Star Wars Family Tree

For the Star Wars fan in all of us.  Image courtesy of Chart Geek.

With the new Star Wars movies on the horizon, it’s time to brush up on your Star Wars lore. Plus, if you’re unfamiliar with the Star Wars Expanded Universe, you may want to familiarize yourself with a few of the characters that arrive on the scene after Return of the Jedi. They might feature in the upcoming movies. But keep in mind that that’s a very big “might”. So far, we don’t really know what the new movies are going to be about.

Star Wars Conceptual Drawings

These are not some random Star Wars pictures, these are the original hand drawn conceptual drawings for the original trilogy.  Credit is due to this guy here, who passed away on Saturday, March 3, 2012.

FATHOMS - An Animated Sci-Fi Film With a Heart

I wanted to blog about this earlier in the week, but I just never got around to doing it, but I'm actually fascinated with movies like this.  It's only a 20-minute film, but the story behind it is what drew me to it. 

Filmmaker Joe Russ has created a film that revolves around a cat named Hippo, and two humans, Sam and Evan who are surviving in a salvage submarine through the remains of New York.  The city was destroyed along with the rest of the world in some sort of Environmental meltdown, which has left most of the earth underwater.  He is hoping to raise $7,500 to finish the film, and is asking for help.  If there was a way, I would, but like most of America, we're in crunch.

Russ describes his movie, "Fathoms" like this:

The ice caps have melted. The air is filled with a poisonous smog. No land. No safety. Sam and Evan, along with their rescued cat, Hippo, pilot the scavenger Arken, a salvaging submarine. Together, they search the endless seas for organic life and raw materials to help rebuild their world.

Sam is still holding onto her past, trying to stay ever hopeful in the face of a ever darker reality. Evan, like a father, is trying to keep them safe and ever moving forward. Hippo has no idea what's going on...he's just a cat!

The suspense, mystery, and struggle unfolds in FATHOMS!

From Joe's website...

About this project

OUR CAST

THE SCAVENGER ARKEN

WHAT'S THE TIMELINE?

Based on the animated storyboard sequence I have created, FATHOMS will be around 20 minutes long...so there is a lot to animate! I am starting full-on production as soon as Kickstarter wraps up. I will be animating through the summer and fall, then rendering, fixing things, and doing compositing in the winter. The goal is to complete the film by the end quarter one, 2012...sooner if possible! Part of the time will be involved in rendering...and a lot of the time will be involved in animating...it just takes time!

THIS IS WHAT FATHOMS WILL LOOK LIKE (FOR REALS)

Update: Joe has reached his goal, and more!  Congratulations Joe!  Can't wait to see the final product!

They Killed Off My Queen!!!!

Last night, when Ryan and I finished watching the season 2 finale of V, we were left dumbfounded, breathless and in total shock.  Glee, I hope you get the hint on how to kill off major characters on a show, not just a bird.  I absolutely loved the finale. Tyler's death was so unexpected, but I'm actually glad he was killed off, seriously he is the biggest twat I have ever seen on TV besides Charlie Sheen of course. Erica will surely be out for Anna now!  I Could care less about Ryan being gone, but I also didn't expect his young daughter to kill him.  Hell, the whole show was full of "unexpected" story lines, and deaths.  This is surely a cliffhanger for the ages - it may even beat out Dallas's "Who Shot J.R." episode.  Um.. No, I don't think so, But it was a thriller and shocker nonetheless.

Not My Queen!!!! Diana, Nooooo!!! As elegant and beautiful as her entrance was, what a waste to finally get her out of the dungeon and then kill her off! After a failed plot to have Lisa kill Anna, the Visitors' High Commander came back with a vengeance and killed her own mother, Diana, in front of the entire ship. While the murder was horrendous, I loved the line Anna threw at her daughter Lisa when she turned back and said, "Now that’s how you kill your mother!" 

ABC, you know what you have to do, don’t you? You have to renew V. It can’t stay like this. The “Evil Lisa” was awesome. As for the inbred child, blissing the humans was something I sort of saw coming.  Also getting to realize Erica’s FBI workers are actually on her side; All along I thought they might be on the other side. It was good to know that there is more help out there.  I could go on for a while about V’s finale but I’ll stop there for now. lol

Please ABC we need Season 3 we really do.

Are You Excited For The Season Finale of V!

If all goes according to executive producer Scott Rosenbaum’s plan, tonight’s V season finale will be a hugely dramatically satisfying hour — and will still leave viewers wanting more.  And wanting more is what Ryan and I want.  I watched the original "TV mini-series" when it first aired back in the 1980's, and I will proudly say it was a really great show.  Ryan and I watched it on DVD before we started watching the new series early last year.

According to Entertainment Weekly magazine, Rosenbaum was told to cut back his episode line to 10 instead of the 22 he had hoped for.  His first thought was, "What the hell do I do?"  The result was Mother's Day (episode title), which will feature several character deaths and a guest appearance by Marc Singer, who was a freedom fighter from the original series.

Rosenbaum also states that he has made the season finale a satisfying conclusion should ABC choose not to proceed with a 3rd season, but he feels the "best of the show is ahead of itself."

Personally, being that he's relying on hope to get him through tonight's show can only mean one thing... it's going to be really good and we are going to be dying for Season 3, but in the event that the show isn't picked up, he did his best to offer a final closure.  Let's pray this is not the case, because I love these damn visitors!  I want them massacred, just not this season.  Diana is coming back for God's sakes!

Here's a sneak to make your mouth water...