Right, as you can see by the setup of my blog page, I am gearing up for the eagerly awaited final installment of the Skywalker saga on Dec 19th.

Speaking as a life-long fan of Star Wars, I will not apologise for geeking out over something that I love and that I have been passionate about for over 40 years, and the next month will be my last opportunity to really geek out.
Don’t get me wrong, I know that Star Wars will continue with a new trilogy of films in the works, standalone movies in the works, a TV series already started and another on the way, it just won’t be the same. It won’t be the ‘Skywalker’ saga. No Luke, no Leia, No Han, and at the moment we don’t even know if there will be a Kylo/Ben or Rey.

JJ Abrams has got a lot to do in The Rise of Skywalker. Not only is he wrapping up the current trilogy, he’s wrapping up the Skywalker saga and the last 9 movies!! That’s a HUGE task, and to be honest, I trust JJ with that task. From the trailers and TV spots I’ve seen, I don’t think I’m going to be disappointed.

I am absolutely buzzing to find out what this scene is all about.

From what I can tell, Rey is taking a leap of faith from the hangar deck of a Destroyer to the Millenium Falcon, and this is the moment the force shield on the hangar is dropped so she can attempt it. The Stormtroopers are all blown every which way but Kylo, using the force, stands his ground!
Question is….. does he stop her, or does he join her, or does he let her go?!!

Today saw the release of a new poster from Dolby Cinema.

Spectacular!!
Just look at all the pretty Destroyers!!
Look closely.
Those pretty destroyers are covered in Republic markings!!

The Republic is the era of the prequel trilogy, where we saw the Galactic Republic corrupted by it’s Supreme Chancellor, Palpatine, who ends up overthrowing the Republic and establishing the Galacic Empire, declaring himself Emperor.

We know that Emperor Palpatine plays some sort of part in this finale, but to what extent? Is this a hidden fleet? Where do they come from?

I will be amongst some of the first people in Europe to see it, as I have tickets for the midnight showing on December 18th. The rest of the world will follow on the 20th.
Expect me to blog a lot more before then as I find out more tid-bits and start to see the press interviews.

To say this is going to be a spectacular month is an understatement.
One of the best things to come out of the current Star Wars trilogy is Adam Driver. I think I have made that perfectly clear with this blog site. I have followed his career with interest since December 2015.
In fact, this is the moment I fell head over heels for him…….

This was just a springboard into learning about Adam and his life.
Collecting his movies, watching the hysterical TV show ‘Girls’, collecting photos, watching interviews, learning about his passion, his non-profit organisation AITAF, that he founded with his wife, Joanne Tucker.
The more I found out about him, the more I came to respect and love him as a person and not just an actor.

The next few weeks not only sees the release of the conclusion of the Skywalker Trilogy, but it also sees the release of 2 more of his movies that are getting some major attention.

‘The Report’ is currently airing in select theatres before being released on Amazon Prime on November 29th in the US. I cannot confirm if this is the same date for the UK.
Adam has, apparently, got some monumental monologues and is receiving impressive reviews.

The second film is ‘Marriage Story’ and again, this one is currently seeing premieres around the world and being shown in select theatres before being release on Netflix on December 6th.

This one is really getting some attention.
It tells the story of Charlie and Nicole, a director-actress pair making their way through a painful divorce and it is reportedly ‘one gut punch after another’ with astounding performances from Adam and Scarlett Johansson.

However…..

I found out today that Adam sings in this film!!
Vogue.com has an article that states that, toward the end of the film, Charlie takes the mic at a bar with his theatre friends and absolutely nails the hell out of “Being Alive,” a notoriously difficult Sondheim song to sing. He goes full Broadway ham at first, to the point where you can imagine he might have starred in his share of high school theatre, but it ends up going somewhere else altogether.
It doesn’t end on a playful or funny note and it’s completely heartfelt, particularly by the end, and you can hear every shred of longing, anger, and disappointment as he sings.

I have just listened to a 2007 recording of this song on Spotify and ‘holy crap’!! I cannot wait to see what Adam does with it!

Back to the rest of the month and I have a long day (12.5 hour) shift to do on Friday and that will be followed by my first EVER night shift (another 12.5 hours) on Saturday. Can’t say I’m looking forward to it, however, I know that it will be followed by 16 days of annual leave!!

I have taken the same 2 weeks, every year, since starting my job.
It allows me to prepare for Xmas. The house gets a good clean, my tree goes up and I decorate my Mum’s and my Auntie Karen’s trees.
All presents will be brought and wrapped and all Xmas food and drink will be bought and stored. The only thing left to do will be to buy the fresh stuff on Xmas eve.

My two weeks off will also see me catching up on some cinema trips, starting on Monday 25th with an Unlimited screening of ‘Knives Out’.
Hopefully ‘The Report’ will be on Prime on the 29th.
We are going to a ‘Secret Screening’ on Dec 3rd. (What are the chances of that being ‘Marriage Story’?)
We are also going to see the restored 4k version of ‘Gremlins’ on the 6th December.
……. and anything else that tickles our fancy in between.

It’s always a busy two weeks but it is a complete change of pace and really nice.

So!
With THREE of Adam’s films on the way, one of them being a geek’s dream, please excuse my gushing blogs whenever they make an appearance.

BRING IT ON!!