Nov 3 2009 Singin' in the Rain Special Edition: The Way George Lucas Originally Intended for Gene Kelly to Intend
You'd think Lucas could get James Earl Jones or anyone else for voice-over instead of this guy. But personally, I'm more upset Debbie Reynolds no longer sings the Yub Nub song at the end.
Mar 10 2009 Spielberg, Lucas, Kasdan Show Their Work on 'Raiders of the Lost Ark'
Ready to take your Indiana Jones fandom to the next level? Mystery Man on Film has posted a 125-page transcript of George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and screenwriter Lawrence Kasdan brainstorming what would become the character of Indiana Jones (née Smith) and the film Raiders of the Lost Ark. It's like an origin story of the origin story, and overall a pretty good read. Who would believe the idea of adding a fourth, lackluster chapter thirty years later wasn't part of the original schema?
(via the Boing Boing.)
Dec 1 2008 So Many Star Wars Photos
Michael Heilemann has a ridiculously large collection of Star Wars production stills, behind-the-scenes photos, and concept artwork, and rather than just brag about it at comic conventions, he's shared it online. Neatorama pointed me to Heilemann's Flickr photostream, a collection of nearly 3,000 Star Wars-related images, most of which I've never before encountered (or looked for in any way), such as the above shot of George Lucas invasively prodding a Death Star model.
It's really great how the internet affords us such a division of geek labor. Instead of everyone scrambling and fighting to get their own Star Wars pictures, we can have this guy work on gathering this sci-fi photo treasury while someone else works on constructing life-size replicas of cast of Dr. Who out of Lego, and in the end we all share the triumph of minutes of idle entertainment.
Jul 9 2008 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Featurette, Despite Appearances, Isn't a Video Game
Well, they found a way to make this thing both stupider and even cheaper looking. In this short preview, we learn that at George Lucas's insistence, explains the Clone Wars director who is indiscriminately wearing a fedora, the clone troopers now have tattoos and personalized hairstyles in an attempt to make them seem more like individuals. This utterly fails, and instead it looks like an online game where character customization is limited to picking your hair's degree of stupidity. And I can't wait to see how Lucas has given all of these identical clone troopers unique personalities. If the main characters the live-action films barely had personalities, how do these guys have a shot?
Continue Reading " 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars' Featurette, Despite Appearances, Isn't a Video Game "
May 19 2008 George Lucas Threatens Us with 'Indiana Jones 5'
Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull may not come out until Thursday, but renowned trilogy-diluter George Lucas already has already mentioned plans to see if he can stretch the straining whip of Indiana Jones just a little bit further. If you're like me, you heard this and immediately thought, "Alright, fine. I put up with three flaccid entries in the Star Wars series; I can live through a few more shameful continuations of beloved series. Just tell me you're not doing the 'Shia LaBeouf is the new Indy' thing everyone worried about. Give me that much." But, of course, he couldn't give me that much. Straight from the mouth of the bearded tube protruding from flannel:
I haven't even told Steven [Spielberg] or Harrison this, but I have an idea to make Shia [LaBeouf] the lead character next time and have Harrison come back like Sean Connery did in the last movie. I can see it working out.
You can see it working out, eh? What gives you that impression? The tepid reception Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is getting? The fact that having a non-Indiana Jones lead in an Indiana Jones movie would remove the single expectation fans foolishly assumed you could consistently meet? The gust you felt across your beard as Earth sighed? I'm going to let this go for now, and hope this is Lucas's idea of a joke. Unfortunately, having seen all the Star Wars films, I know it's impossible that he could be that funny.
Apr 30 2008 10 Cool (i.e. Crazy) Japanese Star Wars Posters
George Lucas may have made a few trillion dollars on the Star Wars franchise, but that doesn't mean he didn't have to sell a few satellite dishes along the way. Using a very loose definition of "cool", starwars.com has collected "10 cool Star Wars posters from Japan," including the above ad for the Panacolor X--a system that apparently involves both a satellite dish on a tetherball pole and a 29" television. Besides being massively entertaining in their strangeness, the collection provides a helpful lesson in the Japanese way of thinking. In the U.S., we'd probably just do something like mount the dish on the side of Millennium Falcon, replacing the dish that's already there; you know, something that makes some degree of sense. There, the most obvious selling strategy is the unsettling image of George Lucas riding a satellite dish like a broomstick, sandwiched between Chewbacca and an Ewok, which is insane.
See the other nine here.
Apr 21 2008 NYCC Report: 'Star Wars: The Clone Wars'
This weekend, a cloud of nerdiness loomed darkly over New York's Javits Center, bringing with it a storm of body odor, sword salesman, and more costumed, overweight versions of famous characters than Frank TV. It was the New York Comic Con, and I braved the crowds and movie panels to bring you special reports.
After showing up horribly late, the first panel I attended was on the upcoming animated Star Wars: The Clone Wars. It was a packed room, eager to find how how Lucas would further dilute their cherished series. Here's what I learned:
- Anakin's padawan--a new character named Ahsoka Tano--was described as "a feisty, fiery, and very funny character." As funny as Jar Jar? We could only hope.
- The producer or whatever (I came in late and didn't catch who was speaking) said the new film is so immersive that "it will almost be like the clone troopers walked off the screen and into your living room." At this point, several fully-costumed clone troopers walked onto the stage, simulating the claimed effect. It would have been more impressive if I hadn't already seen forty other guys walking around dressed as Star Wars characters.
- Lucas was originally going to be only marginally involved in the production; now he's gotten hands-on, stopping by to monitor progress once a week. Take this as you will (it's probably bad).
- Just as the previous Star Wars episodes attempted to create a new battlefront environment with each film (ice planet for Empire, jungle for Return of the Jedi, etc.), The Clone Wars does the same: this time it's fighting up a sheer cliff. The clips I saw weren't as Wile E. Coyote-inspired as it sounds, and it looked reasonably entertaining.
I don't think the preview has arrived online yet
Apr 17 2008 Spielberg & Lucas Talk About 'Indy 4', 'Internet'
How can you tell whether or not an interview is going to be hard-hitting? Usually when it begins "This is like having Superman and Batman in the same room. [Laughter]," that's a good indication. So begins this Entertainment Weekly interview with Steven Spielberg and George Lucas, which--despite rattling on about how this crazy "internet" and "blogosphere" have made "spoilers"--reveals some mildly interesting motivations for some decisions on this last Indiana Jones adventure.
Or, if interviews aren't your thing, there's the above new shot from USA Today. Zoinks! Indy and Mutt found a skeleton!
Jan 2 2008 New 'Indiana Jones' Photos by Annie Leibovitz
An Vanity Fair article covering the lifespan of the Indiana Jones series has brought with it some new photos, including the above first shot of Cate Blanchett as Agent Spalko, an evil Russian from the time when we considered Russians evil, rather than the butt of jokes about waiting in line for bread. I can't be the only one seeing a cross between Prince Valiant (or Javier Bardem in No County For Old Men, if you prefer) and Thomas Gainsborough's The Blue Boy, but hopefully I'm the first to cleverly juxtapose the two.
More new Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull shots, like Shia LaBeouf pretending to ride a (possibly transforming) motorcycle, under the cut.
You can read the full article here, though I warn you, Vanity Fair's journalism has reached a point that an emoticon is used to close a paragraph.
Continue Reading " New 'Indiana Jones' Photos by Annie Leibovitz "
Aug 29 2007 A Pile of Movie News
- While Corey Feldman is in Vancouver shooting his part in the Lost Boys sequel, Corey Haim has yet to leave the US, citing immigration problems getting in and out of the country. In other words, Canada can't handle that much awesome at once. [MTV]
- Susan Sarandon said in a recent junket that Speed Racer is using special cameras that will keep everything in the frame in focus through layering images. How soon until this reaches the porn industry, allowing the guy giving it to her from behind to sneer with the same clarity as the guy masturbating in front of them? Not soon enough. [Collider]
- Variety reports that Owen Wilson's recent suicide attempt and hospitalization "are throwing a major monkeywrench into production of two movies and causing marketing headaches for two more." Obviously written by the same reporter that said, "9/11 attacks throw nearby souvenir shops into tizzy." [Variety]
- George Lucas has hired John Ridley to write Red Tails, a film about the first African-American fighter pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen. Writing the latest Star Wars trilogy must have used up all of Lucas's amazingly realistic and believable dialogue. [Variety]
- Oliver Stone is set to direct Pinkville, yet another Vietnam war piece following his previous efforts of Platoon, Heaven & Earth, Born on the Fourth of July, and the seldom-seen family sitcom Viet-Moms. [Variety]
Jul 12 2007 Indiana Jones Teaser Footage
George Lucas: Lesbian Cat Lover, Sunglass Enthusiast
Since the sexy world of movie blogging is basically sniffing the air every time Harrison Ford looks like he's going to fart, I figured I might as well post this teaser clip from Indy 4.
If you remade this clip to be about my life, it'd just be a quick cut montage of a cat masturbating, a pink speedo, and an angry barn owl.
