BB-8 the little rolling droid from Star Wars: The Force Awakens has proven to be very popular. He’s no R2-D2 in my mind, but he is cool nonetheless. We have seen plenty of BB-8 themed stuff since the flick hit theaters like that cool BB-8 tea set and the BB-8 waffle iron. This time out we have a set of BB-8 measuring cups.
The cups nest together to make a little BB-8 robot that sits on your counter. When your measuring cups look this cool, there is no need to put them in a drawer. There are six measuring cups in the set ranging from one cup down to 1 tbsp, and a hexagonal base plate that the cups nest into.
The measuring cups are made from BPA-free plastic, and you can’t put them in the dishwasher. That sucks because no one wants to clean oil out of a measuring cup after you make brownies. The set will cost you $19.99(USD) at ThinkGeek.
With the 8th Star Wars feature film coming out soon (Rogue One), it’s time to start thinking about doing the obligatory Star Wars marathon before a new film comes out. The only question is: In what order should you watch the 7 films?
There are two things most fans would agree upon:
Episode VII, The Force Awakens, should be watched last
Episode I, The Phantom Menace, is the worst film of the bunch
With that in mind, the question that remains is what about the other five films: II (Attack of the Clones), III (Revenge of the Sith), IV (A New Hope), V (The Empire Strikes Back) and VI (Return of the Jedi).
Watch by in-Universe chronology
This one makes sense, as it simply has the events follow each other in a mostly logical order. Which means watching the second trilogy (I-II-III) first, followed by the original trilogy, and then for dessert, The Force Awakens.
Watch by release chronology
The order that I found to be the more popular among people, maybe because it makes more sense in their heads: Watching what they came to know first before the newer stuff. The original trilogy might portray a later time in the galaxy’s history, but they look older (even with the late 90’s “fixes”), and seem to make sense to watch first.
Mix it up: IV-V-I-II-III-VI…. and VII
This order comes with a little bit storytelling narrative of its own. It begins in the midst of the action: A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, the two best films of the trilogy according to most, before doing some pre quelling and exposing the backstory before the conclusion of the second story. It’s not such a bad idea, and before The Force Awakens, that’s how I watched the films. It gives the whole binge watching the happy conclusion, and putting the Rise of Vader in a much more central position of the timeline.
Skip The Phantom Menace
A lot of people do this, and they joked about it in The Big Bang Theory. The order is like in the ‘mix it up’ suggestion, only without The Phantom Menace, who many feel doesn’t really add much to the overall story. It cuts most of Jar Jar, pod racing and Qui Gon.
Skip the Prequel Trilogy Altogether
A bit extreme isn’t it? Well, many saw The Force Awakens and mentioned how it has almost nothing to do with the prequel films, as if it was a big F U from J.J. Abrams, Disney and whoever was involved in making the film to George Lucas for making that “abomination”. It does make it for a much less exhausting binge/marathon experience, which will be three films (IV-V-VI) and The Force Awakens.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story comes out on December 16. To make your viewing experience better, get a Star Wars shirt to wear for the cinema. And if you need to catch up on previous films, no matter the order, now’s the time to buy the DVDs/Blu-Rays/Streams.
With the 8th Star Wars feature film coming out soon (Rogue One), it’s time to start thinking about doing the obligatory Star Wars marathon before a new film comes out. The only question is: In what order should you watch the 7 films?
There are two things most fans would agree upon:
Episode VII, The Force Awakens, should be watched last
Episode I, The Phantom Menace, is the worst film of the bunch
With that in mind, the question that remains is what about the other five films: II (Attack of the Clones), III (Revenge of the Sith), IV (A New Hope), V (The Empire Strikes Back) and VI (Return of the Jedi).
Watch by in-Universe chronology
This one makes sense, as it simply has the events follow each other in a mostly logical order. Which means watching the second trilogy (I-II-III) first, followed by the original trilogy, and then for dessert, The Force Awakens.
Watch by release chronology
The order that I found to be the more popular among people, maybe because it makes more sense in their heads: Watching what they came to know first before the newer stuff. The original trilogy might portray a later time in the galaxy’s history, but they look older (even with the late 90’s “fixes”), and seem to make sense to watch first.
Mix it up: IV-V-I-II-III-VI…. and VII
This order comes with a little bit storytelling narrative of its own. It begins in the midst of the action: A New Hope and Empire Strikes Back, the two best films of the trilogy according to most, before doing some pre quelling and exposing the backstory before the conclusion of the second story. It’s not such a bad idea, and before The Force Awakens, that’s how I watched the films. It gives the whole binge watching the happy conclusion, and putting the Rise of Vader in a much more central position of the timeline.
Skip The Phantom Menace
A lot of people do this, and they joked about it in The Big Bang Theory. The order is like in the ‘mix it up’ suggestion, only without The Phantom Menace, who many feel doesn’t really add much to the overall story. It cuts most of Jar Jar, pod racing and Qui Gon.
Skip the Prequel Trilogy Altogether
A bit extreme isn’t it? Well, many saw The Force Awakens and mentioned how it has almost nothing to do with the prequel films, as if it was a big F U from J.J. Abrams, Disney and whoever was involved in making the film to George Lucas for making that “abomination”. It does make it for a much less exhausting binge/marathon experience, which will be three films (IV-V-VI) and The Force Awakens.
Rogue One: A Star Wars Story comes out on December 16. To make your viewing experience better, get a Star Wars shirt to wear for the cinema. And if you need to catch up on previous films, no matter the order, now’s the time to buy the DVDs/Blu-Rays/Streams.
Films that generate discussions and friendly arguments about theories related to the film are the ones that often resonate and don’t disappear into oblivion. Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is such a film, doing its best work by introducing Supreme Leader Snoke.
Who is Snoke? Not quite sure. But many have been trying to figure it out in the nine months since Star Wars returned to our lives via the cinema. While I believe he’s probably no one we knew from the original trilogies, it’s fun theorizing he could be someone we’ve already seen.
What do we know of about Snoke?
Basically, what we saw in the film, and a bit more from bits and pieces gathered around. Wookieepedia is a good place to check out, if you have no idea what we’re writing about. Basically, he’s the one who turned Kylo Ren, formerly Ben Solo, from his Jedi training into the dark side, and the outcome of that is shown in Episode VII. One important thing: He’s a humanoid, not human.
Not a Theory, Only a Simple Solution
Occam’s Razor, in short. The simplest solution is usually the correct one. Snoke is a new character. As simple as that, and while it might not be romantic, it’s probably true, considering other options are a bit of a stretch, even for Star Wars logic.
Snoke is Ezra Bridger
Personally this is my favorite theory. Ezra, for those who follow Star Wars Rebels (you should if you haven’t been), is a force sensitive kid who is an apprentice to one of the last remaining Jedi after the events of Order 66. As the series develops, Ezra becomes more powerful, but like a lot of the more interesting Jedis, begins leaning towards the Dark side. In the beginning of season 3, the exposure to a Sith holocron and learning a few things from Darth Maul seem to have had their effect on him. We don’t know how it ends, but maybe he is what Snoke is so many years later? Probably not, but it’s fun thinking about it. Of course, there are also arguments to disprove this theory.
Snoke is Palpatine
A lot of people coming out of the film for the first time had this in mind. It means Vader didn’t kill Palpatine when he threw him down the reactor in Return of the Jedi. The scars and injuries on Snoke’s face seem to fit something quite traumatic. But other than that, there’s no real evidence of Palpatine being alive, not to mention the actor who portrayed Palpatine, Ian McDiarmid, said the character is dead.
The Mace Windu Theory
A fun, but probably wrong theory, suggesting that after being f*** up by Palpatine and dropped from the tower, the former Jedi Master decides to switch sides and turn to the Dark side for some not-too-clear reason. While it’s great for discussion and arguments, it doesn’t really make sense.
Darth Plagueis
In Revenge of the Sith, Palpatine tells Anakin about Darth Plagueis, a sith lord that could create life and keep his loved ones from dying. Palpatine was Plagueis’ apprentice and killed him, something Anakin doesn’t understand. In this case, dead is probably dead. According to Lucasfilm Story Group creative executive, Pablo Hidalgo, Plagueis is dead, and he and Snoke are two separate characters. Unless he’s lying.
Snoke is the Grand Inquisitor
The Grand Inquisitor is one of the more formidable foes the characters in Star Wars Rebels have to face. He also falls down a massive reactor. He also is bald, and is strong with the dark side of the force. Enough to lead to theories of him turning into Snoke.
Growing up I was really into vinyl records that had images on them. They were called picture discs if memory serves, and I had a bunch of them with soundtracks from different Disney movies on them. If you are still into records, you can now get The Force Awakens soundtrack on a very special vinyl disc, created by Infinity Light Science for Disney Music.
It’s not exactly a picture disc, but it does have some awesome holograms on it. As the record spins, the holograms rotate around. Depending on which side of the disc you’re looking at, you can see holograms of the Millennium Falcon or a Tie Fighter on the vinyl surface of the album. You do need to be at just the right angle to see the hologram, and need a direct light source like a flashlight or the LED flash on your smartphone for optimal viewing.
The 2 LP set also includes a 16-page booklet that includes liner notes from J.J. Abrams. It’s $50(USD), which isn’t exactly cheap, but at least it’s got holograms on it. You can pre-order yours from Amazon now, and it’ll ship on June 17.
If you’re a Star Wars fan who attends conventions, you’ve probably seen Roxy The Rancor. Maybe you even had your picture taken with her. Well, now Roxy has some competition for your photo ops.
Roxy’s creators Rick Boehler and Erik Hollander are working on a replica of the Luggabeast from The Force Awakens. This 1:1 scale sculpture will debut at MegaCon in Orlando later this month. After that it will be headed to the Dallas FanExpo in June. I would love to see this in person.
How accurate is it? Well, event Coordinator and part owner Matt Paisley says: “This Luggabeast is as film accurate as we could get with the help of those ‘friends in high places.’” Paisley noted. “There aren’t a lot of good reference photos from toys or books, so that was key to getting things right. Pictures just don’t do this justice due to the sheer size and phenomenal detail that Rick and Erik put into it.”
It just needs a name, and you can vote for your choice through May 28th. The choices are Lenny, Lumpy, Lemmy, Leroy, and Louie.
When you unnecessarily censor something, everything sounds dirty. So naturally, it makes everything better. That’s why Baltimore digital director Kyle J. Britt has created an unnecessarily censored version of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. It’s no longer an innocent movie, but a foul-mouthed and lewd space adventure.
It’s a surprisingly fun video and the censoring makes for a whole new movie. Seems a lot more intense to me. If I were seeing these scenes for the first time, I would think these people have serious problems and that this movie made by some seriously angry people.
It’s worth clearing 5-1/2 minutes from your busy day and is bound to give you a laugh or two.
I already thought that Sphero BB-8 toy was pretty awesome. I even had a hex put on our fearless leader when he refused to rig the drawing so I could win the toy a few months back. I’m having that hex renewed as we speak because that Sphero BB-8 toy just got an awesome update.
If you apply the latest update to the controller app for the toy, BB-8 will “watch” The Force Awakens with you. BB-8 gets all happy when Han and Chewie are on screen. He gets scared when Kylo Ren is on screen. He also toots his own horn when he sees himself on screen.
This is a very cool way to keep people interested in a toy a few months after they got one at Christmas. By “they” got one at Christmas I don’t mean me, apparently 40 something is too old to get a toy robot from your parents for Christmas. They should remember who gets to pick the nursing home.
And now for the coolest Star Wars: The Force Awakens LEGO diorama we have seen so far… This huge diorama depicts the junkyard settlement Niima Outpost on Jakku in LEGO form.
This amazing display was made by Wookieewarrior – probably as a way to show off that huge Millennium Falcon model. I love all of the detail. It feels like a living breathing place. This diorama is worth all the portions! While we can’t see junk dealer Unkar Plutt in the market area, I’m sure he is keeping cool in one of those tents.
This is a great representation of the junkyard settlement/outpost from the movie. It must have taken him quite a while to build.
Star Wars fans will want to hop on over to the Technabob Shop right now, for a chance to win some awesome goodies worth almost $250!
One lucky entrant will win a Sphero BB-8 robotic droid, along with the first six Star Wars movies on Blu-ray. Even if you hated Episodes I-III, you can use those as drink coasters, and still enjoy Episodes IV-VI while you watch BB-8 scoot around your place and harass the cat.
All you need to do to enter is head to the Technabob Shop before 2/24/16 and sign up for your chance to win.
