Category Archives: The Force Awakens

Unlearning What You’ve Learned, and Why It’s Impossible When You Know Nothing

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Yeah, I’m still bouncing over The Force Awakens teaser. When I say bouncing, I mean I’ve been watching the teaser ad nauseum and drooling over Oscar Isaac and the new X-wings. I like the teaser the more I see it, and appreciate what they were able to convey in such a short amount of time. We can assume we’ve seen the new big three, and that there’s still a conflict between the Empire and “Rebellion”, or the New Republic, or whatever it’s called now. And then of course there’s the voiceover, which tells us something big has happened in the Force. This is all more than we officially knew, but we still know very little.

And this makes it impossible for me to to unlearn what I’ve learned about the post Return of the Jedi era. Allow me to explain.

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The Force Awakens Teaser Trailer: Our Reactions

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The Force Awakens Logo

Brian: I’m still bouncing. The whole thing was just a rising linear progression of excitement. Right until we got to the X-wings and my heart about shot out of my chest. Then the Falcon shows up and I go straight to crying. It’s Star Wars. The universe feels dirty and lived in again. This feels like the thing I grew up with, and I love it. After you watch the trailer it gets even better. If the characters they showed were nominally the Big Three of this film, there isn’t a white male in the group. It’s progress, actual tangible progress, and I’m thrilled. Today The Force Awakens ceased being this nebulous thing that existed somewhere in the future and became something that’s actually happening. It’s a thing that’s happening and it looks like they’re doing some extremely exciting things with it. I cannot wait.

Nanci: I will admit, I am disappointed we didn’t get a shot of Luke in the teaser. I really, really, really wanted to see him. However, after thinking about it, I realize they made the right decision not to show the old Big Three. They wanted to show that while The Force Awakens will harken back to the Original Trilogy in terms of aesthetics and theme, it’s still a new story with new characters (and new music!). Instead they showed us the new Big Three (or at least I hope they did), and wow did they just stoke my interest big time. I need to know more about the characters John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, and Oscar Isaac are playing. I need to know all about Isaac’s X-wing squadron. (Please can we get a book or TV series about them?) I need to know who that robed figure is; I’m thinking Adam Driver. Not to mention who’s saying the voiceover! (von Sydow or Serkis, probably.) I will end my rambly thoughts with this: while I won’t rest until I see Jedi Master Luke Skywalker wielding a lightsaber, seeing new X-wings made me nearly bounce out of my skin. I am excited. (But not as much as I could have been.)

Bria: Sobbing.  Just gross hyperventilating sobbing.  We have new Star Wars footage for the first time in almost ten years and there’s nothing that could have made me happier except for watching the movie.  The sight of the Falcon and the X-Wings made me squee but what will be sticking with me is that John Boyega was the first person we saw on screen.  Just think about that for a minute.  The first two characters we saw are a black guy and a woman.  DIVERSITY IN THE GFFA.  I’d also like to say that Daisy Ridley couldn’t have possibly looked more like Padmé dressed like Ania Solo in the trailer if they’d tried.  Honestly, there’s nothing that I didn’t love about the trailer.  GIVE US THE NEXT ONE.  AND THEN THE MOVIE.

Sho:  I’m so excited. I really want to know who John Boyega and Daisy Ridley are, who the gravely voice is, who the adorable little rolly droid is. And that scene with the X-Wings was just beautiful. And the lightsaber looked very striking but I’m not sure that cross guard would accomplish anything other than to make the wielder need to be extra careful of their fingers. I am 100% with Bria on how awesome it is to have John Boyega and Daisy Ridley be the first two characters you see. And does this portend how important their characters are in the film? Oh, please let this portend the importance of their characters in the film.

The Force Awakens Trailer To Be On iTunes Friday

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The Official Star Wars Twitter account just announced that The Force Awakens teaser trailer will also be available via iTunes on Black Friday.

This follows the previous announcement that it will be debuting in 30 theatres around the United States from earlier this week.

We got our first hint about the Friday online release approximately thirty minutes prior to the official announcement when the official Star Wars Italy twitter accidentally tweeted the news preemptively but quickly deleted the tweet.  It’s great to see the news confirmed though and we here at Tosche Station are very glad that the fandom will get to experience this first trailer together.

Star Wars Teaser Trailer Confirmed for Select Theaters This Friday

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Earlier today, Bad Robot tweeted a note by J.J. Abrams that confirms that the first teaser for Star Wars: The Force Awakens with debut this Friday, November 28 in select theaters and that it will be 88 seconds long:

In case that image isn’t loading for you, the note says

A tiny* peak at what we’re working on–this Friday in select theaters. Hope you enjoy, and have a most excellent Thanksgiving!

Best,

JJ

*88 seconds

Regal Entertainment has posted a picture of Mon Mothma and a note to check their website soon for information about which of their theaters will be involved in the teaser debut, implying that at least some of the select theaters will be theirs.

As of yet, no theaters have been officially confirmed for the debut.

UPDATE: AMC had joined Regal in confirming that some of their theaters will be involved in the debut:

The specific theater locations that will show the teaser remain unconfirmed.

UPDATE THE SECOND: Cinemark has joined the league of theaters debuting the teaser, posting this tweet in confirmation:

Again, still no word on specific theater locations.

UPDATE THE THIRD: The official site has confirmed the theater locations that will show the teaser on Friday, as well as confirming that the teaser will be in theaters worldwide after this weekend. There are thirty locations total, 28 of which are in the US and two of which are in Canada. Check out the complete list here.

Episode VII has a Title: The Force Awakens

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The Episode VII title has been revealed — via a Twitter post, of all things.

Edit: And now on StarWars.com

Around noon EST, the Star Wars twitter announced that Star Wars: The Force Awakens has completed official photography.

This seems very early to have a title, but I’m not complaining. If we could get some more official news (like characters and pictures in costume), I would also not complain.

I suspect there will be lots of complaining about the title, because that’s what Star Wars fans do. And it also fuels rampant speculation about the nature of the film…color me intrigued.

Episode VII News Update

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So, our Intrepid Leaders are on their honeymoon, which means the B-team is subbing in this week (we’re sorry).   Here’s what we’ve got:

J.J. posted another video for UNICEF’s Force for Change, and this time, he’s showing off an X-wing in the video.  Take a look at Mashable.com.  Personally, I’m thrilled at yet another look at practical effect props showing up here, and I’m looking forward to a comparison of this X-wing to those from the original trilogy.

Meanwhile, Badass Digest claims to have plot details for Episode VII.  I don’t think I need to note how very, very, very unconfirmed that is, but if you’re wanting to stay unspoiled, you might want to avoid, just in case.  (TOTALLY UNCONFIRMED, BY THE WAY.  And some of it doesn’t make ANY sense.  Like, at all.)

That’s the news for this morning.  Naturally, since The Intrepid Leaders are on a boat, Bria and I are expecting some sort of exciting news to drop at some point this week.  (You might remember that Brian and Nanci were on a cruise when Episode VII was announced.)  We will be exacting revenge for this later.

Episode VII filming in IMAX, will be post-converted to 3D

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First bit of news: As the above tweet from Bad Robot shows, Episode VII is filming with IMAX cameras as we speak.

Second bit of news: Episode VII will be released in theaters with a post-conversion 3D option.

It’s perhaps not too surprising that Disney and Lucasfilm want to have a 3D version of Episode VII in theaters, but it will no doubt disappoint many that this will be done in post. Films in 3D that aren’t shot natively with specialized stereoscopic cameras tend to be odd looking. Characters and objects in the foreground look oddly flat in front of the background.

Lucasfilm does have some internal experience with the post-conversion process, having re-released Episode I as a 3D film a few years ago to mixed reception. The film did look a fair amount better than most hastily thrown together conversions, but there were still a number of moments where the characters appeared jarringly flat. We’ll see how this conversion turns out.