George Lucas: Jealous windbag??

[yojoebro82]

Had Lucas NOT made those three stinkers (the prequils) he MAY have had a case.

 

As it stands now, he can't talk.......even Ep. III, the best of the three, had it's silly (IE: DUMB) moments.

[amazingdm]

I love Star Wars but what irritates me is when George Lucas claims (or fans attribute to him) incidents in the movies that they think are deeper than they really are. They're just accidents, there aren't tons of layers..

[ARES-god_of_war]

Well just because some of you don't agree with me doesn't mean I'm wrong!

 

1) Death Star being the last reveal at the end of AotC?

2) Watching all of AotC, counting the times that Ani could've lost his hand...and when he finally does it's no big deal cuz Yoda started whuppin @s$? Also, having Ewan McKenobi playing up his best Alec Guinness in the "Death Sticks Club"?

3) Artoo having soooo many more attachments than my childhood imagination could've developed?

4) Weaving of the lineage between the Padawan/Master?

5) Showing how Ani's piloting skills improved from that of when he was 9?

6) Limiting Jar-Jar's dialog...DIPLOMATICALLY?!

7) Dooku's Lightsaber/Fighting style?

8) Showing that the earlier someone enters the Jedi Academy greatly improves their skils as a master, and factor in the more Jedi to gain skills from?

9) Finally proving the only thing missing from Windu's lightsaber was "Bad Mudder Fuqqer", exactly as he entered the Genosian arena...is exactly how he handled Jango?

10) Showing how Leia inherited her moms chutzpa?

 

Layers, Naysayers...LAYERS?!

 

I don't consider myself a sheep because I don't buy into the hype surrounding the Major motion picture releases. I've never seen 300, Harry Potter or AVP...dispite the word of mouth and the "buzz" surrounding the film itself. Holywood is still make believe and until they begin to cater to my tastes (and lower the cost of admission!) I don't mind 4 brothers being the last movie I saw in the Theatre (on a date, or otherwise!)

[Blackheart]

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but what was that list of 10 for?

[biglebowski9999]

Sorry if I sound ignorant, but what was that list of 10 for?

 

 

 

Trust me...you're not ignorant. Just move on, it's easier that way @loll@

[ARES-god_of_war]

Wait? let's just dog everything so we can go back to Erector Sets & Lincoln Logs?! I made an argument and supported it...That's what enlightened people do!

 

But, I totally understand some of our fellow boarders constant complaining; They lack control over their own lives so they shower the net with their narrow-mindedness!

 

Here's an Idea; Why don't I just reate a different topic every week so you have something to cry about? Hopefully the rest of the board will be left to those of us who are less pessimistic?!

[ARROW]

I love Star Wars but what irritates me is when George Lucas claims (or fans attribute to him) incidents in the movies that they think are deeper than they really are. They're just accidents, there aren't tons of layers..

 

 

Never made a movie, have you?

 

There's TONS of inference in the process of creating storytelling in cinema--I do it daily.

Mythic structure in movie storytelling is a big deal--guys like Robert McKean charge $10,000 for a weekend seminar on storytelling, or guys like Chris Vogler get paid big bucks to apply an understanding of mythic structure to fix a problematic script. ( Heck, Mainframe had/has McKean on their payroll as a story consultant for the Barbie direct-to-video features they've done--simply to add some context to the material)

It could be something as subtle as the placement of characters on screen, the gesture of a hand, the lighting on a piece of cloth. Or it could be a series of shots, cut with a certain tempo and arrangement to their time on screen--or even things like colour values just aboiut anything can add nuances.

Metaphors abound in cinema--they are the meat and potatoes of the genre.

Lucas is a BIG proponent of Joseph Campbell's work ( Power of Myth, Hero of a Thousand faces), and was so even back when he did THX-1138--his student film.

 

I'll give you an example: the very opening shot of Star Wars, with the Star Destroyer rolling overtop the screen, was not a roll-of-the-dice "ooooh and aaaaaah" moment. It was carefully considered to elicit a specific response from the audience, and set a specific mood for what follows. It was intended to do as much from the script/storyboard stage--before a single frame of film was even shot. Lucas and Ladd knew that shot would sell the film to not only the studio, but to the audience as well.

 

A movie that makes you laugh, weep, or feel anger, or scared-does so in a deliberate fashion, with the filmmakers understanding both intuitively and consciously what steps to take to gets a specific response from the audience.

Again, I do this myself when I storyboard for cartoons.

The layers that are talked about ARE INDEED there, and often there's even more than the audience evers considers.

 

Cinema is NO accident, otherwise there'd be a LOT more movies that simply do not work.

[ARROW]

I think Lucas really does have a bit of "justification" in calling another movie silly.

 

But just a bit.

 

Aside from The Star Wars franchise, he's really contributed quite a lot of things to the entertainment industry over the last 30+ years.

Star Wars ( and to a small degree- American Graffitti, his first successful film which sparked Happy Days) helped spring board quite a radical shift in how movies got made--especially when you look at film pre-Star Wars and post. Its not without good reason that Star Wars is considered a landmark film in Hollywood history.

 

You have ILM and the Motion Control Camera system for one.

The unabashed apporach to handling model, prop and prosthetic effects in films marked a complete paradigm shift with Star Wars.

Skywalker Ranch and their extensive sound-editing suites have played major roles in many, many movies--with the facility being considered truly state-of-the-art.

Lucas forged ahead with all kinds of film technolgies, from cameras to digital processes and editing tools--and those developments are used my filmmakers the world over.

He's pretty much pioneered the "after-the-fact" style of filmmaking involving the shooting of dispersed elements and then compositing them digitally in the computer. Prior to this method, most work of that nature was done with front/rear-projections, blue screen and in-camera work--which tended to limit the storytelling options.

Because of digital advances, storytelling vantage points in a film are no longer limited by where a real life film camera can be placed--as the virtual camera can be placed ANYWHERE at anytime--to the filmmakers own choice and advantages.

In fact, a lot of the effects sequences in the Spiderman films would have been largely impossible to do without the systems Lucas originally helped bring into being.

Its not even a question that those developments were inevitable, its simply that he's the one to have done it FIRST. And before anyone retorts that he didn't build those things--that's true. Lucas called for the people to create those systems and methods and thus he can claim the credit for being the man behind them to a degree--but not the outright inventor.

 

When you look upon the Star Wars movies, there's a whole visual and aural lexicon that changed movie-making, and for the better, imo.

Spiderman's growth as a character and franchise somewhat chronologically paralells that of Star Wars, but his prominence and impact in culture, cinema and the entertainment industry comes nowhere near that of Star Wars.

So, yea, Lucas could rightly call a Spiderman movie as being "silly".

[revsears]

IT was silly! no i didn't like the prequals, thought they were silly too but Lucas, as arrow said has done more than that. Even with Their silliness it went well as a set of family films steadily going dark, spiderman set out as a comic adapation and became a comedic adapation, not the way to go in my opinon.

 

But in the end he has just as much right to complain as anyone else.

[Doom Saber]

Both Spiderman 3 and Ep 3 are silly. I mean, you have emo peter parker in SM3 and you have emo Vader in ep 3. Both whine like little bitches and the acting in both of them are lame (though smc is a bit better.) I mean you can either defend "Waa waa, peter Parker stoled this girl who I thought was my girlfriend and got me fired for something I did was bad. I have to kill spiderman. Waa Waa." or "Waa Waa. No one listens to me except for the Emperor and that my wife died. I am just a messed up child who doesn't have any formal education, but I know best. I have some issues... Waaa Waaa!" Overall, both are freakin silly!

[Dark_Phoenix]

Spiderman 3 was not a good movie. The movie was everywhere, just like X3. The little speeches made by characters were so bad. The whole Stan lee scene was so forced. The reporters were terrible, the spiderman parade was bad and the whole landing on a roof with the big American flag waving behind him was tacky.

[PhoenixSword]

okay. . .i am a little late on this but i wanted to throw in my 2 cents first off i love ALL of the sw movies. and spider man 3 was silly and pointless and a waste of my 8 bucks i would have rather bought 8 more dollars worth of popcorn and sat on the sidewalk eating it for two hours . but you guys arent getting the fact the george lucas is just a person how does he not have the right to critisize a film when other people (like we're doing right now by the way) criticize films all the time. he was ASKED what he thought of spiderman three and he told the interviewer what he thought of the movie. its not right that you people sit there and bash his movies because he said was silly. and personaly despite what i just said i think he does have the right to say that because he can and did make better films.

[Blackheart]

I didn't agree with his opinion, but although I don't think making 'better' films gives him the right to do it he's human and that's a good enough excuse to voice one's opinion. Plus he was asked.

[PhoenixSword]

I didn't agree with his opinion, but although I don't think making 'better' films gives him the right to do it. . .

yeah, something inside me just made me type that last sentence lol. i forgot the after it. . .

[Blackheart]

I didn't agree with his opinion, but although I don't think making 'better' films gives him the right to do it. . .

yeah, something inside me just made me type that last sentence lol. i forgot the after it. . .

 

Heh

[AC]

I don't care if Lucas thinks Spiderman 3 was silly! I care the I think it was silly! C'mon! TWO dance scenes. THREE heart to hearts with Aunt May. Harry turning evil when Mary Jane leaves, giving him BLUE YOU KNOW WHATS. The symbiote influence being signified by BANGS. Tying the Sandman to Uncle Ben's death for NO REASON WHAT SO EVER. This movie was SILLY people!

 

Still, I enjoyed it because I came prepared. I had a long time comic fans on one side of me to mark out with when the action and effects were good, and an a complete comic book novice on the other so I could make fun of the lame parts. Sometimes you have to make your own fun.

 

Lucas? Who cares? He can shut up and entertain me, or just plain shut up. Anything else concerning the man is inconsequential to my existence.