It could probably be two hours of watching them wander around a desert and I'll still cry because OMG! Han and Leia! I don't want to know anything else about it until I actually get to see it.

Now as another side note: beware of Target. Holy crap to they have a lot of Star Wars merchandise. Just when I thought I had enough Star Wars t-shirts, they had to go and make Star Wars hoodies. There is even a fair selection of women's stuff for once. Honestly, half the time I think I'm in the 80s again. Star Wars is everywhere, Muppets are on TV, there is another Rocky sequel coming out and at this point I don't even know what number that is because I stopped watching after 4.

Anyway, mostly this was an excuse to post those gorgeous posters. And to warn you about spending all of your money at Target. Or online as there is also a Death Star waffle iron available currently. And to check in and see how everyone is doing so late in the game. It has been just over three years since this was announced and I can't believe it is almost here!

Episode VII: The Poster and Trailer

Finally, after many months of no news, we finally have something to look at!

First, the poster. I like it, but I also doubt they would've done anything with it I wouldn't have liked. It fits the same style as the other posters, and while our favorite characters are clearly not the main characters, at least they are next to each other, which I will take as a good sign. The lack of Luke is interesting, to say the least. But since Luke really isn't a main reason I want to see this movie, I'm not really concerned about that. Though I'm sure there are lots and lots of irate Luke fans out there. I would also guess there is some significance to the fact that Rey's weapon is parallel up against Kylo Ren's lightsaber, but I'm sure we will eventually learn why that is not a coincidence.

And the new trailer!!!! What else can we even say. I am writing this fast because I want to get it posted so we can start talking, but at least now from the trailer we know that Han and Leia at least hug in it. So, there is that. AAAAHHHHH!!!!! What does it all mean?!?!

Look at them!!!

And ok, final edit, to add another photo of this moment, this time with Leia's eyes open so you can really see he anguish:

And, to top of the night, I have tickets to a show at 7pm on December 17th!!!  That was incredibly stressful. Online sales were a mess, Fandango was crashing, everything was moving incredibly slowly, and the theater I wanted to get the tickets from was entirely not working. So I had to broaden my search a bit. I did not get my first choice theater, but I do have tickets to a show at 7pm. And actually I also have tickets to a show at 10pm. During the stressful ticket buying process, my movie buddies and I were conversing and trying to figure out what to do, so we got those too while we were worried we might not be able to get any at all. Phew, that was the last thing I was worried about, and now we just have to wait. And of course show up early enough that we can get good seats and sit near each other.

And another edit, to add this:

Will Return of the Jedi Be Rendered Meaningless?

We are a little over two months away from The Force Awakens. Given that it has been months since we've seen any new footage, six months since the last trailer, and an awfully long time since any real news, I actually haven't been thinking about it all that much. I'm not spending any time worrying or looking over web sites searching for news. I would guess we will get a new trailer in the very near future, and surely that will ignite my interest once again and cause another wave of excitement. But for now, mostly I'm just kind of sitting here noticing it getting colder and colder outside and realizing that December 18th (or 17th now I guess) actually isn't all that far away anymore.

That said, of course I do think about it sometimes, and I only caught a piece of an article that sparked this question in my mind. Let's remember first that I am not reading spoilers, I would prefer not to discuss them, but like most of us I have at least been trying to piece together some things about this movie based on the official information we have been given, and of course in spite of not reading spoilers, I still speculate in my own head. One of the things I've been speculating on of course is Han and Leia's relationship. Now, when this whole thing was first announced, them being together seemed like a given. The more time that passes, the less sure I am of that, to the point where basically I'm just expecting them not to be. What happened, and for how long they have or haven't been together, I really have no idea. I just have a bad feeling that they will not be together when this movie takes place.

That is bad enough, of course. But another thing that seems inevitable based on what we've been seeing, is that things aren't going so well for our heroes, whether they are the Rebels or Resistance or whatever the not-Empire people are calling themselves these days. Clearly, things are not good there. That of course brings another question, being how bad is it, and how long has it been bad? And has it basically been this bad all along? Did destroying the second Death Star do nothing?

Which brings me to the point of my post. If, in fact, destroying the second Death Star did not actually defeat the Empire, or even come close to it, doesn't that basically mean that the entire movie Return of the Jedi is completely meaningless? I mean, seriously. Think about it. 80% of the movie focuses on this big epic battle and the destruction of the Death Star. At the end of the movie, we're looking at them all smiling and happy, like they truly accomplished something and this long nightmare is over. But what if it isn't? What if they're just going to tell us that everything still sucked and the Empire was still basically in control of the galaxy? Then we just spent a whole movie focusing on a minor battle but then failing to tell us that they lost the war. It'd be like doing a sports movie and focusing on one mid-season game that was ultimately meaningless, but treating it like the win was a HUGE deal, but then coming back later and telling us that that team didn't even wind up making it to the playoffs.

It'd really make me sad if they render that movie meaningless. I mean, it is not completely without purpose. Luke goes through a lot, Anakin comes back to the light in the end, Leia learns of her parentage and connection to Luke, Han and Leia are finally truly together (or are they? I guess this is another thing that might become meaningless.)  But, still. Can you ever watch that movie the same way again if you knew that the "win" meant nothing? That the morning after the above photo they all woke up and things still sucked? If the prequels had come first, and we came back to Episode IV after the end of Episode III and after seeing the bad guys win and the Empire being in control and most of the Jedi dead it wouldn't make any sense to come back and suddenly have the Republic be in power and the Jedi be totally fine, would it?

I guess I'm just worrying more and more that they are going to further destroy the original trilogy. Even more annoying is that there is simply no reason to. I can almost guarantee you that whatever craziness they have going on in the universe when we get back to Episode VII could've been accomplished equally successfully without rendering Return of the Jedi meaningless. These movies are set thirty years apart. That is a very long time during which an awful lot can happen. And there would seem to me to be no reason why they couldn't have enjoyed several years or more of "winning" after that whole Death Star battle and everything, before things turned back around.

It has been nearly three years since they announced we'd be getting this movie. I just need to see it already and stop wondering and worrying and knowing for sure what I have to be enraged over!