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‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ is Back. In IMAX Form!

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I don’t know how I missed this, but jawajames over at Club Jade pointed out that Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark will be coming back to theaters this September in gigantic, awe-inspiring IMAX format. Screen Crunch has the details:

Can’t get enough ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark?’ Well, you’re about to get a lot more. To help promote the upcoming release of the Indiana Jones Blu-ray Box Set, we can confirm that Paramount will be re-releasing ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ in IMAX theaters this September.

As it went through the restoration process for Blu-ray, Paramount and Steven Spielberg also worked with IMAX on reformatting ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ for 70mm. The ‘Raiders of the Lost Ark’ will IMAX re-release will hit theaters starting on Friday, September 7th and run through until September 13th. (The ‘Indiana Jones: The Complete Adventures’ Blu-ray box set hits shelves on September 18th.)

And if you’re wondering, yes. Yes I will definitely be seeing this.

Replace the Catsuit: Art Entry from Serena

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It’s the LAST DAY to enter our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest! If you’ve got a costume or art piece you want to submit, you need to get them e-mailed, Tweeted, Facebook’d or otherwise linked to us by 11:59PM Pacific time.

The first entry on the final day comes from reader Serena. I’ll allow her to describe the piece:

Hi,

This is my entry for the Replace the Catsuit contest.  The first drawing is of Mara in formal clothing for a festive occasion during the Emperor’s time.  She hides her blaster and a lightsaber in one sleeve, while concealing a tiny grenade and a knife in the other of her flowery sleeves.  She piles her hair on top of her head and leaves the rest in a braid where it will not interfere with any of her battles against the enemy.

The skirt and the sleeves are attached by bands and a belt, but are easily discarded.  The rest of the outfit is revealed to be a simple, yet elegant blue, Imperial military, feminine jacket.  Mara wears  plain dark green, comfortable pants instead of the illogical choice of a dress to lightsaber fight.  Her gloves protect her hands from poisonous flora while climbing and also keep her from leaving telltale fingerprints when she breaks into a room.

Note her tan Jedi like boots and the choice of gray, not black gloves.  She may be the Imperial Hand, but the talented, compassionate Mara is no Sith.

Even though this outfit is simple and very practical, it also emphasizes the beauty of Mara.

The images are big, so head down to the jump to see them!

Continue reading →

Trope Tuesday: The Charmer

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It’s been a while since we’ve done one of these, but let’s get back to it. Welcome to another installment of Trope Tuesday, where we take a look at the literary devices and themes that make our favorite entertainment chug along. This week, we’re featuring The Charmer.

The Jack-The-Lad. Cocky, cheeky and devil-may-care, he’s the type of guy you can’t help but like, even as he’s wrapping you around his little finger. Especially if you’re a woman — mostofthe time — and The Charmer knows this all too well. As a result, if there’s a file he wants to see in a filing cabinet guarded by a pretty secretary, all he has to do is switch on his easy smile, and he has not only the file he wants, but also the secretary’s phone number.

There’s definitely a hint of the The Casanova about him, but he’s generally a lot kinder, more decent and less concerned solely with getting his end away; where the The Casanova would ultimately do anything, no matter how underhanded, to score a conquest, only to discard her once he’s achieved his pleasure, The Charmer knows what the limits are. He certainly doesn’t mind the fact that he can have any woman he wants, but he’d never stoop so low as actually take advantage, and is often a lot more chivalrous in his dealing with women. The Charmer generally doesn’t set out to break hearts; it just seems to be an unfortunate byproduct. But even if he’s Looking for Love in All the Wrong Places, The Charmer‘s usually too relaxed in his lifestyle to really consider changing.

Also, where sex is the The Casanova‘s ultimate driving goal, with The Charmer it’s usually a welcome extra; he often has bigger fish to fry, and ultimately knows his priorities

One could argue that Han Solo fits into this category, but to really find who in Star Wars fits the Charmer bill, you have to dive into the Expanded Universe. The character that best personifies this trope?

Wes Janson. Rogue, sharpshooter, Charmer.

Outside of the Star Wars universe, you see characters like The A-Team’s Face or Starbuck from the original Battlestar Galactica. Wow. Dirk Bennedict pretty much personified this trope. You’ve got Rick Castle from Castle and occasionally Dean Winchester from Supernatural slides into this trope. Of course, how can you forget Captain Jack Harkness, the rare bisexual (omnisexual?) example of the trope.

The Charmer has to be executed with care. Done right, it can be an amusing character trait, but go overboard and you will venture into extremely off-putting territory.

Catch Nanci and Brian at Celebration VI

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As you may have noticed, both Nanci and I are going to be at Celebration VI this year. We’re always up to meeting people from around the fandom and putting faces to online handles. If you’re going to be at CVI, feel free to stop us and say hi! We’ll even have some Tosche Station swag to hand out.

Here’s our tentative schedule!

Thursday:

  • 11am-12 – StarWars.com and Beyond with Leland Chee, Katie Cook, Steve Sansweet, and Ashley Eckstein (Collecting Stage/W303 ABC)
  • 1:30-2:30 – Dark Horse Comics Looks Ahead: 2013 (Behind the Scenes Stage/W414 ABCD)
  • 2:30-3:30 – It’s a Trap Puppetmasters Rose & Quinn (Digital Stage/W415 A)
  • 5-6 – Ian McDiarmid (Celebration Stage/Chapin Theatre)
  • 6-7 – Timothy Zahn Retrospective (Behind the Scenes Stage/W414 ABCD)

Friday:

  • 10:30-11:30 – What’s Coming from Del Rey (Behind the Scenes Stage/W414 ABCD)
  • 12-1 – Super Secret Star Wars Panel with Todd, Seth, and Matt (Celebration Stage/Chapin Theatre)
  • 2:30-3:30 – Laying Down Tracks – Writing Workshop with Aaron Allston (Star Wars University/W300)
  • 3:30-4:30 – Star Wars Obscure Character Faceoff (Fan Stage/W311 ABCD)
  • 4-5 – Planning Your Star Wars Wedding* (Star Wars University/W300)
  • 7:30-8:30 – Mark Hamill** (Celebration Stage/Chapin Theatre)
*Provided Nanci is feeling girly
**Prepare to queue early

Saturday:

  • 11-12 – The Clone Wars with Dave Filoni and Joel Aron (Digital Stage/W415 A)
  • 12-12:45 – Future of Star Wars in 3D (Digital Stage/W415 A)
  • 2-3 – Fakin’ It – Writing Workshop with Timothy Zahn (Star Wars University/W300)
  • 4:30-5:30 – Behind the Scenes of the Cantina (Behind the Scenes Stage/W414 ABCD)
  • 6-9 – Talking to Myself and Date with a Princess (Celebration Stage/Chapin Theatre)

Sunday:

  • 10:30-11:30 – Why We Love the Prequels (Behind the Scenes Stage/W414 ABCD)
  • 11:30-12:30 – Warwick Davis (Celebration Stage/Chapin Theatre)
  • 1-2 -Star Wars in 60 Minutes (Celebration Stage/Chapin Theatre)
  • 2:30-3:30 – Closing Ceremonies (Digital Stage/W415 A)

Cosplay Monday: Jedi Mind Tricks

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It’s Monday, which means it’s back to the grind for many of you. Here at Tosche Station, we aim to alleviate the tedium with a feature we call Cosplay Monday. Each week we highlight an intrepid costumer that goes above and beyond to celebrate fandom. This week, we’ve got Savanna from the PLC Blog and her Old Republic era Jedi costume:

Great costume, Savanna!

Replace the Catsuit: Art Entry from Fiona

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With five days left to submit entries for our Replace Mara’s Catsuit contest, reader Fiona has sent in another great art piece for consideration. Fiona says that she wanted to see some color on Mara. Something other than shiny, black leather. We couldn’t agree more, and we love what you’ve sent in.

What I’m really enjoying about all of the entries so far is that they’re emphasizing functionality over the sexy factor. Mara Jade was the Emperor’s Hand, a trained espionage specialist. She would be wearing outfits in public that wouldn’t draw attention to herself. On the battlefield and while at work she would be wearing things that better allow her to do her job. You know. Things with sleeves to hide holdout blasters. Pockets for battery packs and comlinks. Clothing that promotes mobility.

The leather catsuit? Yeah. It provides exactly zero of these things.

Thanks for submitting Fiona! Remember everyone, you’ve got until August 15th to submit your entry to win one of our prizes.

While we’re on the topic of Mara’s wardrobe, be sure to head over to Club Jade to check out some fantastic Mara art that will be featured in the upcoming Reader’s Companion. No catsuit!

Celebration VI Floor Plan Now Available

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The Orange County Convention center is big. Gigantic. Thankfully, the floor layouts are fairly straightforward and not an unholy maze of despair and agony like some other conventions *cough*Dragon Con*cough*. That said, you’ll probably still need some help getting around, and Reed is glad to help out.

Now available is the Star Wars Celebration VI floor plan, helping you find your way from panel to panel and from exhibitor to exhibitor. It’s a good idea to familiarize yourself with the layout before the convention. The last thing you want to do is race towards something with time running out and having no idea where you’re going.

Details of Joss Whedon’s New Marvel Deal

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Earlier this week, news broke that Joss Whedon would continue his role as writer/director of the Avengers 2 as well as contributing to a brand-new Marvel film-universe television series on ABC. Further details have come out since and by the looks of it, Marvel and Disney have handed Joss the keys to the city.

io9 reports that Whedon has signed an exclusive three-year contract with Marvel, locking him into their works during that duration. That’s mildly interesting, but there’s one key portion to the agreement that’s worth noting:

The three year contract, according to Marvel, means that Whedon will “contribute creatively to the next phase of Marvel’s Cinematic Universe.” You can assume that means Whedon will be involved, at some level, in the scriptwriting of the movies between now and Avengers 2 — especially the second Captain America film and Guardians of the Galaxy.

io9 goes on further to break down why Whedon’s involvement in all of the films moving forward is critical:

The main takeaway from Marvel’s announcement, though, is the notion that Whedon is joining a very small group of people who make the big decisions about the direction of the shared universe that includes Marvel’s movies and this new TV show. This comes at a crucial phase, when most of Marvel’s films are going to be sequels rather than origin stories, and at least half those films (Thor 2 and Guardians) are likely to be insanely “cosmic,” with the obvious risk of falling into the Green Lantern trap of excessive CG and flat characters.

So most of all, Marvel’s on-screen universe is going to have to stay grounded, something that Whedon excels at because he understands that the best stories are “about us.”

For long-time Whedon fans, this is all great news. Finally there’s a studio that’s going to stand behind Joss, his fans, and his process. For fans of the Avengers films, this is going to likely mean much tighter narrative control and cohesion from film to film.

Contest: Replace The Catsuit

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Somebody give that poor woman some sleeves

We love Mara Jade. She’s smart, she’s snarky, she’s a BAMF to the highest degree.

There’s one thing about Mara we don’t like, however. Nanci and I have talked about this during the podcast before: we hate the wardrobe she’s constantly portrayed in. Specifically, the catsuit. By the Gods of Kobol, we hate the catsuit. It’s objectifying, it’s demeaning. Mara’s a character whose innate personality makes her engaging. She doesn’t need to wear a skintight outfit that’s woefully ill-suited to combat to get fans to like her.

Unfortunately, no one listens to us (which is probably a good thing). Mara will continue to wear that awful outfit in every piece of art and every action figure until the end of time. Unless, perhaps, you speak up.

That’s why Tosche Station is holding a contest to raise awareness for poor Mara Jade’s lousy wardrobe. All you have to do is replace the catsuit!

Here’s what we’re looking for: 

We want to see you, our reading and listening audience, portray Mara in something more appropriate. Bring on the Jedi robes! Bring on the flightsuits! Bring on the flight jackets and trousers! Bring on some kind of outfit that might actually make sense for Mara Jade to wear!

We’re looking to take everything from fanart to costumes and cosplay. If it shows Mara wearing something that isn’t the catsuit, send it our way.

Have fun with this, and remember, we want to see something that doesn’t objectify her like the catsuit does.

The Prize

Like we said, this is a contest! Which means there’s going to be a winner, a runner up, and some fabulous prizes given to the best costume and art submitted.

  • First Prize: A copy of Allegiance and Choices of One by Timothy Zahn
  • Runner-up: A paperback copy of Allegiance

Submit a picture of your costume or your fanart by August 15th via Twitter, Facebook, or the e-mail address on the sidebar. For the costumers in the crowd, consider this a tuneup for convention season this summer. Everyone who does submit something will have their work featured in their own post on the blog. 

Hop to it, Mara fans!

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