Lucas Moves On
January 17, 2012 10:52 AM Subscribe
George Lucas on his retirement, Red Tails, and future pursuits (in love and film). SLNYT
Yeah. Shouldn't they make a fourth first?
posted by brundlefly at 11:09 AM on January 17, 2012 [35 favorites]
posted by brundlefly at 11:09 AM on January 17, 2012 [35 favorites]
Those were wrenching experiences he has compared to someone keying your car (he loves cars) or chopping a finger off one of your children (he has three and loves them too).
There's lots of stuff like this in the article. Hmm.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:15 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
There's lots of stuff like this in the article. Hmm.
posted by ocherdraco at 11:15 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Obviously he has to work on the second Star Wars trilogy. Y'know, the ones based on the Timothy Zahn books.
posted by zombieflanders at 11:16 AM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by zombieflanders at 11:16 AM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
Lucas seized control of his movies from the studios only to discover that the fanboys could still give him script notes. “Why would I make any more,” Lucas says of the “Star Wars” movies, “when everybody yells at you all the time and says what a terrible person you are?”Proof that Internet whining can have a positive effect on the universe.
posted by grouse at 11:17 AM on January 17, 2012 [59 favorites]
from article: “And you’re going to be very patriotic — you’re making a black movie that’s patriotic?”
“They have a right to have their history just like anybody else does,” Lucas said. “And they have a right to have it kind of Hollywood-ized and aggrandized and made corny and wonderful just like anybody else does. Even if that’s not the fashion right now.”
Well, I guess it's worth it to make sure nobody's forced to sit in the back of the bus, even if the bus is a stinking, noisy heap that billows smoke from the tailpipe and is likely to fall apart at any moment.
posted by koeselitz at 11:18 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
“They have a right to have their history just like anybody else does,” Lucas said. “And they have a right to have it kind of Hollywood-ized and aggrandized and made corny and wonderful just like anybody else does. Even if that’s not the fashion right now.”
Well, I guess it's worth it to make sure nobody's forced to sit in the back of the bus, even if the bus is a stinking, noisy heap that billows smoke from the tailpipe and is likely to fall apart at any moment.
posted by koeselitz at 11:18 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I hope the next Indy flick is about young Mutt.
It's hard to engage at all with Crystal Skull without knowing just what circumstances made Mutt into who he is.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:18 AM on January 17, 2012 [10 favorites]
It's hard to engage at all with Crystal Skull without knowing just what circumstances made Mutt into who he is.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:18 AM on January 17, 2012 [10 favorites]
All on one page, in case you don't feel like giving NYT six pageviews.
posted by Thorzdad at 11:20 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by Thorzdad at 11:20 AM on January 17, 2012
Daddy O
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2012
Mutt used to be the Norseman mascot at McKinley high school in 1980, then he made friends with giant robot aliens. That's all you need to know.
posted by shakespeherian at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Ugh. George. Ugh.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 11:21 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I saw the trailer for Red Tails, and it was a bit jarring that a movie set in the 1940s had all its stars seemingly talking like they were from 2012... but I guess if you're aiming a movie at teenage boys, maybe it's a necessary piece of artistic licence.
posted by modernnomad at 11:24 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by modernnomad at 11:24 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Oh, he's trotting out the old "small, personal films" shtick again? I think his programming is stuck in a loop, maybe he can get McCallum to look at that.
posted by entropicamericana at 11:26 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by entropicamericana at 11:26 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
I hope the next Indy flick is about young Mutt.
It's hard to engage at all with Crystal Skull without knowing just what circumstances made Mutt into who he is.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:18 AM on January 17 [+] [!]
I am frenetically hoping that this is some of that hard-to-identify arch irony you hear so much about.
posted by chavenet at 11:26 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
It's hard to engage at all with Crystal Skull without knowing just what circumstances made Mutt into who he is.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 11:18 AM on January 17 [+] [!]
I am frenetically hoping that this is some of that hard-to-identify arch irony you hear so much about.
posted by chavenet at 11:26 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
Because I have a kid I have watched the Star Wars: The Clone Wars TV Movie where Anakin and Ahsoka rescue a baby hutt over a dozen times in the last week. I dunno if it would say it's good as such, but it's far, far better than anything in the prequel trilogy. Which is to say... it turns out I still love Star Wars? Even the knew rubbish the kids are into? Just not those three movies.
posted by Artw at 11:29 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:29 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
I can't think about George Lucas anymore without hearing this Patton Oswalt sketch.
"I would kill George Lucas with a shovel."
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 11:29 AM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
"I would kill George Lucas with a shovel."
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 11:29 AM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
So George Lucas gets turned down by every studio he shows the movie to, and complains repeatedly in this interview about how terrible it is when other people try to have some input or suggest that he should edit his films.
I'm a little concerned, based on his more recent films, that this movie is actually crap and everyone told him that but he didn't listen.
posted by Hoopo at 11:30 AM on January 17, 2012 [9 favorites]
I'm a little concerned, based on his more recent films, that this movie is actually crap and everyone told him that but he didn't listen.
posted by Hoopo at 11:30 AM on January 17, 2012 [9 favorites]
I am frenetically hoping that this is some of that hard-to-identify arch irony you hear so much about.
It is, and it's pretty funny.
posted by neuromodulator at 11:32 AM on January 17, 2012
It is, and it's pretty funny.
posted by neuromodulator at 11:32 AM on January 17, 2012
Thorzdad: “All on one page, in case you don't feel like giving NYT six pageviews.”
That is not actually all on one page, Thorzdad. Maybe the NYT disallows linking to the one-page version?
posted by koeselitz at 11:34 AM on January 17, 2012
That is not actually all on one page, Thorzdad. Maybe the NYT disallows linking to the one-page version?
posted by koeselitz at 11:34 AM on January 17, 2012
@modernnomad Yes, I freely admit my ignorance in this area, but I strongly suspect that African-Americans of the WWII era did *not* cross themselves the way Hip-Hop artists at a shrine to one of their fallen do when they see a MTV camera.
posted by Infinity_8 at 11:40 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by Infinity_8 at 11:40 AM on January 17, 2012
Lucas is retired? I though it was his full time job now to destroy my childhood.
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:45 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by T.D. Strange at 11:45 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
Red Tails was co-written by Aaron McGruder?
posted by octothorpe at 11:46 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by octothorpe at 11:46 AM on January 17, 2012
Lucas is retired? I though it was his full time job now to destroy my childhood.
This is the ongoing problem when it comes to George Lucas. We're the ones that give him the power to do the horrible things he continues to do. It's a trap. I hate it and I hate myself for falling victim to this never-ending cycle of shit.
Pays $100 for Star Wars in Bluray
posted by Fizz at 11:47 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
This is the ongoing problem when it comes to George Lucas. We're the ones that give him the power to do the horrible things he continues to do. It's a trap. I hate it and I hate myself for falling victim to this never-ending cycle of shit.
Pays $100 for Star Wars in Bluray
posted by Fizz at 11:47 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Lucas is retired? I though it was his full time job now to destroy my childhood.
Hey now, fanboy, according to George Lucas he can insert a musical number into his old movies whenever he damn well pleases. It's not HIS fault you don't appreciate the marketability... uh, I mean genius... of his revisions.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 11:47 AM on January 17, 2012
Hey now, fanboy, according to George Lucas he can insert a musical number into his old movies whenever he damn well pleases. It's not HIS fault you don't appreciate the marketability... uh, I mean genius... of his revisions.
posted by OnTheLastCastle at 11:47 AM on January 17, 2012
I was interested to see that this piece had an explanation (a fairly lengthy one, even) of the infamous 'nuked the fridge' scene. Given that I'm pretty sure I exclaimed OUT LOUD in the middle of the crowded movie theater that physics did not allow for such a possibility, I'd love to see George's scientists and their justifications.
Also, I can't pin down what it is, but Lucas' tone is just a little off in this piece. Maybe it's the use of 'they' and forms of othering like that. (“They have a right to have their history just like anybody else does,” Lucas said. “And they have a right to have it kind of Hollywood-ized and aggrandized and made corny and wonderful just like anybody else does. Even if that’s not the fashion right now.”) Odd, just a little jarring, probably an artifact of age.
posted by librarylis at 11:49 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
Also, I can't pin down what it is, but Lucas' tone is just a little off in this piece. Maybe it's the use of 'they' and forms of othering like that. (“They have a right to have their history just like anybody else does,” Lucas said. “And they have a right to have it kind of Hollywood-ized and aggrandized and made corny and wonderful just like anybody else does. Even if that’s not the fashion right now.”) Odd, just a little jarring, probably an artifact of age.
posted by librarylis at 11:49 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
I'll be interested to see how good of a movie he can make without 20 years of franchise baggage. I can't find reviews for it yet, despite releasing in 3 days. Isn't that a bad sign?
posted by codacorolla at 11:51 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by codacorolla at 11:51 AM on January 17, 2012
Lucas has decided to devote the rest of his life to what cineastes in the 1970s used to call personal films. They’ll be small in scope, esoteric in subject and screened mostly in art houses. They’ll be like the experimental movies Lucas made in the 1960s…
posted by designbot at 11:52 AM on January 17, 2012 [14 favorites]
"…when Return of the Jedi was nearing completion, Lucas remarked how he would like to return to making the abstract “art house” type films he had dreamed of in his youth when he first moved to San Francisco with Marcia, as Dale Pollock reports in 1983:—The Secret History of Star Wars, p. 281“Lucas wants to rediscover the virtues of being an amateur. He has wanted to make esoteric movies like THX since he left USC; now he has the time and money to do it…He’s determined to make films that are abstract and emotional, without plot or characters. He won’t talk about specific ideas—he seems unsure exactly what he wants to do—but it’s clear that these impressionistic works are the complete opposite of his professional films…Whatever Lucas find with his experimental films he’ll probably keep to himself: ‘If they don’t work, I’m certainly not going to show them to anybody. If they do work, they’ll probably get a very limited release.’ ”Lucas had been talking about making these “experimental” personal films since the 1970’s, as far back as a 1974 interview with Film Quarterly magazine following the release of the commercial American Graffiti, and well after the millennium he would still be talking about “one day soon” making these films. […] Lucas would be quick to remind listeners that he was really an experimental art-house type and that the whole mainstream thing was accidental. As if uncomfortable with being such a mainstream blockbuster-maker, declaring that he will be making experimental personal films that are destined to fail is his way of coping with such fame. In 1974, he vowed to make such films after
Star Wars; in 1978 he vowed to make such films after the Star Wars trilogy; in 1983 he vowed to make such things inthe near future; in 2005 he vowed to make such things now that he was done with Star Wars (again); now in 2008 he has vowed to make such things after the Star Wars television series is complete (sometime close to 2010). Perhaps we will never see these films of his, which at present seem to be only by-products of his insecurity with his Hollywood-association."
posted by designbot at 11:52 AM on January 17, 2012 [14 favorites]
A great re-edit of Crystal Skull would be that after the nuke blast goes off, the fridge gets flung about and then lands face-down on the door. The rest of the film is a static camera shot of Indy slowly suffocating amidst all his broken bones, and then an hour of his corpse laying there inert. I figure it'd be less distressing to fans of the franchise than the 'alternate ending' (everything that normally came after that point in the theatrical release).
posted by FatherDagon at 11:53 AM on January 17, 2012 [13 favorites]
posted by FatherDagon at 11:53 AM on January 17, 2012 [13 favorites]
I like the fridge bit... it's the entire rest of the movie i have problem with.
posted by Artw at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by Artw at 11:54 AM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
How would you go about making a Star Wars or Indiana Jones film that didn't piss off a massive number of fans?
posted by Stagger Lee at 11:56 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Stagger Lee at 11:56 AM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
I'm a little concerned, based on his more recent films, that this movie is actually crap and everyone told him that but he didn't listen.
In my opinion, one of the more telling things about the making of Star Wars documentary was that Lucas screened an early edit of the film, his edit, for industry insiders and friends, who didn't understand any of it.
And then, John Williams, Ben Burtt, Marcia Lucas, and the dubbing folks including Daniels and Jones got a chance to do their post-production magic, and the film went gold.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:56 AM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
In my opinion, one of the more telling things about the making of Star Wars documentary was that Lucas screened an early edit of the film, his edit, for industry insiders and friends, who didn't understand any of it.
And then, John Williams, Ben Burtt, Marcia Lucas, and the dubbing folks including Daniels and Jones got a chance to do their post-production magic, and the film went gold.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 11:56 AM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
Yeah if he ever makes one of those art-house movies, I'll eat my hat. Meanwhile, Smell-O-Vision Star Wars 3D coming to a theater near you...
posted by starman at 11:58 AM on January 17, 2012
posted by starman at 11:58 AM on January 17, 2012
How would you go about making a Star Wars or Indiana Jones film that didn't piss off a massive number of fans?
Not add a lavender gay caricature Hutt with a feather boa who speaks in English like Truman Capote after a stroke.
posted by middleclasstool at 11:58 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
Not add a lavender gay caricature Hutt with a feather boa who speaks in English like Truman Capote after a stroke.
posted by middleclasstool at 11:58 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
I'm really not that upset about the fridge thing. There were larger problems with Crystal Skull. I've never heard anyone point out, for example, it's not possible for Kali-Ma guy to reach into someone's chest and pull out a beating heart.
posted by Hoopo at 11:59 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Hoopo at 11:59 AM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
How would you go about making a Star Wars or Indiana Jones film that didn't piss off a massive number of fans?
It's a game you win by not playing.
Come up with a new story, and forget about the "franchise". (Truly a disgusting word when used in the context of something that is supposedly artistic at its base.)
posted by Dark Messiah at 12:01 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
It's a game you win by not playing.
Come up with a new story, and forget about the "franchise". (Truly a disgusting word when used in the context of something that is supposedly artistic at its base.)
posted by Dark Messiah at 12:01 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
I've never heard anyone point out, for example, it's not possible for Kali-Ma guy to reach into someone's chest and pull out a beating heart.
That's not possible? Then how've I been doing it as the highlight of our yearly sacrificial BBQ? Granted, it helps to soften up the ribcage and sternum with a mallet before the big finish, but a little artistic license is understandable.
posted by FatherDagon at 12:02 PM on January 17, 2012
That's not possible? Then how've I been doing it as the highlight of our yearly sacrificial BBQ? Granted, it helps to soften up the ribcage and sternum with a mallet before the big finish, but a little artistic license is understandable.
posted by FatherDagon at 12:02 PM on January 17, 2012
The first “Red Tails” scripts, which Lucas began commissioning in the early 1990s, suggested a three-part epic. Imagine the opening scenes in segregated Alabama, where one of the original Tuskegee instructors takes Eleanor Roosevelt for a spin; then picture the airborne dogfights over Europe, with slick visual effects from Industrial Light and Magic; and finally, in an irony worthy of Ralph Ellison, envision the war heroes returning home to find that the country they fought for is still in the clammy hands of Jim Crow. “You think ‘Lawrence of Arabia,’ you think ‘The Bridge on the River Kwai,’ ” Rick McCallum says. “Then you think, Oh, my God, ‘Red Tails.’ ”
Hay... wait a minute... this sound like it could be great... action with a message, some real heart and purpose... okay the acting and diagloue in the trailer don't look great but-
“I can’t make that movie,” Lucas recalled thinking when he read the scripts. “I’m going to have make this kind of . . . entertainment movie.” So Lucas focused on the middle chapter: the dogfights and the Nazi-hunting black pilots who shout, “How you like that, Mr. Hitler!”
Oh, okay, as you were...
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:02 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
Hay... wait a minute... this sound like it could be great... action with a message, some real heart and purpose... okay the acting and diagloue in the trailer don't look great but-
“I can’t make that movie,” Lucas recalled thinking when he read the scripts. “I’m going to have make this kind of . . . entertainment movie.” So Lucas focused on the middle chapter: the dogfights and the Nazi-hunting black pilots who shout, “How you like that, Mr. Hitler!”
Oh, okay, as you were...
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 12:02 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
I really really really really really hope Red Tails doesn't suck. I'd like to see it.
For several reasons.
1) Aerial dogfights are always fun to watch on the big screen.
2) Yay Tuskegee Airmen!
3) My godfather was a member of the 477th Bombardment Group and trained a few of the B-25 pilots, so I'm hoping his elegant, dashing, and impeccably waxed mustache gets at least a moment of screen time.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:03 PM on January 17, 2012 [8 favorites]
For several reasons.
1) Aerial dogfights are always fun to watch on the big screen.
2) Yay Tuskegee Airmen!
3) My godfather was a member of the 477th Bombardment Group and trained a few of the B-25 pilots, so I'm hoping his elegant, dashing, and impeccably waxed mustache gets at least a moment of screen time.
posted by BitterOldPunk at 12:03 PM on January 17, 2012 [8 favorites]
The fridge scene is eminently forgivable: clearly Indy was still operating under the lingering protection of his quaff from the Holy Grail.
Eminently unforgivable: terrible CGI in a series originally remarkable for its terrific practical effects. Also, Mutt.
posted by Iridic at 12:05 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Eminently unforgivable: terrible CGI in a series originally remarkable for its terrific practical effects. Also, Mutt.
posted by Iridic at 12:05 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
In regard to the fridge scene, one must only be astonished that Indy lived to survive an atomic blast in a refrigerator, after surviving a plummet of thousands of feet in an inflatable yellow raft that miraculously landed in a river, innumerable booby traps in temples and caves, Nazis, face melting wrath of God via the Ark of the Covenant, nearly burning alive in the sewer/catacombs of Venice, Hitler's autograph, angry natives with poisonous blow darts, a room chalk full of venomous snakes, more Nazis, and other miscellaneous dangers.
The Indiana Jones movies are built around the impossible and the man who makes it a hobby of escaping death and experiencing the amazing. The fridge was just one more in the series of such events, which in the same movie, featured amphibious vehicles plunging repeatedly over waterfalls, and aliens. I have to argue that to pick out just the fridge in the entire series of Indiana Jones adventures as something too incredible is a matter of nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking.
posted by Atreides at 12:06 PM on January 17, 2012 [9 favorites]
The Indiana Jones movies are built around the impossible and the man who makes it a hobby of escaping death and experiencing the amazing. The fridge was just one more in the series of such events, which in the same movie, featured amphibious vehicles plunging repeatedly over waterfalls, and aliens. I have to argue that to pick out just the fridge in the entire series of Indiana Jones adventures as something too incredible is a matter of nitpicking for the sake of nitpicking.
posted by Atreides at 12:06 PM on January 17, 2012 [9 favorites]
I'm really tired of Lucas proclaiming he made the movie that nobody else would make...
...except of course the people that already made The Tuskegee Airmen.
posted by Muddler at 12:06 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
...except of course the people that already made The Tuskegee Airmen.
posted by Muddler at 12:06 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Lucas had been talking about making these “experimental” personal films since the 1970’s
And that's kind of crushing to the aspiring experimental filmmakers, I would think. If George Lucas can't pull it off, what chance do they have?
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:08 PM on January 17, 2012
And that's kind of crushing to the aspiring experimental filmmakers, I would think. If George Lucas can't pull it off, what chance do they have?
posted by StickyCarpet at 12:08 PM on January 17, 2012
I'm a little concerned, based on his more recent films, that this movie is actually crap and everyone told him that but he didn't listen.
It's coming out in January. Of course it's crap.
posted by asterix at 12:10 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
It's coming out in January. Of course it's crap.
posted by asterix at 12:10 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
The fridge scene is eminently forgivable: clearly Indy was still operating under the lingering protection of his quaff from the Holy Grail.
Being next to the one and only lead-lined household refrigerator ever made doesn't hurt, either.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:13 PM on January 17, 2012
Being next to the one and only lead-lined household refrigerator ever made doesn't hurt, either.
posted by Thorzdad at 12:13 PM on January 17, 2012
Yeah, the fridge scene is fine. I don't think that it's any different that flying through a cave in a mine car that launches itself off the rails, falls down tens or hundreds of meters, and lands on the tracks again.
The problem isn't whether these things could happen. They couldn't; they're absurd. The problem is that while the unbelievable things that happened in the first three movies were fun, and in the context of stories that were fun, the events of the fourth movie are boring.
posted by nushustu at 12:13 PM on January 17, 2012 [10 favorites]
The problem isn't whether these things could happen. They couldn't; they're absurd. The problem is that while the unbelievable things that happened in the first three movies were fun, and in the context of stories that were fun, the events of the fourth movie are boring.
posted by nushustu at 12:13 PM on January 17, 2012 [10 favorites]
Yeah, the crazy fantastic stuff that happens to Indy in the original films semi-advances the plot or is fun enough and exciting enough that we go along with it. The whole oops-I'm-in-a-fake-house-that-is-going-to-be-nuked-fortunately-a-refrigerator! thing is like a huge stupid detour in the film that is ridiculous in setup and ridiculous in resolution. It's like the only point of the sequence is to be stupid.
posted by shakespeherian at 12:21 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by shakespeherian at 12:21 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm a little concerned, based on his more recent films, that this movie is actually crap and everyone told him that but he didn't listen.
I don't think you should be concerned so much as pretty much convinced of it.
Lucas did the same thing (e.g. whatever he wanted) with the prequels. The difference there was, it was Star Wars. When you come to the studios with an incredibly profitable franchise in hand and say you want to make movies based on it, they're going to be willing to overlook an awful lot. And in the case of the prequels, Hollywood was absolutely right -- quality didn't matter. It was Star Wars. Of course it was going to make a ton of money.
Now, though, Lucas is going to those same studios, but with a completely new thing. There's no nostalgia factor, no built-in audience. He's making a film that can only succeed by getting people interested in something they have no connection to yet. Yet, he approaches it like he would approach Star Wars -- e.g. that he should be able to walk in, do whatever he wants, have no input from anyone else, and everyone should just be ecstatic that he's willing to take their money.
It's not really any wonder the studios balked. The article spells it out pretty clearly:
None of this means he couldn't possibly make a good movie. But, it does mean that nobody in Hollywood is going to be interested in giving him a blank check and free reign to do whatever he wants. And given his most recent performances, I have really no hope for a film he funded entirely on his own with the express intent of not listening to input from anyone.
posted by tocts at 12:27 PM on January 17, 2012 [7 favorites]
I don't think you should be concerned so much as pretty much convinced of it.
Lucas did the same thing (e.g. whatever he wanted) with the prequels. The difference there was, it was Star Wars. When you come to the studios with an incredibly profitable franchise in hand and say you want to make movies based on it, they're going to be willing to overlook an awful lot. And in the case of the prequels, Hollywood was absolutely right -- quality didn't matter. It was Star Wars. Of course it was going to make a ton of money.
Now, though, Lucas is going to those same studios, but with a completely new thing. There's no nostalgia factor, no built-in audience. He's making a film that can only succeed by getting people interested in something they have no connection to yet. Yet, he approaches it like he would approach Star Wars -- e.g. that he should be able to walk in, do whatever he wants, have no input from anyone else, and everyone should just be ecstatic that he's willing to take their money.
It's not really any wonder the studios balked. The article spells it out pretty clearly:
But the snub implied that Lucas’s pop-culture collateral — six “Star Wars” movies, four “Indiana Jones” movies, the effects shop Industrial Light and Magic and toy licenses that were selling (at least) four different light sabers this Christmas — was basically worthless.There's no "imply" here; there's only fact. At this point, the only thing of worth he brings to the table are franchises from decades ago, and nostalgia for those franchises. Lucas' name no longer commands any sort of premium with movie-going audiences. Almost nobody alive today is going to come out to see a film because Lucas was at the helm (and, in fact, many would only come out to see such a film in spite of Lucas, not because of him).
None of this means he couldn't possibly make a good movie. But, it does mean that nobody in Hollywood is going to be interested in giving him a blank check and free reign to do whatever he wants. And given his most recent performances, I have really no hope for a film he funded entirely on his own with the express intent of not listening to input from anyone.
posted by tocts at 12:27 PM on January 17, 2012 [7 favorites]
Aerial dogfights are always fun to watch on the big screen.
And Lucas actually has a pretty good track record there.
posted by Artw at 12:31 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
And Lucas actually has a pretty good track record there.
posted by Artw at 12:31 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
nearly burning alive in the sewer/catacombs of Venice
If Indiana Jones can somehow find catacombs in Venice he can probably manage to do anything else he likes.
posted by dng at 12:33 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
If Indiana Jones can somehow find catacombs in Venice he can probably manage to do anything else he likes.
posted by dng at 12:33 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
A CAF group has a redtail (or at least a P-51 painted like one). Even among a bunch of other old warbirds, it's visually startling to see that expanse of blood red tail fin sticking out from all the aluminum and olive drab.
Well worth seeing, and the CAF puts on a good (albeit cornball) show.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:39 PM on January 17, 2012
Well worth seeing, and the CAF puts on a good (albeit cornball) show.
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 12:39 PM on January 17, 2012
Based on the commercials I've seen, Red Tails looks like it's going to be "about" the Tuskegee Airmen the way Pearl Harbor was "about" Pearl Harbor.
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:40 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by The Card Cheat at 12:40 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
If Indiana Jones can somehow find catacombs in Venice he can probably manage to do anything else he likes.
X marks the spot.
I would like Red Tails to succeed, if only for the subject material. Though, my great-uncle who was in the Italian campaign has an intense dislike for them due to his claim that they strafed US soldiers at some point. I don't expect him to go see the movie, nor does it appear is he the intended audience.
posted by Atreides at 12:43 PM on January 17, 2012
X marks the spot.
I would like Red Tails to succeed, if only for the subject material. Though, my great-uncle who was in the Italian campaign has an intense dislike for them due to his claim that they strafed US soldiers at some point. I don't expect him to go see the movie, nor does it appear is he the intended audience.
posted by Atreides at 12:43 PM on January 17, 2012
I saw the trailer for Red Tails, and it was a bit jarring that a movie set in the 1940s had all its stars seemingly talking like they were from 2012... but I guess if you're aiming a movie at teenage boys, maybe it's a necessary piece of artistic licence.
The fifteen-year-old of the house was watching a period piece show last night, set in the 1940's. After listening to the deadpan and blunt delivery, she asked, "When did sarcasm start?"
I told her, "1985."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:56 PM on January 17, 2012 [9 favorites]
The fifteen-year-old of the house was watching a period piece show last night, set in the 1940's. After listening to the deadpan and blunt delivery, she asked, "When did sarcasm start?"
I told her, "1985."
posted by ricochet biscuit at 12:56 PM on January 17, 2012 [9 favorites]
So yeah, BBC News posted this story a few days ago about George complaining about racism in Hollywood. Hey, George, exactly how many women appear in the trailer for your new movie? You mealy mouthed asswipe.
posted by Brocktoon at 12:57 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by Brocktoon at 12:57 PM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]
Anyone who feels as pretty much everyone on this thread does about Lucas and his modifications to the original Star Wars trilogy owes it to him/herself to listen to Paul and Storm's awesome song Thanksgiving. Trust me.
posted by cerebus19 at 1:00 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by cerebus19 at 1:00 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
And that's kind of crushing to the aspiring experimental filmmakers, I would think. If George Lucas can't pull it off, what chance do they have?
Cmon bro. An experimental esoteric art flick could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Lucas isnt made of money.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:00 PM on January 17, 2012
Cmon bro. An experimental esoteric art flick could cost tens of thousands of dollars.
Lucas isnt made of money.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:00 PM on January 17, 2012
Why not piss off all the fans and make Star Wars Dogme 95?
posted by mkb at 1:01 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by mkb at 1:01 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Though I hear a significant portion of his neck-waddle is.
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:01 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:01 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
"So what attracted you to the millionaire paul daniels"
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:09 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 1:09 PM on January 17, 2012
/does Hutt laugh.
posted by Artw at 1:12 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Artw at 1:12 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Yeah if he ever makes one of those art-house movies, I'll eat my hat. Meanwhile, Smell-O-Vision Star Wars 3D coming to a theater near you...
Hope you brought ketchup for that headgear.
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:24 PM on January 17, 2012
Hope you brought ketchup for that headgear.
posted by Smart Dalek at 1:24 PM on January 17, 2012
/does Hutt laugh.
/does Salacious Crumb laugh
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:25 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
/does Salacious Crumb laugh
posted by ROU_Xenophobe at 1:25 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
How on earth did George Lucas land a catch like Mellody Hobson?
Are you kidding? With his money?
posted by Melismata at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2012
Are you kidding? With his money?
posted by Melismata at 1:27 PM on January 17, 2012
This is kind of an ugly derail. She's independently wealthy.
posted by Hoopo at 1:35 PM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
posted by Hoopo at 1:35 PM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
I find this amazing:
Lucas hired Aaron McGruder, the feisty creator of the Boondocks comic strip... McGruder was once a vocal opponent of Jar Jar Binks, the floppy-eared alien introduced in the first “Star Wars” prequel... One Boondocks strip showed Jar Jar with his fist in the air doing the black-power salute; another described Lucas being physically assaulted. “What do I call it when someone who ruins his own pop-culture icons is attacked by a psycho fan?” a McGruder character said. “I call it justice.”
So the man who accused Lucas of racial klutziness found himself supplying dialogue for Lucas’s Malcolm-and-Martin passion project. Lucas and McGruder spent mornings talking over scenes and dialogue. Then McGruder escaped to his Skywalker Ranch apartment...
Embrace your most vocal critics, ask them to write better dialogue and then put them on the payroll. I like this tactic. ['Team of rivals' 21st century Hollywood style].
posted by Rashomon at 1:47 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Lucas hired Aaron McGruder, the feisty creator of the Boondocks comic strip... McGruder was once a vocal opponent of Jar Jar Binks, the floppy-eared alien introduced in the first “Star Wars” prequel... One Boondocks strip showed Jar Jar with his fist in the air doing the black-power salute; another described Lucas being physically assaulted. “What do I call it when someone who ruins his own pop-culture icons is attacked by a psycho fan?” a McGruder character said. “I call it justice.”
So the man who accused Lucas of racial klutziness found himself supplying dialogue for Lucas’s Malcolm-and-Martin passion project. Lucas and McGruder spent mornings talking over scenes and dialogue. Then McGruder escaped to his Skywalker Ranch apartment...
Embrace your most vocal critics, ask them to write better dialogue and then put them on the payroll. I like this tactic. ['Team of rivals' 21st century Hollywood style].
posted by Rashomon at 1:47 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
What happened in '85?
Sarcasm was invented. Like he said.
posted by ook at 1:48 PM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
Sarcasm was invented. Like he said.
posted by ook at 1:48 PM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
My art is pretty bad and my sweetie is gorgeous and far out of my league.
It happens. Let's move forward, yallz
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:48 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
It happens. Let's move forward, yallz
posted by Senor Cardgage at 1:48 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
Jar Jar Binks is a horror, of course, but the same movie also features sneaky asiatic CGI creeps and a slave-trading gambling arab CGI creep... Phantom Menace really hits the whole ethnic-stereotype-repurposed-as-alien-and-played-for-laughs thing HARD.
posted by Artw at 1:59 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
posted by Artw at 1:59 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
Lucas is retired? I though it was his full time job now to destroy my childhood.
The guy made a few movies, some of them very enjoyable. Your childhood wasn't destroyed, harmed or even nicked. You'll be fine, no matter what Lucas decides to do or not do, just like the rest of us.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:13 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
The guy made a few movies, some of them very enjoyable. Your childhood wasn't destroyed, harmed or even nicked. You'll be fine, no matter what Lucas decides to do or not do, just like the rest of us.
posted by Brandon Blatcher at 2:13 PM on January 17, 2012 [4 favorites]
Jar Jar Binks is a horror, of course, but the same movie also features sneaky asiatic CGI creeps and a slave-trading gambling arab CGI creep.
Which makes this new project all the more weirder. I think his intentions are sincere, but can he really have been that naive on the prequels?
posted by panboi at 2:16 PM on January 17, 2012
Which makes this new project all the more weirder. I think his intentions are sincere, but can he really have been that naive on the prequels?
posted by panboi at 2:16 PM on January 17, 2012
Lucas just doesn't get it, does he?
It isn't simply a legion of fanboys enraged at him for continually tinkering with the Star Wars movies, for daring to try and dictate to him what his vision should be. That's not why we are mad. We're mad for three reasons, George:
It isn't simply a legion of fanboys enraged at him for continually tinkering with the Star Wars movies, for daring to try and dictate to him what his vision should be. That's not why we are mad. We're mad for three reasons, George:
- Unlike every other director out there you REFUSE to let the audience choose how to view the films. I can watch the director's cut of Blade Runner or Das Boot or whatever if I want, but it isn't the ONLY VERSION AVAILABLE ANYWHERE. Your bitching and moaning about fans cutting and re-editing your films conveniently overlooks the fact that a HUGE percentage of those doing so are attempting to restore the films to their original theatrical release. You are attempting to revise my own personal history and eliminating any chance that I can share with my own kid the magic that was captured for me in the original film. Fuck you for that, George.
- You spent so many years tinkering that you didn't do anything else worthwhile. How many years did you waste "fixing" films that didn't need fixing? What else could you have done with that time? How many stories could you have told that you'll now never have time to tell because you can't leave behind your personal hang-ups about shit you did decades ago? Fuck you for that, too, George.
- You think you are actually good at what you do, when in fact nearly everything you have done on your own is mediocre at best and a disappointment at worst. Your best work was done in collaboration with others. You continually fail to recognize that you are a terrible writer. You have amassed enough money and power in the industry that no one is willing to disagree with you to your face, and you take this as a sign that you are doing things well. You have become so self-absorbed that you can't bring in anyone to help with scripts, dialogue, pacing, anything, and your films suffer as a result. It's ironically sad that so much of your tinkering with the Star Wars trilogy has essentially been a personal crusade to remove the very contributions from others that made them worthwhile to begin with. You can tell yourself to fuck off for that one, George.
your personal hang-ups about shit you did decades ago? Fuck you for that, too, George.
Hrm.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:21 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Hrm.
posted by shakespeherian at 2:21 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you had asked me, any time between 1983 and 1999, whether I would prefer either (a) a crappy prequel trilogy that had its moments and at least featured Obi-Wan dueling Anakin on a volcano, or (b) no more Star Wars at all, I would pick (a) in every scenario.
The same goes for all of Lucas's work. Would you prefer a crappy movie about X that has spectacular moments along with the potential for greatness, or would you prefer nothing at all? In most scenarios, I would say nothing at all, except for the Star Wars scenario. It might be a case of "if we knew then what we know now," but I'm sure that if, today, 2012, no prequels existed, and I knew Lucas was going to sully the saga with some pure crap, a vestige of the Star Wars I grew up with, that would might have its moments, and feature Obi-Wan dueling Anakin on a volcano (not to mention Yoda using a light saber and a legion of Jedi Knights), then I would still opt for more Star Wars. Every single time.
I'm not so sure about Indiana Jones; and as for Red Tails, I'm ambivalent. It's hard for me to hate Lucas for the prequels, because, as a fan, I was part of the naive group that essentially willed it into existence.
posted by jabberjaw at 2:23 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
The same goes for all of Lucas's work. Would you prefer a crappy movie about X that has spectacular moments along with the potential for greatness, or would you prefer nothing at all? In most scenarios, I would say nothing at all, except for the Star Wars scenario. It might be a case of "if we knew then what we know now," but I'm sure that if, today, 2012, no prequels existed, and I knew Lucas was going to sully the saga with some pure crap, a vestige of the Star Wars I grew up with, that would might have its moments, and feature Obi-Wan dueling Anakin on a volcano (not to mention Yoda using a light saber and a legion of Jedi Knights), then I would still opt for more Star Wars. Every single time.
I'm not so sure about Indiana Jones; and as for Red Tails, I'm ambivalent. It's hard for me to hate Lucas for the prequels, because, as a fan, I was part of the naive group that essentially willed it into existence.
posted by jabberjaw at 2:23 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I can't find reviews for it yet, despite releasing in 3 days.
Early reviews suggest it is the best movie that ever happened and that you should go and see it with your church group.
posted by tumid dahlia at 2:38 PM on January 17, 2012
Early reviews suggest it is the best movie that ever happened and that you should go and see it with your church group.
posted by tumid dahlia at 2:38 PM on January 17, 2012
Leaving Star Wars aside for a moment, I wish Mr. Lucas luck with Red Tails. It sounds like the kind of movie that wouldn't exist these days if someone with Lucas's financial heft wasn't standing behind it. Spike Lee's Miracle At St. Anna ran into the exact same kind of resistance from Hollywood and bombed at least partly because no one was willing to distribute the movie to theaters. Hopefully Red Tails will succeed and open up Hollywood to more mainstream stories about African Americans.
As for the article, the most interesting sentence was already quoted here:
"“I can’t make that movie,” Lucas recalled thinking when he read the scripts."
Why not? Maybe, instead of making movies that are explicitly "artistic," Lucas should deliberately try to make "that movie" as a way of stretching himself as an artist. A movie about characters and plot that's not a blockbuster. Make it cheap so there's little cost if it fails, and keep making them until he gets good at Those Movies.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:38 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
As for the article, the most interesting sentence was already quoted here:
"“I can’t make that movie,” Lucas recalled thinking when he read the scripts."
Why not? Maybe, instead of making movies that are explicitly "artistic," Lucas should deliberately try to make "that movie" as a way of stretching himself as an artist. A movie about characters and plot that's not a blockbuster. Make it cheap so there's little cost if it fails, and keep making them until he gets good at Those Movies.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:38 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I wouldn't call Radioland Murders a plotless, formless arthouse film.
posted by nushustu at 2:41 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by nushustu at 2:41 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
You can only truly hate George Lucas by having worked for him, and witnessing the utter tripe and nonsense that went on inside of those hallowed walls of The Ranch and ILM. The way he has controlled the public perception of his "talent", the way he's treated his employees and closest confidants for many years, the way he pulled the wool over San Francisco's eyes as he cut the wildest real estate deal/scam in modern SF history, all of it amounts to a guy in the right place, at the right time, surrounded by YES people afraid to tell him that he's making dog food. Combine that with the short attention span and memory of the audience at large, and George has cried all the way to the bank. I have some close friends who worked on Red Tails, and I'll tell you this: those who insist on giving Lucas money to see it, should sit through the credits and see who George hired to do the visual effects. All ILM, right? Dream on, kids. Read carefully. The 1% NEVER HAVE ENOUGH.
Part of me feels like writing the ultimate tell-all book on this shmuck, and making sure it isn't released until after I croak (he can sue my ashes), but it wouldn't make any difference in this guy being a billionaire who cranks out crap. Meanwhile, "A Wrinkle In Time" only exists as a shitty direct-to-video Disney crapfest, so excuse me if I don't hold my breath for the audience to demand quality movies for their money.
I gotta stop reading MeFi posts on Uncle George, it's like picking on a scab that looks like Jabba, and squeaks like Yoda.
posted by dbiedny at 2:41 PM on January 17, 2012 [10 favorites]
Part of me feels like writing the ultimate tell-all book on this shmuck, and making sure it isn't released until after I croak (he can sue my ashes), but it wouldn't make any difference in this guy being a billionaire who cranks out crap. Meanwhile, "A Wrinkle In Time" only exists as a shitty direct-to-video Disney crapfest, so excuse me if I don't hold my breath for the audience to demand quality movies for their money.
I gotta stop reading MeFi posts on Uncle George, it's like picking on a scab that looks like Jabba, and squeaks like Yoda.
posted by dbiedny at 2:41 PM on January 17, 2012 [10 favorites]
Lucas has been better as a producer and first-treatment writer than as a lead director or writer:
Empire Kershner/Brackett/Kasdan.
Jedi Marquand/Kasdan.
Lost Ark Spielberg/Kasdan
Last Crusade Spielberg/Boam.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Empire Kershner/Brackett/Kasdan.
Jedi Marquand/Kasdan.
Lost Ark Spielberg/Kasdan
Last Crusade Spielberg/Boam.
posted by CBrachyrhynchos at 2:48 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I hope he shaves off that absurd beard and fully embraces chinlessness.
posted by Decani at 2:55 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by Decani at 2:55 PM on January 17, 2012 [2 favorites]
"I wouldn't call Radioland Murders a plotless, formless arthouse film."
I haven't seen it (so y'know, grain of salt) but from the imdb description it sounds like the sort of thing that's well within the Lucas wheelhouse: the nostalgic recreation of an earlier era of film. If he's looking to grow as an artist, Lucas should deliberately make some kind of movie he knows he's not good at, like maybe a romance or character study.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:57 PM on January 17, 2012
I haven't seen it (so y'know, grain of salt) but from the imdb description it sounds like the sort of thing that's well within the Lucas wheelhouse: the nostalgic recreation of an earlier era of film. If he's looking to grow as an artist, Lucas should deliberately make some kind of movie he knows he's not good at, like maybe a romance or character study.
posted by Kevin Street at 2:57 PM on January 17, 2012
All ILM, right? Dream on, kids. Read carefully. The 1% NEVER HAVE ENOUGH.
Can you tell me exactly what you mean by this, dbiedny?
posted by incomple at 3:21 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
Can you tell me exactly what you mean by this, dbiedny?
posted by incomple at 3:21 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
If you had asked me, any time between 1983 and 1999, whether I would prefer either (a) a crappy prequel trilogy that had its moments and at least featured Obi-Wan dueling Anakin on a volcano, or (b) no more Star Wars at all, I would pick (a) in every scenario.
Which is why I'm still a Weezer fan.
posted by Edison Carter at 3:26 PM on January 17, 2012
Which is why I'm still a Weezer fan.
posted by Edison Carter at 3:26 PM on January 17, 2012
I have some close friends who worked on Red Tails, and I'll tell you this: those who insist on giving Lucas money to see it, should sit through the credits and see who George hired to do the visual effects. All ILM, right?
Is there any recent film out that's had all of its effects done by a single house? (Excepting the animation shops.)
posted by asterix at 3:29 PM on January 17, 2012
Is there any recent film out that's had all of its effects done by a single house? (Excepting the animation shops.)
posted by asterix at 3:29 PM on January 17, 2012
Maybe dbiedny is referring to the Letterman Digital Arts Center. Apparently, Lucasfilm bought a chunk of the old Presidio for their new headquarters.
posted by Kevin Street at 4:04 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by Kevin Street at 4:04 PM on January 17, 2012
dbiedny: "I have some close friends who worked on Red Tails, and I'll tell you this: those who insist on giving Lucas money to see it, should sit through the credits and see who George hired to do the visual effects. All ILM, right? Dream on, kids. Read carefully. The 1% NEVER HAVE ENOUGH."
I'm going to third the confusion on this note. As I understand it, effects-heavy movies are farmed out to different effects houses on a shot by shot basis. I would be more surprised if it were all ILM. At any rate, what's such an issue about hiring other effects companies that it merits the "WAKE UP SHEEPLE" tone?
posted by brundlefly at 4:08 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
I'm going to third the confusion on this note. As I understand it, effects-heavy movies are farmed out to different effects houses on a shot by shot basis. I would be more surprised if it were all ILM. At any rate, what's such an issue about hiring other effects companies that it merits the "WAKE UP SHEEPLE" tone?
posted by brundlefly at 4:08 PM on January 17, 2012 [1 favorite]
At any rate, what's such an issue about hiring other effects companies that it merits the "WAKE UP SHEEPLE" tone?
He owns both of them.
And has people from one poaching other people from the other.
And he forces them to underbid each other, while the employees live paycheck to paycheck, without security for their families and tauntauns.
All the while he sits in his magical ranch and laughs his chinless laugh.
posted by Sparx at 4:36 PM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
He owns both of them.
And has people from one poaching other people from the other.
And he forces them to underbid each other, while the employees live paycheck to paycheck, without security for their families and tauntauns.
All the while he sits in his magical ranch and laughs his chinless laugh.
posted by Sparx at 4:36 PM on January 17, 2012 [6 favorites]
chinlessness
It's words like this that make me remember why I love the English language.
posted by milarepa at 4:41 PM on January 17, 2012
It's words like this that make me remember why I love the English language.
posted by milarepa at 4:41 PM on January 17, 2012
Gotcha, Sparx. What other company are we talking about here? I'm seeing several non-ILM companies listed on IMDb. Also, can you recommend any reading material on this, if it exists? This is an aspect of Lucas' empire (heh) that I'm unfamiliar with.
posted by brundlefly at 4:49 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by brundlefly at 4:49 PM on January 17, 2012
Sorry, brundlefly. That was just riffage. I have no idea if it's true, I just couldn't see another reason for a mini 1% rant in that context.
posted by Sparx at 4:55 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by Sparx at 4:55 PM on January 17, 2012
Ha! My hamburger-detector must be miscalibrated. It's been a long day.
posted by brundlefly at 4:58 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by brundlefly at 4:58 PM on January 17, 2012
Reading material on the inside workings of the Lucas empire? I met with a lawyer after I left the company, based on my own personal experiences, and what I saw and participated in during my brief (but intense) employment. He told me - quite directly - that any money I would make on writing such a book, would be spent on defending myself from Lucas. You can't read that book/article, that's my whole point... And yes, Sparx, you get it, but exactly. Let's leave it at that... I'd said enough here to get in some trouble.
posted by dbiedny at 5:03 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by dbiedny at 5:03 PM on January 17, 2012
And the goiter is supposedly from his rather serious diabetes (which kept him out of Vietnam, fwiw)...
posted by dbiedny at 5:06 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by dbiedny at 5:06 PM on January 17, 2012
This is kind of an ugly derail. She's independently wealthy.
Apparently not wealthy enough for the NYT to have used a photo shot from a more flattering angle.
Which makes this new project all the more weirder. I think his intentions are sincere, but can he really have been that naive on the prequels?
I imagine he's been schooled quite a bit on the Jar Jar Binks front since he's been with Ms. Hobson. Maybe this film is, for him, one way of trying to make amends.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:52 PM on January 17, 2012
Apparently not wealthy enough for the NYT to have used a photo shot from a more flattering angle.
Which makes this new project all the more weirder. I think his intentions are sincere, but can he really have been that naive on the prequels?
I imagine he's been schooled quite a bit on the Jar Jar Binks front since he's been with Ms. Hobson. Maybe this film is, for him, one way of trying to make amends.
posted by fuse theorem at 5:52 PM on January 17, 2012
I somehow got on a movie preview invite list, and over the last three or four months I must have received a dozen invitations to see Red Tails, where usually I'll get one, or maybe two, for a movie. That suggests to me that they were either 1) doing major tinkering based on test audience reactions or 2) were so damn proud of the film they were trying to generate early word of mouth.
posted by stargell at 6:24 PM on January 17, 2012
posted by stargell at 6:24 PM on January 17, 2012
Apparently not wealthy enough for the NYT to have used a photo shot from a more flattering angle.
We discussed this sort of thing once before on the green.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:23 PM on January 17, 2012
We discussed this sort of thing once before on the green.
posted by ricochet biscuit at 8:23 PM on January 17, 2012
Sparx > He owns both of them.
And has people from one poaching other people from the other.
And he forces them to underbid each other, while the employees live paycheck to paycheck, without security for their families and tauntauns.
That's not normally or even logically how poaching could work.
I'll join in the chorus here, it sounds like you have a story to tell, please do ...
posted by Bokononist at 9:19 PM on January 17, 2012
And has people from one poaching other people from the other.
And he forces them to underbid each other, while the employees live paycheck to paycheck, without security for their families and tauntauns.
That's not normally or even logically how poaching could work.
I'll join in the chorus here, it sounds like you have a story to tell, please do ...
posted by Bokononist at 9:19 PM on January 17, 2012
Well dammit wait a minute, it wasn't even you who made the original comment...my revised, addressed list of huffy Internet thread demands at this moment is as follows :
Sparx please clarify how someone could gainfully set up a system of studios poaching each others' talent by underbidding,
dbiedny please don't wait to publish a tell-all book that might benefit yourself in some way and instead just spill the beans in this MF thread because I'm on the edge of my seat
posted by Bokononist at 9:28 PM on January 17, 2012
Sparx please clarify how someone could gainfully set up a system of studios poaching each others' talent by underbidding,
dbiedny please don't wait to publish a tell-all book that might benefit yourself in some way and instead just spill the beans in this MF thread because I'm on the edge of my seat
posted by Bokononist at 9:28 PM on January 17, 2012
dbiedny>that any money I would make on writing such a book, would be spent on defending myself from Lucas. You can't read that book/article, that's my whole point... And yes, Sparx, you get it, but exactly. Let's leave it at that... I'd said enough here to get in some trouble
Man, #OWS and Hugh Howey and let me buy you another beer
posted by Bokononist at 9:36 PM on January 17, 2012
Man, #OWS and Hugh Howey and let me buy you another beer
posted by Bokononist at 9:36 PM on January 17, 2012
First media review I've seen. More or less confirming some of the comments here.
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:26 AM on January 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Ashwagandha at 8:26 AM on January 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
Why, there’s even a facially scarred, Darth Vader–esque Nazi for your hissing pleasure.
I have a bad feeling about this
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:27 AM on January 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I have a bad feeling about this
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:27 AM on January 18, 2012 [1 favorite]
I have a bad feeling about this
I find your lack of faith completely justified.
posted by entropicamericana at 9:34 AM on January 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
I find your lack of faith completely justified.
posted by entropicamericana at 9:34 AM on January 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
I must say I appreciate Lucas for forcing me to challenged my preconceived notion that more creative freedom for an artist is always good.
posted by codacorolla at 9:40 AM on January 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
posted by codacorolla at 9:40 AM on January 18, 2012 [2 favorites]
If I was Lucas I'd be like, fuck it, and have Hitler turn up at the end flying a diesel punk Tie Fighter... actually I've got my fingers crossed that this will happen.
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:42 AM on January 18, 2012
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 9:42 AM on January 18, 2012
I must say I appreciate Lucas for forcing me to challenged my preconceived notion that more creative freedom for an artist is always good.
Nah, because film is a collaborative art, and while Lucas the artist enjoys greater creative freedom, every other artist involved in his films-- someone who can write a lick of dialogue, for example-- enjoys far less creative freedom. Dilemma solved!
posted by shakespeherian at 10:13 AM on January 18, 2012
Nah, because film is a collaborative art, and while Lucas the artist enjoys greater creative freedom, every other artist involved in his films-- someone who can write a lick of dialogue, for example-- enjoys far less creative freedom. Dilemma solved!
posted by shakespeherian at 10:13 AM on January 18, 2012
Ok, it's official: 2-1/2 stars from Roger Ebert..
posted by Melismata at 11:07 AM on January 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by Melismata at 11:07 AM on January 20, 2012 [1 favorite]
33% on Rotten Tomatoes, higher than I would have expected.
posted by Artw at 11:57 AM on January 23, 2012
posted by Artw at 11:57 AM on January 23, 2012
I went to see a different movie this past Saturday and there were a lot of people waiting to see Red Tails, most of them black. I heard some women talking about how that showing was sold out and how they'd have to find another theater. When the previous show got out, it seemed to be equally packed.
That's just a single anecdote, but I was sort of surprised that Underworld 4: Everything's Blue Again beat it out at the box office. Then again, I am in Oakland, so this might not have been very representative.
posted by brundlefly at 1:09 PM on January 23, 2012
That's just a single anecdote, but I was sort of surprised that Underworld 4: Everything's Blue Again beat it out at the box office. Then again, I am in Oakland, so this might not have been very representative.
posted by brundlefly at 1:09 PM on January 23, 2012
You can only truly hate George Lucas by having worked for him, and witnessing the utter tripe and nonsense that went on inside of those hallowed walls of The Ranch and ILM.There was an uncomfortable scene in one of the documentaries that came with the original release of The Phantom Menace DVD where Lucas, McCallum, and some other folks have just finished watching an early screening. You can see the dawning realization on everyone's faces (except George's) that they have all participated in the making of a steaming pile of multi-million dollar crap.
I've become convinced over the years that the original Star Wars was the novel success it was in spite of George Lucas, not because of him.
posted by usonian at 2:30 PM on January 26, 2012 [1 favorite]
The Red Letter Media / Plinkett guys have seen it... they love it!
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:00 AM on January 27, 2012
posted by fearfulsymmetry at 3:00 AM on January 27, 2012
I've become convinced over the years that the original Star Wars was the novel success it was in spite of George Lucas, not because of him.
I wouldn't go that far but there was a whole lot of serious input and collaboration from people like his wife and editor Marsha, his producer Kurtz, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (who was a old industry veteran), Production Designer John Barry, artist Ralph McQuarrie, sound designer Ben Burtt, etc. I think that Lucas is a victim of believing his own legend that he was the only one responsible for Star Wars when there were so many other people involved.
posted by octothorpe at 4:29 AM on January 27, 2012 [2 favorites]
I wouldn't go that far but there was a whole lot of serious input and collaboration from people like his wife and editor Marsha, his producer Kurtz, cinematographer Gilbert Taylor (who was a old industry veteran), Production Designer John Barry, artist Ralph McQuarrie, sound designer Ben Burtt, etc. I think that Lucas is a victim of believing his own legend that he was the only one responsible for Star Wars when there were so many other people involved.
posted by octothorpe at 4:29 AM on January 27, 2012 [2 favorites]
The Red Letter Media review gets a little white privilege at the end. Just stick to making fun of George, guys.
posted by codacorolla at 6:48 AM on January 27, 2012
posted by codacorolla at 6:48 AM on January 27, 2012
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Too soon
posted by qxntpqbbbqxl at 10:59 AM on January 17, 2012 [3 favorites]