the force is strong with this one

Force-full Star Wars film showcasing Texas fans lands in Houston for special event

On a planet called Houston in a galaxy called Texas, filmmaker Alejandro Cabrera will present a unique look at the fandom of Star Wars in a new documentary. The movie will screen on Saturday, January 27 at the Houston Toy Museum. Cabrera will be in attendance for a Q&A.

What eventually became The Lone Star Wars State began 8 years ago, when the long-awaited sequel trilogy launched with Episode VII: The Force Awakens. Cabrera was in San Antonio, and captured the excitement on a Cannon 60D camera with no crew.

“The first thing we filmed was with fans outside of a Toys R Us for the Force Friday midnight event,” Cabrera tells CultureMap. “It was the first night, and people were going to purchase Force Awakens merchandise.”

Thus started a long journey of Cabrera looking into Texas Star Wars fans. The film highlights the connections between Texas history and a galaxy far, far away. Director and creator George Lucas drew heavy inspiration both from the samurai films of Akira Kurosawa and their spaghetti western spiritual remakes that often involved Texas cowboys.

With that framing in mind, Cabrera dove deep into every aspect of fandom he could get on camera.

“It was the most weird but also unique feeling in the world.,” he says. “The viewers get to experience those moments in real time. I also loved the idea of exploring fandom from a non-stereotypical point of view. I like that many of the subjects that we meet, if you saw on the street, you would never assume they are Star Wars fans.”

One of those is web-developer Jamie McShan, a prominent member of the Central Texas Droid Builders. McShan has spent years and thousands of dollars perfecting a working model of the heroic droid R2-D2, one of the few characters that has appeared in all nine numbered Star Wars film. Cabrera shows of the incredible construction, which McShan often takes around to children’s hospitals.

$\u200bJamie McShan R2-D2 The Lone Star Wars State$ Jamie McShan with his custom-crafted R2-D2 unit.Photo courtesy of Jamie McShan

It's appropriate that The Lone Star Wars State screens at the Houston Toy Museum. A space dedicated to childhood nostalgia and the magic of play, the space has an amazing collection of Star Wars figures from across the franchise’s long history. Using the toys to enhance and continue the Star Wars experience was a foundational part of many creative people’s journeys. It’s that powerful dedication to the fictional universe that forms the backbone of Cabrera’s film.

“So much about what made Star Wars so special and personal was not the films but everything that was happening around the films,” says Cabrera. “These films are like a thumbtack to some of the most special and important moments in our childhoods. That’s what makes these films so powerful. One gets to subconsciously remember those moments. It was amazing having people talk about the first time they saw the movie. They had this ability of naming every detail about their life at that time.”

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The Lone Star Wars State screens at 6 pm Saturday, January 27 at Houston Toy Museum (321 W. 19th St. Suite C.). Director and filmmaker Alejandro Cabrera will participate in a Q&A session. For tickets and information, call 281-305-8828 or visit houstontoymuseum.com. Ticket includes screening and access to museum. $16.

Movie Review

Billie Eilish takes fans behind the scenes in immersive 3D tour film

Photo by Henry Hwu/courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Billie Eilish in Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

In 2021, at the tender age of 19, singer Billie Eilish was already the subject of a documentary, The World’s a Little Blurry. At that point, she had only released one album, so the film threatened to feel too early for such treatment. The ensuing five years have only made her a bigger star, though, so in many ways that movie now feels prescient for the person on display in the new concert documentary with the unwieldy title of Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D.

Directed by Eilish and blockbuster filmmaker James Cameron, the film takes viewers inside Eilish’s 2024-2025 tour in support of her latest album, 2023’s Hit Me Hard and Soft. Filmed mostly at her series of shows in Manchester, England, the movie is a showcase for Eilish’s music, but it also serves as a smaller exploration of the type of person she is, as well as the impact she has had on her legion of fans.

The draw of the film is the use of Cameron’s beloved 3D technology, which he has employed in each of the three Avatar films. Unlike in those films, where the 3D has the odd effect of making the visuals too realistic for their own good, the technique brings an intimacy to the large-scale show that underscores the unique bond the singer has with her supporters.

Eilish and Cameron go back and forth between performances at the concert to behind-the-scenes sequences, detailing the enormous effort it takes to put on a show like that and how Eilish spends her time getting ready for it. As in The World’s a Little Blurry, this film continues to portray the singer as down-to-Earth, someone who yearns to maintain the connection to her fans that she’s had since she released her first single, “Ocean Eyes,” 10 years ago.

And as the many emotional songs in Eilish’s concert playlist prove, the feeling from the crowd is mutual. While Eilish has multiple bangers like “Bad Guy,” “Therefore I Am,” and the Charli XCX collaboration “Guess,” it’s the sad songs like “Everything I Wanted,” “Happier Than Ever,” and the Oscar-winning Barbie anthem, “What Was I Made For?” that hit the hardest. The depth of feeling emanating from her many sobbing fans singing along to crushing songs cannot be understated.

For audiences of the film, though, it’s the breadth of camera angles and shot choices that make it truly dynamic. There are cameras everywhere, including in the crowd, inside a cube at the center of the stage that rises and descends, following Eilish as she traipses every inch of the long, rectangular stage, and even a small one Eilish uses to bring an extra personal touch to the in-arena screen. Combined, they capture the complete energy of the concert, something that is not always the case in a film of this type.

Eilish has almost as many movies — two — as she does albums — three — which borders on overkill for a singer of her age. But both her music and the movies show her to be a person who knows the responsibility of being a celebrity, someone who understands that her fans are the reason she’s famous at all. Her career may go up or down from here, but it’s clear she’s already made a huge impact on those who love her most.

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Billie Eilish: Hit Me Hard and Soft - The Tour Live in 3D opens in theaters on May 8.

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Force-full Star Wars film showcasing Texas fans lands in Houston for special event

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