First reviews are out for "Star Wars: The Last Jedi."
Since I avoided the final trailer, and am avoiding all TV spots and anything that could be spoilery, I will leave it to you to decide whether to read any of the reviews. But, you could always just bookmark this post and read the reviews after you've seen the movie. :-)
"Star Wars: The Last Jedi." has an early premiere at 7 p.m. on Thursday, then goes into regular release on Friday.
Disney held the premiere of "Star Wars: The Last Jedi" on Saturday night in Los Angeles. And, like for "Force Awakens," celebrities and media folks were invited.
Their reactions were glowing. I'm not surprised, because, if you are being invited by Disney to an exclusive premiere of one of the largest releases of the decade, honestly, what else are you going to say? Many of us will have seen for ourselves by this time next week.
The review embargo ends at 9 a.m. Tuesday. So, first media reviews will be out then. That's earlier than I thought. Of course,
I'm still not going to read a single one of them, since I see the movie at 7 p.m. on Thursday. :-)
A new cardboard display being used in theaters shows two Lukes: One light side, one dark side.
Since the movie is so close to coming out, I skipped watching the new trailer. But, my guess is that Disney is teasing us with a potential Dark Side Luke. :-)
"Blade Runner 2049" came in way low at the Domestic Box Office, pulling in only $32 million. The film has polarized audiences into those who thought it was "brilliant" and those like me who thought it was one of the worst sequels ever, and self indulgent to the point of narcissism.
The L.A. Times conducted what ended up being Tom Petty's final interview. The interviewer reflects on his own emotions in presenting it this way, wishing it was just one of many interviews still to come. An audio of the interview is included.
"Blade Runner 2049" cinematographer Roger Deakins talks about the challenges of taking on a large-scale sci-fi epic, about his elusive Oscar win, and what it's like to have his work compared to a certain famous Russian "Solaris" director!
While China has cracked down on Bitcoin, Japan and South Korea are picking up the slack.
Bitcoin was thought to be created by someone from Japan, Satoshi Nakamoto. But, it has since been believed that was simply a moniker for the person or persons behind Bitcoin's creation. Also, the first exchange sprung from Japan. But, it was run by a Frenchman. Now, Japan is taking concrete steps in becoming more invested in Bitcoin. The nation has more exchanges popping up, and is proposing a Bitcoin competitor, J Coin.
Meanwhile, South Korea's Samsung is very interested in the software platform of Ethereum, while being less interested in Ethereum's currency, Ether.
Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency enthusiasts have been hoping for the intersection of crypto and established investing for a while now. Exchange-traded fund provider REX is hoping to introduce two Bitcoin-based ETF's, which are Exchange-Traded Funds. Those are funds that trade on the stock market.
Naturally, the SEC, the Securities and Exchange Commission, would have to approve! But, the push to make it happen is there, so it is sounding like the possibility could become reality.