THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU – Review by Leslie Combemale

At the core of The Mandalorian and Grogu is the celebration of found family, as well as the ever-present power we as individuals have to tell a new story about ourselves, to change our fates and how others see us. The father/son aspect of the film was beautifully rendered, and again, largely performed between a man obscured by a helmet and a puppet, and yet it feels poignant and believable. Is it all done while remaining decidedly “family friendly”? Yes. But given how unfriendly the world feels right now, that seems like a gift of the Jedi.

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THE MANDALORIAN AND GROGU – Review by Susan Granger

The Mandalorian and Grogu is a big-screen spinoff of the Disney+ series The Mandalorian, which made its debut in 2019, introducing a brawny, fully-armored, bounty-hunting Mandalorian warrior Din ‘Mando’ Djarin (Pedro Pascal) and his tiny, always hungry ward Grogu, resembling a Baby Yoda. Director/writer Jon Favreau begins with some fast-paced, high-octane sequences leading into the New Republic’s Colonel Ward dispatching Mando-the-mercenary to capture an evil Imperial warlord.

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Casting Director Nina Gold on Intuition and Happy Accidents – Emma Badame interviews

British Casting Director Nina Gold, a veteran of more than three decades in the industry, began her impressive career casting extras in rock music videos and before long found herself working alongside her countryman, auteur Mike Leigh. From there she’s gone on to collaborate with award-winning filmmakers like Jane Campion (Bright Star and The Power of the Dog), Steven Spielberg (The BFG), and Sam Mendes (1917 and Empire of Light). Her full filmography reads like a “best of”, with the casts of audience and critical favourites like Bad Sisters, Game of Thrones and Chernobyl down to her. Her most recent project, Firebrand, just premiered in competition at Cannes 2023.

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WEEK IN WOMEN: Kathleen Kennedy receives BAFTA Fellowship – Brandy McDonnell reports

Lucasfilm President Kathleen Kennedy, who has producer of dozens of critically and commercially successful films, will receive prestigious BAFTA fellowship in February, 2020.. It is the highest award bestowed by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts, given to an individual in recognition of an outstanding and exceptional contribution to film, games or television, according to a news release.

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STAR WARS From the Beginning – Kathia Woods comments

Speaking from her Gen X perspective, Kathia Woods recalls her first encounter — at age seven — with the Star Wars franchise and what the film meant to her and to her friends, all of whom were completely mesmerized by the story, the characters and the other world in which the saga unfolded. She invites discussion about Star Wars inspiration and its impact, and feelings about the franchise coming to an end.

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THE WEEK IN WOMEN: Women Warriors Fuel LAST JEDI, Jolie fuels BREADWINNER and WANDA lists at National Film Registry — Brandy McDonnell reports

Women warriors continue to feel the Force in Star Wars: The Last Jedi. Producer Angelina Jolie promotes director Nora Twomey’s

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AWFJ Wonder Women Countdown – Characters 33 through 23

To celebrate AWFJ’s tenth anniversary and mark the movie industry’s feminist developments since our inception, we present our Wonder Women Project, a list of cinema’s top 55 female fiction characters, each a reminder to industry insiders and movie lovers that iconic females in film have had entertainment impact and social influence since the earliest days of cinema. Today, we reveal characters Nos. 33-23 in our countdown to our favorite female character. Who will she be?

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