Tag / Star Wars

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Fitbit Week 46

Week46_FBThe week got off to a tremendous start on Sunday as I went from store to store looking for a TV stand for my new office TV, finishing with nearly 10,000 steps.  The rest of the vacation week was some variation of cleaning up the office and working around the house to make sure I hit the daily goal.  Friday got a bit of a boost thanks to a trip to Best Buy.  Saturday broke past 7000 steps thanks to a trip to the movie theater to take in the new Star Wars film followed by the grocery store.

Total steps: 48,808

Daily average: 6972.6

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Book 6 (of 52) – Silver Screen Fiend

Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From An Addiction To Film - Patton Oswalt

Silver Screen Fiend: Learning About Life From An Addiction To Film – Patton Oswalt

In the late 90s, Patton Oswalt, having recently moved to Los Angeles, found himself at the New Beverly Cinema for a double feature.  Thus started a four year obsession with film that, in some cases, took over his life.  The comedian’s memoir of that time in his life touches on his anxieties about his comedy and his short tenure writing for MadTV.

I went through a similar, though not as high falutin, obsession with movies at around the same point in my life, which was a year after Oswalt’s obsession died, thanks to George Lucas and Episode I.  Over the course of the 365 days of the year 2000, I managed to see 351 movies.  To this day, I can’t fathom how I managed this.  I certainly could not recall specifics about the films or where and how I saw them, unlike Oswalt.  Thankfully, I burned out much more quickly, as this was by far the most I had ever done in a single year.  In fact, if you add up 1999’s and 2001’s totals, you would still be 100 films short.

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The Force Awakens

1351633321449ozd0uThe first Star Wars film under Disney’s purview, Episode VII, has finished principle photography and now has a name.  The Force Awakens hits theaters next Christmas, and, to date, I have managed to stay mostly spoiler free.

Part of the reason for that is the utter disappointment that was the last trilogy of films.  Thanks to those, I have no real burning desire for the new films, so there has been little build up that I have been paying attention to.  Maybe things will change as we get closer to the film’s release date.

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You Ought To Be In (21) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.

Today, we look at the 1 actor that has starred in 21 movies that I have seen.

Harrison Ford

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, Harrison Ford entered the national consciousness as Han Solo in the original Star Wars trilogy.  Those 3 films, along with the second entry in the Indiana Jones series, form the basis of Ford’s place on this list.  I have seen 2 of his films in three different years, 1996, 2000, and 2012, which were the last of his films that I’ve seen, thanks to Cowboys & Aliens and Morning Glory.

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You Ought To Be In (13) Pictures

Movie_Reel_22

Many years ago, using the weekly TV guide that came with the Sunday Chicago Tribune, I started keeping track of all of the movies I had seen over the course of my lifetime.  The guide would list the two main stars for each movie, and that is a tradition that I’ve carried on in my database ever since.  So, given those guidelines, it is time to look at all of the actors that have starred in at least 10 films that I have seen, as of May 30th.

Today, we continue with the 5 actors that have starred in 13 movies that I have seen.

Cameron Diaz

I first encountered Cameron Diaz back in 1996, when I saw her in a little indie film called The Last Supper.  She managed to get 2 films on my list in 4 different years, most recently in 2010.  I’ve drifted away from her output in recent years, as the last one I’ve seen was 2011’s Bad Teacher.

Brad Pitt

In 1994, I saw a little film called Kalifornia, which introduced me to Brad Pitt.  While he would become a mega-star over the next few years, I was a bit of a late comer to his films.  Other than watching A River Runs Through It in 1997 during the Sports in Literature class I took during my last semester of college, it was 2000 before I saw another Pitt film.  Making up for lost time, I plowed through 3 films in 2000.  Pitt currently has a 4 year streak on the line, starting in 2010 and continuing through last year, when I saw World War Z.

Natalie Portman

The first starring roles of Natalie Portman’s that I saw were in 2001, when I watched a double feature of Where The Heart Is and Anywhere But Here.  Her appearances in the Star Wars prequel trilogy and the Thor franchise have accounted for 31% of her overall total.  2011 was a big Portman year for me, as I saw a whopping 4 of her films.  My last experience with her work was last year’s Thor: The Dark World.

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May The Fourth

71251-450x-a_2A long time ago (2011) in a galaxy far, far away (Toronto), the first organized celebration of Star Wars Day took place, as people started to notice that May the 4th sounded like a lispy “May the force”, as in “May the force be with you.”  Thanks to social media, the idea has spread like wildfire, to the point where, three years later, the thing has become a national phenomenon.

I’ve got nothing Star Wars-y planned for the day, but this is the third Star Wars related post in the last week, so it must still hold some place in my consciousness.  With the new, DIsney-led movies slated to start reaching theaters next year, maybe it will wash the stink of the prequels off of the franchise.

by jim

Attack Of The Empire Strikes Jedi Wars

1351633321449ozd0uThe fine folks at Disney and Lucasfilm announced the main cast of next year’s Star Wars Episode VII.  Along side returning vets Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker, the new film will feature John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow.  Which, other than Driver, Serkis, and von Sydow, is a big heaping pile of who?

Not that that is necessarily a bad thing.  Nobody knew who Harrison Ford or Mark Hamill were before the original Star Wars hit in 1977 and everybody knew who Liam Neeson and Ewan McGregor were prior to Episode I in 1999.  If the new films are going to follow the lead of the previous entries, I’d much rather they emulate the original trilogy and not the latest one.

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Concert Flashback: Star Wars In Concert

09starwarsIn 2009, the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra went on tour performing the music from John Williams’ Star Wars scores, featuring edited footage from all 6 films and narration from Anthony Daniels, who played C-3PO.  Given the early December date of the Chicago performance, I planned on getting Danny tickets for his birthday.  In a twist of fate, there were plans afoot to get me tickets for my birthday as well.  So, we got a set of 4 and split them up, 2 for me and 2 for Danny.

As the date of the approached, an interesting conundrum popped up.  I was offered a trip to Belfast for work, but would need to leave the day before the show, on December 5th.  Initially, I turned down the trip, but was eventually able to finagle my way into a Sunday afternoon flight, which meant heading straight to O’Hare from the United Center and arriving in Belfast Monday morning, heading straight to the office.

The concert itself was a faithful recreation of the score from the favorite films of my childhood (plus the later 3 abortions).  The mixture of the film clips worked well given they were the original source of the music, and Anthony Daniels led the proceedings with the familiar voice we had all come to know and love.  This was my first, and so far only, concert at the UC.  It doesn’t seem to be the best venue for it, but it got the job done.

It turns out that George Lucas himself was at this show, only the second time he had seen it in person and the first time in this country.

 

by jim

iTunes Top 100 Artists: #91-100

itunes_image

My latest desktop computer arrived in late 2007, at which point I transitioned all of my music off of my laptop. 2 iPods, 2 iPhones, and an iPad later, that computer is still my main repository of music, with iTunes updating its stats every time I listen to something.

Having already gone through cassette tapes and CDs, and digital music, it’s time to roll everything up with the Top 100 artists that I’ve listened to as of 8/21/2013, according to iTunes. Today we look at the the bottom 10, which includes plenty of rock royalty.

#91: Letters To Cleo

iTunes stats: 26 plays

Split across 2 songs, both of which achieved success due to their inclusion on soundtracks.  The band broke up in 2000.

#91: Beastie Boys

iTunes stats: 26 plays

7 different songs make up this total for the Rock and Roll Hall of Famers, who have not been active since the death of Adam “MCA” Yauch.

#91: Bloodhound Gang

iTunes stats: 26 plays

2 songs make up this total for the band known for humorous and off-beat, satirical lyrics.

#94: Ozzy Osbourne

iTunes stats: 24 plays

The bumbling TV dad of reality series fame used 5 songs, including a duet with Lita Ford, to compile this total.

#94: K’s Choice

iTunes stats: 24 plays

5 songs make up this total for the arguable one hit wonder from Belgium.

#94: 2Pac

iTunes stats: 24 plays

The slain rapper makes the list with only 2 entries, including his collaboration with Dr. Dre.

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Vacation Recap: Hollywood Studios

hollywood-studios-iconAfter spending Saturday morning at Animal Kingdom, we headed over to Hollywood Studios to finish off the day.  Our first ride was The Great Movie Ride, followed by the Lights, Motors, Action! Extreme Stunt Show.  And then, the skies opened up and a torrential rain fell.  The next hour or so was spent hiding out under cover, until time was running out for our Fast Passes for Star Tours.  We braved the elements to head over to Star Wars land for the ride, which, of course, broke down as we were seated.  After switching to a different car and experiencing all that C3PO had to offer, we headed over to the MuppetVision 3D show before a long wait for dinner at Mama Melrose’s Ristorante Italiano.

After dinner, the rains were still coming, which put the evening’s Fantasmic! show in doubt.  While waiting for that, we went on The Twilight Zone Tower of Terror… twice.  As the rain died down, Fantasmic! went off without a hitch and it was time to call it a day.

Sunday featured a return trip to the park, where we finished off most of the rides, including the Studio Backlot Tour, a showing of Walt Disney: One Man’s Dream, and the final ride of the trip, Rock ‘n’ Roller Coaster starring Aerosmith.  The kids got to meet Phineas and Ferb and Ralph & Vanellope, while we all enjoyed the end of Star Wars weekend by meeting Darth Vader.  As the night drew closer, the kids stayed to enjoy a Toy Story ride while I went back to the hotel to enjoy the pool one last time.