Movie Review - Guardians of the Galaxy

Within the successful Marvel Studios, a remarkable collection of superheroes has been ingeniously brought together into what we now know as Marvel's The Avengers! As this group of heroes has now been firmly established into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, a new, even more original team has been introduced into Phase 2 of Marvel Studio's movie projects with their 10th film: Guardians of the Galaxy! 
Peter Quill, aka Star-Lord (Chris Pratt), is a notorious outlaw and thief, who, while stealing a mysterious orb on an abandoned planet, is drawn into a plot of galactic proportions which jeopardizes the fate of the universe! While escaping from the forces of the megalomaniacal Ronan, The Accuser (Lee Pace); Quill is arrested by the Nova Corps and sentenced to an orbiting penal colony along with the bounty hunters Rocket Raccoon (voiced by Bradley Cooper) & Groot (voiced by Vin Diesel), and the assassin Gamora (Zoe Saldana). While in prison, he teams up with this motley crew along with Drax, (Dave Bautista) The Destroyer, who has a grudge against Ronan, and escapes prison to find a way to stop Ronan from getting the orb and destroying the galaxy!
Guardians of the Galaxy is an epic, space adventure, which combines Star Wars-like Sci-Fi/Fantasy with swashbuckling action, and irreverent humor; combined with a bizarre soundtrack full of 1970's pop-music.
While characters such as Captain America, Hulk, Iron Man and Thor have earned their place in pop-culture for the last 50 years, this team is relatively "new" to the Marvel Universe. The original Guardians of the Galaxy appeared in Marvel Super-Heroes #18, 1969 with heroes such as Major Victory, Starhawk, and Yondu. Although they remained a third-string team through much of their history, appearing alongside other major Marvel heroes such as The Avengers, they finally managed to get their own title in 1990 until it was cancelled in 1995. This Guardians however, is NOT that team! This newer Guardians of the Galaxy team first appeared in 2008 formed in the aftermath of the Annihilation: Conquest story-line in Marvel comics, shortly before the Disney acquisition of Marvel Comics. The current team in the comics includes Star-Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon & Groot, along with Quasar and Adam Warlock. For the movie's sake, Warlock and Quasar, not to mention Nova, are not present, which leaves room for their appearance (no doubt) in Guardians 2? [Minor Spoilers]: This movie finally features a full (although brief) appearance from the cosmic villain Thanos (Josh Brolin), who appeared in the end-credits of Avengers (2012), and also an appearance from The Collector (Benicio Del Toro) who made an appearance in the end-credits in Thor: The Dark World (2013). A few surprising guest appearances in this movie as other minor characters including Glenn Close as Nova Prime, John C. Reily as Corpsman Dey and Michael Rooker as Yondu. While it seemed unbelievable that a talking fully-CG Raccoon could convince an audience and become a fan favorite was a stroke of genius with the combination of state-of-the-art CGI technology and Bradley Cooper's comic talent. Also, despite Groot's three-word vocabulary: "I AM GROOT!", this seemingly one dimensional (or "wooden") character voiced by action-star Vin Diesel, is the source of much of the pathos in the team. While actress Zoe Saldana is often comfortable in Sci-Fi franchises (Star Trek) as well as colorful-skinned aliens (Avatar), she holds her own as a strong and complicated woman. While there are few differences from the comic book, one most crucial being that making Star-Lord a space-pirate and not the interplanetary policeman he was meant to be.
Full of Sci-Fi/Fantasy action, humor, and wonder, Guardians of the Galaxy is a new and impressive addition to the Marvel Cinematic Universe which, although has been growing in popularity, has also been suffering from lack-luster sequels to make way for their bigger titles while still mired in legal mumbo-jumbo between Disney, Sony and 20th Century Fox on the rest of their comic properties. When Guardians was first announced, I admit, I was not very impressed; convinced that Marvel had finally reached the bottom of the barrel on characters NOT owned by other studios. And along with the controversy from Ant-Man (2015) director Edgar Wright dropping out of the scene, it seemed that Marvel had hit a huge speed-bump. Despite a lack of a clear plot, whether it is the unique combination of colorful characters, tongue-in-cheek humor, Sci-Fi action and special effects, Guardians of the Galaxy is a truly fun and entertaining movie, plain and simple. While Sony still clings to the Spider-Man franchise, and Fox runs the X-Men franchise into the ground, Marvel is still at the top of the blockbuster game, and until the fanboys (like myself) are satiated until Avengers: Age of Ultron comes out in 2015, Guardians of the Galaxy is number one (for now), having already earned $94 million in its first week!

LINKS: Marvel.com, Official Guardians Movie Website, Marvel Wikia

Comic-Con 2014: Top 10 Upcoming Events

It's Comic-Con time again! The International Comic Con happened in San Diego this weekend and bringing with it even more previews and news of some of the biggest pop-culture events coming in the next few years! Hollywood and TV have dominated Comic-Con over the last decade and there is no lack of big announcements from movies and TV projects. Last year I posted about the upcoming events announced at San Diego Comic-Con 2013, so I thought I would follow up with this years events. CHERNOBOG'S BLOG PRESENTS: Comic-Con 2014: Top 10 Upcoming Events! Enjoy!

#10 Interstellar (2014) - Christopher Nolan directs a new science-fiction epic starring Matthew McConaughey and Anne Hathaway where a group of explorers discover a wormhole in space that allows them to travel the furthest reaches of space.
#9 Godzilla 2 (2017?) - Director Gareth Edwards unveiled his plans for the sequel to this years Godzilla reboot and rumors circulate of the appearances of even more kaiju monsters!
#8 Mad Max: Fury Road (2015) - Director George Miller previewed his new Mad Max reboot/sequel starring Tom Hardy and Charlize Theron.
#7 Wonder Woman (2017?) - DC has announced that the Amazon warrior, played by Gal Gadot, will finally make it to theaters despite her failed TV series. Wonder Woman will soon join Batman and Superman in a rumored Justice League movie!
#6 The Walking Dead: Season 5 (October 2014) - The remaining survivors have made it to "Terminus" and it's not what they expected!
#5 Ant-Man (2015) - Director Peyton Reed brings the newest Marvel hero movie to the screen (after Edgar Wright dropped out), starring Paul Rudd as Scott Lang/Ant-Man, and Michael Douglas as Hank Pym.
#4 Batman V. Superman: Dawn of Justice (2016) - Director Zack Snyder returns with a DC heroe extravaganza with Henry Cavill reprising his role as Superman, Ben Affleck as Batman, and Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman, also rumored as Aquaman, Jason Mamoa!
#3 DC Comics TV Series (2014) - While Marvel has dominated the big screen, DC has taken over the small screen with continuing their highly acclaimed Arrow series with Season 3, and announcing the premieres this Fall for three more DC inspired titles including Gotham, The Flash, and Constantine!
#2 The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies (2014) - The finale to Peter Jackson's (The Lord of the Rings Trilogy) Hobbit Trilogy comes to an epic conclusion with the dwarves battling to reclaim the Lonely Mountain as fending off all of Middle Earth from their home and Bilbo caught up in the middle of it all!
#1 Avengers: Age of Ultron (2015) - Director Joss Whedon returns to direct the sequel to his 2012 superhero epic! The team lead by Nick Fury including Hulk, Iron Man, Thor, Captain America, Black Widow and Hawkeye, with new additions Quicksilver (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Scarlet Witch (Elizabeth Olsen), (and possibly The Vision!) reunite to battle Ultron (James Spader/Andy Serkis?)!

LINKS: ComicCon.org

TV Review: The Strain

The horror/thriller genre is on the rise on prime-time Cable TV with the success of series like The Walking Dead and American Horror Story. The newest series, The Strain, which premiered Sunday, July 13th on the FX Network, is based on the horror/thriller novel series written by Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan.The Strain explores the age-old vampire genre with a modern virus-outbreak twist. It promises to be the newest Sunday night thrill, possibly even competing with the return of AMC's The Walking Dead in October.
When a Boeing 777 from Berlin to New York goes dark on the runway at JFK airport, the authorities contact Dr. Ephraim Goodweather (Corey Stoll), the head of the CDC team in New York City to investigate. Along with his partners Nora Martinez (Mia Maestro) and Jim Kent (Sean Astin) the team find all but four out of over 200 passengers alive on the plane that died from an unknown biological agent. The team also discover a strange, large, carved, wooden box in the cargo hold filled with soil. The only explanation come from the supposed ravings of an elderly pawn-shop owner named Abraham Setrakian (David Bradley) with talk of vampires! In the next 24 hours Dr. Goodweather and his team will come face-to-face with the most virulent plague in the history of the world that threatens to destroy the entire human race!

Writer/director Guillermo del Toro and author Chuck Hogan serve as both co-creators, executive producers and writers for The Strain, also co-writing the pilot script for the show, which was also directed by del Toro. Emmy Award winning writer and producer Carlton Cuse (Bates Motel, Lost) serves as executive producer and writer. The Strain is a "high-concept thriller" based on the trilogy of books which have already gained popularity and even a series of comic book adaptations from Dark Horse Comics. Director Guillermo del Toro is no stranger to the vampire genre with his films such as Blade II (2002) and Cronos (1993) and bringing the new virology element to the vampire myth. So far, the show follows the books fairly closely however there are a few added elements to the characters as well as the plot and a somewhat lack of attention to the solar eclipse which occurs in the beginning of the first book yet has little to no mention in the first show other than a brief glimpse of an advertisement in the airport. The casting for The Strain compliments both their book versions as well as their comic book adaptations. While the surprising casting of Sean Astin as Jim Kent, a somewhat minor character in the book, may reveal a possible stronger role in the TV series. The major focus of the virus outbreak is on the mysterious "blood worms" which appear in much of the shows promotional material, which from a fan's point-of-view of the books, appear much bigger than they seemed in the books. The brief yet satisfying glimpse of 'The Master', the head vampire, is equally impressive and terrifying along with the character of Eldritch Palmer (Jonathan Hyde) is a perfect match. With the modern setting of the series mixed with the fascination of vampires provides a fresh view on the vampire genre which has been redundantly dominated by the more teenage/sparkly variety of vamp from the popularity of the Twilight books and movies, as well as in TV with shows like The Vampire Diaries and it's spin-off The Originals. As a fan of the books and comics, I've been looking forward to the premiere of The Strain for quite a while now, and upon seeing the Pilot, I have no doubt that this series will soon take off and add a whole new level of terror and anticipation to Sunday prime-time! The Strain has spread...

LINKS: The Strain Official Website, The Strain Books, The Strain Comic Books, Del Toro Films

Movie Review - Transformers: Age of Extinction

Just when you thought the Transformers franchise had come to an end with Dark of the Moon (2011), the master of slow-motion explosions, director Michael Bay, returns with Transformers: Age of Extinction! Longer, darker and with even bigger Transformers than ever seen before, Age of Extinction is the fourth in the franchise of Transformers movies which began in 2007. With the trilogy ended, so did the involvement of actor Shia LeBeouf, who starred as Sam Witwicky in the first three Transformers movies. Age of Extinction takes place several years after the events of Dark of the Moon, dubbed the "Battle of Chicago", where the Transformers have now become public knowledge and are now feared and hunted down by the government. Particularly one Black Ops team known as KSI, led by CIA Agent Harold Attinger (Kelsey Grammer), is in charge of destroying both Autobots and Decepticons, having allied themselves with a group of ruthless Transformer bounty-hunters led by Lockdown (voiced by Mark Ryan). Along with the government's involvement, a wealthy techno-industrialist Joshua Joyce's (Stanley Tucci) company is developing their own Transformers reverse-engineered from the captured remnants of the Transformers to build Stinger and Galvatron (voiced by Frank Welker)! Meanwhile, in rural Texas, Cade Yaeger (Mark Wahlberg), an unemployed salvager and robotics inventor has found what is left of Optimus Prime (voiced by Peter Cullen) after a battle which left him nonfunctional. As Cade tries to repair Optimus, the government becomes aware of Optimus' location and send the Black Ops team to destroy him. Now Cade, his daughter Tessa (Nicola Peltz), and her boyfriend Jack (Shane Dyson) are on the run with Optimus to try and find what is left of the Autobots and stop Lockdown!

Along with Autobot favorite Bumblebee, there a few new additions to the Transformers roster including original G1 favorite Hound (voiced by John Goodman), the samurai-bot Drift (voiced by Ken Watanabe) and Crosshairs (voiced by John DiMaggio) not to mention this movies biggest surprise is the inclusion of the Dinobots, (fan-favorites from the cartoon/toys) including Grimlock! Despite all the violence, explosions, exotic locations (Hong Kong) and all-out Autobot-action, this movie seemed to be a much more satisfying successor to the last few Transformers movies, especially the disappointing sequel Revenge of the Fallen (2009). Aside from the obvious improvements, this movie however has a very ominous and darker tone than the other movies some of the humor that pervades the movies is lessened somewhat in favor of a much grittier feel as the Transformers, particularly the Autobots were regarded as heros in the others, now they are fugitives! Even Optimus Prime, whose character has always been the honorable, stalwart protector has been defeated both physically and in spirit that he has become an angry killer, bent on revenge for his fallen comrades. The dark/violent atmosphere is present in the more-violent battles, and the surprising repetition of lines like "I'm going to kill you!" and "Die!" from Optimus himself! While it is understandable how Optimus must feel after the literal genocide of his Autobot allies, it is to some extreme how his character has changed drastically. As for fan-service the inclusion of the Dinobots (which I myself have been looking forward to seeing ever since the trailer: Optimus riding Grimlock! Awesome!) is very satisfying as well as the inclusion of celebrity voices like John Goodman and Ken Watanabe in the cast. The biggest surprise was the return of famous voice actor Frank Welker to the Transformers cast who was the voice of Megatron in the cartoons (in the last three movies Megatron was voiced by actor Hugo Weaving) now as Galvatron, ironically played by Leonard Nimoy in the 1986 animated movie, who voiced in Sentinel Prime in Dark of the Moon. While I am pleased to no longer have to see Shia's hyperactive screaming on screen I was not too excited to have Marky Mark be the new human star of the Transformers franchise for his former failures in movies like Planet of the Apes (2001), The Happening and Ted, he has more popular screen credits than Shia anyway. Overall Age of Extinction is an impressive, action-packed, special-effects nightmare, thrill ride! As a fan of the Transformers since my childhood in the 80's I can see these movies not as the over-budgeted, CGI-crazy blockbusters that they are and relish in the pure fun and excitement that my inner child and adult self can enjoy and have fun watching them.I still smile every time I see a Transformer transform, and I cheer quietly to myself when I see Optimus defeat a Decepticon. While the success of these films may vary from movie to movie and Michael Bay enjoys the mixed criticisms of his film franchise, I will still keep wanting to come back to see them. (unless he tries to kill off Optimus again!)

LINKS: TransformersMovie.com, Hasbro, BotCon

25th Anniversary of Batman (1989)

Today marks the 25th anniversary of one of the most iconic superhero/comic book movies ever made. Batman (1989) changed the way superhero and comic book movies were seen and started off a whole new era of "Batmania!" Batman (1989) was released on June 23, 1989 through Warner Bros. Pictures. Directed by Tim Burton, it starred Michael Keaton, Jack Nicholson and Kim Basinger. Like Superman (1978) before it, Batman had a big budget, experienced director, Hollywood star quality celebrities and gritty, realistic edge that audiences could relate to. Gone were the 60's era campy action, Batman would return to his darker roots. I consider this movie to be one of my favorite movies of all time, as it would come to define my childhood and teenage years and inspire my already fervent love for comic books and superheroes. I had watched the Saturday morning cartoons (Super Friends, Super Powers) and watched reruns of the 1960's TV show of my Dad's generation. But when I first saw this Batman in the Summer of 1989, around my 10th birthday, from that day on, I was a "Bat-Fan" and this was MY Batman!

Joker & Batman

My family have always loved movies, already a fan of Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Star Trek movies, and the like. To celebrate mine and my Mom's birthday (3 days apart) my parents and I decided to have a movie marathon at one of our local movie theaters. That Saturday we watched some of the biggest movies of the Summer all in one Saturday (at that time movie tickets were about $3 or $4) including: Ghostbusters II, Star Trek V, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, and of course, Batman!
Little did I know, I was already a fan of Tim Burton's films, having little awareness of director's and actor's involvement with movies. I had enjoyed his previous films Pee-Wee's Big Adventure (1985) and Beetlejuice (1988). I even recognized Michael Keaton from one of my parent's favorite comedies Mr. Mom (1983) however, I had not seen some of the more mature movies that Jack Nicholson was famous for like One Flew Over The Cuckoos Nest (1975) and The Shining (1980). I can remember before the movie was released, critics and people were talking how Michael Keaton was a poor choice to play the Dark Knight and it had been announced that Robin Williams was set to play the Joker.
I was engrossed in the dark tone of the story, the action, the excitement, Batman's cool gadgets, and of course: The Batmobile! The new Joker was scary and deeply disturbing, no longer the mustachioed and hyperactive Caesar Romero of the 60's, this Joker had a more sinister edge and made me wonder if there were really people like that who killed people for fun. Clowns already scared me and I admit to this day, I have never seen Stephen King's IT in it's entirety. The music was a big part of the experience, and with Danny Elfman's powerful and haunting, bellicose theme, I was drawn into to the action. I think the biggest reason this Batman still resonates today after 25 years is it's originality and timelessness of the movie. Although the additional 80's music by Prince dates it horribly, much of the movie seems to jump right out of the 1940's comic books. It has a noir feel to it as a lot of the characters, detectives and gangsters even wear suits and trench-coats. The city is dark and gritty, with a Gothic style of architecture to it, thanks to Tim Burton's style and production designer Anton Furst. While a lot of the technology Batman uses is also very dated, it remains a very small part of the movie. At the time I had no idea what liberties Burton had taken with Batman's origins and looking back, the choice to make Joker aka  Jack Napier, his parent's killer was interesting yet confusing. Batman (1989) still remains my favorite Batman movie, while the franchise declined after Joel Schumacher destroyed it, the recent Christopher Nolan trilogy has brought it back up to it's level, but in my opinion will never truly surpass the 1989 film.

"Batman is very extreme and I love extreme characters. A man who dresses up as a bat and his arch rival who is transformed into a clown are very popular images and one of the reasons why Batman remains so popular. Batman is not a super-hero, he's not a guy from another planet. So I like to take a straightforward approach and just present it." - Tim Burton

LINKS: Batman DC Comics, Batman Official Facebook, Batman on Warner Bros.

Friday the 13th: Top 10 Jason Voorhees

It's Friday the 13th and you know what that means...Friday the 13th Marathon! The Friday the 13th slasher-horror franchise has been scaring audiences (and murdering teenagers!) for the last 34 years! While everyone has their favorite movie or scene, only the hardcore fans have their favorite Jason Voorhees...and that's why this Friday the 13th CHERNOBOG'S BLOG celebrates the men (and boys) who portrayed the machete-wielding, hockey-mask wearing, (and possibly misunderstood) mass-murderer. CHERNOBOG'S BLOG PRESENTS: Friday the 13th - Top 10 Jason Voorhees!

#10 C.J. Graham - C.J. was the 6th actor to play Jason in Jason Lives: Friday the 13th Part VI (1986). C.J. also appears in flashback footage in Part VII and a short entitled Jason Vs. Leatherface (2003).
#9 Ted White -As one of the many actors who played Jason in Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) he was also uncredited and according to Fangoria magazine, the role made him feel "uneasy", thus he insisted his name be removed from the credits. He went on to appear in other popular 1980's movies Tron (1982) and Starman (1984).
#8 Richard Brooker -  Richard was discovered in a casting magazine called "Dramalogue" and became the first Jason to wear the iconic hockey mask in the originally 3-D, Friday the 13th Part 3 (1982)!
#7 Warrington Gillette -  As the second actor to play Jason Voorhees, he originally auditioned for the roll of Paul in Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) but director Steve Miner was impressed with him and offered him the part of Jason instead. Although he is credited as Jason, he only appeared in the final scene when he jumps through the window.
#6 Tom Morga - Friday the 13th: A New Beginning (1985) Tom portrayed Jason (uncredited) during flashbacks and was also the stunt-double for Dick Wieand who played Roy, the copycat killer.
#5 Steve Dash (aka Steve Daskawisz) - While he is technically the third actor to play Jason, Steve appeared in most of Friday the 13th Part 2 (1981) except for the final scene which was played and credited to Warrington Gillette.
#4 Derek Mears - The latest addition to the Voorhees brotherhood and 8th actor to portray Jason, Derek appeared in the 2009 remake/reboot Friday the 13th starring Jared Padalecki (Supernatural).
#3 Ken Kirzinger - In 2003, New Line Cinema pitted their two horror franchises against each other in the ultimate heavy-weight fight that is Freddy Vs. Jason, directed by Hong Kong action filmmaker Ronny Yu . At 6'5", Ken is the tallest actor to play Jason and rumor has it, appeared in full costume at a dentist's office to have dental work done. At the end of the film (among the many proposed alternate endings) Jason emerges from Crystal Lake victorious, holding the decapitated head of Freddy Krueger (Robert Englund), although he winks at the camera as a send off being his final performance as Freddy!
#2 Ari Lehman - Friday the 13th (1980) First in the Top 10 Jason's is the boy, who at the age of 14 played the role of the first Jason Voorhees whose brief appearance in the surprise ending of the film left the audience both in terror and wonder. As of 2009 Ari performs with his horror rock band "First Jason".
#1  Kane Hodder - The most popular Jason Voorhees, Kane has played Jason in four films including Friday the 13th Part VII: The New Blood (1988), Friday the 13th Part VIII: Jason Takes Manhattan (1989), Jason Goes To Hell: The Final Friday (1993) and Jason X (2001). Fun Fact: Kane also appeared as Jason on an episode of The Arsenio Hall Show in 1989.

BONUS: Jason Voorhees Body Count = 167 people!

LINKS: Friday the 13th Films, Friday the 13th Wiki, WB Shop

Star Wars Weekends 2014

Another Summer, another Star Wars Weekends at Walt Disney World's Hollywood Studios! This was my 5th time to experience Star Wars Weekends since my first in 2008. Every year seems to get better and better with more guests, more events, and even more surprises! This years' theme "Join The Rebellion" coincided with the announcement of Disney XD's newest animated series Star Wars Rebels, premiering this Fall. Leading up to Star Wars Weekends, Disney hosted an exclusive Rebel Rendezvous on May 15th to give fans an early preview of Star Wars Weekends merchandise available! Although Star Wars Weekends takes place from May 16 to June 15 this year, I was only able to go to the parks on May 23-25. Hosted by James Arnold Taylor (voice of Obi-Wan Kenobi on Clone Wars) this weekends guests featured Ashley Eckstein (voice of Ashoka Tano on Clone Wars), also Warwick Davis (Wicket (Ewok) Star Wars Eps. VI), Jeremy Bulloch (Boba Fett, Star Wars Eps. V & VI) and Tiya Sircar (voice of Sabine Wren, Star Wars Rebels). I got to meet Jeremy Bulloch and got a picture and autograph from Boba Fett himself! Since the acquisition of Lucasfilm, Disney has some big plans for Star Wars but it has very little affect on the already successful Star Wars fan event. If anything, we shall no doubt see even more additions and special events to future Star Wars Weekends. One of the biggest draws for Star Wars fans and Disney collectors alike is of course all of the exclusive merchandise available at "Darth's Mall". Some of this year's items included special pin lanyards that look like the medals Luke and Han (but not Chewbacca!) were awarded in Eps. IV. Also available at "Ackbar's Snackbar" were limited edition Darth Vader popcorn buckets and Stormtrooper mugs, (which unfortunately sold-out very quickly!). One of the most unique additions to this year's Star Wars Weekends was through the augmented reality app Aurasma where you can view special animations and videos just by scanning certain images on Star Wars Weekends merchandise.
Surprisingly, Disney added another weekend  to Star Wars Weekends which featured a VERY special celebrity guest: Luke Skywalker himself, Mark Hamil from June 6-8. Also appearing was Billy Dee Williams (Lando Calrissian) and Ray Park (Darth Maul, Eps. I) and Taylor Gray (voice of Ezra Bridger, Star Wars Rebels).
Unfortunately, I was unable to go to this weekends' event. The unfortunate thing about Star Wars Weekends is they don't announce the weekends where specific celebrities are scheduled to appear until only a few weeks before the event which makes vacation planning for those who live in other states virtually impossible and only the luck of the draw (or belief in the Force!) will you be able to see the celebrities you want. I had already met Warwick Davis in a previous events along with Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew and Ray Park. Star Wars Weekends has many events and special shows to see during the weekend including Legends of the Force: Celebrity Motorcade, the Padawan Mind Challenge, celebrity talk-shows, and more! Not to mention the other Star Wars events available year-round such as the Star Tours ride and the Jedi Training Academy. Possibly the best event for this years Star Wars Weekends was the addition of a nightly music and fireworks show called "Symphony in the Stars", which was an impressive and wonderful end to Star Wars Weekends!

LINKS: Disney's Star Wars Weekends, StarWars.com, Disney.com