On Star Wars Day (May the 4th Be With You) JJ Abrams sang along with Lin-Manuel Miranda, doing the Cantina Music from Star Wars: The Force Awakens, called Jabba Flow. If you would like to hear the entire song, hit the Star Wars web site, or if you would like it in your permanent collection you can get it from iTunes.
Movies brings us Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which would be enough for me if that was all there was, but we get a bit more. Identicals is a rather twisty little film about people who take over the lives of others, to the point where they lose track of their own identity. Ghost in the Shell: The New Movie closes out the Ghost In The Shell: Arise prequel, ending with the scenes that began the very first movie. I get to mention it here rather then in the Anime section because it actually did play on the big screen in US theaters.
TV has Doctor Who: Complete Series 9, which was a fun season that I wouldn’t have minded if it had had still more episodes. We also get The Expanse: Season 1, a first class interpretation of the books series, and I am happy to see they have signed off on creating the second season.
In Anime, Parasyte The Maxim: Collection 1 is a tale of a body snatching alien and the human he permanently attached to when he mistakenly ate and replaced his hand, instead of his head. Now the rest of the invaders want them both dead, so they have to work together to survive in this first half of the series. Rail Wars takes place in a parallel time line where the nationalized railway system was never privatized. While a lot of the story arc is involved with agitators and saboteurs trying to take control of the rail system away from the government, a good bit of it is slice-of-life tales of the day to day workings of the system as valid in this universe as in that one. We also have new stories for a few old favorites, with Lupin the Third: Jigen’s Gravestone, and Naruto Shippūden: Uncut Set 26.
One of the best Star Wars Fan Films I have seen in the last decade, DARTH MAUL: Apprentice tells a lot of story for being less than 18 minutes long. Pretty much the best Fan Film I have seen so far this year, as well. Enjoy!
This Variety Artisans special is all about how the visual effects were put together for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, the amazing continuation of the series that has taken the franchise to the next level. They produce a new episode of Artisans every week, and every one so far has given excellent insight into the approach creators of the various disciplines take to achieve their results. If you want to create your own stories in a visual media, there is no better place to become inspired than from this series.
A recipe has been posted for Liquid Carbonite on the Star Wars web site which reads just like a normal milk shake. But the picture has convinced me I need to add a Han Solo in Carbonite silicone mold to my kitchen collection, and I am certainly looking forward to the new film hitting the big screen next week. Star Wars: The Force Awakens is the first one I have been excited about since the original trilogy, so much so that I think I am going to have to spring for the IMAX version.
There are a ton of Sci-Fi Parody Songs, often and mostly fan built; these are a few of my favorites from the Star Wars franchise. The first is Moves Like Jabba from Break Originals, the second is Star Wars Disney: Let it Flow from Box Step Productions, the third is Wrecking Maul from Randy Turnbow. Yes, they are silly, but that i part of the appeal.