All 157 Star Wars Expanded Universe Books Ranked!

The Star Wars "Expanded Universe" books were official before Disney bought Lucasfilm.  Disney made these books "unofficial", rebranding them as "Legends", because they wanted to do their own lore without regard for what came before.  The pre-Disney Star Wars universe was very diverse and had all sorts of novels and comics that weren't necessarily consistent.  Reportedly, George Lucas himself regarded them as not real Star Wars, but offshoots from Star Wars.

The video's #58 is the third book of the Darth Bane trilogy.  I just finished it on Audible.  He regards it as the weakest of the trilogy, but I thought that it was the best of a truly great trilogy.  The video lists the first two books at #18 and #29.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quuOplPKHwk&t=5037s

His #2 book, Outbound Flight is what I am currently listening to.  I'm not far enough into it to know why it is so great, so I am questioning the ranking, but maybe I'll be surprised. 

The Darth Plagueis novel is deservedly regarded as one of the best Star Wars books if not the best.  The video lists it at #15.

Besides the excellent Darth Bane trilogy, there is the Thrawn Heir to the Empire Trilogy , which is highly praised, but in my mind just good and not excellent.  It drags out a bit.  The video lists the books at #3, #5, and #7.

Splinter in the Mind's Eye is the first Star Wars novel I read all the way back in 1978.  He lists it as #109.  The story was originally intended to be a sequel to the first Star Wars that wouldn't be too expensive to make.  Development on the novel started before the first film came out.  However, the success of Star Wars led to The Empire Strikes Back, so Splinter in the Mind's Eye is not consistent with that movie.

The Disney canon novels Master and Apprentice and Ahsoka are definitely good, but also not my favorites.

Rose Marie: Al Capone's Lunch: A Kid's Unforgettable Mob Encounter

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMHDvTRomUs

Rose Marie is most famous for her role on the Dick Van Dyke show.  She started as a child performer in Vaudeville, and reportedly in places that had some associations with gangsters.

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DAjeil0x8hw/?hl=en

The Song that Gave Kermit His Soul

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1Q3Y3FXEtxI

Robert Duvall dead – 'Godfather,' 'Apocalypse Now' icon dies at 95

He was one of my favorite actors.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/entertainment/celebrities/2026/02/16/robert-duvall-dead-godfather-apocalypse-now/88704939007/

Kermit the Frog - Pictures in My Head

BSG

I've tried a couple of times over the last few months to restart watching Battlestar Galactica. I didn't get very far, partly because I felt obligated to watch the streaming services I'm currently paying for. I also hesitated to watch it again because, over the last 22 years, I've watched the entire series three times. I've seen the pilot miniseries and season 1, episode 1 several times, and they are both fantastic. Because of that, I figured I must have the show memorized by now.

Another concern was that the series is more of a soap opera than I remember it being.

However, I watched the first half of the miniseries last night and fell in love with the show all over again. The acting and the drama are outstanding. Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell have screen presences that are truly remarkable. The entire supporting cast is excellent as well, especially Katee Sackhoff, Jamie Bamber, Aaron Douglas, Michael Hogan, and James Callis.

The special effects are starting to look dated, but they were movie quality at the time of the release.

I'd like to watch one episode per night until I make it all the way through the series.

Katee Sackhoff Watches Battlestar Galactica for the FIRST Time

@SerilaBuck
9 days ago
"i' played starbuck 25 years ago" don't do this to me. it was 10 years ago, right?

@Confederation1867
9 days ago
All this has happened before, and all this will happen again

@GinSnakken
7 days ago
 @Confederation1867  So say we all!

Who Thought This Was a Good Idea?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNAYYOYar5U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dbFybU_wx-0

@john2001plus
0 seconds ago
As a parody of a Budweiser Clydesdale commercial, I thought it was cute. It seems like enough to make casual fans curious.

Unfortunately, it sends the message that the next Star Wars movie is more of a comedy and less of a science-fiction fantasy adventure. Still, die-hard fans like me are going to watch it.

I hold out hope that the movie is good, and if it is, then word will get out, and people will want to see it.

Katee Sackhoff’s Comments on Captain Marvel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jm2_8vUd03M

Patton needed clear skies to attack!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tLGrvWCFMNY

Do you recognize my voice #Valkyrie #movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-q97b4hlhFk

The Imitation Game Got Alan Turing Wrong

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kOXaGBmx2OY

I have a beef with historical movies that distort history, and most of them do.   For example, the movie Sully distorted the way the NTSB treated Captain Sullenberger to add drama to the film.  As good of a movie Titanic was, I think that the real story is more interesting than a bunch of fictional characters.

I knew enough about the code breaking at Bletchley Park to find the movie suspect.  Decisions about whether to use the intel were made at the highest level, like Winston Churchill, and not by the code breakers.

The movie has a spy subplot that strikes me as fictional.  If it is true, then we have heard nothing about it from other sources.

Alan Turing had a distinguished career outside of code breaking.  I was hoping the movie would acknowledge his other accomplishments, but instead it gave us a soap opera.

Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel - George Winston

I saw this piece of music on Facebook with no title.  I am no expert on music, but I really enjoyed this piece.  I wanted to know what it is called.  I found it on YouTube with the title "Variations on the Kanon by Pachelbel".

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1wAGacczNho

So, being the curious person I am,  I wanted to know what the "Kanon by Pachelbel" meant.    So I found it...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_variations_on_Pachelbel%27s_Canon

The first version on this page, "Arranged for violins, harps, and bass", is a piece of music that I have heard many times, as it has been used in TV shows and movies.  Mentally, I hadn't made the connection between the piano solo and this version, but I had previously been curious about where this music came from.  Some of the other versions of this page are interesting.

SELF SERVE POPCORN AT MOVIE THEATRE

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QKjWAs93T04

Not sure this is a good idea.

Movie theaters are becoming obsolete.

Last Days in the Desert

I wrote this 8 years ago:

If you want to see a low budget gem of a movie, watch "Last Days in the Desert" where Ewan McGregor plays both Jesus and Satan.

There is something compelling about watching a man on a journey, especially on a journey to find himself.

Actually this is not a very religious movie. There are no miracles. The question of Jesus' divinity is left up to the viewer to decide. He could just be a crazy man wandering the desert.

The final scene feels out of place, because the movie goes straight from the Crucifixion to modern day tourists taking snapshots of the same desert Jesus supposedly wandered in. Had they given us a hint of resurrection, even a slight stirring under the burial cloth, it would have given the movie a religious meaning. Such an ending, regardless of if you believe or not, would be a satisfying conclusion to the story, because it would have shown that everything that went before it served a purpose. Instead, the story is ambiguous.

--

Best wishes,

John Coffey

http://www.entertainmentjourney.com

"The Blackout" movie

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9W4PR4_W4uw

The joke here is that the biological weapon launched 200,000 years ago to subdue the planet was the human race.  

This movie has borderline ratings on Rotten Tomatoes.   It is a Russian made film that is dubbed.  The last part of the dialog doesn't sound great to me.

The premise seems interesting.  It is streaming on multiple services.  I will have to watch it and see if I like it.

The look and sound of the alien reminds me of characters on the TV series Stargate Atlantis.

Finch

 

After a major solar event destroys the ozone layer, most life on Earth dies. Finch is one of the last surviving humans, and he distrusts other people with good reason. He has witnessed humans killing one another over small amounts of food.

I looked this up, and after such a catastrophe it would take decades, possibly up to a century, for the ozone layer to regenerate. Such an event is plausible. The cosmos is filled with dangers, such as coronal mass ejections, gamma-ray bursts, and asteroid impacts.

Finch lives in a shelter but must venture out to find food for himself and his dog. He wears a radiation suit, but conditions outside are extremely harsh. He knows that he is dying from radiation exposure.

He loves the dog; it is the only thing he has left. Because of this, he builds an intelligent robot whose purpose is to take care of the dog after Finch dies. The robot is very smart but also a bit goofy, lacking common sense and still trying to learn. This is where the movie takes an unexpected turn, as it is really the relationship between Finch, the robot, and the dog that the story explores.

That said, the robot’s goofiness feels very familiar, as if this story has been done before. I was reminded of Short Circuit, Wall-E, and several robots from Star Wars.

Circumstances force the trio out of the shelter, and they head west in a makeshift armored vehicle, hoping to reach San Francisco. Along the way, they face danger from both the environment and other humans. The desolation of the terrain makes The Road look like paradise by comparison.

I was very moved by Tom Hanks’s performance as Finch. He conveys deep compassion under the worst possible circumstances. Some critics, however, felt that the robot storyline was recycled and unoriginal. The ending also feels truncated, as though the filmmakers could have explored this world much more. So while it is not a perfect movie, I did like it quite a bit.

Rating: B+.

Finch - movie

I've never heard of this movie, which is surprising since it stars Tom Hanks.  Watching it now on Apple TV.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqgm3OONJZA

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/finch

Wait, she was HOW OLD?!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=svrNciMp8Zo

Did you know for IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6cfoKsgvvUs

Mark Hamill Reveals The TRUTH About BLUE MILK In Star Wars

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WW6Hy4j5lEI

Liquid Metal TERMINATOR With ZERO CGI!

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/wGop7MPnTLo

Is This The GREATEST In-Camera Effect of ALL TIME?

Give this 40 seconds:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVUuoXAkuUg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVUuoXAkuUg&t=733s

Patrick Stewart says playing Jean-Luc Picard for 35 years has changed his life

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u_1OntzyXpI

Wacky Races (2025) | First Live-Action Trailer | Jim Carrey & John Cena

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DkZP9tRGsAk

Pity that this is just an AI generated parody.  It might make for an interesting movie.  

It is based upon a 1968 cartoon.  I thought that it was dumb even back then.

NORMAL Trailer (2026)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9i-7BNOSDU

I am intrigued, but it might not be my kind of movie.

How James Bond Sold More Vodka Than Any Ad Campaign

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cs6YpbZcfiE

Avengers Infinity War

There have been eighteen Marvel Universe movies since 2008.  These have introduced a large number of characters, i.e. heroes, most of which come together in this movie to fight a single enemy named Thanos.  Previous movies hinted at infinity stones being powerful and dangerous, and the need to keep them from evil.  It turns out Thanos is getting his hands on these stones and has an agenda that involves wiping out half the life in the galaxy.  Why?  His world collapsed due to overpopulation, so he takes it upon himself to solve this problem for everybody else.  If he gets all six stones he could kill every other person in the galaxy with just a snap of his fingers.

There have been a number of good Marvel movies in the last decade and many of the stories from the films pick up in Avengers Infinity War from where they left off.   The action gets started early and almost never lets up.  One might think that this would be bad, but the action is done so well and the characters are so good that the movie feels like something truly special on a grand scale.  Never have we seen so many different stories and characters woven together so seamlessly.  This isn't just a movie, but an event a decade in the making.  

We see more of Thanos than we do any individual hero, making him in effect the main character.  This is as much his story as it is anybody else's, and he is played wonderfully by Josh Brolin.

With so many actors and effects, it is not surprising that the movie cost $360 million to make.  They got their money's worth.  Some have compared the film to Star Wars in terms of entertainment value, which is not a bad comparison.

Rating:  A+

1917

The movie 1917 is likely to be one of the best movies I will see this year.  It follows a pair of World War I soldiers on a time-critical mission to get a message to another unit so as to avoid an attack that will end in disaster.  This is based on a real story told to writer and director Sam Mendes by his grandfather.

The movie is filmed in such a way that it appears to be one continuous shot, except for a couple of obvious breaks.  There are continuous shots that last at least 40 minutes.  The camera follows the soldiers through long trenches, across fields, into farmhouses, rivers, underground bunkers, and troop transports.  This is like another character because I spent the whole movie wondering how on earth did they film this?  It is technically very difficult to have everything properly lit while the camera follows the actors through miles of territory. 

The movie creates a suspense that is perfect.  There is not much direct combat, but the horrible aftermath of combat is everywhere in this movie.  On the journey, the soldiers are constantly passing dead bodies and destruction.  The way the movie is filmed gives it an extra sense of realism.

The movie is rated R for war violence and a few swear words.

Rating: A+.

Why 1917 had to be one shot?

1917 has a 90% rating on Rotten Tomatoes.

Contagion

I rewatched "Contagion" after seeing it in the theater when it came out in 2011.

I have never seen a more prophetic movie in my entire life.  At least 80% of the film seems applicable to the current COVID-19 pandemic.  The biggest difference is the deadliness of the disease, which instead of being about 2% for known cases is around 25%.  But detail after detail comes up that I only recently learned about during the COVID crisis.

The movie has an 85% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, although not all the critics were equally enthusiastic.  The audience score is only 63%, so I suspect that the subject matter might have turned off some people.  Rotten Tomatoes describes it as, "Tense, tightly plotted, and bolstered by a stellar cast.  Contagion is an exceptionally smart -- and scary -- disaster movie."   I agree.  It tells a fantastic story.  My favorite movie critic, Richard Roeper, gives it 5 out of 5 stating, "Contagion" is a brilliantly executed disease outbreak movie."

The film puts much emphasis on how easily disease can spread and this adds to the tension.

The ending is great, giving a nice emotional catharsis followed by a revelation about how the pandemic started.

Rating: A+.