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RIP Peter Mayhew
Peter Mayhew, the 7’3″ actor who played Chewbacca in the ‘Star Wars’ cinematic franchise, has died at the age of 74.
Harrison Ford, whose Han Solo character was bonded for life in the ‘Star Wars’ universe with Peter Mayhew’s Chewbacca character, wrote down his reaction to learning of his now late friend.
“Peter Mayhew was a kind and gentle man, possessed of great dignity and noble character. These aspects of his own personality, plus his wit and grace, he brought to Chewbacca. We were partners in film and friends in life for over 30 years and I loved him. He invested his soul in the character and brought great pleasure to the Star Wars audience. Chewbacca was an important part of the success of the films we made together. He knew how important the fans of the franchise were to its continued success and he was devoted to them. I and millions of others will never forget Peter and what he gave us all. My thoughts are with his dear wife Angie and his children. Rest easy, my dear friend….”
An interesting tidbit of behind the scenes ‘Star Wars’ trivia reported by the Hollywood Reporter is that “Mayhew once said he got the part just by director George Lucas seeing him and being baffled by his 7-foot-2 stature.”
One of the best scenes between Harrison Ford and Peter Mayhew as their iconic characters occurred in their return appearance together, after many decades apart, in the 2015 global blockbuster ‘The Force Awakens.’
And one of the best characteristics of Chewie was his signature growl/voice.
RIP Peter Mayhew.
‘The Rise of Skywalker’ Is Here
The highly-anticipated first teaser trailer for ‘Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker’ has arrived after just being shown to fans at the Star Wars Celebration in Chicago.
Watch. Now!
To say ‘Episode IX’ looks amazing with J.J. Abrams returning to the director’s chair is an understatement. The tone is certainly reminiscent of ‘The Force Awakens,’ which of course was directed by Mr. Abrams. That will please many ‘Star Wars’ fans. And opening in the desert with heavy breathing by one of its stars for both initial teasers for ‘The Force Awakens’ and ‘The Rise of Skywalker’ was a nice touch of continuity by the director.
At this point, it’s time to just rewatch a few (dozen) times in excitement as December inches ever closer.
However, just one quick analytical note:
I really thought this new trilogy was spelling out the overarching theme and meaning through its titles. Such as ‘The Force Awakens the Last Jedi…’ Grammatically, ‘The Force Awakens the Last Jedi the Rise of Skywalker’ doesn’t make sense. Bummer.
Awakens-Last-Rise? The overarching themes of the three films in the sequence are remarkably similar to Christopher Nolan’s ‘The Dark Knight’ trilogy but less dark.
Interesting.
For now, Luke Skywalker is back as a narrator/guiding voice (we’ll see if that’s his final form) as well as Lando Calrissian.
The past meets the future in ‘Star Wars: Episode IX – The Rise of Skywalker.’
That Star Wars Trailer
Topher Grace, who is best known for his role as Eric Forman in the hit Fox sitcom ‘That ’70s Show,’ is, like his aforementioned character, a major ‘Star Wars’ fan. It’s one of those cases when the real interests and passions of an actor are written into a character. And we all remember how his TV dad Red used to make fun of him for playing with his “dolls,” which provoked Eric’s reaction, “They’re ACTION FIGURES!” Lightsabers and all the rest fell under Red’s wrath.
Well, it turns out Topher Grace has synced with his past TV persona (sans a Luke Skywalker doll action figure) for a ‘Star Wars’ project that’s been 42 years in the making. And the final edit that was recently released online is quite entertaining and impressive.
Ladies and gentlemen, here’s the text of Topher Grace’s tweet that he used to introduce his ultimate ‘Star Wars’ movie trailer titled ‘Star Wars: Always.’
10 movies. 2 nerds. 1 weekend (when our wives were out of town). Enjoy…
As a former video editor, it must be stated how painstakingly impressive ‘Star Wars: Always’ is in its final version. Just awesome! Again, specific scenes from 10 different films from the ‘Star Wars’ cinematic universe were chosen for a pop culture hit. One thing that is clear from this crazy good edit, which is that Topher Grace needs to be made a Stormtrooper in one of the live-action ‘Star Wars’ films in the future.
P.S. Topher Grace forgot to insert one pivotal scene into ‘Star Wars: Always.’
Happy Monday!
There’s no wrong way to start the workweek.
Or is there?
It just might depend on who your boss is once you start those ‘Star Wars’ impressions…
Well, if you can pull off impressions like hilarious SNL alum Bill Hader, you’ll probably be fine. Most people won’t know who you are impersonating, but it’ll make everyone forget it’s Monday.
And isn’t that the point?
Have a Better Week Than Last Week.
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