Star Wars: Delusions Of Granular

In 1977 Disco was huge! The only thing bigger than Disco was Star Wars so of course the two were were combined into popular hit song by an artist named Meco. So popular was this song that it not only topped the charts but it spawned numerous other Star Wars Disco hits. Join us as we "get granular" with all the funky tunes from the late 70's!

Let's take a look at all the limbs and appendages that get lost in the Star Wars movies. If you count Darth Maul losing his legs in The Phantom Menace (which you can since The Clone Wars confirms that he survived Obi-Wan cutting him in half) every movie has some kind of dismemberment. But the real mystery of missing limbs starts with C-3PO in the first scene of A New Hope. Many people don't realize this but the golden droid isn't completely gold right from the beginning. His right leg from the knee down is actually silver. The Expanded Universe tried to explain how he got this one silver part in crazy ridiculous stories. But do we really need everything explained to us? It's been glimpsed that 3PO now has a red arm in The Force Awakens. What kind of crazy explanation are we going to get for that?

Amy Schumer did a racy photo shoot for GQ Magazine where she dressed up as Slave Leia and pretended to do naughty things with R2-D2, C-3PO and Chewbacca How dare she, right? Well Disney wasn't very happy with her but it turns out she's not the first to use Star Wars to promote herself. Many people have borrowed the Star Wars brand for their own self interests. But who successfully got away with it and who didn't? Join us as we discuss this topic on the latest episode of Star Wars: Delusions of Granular!

Ron gets to the bottom of his issues with Carrie Fisher. After she played Princess Leia, Fisher went on to write many novels and plays some of which are semi-autobiographical such as Postcards From The Edge starring Meryl Streep but it's her two memoirs, Wishful Drinking and Shockaholic that are the most revealing. Never one to admit to living a "normal" life, Fisher grew up as a Hollywood kid and was destined for fame in her own right. But she has also battled mental illness, drug addiction and other tragedies throughout her life. Does she have what it takes to pull it together and perform as our beloved princess on the big screen again? Listen to Delusions of Granular as we get a better understanding of who this unique actress is!

On this episode of Delusions of Granular, we look at the Star Wars behind-the-scenes reel that was shown at the 2015 San Diego Comic-Con as well as the presentation that Lucasfilm gave at Hall H. Although we didn't get to see a new trailer for The Force Awakens, Kathleen Kennedy and JJ Abrams along with Lawrence Kasdan gave the fans an ever bigger gift...the entire principle cast on stage at once including Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill AND Harrison Ford. Fans also got new glimpses of the movie with a three minute video that took us behind the camera! We give you our take on all of the festivities and more!

This week on Delusions of Granular we take a look at the Marvel's 5-part mini-series, Star Wars: Princess Leia. Written by Mark Waid with art by Terry and Rachel Dodson, this story takes place immediately after the Battle of Yavin and concentrates on Leia's search for other survivors from Alderaan. Join us as we get granular with one complete story arc in the new canon. Is this story better than the stories we got from the Expanded Universe? We'll let you know if this is worth your time or not!

Jp and Ron take a look back at the year they've spent talking about Star Wars. A lot of things have changed and we've learned a lot as well. With less than six months before The Force Awakens comes out we assess the state of fan anticipation for the new Star Wars era. As we take a look at the future of our show, we know that things are going to change a little due to our lives outside of the show but we remain committed to bringing you more "granular" content no matter what form that takes! 

On this episode, Jp and Ron discuss the Force sensitive characters in Star Wars that aren't necessarily Jedi or Sith but the characters that fall into more of a "gray area." Asajj Ventress, Quinlan Vos, the Nightsisters...the Inquisitors? Although most of these characters were conceived outside of the movies, with The Clone Wars and Rebels being ruled as official canon they bring more shades of gray to the Star Wars saga. Are these characters a much needed plot device to move the franchise forward into storytelling more inline with the modern audience's sensibilities? Or do they just make things messy for the already established Jedi and Sith? And how does the "rule of two" fall into all of this? Join us as we try to make sense of it all!

In our companion episode to the Darth Maul show we did a couple weeks ago, we discuss the Jedi Knight, Obi-Wan Kenobi. Who's was like us in thinking that Obi-Wan was going to have a much larger role in the Prequels? Even though his role was much smaller than we thought, marginalized by characters such as Qui-Gon Jin and little Ani, Obi-Wan's character was a little more fleshed out in The Clone Wars series. In many ways he ended up not being the great general we were led to believe by the way he is talked about in the Original Trilogy. But then again, there are many things that aren't quite what they seem with this rather elusive character. Join us as we get granular about that crazy old wizard, Old Ben. 

With still not a lot of official announcements from Disney/Lucasfilm about The Force Awakens, Jp and Ron discuss the leaked synopsis for the entire film pieced together from all of the rumors that we have heard thus far. To us, this feels like the film we might be getting. A lot of the rumors in here are things that we have heard numerous times before but now put into a proper context and chronological order. Is this real or just a lot of smoke and mirrors to throw the fans off from the real plot. I guess we'll all know come December 18th when Star Wars is back on the big screen!

Jp and Ron get granular with everyone's favorite marginalized sith, Darth Maul. When The Phantom Menace was coming out, every fan was looking forward to this badass villain becoming the centerpiece for the new trilogy...but then Lucas killed him off in the first movie! Or did he? As time moves on and The Clone Wars TV show happens, we find out that Maul survived and his strange journey though the Star Wars universe continues on. Join us as we discuss this character's ups and downs throughout Legends and in canon! 

Ron and Jp read what we feel is the best of the new canon novels so far, Lords of the Sith. Is this a buddy movie-type story of the Emperor and Darth Vader overcoming their differences and becoming best friends just in time to save the day? Probably not but we do get some nice awkward interactions between these two. In a story where the two most powerful men in the Empire are stranded on a strange, dangerous planet and have to struggle for their survival, what more could we ask for...? The answer: TWI'LEKS! Join us we get granular with this new canon novel!

Jp and Ron go way back to 1938 for a look at one of the Saturday matinee serials that George Lucas saw when he was a kid. The Fighting Devil Dogs, a 12-episode series that had fighting Marines, crazy scientists, damsels in distress and a mad villain dressed all in black with a flowing cape and a full helmet that disguised his identity. Sound familiar? This bad guy was called The Lightening in this serial and some believe that he was the early inspiration for Darth Vader! Whether that is true or not remains to be proven, but there are so many other familiar pieces of this serial that it's hard not to believe that it didn't have some affect on a young George Lucas and Steven Spielberg. From Indiana Jones to Star Wars, this early serial had the seeds that would be planted in their heads years later.

Jp and Ron take a granular look at the E.U./Legends book, Darth Plagueis. Plagueis was a character briefly mentioned in Revenge of the Sith and this novel expands on his story. In the movie, Sidious alludes to Anakin that his master was able to manipulate midichlorians and actually create life...and that life might actually be Anakin himself! This novel is a little interesting in that it ties so closely to something that was mentioned in canon. So is this an E.U. book that should stay in canon or pass on as a legend? Join us as we try to figure that out!

Jp and Ron take a look at the 1983 movie, Krull. With the original Star Wars trilogy ending, Hollywood was obviously looking to cash in on the popularity and success that George Lucas created. Billed at a cross between Star Wars and Excalibur, Krull had the potential to be the next epic sci-fi/fantasy franchise...or did it? Although all the tropes are there, Krull doesn't seem capable of being much more than a lackluster B-movie. By taking a look at Krull, we are able to further discuss what made Star Wars so magical when so many other movies tried but ultimately failed.

With the release of The Avengers: Age Of Ultron hitting theaters, Ron and Jp decided to take a look at the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It seems like every movie studio wants in on this but can this model of a shared universe between movies be something that can be applied to the future Star Wars movies? We then discuss the state of fandom in general. If you aren't a Star Wars fanatic, do you even care that there are new Star Wars movies coming out? Does Star Wars have something more special than the other franchises? Without getting too philosophical we try to answer these questions and more! 

Jp and Ron didn't get to go to Star Wars Celebration this year but luckily they were glued to the live stream of the event, at least for the important parts. This week we discuss all the exciting things that were announced in Anaheim. From the opening ceremony with J.J. Abrams and Kathy Kennedy along with stars both young and old, to the teaser for The Force Awakens, we can barely contain our excitement. We also give our impressions of Star Wars Battlefront and the trailer for season two of Star Wars Rebels. It was a great week to be a Star Wars fan! 

Ron and Jp take a look at two different Star Wars parodies from two different eras, Hardware Wars from 1978 and Thumb Wars from 1999. Both short films had a certain amount of success when they were released but do they hold up to the test of time? Hardware Wars came out at a time when Star Wars was slowly disappearing from the box office. In a way, it's cheap special effects that substitute irons and waffle irons for spaceships helped keep Star Wars in everyone's heads while they were waiting for The Empire Strikes Back to come out. But Thumb Wars, which also parodies the original movies by using human thumbs as puppets, came out at a much different time. The Phantom Menace was already in theaters and The Clone Wars series was just being released. Join us as we discuss the varying degree of success these parodies had as well as the nature of humor and how it has evolved over time!

We finally figure out our entry point for talking about Boba Fett. In 2010 Dark Horse Comics released an omnibus of collected previously published Boba Fett stories. This week, Ron and Jp take a look at these collected works. From Boba Fett battling Darth Vader directly to a scavenger hunt that involves all of our favorite scoundrels from the movies, this book as a lot for a Boba Fett fan to love. And not to leave out the stories toward the end of the book...this is where the storytelling really elevates a notch. Join us as we talk about everyone's favorite bounty hunter in what hopes to be a continuing series of episodes about Boba Fett.

Ron and Jp stumble upon another Star Wars show on Disney XD called The Yoda Chronicles. "What is this?" we asked ourselves. Well it's one part Star Wars, one part Legos, one part parody and a whole lot of fun! This mashup is on par with the humor from last year's hit, The Lego Movie while taking place entirely in the Star Wars universe. Taking place primarily during the Prequel era but also bending and mixing in the Original Trilogy era, this series manages to tell new stories that are not only original but well thought out and work as an expansion to what we already know from the movies, albeit in a lighthearted way. While probably meant for kids, Delusions of Granular can't help but recommend this show to any Star Wars fan with a sense of humor and less than five hours to kill!