TV Review: Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion (2014)

by Tony Dayoub

Star Wars Rebels: Spark of Rebellion is the debut episode of the first Star Wars animated series to debut on Disney XD since its parent company acquired the Lucasfilm franchise. Think of it as a Firefly take on characters populating the fringe of the Star Wars universe and you'll get an idea of what it feels like. The irony is that Joss Whedon's short-lived Firefly was itself a western outlaw take on the original Star Wars that focused on a Han Solo-like smuggler and the crew of his ship (a Millennium Falcon in all but name). In Star Wars Rebels, young viewers are meant to identify with Ezra Bridger, a clever ruffian who scavenges his way through life on the Empire-occupied planet Lothal unaware that he has greater powers than he realizes.

J.J. Abrams' Star Trek - Speculation on What to Expect

I know, it's been awhile since my last post. Sorry, but it couldn't be helped. I had been fiercely ill all week, trying to prevent passing it on to my pregnant wife and our 2-year-old. Posts might start getting spotty from this point until the end of the year, because our baby is due within the next two weeks. But I'll post here as often as I can with some pretty interesting stuff. First up, J.J. Abrams' Star Trek, due out May 8, 2009. There are some spoilers ahead, so be forewarned. Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek was sci-fi's hopeful beacon during its three season run in the turbulent late sixties. In the Watergate-era it became a hit in syndication, always hinging on the dynamic between the hotheaded maverick, Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and the cool, cerebral, Spock (Leonard Nimoy), both tempered and moderated by the thoughtful but decisive Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner). As someone who has been a Trekkie since close to the day he was born, I am happy that Abrams, the writer-producer behind Felicity, Alias, Lost, and now Fringe, is the producer and director behind the new Star Trek film. He did a somewhat credible and underrated job bringing Mission: Impossible III (2006) to the screen, steering it back to the grittier, duplicitous espionage tales of the original series, and away from the over-the-top action stylings of John Woo's M: I-2 (2000). With his TV writer's penchant for strong character moments, and his producer's knack for honing in on the spirit of whatever show he is working on, director Abrams might be the strong managerial hand needed to revitalize the long stagnating Trek franchise. The emergence of George Lucas' Star Wars, in the late seventies, transformed what we expected out of a science fiction epic from visionary to fantastic. No longer could Trek's morality tales hold the interest of young viewers, or even old. Trek would need to spice it up with modern visual effects, and more action to compete with Star Wars. While it managed to do that to some degree in the continuing movie adventures of Kirk and his crew, subsequent spinoffs (four of them) never quite captured the first one's rhythm, with each growing stiffer and more stately than its predecessor (Deep Space Nine is the exception, and probably the closest to the original Trek in spirit and tone). Even Abrams has admitted more of an affinity for Star Wars than Star Trek. But he brought in his M: I-3 writers, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman, both well-versed in Trek lore, to reinvigorate the moribund franchise. Orci and Kurtzman also know how to renew excitement in sci-fi stories once thought to only appeal to only their cultish fans, as demonstrated in their script for the hit film Transformers (2007). In Trek's case, it means retaining its action-adventure spirit and its optimistic philosophy of our future, casting young actors that evoke the spirit of its original cast, and starting with their never-before-seen first adventure, thus giving a new audience a fresh look at a story that has always been saddled with an intimidating amount of continuity without jettisoning it completely. Like politicians eager to win new voters, but unwilling to scare off their base, there is enough here to have this flick fit in with the original's continuity, for long-time fans like myself. The film begins with this man, a Romulan named Nero (Eric Bana), who lives in the Next Generation era where, last we left it, the Romulan Star Empire had started making peace offerings to our heroes' Federation. This rapprochement was, in no small part, due to Vulcan Ambassador Spock (still Nimoy), now in his hundreds, and his efforts to unite the two factions. Nero, presumably angry at the weakening of the usually hardline Romulans' lust for power, decides that the root of his empire's misfortune lies in the first human to ever defeat them, Captain Kirk. He decides the answer is to go back in time to destroy Kirk before he ever becomes the hero he is destined to be. While the famous Enterprise's appearance has yet to be revealed, one can see in the picture above that Abrams is following on his impulse to amp up the visual effects, with a look at the U.S.S. Kelvin, helmed by Captain Robau (Faran Tahir), where Kirk's father, George (Chris Hemsworth), supposedly serves. Here it is in battle, maybe trying to stave off one of Nero's attempts to eliminate James Kirk... before he is born? Once the elder Spock gets wind of Nero's plan, the only person he can look to for help, and trust to keep the timeline safe, is... young Spock (Zachary Quinto). But young Spock hasn't yet learned to control his emotional human half, as seen above in his violent outburst towards Cadet James T. Kirk. On an icy planet, Cadet Kirk (Chris Pine) bails out from a pod with the Enterprise's call letters emblazoned across it. Is this part of a training exercise? Reportedly, Spock and Kirk are brought into conflict because of Kirk's infamous resolution to the "Kobayashi Maru" exercise that measures a cadet's strength of character in a no-win situation. Kirk famously cheated his way to being the only cadet to ever win that situation, a decision that he would pay the price for many years later. Is Nero the unwitting catalyst that, paradoxically, may have initially brought the famous Enterprise crew together in the first place? Cadet Kirk with the rest of his future crew on the U.S.S. Enterprise. From left, Chekov (Anton Yelchin), Kirk, Scotty (Simon Pegg), Dr. McCoy (Karl Urban), Sulu (John Cho) and Uhura (Zoe Saldana). Kirk taking his familiar seat on the bridge of the Enterprise, with "Bones" at his side, Spock at his post, and Sulu at the helm. Notice the female officer wearing the familiar miniskirt of old. There will be cameos by some prominent actors as famous Trek characters. Spock's father, Ambassador Sarek is played by Ben Cross (Chariots of Fire), with Winona Ryder (Girl, Interrupted) playing his mother, Amanda Grayson. Kirk's mother, Winona, is played by Jennifer Morrison (House). The Chief of Starfleet Academy is played by Tyler Perry (The Family That Preys), and the Enterprise's previous captain, the doomed Christopher Pike, is played by Bruce Greenwood (I'm Not There). Abrams' film seems to look promising to the top brass at Paramount Pictures. The film was due out this Christmas, but was pushed back to the lucrative summer season where they expect it to bring in even more money at the box office, even against the Hugh Jackman X-Men spinoff, X-Men Origins: Wolverine, which opens the same weekend. With the bleak economic and political landscape we currently face, and the dawning of perhaps a new era in political leadership, the visionary and hopeful future presented by Star Trek may just be timely enough to soar to new heights. More Star Trek coverage: First Look: J.J. Abrams' Star Trek Star Trek Week Begins Blu-ray Review: Star Trek: The Original Series - Season 1 (1966-67) Movie Review: Star Trek (2009) Star Trek Podcast, Part 1 Star Trek Podcast, Part 2 I'd like to thank some of the sites that served as sources for this post, primarily TrekMovie.com, Ain't it Cool News, IGN.com, UGO, JoBlo.com, and MTV.com. Stills courtesy of Paramount Pictures.

Movie Marketing Review: Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

by Tony Dayoub


The Indiana Jones franchise, while loved by many, appeals to adults more than Star Wars (1977), which is a lot more kid-friendly on its face. Nineteen years since the last Indy film, all the kids that knew him have grown, and the character had dropped out of the public eye to a larger degree than Star Wars ever did. Many of them have started to share the first trilogy with their children, and George Lucas and company have helped merchandise Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull to new heights by cashing in on both the generational nostalgia, and on educating kids specifically on who this adventurous archaeologist is.


Lucas pioneered movie merchandising when Star Wars debuted. It wasn't that the market hadn't been explored before. Movie serials and TV shows aimed at children in particular had always used cheaply produced tie-ins such as decoder rings and the like to promote themselves. But Lucas was smart enough to control the rights, likenesses, and require quality of said products. He realized that the right products, produced with care, could ultimately be as profitable, if not more so, than the actual movie it was tied to. And the release of such products, timed to the release of his films, would serve to market the film, as well as maximize revenue for those involved.

To that end, this new movie has seen marketing its take some curious forms. With licensing deals that include displaying Harrison Ford's likeness on everything from Kellogg's cereal boxes to Dr. Pepper cases, perhaps the most clever was when Blockbuster and Lucasfilm sponsored Marco Andretti in this year's Indy 500 (get it?) which was run the same week as the film's opening. Not only did the car have the Indiana Jones logo prominently displayed, but Andretti wore a race suit designed to mimic the archaeologist's now famous outfit.

Here are some notable products designed to appeal to the older crowd:


Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull Soundtrack, by John Williams - If you want to relive the movie without actually going to see it again, or even if you didn't like the movie, but you love John Williams' music, one thing's hard to argue. This soundtrack is great. Not only does he revisit themes from previous movies like a revisit of the Raiders' "Ark" theme in "The Spell of the Skull", but he creates new ones like "Call of the Crystal" and "Irina's Theme". Just as Williams patterned the original trilogy's score on the old movie serials' scores that those films paid homage to, here he pays tribute to fifties movies by evoking one of that era's most prominent composers, Bernard Hermann. "Call of the Crystal" is a theme that recalls Hermann's opening theme for Alfred Hitchcock's Vertigo. And Williams combines variations of "Crystal" and "Irina's Theme" to great effect in "Jungle Chase", elevating one of the weaker chase scenes in the film. Released by Concord Music Group, look for them to release a 4-disc set containing the original trilogy's long out-of-print soundtracks, just in time for Crystal Skull's DVD release, no doubt.


The Complete Making of Indiana Jones: The Definitive Story Behind All Four Films, by J. W. Rinzler and Laurent Bouzereau - This 300 page trade paperback contains a wealth of information on the film series. With just about all the major cast and crew participating, it traces the series from its inception through its newest film. Rich with color photographs (including some spoilery ones of the latest film, so don't buy the book till you've seen it), it even covers some of the lesser known aspects of each film's production (the mine-car chase scene from Temple of Doom was actually a holdover stunt from Raiders). Rinzler is a historian at Lucasfilm, and Bouzereau is a documentarian primarily known for his making of featurettes on all of the DVDs of Steven Spielberg's films.

Products targeted specifically to kids include The Lost Journal of Indiana Jones (below, left), a book designed to acquaint kids with any adventures they may have missed, LEGO playsets capturing famous action setpieces from each film (center), and a new game by LucasArts entitled LEGO Indiana Jones: The Original Adventures (right) for Nintendo DS, Wii, XBox 360, Playstation and PC.






Here are some other products designed for appeal to kids:

Indiana Jones Action Figures, by Hasbro - Designed to lure kids who are into Hasbro's popular Star Wars line, the detailed figures might instead spark a nostalgic interest from their dads. It certainly has with this dad. Having the original Raiders figure spec references at their disposal (Hasbro bought Kenner a while back), the line should fill the void left by Kenner who failed to capitalize on Raiders' appeal to kids. The original film wasn't designed to appeal to children, but became popular with them after their dads dragged them along to see it. And fill the void they have, already producing waves of figures based on Raiders, Last Crusade and Crystal Skull, with Temple of Doom just announced. Highly poseable for maximum play, but accurate in its likenesses with collectors in mind, this product should appeal to both parents and children. If the Star Wars line is any indication (with new figures still being released annually), the Indy line may be around for a while, too.

Indiana Jones: The Ultimate Guide, by DK Publishing - Older kids might be familiar with DK's Ultimate Guide line already. They get some well known character/s from pop culture and create an encyclopedia like reference book filled with the character's history, timelines, maps, and color art. Just like Superman, the X-Men and James Bond before him, Indiana Jones has finally got one as well. While a little light on info about the newest film, it covers everything you'd want to know about Henry Jones, Jr.'s life, from his birth, through his adventures in the Young Indiana Jones TV series, through the trilogy, and even beyond into graphic novels and books. For those looking to fill the gap between The Last Crusade and Kingdom of the Crystal Skull, this book's got the goods.

Skeptical of the current popularity of an action franchise that has been absent for close to two decades, naysayers underestimated the nostalgic allure of Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. With a current worldwide gross of over $700 million, against a budget estimated at $185 million, an estimated marketing budget of $150 million, plus the cut that exhibitors take for playing the movie in their theaters, only now is the film even close to breaking even for Paramount Pictures. But the ancillary deals have already started to pay off for Paramount, Lucas, Spielberg, and anyone else contractually in for a piece of the pie.