Tuesday, March 25, 2008

George Lucas Admits He's a Hack

(*Headline lifted directly from the subject of an email from Brent Sallay.)

George Lucas remembers the excitement that grew during the lead-up to "Star Wars: Episode I—The; Phantom! Menace," only to collapse in a flaccid heap of exposition and digital overkill prior to the anti-climax of the film's pod race. So he devised a new marketing message for the upcoming Indian Jones sequel: Don't get your hopes up, folks.

Lucas assured USA Todaythat people shouldn't assume the movie might be good just because Steven Spielberg is directing it. Lucas did have final script approval, after all.


"When you do a movie like this, a sequel that's very, very anticipated, people anticipate ultimately that it's going to be the Second Coming," Lucas says. "And it's not. It's just a movie. Just like the other movies. You probably have fond memories of the other movies. But if you went back and looked at them, they might not hold up the same way your memory holds up."

Lucas says he learned his lesson about unrealistic expectations when he revived the Star Wars franchise in 1999. "When people approach the new (Indiana Jones), much like they did with Phantom Menace, they have a tendency to be a little harder on it," he says. "You're not going to get a lot of accolades doing a movie like this. All you can do is lose."


Whereby "lose" he means "make a fucking shitload of money. I mean, a giant fucking shitload. I mean, I'm gonna make such a giant fucking shitload of money off this motherfucker."

"We came back to do (Indy) because we wanted to have fun," he says. "It's not going to make much money for us in the end. We all have some money. … It would make a lot of money if you weren't rich. But we're not doing it for the money."


And so comes Vernon Hardapple's question: "If you didn't think it was more than just a movie…why were you making it?"
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Monday, March 24, 2008

If You Don't Count 'Russian Ark' or Mention 'Rope'…

Director Aram Rappaport wants to shut down Chicago for five days to shoot a 100-minute film that will take place over a single take.

It sounds like a cool project, but Wired blogger John Scott Lewinski doesn't seem to know its full history.

In the Orson Welles classic Touch of Evil, the director's opening scene was a long, elaborate tracking shot famed for its intricate choreography. The feat was later duplicated in Goodfellas and The Player.

Writer/director Aram Rappaport is taking the idea and blowing it up for his new thriller, Helix.


Rappaport might be the first non-Russian to accomplish such a feat in a major production, although Hitchock, as usual, receives notice for trying it first in 1948.
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Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Paramount Launches Online Clip Library, World Collectively Shrugs

Well, Paramount launched its own video library via Facebook. Says the Washington Post:

Paramount, which is owned by Viacom, launched the service yesterday on Facebook, the popular social-networking site. The application is called VooZoo; it is a combination clip library and media player. It includes scenes from such films as "Braveheart," "Sunset Boulevard," "Breakfast at Tiffany's" and "School of Rock." The clips include a link that sends users to http://Amazon.com to buy DVDs of the movies.


My guess is that most people will just think, "But I can already watch those on YouTube." I'd be more impressed if you could buy the films via HD download, rather than order a DVD. But whatever.
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Monday, March 10, 2008

Out Utah This Week

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Thursday, March 6, 2008

Old-School Censorship Lessons

As the Irish Censorship Office prepares to close its freedom-hating doors for good, The Independent offers a look at its past antics.

In the old days, the censor would solemnly set out his reasons for prohibiting all showings of films such as King Creole. "I have had much trouble, particularly from headmistresses of girls' schools," he explained, "regarding the antics of Elvis Presley with his most suggestive abdominal dancing."

Another censor, who banned 200 films in one year alone, was appalled by the amount of kissing. He protested that Hollywood depicted kissing "to the accompaniment of the most sensuous music, lavishing miles of celluloid on this unsanitary salute".
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Saturday, March 1, 2008

Ramblings on Oscar Speeches

Let them ramble, I ramble.
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