Cathy LaFrance

About Cathy LaFrance

Cathy Kramer LaFrance (she/her) A solid Gen Xer from the southern shore of Lake Michigan. Star Wars apologist. Eowyn stan. Unabashed Whovian. Bad b-movie lover, a la Svengoolie and MST3K. Music trivia nerd and record collector. Gluten free and proud of it.

Posts by Cathy LaFrance:

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EVERYTHING ‘MANDALORIAN’: Part I – A Look Back On Season One

Cathy LaFrance

So unless you’ve been living under a rock, or (GASP!) you don’t like Star Wars, you know that the hottest property in our favorite galaxy far, far away is The Mandalorian, a spin-off series chronicling the adventures of armored bounty hunter “Mando” Din Djarin and his ward, Grogu. Yes, Grogu. You know, The Child? Baby Yoda? Yeah, that one. The finale to season two dropped Dec. 18, so now we have time to parce the fine details provided us and ponder the future of our beloved, beskar-clad Dad and his crew before season three arrives at some point in 2021. For those who don’t have access to Disney+ (I have kids. Of course I have Disney+), allow me to offer you a primer on The Mandalorian, seasons 1 and 2 before we get to the heavy lifting. THE BASICS: The Mandalorian hearkens back the feel of what the original Star Wars: A New Hope movie […]

The Day The Doctor Saved My Holiday

Cathy LaFrance

You should always trust your doctor, right? My favorite doctor — and after my late husband’s 20-year battle with chronic illness, we knew lots of doctors — is Doctor Who. Yes, I’m a Whovian. And I do blame the dead husband for that. He knew more about the original series than I did, but we shared a deep love of the Doctor’s newest incarnations, from Christopher Eccleston’s Ninth Doctor through Peter Capaldi’s Twelfth Doctor. In the months leading up to my husband’s death in December 2016, we didn’t watch much Doctor Who, if any. His battle with lung disease culminated with excessive carbon dioxide robbing him of clear vision, among other things. With his passing on Christmas Eve Day, I didn’t even think about watching the Christmas special. I didn’t even remember that there was one. Three years later, I found myself in a new house with our two (tween) […]

Now Available: BARNEY BURMAN’S WILD BOAR Has Got The Bacon

Cathy LaFrance

Oscar-winning make-up artist Barney Burman has made his directorial feature debut with Barney Burman’s Wild Boar, a full-length version of his 2019 short based on the same premise. A group of geocaching friends set out to find a treasure belonging to entrepreneur and millionaire geocacher Roger Foster, missing since 2006. Their adventure takes them to a former nuclear test site, and we all know from countless 1950s science fiction films that this never ends well. The film is bookended by stop-motion animation clips, with the initial scenes showing pigs on the grounds of the nuclear testing site. It doesn’t take a nuclear scientist to figure out what happens from there. Mutated pig people with an appetite for human flesh think they’ve found their next meal with the lost geocachers. Engaged couple Scarlet Lamb (Augie Duke) and Garret Wolf Reed (Daniel Roebuck), along with Wolf’s brother Turtle (Jim Nieb) and friends […]

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THE MANDALORIAN: Baby Yoda’s First Word

Cathy LaFrance

Parents are always excited to hear their child’s first word. Will it be “Mama”? “Dada”? Or maybe something completely unexpected? So tell me this, Mandalorian watchers: what will the Child’s first word be to parent-figure Mando? As a parent myself, as well as a world language teacher, these are my morning coffee thoughts as we work through Season 2 of Jon Favreau’s The Mandalorian. Right now, fans of “Baby Yoda” (yeah, I like the moniker, even if Favreau hates it) love every coo and giggle from the big-eyed cutie pie. But eventually, it stands to reason that the Child will begin to talk. So what will it say? What will it sound like? I’m basically just a Star Wars movie fan, so don’t go all Extended Universe on me. But here’s my academic take. From a language perspective, the original Yoda speaks the English-like language known as “Galactic Basic” in […]