Lando: Empire Deal 'An Historic Moment for Cloud City'

From Sky:

Lando Calrissian has secured a "historic" deal on the Cloud City's relationship with the Empire after two days of intense negotiations.

At a news conference shortly after the deal was done in Bespic, Mr Calrissian said: "In the last hour, I have negotiated a deal to give Cloud City special status with the Empire'.

"This deal has delivered on the commitments I made at the start of this process.

"Cloud City will remain outside of Imperial control and Princess Leia and the Wookie will remain with us".

Cinema Chains Refuse to Show Jedi Advert

From the Guardian

The UK’s three leading cinema chains have refused to show an advert by the Jedi Council that features the words of Yoda, citing fears that it could offend people.

The 60-second advert was due to be shown before The Ten Commandments, released on 18 December and which has smashed records for advance ticket sales at UK cinemas.

It was cleared by the Cinema Advertising Authority and the British Board of Film Classification, but the Odeon, Cineworld and Vue chains – which control 80% of screens around the country – have refused to show the advert because they believe it “carries the risk of upsetting, or offending, audiences”.

The council warned that the move could have a “chilling effect on free speech” and said it was at a loss to understand the logic behind the decision.

Obi Wan Kenobi, director of communications for the Jedi Council, said: “The prospect of a multigenerational cultural event offered by the release of The Ten Commandments on 18 December – a week before Galactic Liberation Day – was too good an opportunity to miss and we are bewildered by the decision of the cinemas.

“The Star Wars movies are watched by billions of people across the globe every day and in this country has been part of everyday life for decades. The force permeates every aspect of our culture from YouTube videos to toy shops and Comic-Cons. For millions of people in the United Kingdom, Star Wars is a constant part of their lives whether watched on TV, or playing Battlefront".

Memorabilia and Nostalgia

From The Guardian

The final instalment in blockbuster sci-fi saga The Hunger Games has moved ahead of Star Wars: The Force Awakens in the consciousness of cinemagoers, according to new research published by Variety.

US firm Piedmont Media Research found that The Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 2, which debuts in North America on 20 November, scored the highest level of anticipation ever recorded, a rating of 514 out of 1000. The Force Awakens, which is among the most-hyped films of all time, got 495 - though that figure is still the third-highest rating the company has ever recorded.

My first reaction to this was "really?". Star Wars is like this huge cultural thing, isn't it? A massive money-spinner, much loved by fans, while The Hunger Games is this smaller film thing, right?

But I'm starting to think that maybe George Lucas got the much better deal out selling Star Wars to Disney. I've come to terms with my love for Star Wars and how to a boy in 1977 it was a the dog's bollocks. I'd seen films before, but just nothing that was so visually amazing. That's not to say that they aren't good films. The reason they have lasted so long is that they aren't just special effects. There's good enough characters and story behind the effects to still make them watchable. But there's no denying the nostalgia. And the kids who saw films after it with much greater effects just aren't that bothered. My kids have a greater love for Pacific Rim than Star Wars (and Pacific Rim is a good fun action movie).

This also links into a story I heard on the radio about how Beatles memorabilia is falling in value, and what occurs to me is that well, Beatles fans, the people who will buy this stuff because of an emotional connection, are getting pretty old, into retirement, maybe running on pensions rather than good incomes, and being a bit more careful with money. That doesn't mean other people don't enjoy The Beatles, but that they don't have that depth of connection to them.

And The Hunger Games has been a great movie series so far. It hasn't disappointed audiences one bit. Mostly, by making faithful films that keep almost everything in, and not deviating to make it more palatable, more glamorous or whatever else. They even managed the thing of splitting the last book in 2 without cheating the audience with a duff first film to make more money (there is a tonal shift half way in the last book).

Church could perform marriages, say Jedi Council

From the BBC:

The Jedi council has raised concerns about Jedi and Nerfherder ceremonies being joined by a third category.

Jedi spokesman, Luke Skywalker told BBC Tatooine: "The third category is quite astonishing because it is the so-called belief category without really defining what belief means."

There are loads of people in a diverse society like this for whom belief can mean virtually anything - Christians and Jews - who knows?

"I am not saying that we don't give place to that kind of personal belief, but when you start making allowances for marriages to be performed by people who believe in made-up stories from a long time ago in a galaxy far far away within those categories then you are all over the place."

"For being too old sacked, car dealer, 64, nicknamed Yoda was, tribunal rules"

The Daily Mail from:

• To taunts about age by his colleagues subjected was Nolan Michael
• With someone younger to replace him bosses at Halshaw Evans wanted
• On a 'shortlist of one' when around redundancies came was he put
• Because of his age was he discriminated against a tribunal ruled

Maybe she called him "Sky" once too often..?

From The Metro:

A British tourist has been arrested on suspicion of beating his girlfriend to death on holiday island Crete.

Luke Walker, 22, faces charges of 'causing fatal bodily injury' after his girlfriend, 20-year-old Chelsea Hyndman, died in hospital on Monday. She had suffered ruptured internal organs 'evidently caused by physical violence', said a coroner...

Star Wars: The Clone Wars

I took The Lad and his mate from school to see this today.

The title is a fair summary of the film: it's all CGI and one long battle scene from start to finish, interspersed with a one-and-a-half-sentence plot.

But The Lad and his mate liked it, which is what counts, I suppose.