Entries tagged as ‘star wars’
drew mcweeney, formally of ain’t it cool and currently of hitfix, posted an interesting read last week regarding where we are now 10 years after the phantom menace. from the article:
Familiarity breeds contempt.
And prequels are a narrative dead end. Period.
Please. Please. Please.
Stop giving geeks what they ask for.
“I want the Clone Wars!”
No. No, you don’t.
You think you do. But you don’t.
“I want the Terminator Future War!”
Again… no. You really, really don’t.
It’s Pavlovian. You’re watching some good science-fiction movie you love and they mention “attack ships on fire off the belt of Orion” or some such thing… like “You’re older than the Zarkon Battlefields,” and you end up liking the movie a lot, so you end up watching the movie a lot because that’s what geeks do. And by the 43rd time watching it, and half-watching it, and watching it with friends while talking, and wallpaper-watching it, you hear that line again… “You’re older than the Zarkon Battlefields”… and you think in passing, “Man, I’d like to see the Zarkon Battlefields.” And then it becomes a thing, an itch you feel like you need to scratch.
No. No, you don’t.
Storytelling… great fun pulp storytelling, anyway… is all about forward motion. Everything is always in motion. The entire idea of backing up to fill in the blanks is counter-intuitive. So here’s where I find myself now on this entire prequel reboot remake update reinvention thing.
I’m fatigued.
so say we all!
-srd
Categories: movies · nerd shit
Tagged: star wars, terminator, drew mcweeny, ain't it cool, prequels, reboots, hitfix
i did not go to see watchmen at midnight last night. not because i don’t want to see it, and not because i don’t like midnight showings, but rather i hate midnight showings of comic book movies. i’m fine with nerds- i am a nerd. but comic book nerds i can’t stand. especially when comic book nerds start talking about movies. comic book nerds know shit about movies. and they’re very loud. so when people who don’t know shit about movies are talking very loudly about movies, movies that they don’t know shit about, i get intensely aggravated. that’s why i swore off midnight showings of comic book movies after the dark knight. i will most likely catch watchmen tomorrow. i’ll report back then.
-srd
sidenote: no joke, a comic book nerd in one of my film classes tried to tell the class that star wars a) was a direct remake of seven samurai and b) the new trilogy had a titular line. both are obviously complete horseshit. i would have laughed if the dude was making an upright citizens brigade reference with b, but he clearly wasn’t.
Categories: movies · nerd shit
Tagged: comic book nerds, star wars, watchmen
jhbball (joe): what’s princess leia’s last name?
aint the dakota (me): organa.
jhbball: did you know that off the top of your head?
aint the dakota: yes.
jhbball: lol.
jhbbal: k.
jhbbal: gina and i were doing a crossword.
aint the dakota: sounds like the best crossword EVER.
-srd
Categories: friends · misc · movies
Tagged: joe, never getting laid, star wars
if you ever get stuck talking to this guy at a party, you have my sympathies.
his name is stephan jan vander ark, a michigan native who just lost a court case against j.k. rowlings. seems he was trying to publish something called “the harry potter lexicon,” a largely plagiarized encyclopedia to the harry potter universe. couple of things.
first, for the record i haven’t read any of the books. but if i’m not mistaken, millions of eight-year-olds read that shit. how complicated can it be that an encyclopedia is necessary? are there harry potter cliff notes?
second, he’s 50 years old. 5-0. my brain fails to process that information. here’s a couple of choice excerpts from the nytimes (you’ll notice, i’ve attributed these quotes to their source, unlike vander ark). enjoy:
The following day Mr. Vander Ark sobbed on the stand as he said that Ms. Rowling’s attacks on his work had ostracized him from the “Harry Potter community.”
When told in court that Ms. Rowling had explained the etymology of “Alohomora,” an unlocking spell, as coming from a West African dialect, Mr. Vander Ark responded: “That’s exciting stuff for someone like me. Did she happen to mention which dialect?”
wow. here’s another delicious nugget about his future project:
For now, however, Mr. Vander Ark has his sights on his next Harry Potter project: his book “In Search of Harry Potter” is scheduled to be released next month. It is a memoir of his travels to locations similar to the ones described in the Rowling books. The book, Mr. Vander Ark said, should not land him back in Wizengamot — the wizards’ high court of law depicted in the Harry Potter series.
“It’s a travel memoir,” he said. “It’s not in any way the kind of a thing which should raise any red flags.”
that has got to be the most pathetic thing i have ever read. and i used to write star wars fan fiction. but i was 10 at the time.
-srd
Categories: friends
Tagged: fail, harry potter, star wars
unlike some nerds, i love both star wars and star trek equally for different reasons. my all-time favorite series has to be deep space nine. it had a depth that the others seemed to lack. but i love the universe on a whole, flaws and all, just like star wars. i would argue though that star trek has had a bigger cultural impact that star wars has or ever will. the original show tackled themes other shows were unwilling to even approach in the late sixties and many of the later incarnations continued as allegories for our own civilization. further, take a second while you’re reading this and flip open your cellphone. bam! call me when you have a lightsaber and we’ll talk. also fun to note is that not unlike “play it again, sam,” the phrase “beam me up, scotty” was never actually uttered on any of the shows.
so happy birthday, star trek. i look forward with reserved excitement to your newest film adventure. jj abrams can be hit or miss, so let’s hope for a hit. and sexy green women.
-srd
Categories: movies · technology · tv
Tagged: deep space nine, nerds, star trek, star wars
when i was 15, kevin dufendach, michael turk and i would watch the trailer for the phantom menace every day before mr. smith’s english class. you see, i was (and partly still am) a huge star wars geek. i read all of the expanded universe books and comics, played all the video games, had hundreds of dollars worth of toys and collectables. it was the most excited i’d ever been about a movie. ever. until nine years later.
i’ve always loved batman. i think it was tim burton’s batman that originally got me into the character, but i also enjoyed the adam west version, and especially the original bruce tim batman: the animated series. there’s something about him that always gripped me more than lesser “superheros.” as far as dc is concerned, you’re either a superman person or a batman person. me, i’m a batman person. superman has to be a superhero, batman chooses to be one. maybe that’s why i like him, cause he doesn’t have powers, but he goes out there anyway and defends the city he loves.
but as the years went on and the batman movies gradually and then spectacularly declined into utter schlock, i lost faith in the movie franchise. then chistopher nolan’s batman begins came outta nowhere and knocked me on my ass. i’ve been waiting for the dark knight ever since. when the trailer comes on tv, i literally shush people around me. i’m that stoked and i feel like i’m 15 years old again, waiting for what i hoped to be movie-geek nirvana.
nine years ago i was ultimately disappointed. i have a distinct feeling that tonight at 12:15 am, i won’t be.
-srd
Categories: movies
Tagged: batman, movies, star wars, the dark knight
