Screenwriters Scott Neustadter and Michael H. Weber have carved out a niche by making movies in familiar genres but with a fresh perspective. “(500) Days of Summer” (2009) was a romance movie with two rare traits: It captured the heartbreak from the guy’s perspective, and it didn’t end with the couple living happily ever after. […]
The “X-Wing Rogue Squadron” comic series closes out its run by delving into one of the most popular EU characters, Baron Soontir Fel, who was introduced in the previous arc, “In the Empire’s Service.” The Imperial-turned-Rebel fighter ace serves as a springboard for discussions about defecting from the Empire to the Rebellion. Because he is Wedge’s brother-in-law, he also […]
And now we’re off and flying. The middle batch of the 35-issue “X-Wing Rogue Squadron” comics series — “The Warrior Princess” (1996-97), “Requiem for a Rogue” (1997) and “In the Empire’s Service” (1997) — really starts to lock in its S-foils. Michael Stackpole’s staples of character growth, post-battle banter and Imperial political plotting take center stage. In the outstanding “The Warrior Princess” (issues […]
“Dark Apprentice” (1994), the second book in Kevin J. Anderson’s “Jedi Academy Trilogy,” is quite a page-turner. About the only thing slowing me down was that I stopped to roll my eyes every chapter or so. For all the entertainment value of the book, there are also some incredibly stupid things in here. Let’s start with the bad […]
Kevin J. Anderson contributed many of the most essential post-Endor elements to the EU, going forward with the same ideas George Lucas would go “backward” with. Whereas Lucas explored the old Jedi Order and the early Death Star designs in the prequels, Anderson has Luke start up a new Jedi Order and reveals there’s another […]
Around the same time that Michael Stackpole was writing his “X-Wing” novels in the late 1990s, he was also providing the stories for the 35-issue “X-Wing Rogue Squadron” comic series from Dark Horse. It was quite a juggling act, because all of the comics take place before all of the novels, but many characters appear in both […]
In addition to being a flat-out fun read, “I, Jedi” (1998) accomplishes a lot: It’s the definitive character study of Corran Horn, showing how he finds balance among his various skills (investigator, pilot and Force-user), it elevates Kevin J. Anderson’s uneven “Jedi Academy Trilogy” by providing a new perspective, and it melds the “X-Wing Rogue Squadron” comics […]
Between “The Descendants” — one of my top 10 movies of 2011 — and this summer’s “The Way Way Back,” screenwriters Nat Faxon and Jim Rash have become the masters of sweet-natured, gorgeous-looking, slice-of-life movies. This one will also easily make my year-end top 10, although the coming-of-age angle is more mainstream than the layered “Descendants.”
My Entertainment Weekly Fall TV Preview should pop up in my mailbox in a few weeks, and I hope I’m pleasantly surprised by some new shows I haven’t heard of yet. Because so far, 2013 has been an absolute bloodbath for quality television.
Here are nine movies I might consider seeing this fall, plus “Machete Kills,” which I might consider seeing about 10 times. (Links to trailers provided for your convenience.) 1. “Machete Kills” (Oct. 11) — Danny Trejo’s title character saying “Machete don’t tweet,” electrocuting a guy by using himself as the conduit, and throwing another guy into a helicopter […]