All of you who read this zine know that I am a really big Star Wars nerd. I love all fantasy and sf, but the first and foremost love is Star Wars since I first saw The Empire Strikes Back in a crowded cinema here in my hometown when I was just a little boy. Now, I am almost 40 years old, but the love for Star Wars just grows and grows inside me and never lets go. I read a lot of expanded universe novels, some better, some worse, here is the new batch that I read recently.

STAR WARS:A NEW HOPE-classic episode four movie turned into novel. Everyone saw the movie so there is no need to re-tell the classic tale about how Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, Leia and others met and desperately fought Moff Tarkin and Vader in their Death Star. What I loved about this book is more in depth description of teenage Luke and his feelings and wishes, some side characters like Biggs get bigger description in this book. So, if you are interested you should read this one to see the episode four movie in bigger picture.

STAR WARS:BATTLEFRONT-TWILIGHT COMPANY-This one is a part of so called new canon, meaning SW books now that the franchise changed ownership and everything started anew. Those books are not so good as the old ones, they are like superficially done and Twilight Company is no exception. This is a war novel, about the company of Rebel Army in battle with the Empire. The one thing that I hated about this novel is that since when the Rebels had the army and frontlines and stuff? They always made partisan hit and run warfare against the Empire, not trenchlike and organised warfare. The thing that I liked is the battle for Hoth from Empire Strikes Back painted from the eye of a little soldiers that fought and died there. Not a good one, unfortunately.

STAR WARS:JEDI TWILIGHT and PATTERNS OF FORCE-Those two are part of Coruscant Nights trilogy but can be read separately because the stories in each of the books are separate only the main characters are the same. This is interesting SW idea, because the books are about Jax Pavan, the former Jedi who survived the purge, but is living on Coruscant in constant danger trying to avoid Imperial police and agents, but who is also a private detective, so the novels are done in crime noir manner which was very refreshing idea in SW universe. Not a lot of battles and action, but good storylines for crime novel fans.

STAR WARS:LORDS OF THE SITH-one more from the so called new canon of books. I had great expectations about this one, because the story seemed great, but the realization was not so good. The story is about Darth Vader and Darth Sidious(Emperor Palpatine) being stranded on the planet and trying to escape and survive chased by the group of Rebel assassins. As I said, the idea was excellent but the realization was almost childish, the fight scenes are to superficial and the characters are not deep enough to feel sympathy for any of them. I am sorry but all of the so called new canon books I have read up to now sucked. Keep the old ones and read those!

BESETMENT(2017.)

Priča počinje klasičnom dramom između majke alkoholičarke i otuđene kćerke koja traži posao. Nađe ga u Oregonu, u hotelu scenaristički maštovitog naziva, Hotel Oregon. Hotel vodi malo čudna, ali simpatična postarija udovica koja je od pokojnog muža koji je poginuo nesretnim slučajem naslijedila veliko bogatstvo i hotel. Uz nju, u hotelu živi još i njezin poluretardirani sin. Kako to biva, sve bude divno i krasno, a onda radnja krene u suludom smjeru. Junakinju drogiraju pićem, naprave njoj dijete na bizaran scenarističko suludi način i zatoče je u podrumu iz samo njima poznatih razloga. Do tog trenutka film se u potpunosti raspao i kraj filma je vrhunac idiotizma i suludosti scenarista. Totalna katastrofa od filma. Nema gore scena, nema killova, glumci su pretrashy smiješni, a na kraju se pitaš zašto si potrošio dragocjeno vrijeme na ovakav idiotizam.

POWER RANGERS(2017.)

Svi koji čitaju ova moja baljezganja o filmovima znaju koliko volim blockbustere sa superherojima i koliko me zabavljaju takvi filmovi. Power Rangerse u obliku crtane serije nikada nisam gledao kao klinac, ali kada je u kina izašao ovaj film nisam zaista znao što da očekujem. Pošto nisam imao nikakva očekivanja, nisam se niti razočarao koliko je ovaj film glup. Napravljen je očito samo da proda klincima igračke kao i ono sranje Battleship unatrag zadnjih nekoliko godina. Radnja o srednjoškolcima koji otkriju da su predodređeni da nose alienske oklope kako bi zaštitili svijet od zle vanzemaljke je toliko glupa da je puši valjda samo onaj debeli američki hamburgerdžija koji nema pojma o ničemu osim kole i french friesa. Glumci su plastični i nepamtljivi, a negativci, čija atraktivnost uvijek dovodi ljude u kino, su totalno bezvezni i bezlični. Čitao sam da je film neslavno propao, pa srećom neće biti franšize i novih nastavaka.

RAW(2016.)

Kada se ovaj francuski film reklamirao u kinima, pisalo je po medijima da su ljudi izlijetali iz kina koliko im je bilo slabo od gadosti i koliko je film gadan i strašan. E, pa mogli su izlijetati iz kina jedino od dosade. Ovo je ustvari drama o sazrijevanju, seksualnosti i odrastanju i mogla je biti smještena jedino u neka artsy fartsy kina koja prikazuju drame koje nitko ne gleda. Glavna junakinja dolazi na veterinarski fakultet i u nekom obredu inicijacije brucoša natjeraju je da proba meso iako je zakleta veganka/vegetarijanka. Tada počne njen nepovratni sunovrat u ludilo i kanibalizam?! Film je toliko dosadan i spor da gledaš na sat kad će prestati, pitaš se dal da klikneš na fast forward, ono malo nekih kao gadnih i horror gore scena nije dovoljno da te razveseli u nekom širem kontekstu. Francuska horror filmska scena je odlična i dala nam je stvarno neke pamtljive naslove i momente zadnjih 15-ak godina, no ovo je totalni promašaj.