Star Wars’ barely there same-sex kiss cut from Rise of Skywalker in Singapore - The Verge

Star Wars’ first same-sex kiss has been cut from The Rise of Skywalker in Singapore. The blink-and-you-might-miss-it moment takes place near the film’s end, when two peripheral characters share a quick smooch among celebrations. According to The Guardian, the kiss was clipped from the film in order to keep its PG-13 rating.

Singapore does not recognize same-sex marriage; sex between men is illegal and punishable by law. Films featuring LGBTQ content are subject to censorship or harsh ratings. Disney did not respond to a request for comment about the clip’s removal before publication.

It’s taken nine main series films and a handful of spinoffs for Star Wars to get its first LGBTQ representation. While many fans had hoped that the series might break real ground by establishing a romance between characters Finn and Poe in Rise of Skywalker, those hopes were quashed early.

In an interview ahead of the film’s release with Variety, J.J. Abrams said, “In the case of the LGBTQ community, it was important to me that people who go to see this movie feel that they’re being represented in the film.” The actual in-film kiss has since been criticized as a throwaway moment that does little to further representation.

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2019-12-24 14:08:11Z
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The Significance of Rey’s Lightsaber at the End of ‘Rise of Skywalker’ - The Ringer

Though The Rise of Skywalker spent much of its running time returning to old ideas, the film’s final scene did offer something new. After defeating her grandfather, Emperor Palpatine, and ending the Sith threat (at least for now), Rey journeys to Tatooine. There, outside of Luke’s childhood home, she buries his and Leia’s lightsabers, before igniting her own, crafted from the staff we first saw her wield on Jakku. That much is normal; building a lightsaber is common practice among Jedi. It’s what happens when she ignites it that is exciting.

Unlike Luke or Leia’s sabers—green and blue, respectively—Rey’s is yellow, marking the first time a weapon of that color has graced the big screen (though it’s been seen with some frequency in Star Wars television shows).

Across the nine films of the Skywalker saga, we see only four colors of saber. Jedi like Obi-Wan Kenobi and Anakin Skywalker used blue lightsabers, while Yoda favored a green saber. The Sith use red lightsabers, and because Samuel L. Jackson wanted to stand out in a crowded battle scene, Mace Windu was granted a purple lightsaber.

As Jyn Erso explains in Rogue One, lightsabers are powered by kyber crystals—a rare Force-attuned shard scattered across the galaxy. Think of them as the battery that powers the blades. When first acquired, kyber crystals are colorless, but they take on a color depending on who finds them, and what that person does to them. Each color of kyber crystal has meaning, and the wider Star Wars canon has seen almost every possible hue imaginable represented. Even within colors, there are subsets that differentiate sabers. Obi-Wan’s third saber, for example, was a “medium blue,” while Anakin Skywalker’s first was “deep blue.” By now, though, there’s enough Star Wars lore to classify lightsaber colors based on defining characteristics:

• Blue lightsabers are the most common among Jedi, and favored by Jedi Guardians. Typically, a blue saber indicates that the user is highly skilled in battle, and the Jedi Guardians were known as the best fighters in the order.
• Green lightsabers are the second most popular among Jedi, and are used by the Jedi Consular, the Jedi class that was often sent on diplomatic missions. The Jedi who use green sabers prefer communication to combat, and are often strong with the Force.
• Red lightsabers are the weapon of choice for the Sith. To turn a crystal red, a force user has to pump negative emotions like hate or rage into it, in a process known as bleeding.
• Purple lightsabers are rare among the Jedi; the only two characters from the main films known to use one were Mace Windu and Ki-Adi-Mundi (who used a blue saber in the films, but had a purple saber in his youth). Purple sabers indicate the Jedi holding them fights with an aggressive style, and understands both the light and dark sides of the force.
• White lightsabers are typically used by Imperial knights, and were made most famous by Ahsoka Tano, a Jedi who was once Anakin Skywalker’s apprentice, and who left the order before making appearances in Star Wars Rebels.
• Black lightsabers are extremely rare. There’s been only one ever shown: Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian child in the Jedi order, used one, known as the Darksaber.
• Orange lightsabers are the newest in the canon, first seen in the 2019 video game Jedi: Fallen Order. In the decanonized spheres of the Star Wars universe, there were only a handful of characters to use an orange blade.

Which brings us to Rey’s new yellow lightsaber. In Star Wars lore, the yellow saber isn’t as rare as it has been on the big screen. Jedi Sentinels, who sought balance between the Consulars (who were strong with the force) and Guardians (who were skilled in battle), used yellow blades. In the animated series Star Wars Rebels and Star Wars: The Clone Wars, Jedi temple guards wielded yellow lightsabers, as did Dathomirian Nightsister/onetime Sith assassin Asajj Ventress. And before she switched to her white sabers, Ahsoka Tano owned a yellow blade, as well.

That Rey finishes her arc with a yellow lightsaber is noteworthy. The Sentinels who made the color famous were masters in both combat and Force use, were often excellent spies, and made for excellent defenders of the Jedi order. And they were few and far between: Even in the animated series, Sentinels were relatively uncommon, sparser than the Guardians or Consulars. But in many ways, the yellow saber makes sense for Rey. She’s shown herself to be highly skilled with a saber, going back to her first battle with Kylo when, as an untrained fighter on the snowy surface of Ilum (a planet known for its large quantities of kyber crystals), she more than held her own. As the trilogy progressed, so too did her skill in swordplay—shout-out to the Throne Room Scene—and with the Force, as well, even to the point that she couldn’t believe what she was doing.

Only time will tell whether Rey is indeed the last Jedi, as the finale of the trilogy’s second film would suggest, but her choice of lightsaber color indicates a protective instinct in line with her story arc. Rey loves and defends her friends, has shown skill in both battle and with the Force, and holds the Jedi order in high regard, as proved when she swiped the ancient Jedi texts from Luke’s hideaway on Ahch-To. While we may not know what happens to her next, if her saber is any indication, the future of the galaxy is secure—at least for now.

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2019-12-24 11:00:00Z
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The Rise of Skywalker: Disney cuts Star Wars same-sex kiss in Singapore - BBC News

Disney has cut a brief scene of two women kissing in the Singaporean version of its latest Star Wars film.

The Rise of Skywalker features the first same-sex kiss in the franchise's history - described by reviewers as "a brief flash of two women kissing... among a crowd of characters".

But the version released in Singapore omits the scene.

Singapore's media regulatory body told the BBC that Disney cut the scene so it didn't get a higher age rating.

"The applicant has omitted a brief scene which under the film classification guidelines would require a higher rating," said a spokesperson from IMDA.

Without the kiss, the film is rated PG13 in Singapore.

It is not clear if Disney - the owners of Lucasfilm, the Star Wars production company - cut the scene in other countries. It was reportedly shown in China but not in the UAE.

Disney has not responded to the BBC's requests for comment.

Films in Singapore are typically classed under six different ratings:

• G (General)
• PG (Parental Guidance)
• PG13 (Parental Guidance 13)
• NC16 (No children under 16)
• M18 (Restricted to those above 18) and
• R21 (Restricted to those above 21)

It is not clear what rating the film would have had if the same-sex scene was included. A previous gay teen rom-com, Love Simon, was rated R21 by the IMDA.

In comparison, Love Simon is rated PG13 on movie listing site IMDB.

Brokeback Mountain, which featured two gay cowboys, was aired in Singapore in its entirety in 2006 - but was similarly hit with an R21 listing.

• Another hit for Star Wars despite falling sales
• Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker in 20 sound bites

Same-sex marriages are not recognised in Singapore and gay sex is illegal - though the law is not enforced.

There are gay bars and clubs in Singapore, as well as an annual pride rally.

In 2018, a gay Singaporean man won a landmark case allowing him to adopt a child he fathered through a surrogate.

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2019-12-24 08:01:41Z
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The Rise Of Skywalker Update Shows How Far Battlefront II Has Come - Kotaku

Star Wars: The Rise Of Skywalker is upon us, ending the sequel trilogy and sparking plenty of debate. The final chapter of Rey and Kylo Ren’s story brings new locations and evil goons, some of which have been added to Star Wars Battlefront II. This batch of content rounds out what was initially a troubled game, and it also feels like an end of sorts. Battlefront II’s had a long journey, but now that it spans the nine major films it finally feels complete.

Battlefront II’s new content, added last week with the release of The Rise of Skywalker in theaters, isn’t as dramatic an addition as its Clone Wars content expansions. Those added huge new maps like Geonosis and greatly expanded Battlefront II’s scope. The additions for The Rise of Skywalker are more about finally bringing the Sequel Trilogy content up to snuff with everything else. It’s been a slow drip, as content needed to match up with film releases. At launch, there wasn’t nearly as much going on for the next generation of Star Wars within Battlefront II. That changed as The Last Jedi brought new heroes and maps. This new update brings special units and a new location that bring the Resistance and First Order factions to life.

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Surprisingly, it’s not the new map that does the heavy lifting. There is another battlefield—the tropical and dense Ajan Kloss— but it’s not a huge shift from what’s come before. Players have already blasted through the forests on Endor and the outskirts of Takodana. Ajan Kloss keeps the feel of those foliage packed maps. The wide open outside eventually narrows into a battle inside a Resistance base. This usually means the First Order needs to be more aggressive, else the good guys dig in hard to repel their attack. That’s all well and good, but it’s made more exciting for new characters and support units. Battlefront II might be a game about heroes and villains, but there’s plenty of room for sidekicks too.

The Rise of Skywalker’s new units add a much more furious. The Resistance, for instance, has a beefy new support unit— the Ovissian Gunner— whose beefy chaingun can fire incredibly fast or be modified to fire huge explosive rounds. It means players can hunker down to fight off tons of rushing infantry but also gives a means to annoy enemy vehicles. Meanwhile, the First Order gains rocket jumping jet troopers and red-armored Sith Trooper who can scan for nearby targets or toss grenades that prevent opponents from healing. The resulting mix of units and fighters increases the pace. It means relying less on heroes like Kylo Ren, Rey, or Finn. There’s more options for spending your battle points, more units to hop into and cause havoc with. It brings personality to each faction as well. The Resistance and First Order never felt fleshed out compared to factions like the Empire or Republic. Now, there’s a greater sense of the Sequel Trilogy’s fresh new era. There’s more on the way, as well, including the curious but certainly adorable addition of BB8 as a hero character next month.

Battlefront II released to immense controversy thanks to shaky game modes and gameplay altering lootbox rewards. That was two years ago, and the game has grown into something far better. Battlefront II is not what it was. It’s added more dogfighting battles, tons of heroes and new looks, additional maps, and expansions that have shaped it into a proper road trip through the franchise’s biggest moments. The Rise of Skywalker has the impossible task of ending a franchise and time will tell how fans look at it. Battlefront II had what felt like another impossible task: win back fans. Slowly but surely it has, and The Rise of Skywalker provides a perfect capstone to the journey. Maybe there will be more content and excitement to come but now that we’ve journeyed to this point, Battlefront II feels complete.

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2019-12-23 22:30:00Z
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'Star Wars: Rise of Skywalker' wins weekend box office but fails to match its recent predecessors - Fox News

"Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker" may have won the weekend's box office, but the Skywalker finale couldn't match its recent predecessors on opening weekend. Still, it amassed a $175.5 million debut that ranked as the third-largest weekend of the year.

The Force was a little less strong with J.J. Abrams' latest film, which came in with worse reviews than any “Star Wars” movie except for 1999's “The Phantom Menace,” which famously heralded the debut of Jar Jar Binks. “The Rise of Skywalker” has a 57% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences, too, were relatively lukewarm to the movie, giving it a B+ CinemaScore.

While Disney had cautiously estimated about a $165 million opening, analysts had predicted “The Rise of Skywalker” would rake in $200 million.

CLINT EASTWOOD'S 'RICHARD JEWELL' FLOPS AT THE BOX OFFICE IN ITS OPENING WEEKEND DESPITE CRITICAL ACCLAIM

This image released by Lucasfilm shows Adam Driver as Kylo Ren, left, and Daisy Ridley as Rey in a scene from "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." (Lucasfilm via AP)

“The Rise of Skywalker” pulled in $374 million worldwide, according to studio estimates Sunday. The film was especially lackluster in China, where all “Star Wars” films have struggled. It grossed $12.1 million in the world's second largest movie marketplace.

Though it proved divisive with fans, 2017's “Last of the Jedi," directed by Rian Johnson, opened with $220 million and ultimately grossed $1.3 billion worldwide. Abrams' own “The Force Awakens” set a then-record in 2015 with a $248 million debut and sold more than $2 billion in global tickets.

With the coming holiday period, “Rise of Skywalker” is poised to dominate the year's most lucrative week of moviegoing. Cathleen Taff, distribution chief for Disney, called it a great start.

“With critics, we've seen that our movies have received lower scores than not but that they continue to do business because they're great quality movies for the moviegoer," said Taff. "Audiences are generally responding really positively to the film.

'STAR WARS' CELEBRITY CAMEOS THROUGH THE YEARS

This image released by Disney/Lucasfilm shows Daisy Ridley as Rey in a scene from "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." (Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd.)

“We know that people are very passionate about ‘Star Wars’ and have very strong opinions about it. And we're fine with that," added Taff. "We think it's inspiring to see so many people who want to prompt a discussion around a film.”

Such expectations did not await Tom Hooper's adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webber's “Cats.” The much ridiculed big-screen musical, featuring infamous “digital fur technology,” scratched out just $6.5 million in ticket sales, sending Mr. Mistoffelees (and Universal Pictures) home licking their wounds.

The $100 million production, featuring an ensemble including Jennifer Hudson, Judi Dench, James Corden, Idris Elba, Ian McKellen and Taylor Swift, came in behind projections and opened in a distant fourth place. The movie drew an 18% fresh score on Rotten Tomatoes and a C-plus CinemaScore from audiences.

'STAR WARS: THE RISE OF SKYWALKER' WON'T FEATURE BABY YODA, ACCORDING TO J.J. ABRAMS

“Even modest opening in this extraordinary lucrative corridor can prove very kind to films," said Jim Orr, chief of distribution for Universal. He anticipates the film's strongest demographic — older moviegoers — will be most available over the holidays. "Our scores from those who are 55 and up are very good and very encouraging.”

Holdovers “Jumanji: The Next Level" ($26.1 million in its second weekend) and “Frozen 2” ($12.3 million in its fifth weekend) both surpassed “Cats.”

This image released by Disney/Lucasfilm shows, from left, Joonas Suotamo as Chewbacca, Oscar Isaac as Poe Dameron, Daisy Ridley as Rey and John Boyega as Finn in a scene from "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker." (Disney/Lucasfilm Ltd. via AP)

“Rise of Skywalker” culminated a tumultuous period in “Star Wars," finishing off both a trilogy and nine-film cycle begun 42 years ago by George Lucas. In 2012, Disney acquired Lucasfilm for $4 billion. While its stewardship of “Star Wars” has drawn enormous box-office proceeds, “The Rise of Skywalker" had its work cut out in trailing both the much-debated “Last of the Jedi” and the 2018 dud “Solo: A Star Wars Story.”

DAISY RIDLEY REVEALS WHAT SHE SWIPED FROM THE 'STAR WARS' SET AFTER FILMING

In November, Disney chief executive Bob Iger told investors that “Star Wars” will go “into a hiatus” after “Rise of Skywalker.” The next “Star Wars” movie, which is to be set outside the Skywalker saga, isn't scheduled for release until 2022. “Game of Thrones” makers David Benioff and D.B. Weiss recently pulled out of planned “Star Wars” trilogy.

Lately, “Star Wars” has also been a hit on the small screen, too. “The Mandalorian” helped launch the Disney Plus streaming service. To make way for “Rise of Skywalker,” the latest episode of “The Mandalorian” debuted on Wednesday, instead of Friday.

But Disney can still make considerable demands on theaters for “Star Wars" films. Disney charges theaters 65% of ticket sales, or about 10 percentage points more than standard, for “Star Wars” releases, and requires a run of four weeks.

Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for Comscore, said “Rise of Skywalker” could only be painted by others as a disappointment because of the franchise’s and the studio’s extraordinary track record. The film will likely become Disney’s seventh $1 billion release of the year (a record) and give the studio seven of the top 10 films of the year.

“It's time to devote a lot of attention to the streaming environment for ‘Star Wars’ and then come back with a vengeance,” said Dergarabedian." There's a lot of lessons to be learned and certainly from this latest installment."

'STAR WARS' A LOOK BACK AT THE FRANCHISE BEFORE 'THE RISE OF SKYWALKER'

“Rise of Skywalker” helped improve the shortfall at the box office compared to last year, but ticket sales are still running 4.6% behind 2018, according to Comscore.

Below find estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theaters, according to Comscore. Where available, the latest international numbers for Friday through Sunday are also included.

1. "Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker," $175.5 million ($198 million international).

2. “Jumanji: The Next Level,” $26.1 million ($32.6 million international).

3. “Frozen 2,” $12.3 million ($31.6 million international).

4. “Cats,” $6.5 million ($4.4 million international).

5. “Knives Out,” $6.1 million.

6. “Bombshell,” $5.1 million.

7. “Richard Jewell,” $2.6 million.

8. “Queen & Slim,” $1.9 million.

9. “Black Christmas,” $1.8 million.

10. “Ford v Ferrari,” $1.8 million.

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2019-12-23 12:56:51Z
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Eddie Murphy returns to Saturday Night Live after 35 years - CNN

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2019-12-23 12:53:36Z
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Pete Wentz Pleased with 'Rise of Skywalker,' Says We're 'Star Wars' Spoiled - TMZ

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Pete Wentz gives the third in the 'Star Wars' trilogy his stamp of approval, but after a 42-year journey amassing millions of fans and billions of dollars ... he doesn't expect everyone to agree.

The Fall Out Boy bassist was out in Studio City, and we got him shortly after he took in 'The Rise of Skywalker' ... which he tells us he liked a lot, and calls "an amazing fairy tale."

Pete does admit there were some parts of the film he wasn't totally into, but settles on it being "pretty darn good" ... which is much better than what many folks felt about 'The Last Jedi.'

Still processing #TheRiseOfSkywalker - a lot to take in and a lot of heart. My entire life has been wrapped up in this story. I wanted to thank anyone who has ever worked on @starwars for creating the fairy tale of our generations ❤️💫 pic.twitter.com/a28hOeUFb6

— pw (@petewentz) December 17, 2019 @petewentz

Wentz addresses that too, telling us "spoiled" fans should consider themselves lucky to be debating the quality of new 'Star Wars' projects -- and whether the partnership with Disney helped or hurt them -- because when he was a kid ... all of this seemed unimaginable.

He also urges fans to have fun while debating the films with each other online and elsewhere, and if there are disagreements ... just be respectful.

Of course, disagreements don't seem to apply to one aspect of the 'Star Wars' universe ... Pete says he's witnessed its unifying awesomeness firsthand.

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2019-12-23 08:50:00Z
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