Star Wars Wampa Ice Scraper

It's cold outside. Most of the United States just experienced a severe snow storm that left us with lots of snow and ice. I don't like snow or ice, particularly when it freezes over my car windshield. I never think about a frozen-over windshield before I go someplace, so I'm always 30-minutes late for everything I do during winter.

Do you know who doesn't bother with frozen-over windshields?

This guy:

Do you know why he doesn't worry about ice on his windshield - aside from the fact that there aren't really cars on Hoth? He has these:

Yes, you are seeing this correctly. This is an ice scraper designed to look like the arm of a wampa. You might remember the wampa as the creature that attacked Luke Skywalker in The Empire Strikes Back. That mistake cost the wampa his arm. I like to think that Luke was the one who discovered that wampa arms weren't only for attacking jedi.

You can own your very own wampa ice scraper by purchasing them from the guys over at thinkgeek.

Enjoy!

Top 10 Films in 2012

I think 2012 should and will be remembered as a quality year for film. The entire year was chock full of amazing movies from start to finish. The number six film on my Top 10 list debuted on January 27^th, and the number three film saw wide release on December 25^th. It would have been pretty easy to pick one film per month for a Top 12 of 2012 list. Practically every weekend had at least one film worthy of a trip to the local movie theater. Given that quality, narrowing down all the movies from the year into my Top 10 list was pretty difficult. After a long internal debate, I managed to select and order the ones I consider the Top 10 Films of 2012.

My criterion for selecting these films was pretty simple. Which films of 2012 do I think all of my friends should see? Which films do I think give the most entertainment for your hard-earned money? If you saw any or all of these films, then I bet you were happy you did.

Ready? Let’s go!

10. The Master

Read the Review

The Master is on this list simply for the fantastic performances of the leads. Director Paul Thomas Anderson captures amazing performances from Joaquin Phoenix and Phillip Seymour Hoffman that simply must be seen. The story itself is an overly long and meandering tale of two lost souls looking for new directions in life, but watching Phoenix and Hoffman bring their characters to life make the long runtime enjoyable. Plus, some of the cinematography will leave your jaw on the floor. It might take a few viewings to figure out what is going on, but you’ll enjoy watching Phoenix and Hoffman enough to endure it's length.

9. 21 Jump Street

How is this movie so funny? I don’t normally go for comedies, but something about this movie just kills me. It is pure fun from the title screen to the end credits.

It has a great story that flips the script on the “dumb jock” and “brainiac” character stereotypes. I loved the role reversal that sees the jock, Channing Tatum, fall in with the science nerds and smart guy, Jonah Hill, fall in with the popular crowd. The film acknowledges and references the Fox drama from which it is adapted with playful winks and nods, including a fantastic cameo appearance near the film’s climax (no spoilers here, of course). And, it features standout comedic performances from the two leads, Hill and Tatum. Seriously, those two guys are hilarious, whether as newly appointed bicycle cops, as high school students tripping on acid, or as buddy dates to the prom.

8. The Cabin in the Woods

Forget what you know about horror movies, this one does something completely different. Actually, belay that. Take everything you know about horror movies and have fun with the genre.

The Cabin in the Woods is one of the most original and fun-filled horror films in years not because it tries to be completely different. Instead, it takes horror movie conventions that fans know by heart and weaves a unique and entertaining story around and through them. It has a smart, funny, and scary script that has you squirming one moment and laughing out loud the next. While a few movies were more brutal (The Collection comes to mind), this was the most entertaining horror film of the year that had a ton of fun references for fans of the genre. Learned horror fans should absolutely love it, and even those without an encyclopedic knowledge of 80’s slasher flicks and Z-grade horror films should find plenty to enjoy.

7. The Raid: Redemption

Want to see the craziest film of 2012? Here it is. It’s an Indonesian martial arts flick whose noble intention is to break every bone in every actor silly enough to sign up for this film. It is insane with a capital “I”.

The story is pretty simple. A drug lord controls a housing block full of criminals, and a group of crack, special-forces police officers go in to take him down. What follows is a floor-by-floor beatdown with crazy shootouts and bone-crunching fights. For the life of me, I can’t figure out how these guys pulled off some of these fights without breaking each other in half. It’s awesome. Plus, there is a great story of love and redemption in the movie, when the actors aren’t kneeing each other in the face that is. Pure, glorious, crazy action.

6. The Grey

Liam Neeson is a mighty fine actor, one of the best in the business these days. Here he puts in another characteristically strong performance in this Joe Carnahan-directed, man-versus-wild tale set in the Alaskan wilderness. A group of men returning home from a remote Alaskan work camp find themselves half-dead and stranded when their airplane crashes. They must fight the elements, wolves, each other and themselves if they ever want to reach home alive. The Grey easily was one of the most intense theatrical experiences of the year. It is impeccably paced to ratchet up the tension every step of the way. These guys find themselves in ever-greater danger with each step they take. You will be on the edge of your seat until the final gripping scene, which sums up the themes of the film quite nicely. I literally had a headache from clenching my jaw so hard during this film.

5. Looper

Read the Review

It’s hard to do science fiction films properly, particularly when they involve time travel. In fact, I wrote a little article about the impossibilities of time travel in response to the first trailer for Looper. It turns out I was wrong to hate on this film. I mean, I still think time travel is impossible, but this film shows some of the amazing things that could happen if it were.

The premise is cool: what would happen if a hit man from the present was tasked to kill the older version of himself who was sent from the future? Apparently, a lot of soul-searching and violence. How messed up is it to have to track yourself down and shoot yourself in the chest with a blunderbuss? If you answered “Very messed up”, then congrats!

The excellent Joseph Gordon-Levitt stars as “Young Joe” and the excellent Bruce Willis stars as “Old Joe” in this excellent Rian Johnson-directed film. Really, it’s quite good! The themes of the film – youth, old age, sacrifice, redemption, and the possibility of changing your future – are depicted with a sure hand from a tight script that zings from one fantastic moment to the next. It is one of the richest and deepest sci-fi films in a long, long time where every detail fits into place. And, the final resolution of the film is fantastic. I never expected the world of Looper to be this detailed or for the story to pack such a strong emotional punch, but they killed it with this one. This is how science fiction should be done.

4. Skyfall

One of the best James Bond films ever – some are claiming it IS the best – came out in November of 2012. Not having seen each of the 22 other James Bond films, I can’t say for sure if number 23 is the best, but I can say that Skyfall is amazing regardless of the films that came before it. The Bond films with Daniel Craig as the titular character each have been entertaining action films. However, there are a few big differences between those other Craig-led films and Skyfall.

The script here tells a very personal story for Bond – Skyfall references his ancestral home – that sees him and the rest of British spy agency MI6 attacked by an inside threat. Even his beloved M is a victim. Everything he knows about the agency he has dedicated himself to comes under fire, and it reaches an epic conclusion on the grounds of his old homestead. None of the recent Bond films have had such high stakes, which gives a weight and importance the others lacked. The action set pieces we have come to expect from Bond films are all there, but this time they are directed by the sure-handed Sam Mendes and framed by outstanding cinematographer Roger Deakins. This is one of the most beautiful films of the year, no lie. It just happens to be a James Bond film. It looks beautiful, the action is fantastic, the story is compelling, and it’s a crowd-pleaser – yeah, Number 4 on this list sounds about right.

3. Django Unchained

Thank you Quentin Tarantino. You make some of the most outrageous (in a good way), original, and technically brilliant films of anyone working in Hollywood today. You tackle the genres we love with a unique vision and use your encyclopedic knowledge of cinema to craft something new and fun for we, the humble audience.

With Django Unchained, Tarantino presents a spaghetti western unlike any that has come before it. It is a crackling story of revenge and redemption for Django that sees him battling slave owners in Mississippi in his quest to earn the freedom of his wife. Sharp writing, fantastic acting from Jamie Foxx, Cristoph Waltz, and Samuel L. Jackson, and superb direction make this yet another masterpiece in Quentin Tarantino’s filmography. It is funny and shocking and over-the-top and compassionate and brutal and so, so fun.

2. Lincoln

Read the Review

In my review, I called Lincoln the most important film of 2012, and it is a solid choice for Number 2 on this list. It is a joy to watch on many, many levels.

A Lincoln biopic has long been a passion project for master director Steven Spielberg. He uses all the tools in his arsenal to deliver a focused and powerful film that honors the man and the legend that is Abraham Lincoln.

The film features an intelligent story that focuses on the final months of Lincoln’s life, during a time when he was trying to ensure the passage of the 13^th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. With a devastating civil war grinding along, you can imagine that freeing a bunch of slaves was not high on many politician's priority list. By limiting the time frame to a few important and dramatic months of Lincoln’s life, the film is able to tell a richly layered and detailed story. It’s light on violence (the Civil War is a backdrop for the real story) and heavy on character. It reminds me of The West Wing in that it’s all about the characters and their interactions with one another.

And, the acting! Daniel Day-Lewis has made a name for himself as one of the greatest living actors, and he shows it once again here as the titular character. His performance as Lincoln shows 100% immersion into the character. He literally becomes Lincoln during the film. Tommy Lee Jones and Sally Field also put in great performances, though nobody else in the film comes close to Day-Lewis. In fact, the only people in film this year to approach Day-Lewis’ mastery were Philip Seymour Hoffman and Joaquin Phoenix in The Master (see Number 10 in this list).

When you put it all together – a powerful and meaningful story, mesmerizing acting, and masterful direction – you get my Number 2 film of the year.

1. The Avengers

A domestic box office haul of $623 million ($1.5 billion globally) doesn’t necessarily elevate a film to the Number 1 spot on any Top 10 list. In this case, it’s the quality of the film that puts The Avengers at Number 1. The Avengers is a fantastic payoff for years of planning by Marvel Studios. We’ve seen Captain America, Thor, and Iron Man in their own films for years and gotten to know and love the characters. This summer, we saw them team up with each other, and a bunch of other Marvel superheroes, to thwart an alien invasion that threatened to destroy Earth. Writer/director Joss Whedon gave us a delightful movie filled to the brim with exciting action, sharp writing, likeable characters, and spectacular effects.

I said in the intro that I’m big on movies with high entertainment value. That’s why The Avengers is here. Simply put, no other film in 2012 was as much fun as The Avengers. It was amazingly entertaining, and it delivered on years of promise set up by the previous Marvel films. For that, it’s my top film of 2012.

Honorable Mention (in alphabetical order): Argo, Cloud Atlas, End of Watch, ParaNorman, Premium Rush, Wreck-It Ralph

Not Seen: Zero Dark Thirty, Holy Motors, Armour

Did your favorite film in 2012 make the cut? Disagree with one or more of my choices? Let me hear about it in the comments or on Twitter!

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey Review

The cinematic return to J.R.R. Tolkien’s Middle Earth in The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a beautiful and entertaining adventure that reunites us with our favorite characters from The Lord of the Rings film trilogy and introduces us to a great group of new adventurers.

First things first. Let’s talk about 48 frames per second. One of the biggest talking points about The Hobbit is that it is the first major 3D release to be shown at 48 frames per second, which is twice the frame rate of most 3D films. I’ve seen The Hobbit twice, once in IMAX 3D at 24 frames per second and once in high frame rate 3D (HFR).

HFR is by far the best. Whereas the images are blurry and it’s difficult to focus on the screen in IMAX 3D, typically my preferred film format, the HFR picture is crisp and clean with excellent depth of field. It takes a few minutes to get used to, but when things get hectic on screen with lots of action or drastic camera movement, it ultimately looks very good. I’d be okay with other 3D films going with the HFR treatment. It won me over quite easily.

Technical dealings aside, let’s move to the film itself. This is a Peter Jackson film through and through. After his success directing The Lord of the Rings films, he was convinced to return to the director’s chair for The Hobbit, and I for one am glad he did. Nobody else could step in and do what Jackson does. The Lord of the Rings films have a distinct style, and anyone else stepping into Jackson’s shoes would appear to be cheap imitators at best. It may seem strange that Jackson and company decided to split The Hobbit novel into a film trilogy, but they clearly have a vision for the franchise. They are very knowledgeable about J.R.R. Tolkien’s works, and they weave into this first film lots of characters and events that were only mentioned in the novel. It’s a fleshing out, if you will, of Tolkien’s novel. I’m sure that the following two films also will be fleshed out a bit.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey starts off with a recap of the ousting of the dwarves from their kingdom under the Lonely Mountain. The incredible riches of the kingdom drew attention from the dragon Smaug who laid waste to the men around the mountain and the dwarves under the mountain to claim the treasure horde for himself.

After sixty years of quietude in the lands around the Lonely Mountain, heir to the kingdom, Thorin Oakenshield, and his band of dwarves head out to reclaim their ancestral home and the vast wealth they were forced to abandon. Joining them on their quest is Gandalf the wizard and Bilbo Baggins, a hobbit from The Shire.

This first film in The Hobbit trilogy tells the story of the joining of the 14 adventurers with most of the material coming from the first one-third of The Hobbit novel. However, several characters and events that don’t appear in The Hobbit are injected into the story. These additions by Jackson and fellow screenwriters Fran Walsh, Philippa Boyens and Guillermo del Toro tie The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey closely with The Lord of the Rings films. It’s a welcome excuse to bring back characters from those films that we know and love while introducing a few new characters into the mix. It’s a proper adventure story with trolls and orcs and goblins and wargs all attacking our heroes and elves and wizards and fellowship of friends providing guidance and comfort along the way.

There are several excellent performances in the film that breathe life into its fantastic characters. Foremost among them is Martin Freeman as Bilbo Baggins. Freeman captures the spirit of Bilbo, and, indeed, hobbits in general, with his lovely performance. Bilbo is polite, as all good hobbits should be, but he really doesn’t want to be drawn in to this adventuring business. It’s not by choice that he is away from his home in The Shire, but once he finds himself in the midst of things, he does the best he can to be of use. Ian McKellen puts in another great turn as Gandalf. He plays the wise old man who can pitch in when danger requires it even better than he did in The Lord of the Rings. He is playful and smart and menacing when he needs to be. He’s just the sort of wizard you want on your side when things turn badly. It’s also nice to see how Jackson incorporated other characters from The Lord of the Rings into the new film, although I won’t spoil the who’s or how’s for you.

Despite the great cast, adventurous story, and great directing the film isn’t quite perfect. There is a lot of exposition with characters standing around giving speeches. There is lot of planning to do stuff and walking around in the film and not quite enough time spent doing things. Also, while there are thirteen dwarves in the company, only a few are memorable. Not all of them get enough screen time to stand out as anything more than space fillers. My final quibble with the film is this - although Jackson and company try to introduce real danger in the form of a white goblin who hunts the company across Middle Earth, the stakes in The Hobbit simply aren’t as high as they were for The Lord of the Rings. This isn’t a criticism of the film per se; it’s inherent in the content of the books. If Bilbo Baggins and company fail, then the dwarves don’t get their gold back. If Frodo Baggins and company fail, then the entire world is plunged into darkness under the rule of Sauron. The nature of the stories means that The Hobbit doesn’t carry the same weight as The Lord of the Rings.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey is a perfectly fine film when seen in its intended format – high frame rate 3D. It’s fun and adventurous, the characters and performances are great, and the action, when it happens, is fun and exciting. Plus, we get to see Gollum and Bilbo have a game of riddles, which is by far the highlight of the film.

If you are a fan of The Lord of the Rings films, then you should enjoy The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. I can’t wait until next year (December 13, 2013) to pick up the trail of Bilbo and his dwarven friends in The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug.

3.5 Stars out of 5

Do you enjoy adventuring with dwarves, or would you rather be resting comfortably by the hearth in a nice hobbit hole? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter!

The Man of Steel

After the less-than-stellar Superman Returns in 2006 failed to rejuvenate the Superman franchise, the Warner Brothers film studio is taking another shot at a franchise reboot in 2013.

Zach Snyder, who gave us 300, Watchmen, and, um, Sucker Punch, will be directing Man of Steel from a script by David Goyer, who was a writer on the Chris Nolan Batman trilogy. That's a pretty strong pedigree, and we are guaranteed to have a very different film than the snoozefest that was Superman Returns.

Have a look at the new poster and trailer for the film.

I like the promise of real conflict and action, but I hope it happens quickly. I am not big on the idea of the first hour of Man of Steel showing Superman wandering around acting human. We know that General Zod (Michael Shannon) will be the bad guy and that he will be bringing a lot of badness with him. I just want to see things get nasty sooner rather than later.

Still, it looks miles better than the previous Superman outing, and I have faith in the crew involved. The Batman films were pretty good blockbusters, and if Snyder got the craziness out of his system with Sucker Punch, then his visual style should translate well to the world of Superman.

We'll find out on June 14, 2013!

Oblivion is Coming

It appears that 2013 will be a great year for science fiction films.

I was writing just the other day about Star Trek Into Darkness, the follow-up to the successful Star Trek reboot that comes out in May.

Now we get our first look at Oblivion, a film starring Tom Cruise coming from one of the producers of Rise of the Planet of the Apes and the director of Tron: Legacy.

The story focuses on Cruise' character, Jack Harper, who is a drone repairman stationed on a post-apocalyptic Earth. Aliens called Scavs attacked Earth sixty years prior, and most of the humans who survived the war were forced to evacuate. A few people, such as Harper, were left behind to maintain Earth's defenses and recover valuable resources. When a mysterious group of survivors appear, Harper begins to question his real purpose on Earth.

It sounds like a pretty good setup for a film, and it has a clean, slick look to boot.

Want to see more? How about a trailer?

Yeah. That looks real nice. This one is officially on my radar now. Look for it in theaters April 19.

Star Trek Into Darkness Goodies

J.J. Abrams rebooted the struggling Star Trek franchise in 2009 with a an action-packed, alternate history story that got the struggling franchise back on its feet. Abrams and company are back in theaters this May with the next chapter of the new timeline. There is still some uncertainty as to what the story will be, but details about the film are starting to emerge.

A new poster and teaser trailer have been released that hint at the levels of destruction we can expect in the new film. The sequel certainly looks to retain the same epic scale of the 2009 version. Now if it can maintain or build on the great character interactions of the reboot, then we are in for a real treat early next year.

That looks appropriately epic. It appears that the villain (Khan, maybe?) has a rather personal vendetta against the Enterprise crew, and it looks like he's bringing the fight to Earth.

We'll be seeing more on Star Trek Into Darkness very soon. A proper trailer comes out when The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey releases in a few days. A few lucky viewers will get a 9-minute preview at the IMAX screenings of The Hobbit. Keep your eyes peeled for more soon!

Are you excited for the Star Trek sequel? Do you approve of the somewhat controversial title? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter!

The Hobbit IMAX posters, and more!

You may have heard that there's a movie coming out on December 14, 2012 that's going to be awesome. The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey will be hitting theaters in force in a variety of formats for your viewing pleasure, including 2D, 3D, 48 frame-per-second 3D, and IMAX 3D.

Personally, I'll be at the IMAX 3D midnight release. The IMAX format, with its high-resolution images and fantastic audio, is my preferred movie watching experience. Most of the recent IMAX midnight releases have featured some pretty cool swag in the form of specially commissioned posters. Some of these posters, such as those for Prometheus and The Dark Knight Rises looked really great. You can anticipate another poster giveaway for The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey.

In fact, there will be four posters for the film, each featuring one of the major characters.

Bilbo Baggins

Gandalf

Thorin Oakenshield

Gollum

Beautiful!

It's unclear whether attendees will get a full set of posters or if there will be only one poster per customer. I would clear out enough wall space for all four if I could get my hands on them.

Maybe I'll ask when I attend the Lord of the Rings marathon at AMC Theatres this coming Saturday, December 8. That's right. If you intended to catch up on the Peter Jackson's three masterful Lord of the Rings films before catching The Hobbit, then this is the perfect opportunity. For $25 you can see all three Lord of the Rings films back-to-back-to-back. That ticket also gets you a $5 concessions coupon, a lanyard, and a commemorative gift, which I think will be a poster of some design. Not a bad deal to see some of the most amazing films of the 21st century played out on the big screen.

Check to see if your local AMC Theatre is hosting a marathon at their website and book your ticket early. These types of marathons typically sell out, at least at the AMC Theaters near me.

How great do you think of those poster designs are? Will you be sitting in the theater for 15 hours next Saturday? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter!

Star Wars Snowflake Christmas Decorations

It's December, the time of year when people are busy decorating their homes and preparing for the holidays. Christmas trees are going up, presents are being bought and wrapped, lights are being strung, and dumb, giant, inflatable balloons in the shape of Santa or Frosty the Snowman are being staked in front yards all over the world.

Want to add a bit of Star Wars flavor to your Christmas decorations? Check out some of these cool snowflake designs. You can cut your own Star Wars characters from construction paper and hang them on your tree.

Neat!

These first two designs were conceived by a fan who then posted the design schematics online. The first features an alternating Bobba Fett and Clone design. The second features Darth Vader. In a nice touch, the centerpiece of the design is the Imperial logo. Check HERE for more complete snowflake-cutting instructions.

Inspired by these two designs, an artist by the name of Anthony Herrera put together Star Wars snowflake schematics for a few other characters, including the following:

Yoda

Admiral Ackbar

C-3P0

He has several more designs on his site, including Princess Leia, a very complicated R2-D2, storm trooper, rebel pilot, and others. Check out his site HERE for more designs and templates. 

All told, you could get about 12 different designs for your tree between the two sites. 

This Christmas, show your family how much you love the Star Wars universe. Toss out those lame "Babies First Christmas" ornaments and fill your tree with a collection of these homemade snowflakes featuring your most beloved Star Wars characters.

Are you going to decorate your tree with a Star Wars theme? Let me know in the comments below or on Twitter!