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REVIEW: LEGO set 75099 – Rey’s Speeder

Even though my LEGO preferences tend to lean more towards the larger, more complicated sets (the UCS Slave I is currently sitting just to my left), one of the “Force Friday” The Force Awakens sets I was most looking forward to was the relatively tiny Rey’s Speeder (75099). I liked the look of the vehicle from the two teasers we’ve seen so far, and the set itself looked like a solid, satisfying build — not huge or intricate, but well-designed and fun to put together, much like the Inquisitor’s TIE set (75082) from back in January. That wound up being an extremely satisfying build, despite its small size — does this new (even smaller) offering from LEGO follow suit? Read on to find out!

(Minor spoilers/speculation for The Force Awakens, I guess)

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Tosche Station on Location: Dragon Con 2015 – Evolution of Costumes for TFA

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From Dragon Con day two, it’s the Evolution of Costumes for The Force Awakens panel. Panelists include Bria LaVorgna, David White, Jonathan Wolk, Tom Hutchens, and Cheralyn Lambeth. Josh Mueller moderates.

Star Wars Releases New Footage, Afternoon Productivity Shot

star-wars-force-awakensTo celebrate Instagram’s new format change, the official Star Wars account released a very short (15 seconds) clip showing old and new footage from The Force Awakens. Among the old footage includes the reverse shot of Starkiller Base, first seen in the Korean TV spot, as well as Kylo Ren igniting his lightsaber from the first teaser. The new footage includes a shot of Rey, looking very distressed, with BB-8 in the background, and FINN IGNITING THE SKYWALKER LIGHTSABER AND PRESUMABLY FACING OFF AGAINST KYLO REN!

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Ahem, sorry guys, that just makes me really excited.

Watch the clip on repeat here.

The Force Awakens News from Entertainment Weekly

jj-abramsSometimes, the best news is the kind that nobody was expecting.

Earlier this week, Anthony Breznican of Entertainment Weekly revealed on Twitter that there’d be no new trailer or footage from The Force Awakens shown at Disney’s upcoming D23 convention. This wasn’t much of a surprise, since director J.J. Abrams revealed prior to San Diego Comic Con that the next trailer wouldn’t be released until the fall.

Today, however, EW released a slew of articles and photos from the upcoming issue, featuring interviews with J.J. Abrams and Lawrence Kasdan, information about character names, and a badass cover of Kylo Ren. Club Jade has an excellent roundup on what we’ve learned so far.  Here’s some of my highlights:

  • Kylo Ren is not the character’s given name. He comes upon it after joining a group known as the Knights of Ren. Also, his broadsaber is a weapon of his own creation. Could he be the Sith fanboy we’ve all been dreaming of?
  • Kathleen Kennedy persuaded Abrams to direct the film by asking him a simple question: “Who is Luke Skywalker?” While Abrams and Kasdan don’t reveal any new information about Luke’s role in the film, or even what he’s been doing up until that point in the timeline, it’s clear that he’s still a major influence in the Galaxy Far, Far Away.
  • Rey rescues BB-8 from a soccer ball style net, held by an alien named Teedo and his luggabeast. How does Teedo come upon BB-8? And does Rey have a history with the droid before rescuing him? That’s still unclear.
  • Yes, there’s a reason the surnames of Finn and Rey are still a mystery.
  • There’s a photo of John Boyega in stormtrooper armor next to the crashed TIE fighter, that can be seen in the Behind the Scenes reel from Comic Con. Odds are he’s the one flying that thing, perhaps out of the hangar that we see in the second teaser. “Fly, yes. Land, no!”

As if this isn’t enough new information for us to digest, Breznican teased more news coming tomorrow, featuring everyone’s favorite scoundrel-turned-general, Han Solo. Stay tuned….

The Force Awakens at San Diego Comic Con

The Force Awakens panel happened last night at San Diego Comic Con. Harrison Ford was there, and then they brought everyone to a concert that ended with fireworks.

They also showed a Behind the Scenes video, which you can find on YouTube.

The entire panel is also now on YouTube.

There’s also a ton of galleries, live blogs, and analyses online: Variety, Entertainment Weekly, USA Today, Tor.com, io9, The Verge, and screenshots from Star Wars New Zealand and Collider.

Edit: Added articles from Vanity Fair and a photo gallery from Entertainment Weekly.

EW: No TFA Trailer or Clips at SDCC

The Force Awakens LogoAnthony Breznican over at Entertainment Weekly has the scoop: there will be NO trailer or clips featured at the TFA panel at San Diego Comic Con.

First of all, the presentation this Friday afternoon will not include a trailer or any new clips of the movie. The next trailer will be coming in the fall, according to sources with knowledge of the project.

But don’t go hurling your cup of blue milk at the wall just yet. There will be other surprises.

No clips, bummer. Other surprises, you say? Go on…

Director J.J. Abrams, screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan, and Lucasfilm president Kathleen Kennedy are already confirmed as part of the panel, which will be moderated by Nerdist impresario and Talking Deadhost Chris Hardwick.

Although EW hasn’t learned just which of the cast members will be joining them, our spies say there will be several actors who haven’t yet spoken publicly about their roles venturing onstage in Hall H.

Fascinating! If I were to wager a guess, this could mean we’ll see some other new cast members on stage to discuss their roles in the film, similar to when Ridley/Boyega/Isaac showed up at Celebration to give a 30,000 foot overview of their characters. If that’s what’s going to happen, well, color me excited.

Andy Serkis is Supreme Leader Snoke

The Official Site has a great interview with Annie Leibovitz about her Vanity Fair photo spread.

Included in that interview is a previously unseen photo of Andy Serkis rigged in mo-cap gear, and they also dropped his character name: Supreme Leader Snoke (of the First Order?).

Leibovitz also had some nice words about Adam Driver, who plays masked villain Kylo Ren.

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J.J. Abrams Interview in Vanity Fair

daisy btsAs part of the June cover story, Vanity Fair sat down with director J.J. Abrams to talk about his work on The Force Awakens. Topics of conversation include how he and the rest of the creative team went about setting the tone and referencing the other films, and what it was like working on Star Wars as a lifelong fan.

On the podcast we’ve speculated a lot about the state of the GFFA 30 years after Endor, and Abrams discusses the appeal of dropping in the audience into the middle of the action with little explanation.

What was incredible about Star Wars, among other things, was that in that first movie Vader could’ve been his father, but he wasn’t, you know. Leia could’ve been his sister, but she wasn’t. You didn’t really know what the Empire was up to exactly. You didn’t really understand what it meant that there was a Senate or the Dark Times or any of the references, and yet you felt the presence of all these things and you understood because it was all being referenced in a way that allowed you to fill in the blanks, and that’s a very powerful thing.

I’m not sure about anyone else, but lately I feel very comforted reading and listening to interviews with Abrams. There’s no doubt he understands the importance of Star Wars, and knows that getting the feel right is just as important as the story itself. Combine that with the amazing new teaser and set pictures, and I absolutely cannot wait until December 18.

Happy May the 4th: Vanity Fair reveals more character photos, names

Right after midnight, Vanity Fair posted their cover article for the June The Force Awakens issue, complete with a video and picture of Kylo Ren sans mask.

More photos were revealed this morning, including one of Poe Dameron looking super dashing next to his X-wing.

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Also revealed was that Lupita Nyongo’s CGI character, Maz Kanata, is a pirate. A PIRATE!

Vanity Fair will be revealing one final photo tomorrow via their newsletter.

Update 12:05PM – Gwendoline Christie IS Captain Phasma/the chrometrooper

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Vanity Fair to reveal The Force Awakens exclusive material this week

vanity-fair-star-wars-214x300Mirroring their work leading up to the releases of the Prequel Trilogy films, Vanity Fair is getting set to unleash exclusive content about The Force Awakens this week.

Tomorrow, they’ll be releasing photos from Annie Leibovitz on their website. Those same photos will be hitting newstands shortly after.

If the past is any indication, we may be getting set to see set photos for the first time. Could character reveals even be in store? We’ll have to check back with Vanity Fair this week to find out.