Disney has announced that there will be a new Star Wars episode in 2015. This announcement comes as part of the entertainment company’s plans to acquire LucasFilm and the rights to the Star Wars franchise in a whopping $4.05 billion deal.

Star Wars Episodes 7-9 had long been rumored, but the hope for these films sizzled out ages ago. Disney has said they have plans not only to release Episode VII in 2015, but also VIII and IX a few years after. Star Wars creator George Lucas will serve as a consultant, but is looking at this as his retirement. Disney will be primarily in charge of these new chapters and continued expansion of the Star Wars universe.

News of a new Star Wars film has been met with a mixed reaction by the web, but after Disney’s success with its Pixar forays and its continued pride in its Marvel productions such as the Avengers, there’s a lot to be cautiously optimistic about. Disney has also long had ties to the Star Wars franchise through its amusement parks with Star Wars weekends, Star Tours and various merchandise.

Read the full press release about the announcement here.

Bethany Smith

I'm a geek; I love music, technology and grammar.

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Season Review: I have been a fan of How I Met Your Mother (from now on abbreviated HIMYM because I am a lazy typist) since it first debuted. Without giving too much away for those who haven’t seen it, HIMYM follows tells the story of Ted Mosby (Josh Radnor) as an older man (Bob Saget) telling his children the tale of how he met their mother. 

Thankfully for Ted, he is surrounded by some great friends. Barney (Neil Patrick Harris) is a womanizer, Robin (Cobie Smulders) is a career-driven newscaster, and Lily and Marshall (Alyson Hannigan and Jason Segel) are the married couple that everyone wants to be. Ted might not always be the most interesting character, but luckily the people around him are almost always hilarious. Whether it is Barney’s “legendary” schemes to pick up chicks or the cute things about Lily and Marshall’s relationship that make people sick because of their cuteness but we all secretly want.

Season 7 is my favorite season of the last 3. There are some really great moments for fans of the show in this season and some hilarious new characters to get to know. I will admit now that the show has reached a point where it would be almost impossible for people who’ve never seen it to get in to it. There is so much shared history between these characters and fans of the show that I can see how certain episodes would lack emotional resonance for newcomers, but they will still find a fair-share of laughs along the way.

Sure the show has strayed a little from the original premise in the last few seasons, but I think this season is a great one to get the story a little back on track. We’re getting really close to knowing who the mother is, and that will be a great moment for the show, but I’m just glad we get to spend a little more time with these characters.

Special Features:

• Commentary: There are 3 commentaries on the set, each one with different players. The first commentary involves the creators, the next a few writers, and the last Neil Patrick Harris and Becki Newton (his on-show girlfriend). My favorite of the 3 is the writer-narrated episode. Their narration is funny and insightful, I wish there was more of them.

• Deleted Scenes: There are deleted scenes on each disc. It seems like there were about 15 minutes total. All of them were good even though you see why they got cut.

• Gag Reel: There were a handful of scenes where the actors lose it. Not really much out of the ordinary here, but they always make me laugh.

• How We Wrote/Make Your Mother: These are a few behind-the-scenes features talking about how they make the show and the origins of many of the story points.

Overall: This is a great season of a really great show. I’ll be sad when it’s gone, but I’m glad that it seems to be winding down a little bit before it runs out of steam. For any fan of the show this is a great season to own as there are many memorable episodes. If you haven’t seen this show I would recommend buying this, along with all the other seasons and stop talking to your friends for a few weeks until you catch up on this show.

Nathan

Nathan enjoys film, music, sports and most of all, speaking in the third person.

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Season Review: When I first saw a teaser for Modern Family a few years ago I thought it looked slightly humorous but would most likely be forgettable. Boy, was I wrong. Modern Family is not only one of the best comedies on TV, it is one of the best shows. 

Modern Family tells the story of the patriarch Jay Pritchett (Ed O’Neill) and his eccentric family. Jay is married to the much younger, fiery Gloria (Sofia Vergara) and step-father to her son Manny. He takes this opportunity to raise the pre-teen Manny by learning from his mistakes with his previous children. Claire (Julie Bowen) is neurotic and a little up-tight so it’s probably good that she married Phil (Ty Burrell) to help her balance her out. Jay’s youngest, Mitchell (Jesse Tyler Ferguson) and his partner Cameron (Eric Stonestreet) have just adopted a daughter and are still trying to figure out this parenting thing.

Modern Family features the most hilarious collection of characters since Arrested Development. Express Christmas and Election Day are two of the most hilarious episodes of TV I saw this year.

While Modern Family is hilarious, what makes it a truly great show is how it handles the dramatic moments. All of the characters, including the children, are fully developed and show real heart. It’s heart has never been more evident than it is in the third season. Episodes like Leap Day and Baby on Board display the full power of this sitcom, winding seamlessly from comedy to dramatic family moments.

Three seasons in and Modern Family is still going strong. I think this might be my favorite season of the show yet.

5 out of 5 Stars

Video & Audio Quality: Most sitcoms on TV are not known for being particularly demo-worthy material, and while you may not be blown away by Modern Family, you would be hard pressed to have any gripes with it. The third season is presented cleanly and features really amazing textures. Things like Cam’s clown makeup and Gloria’s dresses are rich with color as the rest of the characters feature a more neutral palette.

The sound for sitcoms tends to be very front-heavy and Modern Family is no different. Modern Family typically features side-conversations, characters talking under their breath and voiceovers, all of which are presented cleanly and with good separation. A lot of times shows that feature as much fast-paced dialogue as Modern Family tend to have muddy sound mixes, but not this show. I was very impressed by the video and audio presentation.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Special Features:

• Deleted Scenes: There are a handful of deleted and extended scenes on each disc in the set. In total there are about 20 minutes of extra scenes, most of which are pretty entertaining.

• Behind-the-Scenes Series: The set has 7 different featurettes about the making of a specific episode or scene. It makes the process of making the show seem fun, but unfortunately watching them isn’t quite as entertaining.

2 out of 5 Stars

Overall: For any fan of the show this is a must-buy. If you aren’t already a fan of the show you should buy this set anyway because you’ll quickly learn what you’re missing.

4.5 out of 5 Stars

Nathan

Nathan enjoys film, music, sports and most of all, speaking in the third person.

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Show Review: When Louie premiered in 2010 I was excited. I am a fan of Louis C.K.’s comedy but had mixed feelings about his HBO show Lucky Louie. I was interested to see what he would do when he had more control over his own show and I have not been disappointed.

Louie follows a semi-autobiographical version of Louis C.K as he navigates single-life, fatherhood and the life of a comic.

The second season of Louie has my favorite episode of the show and one of my all-time favorite sitcom episodes, “Duckling”, which follows Louie as he goes on a USO tour in Afghanistan unaware that his daughter has packed a baby duck in his luggage to keep him safe.

If you haven’t seen the first season you aren’t missing out on important plot pieces as each episode is almost like a stand-alone short film (sometimes 2 or 3 separate vignettes within an episode).

5 out of 5 stars

Video Quality: The video quality of Louie is great. I didn’t notice any negative digital artifacts or haloing. Night scenes are usually difficult to capture because of the amount of darkness which can be compressed too much by the camera or the Blu-Ray compression. The Second Season of Louie features lots of night scenes and luckily features no squashing of the black levels in the shadows.

While you won’t grab this movie to show off a new TV, the Blu-Ray presents it well. It’s not horrible looking, it’s just obvious that Louis C.K. has other priorities.

4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Audio Quality: The audio quality of Louie is just as accurate but unimpressive. All of the dialogue is captured clearly and you are never wondering what is being said (even though Louie mumbles a lot). That being said, your surround channels will not be given much of a workout as there is rarely anything in the sound design that goes beyond the front speakers.

4 out of 5 Stars

Special Features:

Commentary Tracks on Select Episodes: There are commentary tracks on the first few episodes and it feels like he started doing commentaries for all of the episodes and either ran out of time or interest in it. They are still pretty funny.

The only special feature on the discs are commentaries on a handful of episodes. While the commentary tracks featuring Louis C.K. are great and very informative, there is just not a lot of bonus stuff here, sadly.

2 out of 5 Stars

Overall: Your interest in the show is probably entirely dependent on your thoughts about Louis C.K. His comedy can take a few episode to get used to because of his honesty and vulgarity but once you do you will probably have a good time. There aren’t a whole lot of special features here that increase the value of the Blu-Ray but the show is so good that it doesn’t really matter.

4 ½ out of 5 Stars

Nathan

Nathan enjoys film, music, sports and most of all, speaking in the third person.

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Season 1 of the Fox show Bob’s Burgers came out on DVD on April 17th and is currently in its 2nd season.

For those of you who already fell in love with the show last season, this DVD is a must buy. Also, the discs look like the toppings and patti of a hamburger!

Creator Loren Bouchard (co-creator of Home Movies, voice of character Brendon Small,  creator of Lucy: The Daughter of the Devil) brings this wacky family to life on DVD loaded with extras.

Bob’s Burgers follows Bob Belcher , voiced by H. Jon Benjamin (“Archer”) and this wife and three kids. The youngest bunny-ear wearing daughter, Louise, is voiced by Kristen Schaal (“Flight of the Concords”).  I love the character of Louise but I have to say that Tina sometimes steals the show. She has a deep voice (she is voice by a guy, just like her mother Linda is) and is as socially awkward as everyone makes Meg from family guy out to be only more eccentric. That character and her dynamic with the other siblings make the show.

This is a fresh new animated quirky family show that gives you something different from the likes of Family Guy or even The Simpsons.

Andrew

Avid movie goer, music aficionado and Netflix junkie. I also strive to quote Jurassic Park on a daily basis and I sing like no one is listening when in the car.

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TV Show Review: Before getting this Blu-Ray for review I had never seen the Killing or the Danish show from which it is adapted so I really didn’t know what to expect. After watching one episode I was hooked and couldn’t stop (I may have watched the entire season in a marathon session). The Killing follows two detectives in Seattle as they try to solve the murder of a young girl, Rosie Larsen. The series follows the detectives, shows the Larsen family in mourning and has some really fun political dealings.

4 out of 5 stars

Video Review: The Killing is a modern noir and because of that so much happens in thick shadows and in the rain so there are a lot of dark scenes. I understand that film will have grain, but it is so obvious and apparent in the show that it is almost distracting at times. I had a friend who is just an average joe and not super interested in video and audio presentation and he even pointed it out. That being said, I don’t think it is actually the transfers fault and it actually gives an accurate representation to the  creators’ intentions.

2.5 out of 5 stars

Audio Review: While the video quality leaves something to be desired, the audio quality is quite good. The Blu-Ray does a great job of capturing all of the moody atmosphere of the show. Most of the action still takes place in the front channels, but there are still some good surround effects to keep the rears engaged.

3.5 out of 5 stars

Special Features:

• Audio Commentary: There are 2 commentary tracks in this Blu-Ray set (the pilot and the finale). On the pilot episode the show’s creator talks a lot about what went in to adapting The Killing for American TV. It is quite interesting to note some of the differences. The other commentary is also quite good. It features the creator, a writer and the lead actress discussing the making of the show in retrospect.

• An Autopsy of The Killing: This is a very brief feature that discusses why this show is different from most other TV investigation dramas. It isn’t particularly great or informative.

• Deleted Scenes: These are mostly extended or alternate takes of scenes. There are a lot of short snippets with no dialogue that are just scene introductions with no context. These are skippable unless you are REALLY interested in deleted scenes.

• Gag Reel: I was kind of surprised that this show had a gag reel as there is almost no comedy in the show at all. While it seems a little bit out-of-place it was fun to see the actors’ humor.

  2.5 out of 5 stars

Overall: While the extras aren’t particularly great and the video quality won’t blow you away the show is excellent. I would recommend purchasing this just based solely on the quality of the series. I came in not knowing a whole lot about the show and now I can’t wait until season 2 starts on April first.

Nathan

Nathan enjoys film, music, sports and most of all, speaking in the third person.

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