At the recent D23 Disney convention in Anaheim, the seemingly inevitable news finally dropped; Disney/Lucasfilm is finally releasing the original, unaltered “Star Wars” (1977) to theaters next year (without the “A New Hope” subtitle added to the film in 1981 for rerelease) for the movie’s 50th anniversary in a limited release beginning February 19th. Lucasfilm…
Tag: Star Wars
San Diego Comic Con 2026 had a lot of news to share, and some disappointments…
Like that line from The Godfather Part III, “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in.” My wife and I have been attending San Diego Comic Con together for roughly 22 years, only missing it in 2007, and, of course, the year it was shut down in 2020 for COVID. As…
Marcia Lucas (1945-2026); an editing virtuoso of 1970s cinema…
A long time ago, in an editing bay not too far away… Born in Modesto, California in 1945 to an Air Force officer father, Marcia Griffin moved all over California, until her parents divorced and she went to North Hollywood, where she and her mother stayed with her grandmother. It was in Hollywood where Marcia…
“So say we all!” The cast of “Battlestar Galactica” reunites for Comic Con Revolution 2026…
Comic Con Revolution 2026 I’ve attended Comic Con Revolution in Ontario California since it was a seedling sci-fi/fantasy convention back in 2017, when they had only a few celebrities autographing, and a very sparse Exhibit Hall. CCR had slim pickings that first year, but it had great potential; a sci-fi/fantasy convention in the heart of…
My on-again/off-again love for the theatrical experience…
The Old Days One of my favorite pastimes as a kid was going to the movies. It was a safe trip into a darkened realm of imagination, where larger-than-life stories shadow-played before my eyes and ears. I even remember taping newspaper ads for my favorite movies to my bedroom wall. As the late film critic…
The Force is strong with the graphic making-of book, “Lucas Wars” (“Les Guerres de Lucas”)…
******DEATH STAR-SIZED SPOILERS!****** As a “Star Wars” fan for the past 49 years or so, I’ve read innumerable accounts of the making of this movie–which drew me in like a tractor beam at age ten, back in that summer of 1977. To that end, there are several books I consider must-reads about the life and…
A reduced WonderCon 2026 returns to Anaheim with fewer attractions, but with nooks of interest…
Down, but not out… As with WonderCon 2025, this year’s WonderCon was scaled-down even further, with no ‘big ticket’ panels or new movies or TV shows to promote. I expected at least one behind-the-scenes panel for this spring’s newest blockbuster, “Project Hail Mary,” but sadly, there was nothing. Not even a Rocky plushie. Even on…
Star Wars in the park: The Inland Empire Strikes Back 2026…
Last year, a friend and I attended a small Star Wars-themed gathering at North Park in the city of Riverside, California called The Inland Empire Strikes Back (IESB)and it was another in a series of small-but-sincere fandom gatherings that I’ve made my unofficial mission to support as often as possible. Less than a full-scale convention…
Revisiting “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” ten years later…
******STAR DESTROYER-SIZED SPOILERS!****** I make no secret of the fact that I, my wife, and other Gen Xers we know found writer/director George Lucas’ Star Wars prequel trilogy (1999-2005) disappointing. While they offered some interesting ideas, they lacked the heart, passion and grit of the original trilogy; replacing them with clunky scripting, soulless performances, and…
Making dreams tangible: Drew Struzan, 1947-2025…
Drew Struzan I meant to do this column earlier, but October kept me very busy, and I needed a little extra time and a less frazzled mindset to look back on the career of the late Drew Struzan; the pop artist whose work helped define movie posters for the last fifty years. His work has…
2025’s Perris-Con in Riverside County, California offers a free mini-convention for Inland Empire sci-fi/comic book fans…
Return of the Newcomer Last year, the city of Perris, California, in Riverside County, held a small, free, mini-comics convention called Perris Fandom Con, which returned this year under the shortened name of Perris-Con. This free event, with free parking as well, was held on August 16th at the Perris City Hall building at 101…
‘Jetpack Jules’ rules at Comic Con Revolution 2025 in Ontario, California…
Welcome to the Revolution… The Inland Empire’s Comic Con Revolution (CCR) is a sci-fi/fantasy/comic books convention based in the city of Ontario, California. It first sprang into existence in 2017 as a garage sale in a nice venue; with few attractions and scant attendance. But over the past eight years, this ‘little’ convention has dramatically grown in size…