Happy Birthday, Harrison!

It's that time of year again: Harrison Ford's birthday!  Hard to believe the man is 72 today.  I realized this also means that he is more than twice as old as he was when he first appeared as Han Solo.  Crazy. 

Also, for any of you who are not aware or keeping tabs on his recovery from his broken leg and the subsequent filming delays, there are photos circulating of him walking around on this sort of peg leg thing where he rests his weight on his upper leg, but not the lower.  I've never seen such a contraption but thought it was a very encouraging sign that he will recover relatively quickly.  This way he is still basically walking around, still putting weight on that leg, just not the lower part of it, which means he will probably not lose much in terms of muscle atrophy, etc.  I also suspect it could make things easier to shoot from the waist up if needed.  I did read that he has taken quickly to it and will, as we all would suspect, bounce back faster than most.  So even at 72, he's still doing pretty darn well for himself.

Production will also be taking a two week break in August to give him some time to heal.  I suspect this means that any of those reports that said that he would be out for six months are lies, as by the end of that time frame we'd be coming up on 8 weeks since this happened, right within the 6-8 week range we were initially, and subsequently "officially" given on how long he'd be out for.  This news felt rather encouraging, and I suspect they may not have to alter things as much as I feared or even at all except maybe framing certain shots.  There were a lot of panic inducing "articles" circulating without much factual basis about writing him out of the movie or drastically reducing his role, and none of that appears to be true. 

But anyway, today's his birthday and as a fellow Cancer, happy birthday, Harrison!  Can't wait to see you as Han Solo again.

Helpful Article on Writing

Once upon a time we used to write a lot of posts about actual writing.  That was actually kind of the intent of the blog in general, although we meandered off on a lot of often fun sidetracks.  It's been a very long time since we discussed writing in and of itself, but I just came across this article that I thought had some simple but also very useful tips on writing.  I'll link it here rather than copying and pasting, but it is six tips on writing from John Steinbeck.  Push, especially, I thought of you quite a bit when reading some of these.  One tip in particular talks about moving on from a particular scene that is giving you trouble, which is something I've told her to do on occasion.  It doesn't do you any good to spend all of your time hung up on one scene and never getting anywhere, especially when you have a clear idea of what the rest will look like. 

Where have you gotten your best advice on writing?  Do you try to make yourselves better or do you just write and not worry about it?  Personally, I always want it to be better.  Sadly this often means I'll go back and cringe at older things I've written, but it can also inspire you to do better and figure out how not to make the same mistakes.  I do wonder though if for some there is just a natural gift for words that cannot be taught or learned.  And then there is the fact that some people have their own distinct style of writing.  For me, if I wasn't trying to be better at it, I'd just write for myself and not share it with other people.  Although it's difficult to be a story teller without an audience.

Anyway, hopefully you got some good tips in there and I'd be interested to hear if others read about writing or study it at all or if you just go out and write and don't care what anyone thinks.

Not So Great News From the Set of Episode VII

Well, things haven't started out so well on principal photography on the set of Episode VII.  The photo above is obviously from ROTJ, when they actually made it through without injuring anyone terribly.  If you haven't heard, Harrison Ford has apparently been fairly badly injured on set.  The exact details are unclear, but based on what's been going around so far he has a broken ankle from a hydraulic door that fell on him (some reports say it was the door of the Falcon, others say it was just some door on set) and it will require surgery and 6-8 weeks of recovery and therefore not shooting. 

While this news is bad, we can only hope that it is not terrible and more of a pain and a delay than anything tragic.  First of all, let's be glad it didn't land on the man's head.  I suppose we can also sort of be glad that if the cause of the injury is true, then it means that we can't really blame it on him being old and not able to do the same things he used to do, because if something falls on you, I don't care how old you are, you're probably going to break a bone.  The news is still fairly vague but they are telling us that it will require schedule juggling and moving a lot of things around, but filming should still be completed on schedule.  I only hope this doesn't shrink his role or severely limit him even when he does come back.  As you can imagine, with an unsafe set the rest of the cast is not happy, and I'd imagine he won't be thrilled when he comes back either.  It will be interesting once we get the real story.

It's slightly more concerning that he has been in the hospital since it happened on Friday.  There were other reports floating around about a pelvis injury but that has been denied.  Time will tell.  I feel bad for the guy but this is far from the first time he has had something bad happen on set.  He wrecked one knee on Raiders, he destroyed his back on Temple of Doom, he wrecked his other knee on The Fugitive.  I know on ToD he was off set for many weeks and had surgery and came back, so we know that they can make things work even when he's the star of the film and in every scene, let alone when they can adjust the schedule and probably shoot plenty of scenes without him.  Then again, he was 30 years younger working on that movie, but let's not think about that. 

So, unfortunate news for sure, but hopefully not devastating.  If we find out that the schedule was merely rearranged and we won't notice a difference when the movie comes out, I'll be happy.  I just hope it doesn't change anything.  And again, I do feel bad for him since nothing like that should be happening on a set!

How Much Do You Want to Know Before it Comes Out?

So, by now we are all hearing bits and pieces of actual news about this movie.  It is becoming more and more real that it is actually happening, and now we can at least relax in the knowledge that our favorite characters are, in fact, coming back.  And likely in fairly substantial roles (especially one ex smuggler in particular).  But I find myself wondering how much and what I really want to know before it comes out.

Many of you are probably hearing these rumors swirling around that Han Solo will die.  Now, I think I said a long, long time ago, when all we knew was that there would be a new movie and that our favorite characters would likely be back, that if done well, I could live with that.  I don't really want to argue over whether or not that is something they should do, because they're going to do what they're going to do there and there is nothing we can do to change it.  I'm more curious to know how "spoiled" you all want to be going into this movie.

I have mixed feelings here.  I know for a fact that I do not want to know everything.  I mean, how fun would that be?  I also know for sure that what I mostly wanted to know was that Han, Leia and Luke would be back, and that Han and Leia would be an old, married couple.  Since that fact has been basically verified, I am feeling a lot more at ease and a lot less interested in scouring movie news for information.  I think we are all also basically assuming that at least one of the young actors will be their child, so that also makes me happy.

Beyond that?  I'm not sure what I want to know.  Back when Episode I was coming out, it was truly exciting.  I was in college at the time and the internet was just starting to become a thing that you really used quite a bit, though not quite as big that you spent hours and hours on it like we do now.  Although that was probably just because it moved a lot slower.  I was so excited for these prequels, and had also felt much like I do now, that I'd never get to see a new Star Wars movie.  I made a conscious decision to try not to read/see too much about it before it came out so I could go in with fresh eyes and see it all as new and exciting.  So I could really see it all unfold before my eyes.  I remember that the first trailer coming out was a huge deal, but I don't remember if I let myself watch it or not.  I probably did, but after that, I'd avert my eyes when it was shown on TV.  I would save magazine articles to read later, after I'd seen it.  I never looked at message boards or web sites that would tell me anything about it.  Although to be fair, at the time I don't think I ever went on message boards anyway.

So, I went in with those fresh eyes.  And I wound up being bitterly disappointed.  Well, not at first.  Honestly, at first, I think we all wanted so badly to like it that we wouldn't admit even to ourselves let alone out loud that we didn't really like it.  We'd waited our entire lives to see it, and it was mostly crap.  It was hard to really accept that, let it sink in, and vocalize it to see if everyone else felt the same way.  But oh, it was painful.

I don't expect this one to be nearly as painful.  Now, do I expect it to be amazing?  Right now, no.  I won't let myself get my hopes up.  But I do know I'm debating in my head what I want to know going in.  I already know the most important things, that Han and Leia are still together and have at least one child.  Do I want to know more beyond that?  If Han Solo is going to die, do I want to know that before I see it?  I don't know!  Although honestly, if that is slated to happen, I actually would find it hard to believe that a living soul could go into that movie and not already know that.  The internet is a crazy place, and for better or worse, information like that would be impossible to keep under wraps.  I mean, if we had the internet in 1980 I'd be willing to bet that most people would've known before they saw ESB that Darth Vader was Luke Skywalker's father.  I think it's kind of sad that we've lost the element of surprise, but it is what it is and there's no going back.

But still, will I avert my eyes when the trailers come on?  Will I be able to not watch clips that are shown before it comes out?  Will I try not to see much media before?  I still don't know.  I will say though, I've had this thought in my head that sooner or later there will be the first shots of Han and Leia as their old, married selves, and I'm not sure I'll be able to not look at that, or contain my ridiculous excitement upon seeing it.  But specific plot details?  I don't know!

Have any of you given any thought to this?  I'm all about spoilers when it comes to things I don't care about that much, but if it's something I really want to see, I kind of like to be surprised.  I just wonder how surprised I'll really let myself be.  Really it'd probably just be easier to go into a coma tomorrow and wake up in December of 2015 but then, well, that's actually probably a terrible idea.  

May the Fourth Be With You!

 

Happy Star Wars day, everyone!  Would you have believed a year ago that we'd have just now found out some of the awesome news on Episode VII?  Me, neither.  Then again, two years ago I'm sure none of us had any hope that there might be another movie in the first place, so at least sometimes there are good surprises.  Anyone doing anything good to celebrate?  I'll admit, I unfortunately have had a crazy busy day and I've been traveling so I am not even wearing a Star Wars t-shirt.  Lame, I'm terrible this year.  But I'm at least relieved to have heard some movie news, and think it's just awesome that they are about to start shooting scenes with Han and Leia.  I mean, how amazing is that?

Anyone watch The Big Bang Theory?  I'm not an avid watcher and really only saw a whole episode probably like a year ago.  At which point I was like, how have I not been watching this show all along?  So much geeky goodness.  But anyway, last week they had a Star Wars Day themed episode.  It wasn't the greatest but there were a few funny references only fans like us would understand.  I've also heard that the show The Goldbergs, which is a family comedy set in the 80s, also had a Star Wars themed show I haven't had a chance to check out yet.  Honestly though, if you love the 80s, you should check that show out.  I've found it highly entertaining.  It's sort of like The Wonder Years but a little bit less serious. 

Not much else to say here since we're all still hung up on casting news and such, but it didn't seem right to let such an important day pass without a post.  So, happy Star Wars day and May the Fourth be with you!

FINALLY Real News! Episode VII Cast Officially Announced!

Well over a year ago we received news that there was going to be another Star Wars movie.  Then there were months and months and months of dodged questions, vague answers, weird rumors and "announcements" that were more often than not just announcing something that they had already told us before.  I was beginning to give up hope that we'd ever learn anything, or even that the movie was truly going to happen at all. 

Today, we finally have some answers.  We still have some questions, too, but we certainly have some concrete answers, some good news, and still some speculating to do.  For those of you who don't know already, the cast has been announced.  The big three are returning.  While honestly, after everything that had been said I didn't really think that they wouldn't be back - why bother with all of the non-denial only to months later tell us, oh, sorry, we're not actually going to be in this one? - it is still a huge relief to me to see that it is finally official.  I'm a sucker for nostalgia and I don't care how old they are.

Then we have a list of actors that can be found elsewhere, most of whom I've never heard of.  I don't think that's a bad thing.  After all, the big three were virtual unknowns at the time.  I also think it's better to have people we don't (yet) recognize very well so that we can fully be absorbed into the movie, rather than looking at some 25-year old and thinking, gee, remember when I used to see him on that Disney tween show?  That would be annoying.  The only thing we really need to know at this point is what roles exactly these people are going to have.  I'm sure at least a couple are Skywalker/Solo offspring, but it remains to be seen which ones.

But, seriously, this is really happening.  We get to see Han and Leia and Luke on screen again.  We get to see Han and Leia (presumably - we have no reason to believe otherwise) married.  Can you imagine if back in 1983 someone had told you that in 2015 you were finally going to get another Star Wars movie to follow Return of the Jedi?  First of all, that would've felt like so far infinitely in the future that we might catch up to them in technology.  But really, would you have believed it?  Forget the prequels, of course.

Anyway, still plenty more speculating to do, but we finally have some actual news, and we finally are seeing Harrison, Carrie and Mark in the same place at the same time.  How crazy is that?  My geek side is on overdrive right now.  And I cannot wait for this movie.

Star Wars EU No Longer Officially Canon to Go Along With Films

Apparently it is official now that the EU we have all been following for so many years is basically being wiped clean.  There was an official announcement the other day, although like most "big announcements" they keep making lately, I read it and find myself thinking, wait, didn't they already announce this?  Well, apparently it wasn't officially official or something, because suddenly it's breaking news and we're supposed to think we didn't already know this was going to happen.  I fully expect on May 4th to hear that they are making Episode VII, like it's something we haven't already known for like a year and a half or however long it's been now.  

So, how do we feel about this?  It's hard to decide how I feel until I find out what they kept and what they didn't.  They have reserved the right to pick and choose elements that they may keep the same, but I'll be really curious to see if they go to great lengths to make it as different as possible or just use things here and there and not worry about it.  In a lot of ways it's nice that they have this freedom to do whatever without having to conform to anything prior, and we all know how annoying it was at times for them to try and fit things into existing canon given the fact that there are ridiculous amounts of comics and books and such.  

The good news is apparently now COPL never really happened!  Although of course depending on what they wind up doing we all may find ourselves wishing it did.  To be honest though, I'm not that worried about a few key elements being ruined for me.  I'd be really, really surprised  - and, let's face it, completely heartbroken - if they decided that Han and Leia never got married.  I genuinely don't believe they'll do that, though.  I just want to see old, married Han and Leia kicking ass into their retirement years, watching their kids grow up and kick some ass of their own.  I do admit though I've grown attached to many elements of the EU, and it's all lodged in my memory, so it'll be weird to suddenly be like, wait, who are their kids?  And, frankly, it seems a little odd that going into the future there are dozens of books about this entire alternate universe that we are supposed to ignore now.  Do you think that new readers are going to get into an EU now that previously existed but now has nothing to do with the movies we're going to be seeing or new books going forward?  I really doubt it.  

And, selfishly, I feel like it sort of wrecks some of my stories.  I know that's dumb, but it is something that crossed my mind.  I do need to keep reminding myself that now Chewie lives, we should probably assume that if they had them, none of Han and Leia's kids have died.  Maybe poor Luke will also get a wife who doesn't die fairly young, either.  These bits of consolation haven't stopped me from being fairly nervous about the new awful things they could do to replace this, though. 

May the Fourth is fast approaching.  Months ago if someone had told me that we'd still barely know a thing by then I'd have laughed, thinking there was no possible way it could go that far before we heard some real news.  Well, apparently they can hold out on us longer than I thought.  If any of you are on facebook and follow Star Wars, they seem to be talking about May 4th an awful lot and making me wish if I could remember years past and whether or not they brought it up this often.  I'll admit though, they are doing the best job I've ever seen at keeping this stuff under wraps, but seriously, just tell us something already!  

Anyway, bye-bye original EU that is now AU.  I really hope that what replaces it is better.