If you're wondering whether the new Star Wars movie is any good, it'd be well worth reading this review from Glen Fredericks.
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Glen is known for formerly owning The Empire Coffee Co - a Star Wars-inspired cafe - in Newcastle.
The movie, titled Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker, is showing now in cinemas.
Glen saw the film at a midnight release last week. As a curtain raiser to the premiere, he also saw an episode of The Mandalorian, which is being shown on the Disney Plus steaming service.
"The Mandalorian is the world's most watched show since its release less than two months ago," Glen said.
Glen said he's enjoying it far more than any of the Star Wars sequels.
"I am hoping that this is the first of several seasons, as it's the Star Wars I've been waiting for since 1983 [the year Return of the Jedi was released]," he said.
So what about the new film? What's the verdict?
Paul Hempsall, squad leader of the local 501st Legion contingent of Star Wars costumers, said: "The Rise of Skywalker is a return to solid Star Wars storytelling. All the main characters have matured since the last entry, a benefit of not having the film start immediately after its predecessor".
Glen was a tad wary of saying too much about the new film. He doesn't want to be hammered for giving away spoilers. But he did say the film's director JJ Abrams had "redirected the ship back on course".
Plus, he added: "The Emperor is back!" [Emperor Palpatine was last seen being thrown into a shaft by his mutinous apprentice Darth Vader].
"I can mention this because it's not a spoiler - it was relied upon heavily in the trailers," he said.
"Palpatine could well be the hide-and-seek champion of the galaxy with a 36-year winning streak [1983 to 2019] before he makes a triumphant return in this, the ninth and final film of the saga."
While Paul is in favour of the new movie, he does admit it suffers somewhat from being too fast-paced, with the story jumping from planet-to-planet early on. But this does settle as the film progresses, allowing the audience to catch-up with the plot.
"While director JJ Abrams takes several not-too-subtle jabs at The Last Jedi [the 2017 Star Wars film], undoing some controversial elements, he also expands on the complex relationship established in the previous film between Rey and Kylo Ren," Paul said.
He said The Rise of Skywalker was somewhat guilty of pandering to fans, but "this is tastefully executed and doesn't distract from the overall fun ride the film takes us on".
He said the film does provide a "satisfying conclusion to the Star Wars saga, paying homage to the preceding two trilogies".
Paul gives the film an eight out of 10.
As for Glen, he reserves his final judgement until he gets a chance to watch it a second time. At this point, he's not confident he'll give it a five or even a four out of 10.
"What the film lacks in believability and story integrity, it made up for with a furious pace and lots of excitement, which is not necessarily a good thing," he said.
"The film title, unlike the other eight titles in the story arc, doesn't reflect what the movie is about. Perhaps a more apt title would have been, The Emperor's New Clothes."
Fancying Colin Firth
Our Star Snap column is among the best read parts of the newspaper [just kidding, but it could be].
In Star Snap last week, we ran an in-depth piece of investigative gossip that said actor Colin Firth and wife Livia Giuggioli had separated. They attempted to rebuild their marriage after Giuggioli had an affair with Italian journalist Marco Brancaccia.
Eunice, of Belmont, recalled that Firth played the aristocrat Mr Darcy in a BBC TV version of Pride and Prejudice.
Upon reading that Mr Darcy was now single, she said: "Whoopee! At last he can be mine! Cutting back on chocs and Christmas pud immediately".
Seventh Heaven
Last week, we wrote that Kurri's Col Maybury noticed his odometer had hit 77,777 kilometres. We noted that Col could be in for some interesting times ahead if numerology is anything to go by. The number seven is supposedly "intimately connected with new opportunities, especially ones that you weren't expecting to come your way".
In reply: Mount Hutton's John Ure said: "Back in 1977, I had a dream on the eve of July 7 that horse number 7 would win in race 7 at Royal Randwick the next day. All the numbers lined up - horse 7, race 7 on 7/7/'77. So I backed it. And, sure enough, it ran 7th".
