The IPC Podcast LIVE #260 | X-Men: The Last Stand

On this episode Jake and Ben tackle the final chapter of the original X-Men film trilogy, discussing the 2013 film X-Men: The Last Stand! They break down all aspects of the film, from the amazingly good bits, to the outrageously bad. The discuss the film's biggest plot points, including the mutant cure, Jean Grey's downfall, and how those storylines work together in the film. The touch on the biggest moments, the surprising character losses, and the legacy The Last Stand leaves 13 years later. Plus, the talk about some of the latest Star Wars news, including a new comic cover that reveals brand new information about the mysterious Knights of Ren. Listen for all that and much more!

IPC On Demand - Podbean | iTunes | Google Play | CastBox

Listen Live Every Friday Night At 10:00pm ET On Channel 1138!

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Video: Watch The Last Jedi's Amazing Throne Room Battle In 16-Bit

By: Benjamin Hart

After a fantastic recreation of Kylo Ren and Luke Skywalker's now-iconic confrontation on Crait, Mr Sunday Movies is back with another 16-bit scene from Star Wars: The Last Jedi! This time, with the help of animator John Stratman, Mr Sunday has released a new 16-bit video, this time being a version of the scene that many have praised as the best in the film; Snoke's throne room brawl.

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Adam Driver Also Wins 'Movie Villain' Teen Choice Award

By: Benjamin Hart

On Sunday night the 2016 Teen Choice Awards aired and the news quickly spread that Daisy Ridley, who portrayed Rey in last year's Star Wars: The Force Awakens, had one the award for "Movie Breakout Star". Now it has also come to our attention that her co-star, Adam Driver, won the award for "Movie Villain" for his role as Kylo Ren in The Force Awakens.

Other nominees in that category included Daniel Brühl(Captain America: Civil War), Jesse Eisenberg(Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice), Aidan Gillen(Maze Runner: The Scorch Trials), Charlize Theron(The Huntsman: Winter’s War) and Ed Skrein(Deadpool).

Big congrats to Adam Driver, as well as Daisy Ridley, for their much deserved wins!

Source: Fox

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Adam Savage Went Incognito As Kylo Ren At San Diego Comic Con

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By: Benjamin Hart

Although most will know Adam Savage as a "Mythbuster" from the incredibly popular television series that ran from 2003 until earlier this year, some might not be aware of his passion for cosplay. Savage has created and worn numerous costumes over the years and has made a tradition of attending San Diego Comic Con every year "incognito" as a plethora of different characters. In doing so, Savage challenges his fellow Comic Con attendees to try and spot him in his masked ensemble.

Now that we're a few weeks removed from San Diego Comic Con Savage and his team have begun to officially unveil the costumes he wore at the convention. This year he cosplayed as two different characters, the first being the bear from The Revenant and the second is Kylo Ren from Star Wars: The Force Awakens.

On Savage's YouTube channel, Tested, a video was posted showing of his experience walking the Comic Con show floor while wearing the Kylo Ren costume, which was created by ANOVOS. You can see the video below:



StarWars.com also spoke with Adam Savage about his incognito preperation and experiences in an interview, which you can check out here!

Adam is no stranger to the Star Wars saga, having previously worked for Industrial Light & Magic building miniatures for The Phantom Menace and Attack Of The Clones. 

Source: StarWars.com

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J.J. Abrams Wants A Knights Of Ren Anthology Film

By: Benjamin Hart

This new era of Star Wars not only introduced us to a brand new trilogy of numbered films, but also the series of standalone Anthology films. The Anthology series, or "A Star Wars Story" films, present seemingly endless possibilities for what a Star Wars film could be. Rogue One and the still untitled young Han Solo film are already proving to be vastly different from what we've seen before, and there's already talk of what the next slate of films could be.

It appears that even J.J. Abrams, director of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, has his own ideas about what would make a great standalone Star Wars film. In a recent interview with Collider, while promoting his latest film, Star Trek Beyond, Abrams was what kind of Anthology film he would like to see in the future. His response is very intriguing:

“I gotta say Kathy Kennedy, who’s running it all, she seems to be pushing all the right buttons. There isn’t something that I’d love to see—I guess the one thing I would say is there’s a Knights of Ren story that I think would be pretty cool to tell.”

It sounds like this is not just a pipe dream on J.J.'s part. Being one the creators behind the Knights of Ren and the entire Sequel Trilogy, I'm sure he has a specific idea in mind. The mysterious knights, which are said to be led by Kylo Ren, are a story element that was barely touched on in The Force Awakens. It would be incredibly interesting to learn more about them, not just through the upcoming saga films, but via their own Anthology film.

Would you like to see a film focused on the Knights Of Ren? Would you, perhaps, want to see J.J. Abrams return to direct such a film? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Source: Collider

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Production Images Of Upcoming Kylo Ren Black Series Figure Surface

By: Benjamin Hart

Star Wars collectors have a lot to look forward to over the next few weeks! Recently Hasbro unveiled, among other products, a brand new 6-inch Black Series Kylo Ren figure that is helmetless and includes a melted Darth Vader helmet and a First Order banner. The figure will be available at Star Wars Celebration Europe later this week, San Diego Comic Con next week, and at Fan Expo Canada in September.

Yesterday, Hasbro shared previously unseen production photos of the figure on a new Instagram account titled Hasbro Pulse. In addition to some photos showing the figures at different stages of production, we also get a glimpse at the box art. You can check them all out below:

Prototype of the new #StarWars #BlackSeries #KyloRen figure, including a very early sculpt of the #Vader helmet. It's not unusual to see bright colors (like blue) during this stage of development.

A photo posted by Hasbro (@hasbropulse) on Jul 11, 2016 at 2:18pm PDT

Our model artist carefully painting an early prototype for the new #StarWars #BlackSeries #KyloRen figure

A photo posted by Hasbro (@hasbropulse) on Jul 11, 2016 at 2:15pm PDT

Digital sculpt images for the new #StarWars #BlackSeries #KyloRen figure, based on 3D scans of the actor

A photo posted by Hasbro (@hasbropulse) on Jul 11, 2016 at 2:14pm PDT

Package illustration for the new #StarWars #BlackSeries #KyloRen figure, revealed last week!

A photo posted by Hasbro (@hasbropulse) on Jul 11, 2016 at 2:13pm PDT

To see more photos and information about this figure, as well as the new Ben Kenobi figure, click here!

Source: Hasbro Pulse
Via: FlyGuy

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Preview Of 'Star Wars: The Force Awakens #1' Comic Released

By: Benjamin Hart

You've seen the movie countless times, now it's time to read it! Very soon Marvel will be releasing the first issue of their comic book adaptation of Star Wars: The Force Awakens. Thanks to Comic Book Resources we have a new preview of the comic, which is set for release on June 22nd. This sneak peak gives us a number of page from the comic which cover the beginning of the film's story, including the attack on the Jakku village and Rey's introduction. In addition, we get a look at several variant covers. You can see it all below, along with the official description:

"It's true—all of it! The biggest movie of the year jumps from the big screen to the comic book page! It's been three decades since the Rebel Alliance destroyed the Death Star and toppled the Galactic Empire...but now, on the remote planet of Jakku...there is a stirring in the Force. A young scavenger named Rey...a deserting stormtrooper named Finn...an ace pilot name Poe...and a dark apprentice named Kylo Ren...Their lives are about to collide as the awakening begins. Written by Chuck Wendig (STAR WARS: AFTERMATH) and drawn by Luke Ross (HERCULES), take us on our first steps back into the Saga of a lifetime!"

Source: Comic Book Resources

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Michael Kaplan Discusses Creating The Costumes Of 'The Force Awakens'

By: Benjamin Hart

One of the most iconic elements of any Star Wars film are its costumes. Star Wars: The Force Awakens introduced a plethora of costumes, both for returning characters and brand new faces. Costume Designer Michael Kaplan was the man in charge of creating all the amazing costumes seen in the film, and recently IGN caught up with him to discuss his work. In addition, they also revealed some previously unseen pieces of concept art from the film. You can check it out some highlights below:

Kaplan first talked about improving on previous costumes that were bothersome to the wearers:

"Everybody who was coming back had some complaints about their previous costumes, so it was my job to correct those issues. There were shirts collars for Harrison that would drive him crazy, boots that were uncomfortable, and C-3PO’s costume was a nightmare to get in and out of and pinched as well. So, it was an honor to be able to go back and adjust those things."

He also discussed the development of Rey's costume:

"We knew she was going to be in a world of men doing things like climbing and dealing with rocket parts and living this Spartan life, so we had to make her practical, but we also wanted a glimmer of femininity about her. I also knew there were going to be sandstorms and dust, so I wanted the character to be in light colors. It also felt right for her emotionally and for the desert. It also felt very Star Wars especially when you look back at Luke and Leia."

"We eventually gave her a wrap, which could protect her face against dust storms. Everything is there for a reason, but it gives her a very beautiful image when all the pieces are put together. Rey wears the costume throughout the film, although we had 25 copies made and about 12 pairs of boots."

And he also details Finn's look once he sheds his Stormtrooper armor:

"We started by thinking about what a stormtrooper would wear under their armor. In the original movies, they wore leotards but that’s not something we want our leading man running around in, so we ended up with a black jean pant and more of a shirt than a leotard. But we didn’t want him all in black, so thankfully the desert covers everything with dust and makes the white shoes dark and the clothes dusty. Then when you put on the leather jacket, you have a very different look."

"We painted on red patches of acrylic paint [on the leather jacket] and then wiped them back so they got ingrained in the leather to give it more depth and character. Then we put it through various washes, adding oils and wiping them off. We’ve also added a solution of permanent dust as, of course, normal dust would fall off."

Kaplan further reveals the daunting process of creating Kylo Ren's costume, along with the Resistance and First Order garb. You can read the full interview here, as well as see all the new concept art!

Source: IGN

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Matthew Wood & David Acord Discuss The Sounds Of 'The Force Awakens' With Nerdist

By: Benjamin Hart

The sound designers behind Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens have been getting a lot of much deserved attention recently through interviews and even awards. Supervising sound editors Matthew Wood and David Acord are widely know for their work in the Star Wars saga and deserve much credit for not only mixing in classic sounds but also creating new ones, even providing their own voices in many instances. Just recently Wood and Acord spoke with Nerdist about the sound design of The Force Awakens. They cover a variety of sounds and how they created them, including Kylo Ren's Lightsaber, Teedo, the Rathtars, and further discussed the various voices in the film, which included David Acord's now infamous portrayal of FN-2199(Traitor!!). You can check out a few excerpts from the extensive interview below:

Nerdist: Star Wars is, more than any other film, I think, known for its unique sound. Can you talk about some of the new sounds you designed for The Force Awakens?

David Acord: I think the most obvious new sound effect in the movie is Kylo’s lightsaber. We were attempting, along with his Force power effect, to create sound effects that would mimic his persona, which is this raw power he has that’s not quite formed. He’s not well trained, but he’s extremely powerful. It’s a little wild and dangerous. The sword itself, the look of the sword has the extra darts coming out the side, and it’s really sparky and wavery and it looks a little homemade. The idea of the sound was to match that–something that sounds like raw energy, just pure power, very brutal and kind of wild and dangerous sounding.

The Force sound to go along with Kylo had that deep, raw, animalistic sound. It’s a chunky, raw growl that’s supposed to imitate the Force power he wields, which is a little more raw versus Rey’s Force power , which tends to be—in the few moments when she’s using the Force, hers is a little more smooth and rhythmic and like a heartbeat. That’s the contrast between the two.

Nerdist: Since you do contribute to rounding out and developing characters’ personalities with your work, at what point in the story process does your work start?

David Acord: Once you read the script and come on board, early on there’s some obvious pieces [you know] you’re going to need to tackle. I mentioned the sword, there’s some new spaceships, some ambiances. Maz’s bar–you know that’s going to be a whole thing even before you see a frame of it. Then obviously, once you see the image, it all starts to take shape.

I think the first thing that I designed, I was asked to do—there were two things. One was the Teedo character that captures BB-8 in the beginning, the voice for him and then the two junkers that hassle Rey when she’s cleaning pieces of stuff, the voices for those two guys. Those are the earliest design pieces I made, and they’re vocal designs. That’s my favorite thing to do is alien and creature vocals; that was super fun for me.

Nerdist: Along that line, what are some of the weirdest sources you pulled from to design a sound in The Force Awakens?

David Acord: [Laughs] Off the top of my head, the Kylo Ren Force rumble—the really chunky and animalistic rumble—is my cat’s purring. It’s heavily pitched and slowed version of my cat’s purr that becomes Kylo Force rumble.

When the rathtar has his mouth on the cockpit of the Falcon, when it’s trying to eat the cockpit, that is me literally choking myself. [Laughs] Finger down my throat in front of the mic to accomplish that and then it’s pitched down.

Nerdist: Dave, I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you about voicing FN-2199, a.k.a. TR-8R. I know it was part of the “additional voices” recording—how were those recorded and how did “Traitor!” come about?

David Acord: Normally you have a loop group, which is a collection of highly trained, skilled voice actors, gather in a room. There are a couple of microphones, and the movie is projected on a screen and the scenes are tagged or spotted ahead of time [to say], “We need two stormtroopers talking in the background of a hangar here.” That scene will come up, two actors will walk up to the mic, and will ad-lib a performance. Matthew’s expertise is in dialogue and he was very careful to pick loop group actors that were all Star Wars savvy. There are a ton of Clone Wars alums and names from previous Star Wars movies who were cast as loop groupers because they would know what to say and how to properly deal with things like the mundane dialogue two stormtroopers would have.

And then occasionally, you’ll just be working and, “We need this guy to say this right now” and we’ll go record it. That’s another way; it’s on the spot. You find somebody that can do it, and you do it. That’s how FN-2199 happened. Originally, it was J.J. His voice was a temp placeholder, and he wanted to replace it. It went through four other actors, I think, before it landed on my performance and he was okay with it. It’s a really funny thing to me. It’s a cool scene; the stunt actor, Liang Yang, really did all the hard work in that scene, but it’s fun to be part of. I didn’t even know it was a thing on the Internet until Pablo Hidalgo emailed me and asked if he could post on StarWars.com that I was the voice of FN-2199.

You can read the rest of this insightful interview by clicking here, in which they discuss BB-8's voice, the sounds of Maz Kanata's Castle and an interesting Indiana Jones Easter Egg.


Source: Nerdist
Photo: Star Wars Aficionado

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'The Force Awakens' Sound Crew Discusses Creating BB-8 & Kylo Ren's Voices

By: Benjamin Hart

An orchestra of many different elements helped make Star Wars: Episode VII - The Force Awakens so great, and one of the most important things was the sound. Supervising sound editors Matthew Wood and David Acord, along with production sound mixer Stuart Wilson and re-recording mixers Andy Nelson and Christopher Scarabosio all earned Oscar nominations for their work on The Force Awakens. While the film brought back a host of previously heard sounds, it introduced an assortment of brand new ones, all of which had be created from scratch by Episode VII's sound team.

The group recently spoke with the Los Angeles Times about their handiwork in The Force Awakens, specifically detailing the development of the now iconic voices of BB-8 and Kylo Ren, among others things. A portion of the interview can be seen below.

On BB8:

"For the actors to interact with BB-8, the sound team built a receiver and speaker system into five different set versions. "This allowed J.J. to trigger audio from a tablet or a live microphone depending on the situation," Wilson says. In postproduction, Wood and Acord were tasked with developing BB-8's original sound. "J.J. had a lot of interest in the voice of BB-8," Wood says."

""He wanted it to sound distinct enough so if it was outside the doorway, and you couldn't see it, you'd still know it was him. We set J.J. up with a tactical interface so he could be more hands-on in the creative process and have points to touch on a synthesizer, controlling timbre and pitch. We then brought actors in to guide an emotional beat and refined BB-8 until we found its final audio palette," Wood says."

On Kylo Ren:

"On set, Wilson placed a microphone inside [Adam Driver's] mask and attached another one to his chest. "Adam has a great voice, and by placing two mics and combining them in phase, it gave it this larger-than-life quality with a lot of bass and presence." Wood then recorded additional dialogue with Driver using the mask's final post processing. "We don't normally do that kind of thing live with an actor, but it allowed Adam to get more into the character and play with it as an acting tool." It was then up to Nelson to make the dialogue audible. "There's a tendency when you hear a line of dialogue a few times that it becomes clearer in your head even if the audience can't. So I became the gatekeeper and stepped in when we needed to lighten up so the audience wouldn't be left saying, 'What did he say?'""

In addition they discussed the sound mix for Finn's introduction into the film and when Rey discovers her powers. It's all very fascinating and I recommend reading the full article here!

Source: Los Angeles Times

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AMC Theatres Reveals Final IMAX 'The Force Awakens' Poster

By: Benjamin Hart

Over the past few weeks AMC Theatres has been giving away free posters for The Force Awakens to those who buy tickets to IMAX 3D showings of the film on Sundays. This Sunday will be the final day that posters will be up for grabs, and AMC has just revealed the last poster. (You can see the first three here.) They appear to have saved the best for last, as the poster features stunning artwork features Finn and Kylo Ren facing off in the snowy forest of Starkiller Base. Check it out below:

All of the posters have been the work of artist Dan Mumford. Be sure to get your tickets as soon as possible in order to get your hands on one of these awesome posters.

Source: AMC Theatres

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'The Force Awakens' Little Golden Book Revealed

By: Benjamin Hart

Previously the original six films were adapted into the beloved format of Random House's Little Golden Books children's series. Now it appears they are moving into the new era of Star Wars with a brand new book based around The Force Awakens. Penguin Random House has release the cover art and some info about the book, which will reportedly be released on April 12th. It will include 24 pages and costs $4.99. You can see the cover art below:

They also provided a brief description of the book:

"The epic space saga, Star Wars: The Force Awakens, is retold in the iconic Little Golden Book format! Featuring stunning retro illustrations, this book is perfect for Star Wars—and Little Golden Book—fans of all ages!"

It is currently available for pre-order here in hardcover and ebook form.

Source: Penguin Randon House
Via: Jedi-Bibliothek

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Dan Mindel Shares New Behind The Scenes Photos From 'The Force Awakens'

By: Benjamin Hart

Now that we've all seen The Force Awakens several times, it's time to dive deep into the film and go beyond the big screen. Recently some previously unseen behind the scenes photos from The Force Awakens hit the web courtesy of the film's cinematographer Dan Mindel. Over the past few weeks Mindel has been sharing various pictures from the set on his Instagram. One of his most recent photos has been turning a lot of heads because it is a gives us a look at one of The Force Awakens' final scenes being filmed, in which Kylo Ren(Adam Driver) and Finn(John Boyega) square off in Lightsaber amongst the snowy forests of Starkiller Base. Check it out below:

A photo posted by Dan Mindel ASC, BSC (@dan_mindel) on Dec 31, 2015 at 6:50pm PST

It's a particularly interesting shot because it reveals that, despite how real the forest setting looked in the film, it was actually a set. Furthermore we see the two actors wielding Lightsabers that are lit up to mimic what appears on screen. This is a technique that we heard was being utilized for The Force Awakens but had yet to see it in use. In previous Star Wars installments actors would normally fight with various carbon and steel rods and the actual Lightsaber blade effects would be added in in post-production. In one instance in Attack Of The Clones George Lucas made use of lighted Lightsabers in the duel between Count Dooku and Anakin Skywalker which would project light onto the actor's faces in darkened scenes. It appears Director J.J. Abrams has brought back this technique for The Force Awakens and helped create the stunning and authentic Lightsaber effects we see in the film.

Be sure to visit Dan Mindel's Instagram for more photos including shots of Chewbacca, BB-8 & much more!

Source: Dan Mindel(Instagram)

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J.J. Abrams Discusses Why Kylo Ren Idolizes Darth Vader

By: Benjamin Hart

Warning: this article includes spoilers from The Force Awakens. If you have not seen it yet, stop reading and head to your nearest theater!

The Force Awakens seemed to ask as many questions as it answered, especially concerning the villainous Kylo Ren. In the film we learned much about the character and his past and saw more of his idolization of his grandfather Darth Vader. Of course this raises some questions, such as why Kylo chooses to follow in the footsteps of Vader rather than his Light Side alter ego Anakin Skywalker. Gav Murphy from IGN recently caught up with director J.J. Abrams and inquired about this very subject. Abrams' gives a very intriguing answer, and also comments on why Kylo turned to the Dark Side in the first place. You can check out the video below:



Additionally, Pablo Hidalgo of the Lucasfilm Story Group confirmed Kylo's age on Twitter:

@drklrdbill Kylo is about 29-30. Born shortly after VI. Don't know which is the first book to put the planet name in print; but not Tython

— Pablo Hidalgo (@pablohidalgo) December 20, 2015

Kylo's backstory, coupled with Adam Driver's performance, made him one of the standout characters in The Force Awakens. I can't wait to see his story unfold further and learn more about his motivations in future films.

Sources: IGN, Twitter
Via: Club Jade

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New 'The Force Awakens' Images Surface

By: Benjamin Hart

We will be watching a brand new Star Wars movie next week... hard to believe isn't it? We've got just a few days until the premiere of The Force Awakens, and the wait is getting even harder to endure. To help tide us over a bit longer, we just got our hands on some brand new photos from the film courtesy of MovieJones.com. These stunning images give us new looks at the new, and old cast of characters, including Rey, Poe, BB-8, Chewbacca, Leia and Han Solo, as well as an epic new shot of General Hux, Kylo Ren and Captain Phasma on the bridge of a Star Destroyer. We also got a few new behind the scenes shots. You can check them all out below:

Star Wars: Episode VII The Force Awakens hits theaters next Friday, December 18th!

Source: MovieJones.com
Via: Making Star Wars 

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Promotional Images From 'The Force Awakens' Surface

By: Benjamin Hart

The folks at CosmicBookNews are reporting that a collection of promotional images featuring characters and ships from The Force Awakens have been revealed. They come to us via Reddit and show some very detailed looks at Rey, Finn, Kylo Ren, and an assortment of Stortroopers, as well as Poe Dameron's black X-Wing and TIE Fighters. Unlike a lot of photos and artwork we've seen adorning everything from toys to posters, these feature the single characters and ships by themselves on solid backgrounds. We've seen plenty of photos like this from the original six films, but these are the first of their kind from Episode VII.

It's especially intriguing to get a detailed look at these still unknown characters. Below you can see two different photos of John Boyega's Finn, one of which(white background) appears to show Anakin Skywalker's Lightsaber in the right pocket of his jacket, which he now famously wielding in the recent Instagram teaser. In addition we also see Daisy Ridley as Rey striking several different poses, most of which she appears ready for a fight holding mysterious staff. Also, scroll down for looks at the First Order Star Destroyer Finalizer and Kylo Ren's command shuttle.

You can see even more photos by visiting CosmicBookNews!

Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens hits theaters on December 18th in the U.S!

Source: Imgur
Via: CosmicBookNews

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