Tour de Force; the long-delayed Star Wars Celebration 2022 returned to Anaheim with a vengeance…

Return of the Jedi. Twice delayed, understandably, due to the COVID pandemic, the Star Wars Celebration finally arrived at Anaheim, California, for the first time since 2015. When my wife Julia and I attended the 2015 show, we were only able to get tickets for one day (Saturday) of the four-day event, which felt like…

Comic Con Revolution 2021 in Ontario, California brings holiday cheer to SoCal fandom…

Comic Con Revolution Returns! While the COVID pandemic essentially cancelled last year for everyone (including myself), the sci-fi/comic book convention circuit has been slowly returning to something resembling normal (well, as ‘normal’ as we fans get, anyway). Just this year, I’ve already attended a couple of favorite conventions; the Las Vegas’ “55 Year Mission‘ convention…

A brief sampling of Disney’s “Star Wars: Visions” (2021)…

*****STAR DESTROYER-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!***** With the recent avalanche of Star Wars product on DisneyPlus since “The Mandalorian” opened the floodgates to the Disney streaming service in November of 2019, there has been an almost nonstop menagerie of new Star Wars content, with a lot more on the way (“The Book of Boba Fett,” “Kenobi” etc)….

Jonathan W. Rinzler (1962-2021), a fine chronicler of great movies…

The Sacred Texts. As a lifelong fan of sci-fi movies, I’ve long collected books, magazines and, more recently, videos all about the making-of sci-fi and other movies. My first magazine I remember collecting was Forry Ackerman’s “Famous Monsters of Filmland,” and I would later graduate to Starlog, Cinemafantastique, Sci-Fi Universe, and others, including several British…

The Mandalorian, Chapter 16: “The Rescue” is strong with the Force…

****WARNING! DEATH STAR-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!!**** Chapter 16 of “The Mandalorian” closes out the 2nd season of this wildly successful DisneyPlus series, and “The Rescue” offers some massive surprises to both longtime and casual fans alike. I deliberately held off publishing this column for a few hours later than usual, because the spoilers are that big….

Remembering Dave Prowse, the ‘force’ behind Darth Vader (1935-2020)…

The summer of 1977 was my first introduction to actor Dave Prowse. Not in person, of course, but when he (in character) boarded a captured Rebel starship in the opening scenes of “Star Wars” (pre-New Hope). I can never forget Prowse’s embodiment of that awesome black-clad villain. What an entrance! In fact, I still remember…

The Mandalorian, Chapter 13: “The Jedi” returns…

****CORUSCANT-SIZED SPOILERS AHEAD!!**** The Mandalorian Chapter 13, written and directed by series’ co-creator/producer Dave Filoni (“The Clone Wars” “Rebels”) is now available for streaming on DisneyPlus. Titled “The Jedi,” this episode reintroduces another fan favorite from the animated Star Wars into live-action, and Baby Yoda has a name… “The Jedi.” On the planet Corvus, the…