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Who are Rey’s parents in Star Wars The Force Awakens?

Rey from Star Wars

 

THIS is a fascinating article about who Rey’s parents might be in Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Yes, we’ve all been led to believe she’s Luke’s daughter, and she might well be, but if so why didn’t they just come out and say so? It seems strange to hold something so obvious back. Then again, that could well be the case. But let’s speculate wildly anyway!

Warning: spoilers to follow!

Personally, I like (but don’t entirely buy) the theory of the article’s writer, which fits what we know about what had been the original opening shot of the movie: Luke’s severed hand gripping the lightsaber spinning down through the abyss in Bespin. That could have been conceived simply to explain how Luke’s lightsaber came to be in Maz’s bar, but it could easily fit the other theory, that Luke’s hand was used to create a clone of Luke — a clone that, according to the theory, turned out female.

In any case, Keylo Ren seems to have been aware of Rey. As soon as he learns of a “girl” helping BB-8, he freaks out. Why would he have done that if he didn’t know of Rey’s existence? And if a clone of Luke Skywalker had been made to oppose him, he might well know about it and have done something about it, perhaps in the process stranding her on Jakku.

Han definitely seems to know something, or else why the sly cutaway when Maz asks him who Rey is?

And it makes sense that the Resistance might want a clone of Luke. If he had abandoned them, why not simply make a new Luke? And of course the meaning of the name Luke has to do with light, and “Rey” is a homophone for “ray”, as in a beam of light, so there’s that.

On the other hand (cough), it’s hard to imagine Disney signing off on having their new main character for Star Wars be a clone concocted from a severed body part. They would probably want a naturally-born human as the new face of Star Wars. So in all likelihood Rey will turn out to be Luke’s daughter (or granddaughter?). I’m fine with this, although it does seem a bit less original. Still, it feels satisfying, and the new Disney approach to Star Wars is all about being satisfying. The other way is a bit too edgy and weird. Not that there’s anything wrong with being satisfying. At this point I’m over the moon to be satisfied by a Star Wars movie.

A little edginess would be all right, though.

But what do you think? Any other conspiracy theories about Star Wars: The Force Awakens?

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My mini-review of Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

Star Wars: The Force Awakens

 

Enough time has gone by that I think it’s acceptable to dive into spoiler territory now. But there WILL be spoilers, so be warned, those of you who haven’t seen Star War: The Force Awakens — SPOILERS beyond this point.

Personally, I really enjoyed The Force Awakens on the first viewing, but I had some problems with it — too many structural callbacks to A New Hope, too much CGI, and not very good CGI — seriously, do we really want the Big Bad to be a lame CGI construction? There is no reason for Snoke to be CGI; he’s very humanoid. Also, Snoke is a silly name. And there was no scary villain like Vader, no towering figure of evil kicking ass. Keylo Ren is more of a conflicted, angst-driven Anakin-esque figure — which is actually pretty great. I love having a conflicted villain. Keylo is fascinating. But no Vader. And Snoke is a goofy hologram on a crappy CGI set.

I had other problems with the movie, but those started to fall away on the second viewing. Because, on the positive side, the movie FELT like Star Wars. It felt like Star Wars more keenly than the Prequels ever did. It was FUN. The characters were a blast (although I didn’t feel like we got to spend enough time with any of them. We didn’t have a long, get-to-know-you period with any of them like we did with Luke.)

But anyway, the movie WORKS. It’s a blast, a nitro-fueled ball of energy filmed against largely practical sets (that are gorgeous and very Star Wars-y), which really helps sell the reality of the universe. When the sets aren’t practical, like the awful CGI bridge at the end with Han, they’re less good. Seriously, the CGI in this movie is terrible. But fortunately so much of it is practical, and beautifully made, with vibrant directing, likeable acting and exciting Star Wars-y stuff going on.

I can’t wait to get to know the new characters better, especially Poe. I understand he was actually meant to die in this movie, but they decided to keep him around, and I’m glad they did. Hopefully he’ll have a bigger role next time around. His daring heroism feels so refreshing in this jaded age.

I love the fact that the lightsaber duel wasn’t all leaping and jumping around. It wasn’t for looks so much (as in Phantom Menace) but for substance. I want an explanation for how Rey is able to go up against Keylo Ren without training, but I’m assuming she absorbed some of his own training during their mind meld, so I’m willing to let that slide.

I love that Finn was a garbage man.

I want (and will probably get) a comic book about each of the aliens in Kanata’s bar.

I’m still wrestling with my feelings on the movie, but overall I’m starting to love it. A third viewing is definitely required. It was during the second viewing of Phantom Menace that it really began to sink in that something was way wrong with the Prequels. On the second viewing of Force Awakens, I only began to like it more. A third viewing might push me over the like line into love.

What about you? Thoughts on Star Wars: The Force Awakens? Conjectures for the future of the series? Is Rey Luke’s daughter? What’s up with her vision?

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Behold! The winner for December’s Monthly Mutation is . . .

. . . Jim Phillips with this terrific and moody portrait of a fish-man:

Fishman

Fishman

 

Well done, Jim! Close at his heels was this fun image from Jayson Evans:

Jayson

Jayson

 

And a very cool abstract piece from Maarten Bouwman:

Maarten

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And rounding out the submissions for this month is this striking figure from last month’s winner Ashley Poteet:

Ashley

Ashley

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank everyone who entered, and I can’t wait to see what you come up with next month. As always, if you’re interested in finding out more about the series of novels that inspire this competition, The Atomic Sea, you can find Part One HERE or the first Omnibus HERE.

Oh! And The Atomic Sea: Part Eight comes out 12/10/2015 and is available for pre-order HERE.

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Looks like a new Dark Tower movie is going forward . . .

Matthew McConaughey is up for the role of Roland in the newest take on “The Dark Tower”. This would have horrified me a few years ago, but now I think he might actually be a worthy candidate for the role, certainly better than Russel Crowe (the last actor up for the part). I can’t think of anyone better off the top of my head, and indeed I can think of many worse. MM has really been impressing me with his acting lately, as well as his choice of roles.

What do you think?

As an aside, I hope the screewriters aren’t afraid to veer from King’s books, which take increasingly bizarre and, well, honestly lame turns as the series goes on (one or two of the later books focus heavily on a secondary character in the real world signing a contract, for example).

Read more on io9.com HERE.

Dark Tower

Dark Tower

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Snowpiercer is being turned into a TV series

“Snowpiercer” was a very good movie (though I wouldn’t recommend it to just anyone), but it’s odd to think of it being made into a TV show, and yet that’s what’s happening.

I haven’t read the graphic novels, so maybe the source material lends itself to TV more readily than the movie does, but at the moment I’m having a hard time picturing this. Perhaps they’ll invent some mechanism whereby passengers from the rear of the train can move about the train at will, thus allowing characters to have more dynamic experiences. I would hope so. On the other hand, that would sort of kill the premise of the story, so maybe not.

But without that mechanism, how can this work? I suppose they can *leave* the train at some point, allowing characters to escape the confines of the “ghetto” of the rear of the train for brief periods. We wouldn’t want an entire series focusing on the misery at the back of Snowpiercer, would we? And the people forward of it are pretty much evil, so not many of them would be main characters.

At any rate, I’m certainly curious how the show will shake out. Although at this point I’m getting tired of the movie-to-TV train. Original ideas are getting even scarcer than before, it seems. Everything has to be based on some preexisting material or brand.

But what do you think?

Read more here:

http://io9.com/snowpiercer-may-become-a-tv-show-because-all-movies-ar-1741966039

Snowpiercer

Snowpiercer

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Behold! The winner of the Monthly Mutation for November 2015 is . . .

. . . Ashley Poteet, with her terrific Queen of the Atomic Sea. It’s a very fun image that just pops. Thank you so much for submitting, Ashley, and I hope you have fun with your $100 Amazon Gift Card prize!

Monthly Mutation Winner Nov. 2015

Monthly Mutation Winner

 

 

It was a stiff competition this month, though, and the prize easily could have gone to any one of these others. The runners up this month were amazing, with an especial favorite being this lion fish mutant from September’s winner, EJ Bouinatchova:

Lion FIsh

Lion FIsh

 

I also love this delightfully creepy eel-man from Lee Benkers:

Eel Man

Eel Man

And this is a lovely image from Ahmari Das:

 

Mermaids

Mermaids

 

Thank you all for stopping by, and if you’re curious about the books that inspired these images be sure to check out my Atomic Sea series HERE.

epic fantasy book award

The Atomic Sea: An Epic Fantasy: Part One

 

 

 

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Me at the Austin Comic Con

Comic Con

Me at Comic Con

Welp, I’m back from the Austin Comic Con, and it was terrific. The panel I was on went well, and the con itself was a lot of fun. I got to see replicas of the landspeeder in Star Wars, the Deloreon in Back to the Future, etc.

Oh, and I got to shake Bruce Campbell’s hand! Also, he served me a drink. After the screening of “Ash vs. The Evil Dead” at a bar on 6th Street (a street famed in Texas for its endless bars), Bruce Campbell jumped behind the bar and started serving drinks to the patrons. Sadly, I didn’t get a picture of him (unlike everyone else there), but please enjoy a picture of me smiling goofily at the “Back to the Future” presentation.

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More Prometheus movies?

Prometheus image

Prometheus image

I wish they’d figure out what they want from the Prometheus movies. I would love more Alien movies, I’d love more Engineer movies, and I would also be overjoyed to see them onscreen at the same time. I think the Engineers are fascinating and it would be wonderful for filmmakers to explore them more fully. Alternately, I’d love to see the Alien series redeemed and renewed. But calling the sequel to Prometheus “Alien: Paradise Lost” seems like an odd choice, if indeed it is about David’s head traveling to the homeworld of the Engineers . . . unless it’s overrun with Aliens? If THAT’S the direction they’re going, all-out Engineer war including use of the Aliens as bioweapons, well, that could be amazing. And Ridley Scott is planning a four-movie series? I’m delighted and confused in equal measure.

On the other hand, using the Aliens as bioweapons is a sci-fi war sort of diminishes the Aliens and robs them of their mystery, so if they want more Alien movies, why not just make more Alien movies, focusing on them without any Engineers present? Or make more Engineer movies but call them Prometheus 2, 3 and 4.

I can’t wait to see where they’re going with al this, but I can’t help but feel they’re not quite sure where that is themselves.

Thoughts?

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