Tag Archives: Star Wars

Could a Planet-Sized City Work?

Posted on September 13, 2020 by Alex R. Howe

In Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series, the planet Trantor is a single, huge city spanning its entire surface (also known as an ecumenopolis), an idea that was famously replicated with Coruscant in Star Wars. As a companion to tomorrow’s podcast on … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker

Posted on December 20, 2019 by Alex R. Howe

Well, here it is: the end* of the Star Wars saga. Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker is the completion of the nine-film series George Lucas originally promised us in 1978. It took 41 years, selling the series to Disney, … Continue reading →

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What Should Happen in Star Wars Episode IX?

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Alex R. Howe

Well, the first teaser trailer has dropped for Star Wars Episode IX: The Rise of Skywalker. I can react a little to the trailer itself, but we don’t really know much yet. (That’s kind of the point of a teaser.) … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Solo: A Star Wars Story

Posted on June 12, 2018 by Alex R. Howe

Okay, I really need to put out my review of Solo. I don’t review every movie I see, either because I haven’t had time (see Deadpool 2) or because I’m not really sure what to make of it (see Annihilation … Continue reading →

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How The Last Jedi Fixes Star Wars; Yes, I Said It.

Posted on December 19, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

I wrote before that I believe Star Wars: The Last Jedi redeemed the franchise in several important ways. This is a complicated topic, but I want to try to give you an outline of my thoughts. To talk about The … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Star Wars: The Last Jedi

Posted on December 18, 2017 by Alex R. Howe

Well, Star Wars Episode VIII is here, and it’s proving to be not only the biggest movie of the year, but also one of the most controversial. Not in the news headlines, that is, but quietly, in the actual audience … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story

Posted on December 21, 2016 by Alex R. Howe

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away, the Rebel Alliance stole the plans to the Death Star and discovered its One Weakness. Rogue One is the story of how that happened and why the Death Star’s engineers … Continue reading →

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Retro Movie Review: The Star Wars Holiday Special

Posted on December 24, 2015 by Alex R. Howe

On November 17, 1978, back when Star Wars was only a single film, CBS aired a made-for-TV “movie” entitled the Star Wars Holiday Special. This movie was never rebroadcast and has never been officially released on video (except for a … Continue reading →

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Movie Review: Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Posted on December 23, 2015 by Alex R. Howe

That. Was. EPIC! Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens is probably the most anticipated movie of the entire decade. Jurassic World was big, but the hype around that was nothing compared with the revival of Star Wars. Not only … Continue reading →

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Book review: Scoundrels by Timothy Zahn

Posted on May 18, 2014 by Alex R. Howe

I usually shy away from the Star Wars Expanded Universe. I’ve read about what kinds of things have got into the shared timeline from places like Wookieepedia, and I feel like large swaths of it are ridiculously over the top. … Continue reading →

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