When I do the dishes in our house, I often like to plug in some headphones and catch up on a favorite podcast. One of those podcasts is a new discovery for me, so I’ve been catching up on old episodes during my nightly scrubbing. Most of the time, it doesn’t matter that the stream is about a year old, but last night I was listening when the subject of the new Star Wars trailer came up, and it took me a moment to realize that the hosts had only just seen that first teaser, released back at Thanksgiving of 2014, for J.J.Abrams’ new film in the series, Star Wars: The Force Awakens. An instant later, as they bemoaned the long wait that lay ahead of them, I began to pity them — only to realize that the wait is over. This is the week: it’s Nerd Christmas everywhere, and John Williams is writing all the carols!
But you’ll have a few days to wait yet when this issue first hits the streets, so why not get in the mood by catching up with some old friends? Abrams was able to get much of the cast from the original trilogy to sign on for the new film, but they haven’t been sitting around the house all this time, just waiting by the phone. Here’s a glimpse at what Luke and the gang have been up to while we were all waiting for Star Wars to power up again.
Mark Hamill (Luke Skywalker) has in some ways had the most interesting post-Star Wars career of any of the cast. Most notably — and perhaps presciently, if rumors of his path in the new film are true — he has found his biggest fame by playing villains; he has had a long run as the voice of the Joker in a number of Batman television shows and video games, and even played a Sith Lord (the ultimate Star Wars villain) in a 2014 episode of a Star Wars animated series. But for extra-meta Star Wars fun, check out his two turns as the villainous Trickster on the TV series The Flash — first in 1991, and then in the 2014 reboot, where Hamill finally gets to utter the line — “I am your father” — that made his Star Wars dad so famous.
Other actors from the original films have stayed closer to the franchise: Anthony Daniels (the droid C-3PO) has been in practically nothing but Star Wars projects for the last 40 years. And Peter Mayhew (Chewbacca) has maintained playful contact with his most famous role, appearing in documentaries like Jedi Junkies (streaming now on Netflix), which shines a light on some of the more obsessive fans in the universe.
As for Han and Leia — the bickering lovebirds at the heart of the original films — actors Harrison Ford and Carrie Fisher certainly have had very respectable careers which probably need no dissecting here. But the truth is that however successful they’ve been, I’ll always prefer the odder, quieter paths taken by Hamill and Mayhew. To a fan, looking at how they’ve spent the last few decades reminds me of how I’ve spent them myself: waiting and hoping for a new Star Wars movie. I hope they’re having as much fun with it all as the rest of us.
Also this week: The wonderful Canadian filmmaker Guy Maddin returns to the screen with The Forbidden Room, a patchwork film whose kaleidoscopic view combines classic cinema with absurdist tales of amnesia and pancakes (it doesn’t pay to ask; just go see it). Screening at Amherst Cinema, the show offers a rare chance to see Maddin on a larger scale; most of his work is experimental enough that many cinemas — even those that would call themselves “art cinemas” — would prefer to screen yet another bland period drama that is more likely to bring a big box office receipt, leaving many Maddin fans little choice but to turn to their TVs. If you’re a fan of his other works — The Saddest Music in the World, for instance — strike while the iron is hot.
Jack Brown can be reached at cinemadope@gmail.com.
