the crimes of george lucas ('90s on)

do you think you could find anybody (outside of skywalker ranch) these days who will go to bat for these movies, specifically to argue that they are better than the originals? do this person exist?

I'm not sure we have that individual data here.

There is no scarier scene in the entire American canon than the one that takes place in between McCain and Palin when they are having a discussion about the politics of the republic, and Palin suggests that the system is broken and needs to be replaced with something where one person in charge has the power to enforce laws he feels is for the good of the people. To which McCain replies, rightfully, that what Palin is talking about sounds like a dictatorship. And then these all-too-familiar words from Joe The Plumber: "Well, if it works."

What Do You Know About Weddings?
Weddings are one of the oldest and longest-lasting rituals known to man. The joining of a man and a woman in matrimony is a rite of passage shared by civilizations across the planet.

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Titles that I Published This Week that You Probaby Weren't Notified Of
I did not receive notification of most of these articles having been published so I assume most subscribes did not. I simply want to bring attention to the fact that I was published this week. Not a lot, but here are some you may have missed.

With the Adoption of Preventive Detention Pres. Obama Becomes the New Cheney
Yes we can? Oh no, you didn't! Obama's acceptance of preventive detention means suspects can be jailed without evidence based on what they might do in the future. Is Obama really just Cheney in disguise?

Is the Catholic Church an Institution Too Silly to Be Engaged in Serious Discourse?
Isn't it time to relegate the Catholic Church to the same peripheral status we give to Flat-Earthers and right-wing militias and neo-Nazi skinheads.

Yes, isn't it.

How to Quit Wasting Time and Start Making the Most of Your Day
A little lesson in time efficiency.

On that note.

I have distinct memories of LOTS of people around me going to bat for these when they first came out (particularly I, but also III) but 10 minutes into Phantom Menace I basically became a completely unforgiving asshole about Lucas and his general horribleness and had a lot of arguments with various apologists.

The Effect of <something_you_like> on <something_you_hate>.
What ever happened to the traditional <something_you_like>? The <something_you_hate> killed it, that's what happened to the traditional <something_you_like>.

i think a lot of people were in denial early on, kinda like everyone i was with at this midnight screening of 'the matrix reloaded'

i went to the matrix reloaded with like 12 of my friends and we all came out and before anyone said anyhting i was like well that was a huge piece of shit and then no one would talk to me for the rest of the night

theres a picture somewhere of me as a junior in high school with a bunch of other dudes outside a movie theater where theyre all giving a thumbs-up sign and im standing slight off from the group giving a thumbs-down

brand loyalty is a weird thing

I STILL stand by my claim that the series went to hell with Empire Strikes Back. They'll have my Star Wars original edition DVD-R sourced from LaserDisc when they pry it from my cold dead utility data.

I wasn't really ever bothered by moving Jabba, and only moderately bothered by Greedo shooting first. What bugged me the most was all the shit added to Mos Eisley. I loved it when it felt more like an empty and evil version of Barstow.

I did kinda like the production design and architecture of II and III. It was like all the Kelly Freas and Omni magazine covers brought to life.

that's an unusual claim... imho Empire's the best one, the only one that's really enjoyable start-to-finish.

Actually, I'm more bothered by all the extra shit added to THX 1138

I have distinct memories of LOTS of people around me going to bat for these when they first came out (particularly I, but also III) but 10 minutes into Phantom Menace I basically became a completely unforgiving asshole about Lucas and his general horribleness and had a lot of arguments with various apologists.

― Bizarro Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, July 15, 2009 4:52 PM (7 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

^^this, except instead of having lots of arguments, I just quietly ended lifelong friendships and eventually moved out of the state completely.

I have a couple little nephews (8 and 10) who still get really upset whenever I am forced to admit how much I hate the prequels

^^this, except instead of having lots of arguments, I just quietly ended lifelong friendships and eventually moved out of the state completely.

That's...extreme.

it was a pretty bad fuckin movie

that's an unusual claim... imho Empire's the best one, the only one that's really enjoyable start-to-finish.

― Bizarro Morbius (Shakey Mo Collier), Wednesday, July 15, 2009 5:58 PM (9 minutes ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

i dont know about only one but it is weird to think EMPIRE of all things is where it went wrong... it's where the series went RIGHT!

Hey, Elvis - any chance of hooking a brother up?

it's ok for a kids movie. except all that stuff about trade disputes and campus data collection.

I was exaggerating a little bit. (Although I do have two friends with whom I maintained only trivial contact after I moved out of state (for non-Star Wars related reasons) in part because their endless enthusiasm for the prequels, even after they came out and proved to be almost physically painful to endure, made me examine whether we were really all that compatible, friend-wise, or whether our friendship was mostly logistically driven.)

I don't give a shit about Star Wars, but I think George Lucas made a dumb cameo on The O.C. once.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-iwxrGHiS6Y

guys reading this in the library was a fucking trial

i think a lot of people were in denial early on, kinda like everyone i was with at this midnight screening of 'the matrix reloaded'

Yeah, for about a year after Episode I came out I was pretty insistent that it was a good movie, I wanted so much for it to be a good movie it took a while to admit that it wasn't.

It's good that we know each other now, then.

Thing is if you read the first draft of the original star wars story it's terrible. Then he reworks it a bit and it's still terrible. Then I dunno he goes and reads The Hero with 1000 Faces or whatever and suddenly you've got this gem. And ok he sustains it for Empire but Jedi is pretty bad... so realistically what we're talking about here is not the betrayal of a lovable and long-lasting franchise, more the failure to repeat one or two flukes.

so realistically what we're talking about here is not the betrayal of a lovable and long-lasting franchise, more the failure to repeat one or two flukes.

very true - when you look at his overall career arc its pretty bad, there was nothing in it to suggest that these sequels were gonna be anything other than terrible. (Altho you have left out the anomaly of American Graffiti, which is pretty good.)

one of my bosses lives next to George Lucas and I have to continually bite my tongue whenever he's blathering on about something "cool" he heard about/talked about with/witnessed involving George

(oddly I do not have to bite my tongue at all with my ILM-employed bandmate, who, as an employee of Lucas's, is entirely cognizant of his failings)

Everyone has opinions exactly what is wrong with them and how they can be fixed but movie editing software is so cheap and easy to use now. I mean... have at it, guys!
I await your results.

the editing is the least of these movies' problems

*star wipe*

I've read off and on how enterprising nerds were able to excise Jar Jar and Jake completely and seamlessly from the series, and that sounded pretty impressive.

I dunno if this is challops or just overfamiliarity with the cliches thanks to decades of teen comedies, but American Graffiti did pretty much nothing for me when I finally saw it a year ago.

when you look at his overall career arc its pretty bad

As a writer-director-producer, yeah. As a film-technology guy, he's been immeasurably important, esp. in terms of sound design, sound editing and nonlinear film editing.

Not that he invented any of that stuff himself, but he assembled the teams that made it happen.

very true - when you look at his overall career arc its pretty bad, there was nothing in it to suggest that these sequels were gonna be anything other than terrible. (Altho you have left out the anomaly of American Graffiti, which is pretty good.)

I dunno...Diner makes AG look anemic.

"film technology" guys should know better than to insist on being writer-directors.

(I haven't seen AG in at least 15 years, so its possible my memories of it are overly rosy)

No argument there! xp

i loved the '97 rereleases, but i was 11 years old at the time and still impressed by, like, final fantasy cut scenes

How come every fucking scene in these movies involves someone standing in front of a window with a million fucking things happening in the background.

― Your heartbeat soun like sasquatch feet (polyphonic), Wednesday, July 15, 2009 2:22 PM (5 hours ago) Bookmark Suggest Ban Permalink

this made me legit lol btw

still reading the thread so maybe this has been mentioned already but one thing in episode three that drove me nuts as much as anything in the prequels - was just talking w/my dude about this the other day actually - was when they had james earl jones talk in an american accent at the end of the movie, to match up w/fukkin hayden christinstinet's voice. goddamn that was some bullsquid.

i also never really 'got' why there were so many dang racialist stereotype aliens - obviously i'm not offended by them, but it's just mystifying, it's not like there was a precedent from the earlier movies???

it depends on how you feels about the "jawas" (p.s. they did alderaan)

I bought the 2006 limited time re-releases merely cuz they contained hte original theatrical cuts (albeit in very low quality laserdisc transfer, but who gives a shiz).....

then I farted in Lucas' face