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Pop culture dispatches from the Great Lakes

Star Wars

Mr. Rostan at the Movies: Three Leading Ladies

January 2, 2016 by Andrew Rostan Leave a Comment

Andrew Rostan was a film student before he realized that making comics was his horrible destiny, and he’s never shaken his love of cinema. Every week, he’ll opine on current pictures or important movies from the past.

Carol Poster

The first movie piece I write in 2016 is about three women: Cate Blanchett, Rooney Mara, and Daisy Ridley. If you haven’t seen their films yet, then you need to pony up at your cinema or IMAX during this delightfully lazy weekend, and this is why…although I realize many of you have already seen Miss Ridley three or four times.

(With respect to Charles Pierce, here is the optional soundtrack for reading this piece.)

[Read more…]

Posted in: Films, Historical Drama, Reviews, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Tagged: Carol, Cate Blanchett, Daisy Ridley, Rooney Mara, Star Wars, The Force Awakens

Mr. Rostan at the Movies: Summer of ’65, or The Global Blockbuster

April 24, 2015 by Andrew Rostan Leave a Comment

Andrew Rostan was a film student before he realized that making comics was his horrible destiny, but he’s never shaken his love of cinema. Every two weeks, he’ll opine on current pictures or important movies from the past.

rsz_gonewiththewind1

Next week, there’s a movie opening in which James Spader takes on eight or nine lost creatures in a duel for the fate of humanity. I kid because I know Age of Ultron will rake in more than the entire Recorder staff will make in our lives 100 times over. Thinking about this sure thing, however, led me down one of my inquisitive rabbit holes. What in a movie attracts the mass audience to go see it? What is the nature of the blockbuster?

[Read more…]

Posted in: Films Tagged: Avatar, Avengers, Blockbusters, Doctor Zhivago, Gone With the Wind, Jaws, Star Wars, The Sound of Music

Star Wars Day, Chicago-Style

May 12, 2014 by Meryl Williams Leave a Comment
David Zoltan, from Geek Bar Chicago, brought Star Wars-themed eats from the bar's upcoming tasting menu.

David Zoltan, from Geek Bar Chicago, brought Star Wars-themed eats from the bar’s upcoming tasting menu.

The Chicago nerd community descended upon the Public House Theatre on May 4th to celebrate a holiday manufactured purely from sheer fandom and a love of wordplay. There, nerds from all over the city gathered for a potluck and a viewing of the original Star Wars trilogy.

Greetings of “May the Fourth be with you” were exchanged as representatives from Geek Bar, The Nerdologues, Chicago Nerd Social Club, and the general public filtered in.

The event was coordinated by Kevin Reader, a founding member of the Nerdologues, as well as a producer at the Public House Theatre.

“I wanted it to be a low-pressure place [where] everyone could hang out, eat some food, and celebrate,” said Reader of the inaugural event.

“There will be some fun trivia throughout the day – some guys through Versus the Universe, a video group here in Chicago, are doing trivia stuff,” Reader said. “Elliott Serrano, the Redeye Geek, is going to be here to give away some prizes. The dudes from Geek Bar are here with food from their tasting menu.”
[Read more…]

Posted in: Films, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Tagged: Aaron Amendola, Chicago Nerd Social Club, Elliott Serrano, Geek Bar Chicago, Kevin Reader, Public House Theatre, Star Wars, Star Wars Day, The Nerdologues

The Fault in Our Star Wars

May 4, 2014 by Christopher Walsh Leave a Comment
Writer/Director/Producer J.J Abrams (top center right) at the cast read-through of Star Wars Episode VII at Pinewood Studios with (clockwise from right) Harrison Ford, Daisy Ridley, Carrie Fisher, Peter Mayhew, Producer Bryan Burk, Lucasfilm President and Producer Kathleen Kennedy, Domhnall Gleeson, Anthony Daniels, Mark Hamill, Andy Serkis, Oscar Isaac, John Boyega, Adam Driver and Writer Lawrence Kasdan.

Copyright and Photo Credit: David James.

Last Tuesday morning, the Star Wars team announced the cast for Episode VII. Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker will once again take us to a galaxy far, far away, joined by John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow. Nerds and news outlets met the news with excitement (John Boyega!), amazement (Max von Sydow!), confusion (Adam Driver?), and a healthy dose of pushback for the dearth of women and people of color. Two female actors have been cast, including a returning Princess Leia, and two people of color have been cast, one of whom (Oscar Isaac) often plays or passes as white (Llewyn Davis in Inside Llewyn Davis, Prince John in Robin Hood, Orestes in Agora). Even if they add the rumored “major female role, which will likely be filled by an actress of mixed race,” the weight of the cast will still be heavily white and male.

This is a problem; I wish to be clear about that because many men disagree. Trawling the comments of any of the articles critiquing the race and gender disparity, you’ll find many voices in support of the critiques and many voices declaring it a nonissue, the latter often from white men. The chorus to their silencing tactics and eye-rolling is:

“Who cares?”
“What’s it matter?”
“Why is this even a thing?”

[Read more…]

Posted in: Films, Sci-Fi/Fantasy Tagged: diversity, fake geek girls, JJ Abrams, representation, representation matters, Star Wars, Star Wars Day, women

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