Mary Elizabeth Winstead

Ahsoka – Fallen Jedi

  • Title: Ahsoka – Part Four: Fallen Jedi
  • wiki: link

While I have enjoyed moments in Ahsoka, the series has increasingly felt like world building for the next big Star Wars project rather than a standalone series with its own tale to tell. Glacially moving the plot incrementally forward, in a race to Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) neither side feels all that compelled to win yet, the fourth episode of the series does offer some individual moments of note. We get a lightsaber battle in the woods of Seatos with Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) killing the nameless Inquisitor eliminating all the preposterous fan theories about the character’s identity and importance to the series. We also get Ahsoka pairing off against Baylan Skoll (Ray Stevenson) who reveals he knew Anakin Skywalker (Hayden Christensen), without, of course, providing any helpful details to his character or past.

Ahsoka – Fallen Jedi Read More »

Ahsoka – Time to Fly

  • Title: Ahsoka – Part Three: Time to Fly
  • wiki: link

As the slow build-up to the search for Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen) begins (that’s right, more than a third through the series it still hasn’t actually started yet for an ongoing story that is already longer than the original Star Wars), “Time to Fly” at least sees Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) get to the right planet and observe our baddies building a giant hyperspace drive. We do get a little action as they get shot down, but the episode’s bulk is internal discussions and training involving Ahsoka and Sabine and Hera Syndulla‘s (Mary Elizabeth Winstead) inability to get the New Republic leadership to take the threat seriously.

Ahsoka – Time to Fly Read More »

Ahsoka – Toil and Trouble

  • Title: Ahsoka – Part Two: Toil and Trouble
  • wiki: link

In typical Disney fashion, which we’ve seen playout with the Marvel series especially, the second episode of Ahsoka finishes the preamble allowing the story to actually kick off in the next episode. “Toil and Trouble” ends with Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) and Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo) back on the same page and the show finally catching up with the final scene of Star Wars Rebels as fans watched the pair of them sail off into the unknown seeking Ezra Bridger (Eman Esfandi) and Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). Getting that search finally started seems to have given Sabine back some energy in the final moments of the episode (and got her back into her trademark Mandalorian armor) as sticking her in a hospital bed sidelining her for an entire episode doesn’t do much for either the character or the series at this point.

Ahsoka – Toil and Trouble Read More »

Ahsoka – Master and Apprentice

  • Title: Ahsoka – Part One: Master and Apprentice
  • wiki: link

A live-action adaptation of Star Wars Rebels in all but name, the first episode of Ahsoka continues the path we saw Ahsoka (Rosario Dawson) on during her appearance in The Mandalorian: a search for Thrawn (Lars Mikkelsen). I do love me some Star Wars Rebels, and seeing the characters and locales of the show lovingly recreated is certainly a feather in Ahsoka‘s cap. A fully realized live-action Lothal, complete with Loth-Cats, is a joy to behold. With the lone exception of The Last Jedi, for me Rebels is the best property Star Wars has produced in the last 40 years. That’s not to say I didn’t have some problems with this first episode (such as bringing back the hidden map idea used to mixed results in The Force Awakens).

Ahsoka – Master and Apprentice Read More »

The Top 10 Movies of 2016

the-best-movies-of-2016

2016 may have lacked the one knockout film to top my list, but as a whole the year produced a number of quality movies adding a depth that made it difficult to cut down the list to a meager ten. Honorable mentions include animated features Kubo and the Two Strings and Finding Dory, Mel Gibson‘s divisive Hacksaw Ridge, and the bizarrely fascinating indie gems The Eyes of My Mother, Swiss Army Man, and The Neon Demon. Enough of what didn’t make the list, on to the Best Movies of 2016!

The Top 10 Movies of 2016 Read More »