John Gushue . . . Dot Dot Dot

Rey and that Obi-Wan Kenobi thing

The first words, apparently, in the upcoming The Last Jedi are "Who are you?", spoken by Luke Skywalker to the enigmatic Rey. 

Good question! When we saw The Force Awakens, I wondered whether  young Rey might be one of the Kenobi clan, assuming that there are some holes in that family story. Then I came across this wrap-up of quite a lot of threads of Star Wars lore, making the case for exactly that. Have a look. 

To make Rogue One, the producers dipped wayyy back into the Lucas archive

This is a full-fledged nerd-out on details of Rogue One, the Star Wars standalone feature ... including plenty of reveals of how elements in the film were lifted (if not scavenged) from the vaults, including the earliest scripts, as well as ideas that had been bounced around the saga in the past. There are also notes on likely inspirations for the film and its characters, from Winston Churchill's jowls to the gritty shooting and editing of Saving Private Ryan. It's a longer one, so set aside some time! 

 

Kylo Ren, Undercover Boss

My son and I wanted this SNL video this morning, and had quite the chuckle.

 

Undercover Boss: Starkiller Base Posted by Saturday Night Live on Sunday, January 17, 2016

Matthew McConaughey gets all teary over seeing Han and Chewie

My son showed me this mashup, of Matthew McConaughey's message-watching scene from Interstellar mixed into the second trailer for Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which came out a few days ago. 

I can show you The Force, flowing and never-ending

Star Wars Musical: or, an interpretation of what Star Wars storytelling might be like under the Disney umbrella. 

 

Star Wars, retold as a tapestry

Storytelling has changed through the ages; I got such a kick out of this, which imagines how the Star Wars saga would have been told in the age of medieval tapestries. If you look at the last panel in the photo above, you can see the end of episode III, a vertical line marking a 19-year interval and then Darth Vader boarding Princess Leia's ship. (The tapestry really picks up momentum then.) 

 

Yoda sings a chorus with the Beatles

Indeed, love is all you need. 

Via here.

How to pronounce 'supernova,' and other Star Wars bloopers

This is (evidently) some unearthed outtakes from the production of Star Wars in 1976; not the funniest, but it is amusing nonetheless, if only because the scenes are all so familiar. There is no sound in the opening sequence. 

 

Star Wars comics ... make that THE Star Wars comics

Star Wars fans know that what ended up in the 1977 movie wasn't quite where George Lucas started when he was banging out ideas. The Skywalker family was originally Starkiller, and the title itself had a "the" stuck at the beginning. Lucas fleshed out the ideas quite a bit before he had a shooting script and a budget from Fox, but decades later, his 1974 rough draft has inspired something interesting: a series of comic books that will start publishing next month. 

 

An animated Star Wars filibuster

In last season's Parks and Recreation, comedian Patton Oswalt played a hilarious running joke of a Star Wars-obsessed fanboy who stages a filibuster during a community meeting. The show thought enough of Oswalt's improvised ramble on the forthcoming Star Wars sequel that it posted the lot together as a web-only video (see below), and a few days ago, this animated version showed up on the interwebs. It's so funny. 

Here's a look at the original source material, courtesy of Parks and Recreation: 

 

As it turns out, this isn't even the first attempt at animating Oswalt's filibuster. Here's one posted this spring: 

No honey for Princess Leia

This is a real chuckle: a line reading of one of the opening scenes of Star Wars, with Jim Cummings doing Darth Vader's lines in the voice of his best-known character, Winnie-the-Pooh. 

 

Fear and Loathing in Mos Vegas

An unexpected mashup of interests for today's TeeFury shirt. It's called Bounty Hunter S. Thompson, combining Boba Fett with Ralph Steadman's iconic drawing style for the ultimate gonzo journalist's work. 

Yes, I'm buying it. It's available for the rest of the day (and early tomorrow, for a little extra). 

 

Yoda doesn't wait for the luggage carousel

For more chuckles, check out these other Star Wars-related ads. 

 

Star Wars bloopers

Posting mainly for our son, as well as, well, anyone who finds an AT-AT walker bursting into flame funny, or a droid that can't get its mojo going. 

 

For your little Sith disturber

Who said sunshine and lollipops had to be good things? Bring out the dark side with Death Star lollipops. (As seen on Laughing Squid.)

The best Star Wars video I've seen in a while

This is pretty sweet: a little boy celebrating his Star Wars-themed birthday party finds Darth Vader, and then challenges and (of course!) vanquishes him ... and then finds out Vader is his dad, a U.S. Navy sailor on a surprise visit home. 

Not quite the "Luke, I am your father" scene, but adorable. 

If Darth Vader went to Norway ...

Edvard Munch's The Scream gets a Star Wars makeover. As seen here. 

Who better to judge a particular Pink Floyd record?

Two Darth Vader-Pink Floyd jokes within two weeks? Sure. 

This one was spotted on Wil Wheaton's Tumblr. 

Darth Vader and Boba Fett chill to some classic Floyd

Saw this on Facebook today, and had to share. A great strip from Brevity. 

Aren't you a little tall to be a stormtrooper?

Today's TeeFury design speaks to me. (And I have the numerous headbumps to prove it. At 6'6", it's no picnic learning that some doorframes, signs, drops, etc., are more dangerous than others.) 

Who shot J.R.(2-D2)?

It makes a bit of sense: mash Star Wars with its late-Seventies cousin, Dallas. 

If the Empire had safety signs

This is today's shirt from TeeFury. Nick has ponied up for an order. 

Whoops-tini!

The TeeFury shirt today showcases the Jawas from Star Wars, as they pick up an Android rather than R2-D2. 

When they call it a Harry Potter Nation, they're not quite kidding

The online fan community for Harry Potter exceeds the population of Canada. Other fanbases? Not quite as impressive, but no small business at all. 

As spotted on I Can Has Cheezeburger, at least its sci-fi branch. 

Downward-facing droid

Yoga poses, for the Star Wars set. Click here to see the set, featuring Sith lords, bounty hunters and bodacious princesses.