That's no moon. It's a space station! No, wait, it's Artoo!
No, it's neither of those. It's adorable little BB-8, the droid star of Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Imgur member jmsmith7's wife was 8 months pregnant, so they made this costume using her baby bump to full effect. BB-8's head is made from a styrofoam ball.
-via BuzzFeed
Shooting a movie can be bittersweet for some actors, because they're left with nothing to remember the experience by but hours of footage and a script.
If they're lucky they might walk away with the costumes they wore in the movie, or some sort of prop, but studios generally don't allow anyone to hang on to anything from the production, A-list actor or not.
But sometimes actors feel they must have a souvenir from the set, because shooting the film meant so much to them they simply can't bear the thought of living without a memento.
The Harry Potter films mean the world to cast members Daniel Radcliffe and Emma Watson, but the production had a strict "no props leave the set" policy in place, so prized souvenirs had to be snagged.
Daniel Radcliffe took two pairs of Harry Potter's glasses, which he says are "tiny now, but...very sweet", and Emma Watson went full klepto and stole Hermione's wand, Time-Turner and cloak.
Young actors aren't the only ones prone to snatching props from the set when they want a souvenir- veteran actor James Caan took home the iconic Royal typewriter after filming Misery, and Kathy Bates says she still has "that sledgehammer" sitting around her house somewhere...
Read 15 Souvenirs Film Stars Took From The Set at mental_floss
Princess Leia looks just a bit different in this cosplay by Nathan Johnson. With his perfectly coiffed sideburns, he's ready for the premier of The Force Awakens. Just don't ask him to wear Leia's metal bikini from Return of the Jedi.
-via Incridbeard
Amazon continued to crush the competition in 2015 by offering Sunday delivery, talking about drone delivery and starting to offer both food and grocery delivery, so we don't need to leave the house ever again.
But for some the amazing product reviews are what really draws them to Amazon, and 2015 was a great year to read some random reviews.
From the discovery that a dietary supplement has hidden supernatural properties to the discovery that a tent shipped without a tarp has the power to cure hepatitis, all sold by the dream brokers at Amazon.
The Force Awakens to the smell of freshly fried bacon. But I advise letting the Wookiee eat it all. Wookiees are known to pull people's arms out of their sockets when they're hungry. Let the Wookiee eat first.
-via Foodiggity
You think you know everything there is to know about the Star Wars universe? Think again! This trivia list goes deep into territory you’ve never explored, and even gets to the bottom of some Star Wars myths.
Daven at Today I Found Out says this is “the most time consuming post in the history of TIFO by a good margin.” They worked late and got it ready for today. -Thanks, Daven!
Macaulay Culkin was a cute kid best known for playing Kevin McCallister in the Home Alone movies, but nowadays he's known for strange side projects like The Pizza Underground and for being a bit of a reclusive character.
But when the 25th anniversary of the original Home Alone movie came along Macaulay was more than happy to get out of the house and reprise the role that made him a superstar for Jack Dishel's new web series :DRYVRS. (Video contains NSFW language)
We all knew Kevin would be scarred for life by being left home alone by his cruel parents, but who knew the skills he learned while "defeating those bungling burglars" would prove to be so useful later in life?
-Via Polygon
Vladimir Putin is a strange man, that much we know, but what we don't yet know is why.
Is he an evil mastermind hell bent on controlling the world? Probably not, at least not while he's awake.
Is he from another planet? Surprisingly, tests show him to be of this world, but calling him an ordinary human may be a bit of an understatement.
In fact, this photographic evidence seems to indicate Vladimir Putin has been alive and making the same goofy faces while being photographed for at least a hundred years.
One guy took the theory a step further to suggest Putin may be 19th century Greek General Valtinos, which backs the immortal theory even more.
Since we can't prove Putin is an immortal we can only speculate wildly and make crazy assumptions, but it sure would explain some of the bold moves made by the Russian President.
-Via Telegraph
#TWDStarWars From Robert Kirkman and George Lucas comes the next chapter in Nerd-Rections... pic.twitter.com/CJVGEmRP7F
— Vincent Marshall (@vincentmarshall) December 16, 2015
Everyone is getting into the Star Wars frenzy, including fans of The Walking Dead. That isn’t all that surprising, considering there are plenty of people who like both. They’ve been busy with mashups posted to the Twitter hashtag #TWDStarWars.
May the force zombie with you #TWDStarWars pic.twitter.com/DycgW36WRL
— HollyJollyXMas (@Hollyorange8) December 16, 2015
Clearly, the addition of lightsabers to the zombie apocalypse would be a boon to the survivors. Those things will cut heads off in no time! But it raises the question: how long do the batteries last?
#TWDStarWars storm-walkers pic.twitter.com/azQDL4QjlS
— gothams_batgirl (@G0thams_batgirl) December 16, 2015
Yeah, there are plenty of jokes, too, about the things the two franchises have in common: parentage, amputations, being eaten by strange creatures, etc. See a roundup of the best at the Walking Dead site. -via Uproxx
Weather reporter Sian Welby of 5 News in London says that "If you’re forced to awaken early tomorrow morning, it’ll be on the dark side." That's just 2 of the puns that this news presenter in the UK crammed into a mere 39 seconds of air time. And if you're in Aberdeen tomorrow, it'll be a cold one, so watch out for wampas and wild haggis.
-via Uproxx
New Zealand artist Scott Kelly is a true Star Wars fan (not to be confused with astronaut Scott Kelly, who is also a Star Wars fan). He created flags that represent the planets of the Star Wars universe, using information gleaned from Wookieepedia and traditional flag design principles. Kelly says,
As a child the two most important posters on my wall were my Flags of the World poster and my map of the Star Wars Galaxy.
15 years on, now as an art director, I begun the process of putting those two worlds together. I started designing a flag for every planet in the Star Wars universe. This not only included those featured in the films, but comic books, animated series and video games. As of writing this, I have completed 103 flag designs - those who know Star Wars well, will know I have a good few more planets to finish.
See all the flags at at Kelly’s website dedicated to the project and read how some of them were designed here. -via Wired
You can tell the original cast of the Star Wars trilogy are glad to be back, and the new cast members appear to be ecstatic about jumping on board that space opera shuttle to superstardom.
Just to prove what a happy band of out-of-this-world actors they really are they came together to perform an acapella Star Wars theme song medley on The Tonight Show starring Jimmy Fallon, with The Roots keeping the beat fresh.
Chewie looks a bit put off by the singing, and the droids don't know what the heck to do, but seeing Admiral Ackbar singing along is the most shocking appearance of them all!
-Via BuzzFeed
The Star Wars “week of frenzy” would not be complete without every video series trying their hand at the original trilogy. That includes the folks who bring us those hilarious Bad Lip reading videos. This one features the guest voices of Jack Black, Maya Rudolph, and Bill Hader.
It was easy to make C-3PO say anything, because his lips don’t move! R2-D2 and Chewbacca both speak English in this version. Everyone else is spouting nonsense in a believable manner that matches their lips. Han even sings! And he’s not the only one. Truly satisfying. -via Uproxx
The iconic soundtracks to the Peanuts TV specials were recorded by the Vince Guaraldi trio from 1965-70, and although we all love that jazzy sound it has been around 50 years of the same songs, so maybe it's time to explore our options.
Surprisingly, a song by Bad Brains goes perfectly with the Peanuts Christmas dance, updating that classic cartoon scene with some old school punk.
It's fun to watch the Peanuts gang gyrate to the soothing sounds of 80s hardcore punk, proving Bad Brains songs and the Peanuts are two great tastes that go great together!
The reviews are in, and so far everyone thinks The Force Awakens is pretty good. In case you are trying to avoid any spoilers at all, here is a spoiler-free roundup of blurbs. However, if you go read an entire critique, you won’t learn so much that it ruins the movie for you.
There’s a very good chance that most diehard Star Wars fans are going to love The Force Awakens. They’re going to love it because it’s been made to their exact specifications, relayed through years of constructive criticism and very vocal bellyaching.
…The Force Awakens is almost a Han Solo movie unto itself.
But, not quite, because Daisy Ridley as a lonely desert scavenger named Rey; John Boyega as a former First Order Stormtrooper, now wanted deserter, Finn; and Oscar Issac as Resistance pilot Poe (I would have liked to have seen a little more Poe) are all so fantastic and they bring to The Force Awakens what the prequels were so desperately missing: a sense of humor. There are actual laughs to be had in The Force Awakens! The original Star Wars had laughs. It’s this, more than anything, that makes The Force Awakens feel like a direct sequel to the original trilogy.
In summation, it would seem that for the most part, J.J Abrams has done a good job at capturing the original Star Wars magic; in particular, the characterization.
The good news is that Star Wars: The Force Awakens is a terrific and at times purely wonderful movie. It has its faults for sure – every Star Wars movie has at least some – and while I wouldn’t call it a truly great motion picture, it is a worthy follow-up to the original trilogy. It captures so much of those movies’ warmth, sense of fun, and entertaining tone that it leaves the prequels quickly behind as a bad, distant memory. It has a sweep and grandeur all its own, and while it may just miss the mythic power of the series at its very best – i.e. A New Hope, The Empire Strikes Back, and most of the third act of Return of the Jedi – it sets up the sequels to do that.
Packed with action and populated by both familiar faces and fresh blood, The Force Awakens successfully recalls the series' former glory while injecting it with renewed energy.
The big news about “Star Wars: The Force Awakens” is — spoiler alert — that it’s good!
At the top is the latest comic from Lunarbaboon.
