I just got some Pizza Rolls in the mail...

[D.B. Barnes]

CHICAGO COMIC CON RECAP

[D.B. Barnes]

Excellent discussion.

Luke screaming while he's falling sounds like Fozzie Bear getting stuffed into a wood chipper.

http://blip.tv/play/AYLTrEwC

[Watchman]

Thanks, Barnes! Loved the video. I've been curious about this documentary for a while & I'm glad it'll finally be on DVD in October. They're sadly correct about so many people jumping to conclusions about the movie's title, I've read some very ignorant trashings in various forums. Comments like "The title alone makes me want to punch the director" or "Great, 90 minutes of losers whining about how Lucas raped their childhood." Have you noticed how the prequel defenders tend to have absolutely no sense of humor (beyond the Pavlovian responses to Jar Jar's antics)? Fundamentalists, man... they really bring out the "mental" of fundamentalism.

You know, if you put on the right pair of glasses, this is what you'll see on the Star Wars Blu-ray ads:

[D.B. Barnes]

Part Two

"I think he owes it to culture."

[Watchman]

Part Two

"I think he owes it to culture."

Thank you. I was anxiously anticipating this one.

Btw, if you want to see a few video clips of the changes Lucas made for the Blu-rays: http://www.avclub.com/articles/hey-what-else-did-george-lucas-do-to-star-wars-thi,61178/

And last and perhaps most controversially: In the climax of Return Of The Jedi, where Darth Vader at last regains his humanity after witnessing the torture of his son, turns on the Emperor, then throws him to his death in an act of ultimate defiance and self-sacrifice, the revelatory drama of this internal conflict is now more acutely expressed by Darth Vader yelling, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" a couple of times.

That line, a clear callback to Vader's similarly expressive "NOOOOOOOOOO!" from Revenge Of The Sith, thus completes the character's journey and reminds the audience that, while he seems superficially like the epitome of badass evil, Darth Vader is actually just the very sensitive victim of a life fraught with tragedy, torment, and difficult choices. Really, Lucas has only begun to scratch the surface when it comes to deepening our understanding of Darth Vader. Perhaps by the time of its next format release, there will be at least two or three more "NOOOOOOOOOO!"s to get that message across.

On the flip side of the coin, Spielberg made a public apology for the changes he made to E.T. http://www.avclub.com/articles/steven-spielberg-sorry-he-made-all-those-changes-t,61801/

Not only is Spielberg a better filmmaker, he also seems to possess a much better grasp of reality.

Still, I'm so dumbfounded that Lucas is that oblivious, to think adding 2 "NO!"s to the end of Jedi was a good idea; even Sith fans roar with unintentional laughter during that scene. It's so ridiculous that it actually strikes me as a more rational scenario if Lucas knows he's fucking with his fans and Skywalker Ranch is rumbling with hearty laughter. All this because he needed a good laugh. I can empathize with that. He needs a good laugh more than he needs the money.

What's your perspective, D.B.?

[Rainbow Dash]

To be fair to Speilberg, wasn't ET released with both versions?  

Said it before, but I wouldn't care about the changes if the originals were still there.  I still think the perfect comparison is the original Star Trek TV series on blu-Ray.  Aside from the changes being pretty uninvasive to changing the product, the originals were still available if you didn't want to see the CGI Enterprise.

[Russell]

i just watched another RLM production titled the United states of NOOOOOOOOOO!!
It was so funny I am pretty sure I popped a blood vessel laughing so hard.

http://blip.tv/redlettermedia/the-united-states-of-noooo-3925841

[bta]

It's pretty amazing how Lucas can turn Darth Vader into Homer Simpson

D'ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

[Russell]

It's pretty amazing how Lucas can turn Darth Vader into Homer Simpson

D'ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh!

and, much like Homer Simpson, he gets stupider as the years go by.

[D.B. Barnes]

Part Two

"I think he owes it to culture."

Thank you. I was anxiously anticipating this one.

Btw, if you want to see a few video clips of the changes Lucas made for the Blu-rays: http://www.avclub.com/articles/hey-what-else-did-george-lucas-do-to-star-wars-thi,61178/

And last and perhaps most controversially: In the climax of Return Of The Jedi, where Darth Vader at last regains his humanity after witnessing the torture of his son, turns on the Emperor, then throws him to his death in an act of ultimate defiance and self-sacrifice, the revelatory drama of this internal conflict is now more acutely expressed by Darth Vader yelling, "NOOOOOOOOOO!" a couple of times.

That line, a clear callback to Vader's similarly expressive "NOOOOOOOOOO!" from Revenge Of The Sith, thus completes the character's journey and reminds the audience that, while he seems superficially like the epitome of badass evil, Darth Vader is actually just the very sensitive victim of a life fraught with tragedy, torment, and difficult choices. Really, Lucas has only begun to scratch the surface when it comes to deepening our understanding of Darth Vader. Perhaps by the time of its next format release, there will be at least two or three more "NOOOOOOOOOO!"s to get that message across.

On the flip side of the coin, Spielberg made a public apology for the changes he made to E.T. http://www.avclub.com/articles/steven-spielberg-sorry-he-made-all-those-changes-t,61801/

Not only is Spielberg a better filmmaker, he also seems to possess a much better grasp of reality.

Still, I'm so dumbfounded that Lucas is that oblivious, to think adding 2 "NO!"s to the end of Jedi was a good idea; even Sith fans roar with unintentional laughter during that scene. It's so ridiculous that it actually strikes me as a more rational scenario if Lucas knows he's fucking with his fans and Skywalker Ranch is rumbling with hearty laughter. All this because he needed a good laugh. I can empathize with that. He needs a good laugh more than he needs the money.

What's your perspective, D.B.?

Well, I posted some shit over in the Lucas thread about how I didn't think it was for the money as much as Lucas just being completely obsessed with tweaking these movies. And the fact that he's not releasing the unmolested versions of the original trilogy makes it seem like he might get off on some sort of a power trip. I think this might be slightly misinterpreted as "fucking with the fans." The fans are indeed being fucked with but I don't believe it's to give Lucas a good laugh. I think this thing has a hold of him and he's developed some obsessive compulsive type of deal.

[D.B. Barnes]

DRIVE & CONTAGION

http://blip.tv/play/AYLVxhgC

[Watchman]

DRIVE & CONTAGION

http://blip.tv/play/AYLVxhgC

Great ep. I've seen Contagion & plan to see Drive. Glad they tackled the issue of what I term, non-derisively, "arthouse Hollywood" (or "blockbuster minimalism"). I totally understand what they mean by "one of the best movies this year, you shouldn't see it".

I can only comment on Contagion, though my feelings were expressed somewhat by Mike. "It wasn't bad but I didn't get the intent of the film, and I hate saying that because I'm glad that this type of film exists." Of Soderbergh, I love his previous "big budget art films" Traffic & Solaris, but Contagion I'd give a lesser 7/10 because it didn't achieve for me the "ambiguous synthesis" of the others; though it did have another interesting score by Cliff Martinez (incidentally, also scored Drive), who's great at scores that mix electronic/orchestral/ambient (I think the Solaris soundtrack is a masterpiece, very haunting & emotional).

[D.B. Barnes]

MILWAUKEE FILM FESTIVAL

This seems like a real departure for the guys. as they review a couple of foreign films. It's funny, but at the same time I'm struck by the quality of their analytical skills. Their skills have always been there, but for some reason they really stand out here for me, especially in the analysis of the biggest-budget Bollywood film ever. I definitely want to see that movie now, something I've never said about any other Bollywood movie.

http://blip.tv/play/AYLX%2BiMC

[D.B. Barnes]

The guys branch out into rom-com and slay the shit out of it with a ditzy guest adorably (and maybe slightly annoyingly) trying not to be a ditz. Okay, she's not really a ditz, she's actually pretty cool, and her perspective is essential for the guys to play off. Well done.

http://blip.tv/play/AYLZ0gIC

Part Two? They're gonna analyze this further?!?

[D.B. Barnes]

http://blip.tv/play/AYLZ4WQC