Category: Movies
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‘Star Wars’ Collectibles & Toys Review: Hasbro Star Wars The Black Series Princess Leia Organa (Hoth) (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary Figure)
Leia Organa: Warrior-Princess! In April 2020, Hasbro, Inc. of Pawtucket (Rhode Island) released a wave of new 6-inch action figures from its Star Wars The Black Series line inspired by director Irvin Kershner’s 1980 film Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Based on various heroes, villains, sidekicks, and robots seen in the second…
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‘Star Wars’ Collectibles & Toys Review: Star Wars The Black Series Luke Skywalker (Bespin) – (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary Figure)
“The Force is With You, Young Skywalker…” On April 28, 2020, in anticipation of Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back‘s Ruby Anniversary, Rhode Island-based Hasbro, Inc. released a new wave of its Star Wars: The Black Series action figures and other Star Wars-themed toys and collectibles. Based on the heroes, villains, and sidekicks seen in…
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‘Star Wars’ Collectibles & Toys Review: Hasbro Star Wars The Black Series Imperial Probe Droid (Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 40th Anniversary Figure)
Return of the Probot! On April 28, 2020, Hasbro Inc. of Pawtucket (Rhode Island) released a new wave of its ongoing Star Wars The Black Series 6-inch scale figures to commemorate the 40th Anniversary of Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back. Alongside such fan favorites as Luke Skywalker (Bespin), Princess Leia Organa (Hoth),…
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Movie Watcher Memories: ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ at 40
On May 21, 1980, Twentieth Century Fox released director Irvin Kershner’s Star Wars Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back, the eagerly anticipated follow-up to writer-director George Lucas’ Star Wars, which was retroactively retitled as Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope for its Summer 1981 re-release. Like Star Wars, it opened mid-week close to Memorial…
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Book Review: ‘William Shakespeare’s The Force Doth Awaken: Star Wars Part the Seventh’
Two trilogies are now behind us, dear reader….Thank you for sharing this journey with me, and may the Force be with you onward, into episodes 7, 8, and 9. – Ian Doescher, in his Afterword to William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of the Sith’s Revenge: Star Wars Part the Third Roll swiftly as thou canst, good…
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Movie Watcher Memories, or: Mom Nixes Shark Pic
I was 12-and-one-quarter years old when Steven Spielberg’s Jaws made its theatrical debut on June 20, 1975 and lived with my widowed mother, Beatriz Diaz-Granados, in a house in the unincorporated community of Westchester in suburban Miami-Dade County. At the time, it was just us two living at the house on Southwest 102nd Ave; my…
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Movie Review: ‘Eye of the Needle’
Eye of the Needle (1981) Directed by: Richard Marquand Written by: Stanley Mann, based on the novel by Ken Follett Starring: Donald Sutherland, Kate Nelligan, Christopher Cazenove, Philip Martin Brown, Rupert Frazer, Barbara Ewing, Faith Brook, Ian Bannen On July 24, 1981, MGM-United Artists released Eye of the Needle, a suspense/romantic thriller set in Great…
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Bits and Pieces of My Mind, or Random Thoughts
Well, it’s Thursday, May 7, 2020, the 75th anniversary of Germany’s signing of the unconditional surrender documents at Allied headquarters in Reims, France, which ended the European phase of World War II. Actually, the May 7 signing at Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower’s headquarters was the first surrender ceremony; Soviet dictator Josef Stalin protested that the…
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Book Review: ‘William Shakespeare’s The Phantom of Menace: Star Wars Part the First’
Prologue. Outer space. Enter CHORUS. CHORUS Alack! What dreadful turmoil hath beset The strong Republic and its bonds of peace. O’er distant trade routes all do sigh and fret As fears of grim taxation do increase. The greedy, vile Trade Federation hath Created a blockade none may pass through. With deadly battleships they block the…
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Music Album Review: ‘John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits’
John Denver: Definitive All-Time Greatest Hits is a two-CD compilation of the best songs written or performed by the late singer/songwriter/activist John Denver (1943-1997). Produced by Rob Santos and put together by Gary Pacheco for BMG Heritage and Denver’s original label RCA, this 24-track collection was dropped on October 4, 2004 – the 35th anniversary…
A Certain Point of View, Too 