I know this week is a Double-Rando. Forgive me for overburdening your inboxes, but there are some Star Wars related things that I must say, today, it can’t wait.
First: the latest episode of Rian Johnson and Natasha Lyonne’s Poker Face, entitled “The Orpheus Syndrome” will be of particular interest to Star Wars fanatics.
The entire episode is inspired by Phil Tippett, the ILM original whose stop-motion wizardry powered the original trilogy. The episode weaves a twisty contemporary tale of murder out of a company called Light and Motion, with Cherry Jones in the lead. Nick Nolte plays a stop-motion animator and recluse, working on a magnum opus that resembles Phil Tippett’s masterpiece (and Not For Everyone) Mad God. (For you Star Trek Voyager fans, the episode also prominently features Tim Russ.) It’s especially fun if you know what they’re referencing, but even without the extra layer, it’s just a tippy-top hour of TV.
If you want to learn more about Phil Tippett, I recommend the Light & Magic docuseries that Lawrence Kasdan produced for Disney+ last year. I wrote about it here, here and here. I guarantee you’ll fall in love with him.
Speaking of love, if you love Harrison Ford, he’s doing some of the best work of his career in the Apple+ show Shrinking. This Jason Segel led story is about therapy from the perspective of therapists. Ford leans into his irascible nature here, standing out among other expert performances.
This is not Ford as a man stuck in the adventures of his past, wrestling with his ability to run and jump. In Shrinking, he’s able to live in his gravitas, play a mentor, and employ his impeccable and underrated comedic timing with ease.
Short version: try it, you’ll like it.
Finally, a quibble.
I have looked at the official description of The Rise of Skywalker over and over and over since it was first released in 2019. I just I can’t get past it! It’s been driving me crazy!
Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams join forces once more to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away with Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the landmark Skywalker saga, in which new legends will be born and the final battle for freedom is yet to come.
This sounds, to my ear, like the movie is setting up a final battle in a future movie. That it is ‘yet to come.’ There’s a lot of ‘in which’ and ‘will be.’ The whole thing’s got clauses coming out of its ears! The wording feels so out of sorts! I want it to be this!
With Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, the riveting conclusion of the landmark Skywalker saga, Lucasfilm and director J.J. Abrams reunite to take viewers on an epic journey to a galaxy far, far away, where new legends are forged in the final battle for freedom.
There, I said it, now I can leave it alone. (If someone who works at Lucasfilm reads this and uses it, I demand zero dollars!)