Star Wars Lives!

@ABWorsham:

OMG Did any of you see the last Star Wars The Clone Wars? Best episode yet, awesome fight sceen.

spoilers

The new episode of Feb 2nd was pretty good. Didn’t see what’s his name getting involved. But it made perfect sense. And that was a pretty good fight scene. Was also very sad to see the Duchess’s misfortune. That was a dark episode.

I’d like to see all the good guys played by British actors, and all the evil slobs played by Americans.

Any news on star wars VII yet??

I believe J.J. Abrams is directing and that Mark Hamill, Harrison Foird and Carrie Fisher are all on board. But I could be wrong.

@Lozmoid:

I believe J.J. Abrams is directing and that Mark Hamill, Harrison Foird and Carrie Fisher are all on board. But I could be wrong.

This is correct although it isn’t certain how much they’ll be in it. John Williams is on board to score it and a director of photography has been hired and it will be shot on 35mm but the DP is Abrams’s “guy” so any enthusiasm generated by Williams being on board as well as Luke, Leia, and Han is more or less out the window. I think Abrams is a terrible director and haven’t really been crazy about any of his movies.

Harrison Ford signed up for a Mega deal, Star Wars VII, VIII and IX and another Indi Jones movie.

He’s also supposedly discussing appearing in a Blade Runner sequal.

He’s getting damned old to play a replicant with a 4 year lifespan.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBWcpeAczsQ

have fun watching it!

This is as good a place as any to throw this out there– 13 more episodes of The Clone Wars coming on Netflix: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/66172

@frimmel:

This is as good a place as any to throw this out there– 13 more episodes of The Clone Wars coming on Netflix: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/66172

New episodes from the cancelled last season?

Such good news, I didn’t even know it was canceled lol! Loved The Clone Wars, took some time to grow into itself but it’s definitely provided us with better material than the prequels did :D

Awesome, another 13 episode season my kids were excited over the news.

The Old, new Star Wars crew.
What you think??

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/star-wars-episode-vii-cast_n_5229727.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

Still have the scars from the rabid anticipation of 97-98. Star Wars is just another franchise now, it has a lot of prove in my book.

@aequitas:

The Old, new Star Wars crew.
What you think??

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/04/29/star-wars-episode-vii-cast_n_5229727.html?ncid=fcbklnkushpmg00000063

There’s some good actors there but JJ is directing it and writing it. No enthusiasm whatsoever. Too much riding on this for it to be anything but barely watchable “product cinema” overly influenced by focus group derived fan service “moments” at best with shaky cam and lens flare.

My hope is everyone will finally see Abrams for the hack he is.

@frimmel:

There’s some good actors there but JJ is directing it and writing it. No enthusiasm whatsoever. Too much riding on this for it to be anything but barely watchable “product cinema” overly influenced by focus group derived fan service “moments” at best with shaky cam and lens flare.

My hope is everyone will finally see Abrams for the hack he is.

Amen, Amen… truer words were never said.

While I do not necessarily wish it, it would be interesting to see if JJ Abrams Star Wars is actually better than George Lucas Prequel Star Wars.

Much of Lucas’ prequel trilogy is panned or ridiculed as not having lived up to the originals, so it is at least possible for Abrams’ version to be viewed as ‘better-than’ the prequels, even if marginally so. Honestly, I do not see how simply because of the fact that it is (1) JJ Abrams, (2) now an interminable, sellout, money-based franchise and (3) owned by Disney.

No anticipation here either.

I can’t argue that other than “Sith” the prequels are “good” movies but they are by no means travesties of cinema. They each have some pretty neat stuff in them despite maybe not overall “working.” I think at this point the pile on is just habit and not wanting to seem “uncool.” Like you’d be one of “those” fans instead of one of the cool nerds.

The example I use is “Temple of Doom.” It has some problems but the chief problem is it isn’t “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and this causes its problems to be unfairly magnified.

JJ is good at hype but he isn’t a good filmmaker and I think folks turn a blind eye to the mediocrity he churns out to justify buying into the hype. I think JJ is among those responsible for movies not needing to be good anymore as long as you can create enough hype. He’s a much better marketer than film-maker. (Marketer= makes an eskimo want to pay for snow.)

JJ stole one of the worst sequences from the Star Wars prequels for Trek (09) but I keep coming across those who vehemently hate the prequels but love the lens flared mess of JJ Trek.

Everyone will be so excited to see Han shoot first (mark it down, at some point Han will shoot before the other guy gets a chance) they’ll be willing to overlook the other mediocrity he’ll shovel at us.

Yeah, I’m one of those in the minority that still admits that I liked the prequels when they came out. I was 12 when Episode I debuted, so of course the slapstick Jar Jar and the lightning-fast lightsaber battles entertained me.

Looking back, of course the acting and directing was terrible, but at the time I loved those movies. And that’s what George Lucas was trying to do, so I don’t fault him too much.

I’m not really sure about JJ, not a huge classic Trek fan, so I enjoyed the 09 version for what it was but I can understand how some people would be upset ("Hey, you know everything that happened in the old show?? TIME WARP!!).

My worry with JJ is his tendency to work with his talentless writing buddy, Damon Lindelof (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0511541/?ref_=nv_sr_1).

If you haven’t heard of him, he’s responsible for such travesties as the ending of Lost, Prometheus, the ending of World War Z, and yes, Star Trek Into Darkness. He is my celebrity arch-enemy, and I hope they don’t let him within the same area code as the Star Wars script.

@frimmel:

I can’t argue that other than “Sith” the prequels are “good” movies but they are by no means travesties of cinema. They each have some pretty neat stuff in them despite maybe not overall “working.” I think at this point the pile on is just habit and not wanting to seem “uncool.” Like you’d be one of “those” fans instead of one of the cool nerds.

Yes, I really don’t have the vehement issues with the prequels that many do; partially because I was younger when they came out and generally enjoyed them. I do, however, recognize their faults and the disconnection of tone from Ep IV-V-VI. They are not all they could have been, but are not, as you said, travesties of cinema.

@frimmel:

The example I use is “Temple of Doom.” It has some problems but the chief problem is it isn’t “Raiders of the Lost Ark” and this causes its problems to be unfairly magnified.

Yes, I agree. Watching it again recently I could tell how poor of a movie it was in comparison to Raiders. It isn’t that it was a particularly bad movie; Temple has some excellent scenes, and it might very well have been my favorite when I was growing up. For some reason though, there just isn’t the same impact found in Raiders or even Last Crusade… which is also not as good as Raiders.

The comparisons will always be there, but that is both good and bad.

@frimmel:

JJ stole one of the worst sequences from the Star Wars prequels for Trek (09) but I keep coming across those who vehemently hate the prequels but love the lens flared mess of JJ Trek.

Which scene are you referencing?

@frimmel:

Everyone will be so excited to see Han shoot first (mark it down, at some point Han will shoot before the other guy gets a chance) they’ll be willing to overlook the other mediocrity he’ll shovel at us.

That is the sad part about commercialized franchises which thrive on the memory of the past. Put in enough tributes, easter eggs or character throwbacks and it will appease the masses. Discerning minds who want something new, innovative, respectful and true to the original will see through the bones thrown, but for the rest it will be a laugh and a feel good romp down memory lane and they’ll just throw money at it.

@LHoffman:

@frimmel:

JJ stole one of the worst sequences from the Star Wars prequels for Trek (09) but I keep coming across those who vehemently hate the prequels but love the lens flared mess of JJ Trek.

Which scene are you referencing?

Heroes (or Hero) get chased by monster, while running from said monster it is eaten by a bigger monster. Obi-Wan and Qui-Gon leaving the Gungan city/Kirk stranded on the ice planet.

@frimmel:

Everyone will be so excited to see Han shoot first (mark it down, at some point Han will shoot before the other guy gets a chance) they’ll be willing to overlook the other mediocrity he’ll shovel at us.

That is the sad part about commercialized franchises which thrive on the memory of the past. Put in enough tributes, easter eggs or character throwbacks and it will appease the masses. Discerning minds who want something new, innovative, respectful and true to the original will see through the bones thrown, but for the rest it will be a laugh and a feel good romp down memory lane and they’ll just throw money at it.

One of the reasons I loved “Rise of The Planet of The Apes” is the fan sevice they threw in felt organic. There wasn’t belabored set-up so they could do the fan service. I’d also point to “Skyfall” as having gotten it right in the fan service regard.

@ossel:

I’m not really sure about JJ, not a huge classic Trek fan, so I enjoyed the 09 version for what it was but I can understand how some people would be upset ("Hey, you know everything that happened in the old show?? TIME WARP!!).

Trek '09 is a bad movie utterly aside and independent of it being bad Trek. Some of the bad Trek counts as both (Spock/Uhura relationship for instance. Bad Trek/Bad Writing knowing nothing about Trek) but you can still put that aside and the film is a mess. They seemed to use familiarity with Trek as a crutch to prop up tension only to yank it away as a sort of gotcha/this isn’t one of those “boring” Trek movies.

Oh… totally starting to agree on Lindeloff (although in his slight defense it seems “Prometheus” was already a considerable mess.) Glad he is (so far) in a galaxy far far away from the Ep VII script. Although see firing the writer of “Toy Story 3” for another in the list of unenthused about the movie.