Star Wars

The Phantom Mousse

Erik

To accompany the first of our Star Wars rewatches, I made a dark chocolate mousse. As rich as Queen Amidala’s wardrobe and as dark as Senator Palpatine’s heart, this mousse kept us happy through the podrace and droid battles.

The Phantom Mousse

Ingredients

  • 7 oz dark chocolate
  • 2 tablespoons butter
  • 4 tablespoons dark rum
  • 3 eggs

Melt the chocolate, butter, and rum together in a double boiler over barely simmering water

Separate the eggs

Remove the melted chocolate from the heat and whisk in the egg yolks

Beat the egg whites until they form soft peaks

Whisk the egg whites into the chocolate mixture

Spoon into dishes and chill for an hour

 

Image by Eppu Jensen

Geeks eat, too! Second Breakfast is an occasional feature in which we talk about food with geeky connections and maybe make some of our own. Yum!

Our Star Wars Rewatch Project: Episode I

Eppu

Our Star Wars rewatch project begins a long time ago in a galaxy far, far away with Episode I: The Phantom Menace.

1. Best fight

151112JediEppu: Darth Maul vs. Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan on Naboo, hands down. This is how the Jedi fight, not the staid fop-fop-tap of Episode IV!

Erik: Agreed. Whatever else you may say about Phantom Menace, we finally got to see Jedi in their prime fighting a worthy adversary.

2. Best line

Erik: “Her Highness commands you to take her handmaiden with you.” Captain Panaka to Qui-Gon setting out on Tatooine. Less for the line itself than for how Hugh Quarshie delivers it. You can tell that he thinks this is a really, really bad idea, but he’s doing his job of helping the queen do what she wants to do.

Eppu: “What, you think you’re some sort of Jedi, waving your hand around like that?” Watto to Qui-Gon. Delivered in Watto’s bone-dry style, too, it’s hilarious.

3. Best minor character

Pomegranate Seeds Kitster

Eppu: Kitster, one of Anakin’s friends on Tatooine. Very sympathetic young man.

Erik: TC-14, the protocol droid on the trade federation ship. Like C-3P0, more personality than you would expect a droid to have.

4. Best reveal

Erik: When the hangar doors on Naboo open on Darth Maul.

Eppu: The droid army unpacked from the bowels of the transportation drones, unfolding into their full size. I still remember seeing it for the first time.

5. Best save

Eppu: During Queen Amidala’s attack on the palace, Captain Panaka shoots out a window, the group steps out to the ledge, and uses their fancy handguns-cum-harpoon-and-line-shooters to skip to the next floor.

Erik: When Watto tries to back out of a bet, Qui-Gon casually suggests taking the matter up with the Hutts. That’s enough to convince Watto to pay up.

6. Best visual

151112TheedErik: Theed, the capital city on Naboo. Gorgeous landscape and architectural detail.

Star Wars Otoh GungaEppu: The approach to the underwater Gungan city. One of my favorite scenic scenes in the Star Wars universe.

Extra question: Best misdirect

Eppu: Palpatine’s plotting, all of it. Plotwise it’s a step up from the original trilogy, just like the Jedi fights are.

Erik: The opening crawl about conflict over the taxation of outlying trade routes. One of the themes of the prequel trilogy is how momentous events can have tiny beginnings. The taxation of trade routes sounds like the most boring subject for a movie ever, but it leads to the fall of the galactic republic.

Your turn – what’s your Best list for Episode I?

Images: Lightsaber fight via Giphy; Kitster: via fialleril on Pomegranate Seeds; Theed: wookiepedia;  Gungan city: StarWars.com.

In the Seen on Screen occasional feature, we discuss movies and television shows of interest.

 

Our Star Wars Rewatch Project: Introduction

Eppu

To prepare for Star Wars: Episode VII – The Force Awakens, we’re Doing a Project. We’ll see all six Star Wars movies in order, roughly one a week, and for each movie, we’ll give our opinion on the following:

  1. Best fight
  2. Best line
  3. Best minor character
  4. Best reveal
  5. Best save
  6. Best visual

For extra fun, Erik decided to make a dessert to go with each movie. We’ll share photos of those, too. Follow the posts with the SW rewatch tag.

And please join us – leave a link for your own posts, or comment with your own Best list!

In the Seen on Screen occasional feature, we discuss movies and television shows of interest.

Statue of Lenin Turned to the Dark Side

Eppu

In Odessa, Ukraine, a statue of Lenin fated for demolition instead got a new life – as Darth Vader.

Dumskaya Lenin Vader
Images: Dumskaya.net via Meduza.

The destruction of the statue was called for by a new law that requires the elimination of all landmarks and geographic names dedicated to communist figures. Artist Alexander Milov repurposed the statue and turned Lenin into the dark side. There’s more under Vader’s cloak than a covered-up Lenin’s coat, though: the statue’s head conceals a router delivering Wi-Fi to the immediate area.

Who woulda thunk that Lenin’s pose would be spot on for Vader!

Found via Meduza.

Out There is an occasional feature highlighting intriguing art, spaces, places, phenomena, flora, and fauna.

Two Fan-Made Star Wars: Episode VII Videos

Eppu

This music-only version of the official The Force Awakens trailer edited by Tim Gonzales is awesome:

The Force Awakens Trailer #3 – Music Only Edit

The soundtrack is very effective – I can actually feel the goosebumps moving along my arms and scalp! Apparently the trailer music is a combination of new composition and previous music; see the write-up by Peter Sciretta at /Film.

And this Han’s flashback video by Nick Skywalk does a fantastic(!!) job cutting in scenes from the original trilogy with the Episode VII trailer:

Han Solo’s Flashback

Eight weeks to go!

Bonus link: There used to be a Playstation video game called Star Wars: Masters of Teräs Käsi, published by LucasArts 1997. Teräskäsi is Finnish and literally means ‘steel hand’. This was news to me, but apparently it’s part – albeit a mostly forgotten part – of the official canon. Yay, Finland! 😉

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

The Myth Is Strong With This One

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It’s well known that George Lucas drew inspiration from mythology when writing Star Wars. Luke Skywalker, the young hero from the planet farthest from the bright center of the universe, gets the call to adventure delivered by droid and goes off on a Campbellian journey to rescue a princess, seek out an ancient mentor, and finally confront his fallen father. The prequel trilogy gave us the tragic version in which Anakin, the great warrior, was driven to madness and destroyed the things he loved the most.

1501022lightsaber

There are smaller touches of myth throughout the Star Wars hexalogy. Luke receives his father’s lightsaber like King Arthur drawing his father’s sword from the stone. The escape from the imperial garbage masher has hints of Jonah and the whale. Luke in the Wampa’s cave has shades of Beowulf.

151022wampa

Like most of the rest of geeky internet, I’ve been watching the trailers for The Force Awakens with excitement. I’ve been struck by something, especially in the latest trailer. The mythology that this latest iteration of Star Wars is working hardest to evoke is… Star Wars.

Star Wars: The Force Awakens Trailer (Official) via Star Wars

Star Wars has transcended being a movie franchise or even an expanded universe. It has reached the point where we can speak of it in terms of mythology.

One of the definitions of myth is that it is a story you know even if you can’t recall ever being told it. Star Wars has that. It is part of our cultural consciousness to the point that even people who haven’t seen the movies (yes, they exist) recognize the sound of a lightsaber and the cadences of the imperial march. Star Wars was all over my childhood, and even though I didn’t get around to seeing the movies until I was a teen (I was a Star Trek fan and young and dumb enough to think that I had to pick one over the other), I recognized Darth Vader, Princess Leia and Yoda on my friends’ lunchboxes.

Another characteristic of myth is that all myths are versions. There is no original, no canon. Though some may disagree on whether this is a good thing, Star Wars has always been an evolving story, getting new versions from small tweaks to big changes. (Yes, I see you in the back in the “Han Shot First” shirt, you can put your hand down.) The new wave of Star Wars movies leaves the old hexalogy alone but reboots the post-Return-of-the-Jedi expanded universe.

For those of us who grew up in the world of Star Wars, it is hard to imagine a time when these stories were not a part of the popular culture, yet there was a time when no one had heard Darth Vader’s breathing or Yoda’s grammar, when no one knew what a lightsaber or a Death Star was. By connecting to the ancient stories we already knew, Star Wars made itself feel timeless. Now it has become a part of that universal memory to be played upon and invoked in its own right.

Images: “This is the weapon of a Jedi knight” via The Film Fatale; wampa via giphy.com

Post edited for style.

In the Seen on Screen occasional feature, we discuss movies and television shows of interest.

These Star Wars Group Costumes Are Awesome

Eppu

Liz Stanley at Say Yes shared a Star Wars style, easy-on-the-wallet (and nerves) approach to Halloween costumes:

Star Wars group costumes. Photo by Ashley Thalman / Say Yes.
Star Wars group costumes. Photo by Ashley Thalman / Say Yes.

Perfect for Halloween: evocative outfits that are easy to create almost entirely by using everyday items. Sometimes it’s the whole that matters more than individual details. Great job!

Credits: models Aaron, Kayti and little Monroe Oldham; photography by Ashley Thalman; styling by Sarah Larsen; production by site manager Ashley Aikele; creative direction by Liz Stanley at Say Yes.

This post has been edited.

In Making Stuff occasional feature, we share fun arts and crafts done by us and our fellow geeks and nerds.

Downton Wars, Episode I and II

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Rob James-Collier certainly knows how to put fun in fundraiser! For his London Marathon fundraiser run, the actor (who played the sly footman Thomas Barrow in Downton Abbey) wrote and directed an exclusive Downton Abbey clip to benefit the Chiltern MS Centre. Filmed on his smartphone in between takes, the spoof features other Downton actors and lightsabers!

Downton Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Valet

(“Mmmm, cheese!”)

In the end, James-Collier raised more than £15,000 and created a second episode as a thank you. In this second installment, the whole house gets in a Star Wars mood with even more lightsaber action! The absolute best, though, is when the two venerable old ladies, the Dowager Countess and Mrs. Isobel Crawley, played by Maggie Smith and Penelope Wilton, pick up lightsabers!

Downton Wars: Episode 2 – The Evil Butler Strikes Back

(“I would not do that if I were you!”)

Cheers!

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

May the Force Be with You to the Max

Eppu

Krishna Shenoi mashed up Mad Max: Fury Road and the Star Wars universe with a surprisingly believable end result:

Road Wars: The Imperator Strikes Back (Mad Max / Star Wars Mashup) by Krishna Shenoi

The 2-minute clip combines material from the existing SW trilogies, Episode VII trailer(s), and Mad Max. Seamless work!

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.

Fan-Made Boba Fett Short

Eppu

Can’t wait for Star Wars: The Force Awakens to come out? Apart from the material shared at San Diego Comic Con, the short fan film Boba Fett – The Twelve Parsec Stare should help.

The story, produced and filmed entirely in Helsinki, Finland, has Boba Fett tracking down a specific bounty on Tatooine. There is no (human) dialogue, but oodles of Italo-Western action shots and scruffy Mos-Eisley crud. Director Eric Raunio surely knows his stuff. Also composer Juho Pakkasvirta does a fantastic job, not forgetting to spoof the “Imperial March” or “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly” theme. 🙂

Raunio tells Nyt1 [NB. Finnish only] that the two-day shoot at Kaapelitehdas in February 2015 followed a few months’ intense pre-production. Sets, costumes, and props were built from everyday items and thrifted / upcycled finds under the direction of producer Teemu Vainio. Boba Fett fans may also be interested in the two behind-the-scenes production diaries (1, 2).

The indie company behind the short, Ruined Films, is headed by Raunio, and produces not only their own films but also promotional videos and provides post-production for outside projects.

1 Nyt is the weekly supplement of Helsingin Sanomat newspaper, the largest daily newspaper in Finland.

Hey, look! We found a thing on the internet! We thought it was cool, and wanted to share it with you.