Star Wars: Visions – finally, a spin-off that lives up to the original

In a franchise filled with convoluted additions, this animated anthology feels closest to the pulpy wonder of George Lucas’s first filmsGet our weekend culture and lifestyle emailSince the release of the first Star Wars film in 1977, lightsabers, Wookiees and the trumpeting blare of Darth Vader’s imperial march have been bulwarks of western pop culture – so ubiquitous that it’s easy to forget the sci-fi classic comes from delightfully derivative roots.Before the multimedia franchise that now spans 12 films, a television empire, theme park attractions and tie-in novels, Lucas was simply trying to adapt his favourite Flash Gordon comics. When that failed, he decided to create his own space opera, drawing from hodgepodge boyhood obsessions and romantic nostalgia for pirates, wizards and cowboys. The tense standoffs and backwoods desert towns of Star Wars were sourced from old-school Westerns; the ravaged kingdom, succession dramas and wheel of destiny were drawn from pulpy high fantasy. Add in a dose of samurai tropes, Buddhist beliefs and retro-futurist aesthetics and Lucas had stumbled upon something wholly new.Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'

[ The Guardian | 2025-03-18 14:00:46 UTC ]

Other news stories related to: "Star Wars: Visions – finally, a spin-off that lives up to the original"


Remembering Neustadt Laureate Adam Zagajewski (1945–2021), by The Editors of WLT

Literary Tributes When we heard the news yesterday that Adam Zagajewski had passed away at the age of seventy-five in Kraków, Poland, we immediately thought not only of his exceptional poetry and essays but also of his exceedingly warm congeniality.... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-22 18:27:58 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How a 1976 anthology of female comedians inspired a starry new update

In 'Notes from the Bathroom Line,' Amy Solomon gathers the best gags, tips and takes by 150 women, from Cecily Strong to Margaret Cho to Maria Bamford. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times

[ Los Angeles Times | 2021-03-15 14:00:15 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Call for an Africa / African Diaspora Co-Editor for the Best Translations Anthology

News and Events Photo by Wendy Call Best Translations: An Annual Anthology an independent project endorsed by the American Literary Translators Association (ALTA) Call for an Africa / African Diaspora Co-Editor Deadline for Applications:... Continue reading at World Literature Today

[ World Literature Today | 2021-03-10 15:55:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Little-known voices sing the history of slavery and resistance

A new anthology draws from the Black history collections at Harlem’s Schomburg Center. Continue reading at The Washington Post

[ The Washington Post | 2021-03-05 13:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Netflix wins big at Golden Globes as ‘Queen’s Gambit’ keeps fueling chess sales: Monday Wake-Up Call

Welcome to Ad Age’s Wake-Up Call, our daily roundup of advertising, marketing, media and digital news. If you're reading this online or in a forwarded email, here's the link to sign up for our Wake-Up Call newsletters. Netflix wins big at Globes Streaming platforms dominated the winners at last... Continue reading at Advertising Age

[ Advertising Age | 2021-03-01 11:07:04 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Harper Design scores anthology Jim Morrison 'intended to publish'

Harper Design is to release The Collected Works of Jim Morrison, a 600-page anthology of his writings, nearly half of which have never been published before. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-23 19:28:03 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Space Force sounds like a joke thanks to pop culture – that could be a problem for an important military branch

Science fiction has often had an inspirational and positive relationship with space endeavors. But the new US Space Force is struggling with a pop culture public relations problem. Continue reading at The Conversation

[ The Conversation | 2021-02-19 13:20:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Stage anthology 21 Black Futures asks: What is the future of Blackness?

21 Black Futures, a new stage anthology by CBC and Toronto's Obisidan Theatre Company, brings together 63 Black artists from across the country to answer the question "What is the future of Blackness?" Its creation also directly addresses, and... Continue reading at CBC

[ CBC | 2021-02-16 09:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


How to Write About Kink Without Going Full “Fifty Shades”

It is hard to talk about sex and literature without making some sort of Fifty Shades of Grey reference. But where Fifty Shades shows a caricature of S&M, the new anthology Kink is a celebration of the range of human desires. From the power of control and the titillation of voyeurism, this... Continue reading at Electric Literature

[ Electric Literature | 2021-02-12 12:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this


James and Obreht join Anonymous Sex with Borough Press

Marlon James and Téa Obreht are among the authors penning erotic tales for Anonymous Sex, an anthology pre-empted by The Borough Press where the author of each story is kept a secret. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-12 03:48:22 UTC ]
More news stories like this


MCB scoops new poetry anthology from bestseller Esiri

Macmillan Children’s Books has landed a new poetry anthology from bestselling curator and writer Allie Esiri. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-02-11 11:42:50 UTC ]
More news stories like this


The Other Condition: Robert Musil on Theater

THEATER SYMPTOMS: Plays and Writings on Drama is the mother lode for Robert Musil aficionados, a vital piece of the author’s canon. Containing the major play The Utopians, other dramatic material and fragments, and Musil’s theater criticism, much of it translated into English for the first time,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-01-28 18:00:17 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Knights Of, BookTrust and CLPE partner on Black British middle-grade anthology

Knights Of has partnered with children’s reading charity BookTrust and the Centre for Literacy in Primary Education (CLPE) to publish Happy Here, an anthology for middle grade readers. Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-27 21:20:25 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Kink Lit: A Conversation with R. O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell

Subscribe on Podcasts | Spotify | SoundCloud | In a special LARB Book Club edition of the Radio Hour, Eric Newman and Boris Dralyuk sit down with R. O. Kwon and Garth Greenwell, co-editors of Kink, a new anthology that aims to push the boundaries of traditional literary representations of love,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books

[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2021-01-22 20:43:36 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Comma Press anthology explores US foreign policy through fiction

Comma Press will publish The American Way: Stories of Invasion in May 2021, the first title in its History-into-Fiction series to step outside of British history.  Continue reading at The Bookseller

[ The Bookseller | 2021-01-19 23:34:53 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Lenore Taylor on why truth, facts and journalism are more important to democracy than ever

In 2020 the media was faced with the dual challenge of covering a pandemic and an avalanche of misinformation. In this episode of Full Story, Guardian Australia editor Lenore Taylor discusses how Australia’s response compared with other countries and the challenges ahead for journalismThis... Continue reading at The Guardian

[ The Guardian | 2021-01-19 16:30:01 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Who Gets to Tell the Story of the Midwest?

I originally called Columbus a cowtown. When I first emailed Anne Trubek, the founder and director of Belt Publishing, about the possibility of editing an anthology about Columbus, Ohio, I proposed they publish a Columbus anthology as part of their city anthology series because, “Columbus, Ohio... Continue reading at Literrary Hub

[ Literrary Hub | 2021-01-12 09:49:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Black Futures Co-Creators to Guest-Curate Facebook App’s Lift Black Voices Section

Kimberly Drew and Jenna Wortham, co-authors of visual anthology Black Futures, will become the first-ever guest curators of the Lift Black Voices section in its flagship mobile applications. Starting Monday and lasting for three weeks, they will personally select collections of dialogues, essays... Continue reading at AdWeek

[ AdWeek | 2021-01-11 18:55:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pushing the bounds of form in ‘The Glorious American Essay’

Phillip Lopate's choices for this fine anthology may stretch the parameters of an essay, but he's made distinctive and evocative selections. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-12-23 21:36:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this


Pushing the bounds of form in ‘The Glorious American Essay’

Phillip Lopate's choices for this fine anthology may stretch the parameters of an essay, but he's made distinctive and evocative selections. Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor

[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2020-12-23 21:36:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this