Star Wars: The Force Awakens Official Teaser
J.J. Abrams has finally given Star Wars fans their first glimpse at the first chapter in the new trilogy of the Star Wars Saga with an 88 second long teaser trailer for Episode VII The Force Awakens.
Watch it yourself below but here’s Five of the obvious talking points:
1. Is that Benedict Cumberbatch?
The ominous voice over bears an uncanny resemblance to the vocal charms of Sherlock and Star Trek star Benedict Cumberbatch, seemingly restoring credibility to the early suggestion that he may still play a major role in the new saga.
2. New Faces
While Luke, Han and Lea are nowhere to be seen the trailer does introduces John Boyega in a storm trooper suit, Daisy Ridley on a speeder & Oscar Isaac in an X-wing. Firmly establishing our next generation of heroes.
3. Old Ships
In just 88 seconds the trailer manages to give us Three X-wing’s, Two Tie-Fighters and one glorious hunk of junk… the Millennium Falcon. Though they might be more CGI now than plastic model kits, the return of these classic designs instantly injects the new saga with a nostalgic style that was so sadly missing from the prequels.
4. Lightsaber Broadsword
The lightsaber remains one of the most iconic elements of the Star Wars universe. Arguably Episode I’s sole redeeming feature was the invention of the double ended lightsaber, as wielded by fan favorite Darth Maul. Episode VII will apparently introduce the first lightsaber to have a crossguard. Turning it into more of a claymore style medivial bade. While fan’s are already fiercely debating the combat effectiveness of this subtle modification, it is at least a stylish riff on the familiar designs.
5. Is The Empire still the bad guys?
The inclusion of ominous ranks of battle ready storm troopers and Tie Fighters taking shots at a rapidly maneuvering Millennium Falcon suggests that perhaps the galactic war rages on and the Rebel Alliance may still be facing up to the might of the Evil Empire.
Episode VII in the Star Wars Saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, opens in theaters December 18, 2015. Till then re-watch the trailer below endlessly while awaiting more news/footage. It is your destiny…
British Academy Children’s Awards 2014 Winners
The British Academy of Film and Television Arts has announced the winners for tonight’s annual British Academy Children’s Awards. The ceremony was hosted by Doc Brown at the Roundhouse, London and presenters included Samantha Barks, Sharleen Spiteri, Bernard Cribbins, Myleene Klass, Emma Bunton, Jamal Edwards, James Norton, Simon Webbe, MyAnna Buring and Malorie Blackman.
It has been a successful week for the team behind Katie Morag: after picking up a British Academy Scotland Award last Sunday; they won two BAFTAs at tonight’s Children’s ceremony. The first Award was in the Drama category and the second for Performer with Cherry Campbell taking home the BAFTA for her portrayal of the title role. Cherry becomes the youngest BAFTA winner ever at nine years old.
Double-act Dick & Dom - Richard McCourt & Dominic Wood - celebrated winning in the Presenter category for Absolute Genius with Dick & Dom, while another of their shows, Diddy Movies, picked up the BAFTA in the Comedy category.
Kindle Entertainment Ltd triumphed as the winners of Independent ProductionCompany of the Year and as part of the team behind Dixi, the online mystery-drama that took home the BAFTA for Interactive – Original.
For the first time, Cartoon Network won the BAFTA in the prestigious Channel of the Year category while one of its most popular shows, Adventure Time, celebrated a win for International.
The Short Form category was won for the third year in a row by CITV’s Share a Story. There was a consecutive win for the Operation Ouch! team, who picked up the BAFTA for Factual. Aardman’s Shaun the Sheep received a second BAFTA award for Animation.
Warner Bros.’ adventure-comedy The Lego Movie fought off stiff competition from Maleficent, How to Train Your Dragon 2 and Frozen to triumph in Feature Film. TheGame category was won by Mario Kart 8, the latest instalment of the popular racing title.
Peter Firmin received the Special Award for his outstanding contribution to children’s media. The esteemed illustrator and puppet-maker was presented the Award by Bernard Cribbins, and received a special introduction from Michael Palin.
The results of the BAFTA Kids’ Vote were also announced at the ceremony. Over 200,000 votes were cast by seven – 14 year-olds who had their say in a nationwide poll to choose their favourite film, television programme, website and game. The winners in the four categories were: Frozen (Feature Film), Jessie (Television),Minecraft (Game) and Bin Weevils (Website).
Other winners on the night were: Disney Animated for Interactive – Adapted;Lizard Girl for Learning: Primary; Poetry: Between the Lines for Learning: Secondary;Old Jack’s Boat for Pre-school Live Action; Sarah & Duck for Pre-school Animation;Junior Bake Off for Entertainment; and Debbie Moon who won the Writer category for Wolfblood.
OFFICIAL WINNERS LIST
ANIMATION sponsored by Toon Boom
SHAUN THE SHEEP Richard Starzak, Jay Grace, John Woolley – Aardman Animations/CBBC
CHANNEL OF THE YEAR
CARTOON NETWORK
COMEDY
DIDDY MOVIES 2 Steve Ryde, Dez McCarthy, Annette Williams – CBBC/CBBC
DRAMA
KATIE MORAG Production Team – Move on Up/CBeebies
ENTERTAINMENT
JUNIOR BAKE OFF Production Team – Love Productions/CBBC
FACTUAL
OPERATION OUCH! Production Team – Maverick Television/CBBC
FEATURE FILM
THE LEGO MOVIE Phil Lord, Christopher Miller, Dan Lin, Roy Lee – Warner Bros. Pictures, Village Road Show Pictures/Warner Bros. Pictures
GAME
MARIO KART 8 Development Team – Nintendo/Nintendo
INDEPENDENT PRODUCTION COMPANY OF THE YEAR
KINDLE ENTERTAINMENT LTD
INTERACTIVE: ADAPTED
DISNEY ANIMATED Development Team – Touch Press/Disney Interactive/Walt Disney Animation Studios
INTERACTIVE: ORIGINAL
DIXI Dan Berlinka, Nina Metivier, Melanie Stokes – Kindle Entertainment/Syndicut/Lucy Atkinson/CBBC Online
INTERNATIONAL
ADVENTURE TIME Pendleton Ward, Graham Falk, Nick Jennings – Cartoon Network Studios/Cartoon Network
LEARNING: PRIMARY
LIZARD GIRL Iona Sweeney, Lynsey Miller, Vivienne Franzmann – Feelgood Fiction/BBC Two
LEARNING: SECONDARY
POETRY: BETWEEN THE LINES Production Team – Somethin’ Else/BBC Two
PERFORMER
CHERRY CAMPBELL Katie Morag – CBeebies
PRESCHOOL: ANIMATION
SARAH & DUCK Tim O’Sullivan, Sarah Gomes Harris, Jamie Badminton – Karrot Entertainment/CBeebies
PRESCHOOL: LIVE ACTION
OLD JACK’S BOAT Dominic MacDonald, Tony Reed, Tom Poole – CBeebies/CBeebies
PRESENTER
RICHARD MCCOURT & DOMINIC WOOD Absolute Genius with Dick and Dom – CBBC
SHORT FORM
CITV SHARE A STORY 2013 Waldemar Werbel, Jardine Sage, Frank Mansfield – CITV/CITV
WRITER
DEBBIE MOON Wolfblood – CBBC
BAFTA KIDS’ VOTE IN 2014
FILM - FROZEN (PG) Walt Disney Pictures
GAME - MINECRAFT Mojang
TELEVISION - JESSIE Disney Channel
WEBSITE - BIN WEEVILS