Adam Driver

Over the years, the Star Wars movies have gradually matured. We saw a shift from the original trilogy in how Darth Vader was personified — first a faceless villain, then a tragic former father — and then the prequels took us back to see the bad guy’s fall from grace. With this new trilogy, we’re given a new masked villain with a red lightsaber at the head of an evil organization, but Kylo Ren seems like the least bad of all the Star Wars villains, or, at least the one for whom you most want a redemption arc. There’s a reason for that.

Okay, relax, it’s not what you think. The Force Awakens is still one of the most successful movies in box office history. The criticism, when there was any, shared a similar theme: it was way too similar to the very first Star Wars movie A New Hope. There’s even a shot-by-shot comparison video that details every location and scene the sequel borrowed from the original. A lot of people figured this was the fault of the studio, Disney wanting to play it safe rather than give J.J. Abrams his head so he could take the franchise in a new direction. And it’s true, there are so many callbacks to the original in The Force Awakens that at some point you just want to throw your hands up and yell “OKAY! We get it! This is a Star Wars movie!” Today, Adam Driver raised some eyebrows while talking about Episode 8 by drawing a comparison to The Empire Strikes Back, but not in the way you think.

I just about died laughing at Saturday Night Live over the weekend.  If you were able to stay up late enough after the late start due to the packers game, you were rewarded with some great bits from Saturday Night Live.  Adam Driver hosted, and he was a natural on the show.  The highlight has to be Star Wars Undercover Boss!